Andrew was awake this morning at 5:45. I'd already been awake off and on for most of the 4am hour and Ted's alarm goes off at 5am. So when Andrew went down for his first morning nap - I was ready to greet my pillow as well. However, when I got up again, I accidentally woke up Andrew by closing his door. And when Nana went in to get him, Andrew was sitting up in his crib!! That was a first. I came running to see. So it looks like soon I'll have to drop his mattress down to a lower level. Can't have him falling out of the crib when he figures out how to stand in it!
I have spent nearly all day cleaning and organizing trying to get ready for a house full on Saturday. Andrew has been great. When I was cleaning the studio, I just sat him on the floor with a Tonka Truck and a construction hat and he played happily. Never budged or tried to crawl or anything. He watched as I vacuumed and didn't cry or fuss when I went in circles around him. He's just been really content playing with toys today.
His latest enjoyment isn't any of his toys, but sitting in a rubbermaid bin! We bought two to do a mini garden on the porch, and we haven't moved them outside yet. But it contains Andrew very well and he is delighted to be in it. Yesterday he was sitting in one and had scootched his bottom all the way to the end so he could sit next to the catfood buffet. I was sitting on the couch doing my studies and keeping an eye on him. He had two fingers in his mouth to suck on. He'd stare at the cat food, glance up at me, look back at the cat food, glance up at me. I know he knew that the cat food was something he should stay out of, and he was watching me to see if I noticed. Then all of a sudden he lunged forward and grabbed a handful of catfood. Of course I lunged from the couch to keep the food out of his mouth as he looked so happy and proud of his accomplishment. He's so funny.
At dinner last night, he fed himself. He'd already had his bottle, but he hates it when you eat in front of him and he's not eating too. So I had him in his high chair next to the dinner table. I'd made homemade Miso Soup and an Asian stirfry with tofu and whole wheat spaghetti noodles. I took one piece of seasoned tofu aside and cut it into pieces and put it on his tray. He fed himself happily. I think only half of it made it to his mouth, but he enjoyed the process. He did a good job too.
He has also gotten better at clucking his tongue. He clucked half way to the hall last night. And he's clucked some today. Such a cutie. He gets a kick out of you when you cluck your tongue, or click your teeth together.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Update
I really haven't had any time to post here lately but I ought to at least give a quick update while I'm at the computer pumping. I know he slept through the night and we didn't have to get up with him at all 4 nights in a row last week. That was huge for us!! I've been trying to cope with a lot, which of course puts more on Ted too. So both of us getting more sleep was helpful. A couple of nights he did wake us up, but we didnt have to get up and do anything for him. Sunday night he had me up twice but that is probably due to being off his schedule Saturday and Sunday both.
I had two photoshoots and a bridal shower all back to back on Saturday and Ted wanted to go in the ministry without Andrew.. so he was dropped off at a friend's house. He was due for a nap when he left, but didn't go down in all the excitement until late morning and he didnt sleep long. Then Sunday we had to zip through the grocery store and then rush to get ready for meeting so he only had about a 2 minute nap before being woken up to go into the hall. I did get him to sleep mid-meeting but he only slept for 40 minutes at most and he was still tired. So his usual schedule was off again. Hopefully today he'll get back on track and take long naps since that I think is key in him sleeping well at night: not getting overtired during the day, taking good naps, and eating at regular intervals after naps.
I have a crazy week this week since we have a bridal shower at our house Saturday and are expecting 75-80 people to show up. And there is rain in the forecast. So I have my regular work to accomplish, ministry and errands, cleaning my house thoroughly, and making 100+ burgers and hopefully ability to get to the chiropractor at some point as well as detoxing. I'm in a lot of pain from chemical exposures at the shower and meeting over the weekend, its just not convenient to sit and detox. And of course keeping up with pumping every 2-3 hours. It would be nice to get his baby book updated before the shower too. I have a stack of loose pictures to go in it that I dont want to lose or have anything happen to.
