January update

On January 25th, he discovered his hair. He was eating and reached his right hand back and was stroking his hair. I havent seen him do it since.

January 26th - it seemed like he was trying to sing along with the songs on his reading dvd. I also realized on this day that he imitates us eating. He reaches a hand out, pretends to scoop something up, and takes it to his mouth and chews. 

January 27th - his second tooth broke through, three weeks to the day from his first one.

January 29th -  he got his first bite of solid foods. I let him have two tiny bites of my split pea soup. He seemed to like it and didnt spit either bite out. Seemed like he did okay mushing it in his mouth and swallowing. Of course, thats not a deciding factor in when a child is ready to eat solids - its when their digestive system matures. 

Aside from that.. he doesnt want to be reclining on the floor anymore.. he wants to be upright and walking. He has also taken to shreiking. He is just discovering his voice and testing it out. Usually he's happy while doing it and makes himself laugh too. Other times he seems irritated.

He seems to understand the sign language for milk. And I think today he actually made the sign for it. He was opening and closing his fist when we asked if he wanted milk.  I'm pretty sure he made the sign for change too when he was on the changing table the other day. 

He hates going down for sleep. He knows the minute you sit in the chair in his room that he is being put to sleep. Although he does fight it - usually during the day he is out within 2-7 minutes. At night it sometimes takes longer, but its usually on nights where we couldnt stick to his schedule because of meetings or outings that conflict so he's over tired.

He is currently in 6 month clothes, and 9 month jammies. The problem with most of the clothes though is that they tend to be made for shorter fatter babies. So what is the right length for him, is baggy, at least in the chest area. I was given some onesies that look longer and leaner than the rest - and they fit great and look nice. I dont think those are the norm in stores though, and I can only find short sleeved ones like that - not long sleeved.

Trying to embed video. Seems like my only option is youtube. please do not share these - i do not want them circulating.

Riding in the toy wagon for the first time: January 6th I think


Rolling over.. January 7th I think


January 27th I hung the mobile I used as a baby. He was smiling and talking to it before I pulled the video camera out. I took it back down when he woke up from a nap terrified. Its hanging on his pack n play now since he only plays in that.


January 29th - just thought I'd capture a clip of his newfound voice to embarrass him with later in life. He has started shrieking.. high ear piercing pitch at times. Usually he is happy and even laughs at himself sometimes. This video is not his extreme shrieking, but you can get a taste of it.


If I can't figure out how to embed videoyou can find them here.here is a page from my website where you can download the video to see. OPEN THE VIDEOS IN INTERNET EXPLORER. For some reason its not working right in firefox.

Recent Photos

Riding in the toy wagon, and reading a book

Older pictures..

There are still more on the camera I haven't pulled off, but here are some older ones to share.

from 11/12 - he was holding the bottle himself

11/26 - we had to defrost our freezer/fridge, thought it was cute to have the beer bottles with the baby bottle

12/28 Loves his bathtime! although he's already outgrown the little tub.

12/28 checking out daddy's hands after bathtime

12/28 Daddy playing with the camera still

January 5th - playing on mommy's bed before getting dressed

Andrew is 4 months old!

These days Andrew really enjoys just laying on the floor playing with toys. His favorite toys are his duckie rattle, the lion head thing, and a crinkly colorful fabric book. Aside from that, his favorite things are to get pulled around in a little toy wagon we have, spitting his drool out, and playing with his feet.

Here are some pictures I took today..

 
(he's good at rolling over too)

 
(he sat up unassisted for a few seconds the other day, today he sat up for probably about 30 seconds before he started to lean)

 

 

 

 

 

Establishing a routine.. again.

Andrew has been on a good routine more than once and then something will go and mess it all up. In the past he has pretty much set his routine, I'd figure out what he needed and it generally happened around the same time every day. This time, we are creating the routine for him. The book "The Baby Whisperer" was recommended to me by my SIL and I only get a few minutes here and there to read in it. But I support what I've been reading. So we are also going to start trying the recommended routine for an "ideal day." So far it has been great. Yesterday went textbook. We put him down for bed at 7:30, I got up to 'dream feed' him at 11, and we didnt hear from him until about 5:44am when he sneezed. I was already lying awake resisting the urge to go check on him for fear it would wake him... so I was delighted to hear him sneeze. Of course, he was awake after that and now was an hour ahead of schedule. But thats okay.. I let him sleep just a little longer at his morning nap to put as back on schedule. I am elated that he slept so well in his crib all night.

I'd love to post some current videos and pictures, but I'mnever given enough time to do anything.. as it is I am typing this one handed as he feeds.. and now that he is done - its activity time. bye!

Teeth!

He wont let me stay here long so I'm trying to make a quick post. We had a terrible episode of teething Saturday evening and Sunday wasnt much better. But today you can really see the bottom tooth well and feel it too. It kind of looks like part of a second tooth is peeking through too, but I'm not positive. Although it would explain his crankiness, not sleeping, and chomping on everything. okay - he's too squirmy.. gotta go.

