On the go...

...ok, not really.  But he wants to!  Often he gets bored in one spot and decides he wants to be picked up and moved somewhere else.  Luckily, he's easily distracted.  LLM is quite independent and very social.  I've re-evaluated my stand on those child leash things and have determined that if I indeed need one, I no longer morally have a problem getting one.  If only to make sure I don't lose him in a crowd when we're on vacation. LOL...

This kid likes to eat. But only on his own time and on his own terms.  And if you're eating, by golly he needs to participate too. 

He demands to be at the dinner table when we're eating dinner.  He's not happy sitting off to the side in his jumparoo, even if he's right next to me. Sometimes I make him wait anyway, but apparently I can't stop my grandma or my mom from picking him up and catering to his whine.  Spoiled, I tell you.  So we put his bumbo seat on the chair next to me and he gets Baby MumMums.  I think he finds it fascinating to watch me eat.  Lately I've taken to emphasizing my chewing motions so he can watch and he'll copy the movements.  He'll put the MumMum in his mouth and 'bite' with his 2 lower baby teeth.  You don't normally think about how hard it is to bite into things until you watch a baby with no teeth try to chew.  Seriously...it's kind of funny.  I can't tell if he just doesn't like the flavor of the cracker, or if he's trying to figure out how to chew though.  I mean he eats the thing so I assume the flavor is ok, right? I tasted it, it is bland but it's not bad.  The look on his face, though...priceless.

joining madmommy at the dinner table

He's picky about what he eats and when.  I gave him more oatmeal cereal and he didn't want it.  He'll eat his crackers no problem, but anything runny, forget it. Although, there was once that I handed him the spoon with a bit of oatmeal on it just to see what he'd do and he went ahead and put it in his mouth himself.  ...sooooo you don't want me to feed you, you want to feed yourself?!  This is gonna get messy.

LLM is starting to figure out how to move around.  Wait little man wait! I'm not ready!!!  He will do any combination of wiggling and rolling until he gets to where he wants to go.  If he's blocked by something or becomes trapped in some other way, he starts whining. 

literally just went to pee in the next room and came back to him see-saw wiggling off the mattress pad.

He's so curious, which I love.  These are some exciting times.  I really am grateful that he is in my life.  There's no other explanation other than it was by His will that I have this beautiful baby boy.  With my current state of mind, he exists so I can. 

First Foods

Last weekend, LLM tried his best to eat MadMommys food off her plate.  Here he is trying to eat my corn....

om nom nom

So, as I've been reading and have been told by other moms, when he's ready for food you'll know because he'll be really interested in your food.  I took the above as he's just about ready. 

On Tuesday night, I ground up some oatmeal and made an oatmeal cereal, and laced it with ground up quinoa.  Not really sure why I did it that way...I just felt like it.  I like quinoa...so maybe LLM would too?  Hahaha.  ::shrug::  We also tried carrots.  In hindsight, I probably should have tried something else, maybe peas or sweet potato.  He wasn't a fan of the carrots.  I tasted it too...and I couldn't blame him for making a face and shaking his head every time a carrot filled spoon came toward him.  But bless his little heart, he ate it if I shoved the spoon in his mouth anyway.  The cereal took a few bites before he realized what was going on.  He was quite confused with why strange stuffs were in his mouth. 

oatmeal/quinoa cereal

This experiment was quite entertaining.  LLM is such a character.  He's too smart.  Even when I mixed the oatmeal with the carrots, if he could smell the carrots on the spoon he wouldn't open his mouth.  LOL silly boy.  He's still quite confused about the texture and flavors.  But at least for now, he's not spitting it out.  He just makes a 'this is icky' face while he eats.  Fun times.  <3

and.we.sit.

Oh goodness.  He's getting stronger every day.  Now I can sit him up next to me and he'll sit up on his own for a while. Mostly, having to prop himself up using one of his arms but still.  Just a week ago he wasn't able to do that!

this was a couple days ago, last night he was up on one arm :-P

cause and effect...and maybe more teeth?

I spoke too soon when I said LLM was having a seemingly easy time with the whole teething thing.  On Sunday for a few hours the poor guy was practically inconsolable.  I finally broke down and let my mom go get baby orajel for him.  It worked like a charm.  He hasn't gotten to that kind of point again so I'm not going to use it unless he's really buggin and nothing else seems to work. From the looks of it, he may be getting his top teeth in pretty soon.  Boy, he's growing up fast.  One of my best friends recommended this mesh paci thing that worked amazingly for her son...

Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder

Not that LLM is ready for food quite yet, but maybe an ice cube or something cold would help so he could mum on it. 

He's been putting everything in his mouth that he can get his hands on.  With all the drool, everything seems to be constantly...wet.  I love it though.  Knowing this is how he's learning what things are through their textures I have no problems with most things going in the mouth.  Live animal parts (like dog ears) were only acceptable once however.  Now you know, and don't do it again because that's gross, ok little one?

