March 31, 2011

So close to getting a picture of the fangs! See that flushed face? The red face of a teething baby. The rash on his neck and chin is so bad too - I've resorted to the steroid cream we were prescribed a while back when he had the same breakout on his back. Doc said we could use it for flareups for 5-7 days, so hopefully it will help get it under control a little bit. Last night he did the midnight wakeup again, but then he slept all the way through to 5:45a, which was nice. He babbled a bit before going back to sleep and when I left for work he was sacked out. J called me at 9:30a and said, "Um, should I go wake him up?" I couldn't believe he was still asleep! He didn't wake up until a little after 10a! That is beyond crazy...and he STILL took an almost 2 hour nap. When I got home we all got a little sidetracked and his entire routine got pushed back about an hour, but it worked out because I figured he wouldn't go to bed early anyway. He's so attentive these days. When I got home I had to take an important phone call and I was carrying him around with me while I talked. I kept sneaking looks at him and he had this really serious look on his face like he was listening to everything I said. He could tell I was in business mode - the look on his face was so cute. He remembered the splashing as soon as I put him in the tub and this time he almost drenched me while I was trying to bathe him. He had a pretty good time, we were laughing and splashing and being silly. He was in bed and asleep before 8p, so that's still good. I guess he's just pushing his waking hours back a bit. He likes hanging out with us in the evenings for a little while and to tell the truth, we like hanging out with him too. It's nice to not be in a rush the minute I walk in to get him fed, bathed and in bed. It's fun to have some time to talk and play.

March 30, 2011

This is the best picture I could get. That little dude was a blur of activity tonight. Even waving the phone around couldn't get his attention. He was crawling all over the house with me following behind him.

J said today was a pretty good day. For the most part it's the same thing every day - wake up, little TV/exersaucer, breakfast, play on the floor, nap, lunch, more playing on the floor and then I get home and we start our evening routine.

In the bath tonight he discovered how much fun it is to splash in the water. He's done a little splashing here and there before, but he was going crazy and cracking up tonight. He was playing quietly while I washed him, talking to his duck and just being chill and then all of a sudden he just started slapping at the water. When he realized how much fun it was, he started splashing even harder and then he started cracking up. He was having a lot of fun. Even J came in when he heard all the commotion to watch him. We were all laughing.

He's been going to bed a little later, but he's still usually asleep by 7:30p. Unfortunately he's on this new night schedule where he wakes up at midnight and 4a for some snuggles and sometimes a little bit of formula. I'm hoping that this is just a symptom of the teething - we'll see once those new teeth come in. He has a nasty rash under his chin and at the top of his chest from the drool and now his cheeks are a little chapped and red. He's not miserable most of the time, but he's still clawing at that ear and he gets a little feverish in the early evening, so I'll be glad when he gets the next couple of teeth. Can't wait for the weekend and little quality time with little man.

March 29, 2011

Check out that eyebrow - he's got some faces. I missed yesterday's post because we snagged an 8p doctors appointment at the last minute to have the kiddo's ears checked out. He's been clawing at his left ear a lot more than usual and he's been shaking his head a lot, so we decided to have it looked at. He's clawed at his ears before because of teething, but this seemed worse, so we decided to just rule out the ear infection so we could stop wondering. Of course we get there, doc takes one look and tells us his ears are perfect. So...we're expecting more teeth at any time. He did great to be out so late and went straight to bed when we got home.

He was in a great mood when I got home tonight, he was just cracking up and smiling really big while we finished dinner and hung out. He's gets these huge smiles where his whole face scrunches up and he shows off his vampire teeth. I STILL can't get a picture of it - the minute he sees the phone or camera he gets this hungry look on his face and lunges for it. I have to try hard this week to have J help me - if he can make him laugh, maybe I can get the picture without him noticing me with the phone.

J claims that he said "Dad-dy" today, but he said he wasn't sure if it was on purpose, so we aren't claiming anything yet. I'll have to hear it to believe it. He was playing on his floor today and I was laying down a few feet away and I started patting my face and saying, "Ma-ma". He got a big smile on his face and crawled over to me as fast as he could, then he put his hands on my face and gave me a big slobbery kiss. The sweetness, I die!

March 27, 2011 - 8 months old!

Guess who's 8 months old today? That cute little dude on the left, that's who. Sorry about missing posts the last couple of days, they have been long days. We didn't get to Gymboree this weekend. Monkey slept in yesterday (not complaining) and his nap ended up being a little later than usual and he slept right through the class time, so I called and rescheduled for next weekend. We did have fun this weekend though: lots of playing on the floor, lots of standing up, talking, helping me around the house, etc.

As I said, he slept in yesterday and when he woke up, he was ready to rock and roll. He's been taking just one long nap midday most of this week, but yesterday he ended up taking a little power nap around 5p as well. He went to bed a little late because of that, but he was back up at 7a this morning, ready to party. Today he took a 2 hour nap midday and I did too - it was awesome! Even with the long nap he still needed another power nap today - he went to bed a little after 7p and he's still in there babbling to himself.

