Just a Swingin' to 5 months old

Last weekend Conner had a fun-filled weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Palm and Uncle Steven. Time has flown so fast that it's hard to believe it's been a week since they were here!

For an Easter present, Conner received a swing set and got to test it out. It's tough to tell from his confused look on photos, but he seemed to enjoy it. I'm sure it'll get a lot of use this summer as he grows into it.

Also in the past couple of weeks, Conner has been eating rice cereal in the evenings. It seems he's learned how to eat fairly quickly ... pretty soon it'll be time for vegetables! We're pretty confident that transition will go well, and I think Duke is looking forward to what will fall in the floor.

And, in case you haven't looked at the calendar, Conner turned 5 months old yesterday! He'll have his next doctor's visit a few days after he turns 6 months old.

For Easter next weekend, we'll be headed to Ohio for Conner's second big road trip!

Conner's first Shamrock weekend

In what has become a yearly tradition for us during the third full weekend of March, we spent this past weekend at Virginia Beach. It's the third straight year I have taken part in the Shamrock Half Marathon, but this year's trip was initially spurred because of a Mary Kay conference Christina wanted to go to. It's almost hard to believe, but a year ago on this trip, we pretty much knew we were expecting, but we were still keeping it top secret.

My mom and step-dad also made the trip - they love Virginia Beach too, but Keith actually had a conference to go to there that started mid-day Sunday and runs through Tuesday. So Conner's first trip to the beach turned into a family affair. He got to take several rides in his stroller along the Boardwalk; he took in a good glimpse of the bright sun rising over the ocean; he slept through me crossing the finish line; he got to touch sand; and he spontaneously started playing peek-a-boo with me and his Grandma Angel Sunday afternoon and then easily showed Christina his new skill - a skill he tried to do again a couple of hours later when it was bedtime.

All in all, Conner did great this weekend, ending in sleep an hour after getting home (that's the photo at the end) after sleeping for much of the ride home. For a few "scene" photos of our trip, click here for my photo blog post.

In a little more than 5 months Conner will be making his second trip to the beach on Labor Day weekend. (I'm running in the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon then.) We're looking forward to seeing how he'll change between now and then, and we're looking forward to what will hopefully be warmer weather so he can play more.

This is the first in a series of big weekends for Conner. Grandma and Grandpa Palm and Uncle Steven will be visiting this coming weekend; for Easter in a few weeks we'll be making a trip to Ohio - Conner's second visit to the Buckeye State.

Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Pay no attention to the drool.

Week of adjusting

Well, we've completed our first week of going to the sitter's -- and we both survived! I'm taking Conner to a woman in the next neighborhood over on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

The first day, I dropped him off at Cindy's at 8:45 then went to work. The tears came before we left the house, but I quickly composed myself and the rest of the day went smoothly. I left him at the sitters until 3:30 even though I was done with work a couple of hours earlier, but I'm going to be using that time for Mary Kay. Conner went down easily for his nap and was a good eater for Cindy.

Tuesday was a little different as I don't actually go in to work until noon, but I'm taking him to Cindy's at 9. I felt so guilty knowing that I didn't actually have anywhere I needed to be, just things I needed to do, so it was a little more difficult leaving him. Once I got to Cindy's, though, I realized I had forgotten bottles, so I had to run back to the house. When I got back, they had gone down to the neighbor's house. She also watches kids, so Conner was watching the boys play. Made me feel a little better about leaving him!

Wednesdays Conner spends time with Aunt Heather and cousin Eliza while I have a business meeting. On Thursday, Conner woke up at 5 a.m., so we brought him in with us... then we all slept in and were rushing around. I felt like I was rushing all day. When I got to Cindy's at 1:15, Conner was asleep. We needed to get home because we were keeping Eliza for a little while, so I had to wake him up. You know the phrase, never wake a sleeping baby? It's true. Conner needed that nap.

So this morning, Cindy said on my short days if I wanted to call and Conner was sleeping I could just leave him there and she'd call when he woke up. Today I called at 1 and he was awake since he had taken a nap earlier in the day, so I picked him up at 1:30... and he promptly fell asleep in my arms :)

Today's emotions were a close runner-up to Tuesday's ... Conner was awake when I dropped him off, and he was so cute and smiley... it just broke my heart. But I just keep telling him (and me) that this is only temporary -- when I become a director, I'll be able to work solely with Mary Kay and will be able to afford to have someone come in to watch Conner while I work from home. Those days can't come soon enough.

Good report

A quick update: Yesterday was Conner's 4-month check-up. He weighed in at 15 lbs. and is 25-1/2 inches long. Dr. G. thinks Conner will keep his blue eyes and once his hair comes in it will be blond. Also, his hernia is correcting itself -- Dr. G. said she thinks the opening is getting smaller. Woo-hoo!

Conner is quickly growing through his wardrobe, and with the cold snap we realized how few long-sleeved shirts he has in his size. Dr. G. said we can start Conner on cereal anytime now, but she said it's best to wait. He's satisfied with what he's getting, so he really doesn't need anything else right now, though he has been watching us eat.

Conner's next appointment is in two months (May) -- he'll be 6 months old!!!

Snow Day!

The biggest snow storm in more than a decade around here is also Conner's first big Virginia snow. We got 10 inches here at our house last night and this morning -- it's the kind of snow that sticks to everything. We both got the day off and let Conner experience the snow for about 10 minutes. He seemed a little out of it, but I think that was mainly due to the cold.

We don't expect the snow to stick around too long. We'll have a couple of cold days before seeing a quick warm-up to temperatures near 70 this weekend. So we certainly enjoyed ourselves today since this is such a rare event around here! I think we're all ready though for spring to get here and stay here.

In addition to these photos, click here for shots I put up on my photo blog from the past couple of days. I also captured some on my running blog while on a short run this morning.

As March rolls in ...

Mommy gets creative, but all there is to see is a little nose!

Shortly after the "shocking" photo (see the post below).

Bundled up and ready to go!