A New Season and Some New Tricks

It's starting to feel like fall here in Washington, which reminds me of the days right before and after Sean was born. It's been a while since we've posted-- fun travels and vacation meant less time in front of the computer. That doesn't mean Sean hasn't been busy, though.
First, I suspect most folks by now know that Sean is crawling:And, here is the video proof, in case anyone missed it. :) He is pulling himself up and enjoys standing but isn't yet creaping along using furniture/us too much.
He's also growing, or at least getting taller. We had to wait for his 9 month appointment at the Mary's Center (Sean's pediatrician is at a community health center about four blocks from our apartment) and just went last Friday. We've been lucky-- no sickness, and therefore no visits to the doctor, outside of our regular check-ups. At the pediatrician's he weighed in at 24 lbs., 12 ozs. (with lightweight clothes and a disposable diaper= 91st percentile) and 29.5 inches (= 71st percentile, though Chris is convinced that they didn't capture his full height). He's healthy, happy and coped better with the long attempt to get his blood drawn (trouble finding the vein... while poking around his little arm with a needle) than I would have been.
He's getting more into the solid foods. Consistent favorites so far are baby oatmeal, cheese, yogurt, and the EarthBaby organic puffs. He's also liked squash and kale-- I like this photo because he looks like he's pondering the deeper meaning of leafy greens.
We had a great 2-week trip out to California, where Sean got to meet lots of amazing family and friends for the first time. See our August 2009 (Nine Months) album for details. Over this past (Labor Day) weekend, we got a chance to go hiking and apple picking as well, and continue the process of babyproofing-- we've moved 21 boxes of books into the Johnsons attic and Sean can now wander around the "family room" causing chaos (he's a big fan of tossing things left and right) without encountering many dangers.
We continue our same work (and split time at home) schedule-- I am working 80% time, in the office MWF typically and then logging 8-10 hours during Sean's morning naps (well, not on this one obviously) and on evening/weekend conference calls. Chris logs 20 hours per week in total and goes in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Like many parents, we are trying to figure out what's best for Sean and for us for the shorter and longer term-- by reducing our income, we postponed dreams of buying a (still small, perhaps 2-bedroom at best) condo and are saving a small amount each month, but obviously we, and I think Sean, get a lot out of our time together. We'll keep this arrangment for the rest of 2009 and we're trying to figure out what will happen in 2010. It's a struggle for me to balance work and parenting and I sometimes feel like the end result is that I am shortchanging both of them. Luckily, I'm not too much of an introspective person nor do I need a lot of downtime-- because my first 10 hours a week of free time usually go to working and I still try to cook things, sometimes, from scratch for Sean and us (chopping the aforementioned kale obviously takes more time than nuking something), there's not much "me" time in there. Good thing we never watched TV anyway... and I still sneak in a book every now and then.
The morning nap appears to be coming to an end soon, and therefore this post is ending as well. We hope the recent trend of spending a lot of time with family (near and far) and friends will continue in the coming months. And, for all those in/near DC or those looking for an excuse to visit, we're planning a daytime bbq to celebrate Sean's first birthday in Rock Creek Park on Halloween day-- costumes optional. :) Love and Happy Fall to All!