Okay, I got interrupted and had to come back. I think I have another reason why Andrew had me up last night. He was trying to help me eat my oatmeal (he's gonna be quite a beggar) and I saw a glimpse of another tooth. I stuck my finger in to check and sure enough - he has tooth #8 on the bottom! One of my clients told me I have an alien child.. They often dont have more than 2 teeth at this age.. nevermind 8!
So.. whats new with Andrew besides the extra tooth?
He has figured out how to deliberately direct his Jeep where he wants to go. And he does a pretty good job with it. I dont remember which day it was, but I was on the couch eating pasta with olive tapenade on it, and a side of spinach and kale. He walked his Jeep from the dining room to the couch smacking his lips the entire way. He was delighted to taste the tiny chunks of olives and tiny pieces of spinach leaves.
He is working on crawling. He doesn't like the effort it takes him, but yesterday he crawled all the way from the edge of the carpet to my feet at the couch. (He definitely has to want what he's after to be willing to crawl and he loves shoes and laces.) Its more like a military tummy crawl, but he's moving. Its not just going in circles anymore. When he does stop and pull his arms off the floor and whine.. Ted realized all you have to say is "Put your arms down.. arms down" and he does.
He can feed himself his cereal puffs pretty well. Just a week ago he was doing well to get one to his mouth, but already he is having better success.
He was clucking his tongue on the way to the Hall yesterday. I haven't heard him do it much, but he evidently has the ability.
He is trying to walk more when you hold him with his feet on the floor. For a while he went through his happy feet stage where he just wanted to dance and tap his feet. Now he's trying to walk. I can even hold just his hands now and he wobbles his way forward.
He's been putting himself to sleep at naps and bedtime. I told my mom and Ted that all I do is get him relaxed, lay him in the crib, and let him talk himself to sleep. If he gets worked up and cries, I pick him up and start over getting him all calm.. but again, lay him in the crib when he's still quite awake. He usually talks or sings for about 15 minutes and then is out. They've both started doing that too and it seems to be working for all of us.
Oh, and three times this week when Ted was trying to burp him, Andrew threw up all over Ted and himself after a very full bottle. Yeah - like two bath towels full of clean up! Shower and bath worthy episodes. Ted I think is becoming more wary of burping Andrew.
He is fascinated by the vacuum cleaner. He likes to sit on it and play with it when its not running, has even crawled across the floor to get to it, but he definitely doesn't like the noise it makes. He is very cautious about it when I pull it into the room.
I can't think of any other details. As usual he's a happy, mostly content little boy eager to take on the world and see what it has to offer him. My friends joke that he'll be taking appliances apart and trying to put them back together by age 3.
I had two photoshoots and a bridal shower all back to back on Saturday and Ted wanted to go in the ministry without Andrew.. so he was dropped off at a friend's house. He was due for a nap when he left, but didn't go down in all the excitement until late morning and he didnt sleep long. Then Sunday we had to zip through the grocery store and then rush to get ready for meeting so he only had about a 2 minute nap before being woken up to go into the hall. I did get him to sleep mid-meeting but he only slept for 40 minutes at most and he was still tired. So his usual schedule was off again. Hopefully today he'll get back on track and take long naps since that I think is key in him sleeping well at night: not getting overtired during the day, taking good naps, and eating at regular intervals after naps.
I have a crazy week this week since we have a bridal shower at our house Saturday and are expecting 75-80 people to show up. And there is rain in the forecast. So I have my regular work to accomplish, ministry and errands, cleaning my house thoroughly, and making 100+ burgers and hopefully ability to get to the chiropractor at some point as well as detoxing. I'm in a lot of pain from chemical exposures at the shower and meeting over the weekend, its just not convenient to sit and detox. And of course keeping up with pumping every 2-3 hours. It would be nice to get his baby book updated before the shower too. I have a stack of loose pictures to go in it that I dont want to lose or have anything happen to.
