Much Love

A few photos from the Cleveland-stravaganza...I ended up staying through and spending an extra week at my parents house rather than attempting to return to Chicago with hubby, only to turn around a few days later and come back. Too much travel for the little guy and Stella, especially with family lined up to babysit. I ended up being home for 14 days, a long time to live out of suitcase but otherwise it was well worth it. Ben spread smiles every where he went...a few highlights below:

Merry Christmas!

The very best to you and yours from our little family (and the Claus'). Happy Holidays!

Little Mover

Thankfully the little dude has been delivering laughs and hugs throughout our visit home, and overall just brightening things up.

He learned how to walk around the coffee table at my parents house. I've said it before but it is really amazing to watch him learn.

The first day we got here he was trying to figure out how to pull up; next day it was successfully navigating the turn at the corner; this video is day three and he is motoring along fast as ever. He even falls down and pops right back up to continue on the journey.

Santa hat courtesy of grandpa Ted.

Hubby - this one is for you. We miss you, hurry back to OH.

Spreading Holiday Cheer

As I mentioned, Chris’ sister Deb lost her husband unexpectedly last week.

Many of you have likely met Deb and her family over the years, whether it be at our wedding, the pig roast or during one of their annual visits to Chicago. Aside from being one of the most amazing, genuinely good people on earth, she is also mother to three fantastic kids: Kelly, 17 yrs old; Jennifer, 14 yrs old; and Jack, 11 yrs old.

For those who've reached out regarding how you can help Deb during this tough time – and of course nothing changes the circumstances - creating a sense of security for her kids and their future will allow her to focus her energies on healing. The Straniero Children’s Education Fund, announced in John’s obituary, will collect donations for the kids education – current and college.

If you're looking to spread a little additional holiday cheer, contributions would be much appreciated. Donations should be made payable to: "Deborah Straniero" and "Straniero Kids Education Fund" should be written in the memo line, please send to Deb directly (email me if you need her address).

Even more important, please keep the entire family in your prayers. They need your positive energy right now and are drawing strength from the love and support around them.

Thank you and happy holidays.

To Our Brother John...

...your absence leaves a void that will never be filled.

Please keep Deb, Kelly, Jennifer, and Jack in your prayers. They are feeling the love and will need your positive energy in the coming weeks and months.

Rest in peace.

A Few Notes From the Week

Settling in for the night and so looking forward to catching up on sleep tonight...a few photos and misc notes:

- hubby picked out the perfect tree earlier this week, and finally won in the 'white' versus ghetto 'bright' Christmas lights battle. I have to admit, they are growing on me.

- the little guy is in to everything and is the biggest ham out there. He discovered Stella's food and water Tuesday, I figured better to just let it run its course. He seems far more interested in things I'm trying to keep him away from than things he explores and tires of. I snapped this one b/c it reminded me of a few rough mornings I experienced back in the day.

- the next is Ben during his bad hair days...posing for the camera. He seriously can't get enough of the camera - or attention. We had his 9-month appointment today and he charmed all the ladies in the office with his coy little smile.

- and lastly, mini me and his dad.

Hope you had a great week and enjoy the (slightly) warmer weather.

Closed for Business

Since I've reported on BFing throughout the process, I thought I'd include a final post on the topic (at least as far as Ben is concerned). We've officially closed up the shop.

The little guy doesn't seem to mind, or frankly even notice. He is still just eating one formula bottle a day b/c we have quite a bit of milk stored. It is more to keep him familiar with it so we can gradually start increasing as the frozen supply diminishes.

I'd guess we'll make it another month before we run out completely which is nice. And he is eating so much real food his milk consumption has gone down as a result.

While I loved every minute of it, I feel pretty liberated being free of the pump. And pleased that I made it as long as I did. Of course the awesome assets that came along with the job and the jolt to my metabolism weren't too bad either...until the next :)

Mexican Fiesta

What is better than going to our favorite Mexican restaurant for margs?

Going with the little dude for his first fiesta.

We went out for an early dinner tonight, rolling the dice that Ben would tolerate staying up a little late and enjoy new tastes. He didn't disappoint. Guac was a no brainer since he loves avocado...from there he dined on rice, beans, veggies and even a little ground beef. Perhaps no surprise, he loved it all. And managed to charm our regular waitress and anyone else who would give him the time of day.

