Our Little Scooter!

Barely, but it’s official, we have a Scooter! He has figured out how to get forward by pushing himself with his feet and pulling with his arms. Oh he doesn’t get far and he still gets very frustrated but he can finally get to those toys (and mommy’s slippers) that are just out of reach! He did it for the first time this week when we were over at his Grandma’s house (my mom) and it was too funny. As she watches him thinking it is no big deal, like we are used to it, Andy and I freaked! Both jaws dropped and we looked at each other and got this “Oh no but oh boy” look in our eyes. Here we go!

He is pulling himself up to all fours, knees and hands, but then he pushes up onto his feet. So we aren’t quite crawling, but it will be literally any day now! Like I expect him to up himself into that position and just take off!

It wears him out though big time. He is still napping 3 times a day! Poor thing, he gets so tired after a little while playing on the floor, but he still has that excess energy so he gets to kicking and flapping his arms a lot, especially when he’s trying to fall asleep. But then he’s out like a light for about an hour each time. And still sleeping a good 10 hours a night. He does wake to nurse, some nights every 2 hours some nights only twice, but I don’t count that because neither one of really wakes up too much for it!

The other tooth is also finally through! Just this afternoon after his second nap I felt the sharp little bumps of it. So relieved about it too because I know it had been really bothering him, especially yesterday and this morning. Now it just has to grow in. Which I am sure contributes to the sleepiness and slight crankiness he has.

He really is such a good baby – ask any grandma he has! Yeah, cause they’re really objective! But seriously, he is. He loves to play and explore his toys and any shoes that may be left on the floor. He only really cries when he’s tired or in pain.

Today I was sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor and whatever tool of cleaning I had in my hand was the most fascinating thing to him. He was in his exersaucer in the kitchen with me playing and watching and he’d reach his hands up for the handle of the broom or mop like he thought he could get it even when it was entirely too far away! Too cute as usual! I told Andy he was trying to help me clean. Oh do not worry son, as soon as you are old enough to stand, you’ll be able to help Mommy clean! That’s one thing that will be really important to me from as early an age as possible, teaching him how to pickup and clean up. Never too early to start I say! Of course I also teach him how to cook right now so that’s another skill he’ll have!

One of my favorite recent pics of Andrew!

Andrew with Maria

OK so it took me a little longer than I thought it would to get it all up, but here it is. It's Andrew a bit before he turned 5 months old over at our friends' home playing with Maria. This is his first time on a rocking horse. I think he likes it! And he likes his new little baby friend too! That is Joseph, Maria's baby, he was 3 months old here.

New Favorite Game

Andrew’s got a new game he plays! I’m not sure what to call this one. I put him on our floor, no pants no socks so he gets better traction, and scatter about some smaller toys and his basket, and he tries to get them all. He spins himself around and slides them across the floor or pushes them just out of reach and tries so hard to get to them! He is still just going backwards! He pushes up on his arms and up on his feet though and looks like he’s going to go forward but then just slides back! Oh and he gets so frustrated! But I really think it’s fun. If we pick him up, he stares at the floor and his toys and tries to get back down there out of our arms so we let him get frustrated for a bit. We often give in and push him to his toys or push them back to him after several minutes of frustration. It’s hard for us to hold out but we do try because it is important to give him the motivation he needs to get going!

I swear he’s going to get up and crawl any second.

But I also thought that tooth was popping through in a day or two and it is still just hanging out right below the gums. At least it seems to be bothering him less. Not that we go to bed without a dose of teething tabs – but he does make it through the whole day without any medicating. He’s such a tough little guy! Well, big guy!

Right now he’s on the floor and has pushed all his toys away and is scooting farther and farther back away from them. Why won’t he realize that turning around and scooting back will get him to them? Babies are so funny! I just sit here and watch him play! It’s the cutest when he pushes up on his hands and feet! His arms are getting stronger every day. We are trying to get it on video, but you know how that goes, all action stops when the cam comes out!

Just now I stopped to nurse him because he was acting hungry and as soon as he was done he sat up (assisted) and started looking to the floor and reaching down! So I have to put him down there with his toys. I swear he likes it better than his exersaucer (nicknamed the Pooper-saucer because it seems to have that affect on him)!

