Ready to Rock

Thanksgiving was great. The weekend was too short. No matter how much sleep I get in the hopes I may someday catch up, it just seems to fall short. Red bull and these videos are saving me today.

Shannon taught Adam to play the toy drum, and he was playing it like crazy this morning before I took him to daycare but after Shannon left for work. So I recorded it for him. He's trying to make Dad proud.

To Wendy and family - Adam LOVES this toy, thank you so much for passing it along to us!

Preparing for Thanksgiving

Adam is 29 weeks old today. In 10 days he will be 7 months old, and I am loving every second of this age. He is very active, and about 10 seconds from crawling. In fact, he could be crawling for the first time right now while he's at daycare. That's how close he is. He is smiling and laughing and demanding and sweet. Some nights I give him his pacifier and he lies in my lap and i stroke his face from his eyebrow, down his cheek and to his chin and sort of sing "sweeeeetheart..." He giggles each time and gets all sleepy. It's the best 5-10 minutes of my day. He's so ticklish everywhere, even his face.

I noticed this yesterday and this morning that he's trying to bypass the crawling if he can. If he's near enough to someone or something while he's on his knees, he'll grab on and try to pull up to standing. I'm going to have to watch him a little closer and maybe lower the crib earlier than we thought we would.

For Thanksgiving we're going to my parent's house and I am so excited. Adam isn't ready for table food, and actually, yesterday demonstrated a dislike for sweet potatoes . . . although it may have been that he just didn't want sweet potatoes right. that. second. He ate them, but yelled at me the whole time. Once he finished those I gave him another full jar of pears and he was much more pleased with that selection.

He thinks mashed potatoes are the most disgusting thing he's ever put in his mouth. Prunes, sure, sounds okay to him. Mashed potatoes? Gross. So I guess for Thanksgiving he'll have his favorites - Pears and Carrots (I know, festive), and we'll hang out with my family. I've never been so excited for Thanksgiving in my whole life, I think.

Tonight Shannon and I are setting up the Christmas tree. I'm starting to get in the holiday spirit for the first time in maybe 10 years. I've even bought the wrapping paper already (red and white, Adam's favorite). We have basically no money for Christmas, but Adam will get some toys and we'll be together, and that's the best part.

This morning I brought the camera in to Adam's room when I heard him wake up in his crib, and he had a double-thrilling moment: A) It's time to get up and Mom came to get me, and B) Oh yay, she brought the camera!

The colors of this picture made it come out a little creepy, but I had to show just how happy he was when he saw me.

I am not a morning person, but his smiling face everyday makes me actually enjoy getting out of bed.

28 weeks old (6 1/2 months)

Today we packed away the swing, the bumbo, and the activity mat. He's not to old for the swing, but he's too big. He still fits in the bumbo, but can't be bothered with sitting still and is strong enough to get himself out of it, and when we put him on the activity mat he just rolls away and is off to check on other more interesting things.

We decided to keep out the little bouncer, which he is close to outgrowing but still really likes. Plus, he looked so cute and happy sitting in it, watching the Jetsons, and drinking his bedtime bottle in his pajamas.

I got to stay home with him today and we played. He also took two really great naps (two 2-hour naps) as opposed to his two 30 minute naps that he usually does at daycare, so he was even cheerful this evening. In all it was a good day. I wish I had more of them.

Below are some pictures from today. Adam was 28 weeks old yesterday.

Drool looks oddly like sweat, especially in that quantity.

150 push ups and still smiling.

Duck on the left, elephant on the right, bottle between the legs - all available in a second if needed.

HAPPY!

One More Video

Here is Adam picking up his pacifier, getting ready to throw his elephant, realizing he really needed his elephant, then giving mom a half smile before being too sleepy to be bothered.

6 Month Old Ambitions

I should preface this by saying that he's not actually crawling yet, but he's desperate to do it. I tried to get video of him up on all fours and it took awhile - but mostly because of my bad timing with the camera, not his lack of effort. I discovered that one of the other problems is that he sees the camera and automatically starts posing. I'm not kidding. I even have that on video. So I paused and gave him a photo shoot since he was so willing and excited to do it.

