Bumbo bumbo bumbo bumbo... (and sweaters)

One of those words that's just fun to say! Til we took an interest in baby gear, we had no idea what a Bumbo was. Is it a variant of the cheesehead?

No, silly Andy, it's a baby seat for babies who can't sit up yet! Technically they're supposed to have complete head control, which Malcolm doesn't quite, but he's small enough that the back supports his head a bit, and he can hold it up really well when he wants to.

He will sit in the Bumbo while I have my breakfast in the morning... and it makes a great seat to showcase knitted sweaters...
Yes, I finally finished his Baby Surprise jacket! Just in time, too, since it just fits him. I'll try to block it bigger when I remember to wash it. This was made with line by line notes by Dawn Adcock to help keep track of where I was. It was a fun knit which would have been pretty quick had I not started it 6 days before he was born, just 3 days before I went into labor! After that, it took me about 11 weeks to get through it :). Here's another view on his playmat, where Malcolm likes to gaze and swat at his ladybug and his sun:
My knitting goals are much reduced for the rest of the year - just a scarf for a Christmas gift, which I really need to get working on. And I guess I'll need a project for the flight to Boston, assuming Mr. M. cooperates and sleeps for a good bit.

Here is the promised other view of the lovely blue sweater, one of a couple his Grandma brought from Boston for him. Grandma, you need to put these on Ravelry!

taking advantage of a nap for 12-week pic

I promise, he had socks earlier, but baby feet and most socks don't seem to be compatible! Malcolm was 12 weeks on the day before Thanksgiving. He's been working on slow, deliberate arm and leg movements, and also more frequently finding his hands. When you give him a pacifier, he will often reach up his hand and either hold it in or pull it out depending on the luck of the draw!
I'm sure eventually he will notice the bear, but so far it's still "Mom, why am I propped in the chair"?

And since these far-away pictures never show off his gorgeous blue eyes (they're darker than mine or Andy's, but may still be lightening), here's a feature picture from today, en route to lunch. The sweater his Grandma knit him sure enhances his big blues! (more on this sweater in another post). He did remarkably well at lunch (just a local place in Hillsboro here), staying awake as we ordered, then starting to crank, taking the pacifier, and drifting to dreamland as we ate.

Too bad the carseat has that giant warning sticker - otherwise this would make a lovely wall hanging. Maybe I'll have to try my Gimp (free photo-editor a la photoshop) skillz...

11 weeks!

Hey, a more-or-less-on-time post!

Malcolm turned 11 weeks yesterday! He's still a cranky baby if things are not going right to his specifications, but he has really turned on the smiles lately. His whole face just lights up, and he sticks his tongue partly out... it's so cute! He must think I'm some kind of crazed clown since I'm always just grinning at him trying to elicit a grin from him.

Of course he won't smile on cue in the chair for his weekly picture - maybe one of these weeks. Instead I get the "mommy, what are we doing here" expression again :). But I will post smiles in a different entry!

He seems to be starting to grasp at things, too - we made a mall expedition on Sunday, and at the food court he was awake in his carseat/stroller, with his little hands just grabbing at his blanket edge and the little toy we have attached there. And while I was trying things on and Andy was doing mall laps with him, Andy report that he grabbed his pacifier and waved it around. I don't think these grabbings are too intentional yet, but the hands are opening up and grasping. I can't wait til he is really reaching for toys instead of just batting around. Fun stuff!

I, of course, am getting pretty much nothing done except baby care and the occasional blog entry. But I guess that is to be expected. If only I had a nap predictor which could tell me which would be 2 hours and which would be 30 minutes! I expect he will get on a more routine schedule in the next couple of months, though that will be interrupted by Christmas travel (lookout fellow passengers on the PDX-BOS flight, cranky!Malcolm is onboard!). At least our sleep is decent (knock on wood) - he usually wakes up to eat just once at night. On the other hand, it's been months and months since I've had a complete night of sleep, since my whole 3rd trimester of pregnancy was plagued by back pain when lying down, and of course the whole pressure-on-the-bladder-causing-multiple-bathroom-trips issue. Well, I assume he'll sleep through the night sometime in the next few years!

Enough rambling, time to watch Andy make dinner :)

10 weeks, very belatedly

I am more likely to get these up if I don't do much commentary... will try for more on tomorrow's 11 week update. Here is Malcolm last week at 10 weeks. I could have done a longer post during his 2-hour nap this afternoon, but a) I didn't know it was going to be 2 hours! and b) I was actually doing some knitting. BSJ is finished except for buttons! (oh, and I was having lunch, too, always important when free time comes in small and irregular chunks)


Malcolm says "ah-loooo" to the loyal readers of this blog. It's his favorite thing to say. He finds it amusing when I counter with other types of Indian food: "aloo gobi, chicken korma, zaag paneer..."

New and exciting tummy time position

Exercise ball!

(10 week update coming later....)

9 weeks, belatedly

It seems that I'm getting later and later in posting these weekly pictures. Now it's Saturday, and I need to think back on what we did during Malcolm's 9th week - since he turned 9 weeks this past Wednesday (and 2 months on Monday). He was pretty zoned out for the bear picture this week - not cranking, but not really that interested either (I think he went down for a nap pretty soon after). He also looks remarkably "chinny" - I think due to his posture. He's not actually too chinny yet!


He had his 2-month pediatrician appointment on Monday and was pronounced perfect - long and lean, 90th percentile for length and 50th for weight (and 70th for head circumference!). He got 3 immunizations (2 shots plus an oral) and will go back in 2 weeks for the other two. He seemed super-cranky for a couple of days afterwards, but no fever or other bad reactions, phew.

A couple of shots from Halloween, when he was 8 weeks 2 days old. He had a nice happy window where he let us pose him in his orange and black striped romper:(orange dudes)

(gourd dude)

But he melted down when we tried to put him in a chili pepper bunting. Too much costume!
(we've noticed he tends to get overtired really easily, and if he's melting down it's probably time for a nap! It's hard to try to catch him before he "melts", though. Hopefully this will ease up as we get closer to the end of the "4th trimester", but I'm not holding my breath at this point since that's only 2.5 weeks away!)