By special request

Our friends (parents of the adorable twins Gracen & Rowan) said that Piglet is starting to resemble his dad more now. To put this to the test, they asked that we take a picture of Piglet wearing DH's glasses. Liane and Rut - this one's for you.

What do the rest of you think? Maybe I should run our family pics through the the look-alike-meter again!

Mad for plaid

Call it "geek chic" or whatever, but Piglet is mad for plaid. He has a fair amount of geek in him so it must be that gene at work. :)

P.S.

If you click on the picture below, you'll be able to see that Piglet finally got his second tooth. Thank goodness because his first one was getting awfully lonely!

Witness...

...the beginning of a beautiful relationship. 

 

Beach baby

Piglet went to the beach for the first time today.  It was sunny but windy, a great day to fly a kite!  

Piglet got a little tired after awhile.

But after noodling it for a bit,

...agreed to give the camera one last bit of love before heading home for the day.

Big bed, little Piglet

Dear Piglet, 

Today you are a little piglet on a big bed.  Please try to stay that way for just a little while longer.  Say, maybe ten or fifteen more years.  Thanks.  Love, Mom

Are you an FOP? Scroll down to find out!

What's an FOP you ask?  A Friend of Piglet of course!  Get your mind out of the gutter.  

These are the twins Gracen and Rowan.  Our dads are supernerds and hang out whenever our moms will let them.  Between our two moms, they know everything about everything.  No, really.  

This is my dad and me with our friends Ashley and Erin.  Erin is older and bigger than me, but I'm catching up!   Erin also has a blog - mcmillerpdx which my mom reads all the time.  

This is my friend Matteos, our moms say we are "brothas."  He lives in Hotlanta. Our birthdays are just three days apart.  Someday we will celebrate them together! 

This is my cousin Carson, he and I are almost exactly one year apart.  His mom, my auntie, says we're going to get into lots of trouble together for many years to come.  See, Carson is already practicing saying "What? we didn't do it!" 

These are my cousins Eva and Lucie.  They aren't sisters, but they sure do look alike!  Mommy says they're "trouble." 

These are (yes) MORE cousins...Dillon and Paige.  They are buddies.  I hope they'll still be nice to be when they're cool kids and I'm still just a little peanut.

This is Will who has a lot of nicknames like P. Jr. and Little P to name a few.  Apparently he is going to take me hunting and fishing to balance out the inevitable nerd in me.  

This is Avery.  Our moms have been friends forever.  They don't even need to say anything to know what the other one is thinking. Scary.  It will be hard to pull one over on these two!  I threw a dinner party and Avery came.  She broke in my new booster and sang "Ten Little Monkeys" for me.  I can already tell that I can learn a lot from her, plus she's purty.

C'est ma cousine Aitana.  Elle est ne le cinq Aout a l'Espagne.  Elle is tres jolie, non? J'taime!  Bet you didn't know I was a multilingual piglet!  Here's something funny, her parents call her Lechon which means "little pig" in Spanish.  We have the same nickname but just in different languages! 

This is my friend Kate, aka Miss Cutie K. She's made LOTS of appearances on my blog already because, well, our moms love taking pictures of us together! Poor saps.

This is Haven.  Her mom and my mom have been friends since high school.  I'm giving her pointers on how to keep her hair from falling out.  So far it's working!

***If you know you're an FOP but your picture isn't posted, it's because mommy doesn't have a picture of you!  Send it on over and she'll add it right away!***

How to clean those tiny bleepin' toys!

Piglet likes his toys.  He really likes the ones with lots of little grooves and nooks and crannies. He especially likes toys while he's eating and is particularly fond of putting them in his mouth between bites.  This presents a problem for mommy as I am clean/neat freak + germaphobe.  For awhile, I used toothpicks, bottle brushes and the nail on my pinky finger to remove all remnants of apple, mango and the like. It was time consuming, but worked pretty well.  Then came the hedgehog.  Hedgehog presented a REAL problem because his little grooves are so tiny and very uniform and also cover 3/4 of his little plastic body.  Every time I thought I'd gotten every last bit of mashed peas, hedgehog would taunt me from the dish rack..."neenerneerner look at me...I still have peas by my butt! Bahahahahaaaa!"  It was crazy making.


Then one day I was scrubbing potatoes for a (tasteeeeeee) au gratin and it came to me.  THE CORN BRUSH (which I use to scrub potatoes too when I can't find the potato brush).  It's the PERFECT device for cleaning all those bleepin' grooves!  I tried it immediately and it worked like a charm.  Can you guess which toy was the first to receive a special super duper deep cleaning by the corn brush / moi?  :)  Since then I can't stop thinking of other great uses for my corn brush. (That has to be the oddest sentence I've ever written).  I bought this brush for around $3.00 at Zupans. If you have small kids who are constantly throwing stuff on the floor, buy this brush (or one like it).  It does an amazing job cleaning things with tiny crevices.

