Thursday, February 23, 2006

Next stop - crawling!


Sorry about the dearth of posts lately. I've been battling some cold / flu-like gunk and have been going to sleep early. But, that's enough about me.

Connor has mastered the art of sitting unassisted and rarely topples over (though having a pillow behind him is still a wise move). A couple of times, he's sort of toppled to his hands and looked around as if he might have discovered something good. I noticed our nanny holding him in a crawling position the other day, so maybe in a couple of months he'll be inspired. His pappy will probably be teaching him great stuff like this next week when we head to the ski slopes and he takes over as the daytime nanny.

Connor has also been a bit under the weather lately, getting his first official cold. I think he picked it up at the doctor's office the other day, which I guess is just a bonus since we had to wait so frickin' long. The appointment was delayed enough that we overlapped with the visiting hours for sick kids. Note disgruntled edge in my typing here. I hear all pediatrician's offices are like this, so it's probably not worth trying to find a new one. However, I did make the next appointment for early in the day hoping that would help some.

Connor no longer eats squash when I feed it to him, but apparently eats it for his nanny - unless the empty bowl is a product of the other baby he shares the nanny with gobbling his food down. I figure at some point he'll decide he likes squash with me too. I think he just tries to impress the nanny with his great eating skills but knows there no need to try and impress me because I don't think it's possible for any kid to be better than Connor - unless it was a Connor that slept, but I suspect you're tired of hearing about that.

Connor has also mastered the came of "peek" with Ed. It used to be that Ed could pop up somewhere behind us, and Connor would look around for quite a while trying to figure out where Ed went. Now, Connor anticipates where Ed will be and quickly turns his head around looking for Ed. Ed declared last night that he was going to get some new moves. Guess we'll see what happens.
Elaine

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Life is so unfair

Do you want to know how unfair life is? If so, read on. Today, my little man who is checking in at 14 pounds, 4 ounces got stuck with needles FOUR times! And let me tell you, while his weight may be in the 5th percentile, his lungs are surely amongst the strongest. When I was leaving the pediatrician's office - with Connor still wailing, knowing parents could hardly look me in the eye. When they did make eye contact, it was with an "I've been there and I know it's rough" sort of look. Maybe by the next time we have to go through this, someone will have invented an oral vaccine. please?

Connor's length is now in the 75 percentile - woohoo! - and he's still Mr. Bighead, with a head in the 75th percentile as well. Note to Connor: Dr. R. thinks you would be heavier if you were less active and slept more. Thanks, Dr. R. I hope you didn't spend too long in med school figuring that out.

But, if you thought Connor getting the shots was unfair, I made a deal with Ed that he would be responsible for the 9 month appointment because I took the 3 month one as well - which also had FOUR shots. Guess what? At nine months, kids only get one shot - but they also get blood drawn from their finger for the first time. Looks like I should've off-loaded this appointment in favor of the next one. DOH!

Connor received the A-OK for his health today, and Dr. R. said I was lucky he wasn't inspired to roll over yet because it just makes them harder to take care of. She also said that really happy contented babies often roll later than others. I guess she surmised from the giant mess Connor made of the paper on the exam table that he was happy and contented. And, note to physicians everywhere, putting a roll of paper near a six month old can be a fabulous distraction, and when moms have to wait over 30 minutes in an exam room void of toys, that paper can be pretty entertaing. I'm happy to say that Connor was able to punch a foot through, crumple up, and drool on a good amount today. You go, Connor!

Elaine

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

This is why I became a mom

Thankfully, whatever was bothering Connor yesterday was forgotten today. Connor seemed happy to see his nanny and when I got home - all signs were good. He even pooped today! Not sure if his good sleep last night or the poop is responsible for all the smiles he was dealing out, but I don't imagine either hurt.


Today Connor LAUGHED his belly laugh for me - over, and over, and over, and over. And I could hardly get enough of it so I called Mims and Pappy - but Pappy was busy golfing and Mims was keeping the legislators honest. So, we left a message of me eating Connor's hand and Connor laughing up a storm.

