Sit Ups Anyone?

Yesterday, Neb played with B-Boy while I prepared his sweet potatoes. (See the previous post on this...)

He wanted to see if B-Boy would be able to sit on his own. It took several attempts... B-Boy would slump to one side, Neb would sit him back up, and then B-Boy would slump over again. This continued over and over... and each time he would stay upright for longer and longer.

Until he found the tag on the blanket he was sitting on. It first became something to chew on, but then it became an anchor to balance him with.

Sitting up is fun!

Then today at daycare, I placed B-Boy in a chair that has a slant to it. The chair has appeared in photos in several other posts... like this one. B-Boy refused to recline, and sat upright without the support behind him. I was shocked! He started bouncing in it, and stayed balanced the whole time.

So he is well on his way to sitting up by himself, and we hope to have news of repeated success to share with you soon.

Which reminds me, I took him to World Market today after work. (It's one of my favorite stores!) Inside was the cutest andirondack chair for kids in bright RED. I don't think it is intended to sit an almost 7 month old, but he fit in it pretty darn well.

He really liked the chair. I took a photo to share with you.

I like this chair Mommy! It's an Ole Miss color!

We may have to go back to get it. Neb and I both have a chair so we can sit on the screened porch, shouldn't B-Boy?

;)

Ah, peas and sweet potatoes!

B-Boy started with Green Beans, and then moved on to Acorn Squash, which he adored. We then introduced him to peas, which to be honest, are not his favorite.

These are called Peas? But isn't that also....?

Yes, B-Boy. English is a funny language.

Last night, he moved on to sweet potatoes. We had wanted to start with them, but were told not to since they are so sweet. (Babies then only want to eat the sweet stuff, or so the theory goes.) I had thought it would be nice to start with something fitting from North Carolina for him to eat. Oh well. North Carolina is known for our sweet potatoes, so it seemed like a good place to start. Did you know this? North Carolina is the leader in sweet potato production, supplying 40% of the annual US production of sweetpotatoes.

See, you learned something. Neb and I went to the Farmer's Market to get them. Wanted them to be fresh for our little one! We decided on Covington sweet potatoes, as opposed to Beauregard, Hernandez, Jewel, Puerto Rico, Japanese, O'Henry and White Delight. Did you know there were so many kinds? I think not. I didn't know there were lots of different kinds of sweet potatoes either.

I baked them for an hour on a pan at 400 degrees. I pulled off the peel and then pureed it to a fluffy goodness.

So, how did B-Boy do?

He adored them... and looked at Neb as if to say, "You have been holding out on me! Where have these been?"

Orange is a great color on me! HA!

But the funniest part was to come... an hour afterward we put him to bed... WHERE THE SUGAR KICKED IN!!!!!

Seriously, he was flopping around, shaking his head, willing himself awake. His eyes would flutter, clearly showing he was sleepy, and then it was as if he said "SUGAR!!!! SHUG- SHUG- SHUG.... SUGAR!!!!!!" and then he would shake his head, flop his arms, and kick his legs.

It was hilarious, and it took 4 cycles of the music on the seahorse and me rubbing his belly in a circular motion for him to finally calm down and go to sleep.

So we learned something.
a) don't feed B-Boy so close to bed
b) heaven help us when we give him real sugar
c) we are grateful he can't run yet.

;)

Who replaced my 6 month old with a 2 year old?

One of the students I have worked with in my job sent me home from Seattle with a gift for B-Boy. It was the cutest, preppiest outfit... in Ole Miss colors! He looks adorable, but I was struck by the fact that he does not look like a 6 month old... more like a 2 year old! Not only that, but everyday he looks more and more like his dad.

What do you think? I think he'll be asking me to take him for his driver's license next. Time is flying.

Mom, can I borrow the keys to the car?

Yeah, I make this mat look good!

Squash, a new favorite!

This week, B-Boy got to have his first solids, green beans. I wrote about this earlier, if you will recall.

He ate that for 3 days with no major issues, so it was time to move onto another food. After much debate, Neb and I decided to have him try acorn squash next.

