Memorial Weekend BBQ

Dave and Dia hosted a BBQ in their backyard yesterday evening in Hoboken. It was a beautiful night for a cookout. We enjoyed lots of yummy dips, pasta salad, cheeseburgers, sausage and peppers, and I tried my first Skinny Girl Margarita. Yum! Since Dave's nephew and niece were coming, we took Charlie (even though the In Laws had kindly offered to watch him so we could have a date night - we are taking them up on that offer tonight).  Thanks Dave and Dia for hosting such a great get together; so fun to see everyone!

 Charlie wanted to match his Dad in blue and white stripes...

 But needed a wardrobe change thanks to a very wet diaper.

 Thank goodness for a spare outfit in the diaper bag!

 Hanging out with LA.  I think she enjoyed holding him quite a bit.  :)

 Charlie is doing pretty well at standing, with lots of assistance:

 Here's Robert, Dave's cute little nephew.  He was having a ball.

 Charlie flirting with all the pretty girls.

 And one more necessary wardrobe change when we got home.

 He's started to grip the bottle when we feed him:

 And was actually supporting it all on his own last night for a brief moment.

Pat and I are heading out for some Greek food tonight and to see a movie, The Hangover 2.  Pat has been doing tons of studying for the CFA.  The test is June 4th, so this time next week Pat should be feeling pretty good I hope! 

Charlie Video

Recent Happenings

1. Enjoying morning coffee. Kate has been sending me off to the train with coffee every morning. Why did Pat and I never take the time to do that? It's been great! Commuting is way better with a cup of coffee.  And my mug for drinking at home is pretty cute I have to say.

2.  Pat got new running shoes.  And not just any running shoes.  He's been interested in these Vibram Five Fingers for a year or so and finally used a gift certificate to get himself a pair.  Kind of silly looking but they are supposed to be great for you.

3. Seeing Greer for a second time.  My niece is 3 weeks old today.  It was great seeing her the other night! 

 Pretty in Pink

 Daddy and Daughter :o)

Have a fabulous holiday weekend!!

Milk Allergy

Three weeks ago we found out that Charlie has a milk protein allergy.  He is not lactose intolerant and it should be an allergy that fades by a year or so of age, but this does mean I had to stop breastfeeding immediately after learning the news.  We found out because we spotted small specks of blood in his poop, so we took him and a dirty diaper to his doctor.  That day they tested his stool sample and said he needed to go on a special formula, Alimentum.  The milk protein in it is broken down so finely that it doesn't affect him the same way my milk does or other regular or soy formula would.  After having worked so hard to get in a breastfeeding routine, suffering the initial pain of it and hiring a lactation consultant to come to our house in the beginning weeks, this was of course really upsetting news.  I have always thought that breast milk is the best for baby, it gives mother and baby that nice bonding time, it's free, and it's instant which is of course important for a screaming baby at 3AM.  Oh yeah, the calorie burning aspect didn't hurt either!  I had envisioned breastfeeding him until a year of age.  Charlie's doctor said that it would be almost impossible for me to go on a dairy free diet (which should have allowed me to continue breastfeeding).  So I was pretty torn...should I stop breastfeeding?  Or should I give up delicious cheese, yogurt, cereal and milk, ice cream, half and half, etc.?  I still had to stop breastfeeding him for a couple weeks so all traces of it would be out of my system anyway.  I hate pumping and would have welcomed being able to ween Charlie.  The dairy no-no list was never ending and would have meant reading lots of nutrition labels which would have been doable, but with going back to work just a couple weeks in the future, ultimately I ended up deciding to go the formula route.  At least Charlie got 2 and a half months of breastfeeding.  While I do sometimes miss nursing Charlie, it is also nice to "have my body back", be able to more easily feed him in public, and it's great to share the middle of the night feedings with Pat.  So we've been doing a lot of bottle washing these days.  And dang, Alimentum is expensive.  (We're working on getting health insurance to cover it.)  I was so upset that weekend we found out about this allergy and just a few weeks later it's not upsetting at all.  I know Charlie is doing well and that is all that matters. 

Charlie Videos

A couple recent videos...one on his stomach and one on his back.  Go Charlie Go!

Charlie - 3 months old

Charlie is weighing in at 14 pounds and 5 ounces! He's also grown in length to 24 and a half inches.  It's amazing how aware he is - focusing in on objects and locking eyes with you.  He's gripping onto things, including his doctor's tie at his monthly check up.  :)

His 2 months pictures can be seen here.
*And a quick shout out to Cousin Liam for providing my wardrobe in these pictures (and many more).  Thanks man!

Back to Work

Maternity leave is over and it's back to work for me today. I'll surely be missing this little guy all day. (and if there was any confusion, I mean Charlie and not my Dad, ha ha)

I hope my day goes well.

Meeting Relatives

There were several people Charlie needed to meet in Nashville!  Some of the best blog readers needed to meet him ASAP.  We stopped over at Sarah and Matthew's new house so they could meet him, mostly so Pat and I could ooh and aah at their gorgeous home.

My cousin Sarah (trying to claim the title of Aunt Sarah...we'll give it to her I guess) :o)

 Talk about a beautiful home!  They hosted a cookout there several days later, so expect more on that in a day or so.

My Aunt Carole and Uncle Robert dropped by my parent's house that night to meet him.

Of course there are more people for CQ to meet...coming up soon!  And there were still lots of people he was unable to meet this time around.  Trips to Nashville always end up being pretty busy and flying by!

Cicadas

I think the last emergence was when I was back in high school; I was "lucky" enough to be home in TN to witness the current cicada emergence. They were everywhere and you could really hear the buzz of them in the air. On our stroller walks, we saw tons of them run over all over the street and they'd often be hiding on our back when we returned inside (and we'd notice them a few minutes later). But they are pretty harmless, so they don't bother me much.

And since I was already out in my parents' yard taking pictures, I had to take a few of their flowers.

Isn't nature neat? :-)