Peek-a Who?

So Landrick is completely obsessed with books and I am LOVING every minute of it! When he was younger it was hard for me to grasp the idea that he couldn't sit still long enough to make it through an entire (short) book. But now (when reading the 'right' one) he will sit on my lap and let me read an entire book to him... multiple times. He gets SO excited!!! I LOVE IT!

Yesterday afternoon I put all of the books that he had 'read' the night before (there were probably 15) back on his bookshelf. I put his favorite book, Peek-a Who?, up last making sure that it wasn't easily seen... I was curious to see how long it would take Landrick to find it that afternoon.

Well the little man did not disappoint. I picked him up from the sitter, took him to his room, changed his diaper and then set him on the floor. He immediately crawled over to the bookshelf and pulled out a book. Not just ANY book... his Peek-a Who book!

All I can say is never underestimate how smart and attentive a baby is... I never realized just how much babies pick up on and retain until little man came along. Crazy.

Some of Landrick's other favorite books include, Ruff Ruff Where's Scruff, Baby Farm Animals, Peek-a-boo baby, and several more that I can't remember the names of!! ;)

Sickness...

Well I'm glad that we were at least blessed with about 10 months of a sickness free Landrick, as it appears that once he gets sick... he just stays sick. We've been dealing with him no feeling 'himself' since just before labor day. First it was Strep Throat... poor little fella. That was the most miserable that I've seen him. Of course, we went on antibiotics for the strep and on his last day of antibiotics, we noticed that he'd developed Thrush. We took him to the doctor again last Tuesday for Thrush and they gave him some anti fungal mouthwash and told his to swab the 'infected' areas twice a day for 7 days. Well it's virtually impossible to swab the tonsils and uvula of a 10 month old... so you just have to stick the q-tip in there, swish it around and hope for the best. Then squirt the rest of the dose in his mouth in hopes that he'll swish it around before swallowing. So we just finished the Thrush meds yesterday, but noticed for the past several nights that he's not slept well and had a cough.

Last night he couldn't breath out of his nose at all... it was quite sad to see him so very sleepy but so very frustrated at the same time that he couldn't breath out of his nose.  He just laid in the bottom of his crib and cried with his eyes shut. After about 10 minutes of rubbing his back and patting him (and him still crying) I picked him up and that seemed to help a little. He was still trying to go back to sleep but because he could not breath through his nose he was having a hard time of it. I turned the hot water on in the shower and sat in the dark bathroom for a little bit hoping that the steam would loosen things up for him. Then I sucked his nose out and applied some baby vicks... It helped a little bit but not too much. I think the congestion is no in his nose but rather his sinus cavity. I ended up holding him in the recliner and patting his back till he fell asleep (that was a first).

I'm a bit irked because he's had congestion problems since he was VERY little but the doctor shrugged it off as no big deal (maybe just a little allergy). In my opinion, however, I think it is a big deal when it keeps him from being able to sleep at night. I mean, if I was so congested that I couldn't sleep I'd probably try to see about getting that taken care of. Blah. It's times like these when I wish I was the doctor so I had the knowledge needed to diagnose the little fella... either that or I need a pediatrician that I know that will just tell me point blank whether or not I'm just being paranoid.

I guess I'll call the doctor and try to take him in for the 3rd time in 4 weeks... I just want him to feel better... even if the doctor thinks that Sam and I are just acting like typical parents act... sigh.

On an unrelated note... Landrick has been grinding his teeth. I first noticed him doing this on Saturday while we were at the Arts Festival. It's quite funny because when he does it he looks like a little bulldog. I try to get him to stop, as it can't be good for his teeth, but that's a little tricky.

Tub Time

A new post has been loooooooong over due... in the past (almost) month since my last post Landrick officially hit the 10 month mark, had Strep Throat, attended his first wedding (while suffering Strep), REALLY started loving books, started squatting with his bottom off the floor, lets go of things while standing and stands on his own for several seconds, slept through the night (and did it 5 nights in a row), learned how to open the cabinet doors in the kitchen (and pull everything out;), and currently has Thrush (thanks to the Strep antibiotics). Shew! I'm sure that's not all, but those are the things I could think of in the last 20 seconds! Oh... and he's starting to eat/try more and more 'table' food. (He love, love, loves rye bread!)

Tonight, however, one of his actions warranted a post... so here I am, about to brag on my baby boy.

After eating supper (and getting it everywhere) I gave Landrick a bath. As previously noted in other posts, he wants to stand up in the tub CONSTANTLY. Tonight was no different; therefore, after telling him to sit on his bottom multiple times I decided bath time was over and removed the plastic lid that I use to stop up the drain (the little metal thing is jacked up and too much of  headache for me to deal with). I placed it in the pitcher next to the tub that holds some of Landrick's bathtub toys, etc.

