Right on track



Whose profile do I have?

Daniel had his nine-month check up today and as much as I worried that he's "too skinny" he's right on track.  He weighed in at 19lbs 9oz (47th percentile) and was 29 inches long (57th percentile).  He still has a big head, 18 inches (70th percentile) but not off the charts like when he was born.  Thanks for the scar, buddy.  He was a good little trooper when he got his 2nd round flu shot and his Hep B vaccine, though it was much harder to control the squirmy wormy than it was 3 months ago. No more shots for another 3 months!  Here's a cute picture from this morning with the first flowers from "his" garden.  And the cute cowlick hair caused by putting a hat over his wet hair last night post-bath.



Occupy: Kitchen Cabinet

Daniel likes princesses...

We had a good weekend.  I was getting over the cold that Daniel so graciously shared with me at the start of the week and we were able to spend some time with our friends, the Weikels up at their house in Baltimore. I'm the godmother to their oldest, who is almost 3, and is a great big sister to her younger sister, who is only 2 months older than Daniel...and already walking!  He was watching them intently the whole time, picking up some new tricks.  

Exploring the cabinet

Even though I was crunched for time Sunday night I made sure to make Daniel's food for the week so I didn't have to think about it for the rest of the week.  While I don't mind the cooking process, it does take awhile and the more mobile he gets the harder it is to keep him occupied.  But we hit the jackpot of entertainment with one of the cabinets that I have left unlocked for his perusal.  In addition to ovenmits, towels and extra bottles, I stash some of his pre-packaged baby food in that cabinet and everything was just so exciting to pull out (and taste-test). It only took about 15 minutes for him to empty about half of the contents out of the cabinet, but at least he was entertained.

My little Edmund Hillary.

We also had another proud moment this weekend when he made it up the first step of our stairs (see the gate next to him that needs to get put in ASAP.  I can just see the wheels turning as he looks up at me at the top of the steps wondering, hmmm, how do I get there...I see another project for daddy to tackle this week.

NINE months...

I had the realization that Daniel has now been outside of the womb longer than he was inside of it and while that doesn't make me sad, it does make me realize how long I was really pregnant!  Daniel is a VERY active nine month old.  Loves to crawl and is "talking" up a storm.  We keep thinking we're hearing words here and there, but it's just very directed babble.  Daniel is very curious about everything and doesn't want to miss out on anything.  He likes to check out what's in the fridge, what Connor does when he goes outside, that string that hangs down from the attic stairs.  He's also showing that he has a strong will (wonder where he got that from) and I think I have a hint of what lies ahead in toddler years.  Oye. 

He still loves taking baths and has many new squirt toys to keep him company.  He's getting pretty good at pulling up on things, especially the bottom stair (need to put in that gate) and the toilet (eww). He's getting pretty good at feeding himself, but he'll still happily take food from the spoon if it means getting it in there faster.  He's still happy to nurse, but I'm learning that I can't have a bottle to supplement near by because, well, bottles are so much faster than mommy. I'm seeing a trend here.  We're trying lots of new proteins and foods to help fatten him up since I think he feels kind of skinny, or at least doesn't look like your "typical" chubby baby. His 9-month check up is next week so we'll know how he's doing for sure. He also loves to chew on "crunchy" things with his sharp two bottom teeth and the top right tooth that has cut and the top left that will do so any day now.

Here are a few shots from his 9-month photo "shoot" this morning.  I couldn't decide which one I liked the best, each one...and all three in sequence, really show his personality.

Playground

We've been enjoying this weird warm February weather by getting outside as much as possible.  Yesterday Chris and I were both home early and took Daniel, and big brother Connor, across the street to the playground.  I was hoping that I had just missed the swing set the last time I had run by by, but alas, no swings.  We had to settle for slides, which Daniel enjoyed quiet a bit, until he discovered static electricity that was produced from the blue bear suit that I made him wear to keep "warm."  The zaps were curious at first, and frustrating shortly there after.  Seems that anything that's new gets the frustrated cry and scowl right now, especially something that zaps you.  I can't wait until we can introduce him to swings though.  He loves wind and being tossed in the air, but at least we know that this smaller playground is right across the street for future use.

Sharing is caring

 

Ohh, piggie!

It was a gorgeous day on Saturday so after our morning run and a birthday party for one of Daniel's girlfriends, we spent a little time outside playing in the sunshine.  Connor of course, very much approved of this activity and kept bringing something to me to throw for him.  He used to have a stuffed lion that we called his "baby doggie" that he just carried around an never really

Wait, that's my piggie!

 destroyed (just pulled out the stuffing).  He recently 

I'll take that, thank you

added "piggie" to his outdoor toys and you can even tell him to bring his piggie or baby doggie and he does.  So when we were playing, he brought me his piggie to toss and Daniel grabbed it away from me to get a good snuggle (eww).  Connor wasn't quite sure what to do with this, but he gently picked it back up in his mouth and ran away. He wasn't so sure about this "sharing thing".  Additional cute pictures below...



 

Singing in the sunshine!




