This was just a simple activity. I love seeing how well I know my husband, especially after three years of marriage.
We started with a song, bouncing Gummy Bear, and we held him while we prayed and read a scripture. Then we let him play while we did this activity.
The book gave us a list of questions that we could ask, and I was supposed to guess what Husband Man would say. So the first question was something like "What famous person from history would you like to meet?" and I know that there are a lot of people my hubby would like to meet. I guessed Captain Moroni, and was right. Then he listed off a few other people he would like to meet from history, and then tried to guess who I would like to meet. We did a bunch of these questions, and some were harder than I thought! You could easily make up your own-- favorite food? Favorite song? Favorite actor/actress? Dream location to live? What would you do with a thousand dollars?
If we couldn't guess it then we would tell each other what we would have said. The book told us to write our answers on paper, and if they matched then the spouse was correct, but we thought that was too much work and possibly too difficult... so if you think you know your spouse perfectly, then do it that way! After three years I don't profess to know everything about Husband Man, but I know I'm getting better. I wouldn't have been able to answer these questions when we were first married!
Then we grabbed Gummy Bear and sang a closing song and said a prayer to end it. I'm sure he has no idea what was going on, but we were paying attention to him and he loved it! I still enjoy the wonderful feeling that is in our home after Family Home Evening. This is a good resolution!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Monday, January 13, 2014
FHE Monday #3
In my last post I mentioned that we are going to do better about Family Home Evening, and today, even though we didn't have it until 10 PM, we held FHE and I am so happy about it!!
When I was visiting Husband Man's family for Thanksgiving, we went to church with them on Sunday and in Relief Society his mom gave the lesson. I can't remember what her original topic was about, but the these are the things that touched me the most:
Pattern of Prayer
Library of Learning
Legacy of Love
Treasure of Testimony
Family Home Evening should have an opening prayer, a purpose, and a closing prayer. (And music.)
Looking over these simple notes I had taken, I realised that FHE can help us develop all of those things, and can be a great way to help our children feel and learn these ideas. It can also help us guide our FHEs so that they can guide and uplift and teach our children.
Anyways, this evening we did a time capsule. When I was going through my things at my parents' house, I discovered a time capsule I had done when I was about ten or eleven, probably with a church activity. I opened it, and read all kinds of goofy stuff-- I liked pink and grey, only wanted one kid, and the thing I remembered most was that my friends had just moved away. I really
thought it would be fun to do one every couple or few years as a family, and open them in the future. We picked a few questions and had each person in the family answer them, things like favorite color, food, scripture or scripture story, and how many kids we wanted (or brothers and sisters). We kept it mostly silly, but tried to have a question or two that was gospel-related. We also did a small family section that told where we lived, what callings we had, etc.
So we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever", Husband Man gave an opening prayer and did the scripture (he chose one about Noah, since Gummy Bear received a Fisher Price Noah's Ark in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa S), and I led the time capsule activity. Then we sang the "I love Daddy, he loves me" song and I "helped" Gummy Bear say a closing prayer. When it was over, we blew raspberries with Gummy Bear (his newest thing). I felt such warmth and happiness, and I know that we were doing the right thing. (Finally!)
I think this is going to be a great goal for this year!
When I was visiting Husband Man's family for Thanksgiving, we went to church with them on Sunday and in Relief Society his mom gave the lesson. I can't remember what her original topic was about, but the these are the things that touched me the most:
Pattern of Prayer
Library of Learning
Legacy of Love
Treasure of Testimony
Family Home Evening should have an opening prayer, a purpose, and a closing prayer. (And music.)
Looking over these simple notes I had taken, I realised that FHE can help us develop all of those things, and can be a great way to help our children feel and learn these ideas. It can also help us guide our FHEs so that they can guide and uplift and teach our children.
Anyways, this evening we did a time capsule. When I was going through my things at my parents' house, I discovered a time capsule I had done when I was about ten or eleven, probably with a church activity. I opened it, and read all kinds of goofy stuff-- I liked pink and grey, only wanted one kid, and the thing I remembered most was that my friends had just moved away. I really
thought it would be fun to do one every couple or few years as a family, and open them in the future. We picked a few questions and had each person in the family answer them, things like favorite color, food, scripture or scripture story, and how many kids we wanted (or brothers and sisters). We kept it mostly silly, but tried to have a question or two that was gospel-related. We also did a small family section that told where we lived, what callings we had, etc.