As soon as the water started draining, Landrick sprinted (well... crawled quickly) from the other end of the tub to investigate. He frantically swiped his hand back and forth over the drain and then immediately pulled up on the side of the tub, reached down and grabbed the plastic lid (aka drain stopper) and tried to put it back over top of the drain.

When he started to pull up I almost scolded him for the 100th time to sit on his bottom... but then realized what he was reaching for and decided that I would let it play out to see exactly what he did. I was quite surprised that the clearly knew where I kept the drain stopper and exactly what it's purpose is... wow. I'm impressed. Of course, I don't doubt his intelligence, but he is after all only 10 months old.... I guess he was motivated by the fact that he was not ready for bath time to end!

Love, love, love that baby boy!!!

Brave baby boy

Well lots has happened in a short period of time... so I'll just post some random thoughts/milestones just so I don't forget them later on.

As of last Saturday morning, Landrick is the proud new owner of two top front teeth. The next two (outside of the front two) are swollen and ready to poke through any day as well. Sam looked at Landrick's little top teeth, got a worried expression on his face and said 'um, they are really far apart'. I had to reassure him that that was normal.

Landrick had his first successful bath in the 'big tub' this week as well (Monday night) and tried to literally jump out of the bathtub. Luckily, I caught him before his head hit the floor. He was just squatting there in the tub with his arms over the side when he decided to jump toward some of his toys that were on the bathroom floor. I had been prepared for him to pull up and slip over, but the whole 'jumping' aspect caught me a bit off guard!

Later on that night Sam was trying to get him to sleep... after 20 minutes of unsuccessful attempts, I walked into Landrick's room where he was standing up in his crib. When he saw me he said 'meme meme meme' and lifted his arms up (like he wanted me to pick him up)... so I guess that means that I'm 'Meme'.... it was really cute.

Today was his nine month check-up and we saw a 4th new doctor... Landrick was 18 lbs 11 oz and 29.5 inches long. Still super high on the height chart, and way below average on the weight chart. Nothing to worry about though... just a string bean of a boy. The doctor did tell Sam and I that we needed to establish a set bedtime... and eliminate his 'middle of the night' feeding. She looked at Sam and told him that meant he would need to get up with Landrick when he woke in the middle of the night... we'll see how that goes over. Sam's not gotten up with Landrick in the middle of the night since he was probably a week old... so I'd imagine it will be a bit hard at first (for both Landrick and Mommy).

This week Landrick's started eating some 'real food' and toddler snacks (wagon wheels, little crispers, etc.) It's sooooooo cute to watch him eat these... He'll pinch them with two fingers on one little hand and then as he approaches his mouth he'll tilt his head back a bit and reinforce the hand that contains the food with his other hand and then rapidly shove the food toward his mouth. He still misses 4 times out of 10, but he gives it a great effort. Most often we'll find food stuck to him in random places now... it's funny.

Landrick's also learned how to 'beat the system' when it comes to his teething rails on his bed... he simply chews on the bottom of the rails and pulls on the teething covers with his bottom teeth. He's a smart little man, that's for sure.

That's all for now... I think. ;)

Big Boy Bath and A New Little Tooth Sprout

Well after struggling with bath time for the past few weeks (Landrick wants to stand up every 3 seconds in the tub) I finally took the advice of a friend of mine and bought a rubber bath mat and just put him in the big tub with about 2 inches of water. He seemed to really like it. After he got is 'sea legs' he was happy as a little lark. For the majority of his bath time he tried (and tried and tried and tried) to pull the drain lever down. Fortunately for Mommy it wouldn't budge... to be honest, I can't even get it to move so Sam has to let the water out of the bathtub. Landrick was very diligent in his effort... but didn't get mad when it didn't work the way he wanted (which is always good).

After at least a week or two of seeing Landrick's top four front teeth bulge under his little gums, I finally felt his top right front tooth peeping through his gum line. I know the other three are not far behind... I'd prefer for them all to come in at about the same time and just get it over with... but we shall see. Last night it was the second night (after the first little tooth popped through) that was the roughest... so I guess we shall see!

The Little Adventurer

I blinked and my teeny tiny little baby boy grew into a nine month old big baby boy who can crawl like nobody's business, jabber all day long, play with toys like a little 'human', pull up on anything taller than he is, and almost stand on his own. What happened???!!??? It's almost like life hit the fast-forward button on me... it's crazy. He pulled up for the first time on July 20... and then that Saturday crawled for the first time (trying to get to the vaccum). Now he's crawling from room to room with ease, crawling over any obstacle that gets in his way, pulling up on things and letting go as if he thinks his mommy is ready for him to be standing on his own. Wow... that's all I can say.

