Temper, temper, temper

So Will barely made it out of the school parking lot last night before he fell fast asleep...we let him sleep till just after six before we woke him to eat dinner. He was so so sleepy and none to thrilled that we woke him up. Upon placing him in his highchair we witnessed what can only be described as his first temper tantrum. He went crazy! Did not want to sit in the highchair which he usually loves....once I picked him up - he was fine so he ate dinner sitting on my lap...not sure who got more sweet potatoes - his stomach or my shirt....but the huge tears stopped and he calmed down enough to eat - fun times!

What’s new this week? Well….we have tooth #2 coming in – so far we have had no adverse reactions which is nice…Will’s menu has now expanded to rice cereal, barley cereal, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes, peas and peaches ….and we figured out that he LOVES his Red Sox book – as much as we would like to think he is already a die hard fan we think that it’s due in part to the bright colors on the cover.



Chris helped me get apples and zucchini made this weekend and I also made squash and avocados – so far Will really LOVES the sweet potatoes and even though the peaches cause him to make some very funny faces he seems to love them also. The cereal is still a big hit and mixing the barley and rice options seem to go over best – once we finish with those we are going to graduate to the multi grain cereal. We re-tried peas and he was OK with them this time – no full body shudders and he even ate a lot of them by themselves – not mixed with sweet potatoes or cereal – which was huge. What has really surprised me is how easy making his food has been. When I was pregnant I got some books about making my own baby food and I would get the occasional comment from friends that I really wouldn’t have time – I figured I would wait and see and so far it’s been a success which makes me really happy. It's really clear with certain "baby things" that some advice can really apply while other information just doesn't fit at all....I believe that it all depends on how you prioritize things in your lifestyle. For me I guess it helps that Will loves either playing on the floor or sitting in his high chair while I’m busy chopping and steaming but I would say at most I have about 4 hours tied up in all the food we have made thus far. Chris got in on the action this weekend – cutting apples and then helping me peal the skins off after we steamed them – he did great and was a big help. Putting the food into the ice cube trays and then popping out the cubes into labeled zip locks makes fixing his meals very easy…..I’m already on batch two of pears…I’m thinking these might taste better than the first go-round as I let them get really ripe. We are going to try something new this week…started peaches last night so we have to wait at least three days….I think we might do zucchini next…

I think we have also found a sippy cup that he might have figured out – right now he’s in the practicing mode – he got really frustrated last week with the ones with a really hard sippy part…the one I found this weekend resembles a bottle nipple more and the box says it’s the best (of course) to transition babies from bottles to sippy cups – the verdict is still out so stay tuned. Right now he really is just using whatever I give him as a chew toy…I’ve said more than once – if we could bottle all the drool and sell it we would be millionaires! It’s like a constant river flowing out of his mouth and I’m not expecting it to stop any time soon especially now that we have his second tooth making an appearance. My goal this weekend was to get a picture of his first tooth coming in for his baby book…Chris and I working together trying to get this picture was hilarious…Will really didn’t want any part of the ‘game’ and these pictures make it look like some form of torture but it was really just me laughing hysterically and trying to snap a picture while Chris had his fingers being munched on by Will. We finally got one that satisfied me...bottom right corner - you can see his tooth in his gum...his right side...believe me - it is there! I promise!



Saturday morning when I was making the squash I put Will on the floor with a few toys and his Red Sox book - needless to say from that point forward all weekend he had to have it within his reach. Chris and I were laughing - he was in his high chair on Saturday night and the book was on the floor nearby - we couldn't figure out what he kept looking at, when we realized it was the book and we picked it up and gave it to him he like kissed it! It was so funny - not sure what is up with this new obsession but I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that he can chew on the book and the corners feel good. He practiced his sitting a lot this weekend and again, was playing with the book...flipping the pages...we joked that he was reading up on all the Red Sox traditions so when he made his first trip up to Fenway he would know what everything was!



Friday I put shoes on him for the first time...they made his feet look SOOOO BIG!!!!!




Lastly…this past weekend they sent home the journal that they keep at school for him – I took a picture of one of the pictures that is in there – it was just too, too funny – they have way too much fun with the kids at school!

Peaches for dinner - YUM!

Bear butt

What a week it has been! Hitting six months...trying to say his first word....getting his first tooth....trying bananas and sweet potatoes - good gosh Will has been busy! I'm also introducing him to sippy cups and shoes...the sippy cups right now only have about an ounce of water in them...we'll graduate to milk or juice once we master not soaking everything but our mouth...as for the shoes..we got this great pair as a baby gift - little blue leather ones...today was the first time I've put them on his feet...he was confused (as he wears socks to school every day) and investigated them for a bit, then lost interest...