Next, we called Aunt Linda, and she too was busy doing something besides sitting on the edge of her seat waiting for us to call. So I continued to gobble Connor's hand and he continued laughing.


Then, just to show Daddy that he isn't the only guy who gets the big laughs, we called him - and at least he was able to answer his phone (thank you government, for giving Daddy a nice desk job!).



The laughs didn't stop until bedtime, at which point I laid Connor down and he fell asleep instantly. It was a long, fun day.

Thanks Connor - I needed this one.

Monday, February 13, 2006

I WANT MY MAMA!!!

Or at least that's what we think Connor was saying today when he cried long enough that his nanny called me at work. I rushed home, and as soon as I picked him up, everything was fine. That was really scary. Hope tomorrow goes better. If not, guess it's work from home for me for a while, until we figure out what's going on.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Happy Six Month Birthday

Dear Connor,

Today, you are 6 months old, which translates into 184 days outside my womb. It’s been quite a ride – and though there have ups and downs for both of us, I think it’s been a good one so far. The metro area celebrated your birthday by being blanketed in snow, which is somewhat unique for us. Daddy enjoyed the morning shoveling snow off the driveway. I had to peek out the door and remind him to uncover the satellite dish so that we could watch the Olympics later that day.
For 6 months now, we have started and ended all of our days together. Sometimes, I think about letting your dad give you a bottle before you go to sleep, but then I think about how nice it is to hold you in my arms as you drift near sleep. And hey, I like reading the books too. After all, when else do I get an excuse to say “1 dog Woof; 2 dogs Woof, Yap Yap; 3 dogs Woof, Yap Yap, nnn nnn nnn; 4 dogs …” Special thanks to author Sandra Boynton for this ritual.

You are now eating all sorts of things. Your total repertoire includes pears (your favorite), sweet potatoes, plums, peaches, banana, avocado, acorn squash, butternut squash, and cereal. You generally only gag yourself a few times when you wrestle the spoon away from me at night – and wow are you surprised every time. You have a cute little cup with two green handles that you can bring to your mouth, though I can’t say there’s been a successful unassisted water transfer at this point. You can drink if someone else steadies the cup for you. A couple of days ago, you whacked yourself in the head really hard with your cup and you really cried. Sorry about that, but you’re really fast and sometimes those jerky arms of yours get away from you.

NOTHING is off limits to your mouth. With expert skill you bring anything near your hands quickly to your mouth and turn on the drool fountain to test how sturdy the object at hand is. So far, those feet of your seem to hold up the best under this fairly intense water pressure. You no longer suck on Daddy’s finger, but you will quickly bring it to your mouth if you catch hold of it. And your grip is stunning. Other notables that have been in your mouth include cordless phone, the mail, my fingers (and you would probably enjoy my toes but I haven't let you get them close enough to your mouth to test them out because unlike your toes which are super yummy, mine are sort of icky).


Your pappy came to visit for the weekend and at times you were the best of friends. Most of those times were when I was peering at your from a distance because you are nothing if not a mama's boy. But I love that. Someday, you won't want to hang out with me all the time and I will try and remind you of how you had eyes only for me for quite some time, but you will probably be too cool. I, however, am sure I will always look forward to seeing you. I must say though, you even LAUGHED - with sound - for your pappy which is something you normally only do for daddy.



And Connor, I know everyone always says this about kids, but wow have you grown. When you came into this world, it was all you could do to reach your arms around my breast while you ate. Your fingertips could barely touch each other and you looked up at me as if you were holding on for dear life. Now, you can sling one arm around and use the other one to either give my boob a whack - as in “giddya up milk, it’s time to come out” – or whack yourself in the head. Not sure what this last move is about.

You love to play a game Daddy made up which we call “tent”. He puts you beneath a sheet and waves it around. You wave your arms and legs wildly and laugh from your belly at this – unless I’m doing it, in which case you smile the hugest, toothless smile ever – but your laughter is silent. You also like “1,2,3” which is a game I made up. Here, I put my hands where you can see them, count to three as I bring them closer, and then land on a piece of your body and name it. Feet are always funny.