The corn brush now shares permanent living space with my bottle brush and regular kitchen sponge.  Move over Scotch Brite, now there's something meatier.  

Months Six and Seven Updates...a little late :)

Month Six

Stats: 27 inches - 50% for height, 18.5lbs - 60% for weight, 50% for head circumference.  

Piglet LOVES

• rolling all around the nursery
• taking baths
• being outside 
• touching any and all interesting (or uninteresting) surfaces and fabrics
• being held
• playing with blocks
• cuddling
• Sandra Boynton books 
• pureed apples
• his highchair
• the jumperoo
• the mirror
• you making funny faces at him
• making smacking noises with his mouth, especially when he sees you eating something
• bubbles

Piglet is OVER

• the changing table
• lying still for a diaper change
• taking off / putting on clothes that go over his head
• the booger bulb 
• the bouncy seat
• the BOB
• anyone who is not mommy after 5:00 p.m.
• being low to the ground e.g. the Bumbo

Month Seven

Stats: 19.2lbs and we assume the rest are roughly the same!

Piglet LOVES

• long morning naps 
• sleeping in your arms 
• when you sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
• snoring
• being tickled on his belly
• laughing with other people
• watching the dog run around
• avocados
• Gymboree class (as long there's that long morning nap beforehand)
• other babies
• putting his head on your shoulder when someone new says hello
• smiling back at you
• when you click your tongue
• stacking cups
• smacking away at keyboards
• a sip of anything you're drinking
• giving kisses
• throwing things on the floor
• YouTube

Piglet is OVER

• restaurants - mom and dad are learning to eat very quickly or order take out!
• having lotion put on his face
• putting on pajamas at night 
• you leaving the room without him
• bottles (yes, still...)
• sounds made by the blender, vacuum, and Cuisinart
• sweet potatoes
• large stuffed animals that sound like mommy pretending to be Yogi bear
• mommy using her laptop without his "help"
• teething
• the binky

Row row row your boat

Reid and Miss Cutie K met again, this time at Gymboree class.

They shared the love boat...and a few toys.  Some drool was probably shared too.

  

After a tough class, the babies went to have a glass of lemonade next door.  Miss Cutie, having regained trust in Piglet's ability to be "gentle" extended an olive branch.

Piglet reciprocated but by then Miss CK was having second thoughts.

Piglet turned on the charm, cracking a joke that Miss CK couldn't resist giggling about.  

Miss Cutie came around again and Piglet was visibly relieved and happy.

Piglet takes home the gold...

*Warning and disclaimer: the following could be construed as (gasp) bragging.   Avert eyes if such things are found offensive.

Yesterday I took Piglet to see his pediatrician for what I feared was more than just teething symptoms.  He has been cranky, feverish and then yesterday started coughing (saddest sound in the world).  I chalked it up to teething but the advice nurse told me some startling news - fevers are NOT a symptom of teething!!! Everything of course is, but not fevers.  I was shocked (and felt quite bad). Anyway, we go in to see PD (Piglet's doc) who is by all accounts a wonderful person, but pretty reserved and not overly effusive.  Piglet despite feeling terrible, was shockingly good throughout all the poking and prodding.  This prompted PD to say things like "he is a very charming baby" and "what a wonderful disposition this little fella has" and "Piglet is a delightful boy."  Piglet of course,  just ate that up smiling and cooing at the good doc. Btw, turns out the only disease he has is the disease to please, that and a tooth about to come up. ;)

To Piglet, you have brought honor to our family with your highly favorable performance at the office of the healers.  Our great many ancestors are smiling upon you. With that said, I bestow upon you, the gold medal for "Happiness & Harmony While Being Poked and Prodded." Carry on little Grasshoppa.      

Happy Seven Month Birthday Piglet

Today at 10:01 a.m. marks exactly seven months since Piglet entered the world.  How time flies. It's all going so quickly - too quickly for my taste.  Here's proof.  This was my and dh's conversation when he came home from business travel last week.

DH: He's getting bigger.  It's like when we got the dog and I'd come home after a week away and she changed from a puppy to a dog.  Piglet is growing like that. Next week I'll come home and he'll be talking in full sentences. 

Me: (sobbing) No.  I don't believe it.  He can't be growing.  I need him to stay a baby forever!

DH: Babe - That's impossible!  Kahuna Matata - it's the circle of life!  

Me: Dude, that's NOT how it goes!

DH: (Happily singing "Kahuna Matata" while brushing teeth.)

(For the record, dh always gets that all wrong no matter how many times I tell him Kahuna Matata isn't even the right phrase much less meaning!)

Piglet, please stop growing or at least stop growing so quickly because it is making mommy very sad!  Then again, please do grow because you have a closet full of fall clothes I cannot wait to put you in!  :) Happy Seven Months, kiddo. We love you. 

The asian thing - it's real and it's deep.

