opening presents

2nd tooth is in!

aunt anna just noticed that sayan's 2nd tooth broke through! so he got his two front (bottom) teeth for christmas :)

happy 1/2 birthday sayan!

more christmas pics at...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=46774&id=733704276&saved#/album.php?aid=46774&id=733704276

(just copy and paste the above link, even though it all doesn't show it will all copy)

first christmas

Here are a few highlights from Sayan's first Christmas:

jackson hike with papa and mimi

snow bunny

sayan enjoyed bundling up in his little snow suit for our walks. even though it was regularly in the 20's he stayed nice and warm and thoroughly enjoyed the outside time.

catching up with friends

when we got home from our 3 week extended holiday sayan couldn't wait to catch up his old pals gecko and toucan on his adventures

uncle matthew

sayan got to spend quality time with his uncle matthew in jackson-- apparently next year uncle matthew plans to take sayan out for his first snowboard venture... we'll see about that one!

out to lunch

while in jackson sayan tried out restaurant high chairs for the first time. he really liked the independence and seemed to enjoy participating in the group as an "equal" rather than being "babied" on our lap.

a bit of national geographic

while in jackson over thanksgiving sayan got to see all sorts of wildlife including elk, bison, moose, hawks, and a fox who came right into the backyard and proceeded to catch and eat his thanksgiving dinner:

auntie ro

sayan immediately took to his auntie ro when we saw her in boulder-- come visit soon ro!

christmas carols

i had set sayan in his exersaucer and he usually makes a racket banging toys around and jabbering but i realized he'd been totally quiet for a few minutes and when i looked over he had turned 180 degrees so he faced our big speaker and was gazing at it listening to the music. he was listening just standing quietly for a while before i decided to get some video (extended 3 part version for the die-hards).

good times with gramma in Boulder

first tooth documented :)

if you open the full-sized pic and look at his lower right gum you will see his first tooth sliver

rolling over!

sayan rolled over today for his first time on a hard surface! a couple of days ago he rolled over 3 times on the bed but today was his first start-to-finish by himself on the floor.

sitting up

sayan was pretty mellow after waking up one morning, checking out his toes and then trying to sit up




so i sat him up and he's doing pretty well sitting unsupported but definitely still needs a soft landing area for when he topples over

baking cookies

a few days ago we made cookies all together and every time we'd try to put sayan down he'd whine to be picked up again so he could help. he was very involved in cookie time.

first tooth?!

we think sayan cut his first tooth today! you can just see the tip that broke through the gums, his bottom right front tooth. he's been a little delicate today, sleeping lots, but generally still in good spirits though he keeps rubbing everything he can on that tooth. we'll see if we can get a picture tomorrow. oh, more confirmation: nursing hurts!!! well, just when he bites and scrapes his tooth on me.

morning sunshine

laughing out loud

sayan is starting to squeal and laugh out loud when he is tickled or in anticipation of being tickled. he's even starting to laugh loudly when he thinks something is funny like a silly face or noise that we make. it is sooooooo cute!!!

my turn!

still no luck with the bottle or sippy cup but sayan is obsessed with trying to drink out of the glasses and water bottles that we drink out of. whenever we pick up a glass or even open the fridge and he sees a water bottle he reaches for it. so we tried to get him to drink out of this cup--- most ended on his shirt but he got a little down!

here i come!

morning lullaby

sayan  developed a fever last night -- he was pretty uncomfortable and would give these pitiful little moans that just broke our heart, but he slept remarkably well and woke up this morning bright eyed. he still has a bit of a fever but his spirits are better...

little boy, big noises

sayan has his first cold, but he's been in remarkably good spirits if a little more delicate. i guess we are completely obsessed as we think even his snoring is cute!!! (this post is more audio than visual)

toy station from una

tummy bubbles

afternoon babbles- points if you can figure out the show in the background :)

airplane

the good life

life is sooooooo wonderful these days. every day jai and i say over and over how lucky we are to have our amazing little boy. he is such a bright soul and every day gets more and more fun. sayan is such a happy child, smiling and laughing and loving to cuddle. watching him grow and discover himself and his world is more fascinating and rewarding than we could have imagined. we are so fortunate!