We bought 2 squash and sliced them in half. I placed them in a baking dish face down in about an inch of water. They cooked at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. I then peeled them and pureed them in the food processor. It was pretty easy, even though it took awhile.

B-Boy absolutely LOVES it. I think it is a new favorite, and it will probably be very hard to top! He has had it 4 times this week, and became a very happy baby each time he ate them. I even mixed some into his oatmeal yesterday, go figure, he loved it.

So mental note to self, this might be a good go-to food if he starts disliking foods down the road!

New Milestone! Stomach Sleeping!

One other thing I forgot to mention about my return to North Carolina...

B-Boy's teacher asked if I was ready to sign the paperwork for him to be able to sleep on his stomach. Since he is able to roll over completely now, he is able to sleep on his tummy.

This week, he took his first nap at daycare on his tummy. He has started this way at home a few times, but always manages to get to his back before really getting to deep sleep. He was the only one left in the class sleeping on his back, but this week a new baby girl entered the class!

So he is no longer the youngest, and frankly, has never been the smallest in the room! He's bigger than the oldest child, who is 11 months old! He is currently wearing 18 month old clothes... which is what my friend Cat's 14 month old son is wearing... and B-Boy is 6 1/2 months old! Yikes. Heaven help me when it is time for us to buy him shoes.

Another item to note about sleeping... B-Boy has been moved to his own area to sleep in class. All the babies were grouped together in a train-like pattern (one next to the other) on one side of the room. Since he often screams a very high pitch scream while asleep, he wakes the other kids. They end up awake wondering what in the world that noise was... and B-Boy is still in slumberland. His teachers then have to scramble to quickly help all five kids to get back to sleep, which is very difficult with the older kids I am told.

So this week I went to feed him to find that his crib had been moved to the other side of the room. Neb, the ever introvert, says "All right B-Boy!"... but I think that is more because he wishes he could do that with his cube at work. I think he is secretly wishing he didn't have to talk to anyone during the day!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

B-Boy seems to like it, and I think the other kids are much happier. As I told his teachers when we enrolled him, you have to do what you have to do in order to keep your sanity. B-Boy is not the only child in the room, and if I was the parent of one of the other kids, you know I would want them to do something!

So for now, B-Boy has his own crib, so to speak. He isn't letting this newfound freedom go to his head.

Yummy Green Beans!

B-Boy is almost six and a half months, and since I am now back home for a while, we thought this would be a good time to start B-Boy on solid foods.

It was a big dilema which food to start him with, as it can really affect his preferences later in life. Seriously, you should start with veggies... preferably ones that are not sweet. We initally thought we would start with sweet potatoes, since they are not as sweet as carrots. But since the word SWEET is in the name, we thought it best to start another way. We decided on green beans.

Also, Neb and I thought it would be fun to try to make our own food for him. We bought a food processor, some fresh green beans, and got to it!

I cleaned and snapped the beans while Neb took B-Boy for a walk in his new shades, which folks think make him look REALLY cool. When they returned, we steamed the beans for about 10 minutes and then pureed them to a fine liquid. I portioned out 2 ounces, and then froze the rest (about 14 ounces worth, in 7 containers). It was pretty easy, and we thought they smelled really good.

B-Boy loved them! He is doing great with the spoon, and polished off the entire 2 ounces. Then he ate a large portion of oatmeal. Keep in mind this was right after an 8.5 ounce bottle!!!  He was pretty clean after the meal, but I went ahead and finished his night off with a quick bath.

Can I have more?

I will call it a success since Neb and I weren't wearing any green beans when we finished, and because he did a great job eating them. We will continue to feed him green beans for the next few days, and then move on to another food. We are thinking squash... but we will keep you posted!

It's good to be home... cue the toothy grin!

I have lots to report... I am back home, and have been for a few days. Lots happened while I was gone, and since I have been home!

First thing, seeing B-Boy for the first time was all I had thought it would be! He's grown so much in one week, I can't believe it. He looks older, bigger, and longer.

When I got to the day care, his teacher looked beside herself. B-Boy was out in the hallway, as he was waking up all the other babies. With good reason... he is teething!

