New things to play with!

We set up Cian's jumparoo rain forest thing this weekend. Really, could this toy be any larger???

He is a little young for it, but we thought he would enjoy sitting up and looking / reaching for some new toys. What we didn't expect was for him to either be completely mesmerized by the red tucan or complete terrified by it! All he does is stare at the red parrot, not making a move.  Seriously, he doesn't move an inch. Its like he believes if he moves the tucan will attack him.  Its pretty funny and really entertaining for Brian and I - ha ha!

Here he is, staring at the tucan....

Five minutes later......still staring.....

still at it. Its really funny in person. We don't need babysitters, we just need the red tucan!

In other news, we also set up the high chair for Cian.  (Try to control your jealousy over our exciting lives!) Obviously, I live in denial as I still act like I'm living in a small city apartment, because I hate to purchase large baby stuff.  I refuse to buy a giant high chair that I will trip over and instead bought this smaller chair that attaches to our chairs. It reclines up and down and swivels side to side- pretty fancy!  So far, I like it but the five point harness may get annoying when he is older.  Cian enjoyed the test run a lot. He liked having his toys on the tray and really liked being with us at the table.  Does this mean Brian and I have to stop eating in front of the tv on the couch and eat at the table???

Cian, very proud of himself, for getting promoted to the kitchen table from the bouncy chair

Cian - three months old

Cian turned 3 months old on Sunday, May 13th. He is a growing boy! Two weeks ago, he weighed 14lb 8oz so I'm sure he is already 15lbs by now. He is our little chunkster!!!! And he is getting tall-  not sure how long he is going to fit into his 3-6 month clothes due to his height.

He has discovered his fingers and loves sucking on them. He gets really mad when he can't figure out how to get them in his mouth. He is smiling and laughing a lot. He loves his little rabbit that sits above his changing table, his spaceship activity mat and his swing. About a week ago, Cian's fussiness disappeared (thank god!) and now we have this happy, smiling baby. We are having a lot of fun with him and loving every moment of it.


Update: So we got about a week of happy Cian before the next phase of fussiness hit. FUN TIMES!! But now we have a book that tells us the periods of fussiness and what to expect (are the parents reading this laughing now???). Seriously, apparently Cian's brain is learning how to make his body move more smoothly which will allow him to grasp objects with both hands. This learning is causing the fussiness and it should only last a week or less..... Let's see if the book is correct... Please god, be correct!

Anyway, here are Cian's 3 month pictures:

Here's our happy little man!

His favorite thing- sucking on his fingers

Had to include this picture!  The dreaded spit up. Its everywhere! Some days I feel like I should wear a garbage bag. Joe put it best: "Cian Blair. 5oz go in. 4oz come out!" So true! Obviously, the spit up is not affecting his health, so his doctors aren't concerned. Our poor sofas have seen better days though!

Here's the side by side comparison:

Cian at one month

Newborn Photography: the good, the bad and the really ugly

When I was pregnant I REALLY wanted to schedule a newborn photo shoot. I wanted sweet pictures like this:

Unfortunately, I could not find a photographer that would also sell the high res files for less than $1000 (which is insane!) and then I delivered early and had a long recovery so I ran out of time (newborn photo shoots are done during the first two weeks when the baby sleeps all the time and is still curled up).

It really bothered me that I didn't have professional pictures of Cian. I wanted to capture his little features before he got too big. So, I decided to take a chance and use one of those photography places at the mall.

This was a HUGE mistake. The pictures were HORRIBLE!!! I cannot understand how a photographer can take a cute little baby and make him look so bad. We actually spent $150 to buy the CD of photos so we have proof at how bad these pictures were. I can laugh at them now, but that day I wanted to cry. I was so miserable at how bad these pictures turned out.

Here are a sampling of the pictures we got. Feel free to laugh at them, they are that bad:

Dear God. What is this? What have they done with my cute little baby? How do you get a baby to look like this??  

What is this? How can this be a good picture???? He looks HORRIBLE!

Cian being strangled by a tie. Awesome.

Finally, Cian looks like himself but the picture IS NOT IN FOCUS!

Why exactly do we have a bright white blanket draped in the middle of this picture?

Not exactly the way I was looking to capture his little features....

Yep, this looks REALLY comfortable!

Cian trying to escape.

Thanks for getting the diaper in the picture. CLASSY!

Luckily, one of my clients recommended a photographer she knew and so I convinced Brian that we needed to try again. I will admit, I used my birthday as leverage since Brian hates getting his picture taken and was less than thrilled at trying this again! It was a risk, since Cian is almost 3 months old he is more awake so the photo shoot could  have gone really bad if fussy Cian showed up. Beth was AMAZING and her photographs are incredible. She was so patient and calming, she waited while Cian ate and was rocked to sleep before putting him into a bunch of different poses.  I am so happy that we finally have some nice photographs of Cian to frame!!!

Look at the difference:

Bad

Good





Can you believe its the same baby in both pictures?????
These pictures were taken only weeks apart.

Bad

Good

Bad

Good

  

Bad

Good

Bad

Good

Bad

Good

Bad

Good

Here are some more pictures that Beth took as well:

Oh my god- this is one of my favorites! Look at our chunkster! His big belly! And how his diaper left a mark on his thigh cause its so tight on his chunky thigh. LOVE IT!!!!

Cian's Birth Announcement

Better late than never! It took us a while to get some good photographs of Cian, but it was worth the wait!

I love his little submarine shirt! Found that two days before the shoot while having lunch with Randi, what a great find!!!!!!!

Jackson Bradford Hodges

Welcome little Jackson Bradford Hodges to the world! Kristin and Noel had their little boy on Sunday, May 6th. He is such the little cutie!!!!!!!  He weighed 8lbs 10oz and was 20.5" long.

We drove up to Hoboken on Saturday to meet our little nephew and have the little cousins meet. Not that they have been anxiously awaiting this meeting since they really don't know what is going on BUT the adults have been very excited for the two cousins to meet. I'm so excited Cian and Jackson are so close in age and can't wait to see what trouble these two cause. I have a feeling family gatherings aren't going to be dull or quiet with these two boys!!!

Here is Jackson!  Ahhhh, he is so adorable!!!!!!

The cousins!!! Jackson, 1 week old, Cian, 3 months old. And no, Cian is not pinching Jackson's face!

How to keep parents happy - one baby for each parent!

Jackson meeting his Uncle Brian

Sound asleep in Uncle Brian's arms

Jackson meeting his Aunt Sarah. He was so light compared to Cian!!

Cian with G-ma. He looks so big and older now compared to little Jackson!

G-ma with her two grandsons

PopPop with his two grandsons