We're starting to explore cause and effect now.  If I do this....this happens!! If I drop this, mommy picks it up!  We've discovered that once we're done playing in the jumparoo/exersaucer and lift our arms toward MadMommy, Mama, or Ms Jill...we get picked up! He seems quite entertained by the fact that he knows this will happen now.  And will sometimes trick one of us into it with fake crying.  I've started to pick up on his fake tears but sometimes I'm just not sure.  I'm only sure after the fact when he starts laughing because I've picked him up.  Little punk.

pick me up!

I think I've mentioned it earlier, but right now I can't tell dreams from reality and there are a few times when I really had to think about it.  (side note: I need more sleep)  But, LLM is now preferring to sleep on his stomach and hasn't really complained about being on his tummy now that he's able to push himself up and look around and then roll over if he wanted to. 

He moved his toys around before he fell asleep..what a goof

Little man is starting to be able to sit up on his own, which still seems really early to me...but this is my first time so how would I know?  He's still wobbly so I wouldn't let him sit up unless someone's right there with a guiding hand. I've even seen him stand up while holding on to something... Literally was sitting on the floor folding laundry while he was sitting in my lap and he leaned forward, grabbed the laundry basket, and attempted to pull himself up.  I helped him up and was holding him as he tried to grab clothes from the basket but for a second he was holding on to the edge of the basket, standing there while my hand was hovering under his arm.  And all I'm thinking is...I'm so going to have trouble keeping track of you when you're mobile aren't I?

Despite the lack of sleep and all the personal shit that I've been stressing over, I have nothing but crazy, mad love for this kid.  And I'm totally a MOM now.  Only mom's can put up with the constant needs of someone else while attending to other things...and doing them one handed.  I wouldn't change it for the world.  I do, however, miss watching my tv shows without having to pause/rewind etc.

<3 me some baby smiles and sparkly eyes

wait...wait...i'm not ready!

In the wee hours of the morning, little man woke up and I lay there watching him to see if he'll fall back asleep on his own.  As I watched him roll around on the mattress pad, flipping and turning himself around, he caught me watching.  A heartbeat later he flipped onto his stomach and started wiggling in effort to move towards me.  I reached my hand out to him and he tried to reach out also, but was still too far.  He started wiggling more and scooting, and I think if his path hadn't been hampered by a pillow wall, he'd have scooted his way to me.  I was all smiles, but now that I think about it I'm slightly terrified.  I mean, he's starting to figure out the army crawl.  How much longer 'til he figures out how to actually crawl?!

Baby boy, I'm not ready for you to be crawling around yet... eek!

are those teeth? and madmommy's first weekend away

This is late but oh well.... On Friday, I realized that LLM's first teeth are pokin' through! I got so excited.  And yes, you read that correctly...teeth. As in not one, but 2!  Both of the bottom incisors have cut through the gums.  I've been trying to get pictures of his mouth but they're not grown in all they way yet so I can't get a good pic.  I was quite surprised, because he hadn't seemed any fussier than normal, or in a bad mood, or hurting or anything.  And according to everything I've ever read, and everyone's telling of their children's teething experiences, I was fully prepared for a few bouts of extra cranky as he cuts teeth.  I wonder, will this be the way all his teeth come in? If so, I'll take it!  I've been watching his top incisors to see if they're about to poke through, but honestly I can't tell.  I've been noticing however his gums being lighter, very white-ish.  I'm learning too!

I'm so glad to be blessed with such a happy kid. Little man continues to amaze me.  He's officially able to pass things between his hands, he loves to play with his feet, and he loves it when I play with and kiss his little feet and tiny toes.  Already he shows a preference for certain toys, and is starting to recognize when I'm about to 'leave'. He starts getting upset when I put him down and walk out of his sight.  He'll settle down on his own as he gets distracted but that initial second he doesn't see me, it's hard not to go back and pick him up.  When he's playing with his toys it's amusing to watch him really look at what's in his hands.  It's almost more amusing to watch him try to grab toys that are out of reach.  Or try to grab whatever I have in my hand be it one of his toys, or my phone, or something I'm eating or drinking...  Sometimes if it's something he can't get a good grip on it's funny to watch as he concentrates on it stretching his arms out, shaking.  It almost looks like he's frustrated that his hands and fingers aren't quite doing what he wants them to. 

This past weekend I was participating in the Avon 2-day Walk, and was not home for 2 nights.  Admittedly, I was very very nervous about leaving LLM with daddy for the entire weekend.  I'd not been away from him overnight at all and I've been the one primarily getting up in the middle of the night/super early in the morning with little man. So I wasn't quite sure how they'd fare.  I thought for sure something was going to go wrong.  That's just me.  Needless to say, they were just fine.  I think I was more the mess considering the minute I drove away I started crying, missing my baby.  That was weird for me.  I didn't think it was going to be that hard to be away from him.  At night, when things were calm, I found myself wandering around trying to find something to do because I wanted to keep myself from thinking about how much I missed the little guy.  It was a good weekend though, good to get out.