Okay, I got interrupted and had to come back. I think I have another reason why Andrew had me up last night. He was trying to help me eat my oatmeal (he's gonna be quite a beggar) and I saw a glimpse of another tooth. I stuck my finger in to check and sure enough - he has tooth #8 on the bottom! One of my clients told me I have an alien child.. They often dont have more than 2 teeth at this age.. nevermind 8!
So.. whats new with Andrew besides the extra tooth?
He has figured out how to deliberately direct his Jeep where he wants to go. And he does a pretty good job with it. I dont remember which day it was, but I was on the couch eating pasta with olive tapenade on it, and a side of spinach and kale. He walked his Jeep from the dining room to the couch smacking his lips the entire way. He was delighted to taste the tiny chunks of olives and tiny pieces of spinach leaves.
He is working on crawling. He doesn't like the effort it takes him, but yesterday he crawled all the way from the edge of the carpet to my feet at the couch. (He definitely has to want what he's after to be willing to crawl and he loves shoes and laces.) Its more like a military tummy crawl, but he's moving. Its not just going in circles anymore. When he does stop and pull his arms off the floor and whine.. Ted realized all you have to say is "Put your arms down.. arms down" and he does.
He can feed himself his cereal puffs pretty well. Just a week ago he was doing well to get one to his mouth, but already he is having better success.
He was clucking his tongue on the way to the Hall yesterday. I haven't heard him do it much, but he evidently has the ability.
He is trying to walk more when you hold him with his feet on the floor. For a while he went through his happy feet stage where he just wanted to dance and tap his feet. Now he's trying to walk. I can even hold just his hands now and he wobbles his way forward.
He's been putting himself to sleep at naps and bedtime. I told my mom and Ted that all I do is get him relaxed, lay him in the crib, and let him talk himself to sleep. If he gets worked up and cries, I pick him up and start over getting him all calm.. but again, lay him in the crib when he's still quite awake. He usually talks or sings for about 15 minutes and then is out. They've both started doing that too and it seems to be working for all of us.
Oh, and three times this week when Ted was trying to burp him, Andrew threw up all over Ted and himself after a very full bottle. Yeah - like two bath towels full of clean up! Shower and bath worthy episodes. Ted I think is becoming more wary of burping Andrew.
He is fascinated by the vacuum cleaner. He likes to sit on it and play with it when its not running, has even crawled across the floor to get to it, but he definitely doesn't like the noise it makes. He is very cautious about it when I pull it into the room.
I can't think of any other details. As usual he's a happy, mostly content little boy eager to take on the world and see what it has to offer him. My friends joke that he'll be taking appliances apart and trying to put them back together by age 3.
Monday, April 19, 2010
My Baby Can Read
Seems like he started the Your Baby Can Read dvd set when he was almost 3 months old. I'm not positive. I'd have to go back through the blog or my calendar to look. Anyway, I haven't been regular with his flashcards so he's pretty much only been using the videos. I might pull them out twice a month at the most it seems. But today I pulled them out and wanted to see if he knew any of them. He got 7 out of 7 right!! Ted came in and I said, "Your baby can read!" He wasn't sure if he should believe me. But the look on his face when I proved it was priceless.
These are the words Andrew was asked to read. I would hold up two cards equal distances away and say, "Which card says _____?" He'd look back and forth and look like he was focusing really hard, and then he'd reach up and either tag the card or try to take the card. I mixed them up too - they weren't always on the same side to choose from. I'm still a little in disbelief. Here was his mix, in reverse order of what he was asked:
Chimpanzee vs. Arms Up
Tongue vs. Elephant
Chimpanzee vs. Rattle --> this one took the longest for him to choose between
Diaper vs. Keys
Tiger vs. Nose
I can't remember which word I asked him to select, but he got it right both times. These were the words I started with.
