New toys

 This week there were a couple of consignment sales locally. I consigned in one and advertised in another, but of course had to check out both. I bought an exersaucer at one for just $10, and a play mat and clothes and a toy at the other. He loves all of it.  He was SOOO good. He loves to be out and about and riding in the stroller. He had only had a 30 minute nap when it was time to go, and only two cat naps less than 10 minutes long by the time we got home again. Yet he was cheerful and happy and quite an attention getter.
Most recently he also broke one of the rear-view mirrors off of his Jeep. He pulls on it until it comes off. I think I was with him when he did it for the first time. I heard it hit the floor, then he peers over the side of the Jeep at it. Next he is straining to see down the hole that is now in the Jeep where the mirror was attached. He looks back at the floor. Strains again to see in the hole. Then starts to cry. lol It was hilarious. Ted keeps gluing it back on, but he keeps pulling it off. He doesn't cry anymore over it.. its more of an, 'oh well, it fell off again.'

here are the latest pictures:

 

I just wanted to show how small he is in the crib still despite how big he feels. 

Here he is playing in his new exersaucer. The seat can turn inside it so he can turn in circles to play with each of the toys around him.

 

  

  

And here is the playmat. I haven't been willing to fork out the 25-30 bucks for one at a consignment store, but it was only $6 at the sale. I figure even if he doesn't play with it long, its another thing to help him occupy himself now so I can make dinner or do whatever I need to do. We just rotate through his toys at this point when I have stuff to get accomplished. But this has things he can feel on the mat itself, then you can move the toys around (giraffe, elephant, parrot, monkey, etc) on the arches. There is also a mirror that sits in the corner. So enough to do for a little while.

I think I did alright in getting him some clothes. I didn't hit the jackpot or anything because I dont know what to get him! I bought a 9 month romper for him to wear now, and its already too short. Its too short in the torso. I bought him another set of footless pjs that looked nice and long and lean that are 9 months thinking he'd get to wear them soon - and they fit right now. They are a hair too short, but still long enough to get by. Actually, its what he's wearing in the exersaucer pictures. The sleeves are a little big (not too long, just big), but other than that it fits okay enough.  There wasn't much in the 9 month section at the sale, so I browsed for 12 month stuff. I figure in a few more months the weather will be warm enough to put him in short sleeves and we can add a sweater or jacket if its cool. So I bought a few short sleeves - if he wears the 12 month size when he's only 7 months, or if he makes it all the way to a year to wear them - it will all be the same season for the most part. Whatever. I dont know how to figure out this size thing.

New Sunglasses

We had some mild weather recently and I bought Andrew some sunglasses so we could be outside. I was waiting for a portrait customer to arrive and figured we could go play in the driveway until they got there. So we strapped some shoes to his feet, put his glasses on, and cruised around. Here are some of the pictures (a couple are blurry - sorry.)

 

  

  

  

  

  

And I'm trying to learn to take fun/boring/ordinary pictures like everyone else always has in their albums. Everyone seems to expect me to always have creative or interesting pictures or something - and I just dont feel like trying to take those all the time. And of course with a stupid point and shoot camera it feels impossible to achieve that anyway. So I'm loving that I can just take random pictures and post them here with no expectations of myself. Here are a couple of Ted and me in the driveway.

 

  

  

And we actually went out to dinner tonight. Here is Andrew tasting the table (ick!!) and then sitting in his carseat. I can't believe we already need to buy a new car seat because he's so big for this one. However, I wanted to get a comparison picture before we upgraded since he was so small in it when we brought him home five months ago. 

 

 

  Andrew has been saying 'Hi' lately. When his reading dvd starts it begins with a girl saying "Hi! My name is Aleka...." and the other day he said Hi back. He has said Hi several times this week. Saturday was the first time that he said hi to daddy. Ted was trying to get him to smile for the camera and Andrew said Hiii ... and Ted didn't even register at first that Andrew said that! He was really excited when I told him. Its clear - you just dont expect it is all.
  Andrew has also decided that eating solids isn't as exciting as he originally expected. I dont push it since most babies aren't on solids until at least 6 months old anyway. I will offer him solids when he seems particularly interested in my food, and if he doesn't eat much of it - thats okay.  I did get the genius idea of putting organic carrot juice in his bottle. He wasn't too keen on it at first but didn't really put up a fight. The next time I added it to a tiny bit of milk that was leftover from another bottle and he didn't seem to even notice the difference.  I'm hoping to get him to taste avocado this week. He's had banana through a mesh feeder that he can suck on and sometimes he likes it and sometimes he doesn't.

He is getting better at moving the Jeep in the direction he wants to go. We had to raise it up a level outside when we put shoes on him. When I had the video camera out, he didn't seem interested in walking, but once I put the camera away, he was actually walking straight and doing well. Figures. I haven't even seen these videos yet - just uploaded them while I had a chance. So.. sorry if they're long and boring.

