Busy couple of days

So, little man has been very busy the past few days. Which could probably explain why he hasn't been sleeping very well! Just tossing and turning. Waking up early. It's tiring. Hence I lost my voice yesterday and today I sound like I'm from south Philly and smoke too much! Anyway, here's what little man has been up to:

The first tooth has emerged! He was drooling insanely last weekend. Like viscous. Like dog drool. And I could see the two front bottom teeth completely outlined. By Thursday he was still at it but by the time we made it back from getting weighed (.5oz gain), his left one had popped out. So cute. Very sharp! Now the right one should be close behind!!

Crawling the right way has finally happened. Little man has been doing an army drag/crawl sine right before Xmas, but on Thursday he got onto hands and knees and just stayed that way. He's still kind of slow since he shuffles his knees but I imagine it's short lived. It's so cute seeing that little booty crawl though!! Next will be walking, as he's desperate. Now that he pulls up on everything and cruises, he very sneakily reaches a hand out so you grab it then he just takes off walking!!

And in utter adorableness, little man has started some serious babbling. He said "mamamama" and "dadadada" as well as his new favorite, "rararara" like a cheerleader. It's so sweet. And he figured out his to click his tongue!!! He's just so fun and entertaining. Especially to himself!

So, lots of fun and important milestones. I'm thinking he knows his 9 month appointment is on Friday, so he had better get some of these under his belt to show off. Great job little man!!

Let's cruise together

Little man has leaped (not literally) from pulling himself up to standing to cruising a little too easily if you ask me.  Now he pulls himself up on everything.  Couch, boxes, chairs, other people's legs, laundry baskets.  You name it, the kid is pulling up.  And now he only wants to be up! Seriously dangerous.  I can't take my eyes off of him for a second.  Which means now I get nothing accomplished.  And funnily enough, his cruising is very impressive.  For the most part, he holds on with one hand and walks forward, versus shuffling his feet side to side.  Seriously, he might walk before he crawls properly.  Crawling for speed is still done army style on his belly.  But the past few days have him scooting his knees forward slowly.  I'll keep updating as it develops.  Either way, we are moving and grooving!

Gmom Dino

Written in two parts:

Pre-visit contemplations:

You know love when you see it in action. The love between gmom Dino and big guy is amazing. Equally returned. Unconditional. They are two peas in a pod. I was contemplating this the other day because Dino is coming to visit this week for 10 days! Big guy and I are so excited. Everyday big guy asks me at some point, when is grandma coming? Today? We've been talking about this visit since the new year. Not only will this visit encompass valentines day and big guys bday, but also his family and school friend party. Whew.

Anywho, I was thinking about the two of them and how when Dino is around, big guy is no more than a few feet away from her at any time. He is constantly snuggling with her and she with him. And the funny thing is, that she loves it. Dino, who is my mom, was never the most snuggly as I was growing up. She gives wonderful hugs, no doubt, but it's just a different kind of connection she has with big guy. They like the same stuff, arts and crafts, getting dirty outside, gardening included, animals, reading, watching tv, eating ice cream... The list is endless. I'm so grateful that he has her in his life. Because don't we all need someone who loves us that much?

Currently visiting contemplations:

Ok, so dino has been here for over a week and they are even more bonded. On big guy's actual bday, we did a snow day bday and kept him home.  They played the whole day.  And both enjoyed each other's company immensely.  Whenever I overheard them, they were laughing.  Big guy was doing this hilarious giggle when he's having a lot of fun.  Dino was talking in funny voices.  And at one point, in a heart breakingly adorable conversation, big guy says, "grandma, you're my best friend!" Slay me now! Even when big guy gets a little wild (which is kind of often) dino just rolls with it, her patience is endless.  I wish everyone could be loved like this.  We still have four full days before dino leaves for home, but we have some fun stuff in store.  Class bday party, visit to aquarium, and lots of playing.  Dino, we love you!!!

Family bday party

Saturday brought the family bday party to our house.  It was really fun! We had pizza, fries, onion rings (the clear winner), mozarella sticks, fruit, veggies, with pretzels, chips and dips.  For dessert we had homemade cupcakes- a pioneer woman recipe- that had a surprise hershey kiss in the bottom.  As well as make your own sundaes.  big guy was in his element, giving love to all the grandparents and partying.  He probably ate nothing because he was so jazzed!  We opened presents and then promptly gave everyone the boot! short parties are where it's at for our family.  Please do no dawdle! Anywho, now I'm looking forward to the friend party this weekend.  Luckily, they are taking care of most of the specifics.  We are just arriving with some drinks, soft pretzels, and the birthday boy!