His favorite toy right now is still his bowls. But he also really likes theses little duckies my mom gave him for the most recent holidays. They are supposed to be for the bath but he likes to chew on them so we have them for him everywhere. One game we play is I take all the duckies in the living room and put them in his bowl and then he bats at it and they go flying out! Fun times!

Andrew’s latest sound is a squeal! It is so cute and so much fun to know he’s happy by this loud high pitched squeal, but Daddy and I have a little bit to get over when it comes to doing it in public. We don’t like to attract too much attention to ourselves and Andrew likes to see to it that we do! Not just with his noisemaking but he’s so gosh darn cute that people stop and comment on him. It is forcing Andy and I over a bit of our shyness!

I have another video I’ll be putting up today or tomorrow so keep a lookout!

Andrew's 5 month old Birthday

Andrew's Meema took us out to lunch on his 5 month old birthday. Here he is being a big boy sitting at the table with us in his Bumbo!

All Over the Place!

I don’t know that he’s completely figured out that he is rolling and getting somewhere but just this morning he started to roll over and over to get to what he wanted. He used to just roll from front to back. Then he learned to roll back to front, so I put him down on his back more often to practice. Then he seemed to stop rolling back to his back again. I actually worried for about a second! I know I know, can’t help it. But today he rolled all the way over, got across his blanket and to the toy he was eyeballing. Oh no – can’t turn our backs anymore I guess! Next stop, crawling!
He can almost sit on his own, too! We practice everyday for a little while and last night he was really sitting on the bed well without being held up. If his back is even just slightly supported he can sit without falling for a long time.
He even sat in a high chair for the first time yesterday! We went to Chuck E Cheese to meet some other parents from the area and forgot his Bumbo, so we decided it must be time to try the high chair and see how he did. Well, he did awesome!

As you can see. So today I am setting up his little high chair at our table. He used to sit in his Bumbo there but now it will stay in the bathroom.
Still not time for solids yet but he can play with bowls and eat frozen breast milk at the table with us during dinner time!
I am really hoping to get a sewing machine soon. I have so many projects and things I’d like to try for Andrew. I can make him clothes with some super easy patterns and cloth diapers and covers and all kinds of things. If anyone knows anything about sewing machines and what is good to look for when getting one let me know please!
His second tooth has yet to break through but I swear today I see a white space where it looks like it is right there! So close. It’s been bulging for a while now and he’s been a little extra cranky today. Nothing bad of course, he’s so good, just seeming uncomfortable. We gave him an afternoon dose of Hylands to help ease his discomfort and he fell asleep! He still sleeps so much! Takes 2-3 naps a day. Andy and I were both not good nappers as kids according to our parents so it’ll be interesting to see if he grows out of this or if he is just a good sleeper!
We are still adjusting to our loss. It has been a rough 2 weeks for sure. Tyler was a huge part of our family and a big part of our day every day! It still feels like something is missing. I know it just takes time, days put together with him not in them to make them seem like normal days again, but it is still hard. Andy and I talk about him every day. Something we miss that he used to do or just general missing him.
Andrew and our favorite thing to do right now is play outside! The weather has been nice more often than not so we’ve been going out on our front ‘lawn’ area with just a blanket and hanging out! It’s so fun to watch him pull the blanket up to get at the grass underneath. No need for toys out there – nature makes the best toys! I take him for walks on nice days too. Carrying him in the sling facing outwards so he can see, we’ll go and look and touch things like trees and bushes and watch the birds flying around. I love these days of nice weather we get here in Texas before the onslaught of the 100 degrees! I want to take full advantage of every single one.
I am planning to delay Andrew starting solids a little longer. I know he will be ready when he is 6 months old but a part of me still feels like it is too soon. Like once you start that you can’t go back. Of course once he starts it doesn’t mean he has to do it every day! He still has the tongue thrust reflex big time so I know he isn’t physically ready but he has such a healthy curiosity I know he’ll have fun with it. Reducing the risks of food allergies is the concern. There’s no food allergies in our families but you can never be too careful. I know part of me just doesn’t want my baby to grow up just yet. But I also know the longer I delay him starting the ultimately better it is for him. I am sure sometime in his 7th month when he is 6 months old, he will get his first table food. But I am not rushing to start it on his 6 month birthday or anything!
Speaking of table foods, the new question is what is allowed during the first year of food experimenting and what should we start with! So many foods are still dangerous during the first year, even eggs they now say to wait until 2 years! For the rest of his first year I am sticking to a very strict diet consisting only of select fruits and vegetables and chicken and beans. During his second year before he turns 2 years old, we will still be pretty strict in what is allowed. It is so important now that we have the knowledge of how the digestive system develops to introduce foods slowly to the new system and allow it time to fully develop before introducing certain things to really fully prevent allergies and tummy aches!
I am already thinking about his first birthday party! Can’t help it. I know I want to keep it simple and have people bring only small gifts like books and maybe even book donations for our library. Not sure yet. If anyone has any suggestions please email me.
I think we want to stay here in this apartment for one more year if they’ll have us! It is too much for us to move all of this junk only one short year after already moving it! Plus it’s about doubled. No matter how much we get rid of we always have more! No rush to leave for us. This place is nice, cheap, comfortable and we are happy here. It’d be nice to rent a house but we need to wait until we are making a little more money first.
Andrew is about the best sweetest baby any 2 people could ask for. I wonder every day what I did so good in my life to deserve such a wonderful family. I am truly blessed and very grateful for what I have!