So tonight I have Piglet on my hip as I'm staring at the fridge trying to figure out where to put our leftovers from dinner when he goes and PICKS UP the giant bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce!!!  Of all the things to grab (Tapatio, ketchup, maple syrup...) he goes for the one and ONLY asian thing within reach.   Now for obvious reasons, we loves us some soy sauce around here so I guess the bottom line is: don't question the asian thing, it's real and it's deep.  

PS - The picture quality is crap because I took it with my camera phone in really bad light!

It's a BOONiful life

It seems like lately, every day has been a little like Christmas for me! Every since Piglet started eating solids, I've finally been able to break out all these fun gadgets and toys that I've been hoarding since before he was even born. Yes, I said it. Hoarding. Anyone who knows me knows that I am infamous for my hoarding. Seriously, now with Piglet it's reached epic proportions. You know that lady who likes something then proceeds to buy one in every color? Or better yet, you know that lady that likes some [insert any and every type of clothing] for Piglet so much, she buys one for now, one the very next size up and then yet another for next year? C'est Moi.

Anyway, today was yet again Christmas as I ripped open the packaging of a BOON Squirt food dispensing spoon.  Piglet is just now getting to the point where he needs more than just one meal of solids per day and  I knew we were going to be out and about for at least 4-6 hours today so it seemed like just the ticket.  I'll be honest, even when I bought the BOON Squirt spoon, I was dubious about how well it would work. Well, holy pureed apple on my face.  This thing is pure genius. Now I can't wait to try out all the other BOON feeding products in my arsenal.  I see hoarding in my future...

PS - I also love the BOON bath products, especially the Flo Water Deflector which I've literally used since the day we brought Piglet home.  Those clever little peeps at BOON make such useful stuff!  And, did I mention that 10% of their profits support children's charities?

The return of the Pinchy Grabber...

Piglet, seeing that Miss Cutie K was nearby, decided he needed to get a little closer.  Miss Cutie wasn't too keen on this. Smart girl.

Piglet made his signature move "the belly pat"  but notice how his fingers are starting curl around Miss Cutie's belly...

Mommy, having seen the sly moves of the Pinchy Grabber (Piglet) before, intervenes before he can complete his pinchy grabbing!  Note the devilish smirk on Piglet's face. :)  What a goober. 

Piglet tried to make amends and wanted to hold hands, but it was too late, Miss Cutie K said "Momma didn't raise no fool!"

What to do when the bouncy isn't cutting it anymore...

Piglet decided that he'd had enough of the bouncy which left me in a predicament in terms of my daily dose of hygiene (aka "taking a shower").  I happened to have a basket of fresh laundry sitting nearby.  A few toys added to the laundry and voila!  Piglet has a new "luxury barge" for lounging and I can once again, take a (superfast, three minute shower) in relative peace.  

Guess - is it August or October?!

This is what happens when your dh leaves all the downstairs windows open all night and the temp drops to the low 50s. It makes for a cooooold morning. Brrrrr! Oh well, Piglet got to try out his new red cashmere hat. :)

Baby food - go make your own.

We are fans of making baby food at our house.  I'm a fan because - hello, have you seen the color of homemade pureed peas vs. the peas in a jar found at the grocery store? If not, see photo below. Which peas would YOU rather eat?

Piglet is a fan because he LOVES how it all tastes.  At first I thought, hey, I buy organic, even though I didn't make it, it's good because it's organic, right?  Right and wrong.  Right because it is handy and inexpensive, plus it's organic.  Wrong because Piglet was never interested in solid food until I made homemade apples and his face contorted and then broke into a one-toothed grin.  Once I tasted the difference, I couldn't blame him.  The PEAS people, try the PEAS!  Dh is such a fan of the fresh pureed ones, he often asks me to set some aside for him.  Apparently they call them "mashy peas" in the UK and serve them alongside fish n' chips. But, I digress. Back to the baby food. Making your own food has been surprisingly satisfying to me. In fact, I find that I'm constantly thinking of what else I can make for the Piglet to try. Because of this new obsession, my collection of Baby Cubes is growing by the day.   What are Baby Cubes, you ask?  Only the greatest invention ever for the home babyfood-maker!  They are BPA free, keep food perfectly fresh in the fridge and freezer and are perfect portion sizes for babies.  They are also inexpensive at $7.95 for a set of eight.  Pretty nifty, aren't they?  I have six sets and I've decided I need at least four more. Check out my latest batch of pureed Golden Delicious apples. These are Piglet's fave and will last me about a week to ten days. I'll leave two out and freeze the rest. Now come on, tell me that doesn't appeal to your inner Suzie homemaker!

 

It's official -- he's 50:50.

In my meanderings on the dubdubdub, I found this GENIUS site called myheritage.com.

You upload photos, it has face recognition software and FINDS the faces and then voila! You drag them into the look-alike-o-meter and find out once and for all who wins the family debate. Genius, I tell you, genius! As I've said all along, Piglet is indeed exactly 50:50!

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree - Descendents