Wonder Boy

Just to clarify my last post. I wasn't being critical of my own photos, I'm bound to get a couple good ones with the sheer number I take. However, I would like to be able to take photos that 'talk' and say something besides, 'what a cute baby'.

Anyway, went to get our flu shots, Eddie and I did. I probably squirmed more than Eddie. He wasn't facing me, so I can't say for sure, but I don't think he even flinched. He didn't cry or fuss or anything--the nurse was sure surprised.

We're back in CIO hell. Trying to get Eddie to put himself to sleep. I've had a couple aborted attempts the last couple days. Every time I ask myself why I put myself through this when Dennis is away and then I tell myself that I should just get it over with. And we don't even really do CIO, but rather whine it out with mom standing over you. He's also still waking up too much at night. I just don't know what to do about this.

I know the strict CIO would say to do just that, let him cry himself back to sleep, but when he wakes with a full blown gusty cry, what's a mom who can't stand CIO to do? Last night it was at midnight and then I honestly don't remember the other times, except that we were both up at 5:30 this morning. Yipee.

At least I can now meet people for breakfast. I've talked to others and apparently just like adults, babies and kids sleep better some nights than others.

Dad's update:

Decided to try diced peaches on Eddie. He was all excited and then his expression changed to concentration, as he maneuvered the peach around in his mouth. I was holding my breath that he didn't choke and I was trying to figure out what to do with it. Just when I thought he'd mashed it, it came out. Undeterred, I tried another one. This one came shooting out of his mouth--literately like a little cannonball--pfooph. I laughed so hard and tried again. He ate a ton today for lunch, including a couple diced peaches.

Attached is a picture without the flash. It sure looks nicer--I just had to delete 80% of the pictures because of blurs. This was the only one that worked. I'm sure we'll have evening adventures to write about. Eddie is with Nina now, so I'm off to work.

Photos

I love taking pictures and I certainly take my share of photos. But I don't seem to be able to take the kind of photos I'd like, especially of Eddie. Photos where you look at the picture and its as if you see to the very depths of the soul of the subject. Eddie is an easy baby to photograph, but I wonder how much better the pictures would be if I could get a good photo.

I've got a book on taking photos of babies. It's main advice is to eliminate clutter (so maybe I need to buy a black sheet as a backdrop), get close to the baby and turn off the flash. Well, the last part is where I have the trouble. Our house gets almost no direct sunlight. We get occasional bits of good light early in the morning in the dining room and Eddie's bedroom, but it often falls in odd to difficult places.

I've got a tripod and a mini tripod, but often by the time I get those set up, the moment has passed, or Eddie isn't in the mood. Either Eddie or the camera has to be elevated and this poses logistical problems. Perhaps I just need to work harder at it.

I want to learn how to take photos with depth. Part of me wants one of these new SLR digital cameras, but they are expensive and bulky and we know how to use our current camera. I might try my good ole manual camera and see how the photos turn out.

Now I'm feeling like I've wasted 9 months of great photo ops when Eddie was just adorable (still is of course), but he's never going to be 6 months old again. Oh well, can't do anything about the past...

Travelin' Man

Eddie and I had our first solo plane trip today. It went better than expected--but he didn't sleep a wink. Well, I did get about 10 seconds out of him. He was singing like a canery from the moment we got on the plane until a little after takeoff (which was over an hour later because it was Atlanta and we had to wait in line). I'd assured those right next ot me that he would sleep once we took off--ha! Everyone was very kind about it and they smiled and flirted with Eddie. The woman next to me even held him a couple times for me. It was like he had ants in his pants, he just wouldn't hold still.

We were in the back of the plane and a line developed for the bathroom. Eddie flirted with each person who came by. Got to be pretty funny, a big smile for everyone.

Course tonight he was just as antsy. Took me 15 mintues to get a diaper and pj's on him. I actually had to put him on the floor and pin him down with one leg so he couldn't flip over. Happened this afternoon while I was changing a very *full* diaper. Guess it made getting to the business of things easier, but man, he was a moving target.

He's gotten crawling down pat and is now starting to try and pull himself up--see picture. The other picture is just home from the airport--he of course fell asleep in the car.

Gobble Gobble

We're in Atlanta for Thanksgiving. Eddie did great on the plane. I'm so nervous about the flight back tho' as I will be by myself for the first time with Eddie as Den will be continuing on to Florida--FOR A WEEK!

The first picture was taken on his nine-month birthday. If you look really close, you might be able to see his 2 front teeth on the bottom. The gray ball is at Aunt Lore's house. He really gets a kick out of it.