good morning!

catching a few winks

little cutie

sippy cup

we are trying to introduce sayan to the sippy cup as he can't/won't take a bottle, its physically awkward for him and he ends up really frustrated. our physician thinks a sippy cup may be easier, she said 25% of breastfed babies have problems with a bottle. so far he likes the cup much more than the bottle though he's swallowed none to very little of the water. we're trying for a few minutes each day just to get him familiar and every day he does better. this video was taken on his second try and he's already much more comfortable with it. everyone cross your fingers he takes to the cup so mommy can do things like gym and haircut (and maybe... some day... a movie?!).

bumblebee

sayan is starting to have preferred toys and this little bumblebee is his current favorite.

sunshine boy

bookworm

first halloween

thanks gramma gail for the cute pumpkin outfit and pirate pumpkin!

pie plate

sayan seems to really like our blue and white dessert plates. i was eating my toast on one this morning and as soon as sayan saw it he immediately grabbed for it and started pushing it around. and at lunch he did the same thing. as soon as i set the plate in front of Auntie C sayan looked at it, dropped his rattle and lunged for the plate. i don't know if it's the contrast of the color that is appealing or if it's because big person food is on it? he has been fascinated by all things culinary these days. he loves cooking and cleaning up the kitchen with us, and sitting on our lap as we eat our meals.

teething?

sayan's teething toy last night wasn't nearly as much fun as his teething toy this afternoon!

LAST NIGHT...



...AND THIS AFTERNOON!

bath time

play group

we went to play group for the second time today-- it's really good for sayan, he learns so much from the other kids and gets inspired to do more things. most of the other kids are 1 1/2 years old but there is one girl who is 10 months and crawling around and sayan really checks her out. two little boys were tossing a ball back and forth and sayan LOVED watching the ball, he made his "i want" noises and kind of reached for them and so i set him on the floor and he really tried to crawl over to them. so i guess he just needs motivation!

little man

tummy time

sayan has not been a huge fan of tummy time but recently he is getting more into it. now his grunts are more of focus and exertion then frustration. he's getting better at pushing himself up using his arms (as opposed to just the strength of his back). the other day he actually did a crawling motion during his abhyanga. i had flipped him onto his tummy to get his back and all of a sudden he pushed himself up and moved his arm and leg in coordination to scoot accross the towel. it was so cool seeing him get down the leg/arm motion! though i have a feeling a few months from now it may not be "so cool" as he crawls away during his aby!

faces

sayan's new thing is to grab and aggressively explore our faces. he very intently looks at each part of a face as he pokes and prods and hits and pats and tugs different areas. we try to tell him what he is touching but it's kind of tricky when he has his fist in your mouth!

story time

multi-tasker

sitting up... well almost

ladybug rattle

more fun with mimi

agave

more discoveries this morning...

mirror mirror

mimi introduced sayan to himself this morning. we often take him in front of the mirror but today was the first time he really got it and understood that it was him there. or so we think! :)

grabbing and holding

well i've been trying to upload video of sayan holding and playing with his rattle but it won't take... anyway, last weekend for the first time sayan consciously held and played with his rattle for almost 5 minutes! since then he's been so much more aware of his hands and what they can do. he reaches for things and loves to experience different textures. it's so amazing to see his development and how much he is changing each day.

bundled up

it's getting colder!

the swing

new favorite activity... the swing!!! sayan received it as a gift and it has completely revolutionized our household. now mommy and daddy can do things!!!! sayan will happily sit in the swing for hours either talking to his little gecko/toucan friends or sleeping.

little tomato

sleep time with daddy

talk to me, bunnies!

sayan is still completely captivated by his bunnies. we've noticed he sometimes talks more to his little inanimate friends than to us!

sayan shots from grampa phil

sayan's (great grandmother) nana

sayan's nana visited him a couple of weeks ago. he loved spending time with her, sleeping on her and playing and talking to her.

finally!