We had a great visit with my dad who not only got to entertain and feed Will but also was witness to what I'm guessing was his first tooth ache. Wednesday night after he had been out cold for about 20 minutes he started screaming. It went on for about five minutes and nothing would calm him down...then just as soon as it started - it stopped. He slept the rest of the night very peacefully...it was not like any cry I have ever heard from him before...I'm guessing it had to do with his tooth which Thursday morning looked like it had pushed out just bit further, there is a small bit of white now showing....I'm going to try and snap a picture of it this weekend however, his favorite game right now is to not let me see his tooth - he clamps those lips shut and won't let me do anything but feel it as he chomps down on my finger.

Had to post these pictures...

...outfits with decorations on the butt are just too cute and before long he'll be too big to parade around in just a onesie - we snapped this last weekend after he woke up from a nap...

...the other shot is one that Chris snapped in the hospital from his phone...he just emailed it to me...how quickly time goes by....I can't believe that I'm already saying "Do you remember when..."

FIRST WORDS!!!

So....for the past few days Will has been perfecting his WAVE....at first he would do it randomly, then last weekend Chris had him waving hello pretty regularly...well they have been working with him at school and I just got the call...Suzanne was waving at him saying "bye-bye Will, bye-bye" and he waved back and something to the effect of bbb..bbb...came out....she said he would be speaking French by the end of the day when we picked him up.

Here's a better picture of our boy genius eating peas....he decided last night that DOES NOT like peas - we got the full body shudder and the very quick turning of his head as if to say "that spoonful of green stuff is going nowhere near my mouth!" To celebrate his 6 month mark today we are going to try banana's which I've heard ALWAYS go over good - wish us luck!

PEAS!!!!

Busy day...

Will figured out how to wave...first tooth is coming in too...we'll celebrate by trying peas tonight!

So cute!

CRAWL???

So for weeks now Will has been trying to move...first it was the retarded inch worm on his belly....then it was the back arch ump and rubbing off the hair on the back of his head...now it's the I'm up on my arms, one leg pulled up under me and PUSH off my knee...this last one came this morning as he was trying to reach me when I put him down at school...this one has most resembled a crawl....time to baby-proof the house~he's almost mobile!!!

Laugh for the day

Entering the world of food

So last weekend Will and I decided to throw Chris a birthday party…we figured it was cause to celebrate since it was his first birthday as a Dad – so we got oysters, burgers and sushi cupcakes – not actual sushi but SUGAR sushi cupcakes. For those of you who have been following our blog – they were made by the same girls that did my baby shower elephant cake – they came out great! If you live in this area, and even if you don’t – check out their website: www.CupCakeEnvy.com – they are great and they ship anywhere and do any design you can think of! We had a great group of friends over – kids running everywhere – and besides it being a nice and toasty Carolina night, we had a great time.



This was a BIG weekend for Will – he basically announced to us he wanted to eat. Saturday after he tried to grab my cup of water and then my steak, we decided to try some cereal. (For any Ashland folks out there - yes he's wearing the MOST expensive bib I own, his Tuffy bib - that one cost me four years of school - I did think it was nice that when I sent in his birth annoucement for the alumni magazine they sent it with a note of congrats - least they could do as they still are getting my money each month!)



I was really trying to wait until the 6 month mark but considering that date is just about here (good gosh how time flies!) and the fact that he did just about everything besides taking out an ad on a billboard we figured he was ready. The thought of him not liking it was thrown out almost immediately as he went to gobbling it down – he loved it! Some babies get more on their face than in their mouth – not Will – he got about 95% in his mouth and 5% on his face – other than the few times that he tried to guide the spoon to his mouth since you know, he’s obviously the expert on how to eat – his first eating experience was a pretty clean one.

So this week we’ll be sticking with the once a day session…next weekend we’ll go to two times a day and the following week we’ll try some new stuff….I got a bunch of things ready – my steamer and food processor were working overtime yesterday. I got this great book from my mom with a ton of recipes for baby food so we have ready – sweet peas, pears and sweet potatoes – all frozen neatly in little blocks – the ice cube trays work great! It was a riot – the entire time I was steaming and pureeing Will was talking away – how he has a voice today I’ll never know – he certainly was exercising those vocal cords yesterday – Chris figured the entire neighborhood heard him. I have to say that all the creations I made – they tasted good to me….the verdict is still out on if Will will like them….stay tuned!



They have been working with him at daycare on holding his own bottle – since on the weekends I don’t use any bottles I figured we would practice and I gave him about an ounce of milk in one of the small storage tubes that the nipples fit onto – he LOVED IT! It’s small enough for him to hold onto and serve himself – he’s master tilting it to get more and the ounce is just enough – it takes him about 10 minutes to drink it all on his own and you can tell he’s so proud of himself – he reaches right for the bottle as soon as he spots it.