Yesterday I went with Aunt Lore' and G'ma Ohio on a marathon shopping trip. We were gone for 12 hours. I hadn't done that much shopping in a long time. G'ma Ohio and Aunt Lore' were good sports. That's also the longest I've been away from Eddie since he was born. And he was still alive when we got home. He, dad, g'pa Ohio and Uncle David watched college and GA high school football all day. He may be going through withdrawl today.

MONTHLY--Eddie at 9 months

NINE MONTHS!!! There is so much to write about on this one, so hang on!

At bath time, Eddie has a definite preference for the yellow rubber duckie. Den puts the green frog, multi-colored hippo and the duck in the tub with him, and every single time, he goes for the duck. Jams it into his mouth.

Loves books!! I set him on the floor of his room with toys and books and he always goes for the books. The same couple books too. Fascinating to think about what he must be processing. Seems almost to like looking at, chewing on, and going after the books more than being read to. But, he does enjoy a good read too.

Squeaky toys crack him up. Without fail. Other things that crack him up are: his mom's singing, mom and dad blowing their noses, someone imitating the noises he makes. His game repertoire includes 'the wheels on the bus', 'patty cake', and 'sooo BIG'. He's also learning that what he drops gets picked up.

At the risk of sounding like the naive first-time parent that I am, Eddie has a shoe fetish. He especially likes shoe laces. He'll take really any kind of shoe, but he seems to always go for mom's--possibly because dad's shoes aren't left out like hers are. He fakes you out because he plays with the shoe for a little while and so you think he won't put it in his mouth. But everything goes in his mouth. All of a sudden when you think it's all clear, he'll make his move and try to eat/suck on some part of the shoe. It is a continual battle to keep him from shoes that have walked in who knows what. I mean what do I do about when I'm *wearing* the shoes? Eddie also has a thing for Mom's hair. I don't know if it's other people's hair, but boy, he just likes to eat it and play with it.

He continues to enjoy the mirror. Definitely knows his name (but responds about 60% of the time). Knows when I tell him to let go of something (again, doesn't always respond) and he seems to recognize several other words. We're teaching him sign language -- although I need to be more consistent with that.

There has been a lot on the physical development front. As I said in the previous post, he has gotten himself to a sitting position several times. He is moving around lighting fast (mostly via a 'commando crawl' and speed roll) and as Dennis says, "to think we used to sit around waiting and watching for him to roll over". He rolls faster than I could if I'd sat on hot coals. He loves to get on all fours and rock back and forth. He sometimes makes a 'tripod', where he'll support himself with his arms and legs stretched out. He can also hang onto something while standing (with almost no support). We are in absolutely no rush for increased mobility, but it's exciting when one of us notices he is able to do something new.

The chicken pox are fading, but he has several deep indentations on his face. Apparently a baby's skin renews itself far more often than an adult's, so he does have a chance that they'll go away before too long.

We are trying to get him to eat chunkier solids--like cheerios. On Monday he fed himself one for the first time (previously it had been Mom and Dad trying to get him to eat them, or mixing them with his food). The mixing never seemed to work, as he was able to isolate the more solid food and spit it back out. Dennis has also been making him baby food with good success--cabbage, green beans, and acorn squash.

I'm finding one of the more difficult things is to not let him do the 'cute' things that in a very short period of time we don't want him doing at all. I'm trying to let him explore and play with what catches his eye (obviously no electrical cords or sharp objects), but I walk a fine line between making sure he doesn't think something is permitted, when soon it won't be.

We have our 9 month appointment in another 2 weeks, but at this point, he's over 21 pounds on our home scale and well over 28 inches, as he was that long a while ago. He pretty much can't fit into 9-month clothes anymore. We understand he's supposed to start slowing down the rate of growth pretty soon here, so we'll see how he fares on the charts.

Attached is a picture I took this morning--not in the kitchen--in our office. Our computer is still out of commission, so we're a little low on pictures at the moment.

A Day in the Life of Eddie

As Eddie and I go about our day, he does so many funny things that I think to write about. He is so easily entertained, its amazing. I've written in the past about how he watches traffic when we are out. Well today, we were standing at the window watching the school bus. I didn't realize how intently until the bus drove off. Then a car came by and he followed as it drove in front of our house. It was a little while before the next car came, but each time, he was looking in the same direction the last car had come from, waiting to see what would drive by next. I was amused. So I guess I too am easily amused.

