Show me your toofers

One night last week, my normal 7-7:30 to bed baby stayed up until 10:30.  Not even joking.  I felt like we had our newborn back, except this time around he weighed much more and liked to crawl all over the place instead of sleep.  10:30 is still relatively early in terms of my bedtime, but grandma mama was not overly enthused about her new budding night owl.  Thankfully he finally went down, but then decided he wasn't completely done with the show and graced us with his presence several times in the middle of the night.

The reason behind the shenanigans?

The culprits ... these pearly whites ...

Ugh, teething.  Definitely near the bottom of the "Reasons Why I Love This Age" list.  G didn't pop his first tooth until right at 8 months.  He now has two on the bottom and one on the top.  I think he has two more on the top trying to come down simultaneously (yes, that is pure joy).  Since then, he has been drooling buckets and chewing on anything... including his crib.  It looks like a beaver took up residence, and while I know it's non-toxic, I still had to hit up A*mazon.com for some crib rail protectors.  I also looked up teething online to get an idea of what we had to look forward to.

Fortunately, we don't remember the pain as babies because it sure seems miserable.  Unfortunately, we pay the price for it as parents and definitely will always remember teething from now on.

And just like anything else, every mama swears by some different remedy to cure those teething blues.  And, of course, everyone wants to get in on the game and make some benjamins by targeting the poor, crazed mamas who are sleep deprived and on the verge of losing their marbles.

For mamas who want the medical, no fuss route, you've got your standard OTC orajel, motrin, etc.

For mamas who want the more organic route, you've got your all natural teething tablets and drops.

And let's not forget the water filled teething rings you can freeze, the specially made pacifiers JUST for teething, the toys that have all kinds of nubs, ridges, etc. for those sprouting little teeth...

It can be kind of overwhelming with so many choices out there.

My advice?  Stick to your guns.  Trust your instincts.  Try different things - if it doesn't work, try something else.

And?  Give lots of extra hugs and kisses.  That's my #1 go-to cure all.

Oh, and I'm also crossing my fingers that these sweet little teeth don't require braces down the line.

Baby Crack

Who knew cheerios could be so much fun?

G LOVES his cheerios.  He loves any "snack" food, really, that we give him, i.e. mum mums, puffs, yogurt melts, and cheerios.  We call them baby crack because he gets SO excited when he sees them and starts waving his arms and legs wildly while sitting in his high chair and will immediately start asking (cue loud baby yells) for a snack.

We definitely love our baby crack in this household.

Grammar Police

If you are anything like me, you love reading blogs.  If you are anything like me, it also annoys the $#@! out of you when you find certain grammar/spelling errors.  Yes, I realize that we are all human and that nobody is perfect (including myself).  Truth be told, I always re-read my posts once I "publish" them to do a quick check and look for any mistakes.  9 times out of 10, I find something and quickly go back and edit.

A friend of mine posted this on FB the other day and I got a good laugh.  Just call me the grammar police.

Click on the link, and for the love of all things holy, please try not to commit these egregious errors!  Okay, egregious may be a bit extreme.

Via

It takes someone special to be a dada

"Anyone can be a father but it takes someone special to be a dad."
-Anne Geddes

I came across this quote recently and thought it was perfect.  In our household, it isn't a dad, but a dada.

When we became pregnant (surprise!), I often wondered what R would be like as a father -- I had seen him interact with young children before, but I knew interacting and parenting were two very different things.

From the start, I knew that G had his dada wrapped around his tiny little finger.

These past ten months I have watched him grow into his "father" skin with ease.  While he has had to learn along the way, I am constantly reminded myself that we are all learning what it means to be a parent.  He has embraced this new role with so much joy -- I love watching the two of them together.

I will confess that I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do to celebrate this past Sunday but didn't actually throw it all together until late that afternoon.  R seemed very pleased, nonetheless, and probably wishes he had more than just ONE day that honors him (I reminded him of his birthday, so that makes two).  :)

Once R left to play cards and G was up from his afternoon nap, there was a mad scramble to buy R a gift and then proceed to Whole Foods to pick up flowers, dinner, and dessert.  We made it home just in time.