Here he is thinking it's time to take pictures.


...so I gave him what he wanted (since he clearly appeases me all the time)...

...then he practiced his spins...


...told me something very important...


...and in the end, he finally just did it, then shows off with a little push-up stance at the end. The cough you hear is from his acid reflux.

Can't Resist

I decided to try out finger foods with Adam. He isn't quite ready, but was interested in the idea. He played with the peas for about 10 minutes (he's had the finger pincer grip down for about 2 months now) and never once thought to put one in his mouth. He also heard the first click of the iphone camera shutter and gave me a pose immediately. The pictures below show the the experiment exactly as it happened (in order):

I swore I would put up a picture of him "running" in his walker. The part at the very end is just the story of our lives - a smiling baby who spits up constantly.



Here is another where he comes at me and then gets distracted and takes off.


My favorite picture from Halloween:

And one just for fun:

Superpower Request

Dear Powers-That-Be:

I regret that I must ask this since you have already been so kind to me. I would like to put in a formal request for the power to stop time. As a mini-power, I would also need to be able to freeze and unfreeze people so they are not caught in the time stoppage.

I do hope that the following reasons will pursuade you to consider bequeathing this gift to me.

Adam is growing too, too fast. I need more time for more playing, more cuddling, and so I won't wake up one morning to discover he's 10 years old already and I am forty. If I had more time, the cats and the dog would not be neglected. Shannon and I would spend more time together. I would sleep until I'm finally caught up. The house would finally be clean. And then we could spend more time with Adam, and he could spend more time with family.

I do hope you will consider. Thank you for your time and your generosity,

Erin
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I guess we'll see what their decision will be on that request.

Adam is 27 weeks old today. Yesterday was his first time riding in the grocery cart. He needed a little propping up with towels on the side, but he was so good. He quietly watched everything, and he had 3 favorites - the meat aisle (lots of red), the tyson frozen products aisle (red packaging), and the checkout line, where there were lots of people to smile at.



So far, seems fun.





$2.99?! That's a great deal!





We also got the pictures back from Picture Day at day care. He's a natural smiler. I don't know where he got the photogenic thing, but it certainly wasn't from me.

Character

Yesterday Adam was on a roll. Here are some of Adam's new tricks (all learned only yesterday):

• Pushing the button to turn his little Baby Einstein aquarium in his crib off and on. (He just realized it was there)
• Opening and closing cabinet doors.
• Hooking his pacifier with his pinky and holding it that way while he tries to figure out something else. Or while he sticks something else in his mouth. (He doesn't need his paci usually, unless he's tired, but if it's in vision he'll grab it)
• When I said, "Adam, do you want some apple juice?" He said, "apple juice?"
• When I said, "Oh no," he said "oh no." I said "Oh no," again, and he said "oh no," again. (I said "oh no," a third time, and he ignored me).
• Drank water out of a regular cup.
• Used his legs to push away from me while sitting in my lap to get closer to something he wasn't supposed to have.
• Threw a baby toy on the ground and wriggle desperately to get to my glass of water, a stack of papers, anything but a baby toy.
• Held my hands and went from a sitting position in my lap to a standing position.
• Cannot be distracted from something he wants. He remembers, even if you hide it.

And then the finale.

He wasn't feeling well and didn't want to go to bed last night. We let him hang out in our bed, but he was simply not in the mood to calm down.  Shannon sat next to him and played with him, leaning over to tickle his neck or make funny noises in his ear. Adam was doing what he normally does - grabs your cheeks and smiles and giggles and looks at you like you're the most awesome thing he's ever seen. I sat by and watched them silently or read my book.

I said something and Adam swung his head around to look at me like he almost forgot I was there. He's been on a kick where Dad can do no wrong, and Dad is fun and playtime and cuddles . . . and Mom does those things and gets those cuddles too. But Adam can be having the time of his life, and see Mom, who reminds him, "oh, yeah, I'm dying of hunger," or "I'm SO tired and cranky," or the best one yet, "I have something very important to say and I'm not very happy about it so I'm just going to bitch." That's right, it's rare, but smiley little Adam just likes to complain sometimes. It's not crying or fussing, it's loud talking, furrowed eyebrows, and lots of run-on syllables.

