Vegetables!

Today, Luis tried carrots for the first time - really any vegetable for the first time. By the expression on his face, I couldn't be sure he knew it wasn't rice cereal. But, he ate up the whole bowl (whole ~ 1 tablespoon). This was all that was left on his face when he was done. At lunch, he had straight carrots. At dinner, I tried mixing some pureed carrots with some rice cereal. This was less of a hit. Not sure if Luis just wasn't hungry or if he didn't like rice & carrot cereal, I made a bowl of just rice cereal. I think he's not a fan of the combo. Tomorrow at lunch, we'll try plain carrots again.

Here is a picture of "Sippy Cup Practice" that happens every night after dinner. As a still shot, it's fair to presume that Luis is actually drinking from the cup. Don't be fooled. He's just gnawing on the spout. He did have a lot of fun lifting the cup up to his mouth. About 50% of the time, he hit the target. However, when he was going it solo, he got water into his mouth 0% of the time. I guess that's why we call it practice.

Luis at Six Months

Kind of hard to believe that another month has gone by. Kind of hard to believe that Luis is 6 months. It's been a very busy and growth-filled month for Luis and me. Luis went to the pediatrician today. His new numbers are weight is 17lbs 7oz (50%), height is 27 1/2" (80%) and head circumference is 17" (30%). His percentiles are almost exactly the same as at his 4 month check up!

His skill set is much improved. In the last month, Luis learned how to roll from stomach to back and then from back to stomach. He can pick things up in one hand (instead of using both hands like a set of tongs) - and then pass the item from one hand to the other. He can put his toes in his mouth; sometimes both feed at once. Luis can get up onto his hands and knees, though he can't quite get the next step in crawling. He can push up on his arms and then scooch himself backwards.

Luis continues to sleep through the night (I hope we never go backwards on this!!), sleeping about 12 hours at night. During the day, he usually takes a short morning and late afternoon nap, with a long midday nap. We've worked up to two meals of cereal a day (choosing from rice, barley or oatmeal). And tonight, I steamed and pureed my first batch of carrots. I'll let you know what Luis thinks of them. Each night after dinner, I give Luis a sippy cup of water. He usually gets a couple of sips each night, though I don't think he knows how that happens.

Overall, Luis is still a sweet, sweet baby. He rarely fusses and is quick to flash his grin. He giggles at silly sounds and silly faces and when you squeeze the ticklish spot on his thigh. About once a day, he'll give a little gnaw on my jaw bone - a prelude to a wet, sloppy, baby kiss?

July is going to be a busy month for Luis and I. The first week, he and I are joining Dodie and his family on a ~ 650 mile road trip with stops in Rock Hill to see the McDow family and then in Atlanta to visit Randoph & Lauren and Grandfather. Mom will be there too - allowing for a family celebration for her birthday. Luis and I opted to fly home rather than take the ~12 hour ride home in the mini-van. Juliana, Diego's sister is coming up in the middle part of the month. She's here to visit with Luis (the only Rincon who has not yet met him) and to help me with moving stuff. The movers are coming the second week to pack up and take away the things that are going to Mumbai. Then, I have 3 weeks to get the rest of the stuff out of the house so that our renters can move in on August 1. And in those three weeks, Luis and I are flying to Indiana with Thomas to visit some of his mother's family. I'm exhausted and it's still June. Diego and I are targeting mid-August for our family move to Mumbai. It will be here before we know it!

Who Doesn't Enjoy a Good Book?

Juan Felipe gave Luis this tab book when Luis was born. Tonight, just before bed, Luis had a little quiet time with it. Maybe I'm a little biased, but I particularly liked these photos as a series.

The last couple of times I've read to Luis - both Dr. Seuss books - he has been very captivated by the sounds and has stopped playing with other toys to listen. One of my fondest reading-to-a-child memories is with my nephew Franklin, when I've been up in New Haven visiting. He will sit right up next to me and "pet" my arm while I ready. He'll sit for hours listening to stories. I hope Luis loves books as much.

A Little Progress Each Day

Today, Luis took the next step towards crawling. It's a bit hard to discern in this picture, but he is actually up on his hands and knees!! He didn't quite figure out what comes next, but I'm sure he will soon.

Juan Felipe came over for a great visit and got to witness this big step. I enjoyed watching JF & LT hang out together. I don't often get to watch Luis interact like this - it was fun. And Luis enjoyed playing new games with JF.

My new camera doesn't do video, so sharing Luis's crawling steps will be through still photography. I will keep you all posted.

Desperate to Crawl

Luis, more than anything, seems to want to crawl. He has enjoyed being on his tummy for quite some time now and often kicked his feet and moved his arms as if he were swimming. In the last couple of days, he has gotten more serious about being mobile. Yesterday, he spent close to an hour on his back trying to figure out crawling.

He can lift his whole torso up, push-up style. He can lift his bottom up in the air while his shoulders on the ground. Luis even got his knees up under him twice. Unfortunately for him (but maybe lucky for me), he has not quite put it all together. I think it's only a matter of time - and not very much of it...

Rincons & Rimiccis visit Camp Bibi Croom

This morning, Sarah, Will and Matthew Rimicci, and Luis, Ashley and I all loaded up in the Prius and drove out to Annapolis for a visit to Camp Bibi Croom. First of all, I am astounded that we all fit into the Prius. As you can see, the three car seats fit across the back. Ashley sat in the back back (I wish I had a picture of this part). And Sarah & I were up front.
Bibi Croom has lots and lots and lots of great toys. Solomon and Will particularly enjoyed the bubble wand. With Mom, they took turns creating the bubbles and popping the bubbles. Solomon squealed with delight the whole time.

