Getting Ready for the Holidays

Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas, and a joyous holiday season to you and yours! Fischer makes an adorable addition to Santa's team of reindeer :) He liked the headband--he could see it out of the corner of his eye so he kept tilting his head back to try and get a better look at it.

Here's a current family pic, too :) We're all very fashionable in our jammies.

Fischer continues to be interested in the kitties. They're tolerant of his random grabs and slaps, if they're lucky enough to get within his reach! You can see how red Joe's beard is--Fischer's hair continues to fill in, and it's staying a nice strawberry blonde.

The other night when Mike and Chris visited us from nextdoor (aka the Crazy Neighbor Lady and her Husband), they had their holiday headgear on. It was a very festive atmosphere--it was hard to get a good photo because everyone was laughing so hard!

Fischer stays sitting up on his own, now. He occupies himself sometimes in his crib, turning his jungle soother off and on by hitting the button...until he tips over by accident, then he just hits the button with one of his feet! He grabs at anything that catches his eye that might be in his reach.

I think he's teething, again, because his appetite is reminiscent of October, when he would drink very little for them at daycare. Despite this, he nurses well for me when we're together, and eats his fruits and veggies like a champ. He thinks he's too cool for bottles, too, because what little his teachers can get him to drink, they give him from a sippy cup. His 'productive' cough continues, but it comes and goes throughout the day. Hopefully we'll have some new teeth early in the new year!

Fischer has begun to wimper a little when I walk out of his classroom, too. He does the same thing when I enter his classroom and don't pay him attention--if I just have a quick message or question for his teachers. At home he doesn't seem to mind when I am in and out of the room he's in. We'll have to see if that changes soon!

Fischer can officially roll in both directions, now. He was hanging out with me in the office at work one day--I was trying to give him a break because there were lots of sick kids in his room, and his teachers needed to clean up a yucky mess at the time. I spread out my sweatshirt on the floor and gave him an empty water bottle to play with. He tossed it to the side and rolled right over to get it. I noticed when one of the teachers saw him and exclaimed "Oh, what're you doing?!" He was on his belly, but was struggling a bit with his arm awkwardly pinned to his side--he had put it down to roll and was having trouble getting it out in front of him. But he did it! One evening recently when I went to Appleton to have coffee night with Kristy, Joe and Fischer were home together and Joe settled in to watch him roll. When I was on the highway about half way to Kristy's, Joe called and said, "He just dropped that shoulder and rolled right over! Gotta go. Bye." :)

Fischer is very observant of all that is around him. He's very ticklish and quick to laugh and smile. We can't believe he's gonna be 7 months soon!

Fischer meets Santa

Fischer had his 6 month check-up over a week ago with Dr. Hoyer. He's in the 50th-75th percentile for all of his measurements. Since October, he's grown an inch (27 in. long, now), he's gained 2 pounds (17 lbs. 8 oz., now), and his head circumference has increased 1 cm to 44cm. His lungs and ears are completely clear, and in Dr. Hoyer's words, he's "perfect--an absolute doll."

She said we've been right on track with how we're feeding him, and now we can start working a little with a sippy cup and give him a mid-day fruit or veggie (he already gets a morning fruit w/rice cereal and an evening veggie w/rice cereal).

Wouldn't you know it, though, two days after we saw the doctor, Fischer came down with a little cold--all 3 of us have, in fact. I pretty much feel better, Fischer's got a 'productive' cough, and Joe still feels lousy. Fischer's appetite this weekend has been sporradic, he's gotten out of his normal sleeping and napping rhythm, and he's been a bit whiny...this is exactly how he was in October, a few weeks before he got his first teeth. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some new ones in time for the new year.

For my birthday this past Wednesday, Fischer spent the evening with one of his teachers, Ms. Haimi and her son, Ezra at their house. Joe and I went to see the movie "Bolt" in 3-D. It was a good movie :) Then we went to Noodles & Co. for dinner. Afterward, we drove around looking at Christmas lights. I got a few pics of one house on the west side of Green Bay that has lots and lots of lights on display every year.

When we returned to Haimi's house, she had a good report for us about Fischer's evening. He was very good and was very curious about his surroundings. He was asleep when we picked him up, and he stayed sleeping until after we'd had cake.

This past Thursday at daycare, we had our Holiday Open House with Santa. Fischer got lots of attention in his little Santa suit. He was adorable. When he sat on Santa's lap, he tried to eat his beard. We got some sweet pictures.

Friday we got a package of bubbles from Grammy Pam. Fischer liked watching and trying to grab them while he was in his jumperoo.

He's almost sitting up unassisted. He has pretty good control front to back, but still tends to tip sideways after about a minute. Fischer lets you know he's frustrated, too, when he drops a toy he wants. On the other hand, he's gotten more outspoken when he's happy, too!

6 Months Old--How Time Flies!

Fischer turned 6 months old yesterday! Can you believe it?!

His teeth are much more obvious, now, as you can see! Also, check out the Fisch Finder for a Thanksgiving Day video.

We had a nice Thanksgiving by Grammy Pam and Grandpa Bill in Trempealeau, WI (near LaCrosse). Uncle Nate was there--he and Joe came from Tomahawk where Joe had been hunting by Grandpa Ken's since the Friday before. He only got one deer, though, despite lots of cold time spent in the woods.
Fischer did really well traveling over 4 hours in the car to and from Trempealeau. He slept the majority of both car trips. I waited to stop and feed him until he was good and ornery, otherwise he was not so interested in eating as he was in looking out the window or staring at the ceiling of the car. I kept the car running and stopped in the parking lot of a restaurant while I joined him in the back seat to nurse and change him. It went much better than I expected. It also helped that we were on the road both times in daylight. Before we had him, I would've taken off after work and driven in the evening. As it was, Fischer and I got an early start on Thursday--after he was well-fed and freshly diapered. That's the way to do it :) Joe and Nate left from Tomahawk on Thursday morning, too, so we all arrived at Grammy and Grandpa's within an hour or so of each other. We had dinner later in the evening.
Grammy was very happy to help give Fischer his bath :) While drying off, he was showing off how tall he's gotten by stretching out his chubby legs. I guess we'll see officially what his measurements are at his check-up tomorrow!

Friday, my boys and I headed to Minnesota to see Joe's Aunt Mary and her hubby who's also named Joe. They live in a nature preserve--BEAUTIFUL!!! They have a pair of German shepherds. Fischer enjoyed meeting "Will". We enjoyed a relaxing visit and some super-yummy Thanksgiving leftovers.
When we returned to daycare this week, I could tell that Fischer was excited to be back at school. He was so happy and excited to see everyone--he must've been bored with all of us grownups over the weekend! He really is a happy boy. Often when I'm picking Fischer up in the afternoon from his classroom, his teachers will say, "You're taking our happiest baby!"

We are thankful for our little boy, each other, our families, and our friends. We hope everyone had a good time on Turkey Day, too.

Fischer goes to the doctor tomorrow for his 6 month check-up and shots. I'll update the blog again--probably over the weekend--with his latest stats.

Take care!!!