Thank goodness for Whole Foods being right up the road...

And no Father's Day dinner is complete without dessert!

Can you tell I had a hard time choosing?  I decided to go with a dessert sampler plate instead.

There were gifts...

and cards...

And everyone was happy...

The end.

Nine Months

It has become customary for me to chronicle G's monthly posts a bit late, but on the flip side, I get to fill you in on all of the exciting details and accomplishments from that particular month.

The nine month mark is always a big deal to us mamas because we now officially have a baby that has spent just as much time outside the womb, aka "baby house," as they did inside.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  We all know that by that dreaded ninth month in pregnancy we were SO ready to get that baby out.  Just thinking about that time (although honestly, I think I've blocked most of it out - isn't that how we are supposed to want more kids?) makes me uncomfortable.

Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE this age much more than the newborn days, but like anything else, there are some downsides too....

G refuses to lay still on his back while I change his diaper, and 99.9% of the time he flops and flails while I am attempting to change the stinkiest and nastiest poop of them all.  This usually prompts a quick bath, so you can't fault us for lack of cleanliness and hygiene in our house.

I have been using a few signs (as in sign language) with G, but he thus far has not signed anything back. Instead, he yells and grunts when he wants "more" or anything really.  He is very vocal.  Ha!  I guess it's his way of informing me of what he thinks about signing and he would just rather "talk."

He is always into EVERYTHING and he particularly enjoys things he is not supposed to have or touch, i.e. the entertainment system, laptop, any cord or breakable item, etc.

The upside though?

This boy.

He is funny and makes me laugh constantly.  He is also easy TO make laugh.  His preferred method of transportation these days is still the tried and true crawl, although he will pull up on anything and cruise along like nobody's business.

He has also developed a lovely (cringe) clingy phase right now and wants to be held often.  This is not easy to do when I am watching the sweet little 2 month old, but we are adjusting and learning to cope.

He has a pretty good and consistent daily routine that I *try* to stick to as best as possible.

He is still, thankfully, super easy to get to bed when he is ready.  He goes down between 7 and 7:30 at night, occasionally earlier and occasionally later.  He is up almost always at 7:00 in the morning, standing up in his crib with a big smile on his face.  He is also a great napper at home (wasn't so much at daycare) and takes 2-3 naps that range anywhere from 1-3 hours each.

He eats three meals a day, plus has 1-2 snack times.  Level 3 foods finally don't induce his gag reflex, so we are working on adding more texture to his meals.  Still rockin' the pureed foods, although he does greatly enjoy munchin' on puffs, yogurt melts, and mum mums.  If he sees them, he will give you the very successful, "Stare and holler," until you satisfy his desire (and appetite).  I swear that he eats non-stop, it seems, but at his 9 month well check he was only at the 50th percentile in weight.  He must burn those calories fast with his constant on-the-go activity.  Hmmmm... maybe he's on to something?  Hehe.

This month I tricked him (I know, bad mama) into eating AND enjoying those dreadful peas.  I found a great organic pouch mix of spinach, pears, and peas that took no convincing for him to chow down.  He also tried his first "table" food this past month - scrambled eggs and toast.  He didn't hate it but didn't beg for more.

He takes anywhere from 24-32 ounces of formula during the day.  R says he will be glad when he's not paying for formula anymore since G consumes, on average, a pouch of Enfamil a week.  Not so easy on the bank account, but we are in the final home stretch of our formula days.

He is still wearing size 3 diapers and a mix of 6-12 month and 12-18 month clothes, depending on the brand.

Nine Month Stats:
weight - 21 pounds - 50th%
height - 29 inches - 75th%
head circumference - 95th%+ (big head, big brain? ... or so we can hope)

Things he loves: sleeping with his paci and bunny blanket, playing with his daddy, giving hugs, pulling up and banging on anything, dumping his toys out of their containers, looking at animals, going for walks, watching older kids play, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" song

Things he does NOT love: being told "no," riding in the car longer than 20 minutes, eating peas, not getting his way (doesn't everyone hate that though?)