We all went for a swim in the pool - which was a lot of fun. I have two different baby floaty things that Matthew and Luis enjoyed. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera, so you'll have to imagine that part on your own.
After lunch, everyone (under 10 but over 1) enjoyed Popsicles. Franklin and Will shared a few books.

As is almost always the case, Luis got tuckered out by all of those big kids.

A big thanks to Mom for hosting us, entertaining us and feeding us. Hats off to here for how great she is doing with Maggie, Franklin and Solomon. While she did a great job with three other kids, that was about 2 1/2 decades ago. She's not one bit rusty!

Photo Democracy

This morning, Maggie, Franklin & Solly were all outside playing while Luis was sleeping. I got them up onto our swing and took some pictures. When we came in, I downloaded the photos and then let Maggie & Franklin pick their favorites to print and I printed my fave for Dodie. Below are the "best of the best" according to:

Maggie - because Muffles is looking at the camera

Franklin - because it has just Ashley

Mook - because of Solly's smile

(Editors Note: I would like to point out that my favorite picture did not actually include either of my animals! Who would have thought?)

A Zoo at the Zoo

Yesterday, Camp Bibi Croom, Luis & me, Sarah, Will & Matthew Rimicci and Maggie, Ella & Bea Gumbinner descended upon the National Zoo. After several HOT, HOT days, even the weather cooperated.

With 8 kids ranging in age from 3 mo to 6 3/4 years and only 4 adults, I was a little nervous. But EVERYONE was wonderful. All kids played nicely together and behaved beautifully.

Maggie, Franklin & Solomon have seen more than there share of animals NOT in zoos during various times in Tanzania. Never the less, Franklin's favorite site yesterday was the elephant; Will Rimicci's too. We also got good views of an orangutan, lion, tortoise, panda, and hippo.

In our group, we had 2 single strollers and 2 double strollers and usually about 3 or 4 on foot at a time. At any given point, some adult was doing a headcount to make sure we stayed a party of 12.

Bea, Luis and Matthew seemed to be more interested in watching their cousins/siblings than in watching the animals. They were very good sports.

When we stopped for lunch, Maggie G. (a Friend of the National Zoo) treated us to all the pop corn we could eat - which turned out to be a lot! We also snacked on fruits, veggies, crackers and granola bars.

By the end of the trip, everyone was tired. Will graciously shared his seat on his stroller with Maggie and Sarah graciously agreed to push them all.

Now That's a lot of Babies!

Mom is here for two days with Dodie's kids. Maggie is almost 7, Franklin is almost 4 and Solomon is almost 2. They are spending two weeks at Camp Bibi Croom.

This afternoon, we put out a slip-n-slide that my mom has and the kids LOVED it. Maggie perfected the sliding part while Franklin preferred to run the length of the slide and then jump over the end. Ashley got tired just watching those guys and took her own water break.

Luis did not get to try it out; but he had a lot of fun watching his cousins run around.



Solly spent most of the time watching his siblings - enjoying from a distance. But after I took Luis in for dinner, apparently Solly started having a good time ON the slip-n-slide. Sorry, no photos of this.

Tomorrow, we are off to the zoo with Sarah, Will (4 yr), and Matthew (3 mo) Rimicci and Maggie, Ella (almost 2) and Bea (almost 1) Gumbinner. Assuming that I don't lose my mind, I'll post pictures of that excursion tomorrow.

Cranial Technologies - An Update

Before...

Today we went back to Cranial Technologies for our weekly update. The main feedback is that Luis is doing GREAT - lots of growth where we want growth. At each appointment, they bring the mold of Luis's head (before he started the DOC-band), so that we can see what changes there are. It's a little hard to tell, but there is LOTS of change.

Leslie (the PT) thinks that Luis will need the band for only about 3 more weeks! While Luis has been a great trooper throughout this DOC-band experience, I am excited to be done with it. For the one hour each day that he doesn't wear the band, it's much nicer for snuggling with him, nursing him and just watching him. I'm glad we did it, and I'll be glad to be done!

The Car Seat

Luis has upgraded to the "convertible car seat" as he is too long for the infant carrier. He looks so much like a little boy and less like a baby in this car seat!!

Monday

Here are a few pictures of Luis. We had a good day today: played in the exersaucer, played in the baby gym, went for a run/napped in the jogger (you can guess which of us ran and which of us napped), read some stories, played with blocks, had rice cereal for lunch and oatmeal cereal for dinner, and then had a lot of fun in the bath. I also had a good day getting many phone calls made and emails sent while Luis napped.

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks with the DOC-band. The original prognosis was that he'd need to wear it ~ 8 weeks. We go back tomorrow for our weekly check up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good news.

Happy Father's Day Diego!!

Here are a few pictures of Luis from Saturday. It's a little hard for me to believe how much Luis likes to be on his belly these days - considering how much he hated it the first 1/2 of his life (granted, that's only 3 months). If I lay him down on his back, he's barely down before he starts squirming to turn over. Maybe he can better survey his toys that way?












Tonight, before bed, I gave Luis a little turn in the exersaucer. He used to get a bit frustrated because he couldn't quite get his paws on the hanging toys. Well that's no longer a problem. He has also gotten much better at standing up (and I think he's a bit taller, too).











We always miss Diego - but we'll especially be missing him tomorrow, on Father's Day.