You’re starting to be more tolerant of tummy time, almost seeming to catch the value of it. You even make little swimming motions that are allegedly the precursor to crawling, though I don’t expect that to happen any time soon. This month, you spent some time learning to roll over - but I have to say, you are one lazy little man. You will humor us by rolling from front to back when we play "over" with you, but you do not roll on your own initiative, and have yet to repeat the feat from two months ago of rolling from your back to your tummy. My friend, I will have to fess all of this up to the pediatrician on Thursday if you don't get crackin'.

You are quite an expressive guy these days. Sometimes, you talk on for quite some time. I sit back and am truly amazed at the thought of what must be going on inside that big head of yours. Someday, I hope you will tell me.

Your sleep is, well…not your strong suit. But, as I tell anyone who asks, what you lack in sleep you make up for in cuteness – and you’re ONE CUTE BABY!

Love,
Mom

Friday, February 10, 2006

Pizza Party!


Pappy came to town yesterday and Connor got to celebrate by eating pizza. Like father, like son. Actually, I can see the days of having my own food are just about over as Connor is happy to relieve me of anything on my plate that looks pretty good. In retrospect, giving him the pizza crust to gum last night was better than what I unintentionally gave him today. Let's just say if anyone sees paper come out Connor's behind - I don't know anything about it.

Today we tested Mims's camera out at the National Museum of the American Indian. I'm not sure Connor was very impressed with the museum, but I figure he might as well get used to hanging out in places like this with Pappy! He made it quite some time before we decided it was time to leave.

The bonus was we got to meet Daddy for lunch and share his water!

It's supposed to snow tonight, which meant that the grocery store was a nightmare. I don't often get stuck with that job, and I'm hoping I don't get stuck with it again for quite some time.

And, as you can see from tonight's final photo, Ed is trying to sucker Connor into thinking that the kitchen is a fun place. Take it from your mama, Connor, run...run...run. Wait, you can't even roll over yet, maybe you should just sit there and pretend to like it and run once you figure out how.

Sunday, February 5, 2006

Ready for next week


This weekend, we did lots of playing and laughing. Connor moved on to acorn squash and seemed to like it just fine. He's decided that I am his number one gal - and is allegedly happy to hang out with Ed when I'm not around. It's pretty cute from my point of view. Maybe he's hitting the stranger anxiety - Mommy attachment phase a bit on the early side. What a precocious little guy he is. But, lest Ed feel too bad, tonight Connor was sitting on my lap looking up at Ed with total adoration. After a while, I pointed it out to Ed who was watching the Super Bowl and he agreed it was definitely cute.

Tonight Connor went to bed at 9:15 instead of 8:00 because we were watching the Super Bowl at a friend's house. So far, so good. Connor is getting much better at sitting up and is much more keen on tummy time these days. Ed thinks he's going to take off crawling sometime in the near future, but I'm not holding my breath. It will be cute - but it will also probably point out how dangerous my home is. EEK!

But, I must point out, the most amazing thing is that Connor truly doesn't seem to mind the car these days. THis is an absolute miracle and I am very grateful for it. We don't take him in the car that often, but when we do, I don't even cringe at the thought and dread it.

He spent a bit time staring at his reflection in a metal bowl this weekend. He seemed enamored with the funny perspective.

Ed is busy killing swamp crickets in our basement. I guess that's the down side of having 60 degree days in February.

Elaine

Wednesday, February 1, 2006

He giveth, and he taketh...but at least I was well rested


I guess the 10 - 6 sleep was a bit of a fluke, because last night was not so hot. But, hopefully tonight he'll be back to enjoying sleep. Olimpia thinks Connor may be teething - and seeing how she's witnessed many children get their first teeth and I've witnessed no children, I'm inclined to think she might be onto something.


These photos are from about 8:30 tonight. Yes, Connor's bedtime is 8:00 - but he wasn't too interested in bed at that time. It's actually nice for me and Ed to get extra time to play with him - and it's not like he has anything to do in the morning.

And no, he's not actually crawling, Ed is holding him up. Did we trick you?

Elaine