So we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever", Husband Man gave an opening prayer and did the scripture (he chose one about Noah, since Gummy Bear received a Fisher Price Noah's Ark in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa S), and I led the time capsule activity. Then we sang the "I love Daddy, he loves me" song and I "helped" Gummy Bear say a closing prayer. When it was over, we blew raspberries with Gummy Bear (his newest thing). I felt such warmth and happiness, and I know that we were doing the right thing. (Finally!)
Blowing raspberries!
I think this is going to be a great goal for this year!
Friday, January 10, 2014
Gummy Bear: 6 Months Old
It makes sense that he is in high percentiles because he LOVES to eat. He eats rice cereal or oatmeal, a variety of baby fruits and baby veggies. He loves all of them, and recognises the jars now when we open them. The only one he maybe doesn't like is the carrots. I don't know if it's a texture thing or what, but he always makes tons of goofy faces and noises when we feed them to him. He also loves formula, though, and for the most part holds his own bottle... until he gets bored, and then it becomes Mom's job again.
He still loves his bunny rattle and his elephant toy, and preference towards eating cloth over smooth toys. Sometimes he is perfectly content to just chew on a burp rag. On the other hand... he is getting very opinionated! If he doesn't want to play with a certain toy, then he just ignores it. If he is done sitting in the walker, then he will let us know. He is always a busy little boy, moving here and there and eating this and chewing that, talking or squealing or smacking toys on things, smiling and whining... When he's whining he puts his head down on the floor, kind of like in the picture above, being a drama queen! We just shake our heads at him and tell him he's silly.
He is quickly getting mobile. He rolled everywhere for a while, and now he army crawls across the room with record speed. A couple of days ago he started to crawl on top of things instead of just crawling up to them and touching them. I was sitting on the floor, and suddenly he was crawling over the walker (it was collapsed), around and over my lap, and then over to and on top of the humidifier. Today we caught him pulling himself up on his knees while using the walker as leverage. My mom made a guess that he would skip formal crawling (hands and knees instead of army crawling) and go right to walking... I suspect she could be right!
The johnny jumper is one of his favorites, too. He will stand in that for a while, walking forwards and around and dancing when he gets excited. The best doorway for the jumper is our bedroom door, and just inside the door is the cabinet we got to store his clothes, the sheets, and the towels. He has figured out how to open the lower cabinet doors, and he pulls out the washcloths and eats them and throws them on the floor. We had the ironing board tucked between the cabinet and the wall, but he found that and pulled it out. We're pretty sure he dropped it on his toes once, so that is now sitting out in the hallway. If you help him stand up by hold his hands, he wobbles a lot but he loves to walk forward. Sometimes he will pick up one foot really high and forget to move the other foot, and we just walk him around and laugh and laugh!
Oh yeah-- he drools a ton, but no sign of teeth yet!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Christmas and the New Year!
Husband Man was able to get a whole week off so we could go and visit my native people for the week of Christmas. It was so much fun, and SO CRAZY!
Quick breakdown:
21- arrive in the evening at my parents' house
22- church and a big house party
24- Christmas Eve: feed elders and stay up until 1AM finishing Christmas gifts
25- my baby sister wakes everyone up at o'dark in the morning (I think I literally saw sunrise while I got out of bed), stockings, breakfast, presents, down time, huge dinner......
26- extended family starts to arrive, and our annual day-after-Christmas swimming trip
28- everyone is here (my dad's eight siblings and their spouses and... 38-ish children?), family talent show (an hour and a half long, holy cow), forty minutes to change and turn the church gym into a reception (while I ran to Walmart again), large reception
29- church, packing, family dinner, packing, return home
The wonderful thing is that my baby sister and her fiance, my foster brother, and all my grandparents were there for Christmas. It was amazing for us all to be together! And Gummy Bear enjoyed all the attention he received the entire week. He and Grandma S are besties, and when my aunts and uncles showed up everyone wanted to hold GB and say hello.
So when I got to my parents' house, she heard I had only given GB fruits and rice cereal and oatmeal and told me I needed to get him on veggies. Within the first few days GB had sampled pizza crust, peppermint candy cane, pistachio pudding, cool whip, Cheerios, animal crackers, the crust of french bread, mashed potatoes, ice cream........ and been introduced to beans, peas, squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes. At one point in the week I changed no less than 5 diapers in 24 hours. I kid you not. After talking to his dad later in the week, Husband Man informed me that introducing everything like that all at once will cause problems. Nowwww you tell me! My life is suddenly filled with so much poop......
(Sorry if that was a little TMI, but............)
