Baby Thomas is now 6 months old!  He is outgrowing his Bumbo seat, and it was time for us to look for a real high chair.  I had read the Baby Bargains book, and read countless reviews online.  All signs pointed to the Fisher-Price Healthy Care line.  There were a few options.  You could get a regular high chair, or a booster seat that would sit on a chair.  Also, there was a Rainforest line with green jungle scenes and toys.  I did not want the Rainforest chair.  Thomas already has an exersaucer, and I thought it was just unnecessary.  I bought the Rainforest high chair.  

We considered the booster seat, mainly because there was a version that was not Rainforest style.  We opted for the big high chair.  I had a gift card, and headed over to Toys R Us.  I bought the last one on the shelf.  The box was all dented and I was scared to look inside.  It was fine.  When I got it home, it sat by the tree for a few days.  My husband finally worked up the courage to open the box all the way.  It wasn’t too much work.  He thought it was pretty easy. 

Bottom line, baby likes the high chair.  He seems comfortable.  It holds him in place while I feed him. (He was always struggling and leaning back in the Bumbo.)  It is super easy to clean (all vinyl seat cover).  The tray is very easy to click on, and also easy to slide off.  It doesn’t look too gaudy in our  dining room.  The toys are fun for him to play with, and the music has a volume control with a pretty quiet setting.

Our one complaint is that when you fold it up, the legs don’t latch in place.  They flop around unless you hold them together.   

I give this high chair  (4 smilies out of 5).  It would get higher marks if it had another option other than Rainforest style.  Also, it would help if the legs latched shut when folded up. 

I definitely recommend this high chair.  It leans back for little babies, and the height is also easy to adjust. 

Yesterday was Thomas’ first Christmas!  He was too young this year to understand what was going on, but we still had a fun time.  In the morning, I dressed him in his little santa onesie.  He opened up a few gifts (some Hanukkah) in front of the tree.  My husband and I kept our gifts to a minimum.  It has been an expensive year, and we really didn’t even need or want big gifts from each other.  Our parents are very generous, and gave us money.  For Thomas, they gave a stroller (that we picked out) and a Babies R Us gift card (which I used to buy a high chair).  His other gifts included toys and pajamas (which I had asked for).  

 Next week, my mom and sister will be here to visit.  We will do our “real” Christmas then.  We’ll have more gifts, and our traditional meals.  Last night, we went to a friend’s house for dinner.   The baby slept in his pack n play for a few hours, but woke up so we went home a bit early.  It was still nice to get out.  I am so excited to see my family next week!

Yesterday, we took Thomas to a Christmas parade.  And when I say Christmas, it was REALLY about Christmas.  There were several Christian groups in the parade- the girls were wearing skirts in the marching band!  That was a first for me.  

It was a really nice day- perfect weather.  We found a spot in the shade, and set up our folding chairs.  I don’t know how much Thomas actually watched, but I enjoyed the parade.  A lot of the entries were local businesses, including a garbage truck!

 The local Democratic party marched in pajamas.

This float won the award for best overall entry.  It was the Grinch and the children of Whoville.  Very cute!

Here are some photos of Thomas (and my hair).

I’m a sucker.  I took my baby to meet Santa today, and I ended up buying the photo CD.  The pictures were SO good!  I’ve been to the mall at Christmas time every year, and I always see the endless line of families waiting to meet Santa.  I did not want to wait in that line with a little baby!  So, I packed a special outfit this morning, and headed to the mall after work.  The line wasn’t long.  There were about 6 or 7 families ahead of us.  However, each family takes at least 5 minutes!  First, they take the “formal” pictures.  These can be printed up while you wait.  Then, they take a series of “candid” shots.  You can come back in two days to pick them up, or buy the CD which they burn while you wait.  I was worried that Thomas would not smile, or that he would be too tired to enjoy it.  He missed his nap, and was making his tired cry.  Well, when it was our turn, he was a champ!  It helped that the photographer was really good with him, AND he took great photos.  I was originally going to purchase the “formal” picture, but I didn’t really like it. The candids came out so much better.  Now I have to choose one that we will print out and send with the Christmas cards.   We’re a combo family, so we ordered a Hanukkah onesie from CafePress.com.  I’ll take separate pictures then.