okay, so i've been super super lame about keeping up the blog. my only excuse is that sayan is getting soooo cute and fun that i would way rather play with him than write about it. (not to mention we just moved again! ha!) i'm going to try to upload bunches of video and photos from the last month so there might not be much continuity in his aging. i don't have the focus to try to sort it chronologically.

he has changed so much in these last weeks, really become a little man. he is so smiley and interactive most of the time but he definitely has a temper. if things aren't going his way he will let you know it! but once you adjust to his preferred activity then life is roses...

i love you

this afternoon

sayan's new ride

sayan loves his new ride! and mommy loves it even more!! it's soooo cushy and sporty, i've even started jogging with it which feels fantastic. though we learned the hard way that we always need to bring a sling with us on our stroller rides as sayan has recently been going though a phase where he will just decide he is DONE in the stroller for that walk. we forgot to tell papa about the sling trick while he was visiting and sayan lured him far far away and then surprise! he had to be picked up and carried home with one hand while pushing the stroller with the other.

post-nursing smiles

more morning playtime

mornings are really our favorite time-- we could spend hours in bed playing with him. it was so great, he recognized me fully the other morning! i was sleeping and jai brought him in to nurse and i sat up in bed and as we made eye contact he got this huge grin on his face and laughed and reached out his arms! i completely melted. this is from a few days ago...

bunnies

learning his vowels

morning play time

mornings are sayan's favorite play time. he usually wakes up between 6 and 7 and wants to play til around 10 when he falls asleep again. we discovered his desire for morning play time a couple of weeks ago-- jai usually takes sayan sometime between 4 and 7 so i can have some "uninterrupted" sleep. before a couple of weeks ago sayan would be happy just snuggled up with daddy and jai could sleep or meditate. one morning sayan started pre-fussing and jai kept trying to burp him and get him more comfy and finally i had the thought that sayan might be bored cause he was totally awake and not content to just be held. so jai took him into the sitting room and sure enough sayan immediately perked up. and over the past couple weeks morning play time has gotten more and more interactive. at first he'd respond most to being shown things like his mobile or activity toys or a tour of the house (we feel like tour guides a lot of the time: and these are the dishes, see the big bowls and the small bowls how they have blue on them? and here are the cups, see the tall glasses and the short glasses with the dragonflies? but he loves house tours). now though he loves just talking and physically playing with us. and he has started laughing... it's incredible.

mommy and sayan

independence

sayan is getting more and more independent! he spent almost 2 hours (total not in one stretch) in his little chair today watching us cook and clean up and do other odds and ends. it was so incredible to be able to move about and do stuff! and he looked so cute just mellow and checking us out. i would talk to him and explain everything i was doing which he seemed to like...

i want to update the blog with more pics and video but my hard drive is completely full and i can't import any other media and i don't have the time to clean it up. i keep deleting little things here and there but it immediately maxes again so it may be a few more days before i can figure out a way to get new material onto my computer and uploaded.

short but sweet

good morning

!!!

SAYAN SLEPT FOR 6 CONSECUTIVE HOURS LAST NIGHT!!! from 8:30 - 2:30. i can't believe it! soooo exciting! yay sayan!

bath with daddy

getting hungry

he makes these cute little cooing/grunting noises when he gets hungry.

ella and sayan

new friends

the mullenneaux/martlins were in town last week and sayan loved spending time with them. he has only recently started to connect with people (mostly just jaison) but ella wanted to hold sayan and we put him on her lap and he gazed up at her with total awareness and almost adoration. he was cooing and smiling and almost laughing at times. a definite karmic connection there. so cute to see! and nayan was adorable with him, he kept "petting the baby", gently touching him on the top of the head. when the kids were together they were all so fascinated with each other and on their best behavior, so much so that we realized we should have gotten them together sooner!