Anyways, after we got home and spent a few days cleaning up it was time for the new year to roll in! Husband Man worked Monday and Tuesday (New Years Eve), but then Tuesday night he had to chaperone a youth activity at church. So I went and played games with a friend in the ward whose husband also had to be at the activity. It was so much fun! We had cake, and sparkling cider, and chatted. Husband Man had New Years Day off (our best guess was that his company didn't want people with hangovers showing up to work, haha) and we had a lazy day doing whatever. It was so nice, to just spend the time together and relax and play games!
The new year is always so exciting, a chance to use the new year as a fresh start to achieve goals and try harder to be a better person. Shortly after New Years, Husband Man and I decided we would write down four family goals and three personal goals each that we wanted to achieve by the end of the year. (And if we post them, then we really have to make sure we achieve them! Hahaha!) We tried to think of goals that would increase health, spiritual health, and financial safety:
1. For a financial goal, we decided that we would try and save up a certain amount each month to reach a goal by the end of the year. Husband Man is on salary, and looking ahead we know that in the next few years we could potentially be looking at purchasing a second car, maybe putting a down payment on a house... We really felt like it would be a good idea to save as much as we can.
2. This is a financial/spiritual combination goal: we are trying to pay our tithing every month. Since we have been married we pay tithing on every penny that enters our home. When we were in college, we even paid tithing on our pell grants, and we definitely felt the blessings of giving that money back to the Lord and His church. What we aren't so good at? Paying our tithing monthly. Instead it gets forgotten, and then suddenly we're using 80% of a paycheck to catch up. It would be much easier on our bank accounts if we just did it every month.
3. For a spiritual goal, we decided we are going to try and have Family Home Evening every Monday. I know, I know, we are already supposed to do that... but we are HORRIBLE at it! Now that Gummy Bear is starting to understand more and more things, we want to set the pattern now.
4. We needed a physical goal, so we set it that we should exercise twice a week at least. I don't feel like either of us needs to lose weight, but I have turned into a weakling pansy since I had Gummy Bear and Husband Man has been talking about trimming up as well. We've tried to set more specific exercise times, such as exercising every Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, but that never seemed to work. So we are going to make it a little more broad, and hopefully it will feel like more of a choice rather than forcing ourselves to do it.
For personal goals, I'm really proud of Husband Man's choices.
1. Read "Miracle of Forgiveness". (He told me it used to be required missionary reading, but they removed the requirement right before his mission.)
2. Finish first draft of The Dream. (That's the codename he's given his novel that he is working on.)
3. 33" waist. (What? You said you weren't worried about losing weight! Don't worry, he said as long as he is fit and active then if his waist never goes back to 33" he'll understand. It's the principle of the goal!)
My personal goals:
1. Maintain a regular journal. (And GB's journal too.) I've been trying to do this, but the longer it goes the more I don't want to spend hours catching up! But I know that it is super, super important, so here it is.
2. Write every day, whether it is on my novel or on the blog(s). (This is coupled by the fact that I was allowed to have cable so long as I worked on my novel, so now I have tons of reasons to write! Haha)
3. Finish at least one project every month. I am one of those people who starts projects or gets all the materials for a project, and then never finishes it... but enough is enough! Time to actually do some pinterest projects!
I am so excited for the opportunities we are offering ourselves. And the best part is that we have chosen goals that will allow us to evaluate how we are doing each month, or even each week. There is always time to improve, and just because you fail at your resolutions in January doesn't mean you have to wait until next January to try again. We figure that if you are doing better by the end of the year, then you have succeeded!
1. For a financial goal, we decided that we would try and save up a certain amount each month to reach a goal by the end of the year. Husband Man is on salary, and looking ahead we know that in the next few years we could potentially be looking at purchasing a second car, maybe putting a down payment on a house... We really felt like it would be a good idea to save as much as we can.
2. This is a financial/spiritual combination goal: we are trying to pay our tithing every month. Since we have been married we pay tithing on every penny that enters our home. When we were in college, we even paid tithing on our pell grants, and we definitely felt the blessings of giving that money back to the Lord and His church. What we aren't so good at? Paying our tithing monthly. Instead it gets forgotten, and then suddenly we're using 80% of a paycheck to catch up. It would be much easier on our bank accounts if we just did it every month.
3. For a spiritual goal, we decided we are going to try and have Family Home Evening every Monday. I know, I know, we are already supposed to do that... but we are HORRIBLE at it! Now that Gummy Bear is starting to understand more and more things, we want to set the pattern now.
