Opa, prunes and walks around the block

Loki's Opa Ruud (my dad) arrived last Wednesday from the Netherlands. This is the first time Loki and opa Ruud met. Loki is very impressed with his opa. When Opa smiles and laughs, Loki answers with a brought grin and cute giggle. When Opa tells Loki he needs to eat and sleep, Loki looks very serious, opens his eyes wide, frowns and seems a little intimidated. In order to deal with the situation, he smiles, figuring that everyone eventually is charmed by a smiling baby. Of course Loki is right. Our little charmer knows exactly how to wrap people around his little chubby fingers. Smart one, he is!

In the mean while it is great having Opa around. He helps unpack, hang up decorations, and keeps Mom and Loki company on some of our walks. We have been venturing out a little more. Although Loki is very interested in what there is to discover in our new environment, it does interrupt his sleep. We are constantly balancing going for a walk to the farmers market or to the lake, and getting Loki to eat and sleep. But it is great spending a little more time outside our home.

We also had a special guest today. Cheryl, faithful blog commenter and moral supporter extraordinaire. It was great seeing her, and after the initial "Hey I do not know you, but oh my are you interesting" look from Loki, he of course charmed also Cheryl with his smiles and shoulder shrugs. Seriously, the little guy tilts his head, lifts his shoulder and smiles with a big drooling smile. Wonder how long the drooling is considered cute?

More exciting news is the arrival of our new high chair. Donated by his little big friend Finn and "auntie" Emma. WE LOVE THE CHAIR!! Loki is still a tiny guy, but he does not seem to care. He behaves like a big boy. He sits down during dinner time, sometimes bobbing his head when tired, but screaming when taken out to sit with Mom. When we put him back in the chair he quiets down and smiles, completely satisfied with his accomplishment. Although we do not know if Loki has gained weight over the past week and a half, he does enjoy eating baby foods. And yes indeed, we found prunes without any additional ingredients (For Wyatt's mommy: we found Gerber prunes at Target). However, they are not organic. For now they will do though. That said, we loved the ideas given in the comment section, and when life calms down a bit, I will be making our own baby foods.

So far, Loki has tasted banana, pear, prunes and peas, in addition to the rice cereal with breast milk he has already eaten. Especially prunes with cereal and peas straight from the jar are a great success. When he is awake and hungry he pulls my hand with spoon and all straight to his mouth chomping away eagerly. It is such an amazing relief to see him enjoy food. We do not know yet if it is enough for him to gain weight but at least he has fun with it. Of course he still drinks from the breast eight times a day as well. All this big baby eating helps him with the reflux, which has gotten significantly better as well. Less drama, more smiles altogether. Let's hope his weight indeed goes in the right direction. He still fits some of his newborn clothes, but they are starting to look a bit tighter.

Finally, Loki found his feet and happily waves them in the air while pulling with his hands. Cute little guy is mesmerized by the extremities that will take him places in the future. I can't believe he's been around for eight months this week. Time does fly. Whether we have fun, lack of sleep or both!

Thanks for tuning in!

*photo by Opa

Eating like a champ:


Nom nom nom*


My spoon:


Sleepy?


Happy in the stroller*


Loki's first time in a restaurant. Low price Indian food!*


Hipster?*


Loki loves bathtime: