Chris and I have been considering upgrading our camera to a dSLR, and we finally took the plunge and bought a Canon Rebel XT. It's the entry-level Canon dSLR, but everyone tells me that Canon is the way to go. (Canon happens to be rather pricey, so we're starting on the low end.) I've wanted to learn more about photography for a long time, so this camera is my first step in working toward that goal. We got it yesterday, and I played around a bit. There are a lot of features I don't know how to use yet, but I got some fun pix nonetheless. Check out the newest album to see them. I think the ones of the pug show particularly well how this camera can take really sharp pix.

 

Also included is a progression of shots of Theo's ongoing love affair with his Graco giraffe. It's a daily up-and-down thing with them. Theo flirts with the giraffe happily, and then the giraffe somehow angers him and he starts to berate it in his baby babble, and then squall. It amuses us to no end! Chris and I have such a placid relationship—it's funny to watch our son involved in this roller-coaster relationship with his beloved giraffe!

So Theo had to go get two more shots today (the two we delayed at his two-month checkup). And while we were at the doctor, I asked them to weight him. Turns out Gigantor now weighs more than 13 lbs!!! Good lord, he was just 12.4 last week! I guess that would explain his hearty appetite of late....

I figured a midweek post in honor of Chris's and my first anniversary was in order! We decided to get the best of both worlds on our anniversary, so we spent the morning with Theo, and then my Mom babysat him in the evening so we could go out for a romantic dinner, just the two of us.

 

In the morning, we took Theo to the mall and had our first family portraits done. See the "June 17 - First Anniversary" picture album to see the proofs. I was really happy with how they turned out—especially the one of Theo's pout! He wasn't overly thrilled with the whole experience, but he did fairly well. Maybe next time we'll actually get a smile. And, I think these are officially the first postpartum pictures where I don't look aged and exhausted. So yahoo for that! Maybe I'm finally getting back to normal....

 

Our romantic dinner was at Il Fornaio, an Italian restaurant we both love. Because my diet is so limited due to the dairy ban for Theo, my choices are really limited. But Il Fornaio had about four dishes I could choose from, so that was nice. I had a really good salad with prosciutto, roasted pears, and beets, as well as a seafood marinara spaghetti. Chris had some sort of chicken dish and minestrone soup. And we both had a glass of wine, which knocked us flat! We're lightweights these days....

 

We spoiled each other a bit this year, figuring we only have one first anniversary. Chris got me a pair of beautiful princess-cut diamond earrings to match my engagement ring. He really surprised me—I was not expecting them at all!! And I got him a decidedly less romantic gift—an iPod he has been wanting to get. I tried and tried to think of something romantic, but couldn't come up with anything. But at least I know he'll like the iPod.

 

Anyway, back to the grind. Just stopped for a moment to do this midweek post!

In honor of Father's Day, I want to take a minute to talk about Chris. (Although he never reads the blog, as far as I know, so he'll probably never see this. But that's okay—his loss!) I bet you can all guess that Chris is a good father because he's such an overall good guy. But I'm not sure anyone knows just how good of a father he is! He is endlessly helpful to me...whether by taking care of fixing dinner, doing laundry, cleaning up the house, taking over Theo duty so I can work for a bit, changing diapers, or taking the middle-of-the-night feeding so I can pump more milk for Theo. But more than that, he is incredible with Theo. Little Theo isn't always the easiest guy to handle. Whether due to his allergies or some sort of colic or just plain fussiness, the truth is that our little boy can often be quite fussy...and sometimes for hours at a time. But Chris never just leaves it to me to deal with out of frustration. (And as anyone who has had or has been around a fussy baby knows, it is surely frustrating when they squall for hours!!) He does everything in his power to calm Theo down and give me a break so my nerves aren't shot by the end of a long day.

 

I guess the truth is, neither of us is anywhere near perfect, but we make a pretty darn good pair. I couldn't be doing this without Chris, and I don't think he could be doing it without me. And our little boy is lucky to have such a great Daddy in his life! I am not-so-secretly hoping that Theo turns out to have his Daddy's huge heart.

 

Okay, I'll quit with the sappiness now. But what better day to be sappy about Chris than on his first Father's Day, I figured....

