The end of an era...

We are finally retiring Pres' swing. He went from vehemently hating it, to it being the only place he would sleep during his 5th month, to it being his video chair. He's been too big for it for awhile now, but we've been holding off switching it out because it means that we can't strap him in to watch his video anymore. This means no more Preston free morning showers, but it's worth it to see him sitting in his new Elmo chair. That's right...we broke down yesterday and bought him an Elmo chair. He was so cute at the store. He had to sit in it in the cart; so there was Pres sitting in the basket, in his Elmo chair, like he was king of the world! It was really cute! We tried out the Elmo chair this morning, and it went really well. He sat in it for his entire video and gave me time to clean the floors. I was quite impressed. He's not a baby anymore. He's becoming a toddler at lightening speed. Sad for mommy, but exciting for Pres.

10 Months

My baby boy is 10 months old! I can't believe how fast time is going by. Each and every week brings huge milestones. Pete and I find oursleves watching him achieve a new goal and are completely amazed! Last night I was finally getting around to putting his baby pictures in order on the computer. Looking back at those taken the first few weeks, it's hard to believe that is the same little boy. He still has the same perfect skin, big blue eyes and chubby cheeks; but in place of the blob, is an imerging toddler! !
He now has permanent scratches and bruises on his knees from crawling around outside and pulling the cats tails; his tongue can usually be seen sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he "la, la, la" (daddy has the Elmo song wrong and say "lalalala Elmo's world); he is talking up a storm and loves nothing more than to see a picture of a word he knows and pronounce the word over and over again. He says "moo" anytime he sees a cow and I know for awhile he will not say the word cow because it's much more fun to "moooooooooo" at the top of your lungs! He will sit in his chair and do the motions to "If Your Happy and You Know It". It is so sweet to watch him stomp his chubby dimpled, little feet; then pause and grab your feet to make them stomp.

Pres has found the bathroom in a whole new way and loves nothing more than to unroll a whole roll of toilet paper, rip it into pieces, and then throw them around the bathroom floor. If he has no access to to toilet paper (which is a lot now that we put it up), he will then settle for playing in the toilet. This is so gross to me, but I can't keep him out. He has learned to lift up the toilet lid. I've thought about putting a lock on the toilet, but if Pete does as well with that child lock as he does with the one blocking the kitchen trash, then I will have a lot of pee on my floor! Last but certainly not least, if the toilet paper and the toilet are all blocked, then he will just move on the the cottonelle wipes! He'll pop open the container and pull them out one by one, ripping them to pieces in the process. Needless to say, any quiet in my house means that I will soon have a HUGE mess to clean up!




















He is starting to get very good at feeding himself. Spaghetti is still his favorite, but he is enjoying mommy and daddy's french bread and brie! Talk about some expensive tastes!!!! He is finally sleep trained. I didn't think it would ever happen. He has just refused to go with it. The longest night we had, he cried for 4 straight hours!!!! Goodness. Stubborn to a fault that one is-I wonder where he gets it...

He is now more iterested in the slide than the swing and will go down over and over again. This is not a development that brings too much joy to Pete and I. We fight over who has to go down the slide with him. Yuck. It's dirty, too much static electricity, dirty, small, and did I mention dirty?!

He loves ice pops (that's right, we give him ice pops, another parenting no-no silly notion I had before having a little one). He sill sit and share one with us in the eveing. This week, he figured how to suck out all of the melted juice. He was so pleased with himself.

It's hot here and they are refreshing. As a HUGE bonus, he'll chew on the ice and it helps his gums. As far as I am concerned, these are a godsend!!!!!

I'm sure I'm forgetting lots, but I'll write more when I get the great pics from Dick of Pres playing with his new favorite toy-his train set!

8 months

Aren't we quite the pair?! This is what I look like after chasing you around all day!




Here you are chasing after a kitty in this picture! Notice the intent look on your face!

I don't even know where to begin. This past month has brought about so many changes. Some have been good...others....not so good! I think the best way to go about this is to just write this blog to my beautiful baby boy.

Dear Pres,

You are now 8 months old and it is hard to believe you used to be so tiny. Your hands and feet are HUGE so it’s clear that there will be a lot of growth in the next few weeks. You have finally cut your first teeth. Your daddy and I didn’t think you would ever get them. They are both on the bottom and they look so cute when you smile. You keep running your tongue over them and grinning as if you can’t believe they are there! Every day you show me something new. It’s amazing. You have completely figured out all of our baby proofing methods so I am in the process of moving furniture to cover any outlets you can get your little hands on. It won’t be long before you can climb over the baby gates too. I see you working on it throughout the day. You start by standing in front of it, then proceed to throw one knee, then the other against it trying to use your fat little toes to climb! Just yesterday you discovered the toilet paper. I came into what I thought was a Preston proof bathroom, to find you with toilet paper stuck in your mouth and the rest of the roll in your lap. You just grinned at me and all I could do was grin back. It’s not your fault it is so irrisitable!

You are coming into your own with your attitude as well. You make it very clear (through much grunting) if you don’t or do want to do something. Sometimes it’s hard for me to tell if the noise means you like it, or you are irritated with it. Just like your daddy, you have a low tolerance for failure. If you can’t get something right away, you grunt at it, then bang it or throw it depending on the size. When you get too frustrated, I have been putting you in your crib for what I like to call “refocusing” time. You calm right down and snuggle up to your blanket. You are going to be quite the handful my little one, and I look forward to the challenge!

You are taking lots of side steps and going from one piece of furniture to the other. Yikes! I am not even used to you being such a good crawler and now you are trying to walk!

You are starting to become more and more friendly. You will easily smile at anyone now, but you are VERY picky about who can hold you. I joke that you are like the dad from the movie Meet the Fockers ( I am sure your daddy will show this to you when you are older). He had his “inner circle” and you certainly have yours! Just this week, you’ve allowed your Grandpa Mike into you “circle”! You now reach for him to take you and say words to you. For some reason any word that Grandpa Mike says to you, you find it hilarious! For me, it is so special to see you interacting with him. Your inner circle now consists of me, your daddy, Dyer, Grandma Vicki, and Grandpa Mike. As you can see, you really are very picky!

There are so many things to share that I don’t know what to share and what to leave out. I love everything about you. I love how you wiggle your hands and feet when you like something or want me to pick you up. I love how you knock all of your books off of the bookshelf to find the ONE book you want me to read to you. I love how you will crawl up to me, jump in my lap, and bury your face in my shoulder. You are such a sweetie! I love how you will lean back when I am holding you and look at me intently, then give me a big grin. I wonder what you are thinking when you do that. I love how you will giggle in the swing. I love how you get so excited when it is time to eat. You attack your food with such gusto that many times you gag yourself on the spoon! I love how you smack your lips together when you really enjoy how something tastes, BUUUUUUTTTTT most of all, I love how you have completely changed my life. You have given me the best gift in the whole world, and that is motherhood! Thank you my boogies! I love you!

Love,
Mommy