Landrick has started eating the little gerber finger 'snacks', which is SO very cute. He works will all of his little might to pick them up and get them to his mouth, only to miss his mouth most of the time. Then he chases the little bits around his face and hands and onto the high chair tray with his little tounge out. It is so very cute and so very funny.

He does not like 'chunky' baby food, as it makes him gag. My great little eater has turned into a rather picky little eater. We're trying to get him to embrace the sippy cup, but he's not quite on board with that either. (Of course, this is left primarily up to Sam since I still nurse him when I'm home.)

He's started to recongnize his room as where he sleeps, which means that sometimes he gets a little fussy in the evenings when we go into his room to play... I think he realizes it's getting close to bed.

Bathtime is hard because he wants to stand up in the tub ALL THE TIME. I find myself repeating 'you have to sit on your bottom in the tub' over and over and over... and I have to chuckle. This baby boy is brave... are all baby boys like that?

All four of his upper front teeth are quite swollen and I expect them to pop through any day. I know that they have to be bothering him, so although I'm not ready for him to have so many teeth, I know he'll feel better once they've come in.

He's getting better at giving kisses and I love it! The other morning he was playing on his Toy Story mat and leaned down and gave Buzz a kiss and then crawled over and did the same to Woody. It was sweet... he is sweet...

We've moved him to a bigger carseat in the 4Runner (still facing the rear though of course) and he now always sits up like a big boy in carts and resturant high chairs. Although, he looooves to twist around and sit cockeyed in the buggy, hiking one leg up (normally his left) into the seat with him. But, this is how he normally sits in the stroller as well.... with his left leg propped up on the 'arm rest' thing.

The other day Sam and I watched some video of him that we filmed the day he was born... and we both cried. Although it feels as if he's always been with us, it feels like just yesterday he was born.

Mission Accomplished

Well, Landrick finally did it... he successfully pulled up to a complete standing position while in his crib and here's how it went down...

After his 'make-up' swimming lesson Landrick came home and was SUPER tired. So tired in fact that he was not interested in eating cereal and did not want to play. He wanted milk and that was it. So, I nursed him and he fell asleep (yes, I break the rules by allowing my 8.5 month old son to nurse himself to sleep on occasion... well on most occasions;). I laid him down in his crib and he slept, but only for 30 minutes. When he woke up I got him out of the bed, fed him cereal and allowed him to play in the floor of our bedroom while I ate supper. When Sam came in from working outside we both played with Landrick some more and I laid him down again in his crib. Because I have severe ocd when it comes to him sleeping and being 'okay' while he sleeps I went in to check on him... and that's when I found him standing straight up hanging on the side of the crib. Of course, at that moment I did what any mother would do.. I called for Sam to come and look, grabbed the video camera and the regular camera and documented this milestone moment.

There Landrick was grinning like a opossum and happy as a lark. He was quite proud of his accomplishment and could probably tell that Mommy and Daddy were quite impressed as well. Then, he tried to climb up his crib and grab the diaper basket and his wipes, which prompted Sam and I to scoot the changing table away from the side of his crib. Shortly after that he got his knee stuck between the 'rungs' of his crib, which was quite disturbing. I'm not sure how to prevent that from happening again, as I'm worried that he'll get his leg stuck and injure himself pretty badly. :( I'm soliciting advice from fellow mommies and daddies on that one.

Here begins a whole new world of baby proofing. I told Sam that our deck will be finished just in time for us to move our living room furniture out to the new room, which will end up being Landrick's 'free-roaming space, as it has nothing in it really at this point. That should provide us with a little extra time to get the rest of the house in 'baby-shape', something that we should have done weeks ago... oh well, we're slackers.

Now... if we can just get him to crawl forwards. Although... I can say that I think that will also happen any day, as he's getting SO very close to mastering that art as well.

Loving Chimes and Finger Snapping

Since I'm in a rather depressive state right now I figured I would blog about my little baby boy to make me feel better... there's no better cure for a bad day then thinking about your child:)

Yesterday was my 29th birthday and we all celebrated in style, including little man. I suppose he was so excited to celebrate my birthday that he wanted to pretty much stay up all night. After opting to go to bed early (rather than stay up late and do homework) I was awoke by Landrick around 3:00am... he went back to bed around 3:30am... but then proceeded to wake up every 30 to 45 minutes until 7:15 when he finally slept for 2 hours straight. I was expecting to see a new tooth in the morning light... but no, he just didn't feel like sleeping much I suppose. Last night he went back to 'normal' so we'll just chalk that one up to another parenthood mystery!