Today he sat up in the playpen on his own. I didn't see it happen, but heard him making a lot of noise and when I looked over, he was sitting up. He had done this a couple times on Dennis in the crib (he puts Eddie there while he's drawing his bath).

Our computer's hard drive is being fixed, so pictures will be posted later.

Avent Bottles and Murphy's Law

Avent bottles are supposed to be these great bottles--great for reducing gas, etc. However, there is one complaint I consistently hear from users -- they leak. Both around the babe's mouth and out the bottle itself. Now that we're using bottles a lot more, the limitations of these bottles is becoming clearer. However now we are at the point where we are starting to transition Eddie to a sippy cup, so doesn't make sense to get a new brand of bottle. Which brings me to the Murphy's Law part of the post.

Eddie had a GREAT night last night. He went to sleep at 7pm and scarcely made a peep till 2:55. I got him a bottle, feeling pretty good after almost 6 hours of sleep, and while he was calming drinking it, I felt something wet on my shirt. I wondered if it was the bottle and as I whipped the bottle away, touched Eddie's clothes to find him soaked. I debated about whether to change his clothes--if I do it would surely wake him up more and if I didn't he might get chilled. I contemplated putting a washcloth down his shirt as a barrier, but then worried he'd pull it out. Long of the short, he was asleep and I had to change his outfit because it was so soaked—killed me. He fell asleep pretty quickly after that, but I wasn’t taking any chances and hung around a little while to make sure.

In other news, now I have a cold. So far it's not a bad one, but it could be. It seems like Eddie is a couple days behind me. I thought he was supposed to bring home and give us all the illnesses, not the other way around. Just when he was starting to sleep well.

Picture in the sleeper was taken last night. Then of course, Eddie with his feet up on his stove. I sure hope his dad teaches him to be as good of a cook as he is--helps land the women.

Field trip

It was almost 80 degrees today and windier than Chicago. I didn't realize exactly how warm it was outside or I wouldn't have brought my jacket and would have worn cooler clothes. But it felt GREAT. I will happily "endure" this weather in November. Well, aside from the wind, it was great weather for any day. Cooled off now about I think going into the 40s tonight (don't forget Dad's away, so we're a lil' mundane).

I decide that because it's so nice, I'm going to take Eddie for a walk and get carry-out from the Chinese place so I can have lunch AND dinner. I didn't remember that the Chinese place is all the way at the end of the strip mall furthest from us. I thought it was a mile walk, but it took 20-25 min. (stopping for pictures, of course). So, I'm inclined to think it's a little further.

Eddie did great. In the 1st and third photos, I'm trying to capture how windy it is, but Eddie's hair doesn't blow in the same manner as mine. The third photo kind of reminds me of that Memorex commercial from the 1980s. He just looked so laid back. In the second photo, that is food all over Eddie's face. He's decided he doesn't like having his face or hands cleaned--I wondered when that would happen. Today was not a day I felt like battling over that. He's clean now, in bed, but not for these close-ups. The last picture shows how mesmerized he is by the traffic flying by behind me. Usually he looks right at the camera. I can't get him to not look at the camera usually. He was practically hanging over the side of the stroller as we walked down Duke Street.

I've been reading that while feeding him, I'm supposed to let him have the spoon if he goes for it, so I've been doing this. They say repeatedly not to worry about the mess--clearly that is for Dennis-types. He was covered in Spininch tonight.

Oh and I almost forgot, he's apparently sat up twice in his crib. Dennis says he's laid him down and come back to find him sitting up. The first time it happened, I was right in the room, and kind of think I saw the end, where he was bouying himself up. But he hasn't tried it anywhere else--not even the playpen, which is where I'd expect him to try. I imagine all of a sudden one day he'll have it mastered.

My latest obsession is two-fold: Is Eddie eating a balanced diet and am I playing with him in all the right ways? That is, developmentally, am I providing him what he needs.

It's 8pm, time for bed. Gotta get caught up on sleep...

I will make it until Friday

Eddie and I had a really bad night last night. I am quite literately bleary eyed as I write this. Dad is in Santa Barbara and I'm thanking my lucky stars for the nanny so I can get some work done. I've been asked to take on a bit more at my job, so haven't had the time to post as much. Hopefully I'll get caught up and that will change.

Will amend this post with a picture of darling Eddie sometime.

These were taken Tuesday night. Eddie loves the stove (no it doesn't get hot to the touch when on, so we don't have to worry about that). Looking at his reflection in the stove is like looking at a fun house mirror for him, I think. He's in my favorite shirt.