4. We needed a physical goal, so we set it that we should exercise twice a week at least. I don't feel like either of us needs to lose weight, but I have turned into a weakling pansy since I had Gummy Bear and Husband Man has been talking about trimming up as well. We've tried to set more specific exercise times, such as exercising every Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, but that never seemed to work. So we are going to make it a little more broad, and hopefully it will feel like more of a choice rather than forcing ourselves to do it.
For personal goals, I'm really proud of Husband Man's choices.
1. Read "Miracle of Forgiveness". (He told me it used to be required missionary reading, but they removed the requirement right before his mission.)
2. Finish first draft of The Dream. (That's the codename he's given his novel that he is working on.)
3. 33" waist. (What? You said you weren't worried about losing weight! Don't worry, he said as long as he is fit and active then if his waist never goes back to 33" he'll understand. It's the principle of the goal!)
My personal goals:
1. Maintain a regular journal. (And GB's journal too.) I've been trying to do this, but the longer it goes the more I don't want to spend hours catching up! But I know that it is super, super important, so here it is.
2. Write every day, whether it is on my novel or on the blog(s). (This is coupled by the fact that I was allowed to have cable so long as I worked on my novel, so now I have tons of reasons to write! Haha)
3. Finish at least one project every month. I am one of those people who starts projects or gets all the materials for a project, and then never finishes it... but enough is enough! Time to actually do some pinterest projects!
I am so excited for the opportunities we are offering ourselves. And the best part is that we have chosen goals that will allow us to evaluate how we are doing each month, or even each week. There is always time to improve, and just because you fail at your resolutions in January doesn't mean you have to wait until next January to try again. We figure that if you are doing better by the end of the year, then you have succeeded!
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Here is to 2014! Woohoo!
Monday, December 16, 2013
Their 50th Anniversary
On December 13, my paternal grandparents celebrated 50 years of marriage together. 50 years!
In a world where marriages tend to be full of unrealistic romantic ideals, arguments and struggles, divorce rates that soar higher and higher, and couples who skip marriage altogether, 50 years of commitment to the same person is a big deal!
My grandparents have nine children, over forty grandchildren (I can never keep track of exactly how many...), and one great-grandchild, and they rejoice in their posterity. Whenever possible, they travel to visit everyone when another grandchild is born or when someone reaches a milestone, including baptisms, births, marriages, and moves.
I feel so blessed to have been able to grow up visiting my grandparents regularly. They have taught me so much, mostly through example. When I think of my grandparents, I think of hard work, good food (and lots of it), selfless service, and devotion to their Father in Heaven. My family and my grandparents (and many of my aunts and uncles) spent lots of time building my parents' house and my grandparents' house. Whenever a holiday or family gathering comes around, the kitchen is full of people preparing a wonderful meal that is always accompanied by smiles, laughter, and a few stern reminders to help wash the dishes afterward. My grandparents have served two missions for the Church, and despite not being able to visit family whenever they wanted they have only had good things to say about serving the people in those areas they were sent to. When it comes to church callings, they fulfill their duties diligently and with love.
And every time I make a mistake, or do anything that makes them upset, they always forgive me. I have only felt love for my grandparents, and only felt love from them as well. I feel so blessed to know these two wonderful people, and to have them for an example in my life. May they reach their goal of another 20 years of marriage!
In a world where marriages tend to be full of unrealistic romantic ideals, arguments and struggles, divorce rates that soar higher and higher, and couples who skip marriage altogether, 50 years of commitment to the same person is a big deal!
My grandparents have nine children, over forty grandchildren (I can never keep track of exactly how many...), and one great-grandchild, and they rejoice in their posterity. Whenever possible, they travel to visit everyone when another grandchild is born or when someone reaches a milestone, including baptisms, births, marriages, and moves.
I feel so blessed to have been able to grow up visiting my grandparents regularly. They have taught me so much, mostly through example. When I think of my grandparents, I think of hard work, good food (and lots of it), selfless service, and devotion to their Father in Heaven. My family and my grandparents (and many of my aunts and uncles) spent lots of time building my parents' house and my grandparents' house. Whenever a holiday or family gathering comes around, the kitchen is full of people preparing a wonderful meal that is always accompanied by smiles, laughter, and a few stern reminders to help wash the dishes afterward. My grandparents have served two missions for the Church, and despite not being able to visit family whenever they wanted they have only had good things to say about serving the people in those areas they were sent to. When it comes to church callings, they fulfill their duties diligently and with love.