For now, enjoy Thomas and Santa: 

I have tried feeding Thomas rice cereal a few times, but it didn’t go very well.  I don’t think he was quite ready.  He’s 5 months now, and I think I’ll try again.  I looked into good foods to start babies on.  Avocado, banana, and squash are at the top of the list.   I tried a tiny bit of banana mixed with rice cereal.  He really liked it, but was really backed up the next day.  I didn’t try that again.  I also bought an avocado and a butternut squash.  I can just mash up the avocado without cooking it (same as banana), but I haven’t tried that one yet.  Tonight I decided to cook up the squash.  I looked up a “recipe” on this website.  It was pretty easy.  I cut the squash in half, scooped out the seeds, and baked it in a dish with 1/2 inch of water for 40 minutes at 400°.  Once it was finished, I scooped the “meat” out of the skin, and pureed it in my Cuisinart.  It looks great!  I bought two ice cube trays and filled them with the puree.  I put them in the freezer, and once they’re frozen, I’ll pop them out and store them in a Zip-Loc bag.  It makes 32 individual servings.  If I bought that much baby food in jars, it would cost about $15.  The squash probably cost me $2 or $3 at the store.  I am looking forward to the next vegetable!

We host Thanksgiving for my husband’s family at our house.  This is our third year doing it since we took over after my mother in law passed away. I really enjoy cooking her recipes, and it also gives us a good excuse to do a thorough house cleaning.  Most of my husband’s family lives in the area, but his brother lives in New York.  They always fly down for this holiday.  It was the first time our sister in law and nephews got to meet Thomas.  Our nephews are twins and they’re almost 11 years old.  Somehow, we went an entire year without seeing them.  They had grown up so much in that year.  They were really sweet with Thomas.  They both wanted to hold him and kiss him, but one of them was more into holding him than the other.  They do have two baby cousins in New York, so they are pretty comfortable with babies.  

I thought it all went well.  Thomas was sleeping when everyone arrived. He stayed up for about 2 hours.  It was long enough for his auntie to give him a bottle, and for everyone to play “pass the baby.”  Then he went right to sleep around 7:00.  

While we had all 4 cousins together, we decided to go to Sears for a photo.  The pictures came out pretty cute.  They took one with their grandfather, and one with just the boys.  Thomas wasn’t too keen on the photographer and didn’t want to smile for her.  He’s had her before. (I take him all the time!) 

Today, we got together one last time for a brunch.  I put Thomas down for a nap, and he woke up just in time for a bottle before we had to leave.  He did pretty well while we ate.  Again, we got some really cute photos.  Then he started getting tired, so I put him down on the couch for a nap. I didn’t know if it would work.  He only sleeps in his crib these days. I patted him on the back, and he went right to sleep! It was SO loud, and we all couldn’t believe he slept through all the noise. 

 Here he is asleep on the couch. 

Yesterday, I came home from work to find a package addressed to Thomas.  I opened it up and unwrapped two outfits.  One is a little baseball outfit.  The other is a sailor suit.  An actual sailor suit.  I think this is the funniest thing ever.  It is so old-fashioned that I think it might be cool again.  I would have never bought this for Thomas.  If it came from a regular store, I would have returned it, to be honest.  But this gift was specially ordered, as you can tell by the personalization.  It really is cute, and when he’s big enough to wear it, I’ll take him in to get photographs taken.  

