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!
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 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! | |
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!
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!
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| From Baby 5th Month |
As I have said so many times it seems one or more of these new things pops up everyday. I guess it is not quite EVERY day but the new things he starts he gets better and better at every day for sure.
In the last post I forgot to mention that he’s been touching faces. Not just mine and Daddy’s but he is starting to touch other people’s faces too. He really likes my mom’s face I think because she wears glasses and they are pretty. She’s already training him to not grab the glasses but to look!
He stomps his feet when standing, especially his right foot. I think he just gets excited and it’s like when he kicks while laying down on his back!
He’s grabbing his feet when he is on his back now too. Just started this a couple of days ago and now that he’s found them he doesn’t want to let go, even when mommy is trying to change a diaper! They aren’t going into his mouth just yet but I am quite sure they will, everything else does!
He is practicing sitting on his own! I stick him in front of his boppy pillow and he can actually balance himself for quite a while unless he sees something to reach for! Most often he rolls on to his back to grab his toes! It really is nice that he can entertain himself for some time with no toys whatsoever!
His humming has decreased, sadly and with no mention of “mama,” but he’s picking up new noises still. And they seem to vary day to day. He still does his “Gggggg” some and is still humming a small bit, I think he does it when he is hungry, maybe he’s trying to say “milk!” But he is also doing some good A sounds, “Ahhhh,” “Aaaaaa,” and “Ah-aa-ah-aa-aa-aa.” Still doing his high pitched squeal when very excited and that one is usually reserved for when he is standing and especially when he is looking at his daddy!
I think he tries to wake Daddy up already. We’ve talked about how someday when Daddy lays on the couch to “think” that Andrew will come running and jump on him. Well, fortunately Andy can sleep through baby noises most times because right now Andrew will sit or stand on my lap and look over at his sleeping Daddy and just squeal and holler, and I swear he’s trying to get his attention. The other night Andy half woke up, he doesn’t even remember this, and he looked at Andrew and smiled. Well, that just fueled the fire and Andrew was squealing and calling for him even more!
Still growing! Thankfully his Aunt Sandi gave us his cousin’s old clothes that are size 12 month mostly because that seems to be what fits him best, especially when he is in cloth diapers. Today he is wearing a 6 month size and it actually fits, snuggly, most of his 6 months things are ready to be put away, but he is wearing a plastic diaper because all his covers are in the washer.
He started crying at his Grandpa, Andy’s dad! I think it may have just been circumstantial, but it was funny, cute and sad all at the same time. He used to laugh at Grandpa but Grandpa has always come here. The last two days we were at a funeral for Andrew’s Great-Grandmother Binford and there were a lot of people there and he isn’t around big crowds like that often, Wal-Mart doesn’t count, and whenever his Grandpa tried to talk to him, he would break out in screaming cries! Poor Grandpa was a bit heartbroken. Hopefully he’ll try to visit us here before he has to go back out to work so he can see Andrew smile in his own home! Grandpa wasn’t the only person he cried at but he was the only person he cried at every time!
2 days ago Andy and I were getting dressed in the bedroom and I'd put Andrew on the floor on his tummy to play. When I looked down at him I noticed he had pushed up on his hands and straightened out his arms! I've never seen him do that before but ever since then he's done it every time he is on his tummy! He's so strong! Getting ready to crawl maybe?He’s started giving me hugs and kisses. This is of course my favorite new thing! I will hold him up to me and hug him and tell him I am hugging him and sometimes he will wrap his arms around my neck and squeeze back. I always thank him for my hugs and I usually can get one or more a day! He also will plant big old slobbery open mouth tongue kisses all over my face. Daddy doesn’t get them as often as Mommy just yet but I am sure the time will come when everyone will get their fill of Andrew kisses! Except Mommy, who could never get enough! :D
Another new thing is he is rubbing his eyes when sleepy. He’s been doing this for a little while now but it is becoming my biggest clue that it is time to start settling him down. We still put him to sleep in his bouncy seat more often than not. I am sure he has outgrown the weight limit on it since his butt hits the ground now! But he still loves it so what are we to do. Just because he is the size and weight of some one year olds, he is still only 4 and a half months old and needs to be treated like a baby!