 

This week has been relatively quiet in Theo's world. We haven't done much other than take him to his two-month well-baby check, which I chronicled on the blog. We also played a lot and took a lot of walks. I try to keep Theo up for a few hours between naps, both so he tires himself out for his next nap and so he gets a lot of interaction with me. So, this week's photo album has a few pictures of Theo playing with toys, which he's starting to do more and more. I don't think he really knows what he's doing yet, but he knows enough to get excited when he gets his kick mat to make a sound or when he's able to grasp one of his toys. It's really neat to see. I love these little developments—they seem to happen overnight! I've also been reading to him, for which Chris makes fun of me (because Theo is obviously too young to really listen to a story). But I'm telling you, he really likes Open the Barn Door! Probably mostly just because I read it in a freakishly animated tone of voice, but whatever...it makes him happy, so it makes me happy.

 

Sunday was a big day because we went to Vacaville to meet up with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Kathy and (honorary) Aunt Linda. (This is not to be confused with Aunt Linda Fletcher—this honorary Aunt Linda is Linda Jenkins, a longtime family friend of the Smalls.) Theo was kind of grumpy for most of Father's Day, so I can't say it was terribly relaxing for Chris or me. But I think it was a nice Father's Day anyway. I made Chris a book from Theo—I uploaded a bunch of photos from the past 10 weeks and created a story called "I Love My Daddy Because...," ostensibly written by Theo. Shutterfly printed it and bound it, and it turned out really cute. I think Chris really liked it.

 

In non-baby news, Chris's and my first anniversary is Tuesday. I can't believe it has been a whole year! We've got something planned for the three of us Tuesday morning (because Chris is off work), and then Grandma Diane will be babysitting Theo for a couple hours while Chris and I go out for a nice, romantic dinner, just the two of us. I think Il Fornaio is the plan. There are actually two things on the menu I can eat, which is more than I can say for many restaurants. (This no-dairy diet stinks, I tell you! The things I do for the boy....)

 

Until next week....

Theo's two-month well-baby check was today, and he came through with flying colors! Our little man weighs 12 lbs 3 oz (in the 57th percentile), measures 23 3/4 inches (75th percentile), and has a head size of 15 3/4 inches (46th percentile). So he's average in weight and head size, and rather tall. He also got three vaccines today and will go back next week to get the remaining two. (We split them up because we weren't comfortable overloading him with five vaccines at once. More studies are beginning to show that overloading with vaccines is questionable, particularly for kids with allergies or immune problems. Theo has no immune problems, thank god, but he does have that nasty dairy allergy, so we thought it best to break up the vaccines a bit.) He was a brave boy for his shot—screamed his head off for a minute, then quieted right down.

 

As for the dairy allergy...well, that's a tricky one. He primarily eats breast milk, but I don't produce quite enough to keep up with the boy's voracious appetite. So, we were trying to supplement with a very small amount of formula. The pediatrician had us try him on a hypoallergenic formula that has the milk proteins broken down so allergic kids can tolerate them. Unfortunately, not Theo. He does much better on that formula than on regular formula, but he's still uncomfortable and fussy, so the pediatrician thinks even the hypoallergenic formula is a bit too much for him at this stage.

 

So what does that mean? Well, it's best if he's on straight breast milk (with no dairy at all in my diet) for at least six months before we even start adding in solid foods. But because I'm having trouble keeping up with him, there is one last-ditch effort for a supplement when we run low on breast milk—a ridiculously expensive formula called Neocate that has the dairy proteins broken down to the amino acid level. So I guess we'll order a case of that (it's the smallest quantity you can order...and it's still $140!) to have on hand when we run short on breast milk, and hope for the best.

 

Why not soy formula, you might be wondering? Well, thanks to his mama, Theo is rather likely to have or develop a soy allergy as well as a dairy allergy. I was allergic to both as a baby, and that ups Theo's chances of a soy allergy from about 10% (10% of dairy-allergic babies are also soy-allergic) to about 50%. And, as our pediatrician explained it, even if he doesn't have a soy allergy yet, it's quite possible that he could develop one if we expose him to too much of it. And the truth is, we tried him on a soy formula supplement when we realized that he was dairy-allergic, and he didn't do overly well on it. He did much better than he does on dairy, but he was still pretty fussy and uncomfortable. So much for that.

 

Anyway, I'm going to end this on a high note. A bit of bragging, really...so forgive me if I'm being obnoxious. What can I say; I'm a proud, proud mama! So our pediatrician was checking Theo's motor skills and asking us about his development and coordination. I said, "Well, he rolled himself from his tummy to his back the other day, but I'm not sure how, since my back was turned when he did it. I think I had him positioned on his tummy with one arm under him just right, so he could use it as leverage. He hasn't done it again since." And Dr. G replied, "Yes, probably. It's a little early for him to be rolling over. We don't expect to see that until a bit older than this." As she said this, she put Theo on the exam table on his tummy. As if on cue, he pushed himself up on his forearms and proceeded to roll right over on his back, as if to say, "Oh yeah—that rolling thing? I can do that. I was just saving my debut of my new trick until I had a proper audience!" He looked quite pleased with himself, and Chris and I cracked up as Dr. G said, "Oh well—I guess he actually CAN roll over! Good for him!" YAY FOR THEO!!!