Item to note: B-Boy's first tooth broke through while I was in Seattle! I don't have the exact date, as Neb didn't notice it right away.

Look under my tongue Mommy!

The second one is almost up, and Neb swears a third one is on its way. Which means that B-Boy's temperment has not been good... very similar to the colicky baby I knew and loved on maternity leave. His poor teachers didn't stand a chance. They thought he was moody before HA! Now that he is showing his actual moody self... I just hope we don't get kicked out of day care.

Ah yeah, side note, Neb's mom told him a story while on a walk the other day, about how he got kicked out of day care... because he woke all the other babies!!! Hmmm... I wonder where B-Boy gets it? ;)  I don't know of anyone who has been thrown out of this particular daycare, but I wouldn't put it past B-Boy's temperment... cuz he is a handful when he gets mad.

So this was clearly not the week to be out of town.

I stayed with him for two hours or so, and then drove home in a haze. I was able to get a few hours of light sleep on the plane, but not much. After a big nap, GranE and Pop-Pop came over for dinner. They left the next morning to head home, so there was not much time to snap some photos... but I made do!

B-Boy is going to miss his GranE and Pop-Pop. They rode off into the sunset (literally!) on thier motorcycle, back to the RV. So long GranE and Pop-Pop! Can't wait for the next visit!

Oooh, what kind of exersaucer is this??? This is fun!

Oh yeah, and B-Boy is rolling like crazy, mostly in one direction! I'll post the video soon, I promise!

Rollin' in from Seattle

I am at the airport in Seattle, taking the red-eye flight back home. I can't wait to see B-Boy and Neb. My flight is at midnight, connecting in Chicago, and I'll land at 9:30am. The plan is to go see B-Boy immediately, so I can get caught up on my B-Boy snuggles. I'll hug him, and kiss him and play with him and... you get the picture. After that, I will head home for a long NAP. Ah, precious sleep.

I got to go to the Space Needle today- my first visit there. While there, I got an email from Neb. It made me giggle, so I am sharing it with you. Enjoy!

Just thought you should know....

Your son can't be stopped... he rolls from front to back to front to back to front...


There are one or two problems, depending on how you look at it. He can only roll to his left. That means that the living room is not long enough because he'll roll from one side of the room to the other... at least until you flip him over (head to toe). Then he rolls all the way left to the other side of the room.


Can't wait to show you.

Neb

He assures me he took some video of it. I'll upload it for you as soon as I can.

Missing B-Boy

B-Boy is having a ball with GranE. Or actually, rolling like one for her.

Saturday, she watched B-Boy so that Neb and Pop-Pop could go play golf. Nice! While she watched him, she laid him on the floor on his back. A little while later, she noticed he was on his tummy! He appartently rolled over on his own.

This is the first time he has rolled from his back to his tummy since the day he did it for the first time ever! Not only that, but later she SAW HIM DO IT! Wow, that is amazing.

I am sad I missed it, but am so happy that GranE got to be part of this.

On a personal note, I miss him like crazy. I must have shown his photo book to at least 20 people yesterday... a lot of the folks here missed me at the fall conferences while I was on maternity leave. It helps, because then I have an excuse to look at him... and then it feels like he is here too.

I just wish the book could give me a B-Boy snuggle. I really miss those.

Leaving B-Boy with Neb, GranE and Pop-Pop

I knew this day would come... and it's just as hard as I thought it would be. Yesterday, I had to leave B-Boy. My first night away from him EVER. And although I know he is well taken care of, and loved to pieces, I miss him like crazy.

Yesterday, I boarded a plane for Seattle for a huge conference. One of the biggest parts of my job is this event. I knew it was coming. But knowing doesn't make it easy.

I dropped B-Boy at daycare, took some photos of him playing with a friend, hugged and kissed him good-bye and very reluctantly left.

I had 40 pictures printed and bought a photo wallet album to put them in. I looked at that book the whole way to Chicago, where I changed planes. I looked at it in the restaurant while I waited for my flight. It helped being able to see him, even if I couldn't hold him.

