Just... adorable!

Last weekend saw the arrival of Bruce's 23rd week. Not a significant number, admittedly, but still an amazing thing!

To start the weekend off, we took Bruce to his first Mariner's game on Friday. The M's were playing the Twins (and ultimately lost after going into extra innings... boo...), the weather was great, and I wanted to cash-in my Mother's Day gift of a baseball game! At first Bruce was a little spooked by the train - and the resulting whistle - as well as the cheering, but being able to hold my hand while in our new baby backpack seemed to do the trick. By the time we got to our seats (Section 347 is AWESOME, by the way), he was golden! He interacted with everyone nearby, snuggled with Daddy, and gave me tons of kisses.

Steve, Bruce, and I headed up north to Bellingham to visit with Jason, Merrilee, and their 10-month old son, Baxter on Sunday... and man, is that kid adorable! It was very cool to see the differences and similarities between our sons, and to just chat with "new" parents our own age.

Granted, I also had a mission while visiting our friends. A couple of weeks ago, I went to an open call for a local talent agency, hoping to get started in the voiceover (and maybe acting) field in the greater-Seattle area. I had my acting resume, but... headshots. Yep. Kind of need those, too. SO, since Merrilee is a whiz with her spiffy new camera, she agreed to take some headshots for me! She and I headed to a local park and got the job done - which is no small feat, considering as how I had NO idea what I was doing! She's a pro, I'm telling you. Merrilee also took some great shots of Bruce, which she edited and sent our way as well.

So, just because I'm so impressed (and freaking proud of how handsome my little man is!), here you go:

And yes, being the sentimental mommy that I am... I cried when I saw this picture! My sweet baby!

This picture, aside from being insanely adorable, is great; this is the face he makes before deciding to do something 'new' - a new way to roll, a new way to smile, a new "something".

Some of my headshot options:

Now, these are just THREE options! She sent me way more to choose from - these are just the ones I pulled off her Flickr account (I hope that was okay, Merrilee!).

All-in-all, I'd say it was a great weekend!

"My son is four months old. "

Now there is a phrase I never thought I'd say...!
At his 4-month Well Child appointment yesterday, Bruce stunned us all. Our little Bruiser weighed-in as follows...
Weight: 17 lbs, 3 oz.
Length: 27 in.
Head: 17.5 in.
Percentile: 97th

Dr. Constantin was thrilled with how well Bruce was doing, and said that everything seems to be developing the way it should... which was a huge relief for me. I'm sorry, but this is a mini-human! Have you ever stopped to think about just how much could go wrong?! She also gave us the 'go-ahead' for starting Bruce on rice cereal!!! SQUEEE!!! He has been so interested in food for the last two weeks... and since I'm no longer breastfeeding (due to a combination of him weaning himself and my thyroid), it comes at a perfect time.

I've decided that I need to get him out of the house more often (read: Mommy is going stir-crazy). Instead of this being one of those "I've decided..." moments that get placed on the back burner of my brain, I actually stuck with it! Case-in-point? This afternoon.

This afternoon, Bruce and I met my best friend, Mary (and her 3 dogs - Blue, Dante, and Mister) at Westcrest Dog Park, in West Seattle. It was awesome! Not only was the weather perfect, but Bruce got to be around over 25 different dogs, and take his first walk in the woods. If his bottle hadn't have leaked in the diaper bag, we might have stayed even longer! The sun was shining (74 degrees!), the dogs were friendly, Mary was amazing as always, and it felt so, so good to be out of the house. When I was pregnant, I was determined that my baby would be out experiencing the world (or at least our community)... and today was a great first step.

Here are some other ideas I have for places to take Bruce:
Woodland Park Zoo
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
Pike Place Market (he's already been, but still. Come on.)
Seattle Aquarium
Seattle Science Center
Marymoor Park
Lake Sammamish State Park
The Little Gym (starting at 6 months)
Reading Time - Libraries

I'm open to recommendations...!