Last Friday - Mostly In Pictures

Having such a busy boy makes me laugh out loud sometimes. Last Friday when I picked M up from school, he was the only child from his classroom not in the big baby mover stroller thing that holds like 6 kids. They'd taken the children outside to enjoy the nice weather, but apparently M just wasn't having all that SITTING AROUND. They told me that he protested wildly until they got them outside and let him get down on the ground to play. Somewhere along the way he'd lost his pants that he'd worn to school, so by the time I got there he was just in a onesie, a bib and his Robeez (because Lord knows this child won't keep a pair of socks on). He was simply filthy, but clearly having the best time. Here are some pictures I took of him that afternoon after we got home.

 Dirty onesie & bib: check

Toys for each hand: check

 Correction - Dirty, unsnapped onesie: check

Because he also will hardly ever let them get him dressed again after they change him for the last time each day.  I'm sure they wish I'd send him in a t-shirt, and I do somtimes, but, I just love the look of a kiddo in a onesie.  I digress.

Playing in the fridge, while mom gets dinner ready takes my picture

Playing on the deck - this rubber mat at the back door always gives him black feet, completing the transformation from Mitchell to Pig Pen.

Ready for a bath, becuase he clearly needs it!

Let's take a look at the toy selection - multiple shampoo bottles, lone Croc, rattle that he takes everywhere and therefore must also come into the bathtub with us too (notice it is in every picture on this entry, I checked), among normal bath toys.

I just love this busy boy!

Beach Weekend

Recently I went to the beach with a group of girls to celebrate our friend Prim before her upcoming wedding.  We stayed in a fabulous house on the beach in Seagrove and though I had a lot of angst, worry and stress attached to leaving my baby for the first time, it turned out fine.  It was a wonderful weekend filled with lots of food and drink, relaxation and reminiscing about some of our adventures with the guest of honor over the years.  I was so glad to have a friend there who was also away from her babe for the first time so we could commisserate (although I'm sure we wore everyone else out with our constant talk of breastfeeding, schedules, naps, daycare, birthday party ideas, etc). 

It involved a lot of planning and coordinating, but I'm so glad I went.  We really did have a fantastic time.  The weather could not have been more perfect and I think that the bride-to-be really enjoyed herself.  The maid of honor did a great job planning a fun weekend!

Here are some pics:

Mo giving Prim her goody bag for the weekend

Everyone got one of these cute bags as a favor!

Love you, sweet P!

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Mitchell stayed with my parents so John could have the weekend "off" too.  By all accounts M did great and my parents have already asked when he can come stay with them again.  He took great naps and just played his little heart out.  He even went to T-town for A Day and though he didn't want to sit in the stroller, they said he really enjoyed the people watching!

8 Month Update

Mitchell turned 8 months old on the 11th (note: I started this entry a few days after that but it has taken me two weeks to finish).  He actually had a great weekend where he got to see both his Gramma (John's mom) and my parents in one weekend.  His Grampa has been feeling under the weather so he didn't come, but John's aunt Sue was visiting so she got to spend the afternoon with him on that Saturday which was nice.  The last time she saw him was Thanksgiving, so he's clearly changed a lot since then!  I don't have any pictures of their visit, as I had to leave for most of the afternoon to work at a Junior League function, but they had a great time with him and he even took a 2 hour nap for them.  I'm trying not to be jealous of that, because he has only done that for me once or twice in his short little life!  Since he napped, we even got to go grab an early dinner before Kris and Sue left to go back to Knoxville.  Mitchell ate in a high chair and flirted a lot with an older couple who was sitting behind us. 

Sunday my parents ended up wanting to come visit too, even though they are keeping (note: kept) him all weekend this coming weekend while I go to the beach (that is for a whole 'nother post to come)  I guess they coudn't wait to see him any longer.  Not that I blame them!

He's so very busy these days - there is really no one word that is better to describe him at this stage.  I'll try to keep this post from getting too long by hitting his high points lately, development-wise.