Lately every time we go in there to get him out of bed, he's standing up and stuck. He's gotten really good at pulling up, but once he gets there he can't quite figure out how to get back down. He really likes to pull up and stand at the gate now, watch us from his room. He will also stand up on us if we are sitting or laying on the floor with him. He loves to stand, but then he gets a little confused about where he goes from there. His crawling has gotten a lot better, he's progressed from the army crawl to a full on fast crawl. He never sits still now, he's always wiggling and moving, working toward his own agenda.

He's babbling SO much. He definitely has the "ba", "gee", "da" and "ay" sounds down, but he hasn't put anything purposeful together yet. This morning we were in the kitchen and I kept saying "ma-ma" to him and he would laugh really loud and say "ba" back. There were a couple of times when I turned my back that he said something like "mama", and I would turn and talk back to him, but it wasn't quite it. It was kind of exciting though, pretty close! I'll just have to keep coaching him. Jason gets more time during the week to work on "dada" with him, so I have to use every chance I get.

He's learned so much in just the last 8 months, it's just amazing. Especially lately, he's just learning so much every day. I come home and there's always someting new for him to show me. He is so snuggly and lovey dovey with me, it always makes my day. Even when he's playing and I'm just nearby, he'll take breaks to crawl over and give me hugs and kisses and then head back to his toys. Last night I wasn't here when he finally went to bed and I found myself hoping he would wake up in the middle of the night just so I could love on him. My little Monkey.

March 24, 2011

This picture is actually from Sunday - I didn't get any new ones today so I posted this one to show you Gage's "Squiggy" impersonation. Pretty cute.

I was trying to hard today to get a picture of those vampire fangs, but he just lunges for the phone/camera whenever I try to take pictures now. Tomorrow I think I will get J to take the picture while I get him to laugh.

He made a total mess at dinner tonight. One of the foods he had was a macaroni & cheese w/veggies puree and let me tell you something - that orange puree stains. His face was orange, his clothes were orange, his hands were orange. Did I mention that he's a ridiculously messy eater? Two reasons: 1) Lately he's been putting his hand to his mouth as I spoon the food in - I think he either wants the spoon or he wants to feel the food. So...the food gets all over his hands and then....2) He is usually pretty tired and he'll start rubbing his face/eyes. See where this is going? There is food EVERYWHERE by the time we are done. I figure being messy with your food is one of the things that kids get to enjoy, so who cares? He takes a bath after dinner anyway, so I just let him wipe the food all over everything he can. He thinks it's fun.

Rest of the night was pretty normal - dinner, bath, bed. We had some tickle sessions with Daddy before bed and he thought that was a lot of fun. I'm excited about the weekend and our Gymboree class. I'm excited to get him around some other kiddos.

March 23, 2011

Check him out! GiGi watched him today because J had to work and she texted this picture to me early in the afternoon. Look at him on his tiptoes. He loves to get into the toy box and that seems to be his favorite place to practice standing and pulling up. Now he will even try to push up from a sitting position, but he just ends up in this hilarious "downward dog" pose that cracks me up.

Like I said, he spent most of the day with GiGi and when I got home he was so excited to see me. I can not wait to get home for those hugs and kisses every day. We played on the floor for a little while after I first got home. A coworker gave me a new toy for him from Discovery Toys and he seemed to like it - it's a soft block with a hole in the top and there are a bunch of soft pieces that go inside with different textures. After we played for a while, it was time for dinner and he ate his green beans, sweet potatoes and fruit like a champ. About that time J got home and he was cracking Gage up saying hello and singing songs to him. J has been doing this loud noises and kind of scary faces and Gage will start laughing like it's the funniest thing he's seen. We were dancing and cackling for a while after dinner. Then it was time for his bath and after a quick bottle we had some snuggles and it was time for bed. He has been smiling so big and I think that I may be able to get a picture of those vampire teeth in the next couple of days. I have to tell you, it's SO cute when he gets to laughing and showing off those fangs.

March 21, 2011

When I got home today it was pretty quiet and I didn't see J or Monkey anywhere. When I went down the hall and peeked in the office I saw G was passed out on the floor and J was laying next to him. He had just fallen asleep eating his last bottle of the day. It seems like he's dropping his afternoon nap - he'll take a long late morning/midday nap and then be up from like noon to 6p. It's not a big deal, but he just gets so sleepy in the evenings. He woke up about 15 minutes later and I brought him in the kitchen to help me make dinner. It was a struggle, he wanted me to hold him - but I managed to entertain him enough that he hung out in the walker while I cooked. After dinner was ready it was time for him to eat. He's starting to develop some tastes and it's getting harder to get him to eat his vegetables. He'll make faces and spit it out - but once I get to the fruit it's all good. He's like "ew, peas...ew, veggies...yum, pears and pineapples" After dinner he had his bath and that was quick, since I had dinner on the stove. We still haven't moved to the big bathtub, but I won't be able to avoid it much longer. I got his pjs on and he played in his room while I turned dinner off in the kitchen. When I got back to his room, he was reading his animal book, which he likes because they added furry pieces to the different pictures, so he likes to feel the textures too. Lots of snuggles and kisses later and little Monkey was in bed. I signed him up for a free Gymboree class this weekend and I'm excited for us to try it out. I think he'll have a lot of fun.