(He didn't eat chips, but likes to feed himself so this was just to pass the time in between bites)

A perfect Sunday evening. Hope you had a great weekend.

Up, Up, Up

The adventure continues ... Ben loves all the low shelves, drawers, and furniture because if he can reach and pull up, he can work into a stand and achieve an entirely new perspective of the room.

He isn't picky -- it can be the stove, the rung of the dining room chair, even me when I'm on the ground with him. He isn't happy unless he is on the move. And subsequently there are a lot more bumps, knocks and tumbling over. Thankfully he is so curious, he has little time to slow down for sympathy. We mostly just pretend nothing happened and continue on our journey through the kitchen, into the dining room, off we go!

Bundle of Joy

Added to the long list of reasons I prefer warm weather over cold, is the need to bundle Ben in a thousand layers before leaving the house. We typically walk Stella every morning and it now officially takes us longer to get ready to leave than we are actually outside.

Here's a picture of him all geared up. I do love his new boots - they rock.

I'd love to tell you that his belly busted out of his coat in this picture but it was actually just a zipper malfunction.

Stay warm my friends.

Bad Hair Day

Something crazy happened to Ben's hair yesterday and we can't shake it. It looks like he has antlers. Big, wispy cowlicks are twirling around on both sides of his head. Patting it down with water hasn't worked, so until his bath later today he will tour the tour sporting his weird do.

As you can see it's really bringing him down.

Lucky or stupid?

With winter quickly approaching, I started researching classes a couple weeks ago to sign Ben and Paula up for. They used to spend countless days sitting at the park, swinging and do all kinds of fun things I can only imagine.

I found a bunch through CPD (Chicago Park District) within walking distance but have also heard horror stories of how fast slots fill up, so I set the calendar for admission day and scheduled hubby to back up my efforts.

Imagine my surprise when we got right in...initially I was elated, signed us up for two different classes and felt really proud.

But then I start to wonder...why did I get in so easily? Do you think people aren't signing up b/c of H1N1? Is that crazy? A coworker just delivered a baby and they shut Prentice down to kids 12 and under b/c of it, so her son couldn't come to meet the new baby. And they stopped doing the hospital tour we took last year, to limit exposure.

For now I'm still excited they will have something to do when the snow decends. And we'll continue to monitor the flu news. He did get his shot (thanks uncle B), so that is comforting. But I guess "they" are right, the worry always sticks with you...

Thanksgiving pics

Since Thanksgiving was all about food, I thought I'd send a couple pictures of Ben enjoying his food (and water). Culminating with Ben sitting on Grandma Marsha's old fashion scale, weighing in at 20 lbs. Enjoy the pics!

Thanksgiving feast

I wish I were more technologically inclined. We have tons of great photos from Thanksgiving in Cleveland but for some reason they aren't registering when I try to upload to the blog. Apologies. I'll try again tomorrow.

We had an awesome few days. Not surprising, Ben was the center of attention and loved every minute of it. I don't think he sat idle for more than 30 seconds, more often was passed from one person to another to another.

He LOVED Thanksgiving, and ate two dinners as hubby and I celebrate with both our families on Thursday. Turkey has officially replaced avocado as his favorite food. He must have eaten 4 lbs of turkey the last few days. And stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, jello mold, cranberries, french silk pie. I kid you not. He opened wide and eagerly accepted everything put in front of him. Frankly, I was shocked at how much he put away. And woke up to waffles, eggs, Cheerios and yummy grape jam the next morning. Amazing.

And we even managed to squeeze in an H1N1 shot before dinner was served (thanks Dr. Bob), which was a big relief to us and didn't slow him down a bit.

Hope you all had a nice holiday. Pictures to follow!

Ben's menu

Ben's menu of real food options is expanding quickly and continues to be such a fun adventure.

Below is the list of real people foods we've tackled, mostly in order of his favorites:

1. avocado

2. mac & cheese (Kraft please - they are a client but not one of mine)

3. Cheerios

4. pancakes

5. turkey (lunch meat)

6. puffs, puffs, puffs

7. apple sauce

8. bananas

9. eggs

10. pears

11. grapes

12. sweet potatoes

13. hummus

14. noodles

I'm integrating things as fast as I can think of them. And he really seems to like everything. Though his favorites are obvious b/c he gets SO excited. Arms flapping, mouth open, squealing - so excited. Oh, and the second tooth is coming in on the bottom too.