possible outie

so sayan has an umbilical hernia-- which sounds much worse than it is. a few weeks ago we noticed that his belly button was starting to be poofy (see the bath video) and when we pressed it back in it made a funny bubbling noise. we took him to his pediatrician who said he has an umbilical hernia and that it's extremely common. apparently it's a predisposition of the intestine to pop out into the belly button and many cases naturally heal within 12 months but if it doesn't then the belly button turns into an "outie". i always thought it was how the cord was tied that determined that but nope, it's dependent on if that baby had an umbilical hernia. it looks like it must be really painful but our doctor said it isn't at all. the good news is that we took him in for a check up today and the doctor said the internal gap has started to close up and is healing!

bath with daddy

sayan had his first bath in the big tub the other day. he really loved it-- it was so cute, as soon as we put him in his eyes got really big and he was super still and looking all around. then he settled in and relaxed and now he takes a bath with one of us most of the time rather than in his little tub-- which he has almost outgrown! i'll upload a video of his bath also.

bunny love

so sayan's FAVORITE thing is the bunny mobile that valerie and joe got him. he would watch it for hours if we had the patience to keep winding it up! we set it up over his changing table and we will often just bring him in and lay him down there even if he doesn't need to be changed. sometimes we set up a chair next to him so we can do other things and then periodically wind up the mobile. at first he would just watch it but now he actively grabs for the bunnies. we went to des moines again the other day to pick up furniture (yay!!) and brought the mobile in the car and pulled it out when he got fussy. hooray for the bunnies! i have video of this but it's not uploading... i will try again later, lots of little clips to share.

growing up so fast!

we have internet! and soooo much to tell about sayan! i will try to upload lots of pics and video and stories in the next couple of days to catch everyone up to date on our little man.

home sweet home

FINALLY!!! although we won't have internet for awhile so the blog may take a hiatus for a week or even more. love to everyone...

baby sneezes

getting chubby!

he's getting little baby chub! he now weighs 9 lbs 14 oz and is 21 3/4 " tall. Dr. Iles also said he is acting like a 4 week old so he is advancing really fast. with preemies they go by their gestational age rather than birth age and it usually takes 1-2 years for the babies to "catch up" but sayan is already almost adjusted! she was very impressed with him.

music man

so it seems as though sayan really likes music. in general, whenever we sing to him he gets super still with big eyes. on our way to washington on monday for his check-up he was contentedly staring out the window, alertly taking in the outside of the car for the first time. then at about brighton he started fussing and then screaming for several minutes. we decided to turn on music and jai put on "angel" by sarah mclachlan and after 10 seconds he completely stopped crying and sat there with big eyes. as the song ended he started fidgeting again and we were terrified that he would start up again so jai kept hitting repeat all the way to the doctor's...

just a cute pic

social bunny

well we had our FF debut yesterday. christen and i walked with sayan to the golden dome market to get a few things and ended up seeing half of FF. i have to say that the ladies definitely love him!!! he was like a magnet, we never had less than 4 people paying homage to our little man.

my heart

my heart is growing more and more full with every day that passes. and that fullness seeps into every cell until my entire being is pulsing with love for my sayan. we are so blessed.

tummy time

we try to put sayan on his tummy for 5-10 minutes every day. it's sposed to develop his strength and crawling coordination. he has super powerful legs, if we put our hand behind his legs he pushes forward and scoots along. we'll try to get some video of that too.

daddy time

sayan is most alert and expressive when he is with his daddy. jaison has a way of inspiring connections and communication that no one else does and sayan loves looking at and interacting with daddy. jai tells sayan stories and sings to him and sayan eats it up and responds. it's the most fulfilling experience to watch them together. i love my men!!!

chillin in the tub

Auntie Christen

sayan's favorite person to sleep on is auntie christen. no matter how fidgety he is, as soon as she holds him he immediately settles down into the deepest and looooongest sleep.

little talker

morning eyes

at night sayan has started sleeping in 2-3 hour chunks, 3 1/2 when i'm really lucky. it was definitely hard at first but i'm adjusting and feeling pretty rested these days. well, relatively speaking!! the hardest thing is sometimes he wakes up for feeding at 5:30 just as it's getting light and he is awake and wants to have awake time. i want to play with him and encourage awake time but i'm also so exhausted i just want to go back to sleep. i have to say sleep usually prevails...