Hugs n Kisses

Okay, again, I'm a really bad videographer.. sorry. But I'm primarily putting these on here for grandma and Aunt Eese. Otherwise I'd only share good ones.

Before I add the videos.. Andrew has started giving kisses. Monday he gave me three. He put his mouth to my cheek, held it there for a second (no licking), and then pulled away and looked me in the face with a big grin. Then went back again for another. He gave me another one first thing Tuesday morning after his diaper change.
He is also hugging my neck more. And when he is tired, he cuddles a little bit and rests his head on my shoulder. Its sweet.

I love hearing him talk in the morning. Lately I've tried several times to capture the sounds on video - but even when I'm in the other room, when I pull the camera out, he stops. Or he pauses so long in between that the video is just blank noise forever. I finally got some better ones yesterday morning. You might have to turn your volume up to hear it.



Then I went in to say good morning to him.



We tried another attempt at getting him out in the snow. Ha! It was practically a blizzard BEFORE I got him outside. By the time we got all bundled up, the snow was minimal and the sun was coming out. Figures. When its just the two of us, the only way for me to get video is to put him in his wagon. So I asked Ted to take him out when he got home - and he wasn't all that interested then either. He loves watching it out the window though.
Here are these two videos:




He was already tired at this point, but here he is in the Johnny Jump Up



He was really a trooper last night too. He has had carrots before (the store bought puree which is really sweet) and didnt mind them. I steamed and pureed some of our carrots for him - and it didnt go over too well. They were so bland - even I didnt like them. This time I cooked steak in a pan and mixed the juices with his carrot puree - now it tasted pretty good. He still didnt like them, but he didnt put up a huge fight to eat them. I was okay with him spitting most of it out since the repeated tasting of them is how babies develop a taste for a variety of foods.. so it was still a success as far as I'm concerned. We were both proud of him for the effort he made.

The past few nights he has not slept well. He was waking up nearly every 2-3 hours and it wasnt always for food. To avoid making him scream and wake Ted up, I have walked around with him or rocked him since he was still sleepy, but he just would not go back to sleep. I know I could be setting myself up for trouble later if I continue to do that, but Ted really needed sleep.  I am proud to say that at 4am this morning (just as I was finally getting back to sleep myself and was not thrilled to get up again) he talked himself back to sleep. I usually get prepared to go in his room when I hear him start talking or whimpering, but I wait for him to actually cry before going in. This allows him the opportunity to go back to sleep if he can by himself. Usually he does eventually cry, but this morning my prayer was answered - he went back to sleep - as did I.

HE"S SO CUTE!

Today we met up with Grandma Bess to have lunch, and then had to go to Sams for groceries. Below is a picture at lunch, and then Andrew's first ride in a shopping cart sitting like a big boy!

 

He was talking and laughing so I thought I'd try to get some video. Of course - just as he gets going, the battery dies! ugh.  Here is what i have though:

Another suit

Tonight after meeting... this is another suit that Danny and Ashley sent. I look horrible.. my eyes are red and burning from perfumes and soaps and I of course rarely wear makeup.. but he's cute.

Pictures!

Murray - these first two are for you...
February 2nd - first day of eating cereal.

 

  

Ashley and Danny - this one is for you, from February  3rd:

And these are from today and just for fun:

  

I love a photo I do for most babies at their 6 month session, but I'm so afraid I'll have missed out if I dont do it now while he still plays with his feet:

And my mom pulled out a sweater outfit that my brother wore as a baby. He was older at the time (the outfit is still too big for now), but I loved the hat. So here is one of Andrew in a hat that is over 30 years old!

And right after I took that picture, Andrew stood his rear in the air and rolled over. THAT is a new development. Apparently he did it twice today. He seemed to have tried to crawl a bit - went backward then scootched forward, then did this:

and rolled over. 

Lets see, what else is new? Oh, today during the photoshoot, he was lying flat on his back. Nana asked him if he could put his feet up. Repeating, "feet up? can you put your feet up?" and all of a sudden he did! He stuck his feet straight in the air and left them there for a minute!

Later, she was sitting in a chair in front of him and Flash came and stood on her shoulder. She was already talking to Andrew and then said, "Can you see Flash kitty standing on my head?" He immediately looked up at her head. Nana said "This kid understands what we say." It really does seem that way. He also knows "bite" means we're putting something in his mouth - even if its just teething tablets he opens his mouth.

Ted has taught him how to growl. Its adorable! He usually just does it back to Ted, but its funny to hear. And I think he said "dad" or "dada" when he was chatting to himself in his crib the other morning. He hasnt said it again though so maybe he's just practicing to make sure he gets it right when he says it to Ted ;-)

Videos

Let me just start by saying.. I'm a really bad videographer. Especially with such a small lightweight camera! But these are for you grandma.