Picnic pics!

I have so much to tell you and not enough time tonight but there will be an update about the lives in the Goin household soon!
In the meantime, here's a link to the latest pics added to the webalbum. We love to take Andrew out on the grass in front of our apartment every single day that is nice enough!

What a Lucky Day!

Cosmically speaking that is. This whole year being 07 is luck but to have a day with 03 as the month and 07 as the day is extra lucky! Hope everyone has a wonderful day.
We have a little scooter around here. Backwards! His arms aren’t quite strong enough to hold him up but he can push himself backwards and boy does he! I put him on the floor and put some toys just out of reach and watch him figure it out. We are so proud of him! He tries so hard!
He can spin himself around on his belly and roll from back to front now as well as front to back. Though I haven’t seen him do a complete roll yet and I don’t think he quite realizes that this mean he can get somewhere! I know he’ll figure it out soon.
It is so cute to watching him get frustrated trying to get the toy in front of him and not being able to work that out. I have no doubt all this practice and exercise will have him crawling in no time and I will be scrambling!
We still miss our big fat cat around here. It has been a rough week for sure. We are so incredibly grateful to have Andrew as a source of happiness and distraction.
The tooth is almost completely in I think and I can’t tell if more are on the way. I thought for sure last weekend they were. He seemed in pain and upset so we got him some teething tablets that are a natural pain reliever. But the last day or two it hasn’t seemed to bother him so maybe we are done for a while. We shall see I suppose. Everyday is different!
Well, he’s on the floor right now trying to get to his elephant and scooting farther and farther a way from it and getting frustrated so I am going to see if I can show him how to get over there!

Remember to check the photo album! The new month is up!

Sad News

Those of you who follow our blog here will remember that before the baby came along we had another baby. Well, four kind of, but the real baby in our lives was our fat cat Tyler. Yes, I said was. Yesterday at around 1pm, Tyler passed from this life. We were with him during his passing and it seemed painless, for him at least, though for us the pain still runs deep.

He was much more than just a pet to us. He was a dear friend to Andy and a baby to me.

He lived to be 14 years old and for a cat that is quite a long time. Especially with his weight and breathing problems. We believe his poor old tired body finally gave out.

We are so heartbroken here.

Andrew was so good yesterday while Mommy and Daddy cried over Tyler. He sat with us and watched.

We buried Tyler ourselves with help of Meema in a special place, (Thanks Grandmother,) so we always know where he is.

Some of you may remember the video we made of him last summer. I am so glad we did! It highlights some of his favorite things and catches him doing some of the things he did most.

He also slept with us every night. Before the baby he slept between us and after he slept either on the other side of Andy or between Andy’s legs. Until in the morning when Andrew and I would get up, then Tyler after having some breakfast would always go back to bed and cuddle right up next to Andy.

Andy had him for a very long time, some of that time was just the 2 of them. They were very close and this will be a hard time for Andy especially. Please keep him and our whole family in your thoughts and prayers. We have lost a member of our family.






















































To loosely quote a good friend of ours, Tyler's awesomeness will be greatly missed. We love you Tyler, you live in our hearts forever!

We Have a...

TOOTH! OMG. I so did not expect this to happen so early. Things grow and change so fast in the first year for sure.