Same old, same old

Very nice to write the above title. We have nothing exciting going on. Dennis is giving Eddie a bath. He leaves for Santa Barbara on Tue. and will be gone til Friday.

I've been wondering recently, how can they fit more pockets on infants clothes than they can on a grown woman's? I know the real answer is that on the woman it affects the 'lines' of the clothes, but really. It's not like he is going to put his hands in his pants pockets, or store his wallet and keys. For the record in many cases, Eddie's pants pockets are larger than the pockets I have on my pants--when I ever have pants pockets. Maybe I should put my wallet and keys in his pockets? Just one of those things that I wonder about.

We've been furniture shopping all weekend. Eddie needs a dresser. Dennis doth protest greatly when we started, but now that he's seeing how much variation there is within a similar price range, I think he's glad we're looking at all these options. I have yet to find the one piece that speaks to me, although I think we're zeroing in, but I'd love something that used low VOC finishes, glues, and sustainability harvested woods. I think I'm asking a bit too much, but we might be getting close.

The above picture was taken while Dennis was out of town. He bought the shirt on one of his trips to UT earlier this fall. I know I'm getting tired of the photos in the high chair, but when I'm alone it's a good place without much clutter, he holds still, and it's an easy photo to snap.

Einey, Meeney, Miney, Moe, Which Snowsuit has to go?

Before I forget, I posted today something on the 6th, and then another one for today for traveling man...

Most people who know anything about me know that I love to shop. My m-in-law recently asked if anyone else in my family liked to shop. To wit I replied that I was a one and only. Well, there is Aunt Lisa, but she's by marriage--and she could out shop me in a second. But I digress. Dennis considers it a major benefit of being married to me that I do just about all the shopping except gifts he buys me and grocery shopping (I don't pay enough attention to coupons and he considers it a challenge).

The other day, while g'ma and g'pa Wisconsin were here, I was shopping (okay, well I shopped every day they were here). I found a pair of bib overall snowpants at a consignment store. I then found myself at TJMaxx where I found a whole snowsuit--overalls and jacket, so I bought that too. It was a little large, but as I stood looking at the snowsuit, I grew concerned the snowpants I'd just bought at the consignment store wouldn't fit through the whole winter.

I got home and showed them both to Dennis. He voted for the snowsuit. I wondered what we'd do about Eddie's hands and feet in the snow, but figured we'd deal somehow. Then I went to Babies R Us (not planning to shop for snowsuits) and found exactly what I thought I had been looking for. An adorable all in one jumpsuit snowsuit. It came with mittens and little booties that were water proof/resistent. I even had them go to the back to get a size 12M for Eddie. It looked a little small, but I decided to go for it because the 18 month looked too big.

Now, with 3 snowsuits, I decide to ask the experts--g'ma and g'pa Wisc. And would you know g'ma Wisc. voted for the TJMaxx one, saying it was more versitile. I decided to try the jumpsuit on, just to see and it was too small! So, I guess it's going back.

The picture above is of Eddi'e new shoes. When I returned the snowpants to the consignment store, I decdied to bite the bullet and buy a pair of Robeez --which the store sells, along with several other items, brand new (I received store credit for the snowpants). Robeez (and Bobux shoes too) are a hip shoe for babies that is actually less expensive than most of the baby shoes out there. They have a million different designs--it's been difficult to chose. Eddie's obviously not walking yet, but they are so darn cute---and my excuse is that they will keep his feet warm. I'd been looking for a solid month. These have airplanes on them.

Where in the World is Daddy?

This week finds daddy in Salt Lake City, or there abouts. Actually it's a quick trip--just two nights. Tonight Eddie ate his weight in rice. I'm not kidding. He ate more than I could in one sitting. Well technically he was eating so quickly, I made him stop and take a 5 min. break to make sure he really was hungry, and not just opening his mouth to get the spoon onto his aching gums.

This, after he ate for lunch, a jar of #2 carrots (that's a larger jar), 2 ice cubes of cabbage (usually he can do one and some rice), and a serving of prunes. Is there an 8 month or 9 month growth spurt? He weighed in today at over 21 pounds, and I think about 28 inches, but he was a little wiggly for the length.

I got really spoiled by all the grandparental attention on Eddie, and so this evening, after we dropped dad at METRO, I was thinking how I went from 4 on Eddie to one on Eddie. So, I put in a Baby Einstein DVD--not that it can replace g'parents, but it can distract for a brief period. He was mesmerized--for about 8 minutes. He really enjoyed the parts where there were kids and smiled at them. I need to get him more interaction with kids--now that we're healthy....