So Mr. Theo turned two months old on Thursday!! We had a huge, lavish party for him, with all sorts of A-list people invited. I'm sure pictures will be prominently featured in People magazine next week. Well, not really. Instead, the boy spent the day with mom and dad, doing...well, nothing out of the ordinary. Eating, sleeping, and pooping. And taking a trip to Babies 'R Us, where he got a fun little barnyard toy for babies. It's a soft mat that makes fun little barnyard sounds when the baby clobbers it. So far, Theo seems to enjoy it very much.

 

But it's been another exciting week for him all around. On Monday he went to the nursing home to visit Great-Grandma Ruth, although he was rather fussy, so we didn't stay for too long. And then Amber came over to visit him and take some pictures (some of which are featured in this week's album). Friday we went to lunch at Chevy's with some friends from Sac State, so Theo got to meet them and see his good buddy, Lizzy Dodge, and new friend, Belen Fletcher.

 

Saturday Grandma Diane joined Chris, Theo, and I for a trip down to Elk Grove to visit Auntie Lynnie, Uncle Charles, and cousins Sam, Tyler, Noelle, and Stevie. Theo was a bit fussy and cranky, but we enjoyed visiting with everyone. We don't get to see my sister and her family nearly enough (four kids keeps her busy, one kid and a full-time job keeps me busy, and we live 45 minutes apart), so it was good to get to spend some time with them.

 

Sunday Theo went to his first pug meetup, which he seemed to enjoy. (Pictures are in this week's album.) Poor Luna was the object of some boy pug's affection, so she spent much of the meetup barricaded under a table, trying to protect her honor.

 

Speaking of Luna, she got christened this week. Theo created one of his masterful "peepee fountains," and the stream landed right on the pug! I was quite amused, and luckily Luna didn't seem too peeved.

 

Chris has been back at work for two weeks now—but only part time. Still, it's been a good way to ease into what will become our standard routine when he goes back full time. I'm slowly learning to balance mommy-ing and working, and Theo and I have a decent pattern set up now. After breakfast, he typically takes a three-hour nap in his favorite swing, during which time I scramble to get as much work done as I can. When he wakes up, he eats and gets changed, and then we set out on a morning walk. (Usually to Starbucks, although sometimes a trip to Target is in order as well...and Theo inevitably poops there. I don't know what it is about Target, but it's like a baby laxative for him. Works every time!) Theo loves his walks and is very interested in looking at mama and looking around at everything, so it's a good way to give him some awake time where I can interact with him, as well as getting me some much-needed exercise.

 

After lunch, Theo often needs another nap, so I dash upstairs to do more work while he sleeps. When he wakes up, eats, and gets changed, we then have some playtime on the floor. I've found that our boy isn't a huge fan of being held much. He tends to get fussy, and then he's happy as a clam if you lay him on a blanket on the floor, get down with him, and "play" with him (as much as one can play with a two-month-old). He likes to coo and babble and squirm around down there while I talk to him, which is great because I find I can get some laundry-folding done at the same time. (Hurray for multitasking!) However, the fact that he doesn't really like being held all that much makes our upcoming 3-1/2-hour flight to Texas a bit daunting, to say the least!!

 

In the evenings, we often take a second walk with Chris, which is fun. Sometimes the dogs are lucky enough to get to come too. And we have some more playtime on the floor and a bath (depending on the evening and how fussy Theo is—he does still tend to have a couple hours of fussiness in the evening, though nowhere near as badly as before we got the dairy out of his system). And Chris often spends time with Theo while I finish whatever work I couldn't get done during the day. The only real snag we hit is during dinnertime. I had this grand vision of being able to cook dinner while "wearing" Theo in a front pack, but he gets very antsy and fussy. So, that part isn't working too well yet. But at least we're getting the rest figured out.

 

Theo (or Gigantor, as we often refer to him) has his next dr. appt. on Tuesday, so we'll get to see what he weighs. He was 11 lbs 13 oz at his last appointment (about a week ago), so he should be over 12 pounds now. Big, strong boy!!