He is also totally motoring around the house now. We're baby proofing as quickly as he is exploring, with gates coming this weekend from Cathy just in time.

Looking forward to catching up with the families this week for turkey day. It's been a while since anyone has seen him and certainly not since all of the excitement of November.

Enjoy!

New Moon Premiere

Quick update on the New Moon premiere in LA earlier this week...it was awesome. We hit the red carpet just as the celebs were arriving. A few photos included here, first RPat arriving and the crowds going wild. Then a couple (very bad) pictures from the after party. Sorry, flash wasn't working for some reason so my stalker photos look even more so with the bad lighting and weird angle. The first is Robert, the second Taylor (standing next to the heat lamp).

The movie itself was awesome, a big improvement from Twilight. And while I was and still am undoubtably Team Edward, the film did a great job making a case for Jacob. I can hardly wait for Eclipse.

Overall such a fun experience. We saw all the rest of the Cullens and Wolfpack at the afterparty and could have gotten a ton of pictures, with basically everyone but the big three, if we'd wanted to. I tried to keep cool since I was there for work :)

Enjoy the pictures and go see the movie!!

Technology upgrade

Mac is back, better than ever. Hubby also got new camera up and running. Still figuring out all the functionality but here are a couple pics from last weekend. Realize I owe some better posts, coming soon. In the meantime, I know most of you can be bribed with Ben pics.

Hope you had a great weekend :)

and yes, I do realize he has food all over his face. My type-A personality has not figured out how to overcome the mess that is meal time. It drives me insane.

We're Back!

Mac is back and better than ever. Lots to come this weekend but a pic to hold you over...from last weekend and if you look closely you'll see our little tooth coming through and causing lots of chaos. xo

Live from la-la land

Apologies...the Mac is in the shop for some repairs and that is primarily where I do all my posting, especially when it comes to pictures and video (I've been assured all my photos will be recovered).

And I'm in LA for a couple days to attend the New Moon premiere (!) for work - how great is that?

So no Ben updates for you, but promise to post any good celeb sightings or photos!!

Cheers.

teeth

November will go down as a very big month for us, I can tell already and we're not yet half way through. Food, crawling, button-pushing, and now...

Ben started to cut his first tooth today. Is that how you say it? I can feel the tooth on his bottom gums, sharp and pointy, coming through. How long does it take for the tooth to appear? When will the other one join (babies seem to always have two on the bottom in the beginning, right?)? Does it hurt him? He is doing all the things they say will happen, rubbing his ears, moving his tongue all around. But overall he doesn't seem too bothered by it.

Hubby's new camera came this week. We're celebrating with a trip to the zoo tomorrow. I can't wait.

And Ben is saying 'mom.' Not like 'good morning MOM,' more like da-da-da-grrr-grrr-mom but I'll take it.

So excited to be going to bed in 5 minutes, such a long party week. I'm old.

Happy Friday.

Schwa, schummy

If you talk to me about Chicago restuarants for more than 5 minutes, inevitably Schwa will come up. It is my favorite restaurant in the city. Maybe favorite ever.

Short story is that the chef has rediculous credentials, has worked for some of the most amazing world-reknowned professionals in the world, and opened this tiny dive of a space with about 15 tables on Ashland Ave. It is BYO. The chef and his 3-4 other sous chefs are the servers. They play alternative music in the kitchen loud enough to penetrate the dining room. The bathroom is in next to the refrigerator. There are two prefix menu options, three courses and nine.

And the food is to. die. for.

We're lucky enough to have been several times. It is impossible to get in to. On a whim I called a few weeks ago, got someone live on the phone (they typically have an answering machine and weeks can go by without a call back), and booked Tuesday night.

I didn't remember to start taking pictures until about half way through, my apologies. I just get so over stimluated when I get there. We always do the long menu, considered the short based on school night and lack of time for a 3-hour dinner. They convinced us to do the long, with expedited service. It was undescribably good. A few details below.

Call them now. And keep calling until you get someone. The food, have I mentioned the food? But it is also such a great vibe. Just a bunch of dudes, who love what they do, and the food speaks for itself. It is so creative, so unthinkable. The combinations of flavors. I wish I could do it justice with words but nothing can do it justice.

And BYO makes it accessible to the masses in my opinion.