We also tried using a sippy cup…we had to invest in some with a really soft top as he was not thrilled with the really hard plastic ones we had – he hasn’t quite mastered getting anything out of them yet – he tries to nurse the sippy part of the cup and it just doesn’t work – then gets frustrated…thus, that is where the small storage tube bottles came in to play -



Besides the cereal and the bottle he has also sitting unassisted….he does this leaning thing where he looks like a contortionist but he does it…then he slowly, slowly leans and falls into his belly.



This last shot is for my dear friend Emily (hopefully we'll get word to her that this pic is up on the blog!) - he's wearing an outfit from her - it's one of my favorites - Zutano stuff is just so great! Chris calls this one his pajama's but it's so comfy and easy to get him in an out of....it buttons up the back and anything that you have to put him on his belly on the changing table for he just loves!

Perfect size bottle

Looking forward to...

So I know the days when I'm writing stories like this about Will are right around the corner...this one is compliments of someone I went to high school with - enjoy the chuckle!

The kids & I took an impromptu trip to the Zoo today. Amelia starts Pre-K tomorrow, and we were up early this morning (we’ve been trying to get up early so Amelia gets used to the routine), so when Amelia asked if we could go, I said Yes. I think it surprised her that I agreed so quickly. My only conditions were that we wouldn’t buy anything & we could only spend a couple hours there. You wouldn’t believe how it cut down on begging, whining & dawdling…I may do this every time we go.

Because we were there pretty early, there were very few people there (SO NICE). The only area that was a bit crowded was the Panda exhibit. Three of the Pandas were inside, so everyone was packed into the 3-sided glass enclosure.

As we were walking out, Amelia asked “Mommy, do some people have golden teeth?”. We live in Atlanta….it happens. I tried to be subtle and look back to see if we’d passed anyone with a grill. I didn’t see anyone obvious, but it seems like she must have seen it somewhere. My daughter comes out with a lot of random stuff, but I feel like gold teeth are something that she’d have to see right then in order to comment.

When I told her that, yes, some people do have gold teeth, she opened her mouth wide and said “Do I have any golden teeth?”. Um, no sweetie, you don’t have any golden teeth. And yes, she did ask about golden teeth…not gold teeth. Then she asked “Mommy, when will I grow a golden tooth?” I had to break it to her that people don’t actually grow golden teeth. She was bummed. It was a little like the time she asked when she was going to turn brown and I told her that she wouldn’t. Oh, the heartbreak of a 4 year old…..

I thought the conversation was finished….until she asked “Mommy…when can I GET a golden tooth?”

I said what any good mother would say.

“Right after you buy your mama a Cadillac.”

Loving being at All Starz

So I get the question all the time "is it hard to leave him at school everyday and go to work?" Answer - Obviously yes! But the fact that we have such a great school to send him to with wonderful teachers so even though its hard...it's pretty easy also! He loves school - the toys, the books, the teachers, the other kids - the GERMS! And knowing he's at such a great place - my day at work flies by and my mind is at ease knowing he's having a blast and is well cared for.

Let me recap how our mornings go - after waking, feeding and dressing W we head off to school which is all of 2 miles from our door step. Being greeted each day by name at the front door by the owner makes my school experience start off perfect each and every day.



Miss Suzanne and Miss Biz are his main two teachers and he just loves them - they make him laugh what seems like all the time!



Being able to peek in on him during the day via the Internet is so nice and most of the time I find him snoozing on the 'luxury' boppy pillows they have.



What I really love about the school is they don't have all the "fancy" baby stuff - no swings or bouncers - it's all floor toys and seats - things that the kids can't get placed in for hours on end. The kids all get so much attention and the teachers are really in tune with what is going on - if he's acting different in any way - I hear about it! They also share in the excitement of each of the kids first rolls, first cereal, etc. It's so nice to have that type of care....

When I pull in after work - again I'm greeted at the front door - this time its usually Mr Joe, and my car seat is sitting next to the computer that we have to use to check the kids in and out with each day. There are about 6-8 different teachers that he encounters in the infant "wing" and all of them are top notch - each them learns as much as they can about each kid and are so helpful whenever I have questions.

The highlight of my day is picking him up - as soon as I come in the room and he spots me - he lights up with a huge smile (most of the time he's smiling already!).

It's crazy to think that he's already been in school for two months...

One of the other kids in his room is Roland, whose mom sent me these pictures she took the other day - how cute that they are holding hands!




I just found out that come September, he's already being "promoted" as they say now - graduating to the next classroom - still the infant rooms and still 6 babies/2 teachers. What is really nice - the two new teachers he will have - Miss Christy and Miss Barbara - he already loves them and is familiar with them! Right now he's the oldest in his room...in the new room it will be all the "February babies" and he's right in the middle of the pack in that group.