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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

51 weeks old



He has a lot to say! He doesn't have words but his grunts and coos are super expressive.  I almost always know what he wants.  He's so easy to read.

He points and grunts at stuff he wants--food, a toy, something dangerous, his mommy...


He likes to yell when he's happy.  He and his sister have happy yelling matches.  It's how they best relate to each other.

He always makes a beeline for her room when she leaves it opened.


He has more free reign than she did at his age because I'm more relaxed and he's more apt to listen than she was.


He may have said "nana" for banana the other day.  Well, he definitely said it but I'm not sure it was on purpose. He's also started to eat peas whole--they stay whole even through his digestive system, but it's a start and it's nice being able to give him some veggies for finger food.  I haven't discovered anything else we have readily available (veggies or fruits, I mean--well, other than peas and bananas) that he can eat by himself. 

He likes to bang his head on the wall.  It's sort of a cause and effect discovery thing.

He gave some little boys--his sister's best friend and brother--hugs.  I'm not even sure he gave me a hug.  He had been around girls all day.  Girls who like to pick him up and hug him and drag him places.  I'm wondering if he recognized the boys as people who wouldn't do that to him or if he was just happy to see some more males.

Changing him is like wrestling an alligator--it's been so for months.  His favorite thing is to roll over onto his belly and then stand up and bang at the window screaming and yelling happily. 


 One day at dinner he was over tired but I hadn't eaten yet so I brought out this gorilla and it helped him survive the rest of the dinner hour before being nursed to sleep.

 Here he is happily exploring his sister's room again!

 This isn't the worst of it, it looks almost like normal nursing, but it reminds me what an active little nurser he is.

 He loves to stand at the window because he loves to go outside!

 The range of emotions within a couple minutes when he's overtired.

 Playing with his sister.  He wasn't sure how he felt about this. 



 A chocolate chip cookie! He loved it! It was my whole-food adaptation so it was whole-wheat, coconut oil, and a real sweetener--maple syrup or honey, I don't remember.

 Comparison of Bunny and Bear--though Bunny was only 9 months in her photo, and he is 11 months.

 Enjoying drinking water through a straw.  Sometimes he just chews, but he's been remembering that he can suck.

 A fun morning at dunkin donuts.  He stuffed an entire munchkin in his mouth and I had to fish it out, but he thoroughly enjoyed himself!


 "Reading" a book.  This is as close to reading as he'll get because when I try to read to him, he won't sit still and gets so angry that he can't eat the book!

 He half-figured out how to take his shirt off by himself. 

 He loves the sand but I have to watch him because he'll eat it. One of the days this week, he ate sand, chalk, and dirt within five minutes. 

 He also loves the swing.  A lot.  And he prefers to surf on it this way, rather than the belly-flopping he used to do on it.

 Meeting one of his sister's old friends.  He just wanted Mommy.  It had been a super long day!

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

50 weeks old



Likes to bite the spoon when we're feeding him purees.


The other day, Bear rewarded me for all my hard work and tender care by saying, "Mom" a couple of times.  I praised him profusely and he celebrated with a chorus of "Dadas."


He liked his first time in a big pool.  He was in our arms and in a life jacket.  He jumped off the edge a couple of times for us.  He's a little fish!


He's a big fan of eating dirt.  Luckily, he also likes playing in the sink.  He was eating dirt while outside with his Daddy and so he brought him inside to wash him and when he came back outside there was more mud on his face and Dave was so confused.  Then we both realized he'd kept a handful of dirt in his little fist.

He likes watching me teach Spanish classes sometimes.


He's been doing lots of great cruising.


He's a super fast crawler.  In this instance, his speed was really put to the test as he was attempting to escape three, loving girls who really wanted to hug him and pick him up.  He was looking at me like, "Help, Mom!"





We went to the zoo two days after I was done with school for the summer.  He mostly stayed in the stroller or in the Boba carrier and slept or watched passively, but towards the end I let him look at some snakes.  It was a long day for him.

Meeting a new friend!

Cheerios and cheese for lunch.  He eats more finger foods than purees these days. 

When his sister had her sleepover, he couldn't sleep at the normal time.  Poor baby! Around 10:30 I finally just brought him to bed with me and let him nurse to sleep.  It was probably the third or fourth time he'd tried to nurse to sleep.

He enjoyed the ruckus after the sleepover the next morning. 

We had a picnic lunch.  It was his sister's idea and I suddenly remembered the lion booster with the tray that we have in our basement.  It worked!


A typical scene when I line-dry the clothes. 

Checking out his new carseat before using it for the first time.

He loves going in his sister's room.  And the bathroom.  She constantly forgets to close the door to both and every time they're opened, he rushes in there, eager to experience what he's missing out on.  Once in awhile I just let him play in there, especially if all the tiny toys have been put away.  He really loves going through her kitchen area!

This happens at every diaper change.  Every.  Diaper.  Change. 

His first car ride in his big boy carseat.  Almost a year previous, we'd finally taken his sister out of this car seat.

First Father's Day with Daddy.  Daddy got a crocheted frisbee that Bunny bought with her own money and a special photo book from the three of us. 


Throwing the frisbee around on Father's Day while I prepared for my first paid Spanish classes.

This was after a round of mini-golf--where Bear slept on my back in the Boba carrier throughout the entire adventure.


Father's Day dinner together.

Monday of my first, paid, Spanish classes--we ate dinner on the lawn together at 4:15 or so.  My third class of the day is at 5pm.


He loves water.  LOVES water.  Have I mentioned yet how he slips and slides in the bathtub on his belly like a little seal? He does, and he splashes and splashes and he also discovered that the sink has water so it's a chore to get him to focus on brushing his teeth when there's a sink full of water (or better, BUBBLES!) to be found. 
Playing in his sister's room.
Mommy is a jungle gym.  Always.

He points and grunts when he wants something. 
I tried strawberries for him and he wasn't a big fan. 

Excited that he has his hands on the remote control.

During this FaceTime call with his Nonno, he was trying SO hard to touch Nonno's face.  He wanted the phone all to himself and grunted and yelled at me when I took it away. 


I bought him a Mexican sombrero to go with his "Jefe" onesie for his birthday!