Quail egg ravioli - to be eaten in one delicious, amazing bite. It's never on the menu, but always just shows up as part of the coursing. Previously the best thing I had ever put in my mouth.... until this little ditty showed up:

I don't even remember the ingredients of this but it was a miniature, constructed version of their beer cheese soup. It was like a pretzel roll, with big chunks of sea salt, an amazing cheese and somehow the foam made the whole thing orgasmic.

Sweetbreads. Yes, I know. But they were served with corn (my favorite food), popcorn and dollups of heaven. Out of this world.

This is tiger fish, with a watermelon reduction and some other forgotten amazing details.

Pork, zucchini ribbons, garlic and borage (I have no idea what borage is but it was delicious).

Not featured, peeky toe crab course, suncoke soup, and maki. OH, and dessert. Which was based off of peanut butter and jelly but was a concord grape soup, peanut butter shavings, oh my.

Again, this review is a sad state of retelling. Go. Now.

8-months

Ben celebrated 8 months on Monday with a big dinner of Kraft mac & cheese. I think it may have been hubby's proudest moment as a parent to date, given that this is his favorite meal of all times. I could almost see him envisioning the two of them sitting on the couch together for countless years to come, watching sports, eating the stuff straight from their own respective pots. Video is too large to load, so click here. Promise it is worth the extra step.

Ben is perhaps the most excited you've ever seen him in this video. It's hilarious.

He also learned how to push the button in his crib - not the island-saving button on Lost but equally important. This is the button that turns on his music machine, which he adores. I'm hoping this buys me a few more minutes in the morning when he wakes up.

Which, not to jinx myself, has improved significantly...today, Ben woke up at 6:20. Same as yesterday. Truth be told, he is on a 5-day streak. It has been glorious. I pray (I'm literally praying), he is back on schedule for good.

Cheers.

Bubbles in November

Hubby got some great giggles playing with the bubbles this weekend. Here is a little sample...

Stolen Weekend

70 degrees in November just doesn't happen in Chicago (or the midwest for that matter). And so we spent nearly every second outside, as hopefully was the case with all of you as well.

We've gotten much more savvy at the whole babysitter thing, found a couple we really like and now have regular nights out planned for the foreseeable future. Amazing what it does for us. It just feels SO GOOD to be out, and there is no guilt b/c the little guy is sleeping anyway so we aren't missing anything.

We tried Taxim on Friday night, yummy new Greek restaurant in Bucktown. We walked both ways, hit a bar on the way home, seriously just like the old days.

Parties both Sat and Sun -- little guy came with. It was nice to be out, see friends and still snuggle with my little bear throughout.

He is now both so busy he has no time for me, and yet when he is tired wants nothing but me (or hubby). He barely wants to be held b/c he wants to be on the ground, playing, exploring, independant. And yet when he is tired, he is SO clingy. He holds on tight, climbs up into you. He defines yummy.

Crawling continues with more ease, less frustration, fun all around. And this weekend we ate Cheerios, more eggs, apple, melon, it is so fun. Chewing remains hard and weird for him but we keep trying. He is eager, just not sure how it all works yet. But he gets the sippy cup, drinks water, and has also mastered the straw - kind of.

Today we took a big walk with Stella and he laughed the entire time we were out. It was pure bliss. Tonight we are eating burgers on the porch. Amazing.

Happy warm weekend. Hope you enjoyed every second.

Sitting on the patio tonite with hubby, drinking wine and listening to music. Is it really Nov? Glorious.

Little Buddy's Buddies

Ben loves the animals. Stella is so good with him and she makes him laugh every day. And Facker, who I've had to rename "kitty" for obvious reasons, joins us every morning for the first feeding of the day. She sits next to him on the glider and he has learned how to pet her gently, When he grabs on to her tail and pulls, she is actually pretty good.

Bisco remains out of the loop but she still spends most of her time outside so we'll deal with her when the time comes.

I think it is good for him to have furry friends in his life. They make our lives happier, why not him too?

Day Lights Savings Hangover

oh geez - I didn't realize how Day Light Savings was going to affect us. I guess the challenge with having Ben on his brilliantly rigid schedule is that change is a little bumpy. He was super fussy at dinner tonight, to the point that I had to pull him out of his highchair and feed him in my lap to get him to even swallow the food in his mouth. He was near hysterical.