While eating supper last night Landrick also showed off is 'snapping' skills. Sam would stand in front of him and snap his fingers and then pause. In response, Landrick would rub his little thumb and pointer finger together trying to mimic the sound that Daddy was making. It was really cute... and just proves just how much a little mind can take in and interpret.

Tonight Landrick got sooooo incredibly excited about the chimes in his room. It was so very cute! He's loved chimes since he was born (I can take him out on the porch and sit so he can listen to them and he'll calm right down) so we hung some in his room. Sam was teaching him how to gently push the dangley thing to make the chimes make noise. Landrick would look at them and reach his hand up and giggle. Perhaps next time we'll try to get it on video.

Our little man is growing up... too fast. 8 and a half months already... I'm not sure where the time has gone.

Busy, busy, busy!

Okay, so I've not done so well with posting on a regular basis this summer. Mostly because, well, it's summer. Summer in the Mason household is busy for Momma Mason. It's one of our busier times at work, I usually take summer courses and now, of course, I've got a baby Mason too:)

Vacation was great... mostly just spending the entire week with Landrick and Sam was sooooooo wonderful. It made it hard to got back to work. Sam loves being with Landrick all day, but I don't think he perhaps appreciates the time the same way that I do... simply because he's not been on the other end. He's not had to go week after week after week and only see his son during the day two out of the 7 days of the week. It's hard... but I know it's harder on me than on Landrick. (I'll devote an entire post to vacation later... it's okay if things get a little out of order.. I'll let my OCD slide on that one.)

Landrick's got two little teeth now... both of his front bottom teeth came in in one week's time. The first one (his front left) popped through on Friday July 2nd and the bottom front right popped through on the 7th (I think). He's trying hard to crawl and will push up on his feet and hands on a regular basis. He also gets on all fours and rocks back and forth... he just can't seem to move his hands and his legs at the same time. He does a great job scooting backward and can go across the entire room that way... but had not yet mastered going forward. Although, this evening he did put his hands on a blanket while he pushed his feet against the bare floor, which allowed him to move forward with some ease. He's also started to attempt to pull up on things. He pulled up on my legs last week and again tonight. Yesterday he tried to pull up on his bouncy seat but fell over after a few attempts.

He's been going to bed a little bit earlier... which makes it easier for me to do my homework, but is still kind of sad because it's just less time that I get to spend with him during the day. I made him some homemade baby food and he gagged the first time he tasted it... I had to laugh, even though I'd spent ALL DAY making it.

He eats like crazy and pretty much likes all the foods he's tried (except for avocado). Sam's dying to give him a teething biscuit, but I'm not quite ready. I'll let him chew/suck on watermelon rinds as a treat... and he loves it!

The fourth of July was a hit for the little man. He wasn't afraid of the fireworks at all and managed to stay up for the firework show on Saturday and Sunday evening. When the fireworks went off, he would flail his arms and legs in excitement... it was too cute!

Landrick's first swimming lesson was on Saturday and he did so well! He got a little fussy at the end. I thought it might be because he was sleepy, but realized when we got out that he had a MASSIVE burp inside just begging to get out. As soon as I held him against me it escaped and he was our happy little Landrick again. He'll have to put his face underwater during the next lesson... I'm not sure Mommy's ready for that!

Sleeping in his own room..

For those of you who know us well, Sam and I vowed that Landrick (or any other future child) would sleep in our bed. I can honestly say that we've stayed true to that promise, although there are a few others that we haven't. hehe.

Before I had Landrick (and even when he was only a month or two old) I swore that he'd be in his own room once he was able to roll over easily. Well, he's been rolling over easily for at least 2 months now (probably longer) but he's just spent his third night in his own room. He seems to be fairly unfazed, as he still goes to bed at about the same time, still wakes in the middle of the night at the same time, and does just about as good of a job of falling asleep on his own. The transition has obviously been harder for me. I miss watching him sleep... hearing his little grunts... and laughing with Sam when Landrick would pop his little head up to watch So You Think You Can Dance, or just to check to make sure Mommy and Daddy were still there. I miss watching and listening to him 'talk' to the animals on his blanket... I miss hearing him scratch the side of his pack 'n play and then giggle to himself...

I know, it's only been three nights... but I'm still getting use to the little man not being right next to Mommy. I know the separation needed to occur, but it doesn't make me miss those little moments. My little man is growing up...