We have an infestation of ants in our house. They're all over the cats' food area, the kitchen counters, and...on my beside table, at the other end of the house! We put out traps, but they just seem to be multiplying. Now I feel stuff crawling on me all the time.

It was raining really hard today, so I took Caspian out on our little porch to watch the water cascade from the overhang. He was mesmerized. Then I went out with him under an umbrella so he could hear the rain better. He was pretty interested -- and really surprised when I moved the umbrella a little so we got rained on! He ducked his head down and scrunched up his neck like he does when I scrabble my fingers over his neck and head.

When we came back inside, we went for a spin in my Mary Kay office chair. I held him as he stood on my legs, facing in. First I spun one way, all the way around, then spun the other way. I said, "Wheeee!" as we spun, and after a couple of cycles he started giggling.

I pinched my finger when I clicked the seatbelt buckle on his shopping cart cover a few days ago, and it didn't break the skin, but it did have blood underneath. Now it looks like a blister or infected something-or-other, and it really freakin' hurts! I'm not sure what to do with it. I've tried neosporin, band-aids, finger cots, gauze...it still hurts and it's still gross.

And now, the story you've all been waiting for...his first solid feeding! At 6:30pm EST, Caspian took 10 minutes to eat half a container (about an ounce) of organic sweet potatoes! We chose sweet potatoes because the La Leche League says breastmilk is sweet, and the transition is easier to a sweet food. Needless to say, everything was covered in orange stickiness! We put him in the Bumbo on our bed and put a huge bib on him (the plastic kind with a pocket at the bottom that snaps apart for easy cleaning). He liked the spoon more than anything and chewed on it incessantly. I held the spoon, but I let him feed himself. He leaned forward when he was ready for more, and even started turning the spoon over in his mouth so he could get in its bowl. Caspian got food all over his face (and up his nose), but not in his hair or ears, surprisingly! I jumped in the tub with him and scrubbed him down, and he was so over-stimulated by it all, he was asleep 10 minutes later! It took him 30 minutes to sleep off the experience.





Unfortunately, Charlie waited until after I wiped Caspian's face to tell me he wanted to take some "after" pictures.



However, this is not an invitation for everyone to pop things in his mouth left and right. His non-breastmilk intake will remain very controlled as we introduce new foods and potential allergens, so nobody get any ideas...

Last night we went to see Night At the Museum at the dollar theatre, and Caspian fell asleep as we left the parking lot. He was still sound asleep when we got home, so I just took off his socks and let him sleep in his clothes! He slept until his usual 3am feeding, too, despite the massive thunderstorm we had.

I gave Caspian little tiny bits of hard-boiled egg yolk off my salad last night. At first, he was like, "What the heck?!" but then he opened his mouth for me to wipe more on his tongue. He wanted everything else we ate, too. We'll try real baby food tonight, I think.

Look -- no fluff! Yes, I am capable of posting without!

Caspian fell asleep reading again. One more piece of evidence that he's my son.

On Sunday after we got home, I took the suspenders outfit off Caspian so he could nap. He was in just a white onesie and socks -- I felt so ghetto! After he got up, it was too hot for pants, but we don't have any shorts of any size. I found these in the 12 mo size pile, and they fit perfectly!




More evidence that clothes sizes are whack, these overalls are 3 mo size:


Sorry, one more just for fluffs:



I'm done, I promise.

HAPPY 8 MONTHS TO CASPIAN TODAY!

Caspian's about outgrown his infant seat. I'm not sure which convertible we'll get. for a big tax return!

I cannot get Caspian to say "mamama" for anything. He mimicked the mouth movement once, but no sound. I'm pretty sure I'm "yah yah," though.

Charlie figured out that we're already in "profit" territory with our cloth diapers (as in, if we'd put Caspian in disposables up till now, at 120 for $20, we've already recouped our CD investment). For the rest of the time he's in diapers, we're officially saving money.

Mini-Updates:

• I've started laying him on the bed drowsy so he can fall asleep alone, instead of holding/rocking him to sleep every night. I love it, but he's got to learn, I suppose.
• he tried to share paci with me (putting it in my mouth)
• biting me is a game (He looks me in the eye, opens his mouth, and slowly bites down on my n*p*le. When I say, "No, that hurts mommy" and take it out, he grins and laughs at me. )
• one 50-minute nap yesterday, went all night without eating (woo hoo!) but still woke twice (not so woo hoo)
• we're going to try solids tonight (which will hopefully lead to sleeping longer )

We put him in an outfit from Charlie's mom yesterday, before he outgrew it. He barely fit in the pants! I think he looks like a stockbroker. We'll have to get him some more onesies and shorts, because he's in 9-12 month clothes already, and all we have is long pants and long-sleeved stuff. It's so hot here for March! Charlie and I LOVE putting him in collared shirts (especially polo shirt-type onesies) -- he looks so much like a boy, plus the carseat straps don't rub his neck.





When we went to leave the ILs' yesterday, Caspian repeatedly leaned over and gently butted heads with his grandpa (who happened to have on a matching outfit, minus the tie and suspenders).