Dear G,

You are quickly becoming my little boy instead of my little baby.  In fact, I no longer sign cards to people with "Baby G," because I don't think of you that way.  Whenever we take care of Baby J, I always point him out as "baby" and have to remind myself that you are still, in fact, a baby.

This past month we braved through your worst sickness yet only to find out your fever had morphed into an ear infection.  Mama is so glad for antibiotics!  It was hectic to be at home with you and not at work, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

You still love crawling over to me just to pull yourself up, throw your arms tightly around me, and put your head on my shoulder.  I love that so much.    One of my hopes for you is that you are always a kind hearted, sweet boy.

Your dada and I have affectionately started calling you, "Little Bruiser," because you play HARD.  You have had your first couple of falls bonking your head, and even though they didn't leave actual bruises, I know they won't be the last.  Such is the life of a boy, I suppose.

I love you to the moon and back, my little man.

Love,
Mama

Things I Love Thursday

Lo and behold, I survived the end of school and lived to tell about it.  It was a frantic sprint to the finish line (hence my lack of posting), but everything was turned in, checked off, etc, and all of my tubs o' crap (as R likes to call them) were lugged home.  As the mountain of tubs grew higher, R would give me bewildered looks and ask me how many more I was bringing home - hehe.  I don't think he understands the amount of stuff (insert other word here) that teachers amass throughout their careers.

I only have a meager five years under my belt and I've only taught the same grade level, but I DO have an enormous horde.  Oh yeah, and the reason for bringing home this said enormous horde?  I am taking next year off!  Yep, just me and my sweet boy (and the cute little 2 month old I am taking care of - but that's for another post).

SO, in celebration of the year ahead at home with my main squeeze, let's do another, "Things I love Thursday," shall we?

1. iPlay swim diapers/swim trunks - Now that it's "officially" summer, we are starting to crash my parents' pool with more frequency in addition to the Saturday morning swim classes that we still attend.  The swim facility requires that all children in diapers wear TWO reusable swim diapers.  Why?  Disposable swim diapers really don't do a great job and become water logged more than anything.  Reusable swim diapers are not only better for the environment, but they do a much better job of keeping the pool free of yellow water and floating logs.  ;)

After doing my research, I went with the iPlay brand and LOVE them!  I bought a plain white swim diaper (snaps on the side make it incredibly easy to get off) and a cute pair of swim trunks with a built in diaper.  So, G wears the white swim diaper and then the swim trunks.  I thought it would be really bulky looking, but it's not any different from how a baby looks with a diaper and shorts.

The website where I have purchased all of G's swimwear can be found here.

2. Boon flair high chair - We finally graduated G from the Bumbo, where we have been doing all of his mealtime feedings, to a high chair.  Yes, we seriously lasted almost ten months in the Bumbo (with a tray of course), and can honestly say that it was well worth the cost.  When researching high chairs, I was torn between a space saver (seat that goes on your regular dining chair), a seat that clips on to the counter, or a stand alone chair.  Even though it's another piece of furniture essentially, I decided on the Boon because of its great reviews on Amazon and its modern look.  We just started using it yesterday but love it so far!  The best price I could find for it (plus free shipping!) was found on Babies"R"Us.

3. New laptop!!! - Okay, this one I am really loving!  I came home from work one evening last week to find a card for me sitting on the table "from" G.  In it, "G" told me that I was such a good mommy and to go look in the bathroom (kind of scary when you have a baby not knowing what you'll find in there.. hehe).  Inside was a big gift bag holding a new Mac Air laptop!!!  Eeeeeek!  It was so thoughtful and obviously well received.

Those are my top 3 "things" at the moment.  I'm also loving staying indoors with the babies and being completely oblivious to the record setting temps outside.  I'm also loving planning G's first birthday party (yes, I know it's still a couple of months away but a mama's got to start planning early!).

As I've said before, life is good.  :)

Wordless Wednesday