Santa Felix

I had a long descriptive entry with several pictures ready to post. It had pictures of Felix doing all sorts of adorable things, including a picture of Felix performing a mind meld on his cousin Rooney. Then my computer inexplicably restarted and I lost all that I composed along with the will to try to put that post together again. That was a couple of weeks ago and only now, after the pain has subsided, can I post again. So, with that, I bring you SANTA FELIX.

Felix had a lovely Christmas, his Grandma came up from Los Angeles to spend it with him. His aunts, uncles, and cousins came by on Christmas Eve. After a tasty breakfast and exchanging gifts Christmas morning, Santa Felix traveled north to visit more family. From his great-grandmother, Santa Felix was given a magical singing ball that displayed all kinds of flashing lights and moved in odd ways under it's own power. "What is the manner of this magic? What is the source of power for this remarkable sphere?", Santa Felix asked himself, "I see no hand of man upon it's smooth features, no tethered horses pulling to and fro", Santa Felix pondered, "perhaps a miniature enchanted dragon with a sweet, melodic song, and expiration ablaze in multi-hued luminescence is imprisoned within the orb's core that causes the ball to evade my grasp". Santa Felix was soon distracted by the crisp metallic wrapping paper nearby and formed theories on the essence of its shine.

Are you ready for some football?

Some family members will appreciate this picture. A little fan already, Felix watched the Seahawks football game with Daddy while Mommy used her new laptop (anniversary present from Dana - well, actually, it was a business expense that I wouldn't make up my mind about so Dana just took it upon himself.) to get some work done. Speaking of which, Mommy has been busy with bookkeeping jobs and will be leaving her Bellevue engineering firm in order to do more work from home. So far, things are working out!

He ate!

11/3: I gave up force feeding & just gave him the spoon.
10/23: Finally, we found something other than breastmilk that Felix will eat willingly! Per the Super Baby Food Cookbook, I was cooking up a batch of organic foods, blending them in my Magic Bullet, and batch-freezing them in ice cube trays for later. I had an extra spoonfull and offered it to Felix. He opened up wide and took mouthful after mouthful of winter squash! No high chair, no baby utensils, just a plain teaspoon and my boy on my hip! I'm so excited.

Felix's first Halloween

We had a rainy Halloween in Seattle, so much so that we got very few trick-or-treaters. But the rain didn't deter Felix- at least from putting on his costume. Well... actually, he didn't really have a choice. And then, as good parents do, we took him out into the rainy cold to get a couple of pieces of candy he can't eat. So, as you can see, Felix is some kind of dinosaur/dragon thing, we'll let him decide which, and he loved it. He went around making some kind of roaring-snarling-almost an intolerant crying sound, he was so cute.
You'll notice the world class jack o'lanterns we carved. Is that one with the guy hanging from the spooky tree eerie or what?

11 months? Unbelievable!

 October
November
December

January

February

Here we are at eleven months, the time has gone by so fast, and yet he has become such a central part of the family and household it's hard to remember what we were like without him here. Everyday I feel so privileged to be able to share his life with him, yet I know in a few years he's not going to want me hugging and kissing him all the time. What an ingrate. The blog seems to allow only five pictures per post, so this months picture is here. To see the earliest months, scroll down. Also you can click on a picture and get a larger view of Felix in all of his near naked splendor.

No thank you!

Well, our first attempt at feeding Felix baby food went pretty well but since then he wont eat solids. His response has been a pretty consistent, "No thank you". He purses his lips, scrunches up his face, turns away and frowns. At first sign of one of his spoons he starts to get a stubborn look and then the only time he'll open his mouth is if we cajole him into laughter! His refusal to try any solid foods has worried us a little bit as we want him to develop his swallowing, etc. Mom is having a hard time providing all his calories (about 42 ounces per day) via breastmilk and would really, really like to have him sleep longer through the night on a full tummy. But we are holding out and not using formula yet. We've tried rice cereal, barley, sweet potatoes, avocado, bananas, green beans, peas, and carrots. We've tried home made from scratch and boxed / jars. The closest we've had to success was either sneaking in a spoonful of peas or the one time he grabbed a green bean from mom's plate and choked on it. Felix's grandmother was convinced that bananas would do the trick and so when we spent the weekend at her house recently we tried squashing an organic banana and feeding it to him. I think mom still has it in her hair!

