As promised...

Look how long he is getting!




He loves to sit up and look around on our walks! He can barely see above the tray!!!!

5 months

My little guy is now 5 months old! I can't believe it! He is such a big ball of fun now. He loves to play and will spend hours in his room going from place to place playing with his different toys. We have had to say good-bye to our well used bouncer chairs. He hates to lean back and now wants to always sit up, thus creating a no go for the laid back bouncers. It has become such an amusement to Pete and I to see him lean forward and turn his head around to check out everything!

He is now wearing 6-9 month clothes, with the tops being almost too small and the bottoms being too big. He has such broad shoulders (need them with his big head!) and a tiny booty! He's rolling over and loves to be in his walker. He has started to reach out and grab whatever he can get his hands on, so I am becoming very good at quickly taking out whatever he has before he can get it in his mouth.

He is such a personality now and has a clear idea of what he likes and what he doesn't-whether it's people, toys, or activities. The cats have become quite the object of fascination and I can see him plotting for the time when he can chase them down and grab their tales on his own! They better watch out!

Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is on it's way. I am so excited for his first Christmas! We're not going to decorate here too much, but we will be spending the day with my parents (yeah!), and their house is always quite the sight to see! His first stocking is already out and ready to be hung over there! I've found the baby book that tells the real story of Christmas (no stupid Santa nonsense in our home!) and I can't wait to share it with him!

I can't wait to see what changes this next month brings for Pres! Pics to come soon!

Petard's home!

Whoo-hoo! After weeks of worrying about the adjustment that Preston would have when Pete came home, we have been pleasantly surprised. He welcomed Pete home with the sweetest smile and lots of giggles!!! So many giggles in fact, that it brought tears to my eyes at how much he must have missed his daddy. His night sleep schedule is out of sorts again, but this seems to be the only thing this time! From experience, we know that this up every couple of hours will only last about a week, and we just need to get through it! Luckily I am not alone this time and can trade off the every TWO hours that Pres is waking up. It has been very nice to roll over and make Pete get up! Poor Pete is certainly not used to it, and finally understands my response to how I am while he's gone. I always answer him with just an "I'm tired, good, but tired". He is now experiencing first hand the tiredness that is associated with being up all night, then having a baby ready to rock 'n roll at 5am!

Pres is growing leaps and bounds these past few weeks. He now can sit up on his own (with a lot of sideways falling). He has no interest whatsoever in crawling and uses your hands to pull himself up to stand. As you are holding him, he will take steps to get where he wants to, and has been having a blast going for the cats (much to their absolute horror). He is still very wary of strangers and will happily coo at them as long as they make no attempt to touch him. It they do, then we have a complete meltdown that leaves the poor person apologizing profusely to me, and myslef telling them not to take it personally because he does it to everyone. I have now started to just ask people to please not touch him. It makes me seem like a cranky old lady, but it's worth it to avoid the whole awkwardness of the touching scenario! Really...all of my neighbors are very, very old and all want to squeeze his chubby cheeks. Hopefully he grows out of this VERY soon! When he flashes those big blues and dimpled smile, people can't help themselves (even after I've asked them not to touch). It's like seeing the cute puppy at the pet shop and not being allowed to pet him.

We are headed down to Naples to spend Thanksgiving with the Blanchard/Dean/Teich clan! There will be lots and lots of kids for Pres to squeal at and lots and lots of adults for him to cry at as they all just want to hug and kiss him. Poor little guy has no idea what he's in for! Hopefully our "look first then touch" policy about him will help to ease the "stranger" meltdowns. (Sorry aunts and uncles, hopefully by the time you all read this, he will have let each and every one of you love on him a bit!)

Happy Veteran's Day Daddy!

While our wonderful hero is spending his day watching football and eating chicken wings, my little guy has finally done what I thought was once impossible! He wore himself out!!!! He played so hard, that he just passed out while playing! So my beautiful baby boy, all I have to say is..."I finally got ya!!!!"

playground fun!

Going down the slide! He wasn't too sure of this!




Playing with Grammy!!!!

He's getting so big!!!

The first three pics were taken two days ago. I was finally able to capture Pres sucking in his bottom lip! It's his favorite activity and leads to a constant struggle to keep him from getting a rash there. I'm using lanolin right now, but if anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears!!! The three with Pres and I are from today and are mainly for my hubby to see us!


The lip suck!


Hello little Pete!!!!


Don't you love the shirt?! I think it makes him look like he should be in Miami playing checkers with the old men!!!!

teething, scooting, and not sleeping, oh my...

...Pres had his four month check up (and shots) and his stats are as follows:
15.5 lbs
24 inches long
16 inches around for his head!!! (definitely a Dean)

He is cutting four teeth and we are certainly feeling the effects. The constant drool is just disgusting (maybe as a mother I shouldn't say that, but it is), and the only thing worse than the drool is the discomfort he feels. My poor angel will have a good day, then a VERY bad day. On his bad teeth day, he is so uncomfortable that he can't sleep. I've tried chew toys, ice filled washclothes, tylenol, my finger, dishtowels, toothbrush etc, etc...and it all falls short. My motto for these days is "it can only get better!" On his good days, he is tons of fun. He loves to play on his mats and be in his jumper. He'll go for 10-15 min playing by himself now and it gives me some time to sit and relax (really to throw in a load of laundry and sweep)! His favorite activity the past couple of days has been making faces at himself in the mirror. This is hilarious!!!! He finds himself to be just fascinating (again, definitely a Dean)! It amuses me to no end!

The scooting is very amusing as well. He has decided that it is much easier to get around on his back. I will put him on his tummy, and he will roll over onto his back. He will proceed to fling his feet around until he gets enough of a rhythm going to move. Unfortunately for him, this basically only allows him to move around in a cirle much to his displeasure. I am trying to get this on video, but it is hard because as I mentioned earlier he is fascinated with himself and when I am taping him, he can see himself in the lens and then will stop whatever he is doing to smile at his reflection!!!!!

In closing, I would like to send some special thank you's to some special women who have been my saving grace during the past week.

Mom-thank you for coming over and talking with me!!!
Chrissy- can't even put it into words!
Ab- I hope I haven't scared you too much about this baby thing :)
Jax- hugs and kisses
Lydia- thank for letting me know that it is okay to not like motherhood all of the time!!!!

I love and miss you Petard!