The reach

I forgot to mention that M has a new skill lately - he's learned how to reaaaach out his arms when he wants to get picked up. It's very cute and has an unmistakable meaning. Like so:

Hello teething my old friend

I feel as if we are in some sort of eternal teething loop. He's working on yet another tooth. This will be #8 and is just beginning to pop through his gums on the top next to the three front teeth that have already come in. On one hand, I guess I'm glad that we're getting a bunch of them out of the way at once and hopefully he'll have a bit of a reprieve soon. But it's getting a little bit old, none the less.

M cried for longer than normal at bedtime last night and I thought, maybe he needs Ty.lenol? Then, this morning he was fussy and had started his old routine of batting away any food that came near his mouth while making a face that suggested we must be about to bring out some other torture devices soon. And wanting to nurse a lot.

Finally, we felt around in his mouth and found that #8, which has been making overtures towards the outside world for about a week, has finally got a tiny corner sticking through. The rest of it can be felt under a thin, squishy gum barrier. To you, #8, oh you sixth tooth to emerge in less than a month, I say COME OUT!

This ends our test of the teething-emergency broadcast system.

Meat-lovers anonymous

We'd like to welcome our newest member of Meat-Lovers Anonymous. Hi Mateo! Yes, he looooves meat. Apparently, babies usually dislike it, but Mateo is a meat man. So far, he has eaten and enjoyed the following (organic) meats: chicken, turkey, fish, and ground beef. He will take little pieces and chew them up quite happily. Sacha and I always used to talk about how we were going to get kicked out of the lesbian club because we eat (almost entirely sustainably raised and organic) meat and now it looks like we're dragging Mateo down with us! Which brings me to our parenting lesson of the week:

Mateo loves table food. We've been trying with limited success to get him to eat baby food for quite awhile now. At the suggestion of my mom and our doctor, we started becoming much more adventurous about the foods we would feed him. It's going really well! He's become a fan of plain, whole-milk yogurt, shredded cheese, and all kinds of other adult foods. He really likes things that are a little more spicy and grown-up-like than the pureed baby food.

We went to a catered party this weekend and he chowed down on orzo pasta, little pieces of corn, a bean stew, and then he just went crazy for a piece of watermelon. Sacha (who is definitely his preferred mealtime mommy) would hold the slice up and he would chomp off a piece and chew it up.

Then, today, not only did he eat some pieces of pumpkin breakfast bread at a local bakery, once I realized it was not too sweet, but he also indulged in a honking amount of guacamole, chicken, beans and rice at a Mexican restaurant we went to for lunch. It is so much fun to watch him enjoying food!

And, after having mastered feeding himself cereal, he got the hang of eating a cracker on his own yesterday. Here's a photo of our little gourmand holding his cracker:

Also, we had a really wonderful time with Mateo's auntie while she was in town. Here are a couple of photos. They have always had a connection and had a great time together this time, as well.

Busy busy bees

Wow, did we ever have a busy weekend!

Friday:
-My sister came to town, we had lunch, Sacha went to an all-day training
-We had our monthly dinner party and, unexpectedly, 15 people and assorted kids came!

Saturday:
-We hung out with my sister in the morning
-Sacha went to a personal trainer session
-We had some new friends over for brunch and had a wonderful time with them and their adorable four-month-old daughter
-We worked in the garden for an hour
-We house-sat for two different neighbors
-We had a goodbye dinner with Rachel and her dad and Joaquin
-Sacha helped Rachel and her dad pack the moving van
-Mateo fell asleep like a champ in less than a minute at bedtime (yes, it is now clear that there is a God)

Sunday:
-We woke up and were out of the house by 6:45 am to meet Rachel and Mark for breakfast before they drove out of Portland for good
-We came home and all took a nice, long nap
-We got ourselves up and together and left for our monthly PLOP meeting, which was fantastic. We're finally starting to feel like we know some lesbian families and it's awesome. There were tons of people there and so many little babies!
-We got in the car and drove directly from PLOP to an hour south of Portland, where some of our good friends were having a big celebratory party for their recent wedding and birth of their daughter. We socialized like mad for three hours, as many of the guests were neighbors of ours.
-We drove back and our friends Emily and Nils came over for a few minutes, to pick up some things and chat for a minute. It is just so cute to watch the boys play together, especially when I remember that they've known each other since they were born.
-Now, we're about to collapse again. What a busy weekend! And such a good one.

Here are a couple of photos from tonight. They're a little grainy because of the low light, but I think they came out well!:

Goodbyes

Tonight we said goodbye to our cousin/cousin-in-law, Rachel and our friend Joaquin. She's moving back to Michigan after spending three years in Portland and he is moving to Bend to become a flight instructor. Rachel moved here just after we did and we learned about this new city together. Then we all lived together for a year, which was wonderful for all of us.



After we conceived Mateo, Rachel moved out and (eventually) into a community centered around an urban farm just a few minutes away from us. She and Sacha are just a few years apart in age but had never spent more than a short time together because of the great distance between where they grew up. It was wonderful for them to get to spend three years in everyday contact, and for me to get to know a new family member and friend. Rachel, we miss you already! We never got around to talking about this at dinner tonight, so we'll just tell you some of the highlights of your time here.

-Having you and Jamie come to our house right after you drove into town for the first time
-Having dinner during your first week at that Thai place in Sellwood, with you guys and Carly
-Hanging out at your house on Rex St.
-Cooking tiliapia with you and Carly
-That hilarious relationship quiz we all took before the L Word (we still think you and Carly should get married, in a platonic way)



-All those nights we cooked dinner together, especially some of our barbeques and your mint/feta salad that we love
-Having tea and chatting when you lived here
-Seeing you and Joaquin be so happy together
-Going hot-tubbing together anytime we wanted!
-Having you guess that we were expecting Mateo before anyone was supposed to know

-Witnessing the love between you and our cat, Beso
-Watching you and Mateo getting to know each other and playing together
-Getting to have the most amazing cousin that ever existed!

We love you and wish you all the best in your new/old home.

Tonight

We had some friends over for dinner tonight and some of the kids were sooo cute all playing together. Here's a photo. Also, Mateo's Auntie E is visiting and we're all very excited to have her here! She and little M quickly picked up their love affair where they had left off last time :)

Change to bedtime routine

Last night, I talked with my parent's friend who is an expert in sleep, and she suggested that we try staying in the room with Mateo as he falls asleep. She suggested that we be in his line of vision, so he doesn't have separation anxiety, but that we not interact with him. Tonight he fell asleep in less than half the time it took him last night. So, I would call that a fabulous movement in the right direction!

On the school front, I recently learned how to make large posters using excel that you can print on regular paper and then tape or laminate together! It's fabulous. My new school has a color printer, so I spent some time today printing all of the posters I made, and them laminating them. I was going to get them made at kinkos, but this is free, and in color! My room is getting close ready. Every day it is getting a bit closer.