• 
  
  He loves to stand up now - he is upright most of the time.  He's even balanced on his own for a few seconds at a time for about 3 weeks now, but those are few and far between.  That is mostly because he never stands (or sits) still long enough to balance.  He is in almost constant motion.  This means we have all but abandoned the exersaucer and bouncing toys - he will stand up on the outside of them and play with the toys, but putting him in them is almost offensive to him, and he will let you know it!
• 
  
  Whe he is sitting, he loves bouncing on his knees.  He kills me with his little gumby legs - he is always bent in some bizarre pose that I would never be able to manage! 
• 
  
  Boxes are a favorite toy these days - loves opening and closing the flaps.
• 
  
  The 'd' sound is all we hear these days!  I'm trying to reinforce m's so he will get around to saying mama, but his dada is very solid!  He's not yet said it in the intentional fashion towards John that I'd say it was his first word (still holding out hope for mama), but he's contsantly jabbering the d's.  He also says something that sounds approximately like "dit-dee" for Dixie. 
• 
  
  All of a sudden the car seat is the enemy.  For a child who literally slept nights in his for months, and has always been a good napper in his car seat, this is a very sad development for us.  No longer does putting him in the car ensure him falling asleep.  Some days I feel like I have exhausted all forms of creativity in trying to keep him entertained on the short ride to or from day care.  Don't even get me started on road trips...I don't know how many solo trips I'll be taking this summer if this keeps up. 
• 
  
  Also, changing a diaper is now viewed by him as a torture session.  Literally he'll be smiling, talking and laughing and as soon as I tip him back to lay him down it's screaming.  Not sure what that's all about.
• 
  
  Bath time is perhaps his favorite time of day.  He went through a brief spell (about 3 weeks) where he hated it recently, but we made it through and now it's a surefire mood lifter.  I wish I had a picture of the image of it from last night (but John has games this week, so I was solo and therefore had to focus on the child and not taking pictures, darn it!).  I usually just put him down on the floor in our room and let him crawl around while I'm getting the water going, and last night he crawled in to the bathroom, pulled up on the edge of the tub, stood up on his tip toes and started making noises and leaning forward that clearly indicated "I wanna get in!"  He will play hard in the tub for as long as I let him, and is even happy when I've let all the water run out. 
• 
  
  Still a great eater; glad nothing has changed on that front!

Here are some pics...sorry they are mostly all of him eating.  I need to take some new pics!

Close up of newest haircut - clearly not professionally done!

Working on learning how to feed ourself...sometimes he misses his mouth!

He is really chubbing up again...

He likes to run his fingers through his hair when he gets tired.  All the better if his hands are covered in food!

This diaper box brought many hours of enjoyment.  He has stood up and "talked" to it while opening and closing the flaps for days before we finally put it away.

He is kind of late to the game on this, but loves his feet.  He is constantly doing this and pulls them waaaay up by his shoulders.  Sometimes he tips over backwards, which is both pitiful and funny to watch.  He likes to sit indian-style now and is just constantly pulling his feet around.  It's really hilarious.

There is always so much to share, but I think that's a pretty good wrap up for now!  Almost time for the 9 month update...maybe I should start working on it now so it will be published on time!

Baptism - About a Month Late

Soooo, life has been really crazy lately, due in about equal parts to healthcare reform (work); a crawling, semi-standing, jabbering wild man that lives with us (Mitchell); and the onset of everyone's John's favorite time of year (baseball season is upon us).  Really there's just been so much to fill up our days and all of a sudden it is mid-April!  How did that happen?

Mitchell was baptized at Trinity United Methodist Church in Birmingham on March 14.  Of course when I picked the date I went ahead and chose the one where the time would change, and then chose to have him baptized at the early service, just so everyone would be on their toes!  Just kidding, I clearly did not consult my calendar to see when Daylight Savings Time started; I would have obviously chosen a different date if I had!  But it all worked out. 

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, about to get dressed!

Mitchell did quite well - he had cut another tooth the day before (at the time it was his first top tooth, and his third total, but as of today, roughly 5 weeks later, we have 7 teeth, as an aside) and he'd been super cranky so I was a tiny bit worried, but he came through for Mom and Dad when it counted.  John took him outside to the narthex about halfway through the service due to some wiggles, but cousin Reid had the same wiggles so Erin was there to keep him company!

(Thanks to Aunt Lolly for taking pictures for us)

He tolerated the process of getting his head wet pretty well and cooperated with the "baby parade" as the minister put it, with the help of a paci, of course!

Afterward we celebrated with our family and dear friends, the Liphams, over brunch.  We were so honored to have the support of everyone on such a special day for Mitchell.  We are reminded every day how blessed we are to have this dear, sweet, spirited child and we were glad that those who we love could be there to stand with us at his baptism.