When I first unwrapped the gift, I couldn’t tell who it was from.  I finally found a card taped to the bottom of the wrapping paper.  It was a “Congratulations, It’s a Girl” card, which was kind of strange.  Obviously the store had personalized it and attached the card when they shipped it.  The card had the names of two people I have never actually met, but I do know who they are.  They live on the street where my husband grew up. He’s known them his whole life.  My father in law recently went back and visited, so that must be how they heard about Thomas.  It was very kind of them to think of Thomas.  They either have a wacky sense of humor, or they think this is a traditional gift for a baby boy.  Either way, I’m sure Thomas will hate us when we show the pictures to his girlfriend.

Before I was pregnant, I had never even heard of a Bumbo seat.  I joined a pregnancy board (pregnancy.org) and many people were talking about how great they were. I had to check it out, so I found it online. It looked like a hard plastic seat, so I was very surprised to find our Bumbo to be a soft, squishy foam-like plastic.  They are a bit expensive, so I found one on Craigslist.  It also came with the snap-on tray.  We started using it a few months ago, and Thomas really enjoyed being able to sit up and look around.  Now he sits even better (not all slumped over), and he’s strong enough to almost tip it over!  I bought it from a mom whose baby was doing that exact thing.  I figure he’ll be ready for a real high chair soon, and we can retire the Bumbo.

They run about $40, and you can buy them at many stores, such as Babies R Us or Amazon.com.

 http://www.bumbobabyseat.com/

  http://www.amazon.com/Bumbo-Baby-Sitter/dp/B001395Q6A/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1226624874&sr=8-5 

I give the Bumbo (5 smilies out of 5)   

Thomas in the Bumbo around 2 months old Thomas in the bumbo with the tray around 4 1/2 months old

When Thomas was first born, we dressed him in “footie” pajamas at night.  They were so cute!!  However, he was so skinny that when he scrunched up his legs, his feet would get stuck in the pajama legs.  He would get frustrated, and we eventually stopped using them.  He’s only worn footless pj’s for the past two or three months.  Now he is outgrowing the footless pj’s, so I decided to give the footies another try.  Thomas is a very long baby.  The nurse measured him at 27 inches last week, but I just measured him at 26 inches.  Regardless, it’s pretty long for a 4 1/2 month old baby.  I pulled out a pair of 9 month size footie pajamas last night.  Hubby said I was playing with fire.  He was sure that Thomas would wake himself up frustrated and stuck.  Well, they fit him perfectly, and he slept 12 hours last night!  I don’t think they’re the cutest pajamas, but they did the trick.

It has been a while since I’ve sat down to write on my blog. I am SO busy!!!  I have been back at work for two and a half weeks.  I love my job, but it’s been a tough transition.  My students are finally settling down, but I’m not staying late to get work done.  So I brought work home this week for the first time in years.  It was only 20 minutes’ worth on Wednesday, but this weekend I brought home a whole bag of papers to look over.  Thomas is in bed every night by 7:30, so I have plenty of time to get that done.  

This past Tuesday I had my first night shift at the ice cream shop.  It was a late night, and it was also election night.  I got home at 11, just as they announced Obama as the winner.  I stayed up past midnight watching McCain’s concession speech and Obama’s acceptance.  I didn’t make it through Obama’s, but it was great to hear him talk.  I am so excited that my son will grow up with Obama as his president.  

I work my next evening shift tomorrow night, but it won’t be as late.  It is tough working at night and getting up early for work.  I have found one student for private tutoring.  That hour pays as much (or more) as my  entire shift at the ice cream shop.  If I had a few more students, I could quit my night job.  I’ll keep spreading the word.  

 Thomas has settled into a pretty good routine with the sitter.  He takes a 2-3 hour nap in the morning, then a short nap in the afternoon.  I’ve found that he does well with a one hour nap at 4pm.  The only thing that is inconsistent is his wake-up time.  One morning this week, he was up at 4:30.  Another morning, I had to wake him after 6 because I had to get him ready for the day.  

Tonight I tried the rice cereal again.  We got through the whole serving, but he wore most of it on his bib.  He loved taking the spoon himself and putting it in his mouth.  He just didn’t “get” that he was supposed to swallow the food.  I’ll keep trying every night until he gets it.