I got into Seattle at 11pm my time and with luck, was in bed in my hotel by midnight my time... B-Boy staring at me from the book propped by the side of the bed. And, yes, Neb is in there too. Holding B-Boy.

Today is a new day. I have already spoken to Neb twice. The work craziness starts at 2... I think things will get easier as I get busy, but you never know! I'll keep you posted.

I wonder how many times I will look at this book this week... let alone today! And how many folks will ask me to see pictures of him? MANY!

GranE and Pop-Pop

Guess who is here for a visit?

GranE and Pop-Pop! This is GranE's third visit and Pop-Pop's first. They drove their RV from California and arrived on Tuesday. GranE was shocked at how much B-Boy had grown, and couldn't wait to get her hands on him. Once she got her B-Boy fix (aka, he got too heavy to hold), she handed him to Pop-Pop.

I'm confused... You get to live with GranE?

No wonder she's so happy! I love you Pop-Pop!

The next day, I was able to capture more photos...

WOW! I get lots of attention. I like visitors!

GranE watched B-Boy so that Neb and I could have a dinner date. Ah, free time!!!! We went to dinner at one of our favorite seafood spots... now that I am done pumping, I can have OYSTERS!!!! They were yummy! I hadn't had oysters in over a year, and they were on my short list of things I can't wait to eat. (The list contains oysters and clams, margaritas, sushi, milk, and ICE CREAM!) After putting away an entire peck of steamed oysters and a glass of wine, I was quite happy. Thanks GranE for the break!

Having GranE and Pop-Pop here got me thinking about first visits.

My Dad, GrandpaGator, visited B-Boy from Florida while we were in the hospital. Day 2 to be exact. Here is a picture I took at that visit.

My mom, Mema, also visited that day in the hospital.

GranE was here when B-Boy was 2 weeks old. Here is the first photo I have of her with him.

Neb's aunt, AuntJ, visited us while his mom was here for her first visit. My goodness he was small!

Wow. It's amazing how much he has changed. I wonder what my Dad's reaction will be the next time he sees B-Boy!

B-Boy's six month checkup

B-Boy went to the doctor again on Wednesday. But not because he was sick... it was time for his six month checkup!

He got weighed and measured. He is 20.2 pounds and 28.5 inches long! I think he would have been heavier, but he was eating half of what he had been while he was sick... Incidentally, he is much better now!

Neb played with him while we waited to be seen. He was trying to see if B-Boy would be interested in a small object, and if he would try to pick it up. It is a milestone skill and was on the evaluation we needed to fill out. And guess what? He can! It was really cute to watch!

Hey Mom, look at me sitting up!

Oh, you have pincher thingies too!

He got 2 of his 4 shots and 1 liquid vaccination. He wasn't happy but after a quick bottle and snuggle, life was good again!

Easter with Mema

Forgive me for getting a bit behind in my posting. With B-Boy's 6 month birthday, I officially stopped breastfeeding and pumping. Since I often wrote while pumping, I am trying to figure out how to continue the blog without impacting the family. We shall see.

But I am getting off topic here. Let's get back on track, shall we?

B-Boy had other adventures for Easter, one being a visit to his Mema (my mother) in North Raleigh. The visit started later than we thought it would as B-Boy took a HUGE nap. When we got there, Mema met us in the lobby. She was SHOCKED at how big he was, and wanted to hold him.

Now I am sure this won't be the last time I say this, but he is quite HEAVY. He doesn't look it, because he is so long and slender... but baby boy is solid. So the first thing I tell someone who wants to hold him is "He's heavier than you think." I just don't want someone to drop him or hurt themselves!

So Mema held him for awhile, until he got a bit to heavy. We went to her apartment where B-Boy sat up on her couch. Ok, he didn't actually sit on his own, he was propped up by the back and arm of the couch. It struck me what a big boy he is becoming!

Hey Mom, you gotta try this couch. It's so COMFY!