Field Day for Felix

Each year around mid-September, we look forward to the crocus bloom in our front yard. Two years ago we missed it, but we happened to be in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland and saw fields full of wild crocus. Felix seems to like them, well at least not mind them, even with the bees buzzing around. Perhaps in a few years we can take him to the Swiss crocus.
Felix ate his first solid food meal. It was brown rice mixed with breast milk. He seemed to like it that first time, but since then has refused to eat his porridge. Picky baby, must take after his father. Unfortunately, the pictures of this event must have been accidently deleted as I can not find them.
Also, Felix had his sixth month check up. He is doing very well. He can sit up, transfer objects between hands, make various sounds, and some imitation. He is nearly 27" long and weighs 15lbs. 1.5oz. This puts him in the 60th and 15th percentile respectively. We believe his low weight is due to the scale being skewed by formula fed babies, which tend to be heavier. Either way, he is very happy and very healthy.

The many loves of Felix Truman

Aside from getting his picture taken, Felix also loves looking at himself in the mirror. Combine that with his other love of standing, and it almost beats out his loves of eating and sleeping. Though he does love it more than his love of taking a bath, rainbows, and cuddling puppies. But not more love than for those actual activities... So he claims.

Grabby!

Felix has started grabbing at things. Most of the time they tend to be attached to mommy (her hair, her jewelry, her clothes) but this time he got Dad's glass. All I have to say is, thank goodness it was just water or Dad would be in a lot of trouble with Mom!

Happy, Joyous & Lucky

Everywhere we go people tell us that Felix is so happy. He smiles so much and so readily greets strangers that I thought I might show the other side of the story, just for perspective! This side only flares up occassionally but sure amuses us when it does! It is worth noting, however, that Felix doesn't enjoy his car seat much and spends a good deal of time in it screaming.

Okay, I really like this picture, I believe it really illustrates why we chose the name Felix. He looks so engaged, so positive and optimistic. This picture is from July 12th. Everyday when I take his picture (I take a mugshot everyday) he smiles. He could be crying when I set him down but when he sees the camera he must know it's showtime.

6months! Where has the time gone?

 May
June
July

August
September


...... I can't believe it has been 6 months already. We've really enjoyed him and he is growing so fast. That sounds like such a typical mom thing to say. How about the truth: I'm tired, sick of well-intentioned people with unsolicited advice, I look back at my pre-baby woes and laugh at my naivete, and I miss my selfish days of doing as I pleased and having much less neck pain. The rest of the truth is that I count myself so incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful little guy, I feel completely blessed by his presence and when he laughs at me, I melt. He stops crying when I pick him up. Let me say that again, he stops crying when I pick him up. I'm a mommy. Wow! - Renae

Felix's First Fourth

This is Felix on the fourth of July, maybe you guessed that. We had a great day at Downtown Bellevue Park.  We'd gotten there early for got a good spot in the shade and a great view.  Felix had a good time, he was unfazed by the fireworks... actually, he slept through them.

Mommy and Felix at the park 

Felix leads a double life as a sea urchin, actually he is sort of the "chief" of his sea urchin tribe.  It is a small tribe though. 

Felix smiling 

power grab?

power grab?
Originally uploaded by HowardFamily5.

It was pretty evident soon after his birth that Felix had the ability to plant thoughts inside other people's heads. A team of doctors rushed in and tried to harness this power but ended up starting fires instead.

Introducing Felix Truman Howard

The long awaited arrival...
...Felix Truman Howard!
Born Thursday, March 10, 2005
5 lbs 15.4 oz 18.5 inches long



Mom and Dad are taking their time adjusting to the changes. Dad is home for almost three weeks to help Mom out and get to know his baby boy. Natalie and Megan love spending time with their new little brother and have been more than willing to help out (especially if it gets them out of homework).