Happy 5th birthday!

Today my big guy turns 5! 5 years old. I can't believe it. He's the greatest thing to ever happen to hubs and me. He's just awesome and amazing. Gmom Dino and I took him to the toys r us yesterday to pick out a toy. We had a toy to return that pleasantly was $30! So we had a store credit and a $5 coupon. He did a great job. First, we stopped at the customer service desk and got a free balloon. Then we walked through the whole store. I let him out everything into the cart and said we would lay them all out and then he could choose one at the end. I think this made all the difference. No arguments. No whining. And he did such an amazing job. He choose a giant boat that has a giant shark, giant shark catching crane, two cars and a helicopter. Also, a bucket of safari animals and a tube of marine life. So today it snowed and big guy got a snow day birthday. He played all day with gmom Dino. They went outside to shovel, though he was playing and kept Dino company. Little man and I went to the supermarket, they stayed home. When little man ate lunch and took a nap, they played. We had a nice pancake dinner and finally watched a little tv, bath and bed. Overall, a really wonderful day for a really wonderful boy. Happy birthday baby!

This might explain the good sleep

The past week little man has been sleeping awesomely! Big naps. Sleeping through the night. Joyous. So also this past week, little man has figured out how to clap his hands. Which is so precious. He holds his right hand steady and hits the left hand do all the clapping. It's really funny. And the other great accomplishment? He started the week by pulling himself onto his knees. But Saturday morning, he pulled himself up to standing! Yes, now we are in serious trouble!

time for some cute

I just had to show some serious cuteness today.  It's freezing and nothing like seeing cute kids to make you feel all warm!

weigh-in

Yesterday we went to BF group and (finally) made it to 18 pounds!!!  haha!  I mean thanks little man for throwing me a bone and after doing 1 oz a week, finally getting to this coveted 18 pounds.  Oh well.  Still a month before the 9 month well visit and we shall see about the length, as he's taller than other babies who are his age or older than him.  Long and lean.

Yo Baby

So, we conquered eggs.  And we have moved onto yogurt.  mmmm, yobaby yogurt to be exact.  Full fat.  delicious.  creamy. delicious. um, it's really good! Anywho, in yet another example of how my boys are completely different babies, little man was not so thrilled with yogurt.  I had wisely put the majority of the 4 oz into a tupperware container and gave him the teeniest spoonful.  At first, he was eating it, but then he was giving me that face again!  Like, "I'll eat this because you are giving it to me, but I'm not going to like it!" Then he just started turning his head.  sad.

At dinner, I tried again, but this time I started off with giving him his oatmeal with sweet potatoes and then mixed the yogurt in.  Much more successful!  And last night I did the same thing, and he ate it more happily.  whew!  Yogurt is what I eat everyday for lunch, as does big guy because he started eating it at 8 months! So, another healthy eater in the works I suppose.  But I'm guessing it's going to be a while before those 4 oz are consumed in one sitting.

Eggs

Yesterday, little man had his first batch of animal protein- the all mighty egg yolk!  He really enjoyed it!  I mean, the fact that there may have been some bacon drippings on it might have helped.  But he did a really good job.  And so we will have it for a few days, then we can try french toast and other egg related food products.  He's getting to be such a baby, so proficient at picking food up and eating.  It's just so cool to see.  But also kind of bittersweet because he's getting older.

aquarium

Over winter break we went to the Adventure Aquarium in NJ.  I had gotten a discounted year membership through AAA, like 46% off, which is pretty good because it's a pricey place to visit.  So, we had to go to the aquarium to pick up our membership before the middle of february, and since it's open 365 days a year (!), we decided to visit on new year's eve.  It was a really great visit.  Everyone was in good spirits and we got there a little after it opened.

We took our time and did about half of the aquarium in the 3 hours we were there.  Most popular were the fish, sharks, hippo and little man really appreciated the jellyfish. Also, we ate a lot of soft pretzels!  Big guy was really awesome.  He and hubs went to see the 4-D shark movie while I fed little man in the nursing mother's room.  Which was cold and loud since you could hear everyone walking by, but at least it had a door that locked and a comfy chair.  Funnily enough, we only took pictures the last ten minutes we were there, in the cool shark tunnel.  I'm so glad we have a membership, not only for the discount, but now we can go more than once a year.