 

I'll end this post with what I think is a rather amusing little story. The other day, I put Theo in his beloved swing for an afternoon nap. He was a bit fussy, so I popped his favorite pacifier in his mouth. Which kept him happy for all of 30 seconds, after which time he started fussing again. I looked over to see that he had lost his pacifier...or so I thought. I popped it back in, only to have him give me a big grin behind the pacifier and promptly spit it out. We went through this three times before I finally wised up to the fact that the little guy just might be spitting it out on purpose! He seemed to find this a most amusing game. Could my boy be working his mama already?? If so, I'm really in for it as he gets older, aren't I?!

 

Our little man is now eight weeks old...and tipping the scales at nearly 12 lbs! We had to take him to the doctor this week (for a little eye virus), and we got an unofficial weight of 11 lbs 15 oz (but he was wearing a diaper). Thankfully, the goopy eye is clearing up nicely.

 

While there, we talked to the doctor about Theo seeming as if he might be having a bit of trouble with soy formula as well. It turns out that because I was allergic to both dairy and soy as a baby, and Theo is definitely allergic to dairy, it's relatively likely that he is (or will become) sensitive to soy as well. So now he's on a hypoallergenic formula to supplement my milk (which still isn't quite keeping up with the boy's demands!). The good news is that if Theo is like most babies with allergies (and like his mama was), he will likely outgrow his dairy/soy allergies by somewhere between 9 and 14 months. The bad news is that he hates the hypoallergenic formula. I mean hates it with a passion! We first tried one made by Similac, and he acted like we were trying to poison him when we mixed some in with breast milk! Then we switched to a premixed on made by Enfamil (which is even pricier than the Similac one...and the Similac one isn't cheap by any means!), and he tolerates that in small doses. He won't take it straight (or even 50/50 with breast milk), but he will take it if we mix 2 oz of the formula with 3 oz of breast milk. He looks suspicious, but he doesn't scream as if we're killing him (obviously a good thing!).

 

The good news is that me cutting dairy out of my diet has made a huge difference! Theo 2.0 is a very happy little guy most of the time now. He's like a different child than the one we lived with for the first six weeks of his life. He has his fussy moments, but they're generally if he's wet, hungry, or overtired. That we can surely deal with! Hours and hours of screaming and fussing in pain was really hard to take—we just felt so helpless! This new happy, comfortable Theo is a welcome relief to both Chris and me!

 

So on to the week. It was pretty quiet until Friday, when I took Theo on his first big outing without Chris—we went to the zoo with our friend Janeane and her daughter Emma. (See the picture of Emma and "Meow" in the album.) Theo did very well...he sat happily in his stroller at the zoo and at lunch, while Emma enjoyed looking at the animals. Then Friday night, Theo, Chris, and I went on "Date Night" to get sandwiches and sorbet. Alas, Theo had his usual meal of milk, but he seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.

 

Then Saturday, Theo, Chris, and I trekked over to Auntie Jeanette and Uncle Brian's house in Folsom to meet with them and Auntie Lisa and Uncle Chris, who were visiting from Seattle. Jeanette has been my best friend since 7th grade and Lisa has been my best friend since kindergarten—from 7th grade on, the three of us were pretty much inseparable pals. Lisa now lives in Seattle, so this was the first time she has gotten to see Theo! The six of us went to Tahoe for the day, and Mr. Theo again did very well—very little fussing, even though he was stuck in his car seat for several hours. (Luckily, he loves riding in the car!) He managed to poop through four outfits  (I hate disposable diapers for that reason!!), but otherwise all was well. I'm getting very adept at changing him in public, I must say.... We ended the day by going out to Mexican food in Folsom. Theo was zonked by the time we got home, but he did great!

 

Sunday, Jeanette, Lisa, and Chris came over for a BBQ before Lisa and Chris had to leave to fly home. (My) Chris made yummy kebabs, while I made vegan brownies (surprisingly tasty!) and fruit salad. Jeanette fried up some plantains for us, which were a huge hit, and made a yummy pasta salad. And we all played Foodie Fight, a fun trivia game about food (hence the name). Alas, the men beat the women, but perhaps that is to be expected, given that (Lisa's) Chris has a most excellent food blog. Theo entertained our guests by pooping very loudly while sitting on my lap at the table while we were playing our game. That's my boy!!!

 

All in all, it was an excellent weekend. It's always such a treat when I get to see both my best friends at once, and it's even neater that all our husbands get along well. I only wish Lisa and Chris lived closer, so we could see them more. But then again, I never mind a trip up to Seattle...and Theo quite wants to make a visit there in the not-too-distant future!