Dog vs. Eyes
Mouth vs. Cats
These are the words Andrew was asked to read. I would hold up two cards equal distances away and say, "Which card says _____?" He'd look back and forth and look like he was focusing really hard, and then he'd reach up and either tag the card or try to take the card. I mixed them up too - they weren't always on the same side to choose from. I'm still a little in disbelief. Here was his mix, in reverse order of what he was asked:
Chimpanzee vs. Arms Up
Tongue vs. Elephant
Chimpanzee vs. Rattle --> this one took the longest for him to choose between
Diaper vs. Keys
Tiger vs. Nose
I can't remember which word I asked him to select, but he got it right both times. These were the words I started with.
Dog vs. Eyes
Mouth vs. Cats
Andrew is 7 months old!
Saturday I had a session at the park at 9am. I told Ted if he was up to it, he could tag along and maybe we could snap a few of us afterward, and also put Andrew on the swing for the first time. He loves it when I pretend his Johnny Jump Up is a swing, so I knew he'd enjoy the park. Unfortunately, by that time he was so beyond tired, he didn't even register what was going on at first. Ted sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to him and got a smile at least. I think he did like it, but not as much as he would have if he'd been rested.
When it came time to do the family shots.. I realized that I forgot an important piece to the Tripod. So, I had to improvise and use a children's chair to prop the camera on so I could take the picture. Terrible angle. It also prevented me from being able to see through the camera for positioning, cropping, and focus. But, it will do. The picture is okay enough. I wish I could redo it, but its a memory still.
When it came time to do the family shots.. I realized that I forgot an important piece to the Tripod. So, I had to improvise and use a children's chair to prop the camera on so I could take the picture. Terrible angle. It also prevented me from being able to see through the camera for positioning, cropping, and focus. But, it will do. The picture is okay enough. I wish I could redo it, but its a memory still.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Playin' in the Pool .. or Tub
Its really a bathtub on loan to us that he has outgrown for baths. I just haven't returned it yet. However, in my search for something that he could use for a pool today.. I thought of this tub and it was perfect. He seemed to enjoy playing in it. He kept trying to eat a tag attached to the bottom, and his toes of course. He finally got tired of sticking his face in the water and playtime was over. I'd like to get him a small baby pool for this summer. Just something to get wet in. He loves splashing in the tub, but it'd be nice to get outside more this summer. Enjoy the pictures. Sorry if you dont like the vintage tone on all of them.. it was more interesting than the regular color to me.
There will be more at Shutterfly.. I'll post the link in the comments when its ready.
There will be more at Shutterfly.. I'll post the link in the comments when its ready.
Pictures on the grass
We have been having beautiful warm weather. I want to be outside even though there isn't much to do out there. I try to walk every morning after Andrew has breakfast. On Tuesday, I decided to get a few shots of him in the grass before our walk. The sun was so bright I could hardly see the camera so I wasn't sure what they looked like until I came in.. I think they turned out alright though. Not perfect, but cute still.
This one was the face he'd make after tasting some icky grass.
This one was the face he'd make after tasting some icky grass.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Two, Four, Six ... Seven?!
We attended our Circuit Assembly over the weekend. It went remarkably well. Andrew loved all the activity and people.. and of course a lot of people loved seeing Andrew, or meeting him for the first time. I dont recall him crying once. He got a little fussy when it was time for his naps, but Nana and Ted both were able to get him to sleep at those times with a little effort. At lunch we put some shoes and sunglasses on him and let him jump around outside - but it got so hot so quickly, that we all nearly melted. I forgot to take any pictures on Saturday, but we managed to get a few on Sunday at least to document his first assembly. (We were too sleep deprived to safely make it to the special assembly day several months ago in Cookeville.)
When we were approaching the last hour of Sundays session... he seemed uncomfortable and wanted to chew on everything and anything. Okay, he wanted to chew on everything anyway.. but he seemed particularly antsy and assumed correctly that he was hungry. I started feeding him some cereal puffs and noticed.. he has another tooth! Tooth number 7 is on the bottom to the left of the two he already has. I was so surprised! And proud, given that he again has not been grouchy or fussy during his teething process. I dont know if it cut through Sunday or an earlier day, but Sunday is when I noticed it.