 













Supportive little brother

Daniel's big brother is no stranger to doing something crazy and getting himself hurt.  The first day we were home from the hospital, we had to take Connor into an emergecy vet appointment because he had gone crazy chasing a squirrel at our friends house, thrown out his back and couldn't walk downstairs.  Having a dog on tranquilizers is not such a bad idea when you have an itty bitty newborn at home.  But this week we thought that Connor had torn a nail with the limping, licking, and some bleeding, but thankfully (I guess) he just injured it somehow and it was infected with an abcess (and bleeding).  So in addition to antibiotics and pain killers, big baby #1 had to have a a bandage put on it...and a sock put on over that to keep him from licking it.  I performed the "surgery" last night with both boys upstairs and Daniel did a great job petting Connor's back leg while I cleaned the wound (on his front paw).  But when I was applying the antibiotic cream and the bandage Daniel crawled around and gave the paw a squeeze since I was holding it in my hand.  Connor let out a yelp and pulled it away, which caused me to give Daniel a finger point and firm voiced "NO".  Both froze not knowing who the "no" was for...and then Daniel started crying and Connor gave me back his paw.  At least they both know what it means, too bad they both have such short-term memories.

Milestone: pulling up (uh oh)

I don't know how to get down!

Daniel has made some motions that have hinted at "pulling up" but nothing that was close enough to make  me worry...or drop the crib.  Today we were out shopping after church and Daniel didn't really care for the seat up front and kept taking my keys (aka his entertainment while I looked around) and dropping them.  I ended up putting him in the basket part and he happily entertained himself until I noticed that he had pulled himself up from sitting to his knees.  Perhaps it was the lack of a nap, but he was fairly distressed about being up on his knees and couldn't figure out how to get himself down.  Of course, the good mom that I am, I first took this picture and then helped him down. 

How do we break out of this place?

We got home and knowing he needed a nap, I put him down in his crib and went downstairs.  Thankfully I turned on the monitor because less than two minutes later I saw him pulling himself up on his crib rail!  I raced upstairs just in time to catch him pulling himself back up to his knees.  I picked him up and laid him back down to convince him to nap, went back downstairs, grabbed my camera and as soon as I was back upstairs, he was back on his knees and looking over the edge of the crib figuring out how he could get himself over.  And then...he pulled himself to standing.  Crap. Needless to say this new trick would be far more fun than a nap and any hope of a nap was out.  I was able to get his pack and play lowered but we had to wait for daddy to get home to get his crib down.  Let Phase 2 of babyproofing begin and 3...2...1...

SO proud of himself for standing!

Not great, but you get the idea (and how much he wanted to tumble over)

Drummer Boy

Don't mind me, mom. I'm just makin' some music...

In my biased opinion, Daniel has a great sense of rhythm.  He wiggles to the beat, gets excited when you dance with him and now seems to bang things in rhythm.  Okay, well sort of in rhythm, but he LOVES to bang things.  He now has an empty formula can that sits on the floor between the kitchen and the dining room and I've put a plastic stirring spoon, the ice cream scoop and a wooden seafood mallet in there.  He likes to pull out each one, taste test them, and then hit them on the closest surface (floor, cabinet, Connor).  But the metal bottom of the can seems to make a really exciting noise.  Here's a few pictures from this morning with some video of the "drumming".


 

Two-handed drumming...taste testing the drum.







Wrestling an alligator

Getting Daniel dressed...or changed has become an adventure.  He lasts about 2 seconds on his back and then FLIP, right on to his belly and then off to whatever could possibly be more interesting than sitting still.  He especially loves the changing table on his pack and play since the moible is now within his reach. 

Changing or dressing him on the floor isn't a better option either since then he has more space to get away.  Now I know why those slip on diapers always seem to be sold out.  Hopefully Daniel will be moving up in sizes soon and we can invest in a few boxes so he doesn't manage to get away diaper-less.

Daniel on the move

Daniel getting snuggly

It was wonderful to get back to Daniel on Friday...thankfully he remembered his mommy and wiggled and squealed until I picked him up, and then treated me to an hour-long nap/snuggle so I could get a little extra sleep after the red-eye.  Grandma did a great job watching him and he rewarded her with two good nights of sleep and lots of smiles.  We spent the weekend running errands, meeting Daniel's new Henel girlfriend, Carys, and watching the Super Bowl. 




My future football star? He'd be a great crawlingback.


I think Daniel's top teeth are coming in since he's a bit on the cranky side (for him) and the drooling has  kicked up a notch.  He's also crawling and getting pretty fast at it.  He nearly made it out the kitchen door when I let Connor out so just to see what he'd do, I opened the door and he crawled out on to the deck.  He was only slightly slowed by the cool trex and would have kept going if I had let him.  It's fun to see him so independent, but we're also trying to keep up with the babyproofing! 

Baby on the move!

Grandma duty

I've been very lucky with my recent job change (same organization, new position) that I've eased into my travel and have a boss with two small kids who remembers all of the trials and tribulations of pumping and travelling and attempting to always be super mommy while still making time for some pampering on business trips.  She is a great mentor as a working mom, which is one of the top reasons I went to work for her. 



Grandma Corrinne with her grandson and grandpup.



In early December, we had a very long day trip to New York.  Then two weeks ago we did that LA trip as a family (her suggestion) where I was only apart from Daniel for a little over 24 hours.  But this week both Chris and I were going to be gone.  Him for a conference in Aspen and me for a short trip back to LA. And one of the blessings of living close to family is that they can help out in situations like this.  So my mom, Grandma Corrinne, is happily following my type-A lists and instructions (a trait I inherited from her) and spending time with Daniel and Connor at our house, watching out boys.  After a full morning of travelling west and an all afternoon strategy session I am happy to report that he was good for grandma today: took a good nap this morning so she could get ready, took another nap when he got home from daycare, crawled all around after dinner and pooped himself out so he went right to bed at his bedtime.  I'm thankful that today when by quickly and hoping that tomorrow will go by even faster!