thinking about it...

Not crawling yet but seriously considering it - see pic below!



a couple other new things - if you don't like to talk poop, stop reading - otherwise continue. real poop. not runny stuff. or pasty. but real solid poop!

"Hey, come up here!" i shout.

"whats wrong?" he yells, always wary that there is a problem...

"Nothings wrong. i just thought you'd want to see something!"

"What?" he says to me upstairs, as he is downstairs. I know he doesn't want to walk those 14 steps up!

"Just get off the damn computer and walk up here for crying out loud!"

I hear him set down the laptop (i knew it!) and come slowly up, putting each foot down as if it weighs 50 lbs...

"Look, we have real poop." and i show him the diaper.

"What!! oh my gosh... hahah... " husband laughs and views the evidence.

"Kid, you're growing up!" we tell him. then we decide - photo time! Hey, why not! its another first, we must document!


A tiny little poop we know, but its still the real deal! solid as a rock. lol. he'll kill us for this later i'm sure. but when he was born, we promised him and each other to capture every little moment! haha... only upholding our promises:)

8 months old!

the kid is 8 months old now!! we can't believe it... he's eating all sorts of stuff, lunging his body to get what he wants, and expressing his little personality, which emerges more and more each day!

Reporting back on last nights sleep - he successfully slept from 8pm - 4am ! not fun at 4am but i was thrilled he made it that long! SO much better than whats been going on. Sigh of Relief. At 4am, i went to his room, nursed him, and he was back to sleep in about 15 minutes. Me - back to bed till he woke up at 7:15am. Not bad. Not bad at all.

This morning husband asked me, so what do you think helped him? the swaddle, the fan, the humidifier, the quilt, feeding him at 8pm, or??? I said - i have NO idea but i'm doing it ALL again tonight!!

8 months old on Jan 21, 2009 so a quick photoshoot in monkey jam jams with his own little monkey:)

grocery cart

Another first. yep. first real grocery cart ride. germs and all! but it was whole foods!! so, maybe organic germs? haha... anyway, first grocery cart ride this past saturday night and even though the kid was so tired (past his 8pm bedtime) he was all smiles, and stares, and fascination at the store - from a whole new perspective! and you could tell he knew, he was more free, and on his own in the top of that cart.

here we go steelers

I personally, don't really care about who wins. the world series. the super bowl. the cup something? anyway, doesn't matter to me. but husband being from western PA is a huge steelers fan. So its only fitting that the kid gets dressed in his steeler gear on game days, even steeler socks! and its a must since its the playoffs and we got together with other steeler fanatics (me not included on that fanatic part)... abram did watch the game! not because he was watching the steelers per say, but because he actually was allowed to look at the huge flatscreen tv, a big no no at home...


Hey... Hey, Cameron. Who's winning?! i can't see the score...


the games too close!! we're freaking out... !


lets just chill here... even though i'm a little suspicious of my surroundings...


YYEaa... i think we're gonna win!


on a final note, i can no longer brag or even silently enjoy! the kid being a good sleeper anymore. those days are far gone, now that i'm back to work full time of course. i went back when he turned 5 months. he was still sleeping good! around 6 1/2 months those restless nights were becoming interrupted periodically. but nothing i couldn't handle. Then during our christmas travels, his nights were very restless. and since returning home, even more so. i get up for work early - early as in 4:30am. some mornings hes up at 330am and no point in going back to bed at 4:15! anyway, to sum it up, lets just say i'm struggling. and hoping for some serious much needed rest from this. tonight i've put some advice to use up in his bedroom (ie fan on high, swaddled (again!) in warm quilt, fresh diaper, jarred food again before bed plus nursed, teething tablets, etc etc....) my fingers are crossed!! i'll report back... !

to crawl or not to crawl

The cord dangles just out of his reach.