How feet grow!

I thought it'd be fun to see how his feet change. At 5 days I took a picture of his feet with our wedding rings on his toes, so today I took another picture of his feet with our rings. I didnt realize how much bigger his feet are! I think I have the proportion right - or at least close. I tried doing an overlay with Ted's ring to get the sizing of both images right.

Andrew is 3 months!

I'm excited to say that he is now 3 months old, as of yesterday. I took some pictures today - there is still another picture I'd like to take, but I may accomplish that tomorrow. But here are some highlights:

 

The above is a quilt that Aunt Sandi made for him

Below is a quilt that cousin Mandi made for him

 

Above is him at 3 months with his daddy's hat, and below was at 5 weeks

For the past week or so, anytime you try to pick him up from a reclining position, he's been trying to lift himself to help you. If you had him sitting anywhere, he would try to sit up straighter. Well, today, when I was taking pictures of him and had him in the bean bag with Mandi's quilt, he pulled himself into a sitting position all by himself! And stayed there for a while!
Also while taking pictures, Nana stood behind me and waved to him. She asked him if he could wave and he looked down at his right hand and moved it some. He didn't lift it like an obvious wave, but you could see the wheels turning in his head. Then twice, once with me and once with Nana, when we mentioned his toes or asked him where his toes were, he immediately looked down at his feet or pulled at his feet! So, I think he already knows what his toes are, and I think he knows what waving is.

Have I mentioned recently just how cute he is?! He's so fun.

Such a cutie

The sun was shining this morning so I put him in his bouncer seat near my bedroom window to get some natural light pictures of him. You can see them by clicking here.

Andrew is pretty good most of the time. He always surprises me at how well he does when I have to run errands with my mom. He hates being put back in his car seat.. but other than that he does remarkably well.  He seems to enjoy riding in the stretchy carrier I wear to hold him (it allows me to distribute his weight more evenly and also gives me a free hand or two!)  He doesn't want to sit in a reclining position - he wants to sit up and be involved in whatever we are doing. He also prefers to be up moving around rather than sitting still on the couch or something. 

He does fight going to sleep a lot of the time at home. If we couldn't tell he is tired and didn't know what to do about it, I'm sure we'd be pulling our hair out trying to figure out how to please him. He is sleeping alright too. During the day he takes a few catnaps, and we might get one or two good 1-2 hour naps in one day. At night, we usually only have to get up twice for feedings.

We also have reason to believe that he is in the beginning of the teething stage. He loves to chew on his fingers and hands, and also his burp cloths. He LOVES holding his burp clothes. Sometimes he talks to them and hugs them.. he's so cute!!

Well, thats the update for today I guess. I'll try to upload some video clips of him playing in his jumperoo... I have to get it off the camera. Our camera is really old and terrible quality so if you have a great one to recommend - maybe we can get a good deal on 'after-xmas sales' or something. We definately need a better one!

In The Beginning...

I haven't had an opportunity before now to really start and keep up with a blog dedicated to Andrew. Hopefully, I will be able to keep up with this one at least once a month if not more. So, here is a brief overview in pictures:

  September 17, 2009

He weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces, 20 3/4 inches long,

Coming home September 18:

 

At 4 days old he weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 21 inches long.

At 5 days old he had his first sponge bath at home.

5 Days:

 

At 5 days he was already smiling at you when you talked to him. He is already able to hold his head up and turn it from side to side. He is very strong, especially his legs.

7 and 8 Days:

At 7 days old, he had his first ride down the street in the stroller.

At 10 days old we attempted our first grocery shopping expedition.. he did okay - I did not.

On September 29th, 12 days old, his belly button tag fell off.

October 2nd, 2 weeks and 1 day old, he weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces, and was 22.5 inches long. The pediatrician said he was already performing things that 3 month olds do.

2 weeks and 6 days:

 

 

This was a fussy period of time.. gassy and not sleeping well.

October 11th, 3 weeks 3 days, was his first meeting at Kingdom Hall. He did great!

October 13th or 14th was the first time I heard his big laugh.

4 weeks 1 day:

4 weeks and 6 days:

 

 At this stage, he loves having his diapers changed, and loves bath time. He has a quick temper when he is hungry, but understands when you say 'milk is coming'. Oh, and he hates pacifiers.

October 24th, 5 weeks and 2 days - Ted got to hear his laugh for the first time.

November 18th, one day shy of 9 weeks, Andrew slept from 10:30pm to 4am!!

11 weeks 3 days:

 

At this point he weighed in at 13 pounds 9 ounces and 24.5 inches long. He'd already been standing and holding his own weight for a couple of weeks. He laughs and smiles a lot and is sleeping pretty well. He can say Mama, Nana, has said No twice, and possibly said dad once.  He sometimes waves hi. We started him on the Your Baby Can Read set and he enjoys it. He is very attentive to what goes on around him. The doctor said he is developmentally about 4 months old.. and he's wearing 3-6 month clothes.