Here are the pictures I have:
Andrew trying eat daddy's apple during lunch.
And then a couple before going home:
Here are two videos of Andrew laughing. The first was either Friday or Saturday evening. Flash was following me around crying so I started saying in a high voice "Flash and Tripod, Tripod and Flash." Nothing cute sweet or funny, but Ted said Andrew was laughing hard at what he was hearing down the hallway. So I came to them and said it some more and sure enough he was laughing. As usual, Andrew laughs harder when the camera is not out, but its still cute.
The second video was after we got home Sunday. Ted put him on the bed so he could get changed into regular clothes. Ted would duck down by the bed and then jump up and Andrew was laughing really hard. I went and got the camera, but he's not laughing as hard by then.
When we were approaching the last hour of Sundays session... he seemed uncomfortable and wanted to chew on everything and anything. Okay, he wanted to chew on everything anyway.. but he seemed particularly antsy and assumed correctly that he was hungry. I started feeding him some cereal puffs and noticed.. he has another tooth! Tooth number 7 is on the bottom to the left of the two he already has. I was so surprised! And proud, given that he again has not been grouchy or fussy during his teething process. I dont know if it cut through Sunday or an earlier day, but Sunday is when I noticed it.
Here are the pictures I have:
Daddy took a few with his cell phone of mommy and Andrew playing outside at lunchtime:
And then a couple before going home:
Here are two videos of Andrew laughing. The first was either Friday or Saturday evening. Flash was following me around crying so I started saying in a high voice "Flash and Tripod, Tripod and Flash." Nothing cute sweet or funny, but Ted said Andrew was laughing hard at what he was hearing down the hallway. So I came to them and said it some more and sure enough he was laughing. As usual, Andrew laughs harder when the camera is not out, but its still cute.
The second video was after we got home Sunday. Ted put him on the bed so he could get changed into regular clothes. Ted would duck down by the bed and then jump up and Andrew was laughing really hard. I went and got the camera, but he's not laughing as hard by then.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Two more!
Today we were gone ALL day trying to find a dress for me to wear. Nothing is ever long enough it seems. I just need it to reach my knee and would prefer it just below my knee - but for some reason, I just can't find anything that fits me and is long enough. However, I discovered after we got home, that Andrew cut two more teeth today!! And he wasn't even fussy or complaining! But the next two top teeth are out! He only got the first top two teeth two weeks ago! He's changing so fast.. but its exciting.
Monday, April 5, 2010
To the Zoo
It took us all morning to get out of the house, but we took Andrew to the Nashville Zoo Saturday. It was highly disappointing. I had only been to the zoo once before.. years ago. Its a nice zoo, but unfortunately, all the big animals that he'd be able to see and recognize were so far away in their spacious pens - that he didn't know what he was supposed to look for. The Monkeys weren't swinging around and being active so he'd have never found them in the trees. The Tigers were far back in their pen although I think he did see one of them, it was just so far away. I think he noticed the baby alligator but of course would have no idea what it is and it wasn't moving anyway. Half of the animals I didn't even know what were or couldn't find because they blended in with a tree or dirt. But it was an outing. My favorite picture is when were at the huge pen with Zebras and Ostriches and the zookeeper let him feel the ostrich egg. Of course he tried to lick it. The zookeeper apologized repeatedly for letting Andrew get it that close since so many thousands had touched it already, but thanked me for not getting upset or flipping out about it. Andrew was completely worn out by the end of the trip, but did really well considering how boring it must have really been for him.
I think this was in front of the Tiger's Pen. He liked the small waterfall in it too.
Tasting the bamboo
He kept trying to suck on his stroller!
The Goat was not impressive apparently. He wanted to play with the fence, and then his shoes.
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