Back to the story. So he realizes I'm there next to him and turns on his side to face me and yells at me for a couple of minutes, furrowed eyebrows and all, varying tones and increasing loud voice. Then Shannon would say something and he'd look at him, smile and be all cuddles and fun. Erin talks, Adam complains and yells. Shannon talks, all is fun and right with the world.

Silly boy.

It's a Bad Day

I worked from 6 am to 3:45 pm yesterday. Did manual data entry, report running, and issue research all day. But no communications writing, which is what I spend 12 hours last Sunday doing.

Both of my fantasy football teams are going to lose. One because my team is lame, the other because I didn't start the right people. The latter is more frustrating.

Last night Adam had horrible acid reflux, to the point that we could hear it in his throat and he was obviously in pain. He didn't want to be put down and didn't sleep well at all. Might be the peaches he tried yesterday. Maybe he overloaded on peaches and apples.

At 10:30 I turned off the lamp next to my bed and the whole breaker went out. Shannon tried flipping the switch in the breaker box, but no luck. It shut down the bathroom lights, the outlets behind the head of our bed, and the outlets immediately behind that wall, which just so happened to be where Adam's crib is, including the camera for his baby monitor.

I spent all night either rocking Adam or worrying that a fire was going to break out.

I woke up - late. Logged on to work. Sent a few emails before scrambling to get Adam's food and extra clothes ready for daycare.

Adam woke up screaming, more acid reflux. I gave him his medicine and gave him a bottle instead of his usual oatmeal or rice cereal. He didn't seem to mind much and gave me a tiny smile.

I have to go to the dentist toay. I tried to reschedule because work is hectic and they said they had no other new patient appointments available at any time in the near future. My tooth hurts, my teeth are yellow. I have to go.

Had to refill my tire with air from our compressor before leaving for work.

Apparently electricians are expensive.


I need gas in my car and I'm sure I'm going to have to stop sometime today at the most inconvenient time.

Have to work after the dentist appointment - probably until about 6. That will be a 7:15am to 6 or 6:30 pm day. I don't mind the work - it's the lack of time for other stuff that gets in the way.
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An hour later...

Kept the dentist appointment since I was told I couldn't reschedule, but when I got there she said she had cancelled me. Apparently, "Don't reschedule, I'll figure something out," isn't clear enough and sounds more like "I'll try to figure something out and call you back." Either way, I didn't cancel. But now all of sudden there is an open appointment for me on Friday morning. Great. Wonderful.Too bad I already left work to get this over with NOW.

This day can't be over soon enough.

26 Weeks. 6 months old. Half a Year.

Adam's 6 month appointment went well today. Other than a diaper rash we're struggling to get rid of and a little spitting up and a wheezy cough, we're finally not in a doctor's office to talk about how sick he is!

Today Adam is 18 lbs, 10 oz and 27 3/4 inches. He's the size of a normal 1 year old. But apparently he's not only advanced in stature.

The pediatrician was very impressed that Adam was smiling and "waving" to everyone in the halls. His social development is also close to that of a one year old. He sometimes attempts to mimick sounds - like "hi", "yes," -- I know he's not saying them because he knows when to use them but he's practicing the syllables. When you talk to him, he giggles. And you may have seen the pictures - he recognizes the camera and shoots me a smile, and I would swear he's practicing his different poses. He's a giggling, face-grabbing, hugging, body-climbing little monkey who can't sit still.

Speaking of not sitting still, he still loves the walker and is very deliberate in his movements. His physical development is close to that of a 9 month old's. When you put him down to sit, he'll do it for a while and can even stop himself from falling. But he's so desperate to crawl that he goes flat to his stomach pretty quickly. And last night, at my parents house, my mom was telling him to get on his knees and "rock, rock, rock." And he watched her intently, thinking about it, and shook his little butt in the air. Then twice he shook his head back and forth. It was pretty incredible. Then he'd smile at us while we all laughed.