It’s not like he’s ready to bite or chew on food just yet, but for the last week I’ve been swearing to Andy that I can see a white mound around his bottom front tooth. Like something is trying to push through, though I was not exactly sure what it would look like and what to look for! Then yesterday, 4 days before Andrew turns 5 months old, Andy yelled to me while I was in the kitchen that he felt something in there. So I came and had Andrew chew my finger too and low and behold, it hurt! He can bite hard anyway but this was like a needle poking me. I gave him some frozen things to chew on and he gnawed away at those. Then later on in his tub I checked it out. The tub is the best place because he can be distracted enough to let me hold his bottom lip down while looking in there from the top as he lays on my lap and he won’t try and cover it with his tongue. It still takes several tries but both Andy and I got to see it. It’s like a little clear piece of plastic pushing between his gum tissue. Oh and we got so excited!!

Sure part of me is sad that my baby is growing up so fast but the biggest part of me is thrilled! Think of how cute his smiling baby pictures will be with that little tooth! And who knows maybe he’ll get the one next to it next and then he’ll have a little cabbage patch smile.

His dexterity is also improving greatly. He reaches with his hands and grabs things so much better. He still likes his Kick and Play in his bouncy and his play gym and what he does now is hold his hand out to the toys and seem to examine his hand along with them, kind of spinning it and looking at it while it is touching the toys. I have also caught him using his pincers a couple of times! This is huge to show readiness for food. I have a feeling that he will surely be ready by six months.

He is already trying to sit up. I have him exercising his torso muscles regularly. When he tries to pull himself up to sitting like when he is done nursing, I don’t just immediately sit him up, I let him work at it for a bit. Then, I just kind of help his to sit himself up. He can also sit on his own for several moments now. But he doesn’t seem to understand that that is what he is doing. Like he just falls forward to reach for something! Too cute of course!

To prepare him for meal times, we are trying to get him used to sitting with us at the table for dinner. He does it in restaurants fairly well if our timing is right and he isn’t too tired. But now at home we have his bumbo in a chair at our dining room table and we will all be eating our dinner there together. I think I have finally worked out the best time to cook supper around here to get it before he starts getting too sleepy and needs his bath and bed time.

His toes are finally making it into his mouth! Not always, he is still turning his hand on those and putting his fingers in his mouth first, though he doesn’t do that with familiar toys only new things. So it is just a matter of time before his toes will be a constant in his mouth like his fingers I am sure! He started by grabbing his socks and pulling those nearly off to get them to his mouth, and now he does it barefoot too.

Speaking of baby feet… I still call him monkey feet. From the moment he was born he was gripping with his toes and now instead of decreasing that behavior, he has gotten better at it! He grabs at toys with his feet and holds them between his feet with a grip so tight, I can lift him up and carry him to another room and set him down without him dropping said toy. His hands still get flailed around some and he likes to bang things with them so toys are more often dropped.

Still rolling from tummy to back only though I put him on his back a lot more now too to try and encourager the other. And he is reaching around and getting to his side and very close to that roll. I am not looking forward to him rolling around here on the floor here. With four cats it is impossible to keep the cat hair off the floor and I do not want him to help me clean it up by rolling it onto all of his clothes. I do however accept this as an inevitability and know there is not much I can do except to try and clean the floor more often! Which I am sure seeing him roll on it will motivate me to do every single day!

Speaking of cats, he loves them! They do not quite know what to think of him still. My old cat Raven is about to get kicked out the house for being loud and obnoxious but that’s nothing new, and he is the one who likes to rub up on everybody for petting, baby included! He’ll take his rubbing anywhere he can get it. Andrew hasn’t quite mastered petting yet though and does a lot of banging and grabbing handfuls of fur and just cat back. It is so funny! We’ve gotten some of these encounters on video so we will post them someday. I have a couple of small videos I’d like to get up soon also. We’re working on it.

I love all the new things Andrew does but of course I have a few favorites. Mostly, he has recently started cuddling with me at night. When he’s on his back, he’ll pull his feet up and let them fall over onto me and leave them there. He also scoots his head over to be next to me, right up against or using me almost as a pillow. If he’s on his tummy, he likes to lift his head up and put it over onto me or up next to me. It is so awesome to wake in the morning to a couple of baby feet on your belly! What a great way to start a day let me tell you!