"Come on. You want it, don't you? Come on! Come get it! You can do it. Just put that knee under ya... see? like this..." I encourage him, coaxing him to crawl. tempting him with the unattached computer mouse. weird? nah. he always wants what he isn't supposed to have. why not dangle the no no item to tempt him into crawling? Its like one of those cartoons where the meat is on a string, and the little animated guy runs and runs for it but never gets it. That was my plan. Now, thinking about it, I realize its slightly, well okay just plain ole unfair. I have to tempt him with something i'll actually be willing to give him.

I trade the mouse for his 'cell' phone.... i hit all the buttons, it talks, sings, lights up, does everything except actually make calls. or does it?

"see your phone?? you want it right? just reach for it... come on. right over here.... "

The kid grunts and sputters. his left arm flailing and little feet kicking. the right knee comes up... and it looks like he just might.... nope, he rolls onto his back. repeat of yesterday. I put his knees under him.

"Just do this!! see?! that's how you do it?" i say, as i immediately wonder why in the hell i'm showing him HOW to crawl. thats dumb. right now, he's stationary. i sit him in spot A. he stays in spot A. i put him in his pod. he stays in his pod. i vow to stop demonstrating the crawl technique.

"Yep. You're on your own now kid. whenever you figure it out. I'll deal with it then. Until then, heres your cell phone...!"

the last of 2008

This was the kids gift to us from daycare. TOO CUTE. I wish i had this picture too, not just on a christmas ornament. but we love it and if we ever decide to one day put up a tree (hubby wants to, me no, bah hum bug me i know!) we'll have this one front and center.



The kid with his great papaw... kinda dark but good.


Abram was christened while in TN. grandparents from there and PA were present... dad, being a pastor, performed the christening. I Loved this pic of him and abram looking at one another...


we spent a week away, a brief time with husbands parents in Western PA and then the rest in TN with my family. It went by way too fast, as any vacation always does.

and the kid's only New Year Eve photos - of him trying to drive the car. ha. Actually he was gnawing on the steering wheel while we were on a travel break. drove from TN to our home in PA on NYE. Needless to say, that is the first new years eve i have NOT been awake at midnight since i can even remember. we're parents now. tired. old. in bed early.



Let's Go home Guys!!

and onto christmas

his first wrapped package he opened was from matt/erin. I tell her, you could have really saved yourself some money, he enjoyed the box and wrapping paper more than the gifts. Now i know - glad i won't be wasting my money on anything more than cardboard and old pots/pans for him:) he seems to love my measure cups and tin bowls.

whew, this gift unwrapping is exhausting...


christmas morning pose... in first christmas jam jams... at mamaw's house


whats in here mamaw? at other mamaws house... two mamaws:)


and the box from matt/erin... yum, tasty!


Cheese!!

and onto some christmas pictures...

thanksgiving sweet potatoes

The kid celebrated Thanksgiving with another first - his first sweet potatoes. Do you think he liked them?



He also celebrated by going with us to Washington, PA for the holiday, and met many family members that hadn't met the little guy. Yet the only other photo i have of him, besides the ones with sweet potatoes smeared on his face, on actual turkey day is this one - him and Makayla, his cousin:)



I'm now wondering why the heck we didn't think to get a quick family snapshot, ya know, abrams first thanksgiving - duh. no idea where my head was. Ditto for christmas. No family snapshot of us 3. i would say 5 but we left silly 1 and 2 (aka sammy and nelly) at home.

His hats all seem to be getting a little snug. even the ones that are his supposed size. but as long as theres a little stretch, he doesn't mind. he's usually just down right happy!



and lastly, his most beloved pre-christmas gift - leg warmers. Thanks Michelle!! and leg warmers are very 'in' i tell husband and the kid. no not girly. or prissy. and i don't see the other boys at daycare picking on him for them either. just 'in'... and warm! husband shakes his head and rolls his eyes every time i put them on the kid. the kid kicks his legs and grins, pulling at the warmers if he happens to notice them. he doesn't care ... he just likes to be warm! hence leg warmers! Husband was also not thrilled with the purchase of tights for the kid but hey, they don't make baby long johns and its cold here in Pennsylvania! "what choice do we have?" i say to him. Socks don't stay on his feet - ever - so tights it was. and now leg warmers too:)

first snow pics

Finally, I'm able to load some pics! whew... These were from November (old i know) but i'm so behind on posting pics! yikes. And since this Nov snow, we have only had ice since. This saturday they are finally calling for some more snow, apx 6-10 inches at that!