He is shaking his rattles, can do tricks with the pacifier, and drinks out of the sippy cup extremely well. Our pediatrician asked me to introduce the sippy cup today, and I said "oh, he's great with the sippy cup. He's been using if for about a month and a half." She shook her head, wrote it in his file and said, "well one more thing to show how amazing he is." Now we're going to start putting his formula in sippy cups more often. Are we really almost done with bottles? The thought makes me both happy and sad.

The daycare had mentioned some concern about his not quite being able to sit up on his own - and okay, I realize that 5 1/2 months is in now way a milestone to be seriously concerned that a baby isn't sitting up, but they were concerned specifically about the curve of his back. While they aren't doctors, I did appreciate that they brought it up - they see a lot of babies, and they seen him every day. I didn't even mention it to many people, mostly because I figured that with the number of specialist and doctors he has seen, SOMEONE would have mentioned it by now. I took him to the chiropractor, who said she didn't see or feel anything abnormal and he was fine.



Our pediatrician agreed, and said that she doesn't care if he's not doing a whole lot of sitting up (he can sit up unassisted, for several minutes, but is just dying to crawl so he doesn't do it long). Her take on it was that maybe he sees just sitting up as boring, and since he's going for standing, walking/running, and crawling, he's actually taking on the harder motions. Who cares if he doesn't like just sitting there so much? He's fine.

The Nexium twice a day plus the hypo-allergenic formula has graduated him from a constantly spitting up baby to a "Happy Spitter" who spits up more than normal but isn't suffering from the effects. He is clearly getting enough to satisfy him and he's not in pain. I can handle that. The gastroentologist today said "he's fine," and "not to change anything and call her as a follow up in 3 months." I can tell you now, I'm not calling her. And currently I'm not going to change anything, but is he really supposed to be on Nexium AND hypoallergenic formula for 3 more months? We'll see about that...

THAT'S THREE DOCTORS IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS WHO HAVE SAID, "HE'S FINE." WOO-HOO!


I can't help but be proud.  A part of me is sad that he's zooming through "baby-ness" so quickly, but the rest of me is elated that he is so intelligent, so social, and so developmentally on top of things. He's a joy to be around, ALWAYS. We are so, so lucky. I don't care how often I have to go shopping for the "next size up" in clothes - he's done with his 9 month clothes completely and I think we're just going to skip to 18 month clothes and save the money. Maybe I can use it to get a pedicure. Oh, or to pay off debt. That's what Shannon would say.

But seriously, I could use a pedicure.

He just pulled his band-aid off from the vaccinations and stuck it to the side of his walker. Then he laughed at me when I asked what he was doing. My days of not baby-proofing the house are numbered.

Tiger

I worked 50 hours last week and have already put 32 this week. Is it really only Tuesday? This weekend was way too full and not nearly long enough. I'm working every weekend until November 20 but in my mind it already feels like December 1st.

We visited with Shannon's dad and his new wife (they came in Friday and left Saturday afternoon), went to Olive Garden for lunch, and I actually squeezed in a two hour nap between working all day and visiting. On Sunday I worked twelve hours (from home), but Shannon had caught that stomach virus again and was out of commission all day.

I hadn't thought of doing anything with Adam for Halloween. he's too young for candy, I knew I'd be working all weekend on this upgrade, and we don't really have the money for costumes anyway. But Aunt Robin insisted and I'm glad she did! She found the cutest little costume online. Robin came over briefly Sunday afternoon around 3, we put Adam in his new little costume, took pictures, and then she left (hangover) and I went back to work. (ugh)

Adam's nickname is Tiger (Wiggles, Wobbles, Little Guy, Pumpkin, Buddy, Vampire, etc., etc.), so this was perfect:

I had a hard time dropping Adam off at daycare on Monday. I felt like I hadn't seen him all weekend and it really bums me out. When I took him in, a sub was there and she said "This must be Adam." When he heard his name he flashed her a GIGANTIC smile, like, "Yes, yes I am." Charmer. She called him a "lady's man." Uh huh. He's a people person. He doesn't discriminate.

Adam will be 26 weeks old tomorrow and 6 months old on Friday! Oh. My. God. His 6 month check up is Friday also, so I'm sure I'll be posting an update in a few days. . . that is, if I can get some sleep...