He also showed Mema his new trick of rolling from his tummy to his back. We could not get him to stay on his tummy, silly B-Boy was too proud to show how quick he could do his new skill. Not sure how we are going to get him to do tummy time now... Staples, perhaps? ;)

Mema gave B-Boy his first Easter Basket! It was too cute, the basket was blue and had an Eeyore head on it. The Eeyore has a set of bunny ears on, and B-Boy liked pulling on them. In the basket was a ducky teething rattle, which he immediately started putting in his mouth and waving it around. He also got a shiney rattle with beads... it was easy to grasp and B-Boy liked watching the beads.

Ooooh, Crinkle Packaging, I LOVE Crinkle Packaging!!!

He also got some socks. Which made me giggle. If you have been following B-Boy's adventures here, you know that finding socks that fit him has been a challenge. Mema got him socks in size 18-36 months. We shall see if they fit.

Finally, there was the cutest stuffed Eeyore that B-Boy played with all the way home. It is now in his rotation for "Car Seat Toys"! It was a good visit, Mema seemed in good health, and I think she got her B-Boy fix!

This was fun, but it's HOT!

Hoppy Easter!

B-Boy had a great first Easter, and he hopes yours was a good one too. It started with a text message from my sister, GatorGirl, wishing us a happy easter from the breester bunny. Silly GatorGirl!

B-Boy got into his costume when the sun started to go down. It was a bit warm today, and he was a bit hot from a nice walk with Neb.

I hope you enjoy his costume! Hoppy Easter!

I do get the chocolate when we are done, right?

Do you like my tail?

What do you mean the Easter Bunny doesn't use a paci?

And a REALLY short video... seriously short.

1/2

Yep. B-Boy is one half today... that's six months for you non-math geeks.

To celebrate, I made him a T-Shirt. When is he ever going to be exactly one half again? Never! So he gets a shirt. Funny thing is, it's an 12 month old sized t-shirt, which actually, should probably have been 18 months sized. He is consistently wearing 18 month old sized clothes now... AT 6 MONTHS!!! Yikes. It's not that he is fat, he is just so long!!! Long torso, long arms, and long legs. B-Boy is definately his dad.

Would someone please make my mom STOP using the sewing machine?

One new thing B-Boy did today... I hung up his jumper swing. My friend, WorkBFF, told me her kids LOVED it. I bought one used, scrubbed it, and sanitized it before hanging it up. B-Boy had a ball jumping up and down. The video is a bit long... but I could not resist sharing it with you.

Roll Over!

I mentioned earlier that B-Boy rollled over from his tummy to his back at daycare. Yesterday morning, he did it at home about 5 times!

We were getting ready for work, and Neb said it was time to play roll games. He put him on the floor on a blanket and rolled him from his back to his tummy so B-Boy could do some tummy time. If you have been reading this blog, you will recall that B-Boy does not like tummy time very much.

It only took B-Boy a few minutes to realize "Hey! I am on my tummy, and I don't want to be. So guess what? I'm changing this!" And he did. He moved his head back, and over he went. And then he smiled a big smile. "Oh, you didn't know I could do this so well? Hee hee!"

I grabbed the video camera so I could share it with you. Click on the window below to play it. Enjoy!



He is now doing it all the time, and looks like a real pro. Not sure how we will get him to stay on his tummy now!

B-Boy's favorite game

I realized this morning that I have not shared with you B-Boy's favorite game! It's a take on Peek-A-Boo...

We call it "Where's B-Boy?"... and it usually goes like this.

I will lay a blanket or burp cloth over his head and say "Where's B-Boy?"

B-Boy will then lay really still, so as to not be discovered. I then repeat "Where's B-Boy? He was RIGHT here a second ago!" B-Boy then starts wiggling in anticipation.

"Is he under this foot?", I say as I lift his foot up. "No, not there. How about under this leg?"

And then one of two things happens. He will either start pulling on the cloth to reveal his face, or he will squirm in the fun expecting me to pull off the cloth.

When his face is revealed, I exclaim "There he is!" B-Boy gets the biggest smile on his face as if to say "Silly Mommy, I was here all the time! I'm a good hider!!" And then we start the game over again.

Which reminds me... Where's B-Boy?