The kid didn't pay much attention to the snow really...


Until we put him in it...


Woops....


Playing in the snow is tiring... whew...


later, after a mug of hot cocoa (that was me, mom ha) he gazes out the door, watching the snow come down and a random person or dog go by...

Pictures!!

News Flash! We have finally loaded all new pictures onto the mac and i'll be posting them as soon as i have a brief moment. well no, a long moment actually. brief just won't be enough time! No, our camera connection isn't repaired. Husband brought home some contraption from work where you insert your camera card, and a wire connects that to the laptop, etc - load photos! whatever it is, I hope we can continue to borrow it on occasion, until we either fix camera connection or buy new camera. ugh. either one sounds like it will cost us some cash. damn. maybe i'll catch a good after christmas sale??? fingers crossed.

Photos we loaded - more of the kids first snow. the kid sleeping. eating. smiling. sitting up and sitting in a box. chewing on wrapped packages. holding bows. first christmas. laying in a pile of torn up wrapping paper. being held by lots of family/friends over the holidays. I won't bore you with posting them all. just the cute ones. well thats too many lol. so a few of the cute ones. stay tuned.

FYI - the kid has a new cuz, ashley claire:) he's psyched to have another cuz his age (now thats two, taylor and now ashley) but is wondering, where are the other boys? Guess we'll have to adopt BF Cole as an adopted cuz. I think Robin will be okay with that!!

Vaccines

The Vaccine Debate. No matter what you do - its scary. Vaccinate - scary. Don't vaccinate - scary. I hadn't really thought about this indepth until becoming pregnant and my OB reminded me to get my flu shot. My mind shot back to the two times i actually did get the shot and how sick i was afterward, for days. Casually I tell her this and that i doubt i will get one, especially considering it has mercury in it... and well, lets just say we didn't agree on this decision and i left there considering changing doctors due to her reaction! (BTW, very glad i didn't change doctors because i loved this group of OB's for the most part, even though we didn't/don't see eye to eye on all issues).

The debate continued between husband and i. what was the 'right' thing to do. for society. for our child. i did lots of online reading (which can be scary no matter what side of the fence you're on) and read books on this as well. Many online opinions were harsh, critical, and fueled with arguements on discussion boards. But one theme was consistent - everyone wants to do whats best for their child. We were no exception. I found The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears to be my best resource. Its a pro vaccine book but (I felt) rationally looked at the pros/cons of each individual vaccine in a fair non-bias way. This book convinced me to get certain vaccines i thought of skipping for the kid, and others i realized had too many side effects for me to be comfortable with so we will either skip or delay those. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has concerns about vaccines or just wants to be more informed on this heated topic! The book can be pretty dry in parts but it covers everything you could possibly want to know... If you want to check out more on The Vaccine Book, go to Dr. Sear's website www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook

Husband read the book as well. For the most part, we are following the Alternative Vaccine Schedule Dr. Sears presents in the book. (we made a few tweaks to it, eliminating a couple we are not comfortable with at all and delaying a few for the kids later years, before he begins school.) FYI, the Alternative schedule, if followed exactly, works in all vaccines but spreads them out over a longer period of time, also ensuring the kid gets no more than 2 shots per visit. It does mean you go to the dr more often, especially in the beginning but i have zero complaints about that. Mostly he's done well with his shots - no side effects until his 7 month ones. After the 7 month shots, he had a fever for a couple days after.

Our pediatrician has been respectful of our decision to not follow the standard schedule (while politely informing us of his opinion of why we should, and we of course, respectfully listened, he was doing his job) and has complied with what we wanted. I've heard horror stories of dr's who refuse some parents service! whew... Overall, we are feeling good with our decision and hope other parents are able to come to a conclusion they are comfortable with as well.