It's a lil' blurry, but the above is of Eddie watching the video. Our friend Lisa, www.lisaguernsey.com has done some research, written several articles and is interested in the effects of TV on kids. At least I can feel good that Eddie made it till 8 months before I popped a video in for him (if you don't count the 2 minutes I put the video in when he was 4 months because I was curious what it was all about). Course he has logged some time watching golf, football, and baseball with dad.

The other photo, is just usual hammin' it up Eddie.

G'ma and G'pa Wisc. Part deux

G'ma and g'pa Wisc. arrived safely back from their sojourn to Baltimore on Thursday afternoon (they had arrived on the 29th and left on Nov. 1 for a trip to Baltimore) . They then proceeded to log some quality babysitting time with Eddie that very afternoon/night while I worked. I was able to run errands AND get work done over the next couple days. Dennis and I had a date morning on Saturday of running errands, capped off by a date night to see Gwen Stefani and the Black Eyed Peas on Sat. night. We of course did gardening, as we always do when they visit.

Then last night, they took the night shift. Course Eddie slept better than he had been for us, and we were sure appreciative of the good night's sleep.

Between all the grandparents we've had lately, I've really gotten spoiled. Now when are they going to buy that condo together in the DC area?

I found I didn't get that many pictures of g'ma and g'pa with Eddie because when they were with him, I was running errands or otherwise engaged, but here are a couple.

Why Cut One Tooth When You Can Cut Two?

Eddie has been sleeping poorly the last several nights--this time because he is cutting a tooth--or so we thought. Today, our nanny, Nina asked if I knew he was cutting teeth. I proudly said that I did. She then said, 'No, no, I think he's cutting *two* teeth'. 'Really?" So we spent the next couple minutes trying to get him to let us stick a finger in his mouth or pry it open far enough to see. I finally got a finger in long enough to determine that yes, he is cutting two teeth at once.

Technically one tooth is just a little further out than the other. They have both broken the surface. This would explain why he's been sleeping so poorly and had a waterfall of drool coming from his mouth. I've actually seen kids drool worse, but for Eddie, its a lot.

And, Eddie is crawling--real crawling. Not in the traditional on all fours crawl--although he can now stay for prolonged periods of time on all fours, rocking back and forth, teasing us--but he crawls kind of like a marine under razor wire. He is definitely moving around. You place a toy within his viewshed and he gets himself over to the toy pretty quickly.

He's also expanded his palette and his parents have gotten more bold with feeding their own food (when it happens to be mushy). He had refried beans when we went out to dinner and applesauce from mom's dish. We've also started making him more blender baby food--cabbage, green beans (from our garden), and corn.

The above picture is from our walk (4+ miles) with g'ma and g'pa Wisc.

Four Posts In One Day (goes back to Oct. 29)

In person, Eddie is looking more and more like the baby pictures of his dad. Sometimes I see bits of my siblings or my father in him, but mostly Dennis. I'll try and remember to post a picture of Dennis as a child and Eddie as a child and you can see for yourself.

Chicken pox. He still has lots of spots, albeit a fraction of what he had before. The scabs are still around, although far fewer in number. Sometimes when they come off, they leave indentations, which I suppose is what causes the scars. The doctor thinks he should be okay on the scars, but we'll see.

Was a nice day today, so decided to take Eddie for a walk and to Dennis' office to be shown off. As we waited to cross the street, and the cars whizzed by, Eddie's little head followed as each car passed. First all the cars from the left. Then, when the light changed, all the cars from the right. His head would follow each car and then flip back to watch the next car go by. There must have been 20 cars that he watched in this way. It cracked me up.

On the platform at METRO, I figured the train would be even more entertaining, but I think he was a little unsure of his surroundings and it was going a wee bit faster. He wasn't really smiling at anyone on the METRO--seemed a little overwhelmed. But that sure changed once we got to the office. Lina got him warmed up for the rest of the building, as we took him around to everyone, even VP row, he was all smiles and giggly. He really had some people in histerics, and he wasn't even at his best as he'd had a funky day, schedule-wise.

Oh, and the other big news, Eddie is cutting a tooth. He has been giving his gumming toys a workout, and then began on my hand today. I thought he was getting me with an unusally rough nail, but then realized it was a tooth! Not like we can see it, he clamps his mouth down tighter than Fort Knox when we try and get a peek.