The sweet "baby cakes" that my mom got for our dessert.  Reid helped her pass them out, careful to reserve most of the "brown" (caramel, not shown here) ones for himself.  Such a giver!

Giving (and getting) lots of love to his grandparents...

Maedel Family

(The Kendrick Family did not get it together enough for a similar portrait.  Go figure.)

Playing with his new engraved rattle from Gramma & Grampa

Goofing with Mike & Spot (sorry for the nearly constant paci...he was on the verge of melting down from the teething and was also getting sick, we later found out)

And we did manage a photo of the three of us, which almost never happens!

Easter Weekend - 2010

Mitchell's daycare was closed on Good Friday, but luckily so was my office so we got to spend an extra day together without me having to burn up a vacation day.  And what fun we had!  We rarely get to see Mitchell when he's in a good mood, since he resists taking a nap something fierce* (seriously, he wailed for almost an hour on Sunday afternoon, only to sleep for a mere 40 minutes after that) and by the time he gets home from daycare he's just plum tired and not very playful. We see this a lot:

* I wish we could make more progress on the nap situation, but hardly expect the daycare to be able to make him "cry it out" during nap time.  Making him endure CIO on the weekends is fine, but I feel like he just falls back in his "I'm not tired" routine come Monday.  But I digress. * 

Anyway, we've also been through multiple rounds of colds/infections and he's been on antibiotics off and on since mid-February.  Not to mention that he now has 7 teeth, most of which have been very recent additions, so he's clearly been uncomfortable!  I wasn't aware of how bad he must have been feeling until I got to spend so much time around him this weekend and I was treated to the sweet, funny, playful child that I remembered but hadn't gotten to experience much of in the last 6 weeks or so!  He was seriously so much fun.  He is babbling up a storm and he just played so hard.  Here's a glimpse:

Playing on the deck on Friday afternoon

Favorite new toy - canister vacuum!

We took several walks, enjoyed the sunshine, opened up some "new" toys that we've had for a while but that I was saving up for some variety, all the while, babbling and cooing.  Truly music to our ears!

On Sunday John's mom came down for brunch (his dad wasn't feeling well so stayed home).  Mitchell enjoyed opening up his Easter baskets and then we took him to the park to swing.  John's mom has the pictures of all 3 of us on her camera, but here are some that we took on ours. 

What a glorious weekend! 

Mum Mum Mum

So I'm blessed with an incredibly independent nearly 8-month old tot.  He wants so badly to be doing everything for himself, which includes eating.  Problem is, he's not exactly in possesion of the motor skills (or full comprehension that things must be chewed/swallowed) to do this very well.

Luckily we were with some friends who have 2 children older than ours this past weekend, and they shared some of their 12 month old's snacks with us.  And Mitchell fell in love.

What, you ask, was this glorious snack?  The Mum Mum...

Let me state first that I know that these provide hardly any nutrition.  They are basically air.  However, he will attack one with gusto mainly, I think, because he can feed himself.  I hardly even have to worry about him choking becuase they mush up almost immediately.  I do watch him, don't get me wrong; it's just that with some of the other puffs and things that we've tried he can still get them in his mouth and swallow them before they start to dissolve, so we've had a few minor incidents that have resulted in back blows (or fishing them out of his throat, fun). 

Luckily I'm trained in infant CPR and it's clear that we aren't quite ready for those yet!  If we do use those I smear them with something wet (baby food of some sort) so to start the softening process before he gets his little paws on them.  These Mum Mum things come in original flavor (which basically means none) and vegetable.  They are apparently available in an organic version too, but my Wal-Mart doesn't carry those.  These snacks are made in China, but I did some research and the milk powder that they use is imported from New Zealand and there is no danger that they are affected by the tainted milk recalls that Chinese food products have been subject to lately.

The other thing we are LOVING right now is this contraption:

This one is made by Munchkin but other brands carry them too.  You can put fresh food in them and babies can mush their food up.  Mitchell didn't cotton to his right away, so I started using it as a teether so he'd get used to it, putting ice in it and he'd go to town on it to soothe those poor swollen gums!  Now, though, it is a fixture at mealtime.  We've had banana, watermelon, canteloupe, avocados, and peas in ours.  They are very messy but lots of fun for the kids!