We did manage to get our normal portion of food down, at least close to it. And PJs on without a meltdown, but he completely passed out in my arms at 6:30. Like pulse checking, breathing confirmations, no-amount-of-nudging-could-muster-a-burp passed out.

I called KJ just in case. You know I like to worry. She assured me it is DLS time and that her kids are totally out of whack as well. And I just logged on to Facebook for something else and see strings of updates from my other mom friends concurring. That brings some comfort. KJ says it lasts a week.

Poor little guy. He is seriously so good all the time, when he isn't himself my first response is panic. I'm working on it, promise. For now I'll just take comfort in the fact that he is sleeping peacefully.

Happy Monday from the Little Bear

Hubby says I have to put the costume away now...

When pressed, he said maybe it would be OK for him to wear it on Sundays for Bears games. I'll take that. We did wear it around town all weekend long and he looks soooo cute. We took a big family walk on Saturday afternoon to check out all the other trick-or-treaters (read: show off our little bear).

I've never been a fan of Halloween, but I think that has changed. Last night I brainstormed all kinds of ways we can blow out our house next year; and can you imagine how fun it will be when Ben actually gets it?? 

Ok, I'm saying goodbye to Halloween for this year. But I do reserve the right to put him in it for Thanksgiving. 

Ben's Crawling!

Without further ado, Ben's crawling! 

I had some technical difficulties so I didn't capture the first few times when he was moving with (relative) ease and enjoying it, he's pretty pooped out in this video but exciting nevertheless.

AND Ben ate scrambled eggs for breakfast, and loved them. I read later that he really isn't supposed to eat egg whites until he's a little older b/c of potential for allergies. Anyone have a baby react badly to them? He seems fine so I'm not too concerned. 

He also tried a little of hubby's juice today and ate some chicken. I can't contain my excitement. Thankfully this experimentation mainly happens on the weekends, otherwise I'd have him on lobster by Wednesday at this rate. 

The time change continued to confuse all of us throughout the day but the extra hour keeps on giving. 

Finally, a big huge THANK YOU to hubby who took me out last night to party like a rock star, then took monitor duty and woke up with the little camper this morning so I could recover (boy, it's much more fun while it's happening than it is the next day). We had such a great night out on the town!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Little Bear!!

Fashion Plate

Sometimes it is hard not to treat him like a little doll because he looks so cute all decked out. And with gear like this kid's got, why not? 

Check out his awesome kicks from Robin and Lauren, my favorite gals at work, who picked these up for him while they were traveling for work in LA. They have SKULLS on them. To match his skull onsie of course. People stopped us on the street while we were shopping in Bucktown Sunday, I kid you not. 

First Real Food: Avocado

Remember when Ben WAS an avocado? In my tummy, that is? Today he ate his first real people food (as opposed to the pureed goodness in the jars), and it was an avocado. He loved it! As you may have seen in recent posts, he pretty much loves all food (another trait we can trace back to his mother). He's gotten really good with the puffs and can pick them up now, most make his mouth. So tonight we tried the avocado, with great success. I'm thrilled. I can't wait to eat together, can you think of anything more fun?!

Pinot and Special K?

I woke up today and momentarily considered eating my Special K with wine instead of milk.

What does that say about me?

Going on fifth day without hubby and while I CHERISH the time alone with my little guy, anticipating another couple days of single-parenthood, as a working mother, has me dreaming of alcohol at odd hours. What do single parents really do to survive??

I realized today that October has been a killer, with Ben's ridiculous morning hours (STILL IN DENIAL), colds, visitors, hubby gone most of the month, work super busy, poor Stella, it's a lot.

And the rain is always the deal-breaker. It's boring to even explain but it's the final straw in the Stella/Ben evening equation. Rain makes everything harder.

Again, am I complaining about this mundate junk? Yes. But at least with the wherewithall that I could have it much worse and am grateful that I don't. Obviously I'd be hard-pressed to handle it...

And as a completely random aside - have you tried Special K with berries (with milk)? Seriously, the bowl of cereal really sticks with you. I'm kind of amazed everytime I eat it. At 6am. And then don't eat again until lunch. And I'm a HUGE snacker. They may be on to something. I may eat a bowl for dinner too. Thanks mom, I owe you for that one. You really do know everything.

Happy Monday.

.

