Weeks 15 and 16

Most of this past week both Béla and I were sick with a cold, which somehow spared Jeremi. Luckily we're both pretty well healthy now, in time for our trip to Canada. (For those who don't know, we'll be in the Toronto area from the 24th-29th, and then in New Brunswick/Nova Scotia from the 29th-January 16th, and then Jer's returning to Germany, while Béla and I are heading back to Ontario for another week.)

The week before this we were healthy and doing lots. Here is Béla trying out the Jolly Jumper that Chris and Karen got him back when we met them in Paris in October.

This is not a skill that he mastered on the first try, as you can see in the video, but I'm sure he will.

I've been busy with some sewing, making another carrier and a dress from left over silk from the wedding. Here is Béla helping with a pattern piece while watching me iron.
Here he is on his activity mat playing with a ball that Marie and Rishad sent. It squeaks when it rolls, and is pretty cool. (The cat also seems to find it entertaining.)
Also, he's been growing a lot. The week before last he had some sort of a growth spurt, which required him to eat twice as often as usual for a couple of days. (He usually eats about 5-6 times a day, and it was at least 10 times a day for a couple of days, which meant that we didn't do much except for eat/feed, change, sleep, and repeat.) He had his second vaccination appointment as well, where he was weighed, and found to be 6905 g (something like 15 lb 3 oz), so he's well on his way to doubling his weight by four months.

All this growing has meant that he's fitting into new clothes! Most of the 3-6 month outfits fit now, including this ensemble from Gloria.
Look how cute this outfit is! And in fact, Béla loved it so much that he wore it for six days. This sounds terrible, but usually he poops on his clothes so regularly that we only really change his clothes when it happens, which is sometimes as often as three or four times a day. However this week everything stayed completely within the diaper. It's probably just his size, where for one brief moment in time the diapers fit perfectly, and he was neither slightly too small or slightly too big for the size he's wearing, but I like to think it was because he liked the outfit so much that he wanted to keep wearing it for a bit longer.
A week ago Sunday we had our friends Calin and Susanne over for a four course Italian extravaganza. The food was delicious, and it was a nice chance to see them before we all left town for the holidays. Now that I'm not at work I don't see them nearly as often as before.
The pasta course - homemade linguine with gorgonzola sauce (this came after stuffed zucchini as a starter).
A picture of all three of us, since there was someone else there to take pictures!
Then the next day, Monday, we went for lunch at Marie and Tristan's house. We know them from the former German Stammtisch, and they also recently became parents, with the birth of Marjane and Antonin in March. It was a nice chance to visit with them all, and see how big the babies are now! Béla was able to see what he'll be working on in five months' time, such as eating solid food! (Jeremi did work this day, but both he and Tristan took a long lunch to eat with us.)
Valentina also came, and got to play with so many babies! Here she is with the adventurous Marjane (with an unconscious Béla in the foreground).
And the lovely Marie, mother extraordinare, who is raising twins with no relatives nearby.
Antonin, who is a little clone of his father.
Both of the babies were very impressed with Valentina's curly hair.
It was great to see them all, and Valentina and I stayed until after 4:00, which made for rather a long "lunch". The only downside was that Béla couldn't settle down for a good sleep there, which made him a bit fussy. He made up for it by sleeping for more than three hours straight when we got home, which let me get lots done.

The day after this lunch was the doctor's appointment, and also my first meeting with all the women from my prenatal class, who meet for coffee once a week at a café with lots of couches and room enough for 9 bassinets/strollers/diaper bags. It was nice to see a bunch of other babies all around the same age, and Béla impressed them all with his sitting and standing, and, of course, his charming smiles. Here was are after arriving home that afternoon, which was the last fully healthy day for the two of us. And yes, the hat that goes with his outfit does really have little ears on it.
And finally, as promised, a video of Béla's first attempt at the jolly jumper. As you can see, he's using it more as a standing prop rather than a tool for jumping, but he seems to like the fact that he can turn around in it, and watch the cat. I'm going to have to try him in it again soon, to see if he's figured out the bouncing any more. (It's not the most interesting video ever, but Jeremi wanted to include it. Don't worry, the next post has a great little clip.)