Family Legacy

At our wedding rehearsal dinner, Roy (Chris's dad) gave a very touching speech about how their Crash Little found his soul mate in Spills Mills. The Crash Little t-shirt is Chris's from when he was Foster's age and the Spills Mills tee was made especially for the wedding toast. We almost missed our window of opportunity for it to fit Foster. Hopefully he won't inherit his parents' propensity to spill and crash!






Here is a picture of Foster pulling himself up to investigate his toy bin. He'll hold on until he sees a toy he wants...he hasn't quite figured out to keep one hand on solid ground yet!


A cute video of his newfound neck flexibility. We're still not sure if this is voluntary or involuntary movements. I started the camera when he was already doing it.

We're in trouble!!

No pictures this post today...this is all news. All in the past week, Foster has decided to roll over in both directions, pull himself up from sitting to standing, shake his head like a bobble head (very disconcerting), AND rocket himself forward from sitting into a face plant (his attempt to crawl). Luckily he can't yet go from lying down to sitting, so he's still relatively immobile when we leave him lying down (i.e. in his crib). He definitely seems like he may skip crawling and start walking first. I see many bruises in his near future as he keeps us on our toes!

Family visit

Last weekend Foster had fun hosting Mimi, Aunt Erika, Uncle Will, and cousin Carter here in Yardley. Foster passed down his bumbo to Carter and showed off his strong legs to Aunt Erika. Foster treated Carter like any other toy within reach...and tried to put Carter in his mouth. Luckily he just got a mouthful of Carter's slick hair. It was a wonderful weekend with some snow shoeing and x-country skiing; however, we sent Mimi and Will home with the stomach bug. :( So sorry guys.







Foster had his 9 month "High-risk infant" appointment, during which they assess a whole realm of developmental milestones. His developmental delays are random..they were very impressed with his sitting up, yet he can barely roll over. He is starting to learn to pull himself up to standing, but is weak on his tummy, so he might walk before he crawls. As I expected, his speech is also delayed. He uses mostly vowels and few consonants, about the level of a 5-6 month old. These things don't bother us...he'll catch up eventually and the most important thing is that he is healthy! His weight and height are around the 75% for a normal 9 month old.

Snowmageddon

Foster brought good luck in the snow category this year! Based on these pictures, he'll think he was born in Alaska. When we were outside today, I couldn't help but remember all of the pictures of Sarah's first years in Alaska and her being bundled up all the time (albeit in baby seal skin coats...when in Rome...). Foster loved watching the snow from inside, but wasn't crazy about going out for a walk today. It could be because he is still fighting off a cold and stomach bug which has made him a little more irritable than usual. Chris and I have also both been sick, so hopefully the weekend will bring some healthier vibes around the house.







A few cuties from the week...





We're looking forward to seeing lots of family this weekend!

Family and friends in Boston

Foster has been sick this week with his first cold and fever. His attitude has been good, but the poor guy has thrown up a few times, unfortunately once while laying on his back in his crib. He was covered in carrots and formula, head-to-toe. That night his sleep was disrupted significantly (I don't blame him), but otherwise he's still sleeping well. Today he looks like he's turning the corner and getting better. Phew!

Last weekend we traveled to Boston to visit family and friends. Friday night we got to stay with Laura, Halsey and Pierce. Pierce and Foster are starting to be more aware of each other, and Pierce was very gracious in sharing his toys with Foster.





On Saturday, Eoin (high school friend of Chris's) and his wife Marianna joined us for brunch. They are expecting their first and it was fun to share in their excitement. Saturday night we stayed with the Marchant family and Foster got to see his cousins, Olivia, Taylor, and Carter along with Sarah, Dave, and Mimi. On our way out of town on Sunday, Kate and Prescott Taylor hosted us for brunch as Ellie shared her toys and high chair with Foster.

Our first baby

I'm going to dedicate this entry to Parker this week, since she was our first "baby" that we got 9 years ago, when she was 2.5 years old. Although Parker has been great with Foster so far, over the past year, she had gradually been more aggressive toward our cats, to the point where we were scared for their safety. I was giving Parker one more chance after the last "incident" and unfortunately, she attacked Romano on Tuesday of last week. She has always been dog aggressive and in her old age (12), this ornery behavior was expanding. Due to her growing unpredictability, we put her down for the sake of our cats and Foster. There was no way to predict if she would go after him, especially once he was crawling or if food was involved. There was no way we would have been able to find her a new home with her issues, age, and minor health problems.
For those of you who didn't know Parker that well, she was a crazy dog...extremely high energy, food obsessed, frisbee/ball obsessed, dog aggressive; but, she was also very sweet, loved people, was a great running partner, and was super cuddly with us in the evenings (as long as we had drained most of her energy each day running or chasing frisbees or balls). The food obsession was one of the hardest things to manage around the house, and in her honor, I'm going to list all the bad things I can remember her eating (I'll leave out the minor offenses). She required may doses of hydrogen peroxide and trips to the doggie ER to induce vomiting post-binge, but she never got seriously sick or required surgery. Many of these things are toxic to dogs, but they didn't touch her. She learned how to open cupboards and our refrigerator. So way before Foster was ever born, our kitchen was "baby proofed". If you had anything to add to the list, please do via the comments.

Our house seems very quiet now, but each time I look at the cats or Foster, I know it was the right decision. She will be greatly missed!


1/2 lb of whole-wheat flour
2 loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread
3-5 lbs of cooked ham (pre-wedding)
A brillo pad
Half a container of Oil of Olay face lotion
TNTC (too numerous to count) brownies
1 lb raisins
2 grams chocolate (WAY over the toxic dose)
A bar of soap
A full pineapple rind
A box of thin mints
A large pizza
Binges that included pounds of dog/cat food, dirty cat litter, bird seed, trash
10 sheets of Nori (seaweed sheets for sushi rolls)
3 dead squirrels (all included prolonged tug of wars with me on walks...luckily I always had a plastic bag with me to protect myeself)
1 live squirrel
1 live chipmunk
1/2 lb sugar
Unknown quanities of tylenol, advil, prenatal vitamins, a container of Ice Breakers sour candies, a bag of cough drops, 10 tea bags (this was all in a single office-trashing event)
10-30 packs of gum (many with xylitol...also toxic to dogs)
5-10 chapsticks
Rat poison
1 box See's chocolates
About 3 days worth of baby poop from cloth diaper pail (then she threw it all up in the house)
Pounds of brewing grains (from the compost pile)
Pounds of goose poop from the canal path