Ben eating his puffs...pretty successfully given most typically end up in the highchair.

bath time smiles

I've been taking a lot of pictures lately, maybe because Ben has looked cuter? Does that just go without saying :) Enjoy.

Feeding update

So I'm pretty much over bf - it's kind of been a confluence of events. I've never been a fan of pumping, but obviously kept on. It seems like since we stopped the 9:30pm feeding, my production at night has been pretty weak, even for the 6pm meal. And lately, he hasn't been eating much for me, even in the middle of the day.

Perhaps it is because he has been eating more real food, and he is so much more aware of his surroundings now everything is a distraction. At the same time, I'm still tinkering with solutions to resolve this 4:30-5:30am wake up because it hasn't stopped. I wondered if he ate a little more before bed, it might help. 

So this week I transitioned to a bottle every night, and he seems to take about 7oz which is great (and more than he was likely getting from me). Problem is, when he is really tired, he just doesn't like drinking from a bottle for me. 

He cries, fusses and plows his head into my chest as if to say 'this is not what we do mom...' 

Truth be told, I also bought some formula today. I'm thinking about giving it a test run this week to see if he likes it - and the ped suggested we test to ensure he'll eat it, doesn't have a reaction to it, before I start planning the wean. The idea of quitting, or seriously cutting back, seems to be gaining momentum rapidly. I imagine I'll keep nursing for the first feeding of the day. I love that time together. And I have a ton of milk saved in the freezer, it lasts three months, so I could just start supplementing formula one feeding a day if I decide to go that route. 

Crazy the emotions though, I feel guilty and pretty selfish. And it is selfish. There is no good reason to quit. In fact, since I'm really not working out any more, it is quite stupid to quit. 

I'm committed to making it to Nov 9, without making any changes. That will be his 8-month birthday, exclusively bf for his whole life. But a change seems to be nearing. We will see. 

Little dude

It's just me and the little dude for a few days, hubby is traveling for work. It is sooo much easier than being alone when he was a newborn. Today we ran errands together, had lunch and soon are heading out for a big walk. Actually it's like having a little friend around

He is doing a lot of good standing these days. And Paula how to walk this week (holding hands of course and it is very slow going). Still no teeth but they are coming any day.

Enjoy a couple pics.

Breakfast with Ben

For the die hard Ben lovers out there, just a little video of breakfast this morning. Not really exciting, though you do see a full range of facial expressions. Haven't posted a video in a while so please accept this one until we have some better content.

Subtle Changes

The other thing that happened when we made it out of the sickness woods, all of last week's changes became more clear. In this picture you can see his hair is really filling out, and he is longer overall. He fits on my waist differently when I hold him, and while he is still a little chunkster, he seems more evenly balanced and lean.

I'm also toying with the idea of giving up one (bf) session a day, and doing the evening meal as a bottle. I heavied up on bottles last week overall b/c his appetite was down and I wanted to make sure I could monitor what he is taking in. And he really doesn't eat that much milk at night anyway so I think it is a good place to start to wean...need to buy some formula to make sure he'll drink it. Even though we have enough frozen milk in the freezer to send him off to college (too bad it doesn't keep that long).

Back to Ben

Thank goodness the little guy is finally feeling better. Boy, that took more out of him than I even realized. It wasn't until he started talking and smiling again yesterday that I realized how down he actually was. He slept most of the day Saturday and I think that helped him kick it for good, though he is still really stuffed up.

And somehow Monday snuck up on us again too quickly. Enjoy the pic and have a great day.

Big smiles

Ben's favorite, my sis. And one giant, gummy smile. 

I think teeth are in our near future. No actual sign of them yet, just seeing a lot more of his gums than ever before. 

What do you think? 

Family and Friends

I'm sitting upstairs listening to the poor little guy cough, sniffle and sneeze while he tries to get some sleep, hoping he feels better when he wakes up tomorrow. 

A few pictures from last weekend for you to enjoy. From the bottom, Ben's new best girl friend Tracy, sticking their tongues out at each other; hubby and mini me; hubby's cheering squad; laughing with grandma Marsha; and hanging with grandpa Joe. 

Look at all the hair that has come in over the last week, amazing. Good news too because for a couple days it was all standing on end and I was concerned he was going to be cursed with a horrible cowlick. I think now that it is getting longer it's weighing down.