Andrew almost always stops, slows down, or reduces the intensity of what he's doing whenever I get a camera out. So.. for the first video, we have him jogging in his jumperoo. He loves this. He was hilarious before I got the camera out. You will see a jumping shadow behind Andrew - that was Ted trying to encourage Andrew to jump, but that too slowed him down. I stayed behind the wall n the kitchen so he wouldnt see the camera.


Next.. we ended up getting just a little bit of snow overnight. It was lightly snowing this morning when I opened the curtain to look out the window with Andrew. So I put a jacket on him and took him outside hoping to get a reaction as snow drifted by his face. I didnt.. but he's still cute.


Then it got interesting. I went to go back inside only to discover the door was locked. I didnt think it a good idea to leave him and run around the house.. so I dragged his wagon behind as we walked around the house together. So here is this crazy video:

Eating with a Spoon

We introduced cereal mixed with milk in his bottle yesterday evening. At first, it seemed like he wasn't sure about it.. and then it seemed like it was too much work for him to suck it out. So, Ted was off to Target to buy the next stage of nipple for the bottle which he could have started a month ago, but I figured it'd be equal work for the bottle as for nursing. Since he isn't interested in nursing anymore - I was willing to make him work for the bottle too. But with cereal in it - thats just not fair. Anyway, he got cereal milk in his bottle before bed too. Ted put him down at 7:30, woke him at 9 just to feed him again.. and then we didn't hear from him again until almost 5am. I got up and fed him and then Ted put him back to sleep and he was ready to get up at 7.

He woke up in a good mood, chattering away and stomping his feet. He has been acting like he is starving today though. Even with the cereal it seems like he is eating more today than usual. Maybe its a growth spurt. Anyway, here is some video of his first time eating his own meal with a spoon. I goofed on the directions.. it was supposed to be 1 tablespoon of cereal to 4-5 tablespoons of milk but I was thinking ounces. I only added two ounces of milk, but it still made it soup so I had to keep adding cereal to try and thicken it - and it still was too soupy. Oh well. He didn't care... he just wanted to EAT!

Mommy feeding cereal:


Nana giving it a go:

Andrews 4 month check-up

Okay - so he's over 4 1/2 months, but who's counting. Today he had his 4 month check-up and as usual they are impressed with him. Things a typical 4 month old would be doing, Andrew has been doing for months already (tracking objects well with eyes and turning for sounds, holding up head without bobbing, lifting head and chest when lying oon tummy, smiling and laughing, bearing own weight on legs... and *may* roll over and kick legs.) He was doing some of that by 8 weeks! She just couldnt believe that he was signing and reading among other things.

New this week: he discovered his right ear yesterday by accident and has felt for it again today. He folds it over. Also yesterday he discovered that his hands are.. well, his. And he can control the fingers on them. It was really funny to watch as he studied them and would open and close the fist, point with his finger, turn his hand around... all while he's laying on his back with both arms sticking straight up in the air.

He also loves to play peek-a-boo with you. He puts his burp cloth over his face and sits there giggling. You say, "where's the baby?" and he giggles harder and the pulls the cloth down to his chin and peers over it. Over and over again he does this.

Recently we held him in front of pictures of us on our wall and asked.. "where's daddy?" and he'd smack his hand on a picture of Ted. Then we'd ask, "where is mommy?" and he'd try to grab a picture of me. He has been consistently right each time we've done this.

Also I decided to test his reading skills. I have only done this once so far so I need to test it again. Saturday I took his flash cards out. I held up 'elephant' and 'clap' I think. I asked him which word says 'elephant'? Then repeated by asking, "Can you point to the word elephant?" He laid there and looked back and forth studying them. Finally he reached out and tagged the correct card. Just a fluke surely. So I hold up two new cards, 'nose' and 'hi'. I asked which card says hi? He looked at both and immediately smiled when he saw the card showing 'hi' on it. The smile went away when he looked back at 'nose' and returned at 'hi'. I asked again if he could point to the word 'hi'. He reached up and took the card this time and tried to eat it. lol

He has been introduced to the Johnny Jump Up seat. At first it seemed too big for him, but Ted raised it up higher and now he enjoys it. He jumps in it and tries to march away and swings back, he turns in circles. However when he's tired of it - he's tired of it! Last Saturday he also started moving forward in his Jeep walker instead of primarily backwards.


At his pediatrician appointment today he weighed in at 16 pounds 7 ounces. That is the 75th percentile for weight. His length was 27.5 which is above the 95th percentile. She said it was off the chart. His head is 43.5cm which is 80th percentile. Good thing with all the learning he his doing.

The pediatrician also said if we want to start him on cereal it'd be okay since he is over 13 pounds, has doubled his birth weight, has good head control, and is interested in food. So we may start that and see how it goes. His next appointment will actually be when he is 6 months in March.

Pictures I took the other day. You can see his teeth pretty well.. I think if you click on these, they will come up larger.

Also a video of him snoring just a few minutes ago: