Stronner has enjoyed a lot of time with his far-flung cousins, aunts and uncles over the last month as they have descended upon Seattle.  Here’s a few shots from a trip to Golden Gardens with Grandma V and the Durham Vigdors.

No, he isn’t walking yet, but Stronner’s been taking some big steps forward lately.  Just a week ago he started rolling from his back to his belly (as you can see in one of the videos below), and now he does it all the time – even when he’s too tired to hold himself up when he gets there!  Better learn to roll onto your back soon, kid.  He’s also starting to clearly form the word “Mom”, whether or not he knows what it means yet.

We’ve also introduce a couple new gadgets into his life – as you can see in the video Stronner really enjoys time in his Jolly Jumper, and he seems like he will enjoy his new high chair as well – we plan to start introducing solid foods this week!

Video of Stronner rolling over and talking

Video of Stronner in the Jolly Jumper

Now that Stronner has passed the 4 month mark we’ve stopped counting the weeks . . . not just because months are a more conventional way to refer to a baby’s age, but because it’s a lot easier to keep track of!

Stronner’s progress is continuing on all fronts – his vocalizations are getting more varied, and he’s getting more precise with his hand movements.  Most impressively, he’s more than doubled his birth weight and climbed to the 80th percentile for height and head size, after starting merely average.

The three of us have been attending PEPS group meetings with other new parents and babies in nearby neighborhoods, and are enjoying the opportunity to connect with other families, even though our situation has its own unique complexities!

We haven’t been posting often lately, but it’s not for lack of good material.  Stronner is as charming as ever and continues to grow fast – we’ll know just how fast in a couple weeks at his next checkup.  In the last few days he’s started injecting shrieks and more distinct vowel sounds in his cooing, and he is really enjoying handling all kinds of things from rattles to toys, fingers, dog fur and even the inside of his own mouth.  Here are some photo and video highlights from the last couple weeks.

Video of Stronner shaking a rattle

Video of Stronner enjoying some tummy time

I’ve been meaning to post these photos of Grandpa V and Grandma Beata visiting with Stronner and us . . . they departed over a week ago, but without extra hands on deck it’s been hard to find time to blog!  That’s right, Fiona and I are 9 days into handling Stronner as an unchaperoned parental duo, and now that the worst side of effects of Fiona’s chemo have subsided, it seems to be getting manageable, though there’s a long slog yet ahead.

In the meantime, Stronner is getting more focused and controlled with his movement, and has spells of chattiness throughout the day. I’ll post more video of him playing soon!

In between visits from his grandparents, Stronner got to spend lots of quality time last week with his Great Aunties Kellie and Noel.  Auntie Brooke came down for Easter eve supper, creating a veritable trifecta of Aunties, whose attention he thoroughly enjoyed (despite an incident where he may have had a girly bow tied around his head – for the sake of his future dignity I will neither confirm nor deny that story).

Over the last few days Stronner has been getting quite good at playing with the spinning toy bar on his bouncy chair.  I wouldn’t really call it spatial coordination yet, but he has figured out that by flailing all his limbs he can make things spin!

Watch him go! (8 weeks old)

It sure looks like spring here in Seattle, with all the blooms sprouting.  Grandma V and Stronner posed with some flowers in front of our house to prove it. However, their attire reveals that it does not yet qualify as a warm spring!

Stronner is 7 weeks old today, and he’s showing it with his increasing heft and longer periods of alertness.  He’s spending longer stretches awake during the day and spicing up his routine with more trips out of the house, including a trip to the Ballard farmer’s market yesterday where he met many admirers.  He also participated in his first business meeting last week, when I inadvertently forgot to mute my phone after weighing in on a conference call.  Everyone was quite impressed with his communication style!

Just wanted to share a few more different looks from Stronner!