And every time I make a mistake, or do anything that makes them upset, they always forgive me. I have only felt love for my grandparents, and only felt love from them as well. I feel so blessed to know these two wonderful people, and to have them for an example in my life. May they reach their goal of another 20 years of marriage!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Thanksgiving
We have so much to be thankful for that I can't even begin to list everything. Husband Man gets after me occasionally because at night I sometimes say a really long prayer with things I am thankful for (and his ankles go numb). So I won't bore you all with everything I'm grateful for, and instead will share some fun stories and just a few things. (Sorry it is belated!)
I'm so grateful for Husband Man's parents. They were so wonderful the entire weekend, from cooking the Thanksgiving meal to washing dishes to holding Gummy Bear... Mama J even put Gummy Bear to bed every single night we were there! It was a wonderful, blessed break from being a mommy, because I didn't have to worry about a thing. It let me play Age of Empires with Papa M and Husband Man without stopping to check on Gummy Bear. It was so much fun to watch Mama J play with Gummy Bear, because she was willing to do everything! Poopy diapers? Done. Food? Check. Naptime? He's down. Bathtime? Of course!
And Husband Man's Aunt, who I will dub "Foxy", spent lots of time doting on Gummy Bear too. She snuggled with him, talked with him, played with him, and, of course, corrupted him, as aunts are wont to do. There is this song that became big out there on the interwebs called "What Does The Fox Say" and Foxy loves this song (hence her nickname). So she spent lots of time showing the video to Gummy Bear on her phone.
Right before we left Husband Man's parents' house, I asked his dad to take family photos for us since Gummy Bear knows how to smile. As children always are, Gummy Bear was a booger and just fussed the entire time. Mama J was making faces, shaking toys, making noises, crinkling the wet wipes container, even plugging in a string of lights and trying to get him to look at that. Foxy was trying to help too, in her special auntie way, by playing the Fox song on her phone. Of course, Gummy Bear stared right at her the entire time she played it! We just shook our heads.
Gummy Bear also learned a few new tricks over Thanksgiving. Mama J found her booster seat for little ones, and strapped it to one of the dining chairs so he could sit at it. We put toys on the tray, and he learned how to wave his arm and smack toys against it. He also sat in the cart for the first time, which he liked. Mama J and I went grocery shopping and stopped in the baby aisle to get formula. We were distracted by the toys, and Mama J picked a couple out she wanted to get for him. One was zip-tied to a piece of cardboard, and we handed it to him so he could hold the toy. We forgot that anything he holds will get licked, slurped, and gnawed on, and so ten minutes later I looked over and half of the cardboard was in tiny confetti pieces all over Gummy Bear, the blankets holding him up, his face, his chin folds... it was a big mess!
We had so much fun being able to see Gramma D, Foxy, Papa M, and Mama J. I'm so grateful we live closer to them, and to my parents too, so we can share Gummy Bear's silliness with them and spend more time with them. I'm so grateful we don't have to make the 11-17 hour drive to see family, especially since having a kid made it even longer. I'm so grateful that our family loves us, and wants to see us and help us out. I'm so grateful for the Gospel, and for my son and how awesome he is, and for my loving Husband Man who tries so hard to support me and make me feel awesome and beautiful. Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!
I'm so grateful for Husband Man's parents. They were so wonderful the entire weekend, from cooking the Thanksgiving meal to washing dishes to holding Gummy Bear... Mama J even put Gummy Bear to bed every single night we were there! It was a wonderful, blessed break from being a mommy, because I didn't have to worry about a thing. It let me play Age of Empires with Papa M and Husband Man without stopping to check on Gummy Bear. It was so much fun to watch Mama J play with Gummy Bear, because she was willing to do everything! Poopy diapers? Done. Food? Check. Naptime? He's down. Bathtime? Of course!
And Husband Man's Aunt, who I will dub "Foxy", spent lots of time doting on Gummy Bear too. She snuggled with him, talked with him, played with him, and, of course, corrupted him, as aunts are wont to do. There is this song that became big out there on the interwebs called "What Does The Fox Say" and Foxy loves this song (hence her nickname). So she spent lots of time showing the video to Gummy Bear on her phone.
Gummy Bear also learned a few new tricks over Thanksgiving. Mama J found her booster seat for little ones, and strapped it to one of the dining chairs so he could sit at it. We put toys on the tray, and he learned how to wave his arm and smack toys against it. He also sat in the cart for the first time, which he liked. Mama J and I went grocery shopping and stopped in the baby aisle to get formula. We were distracted by the toys, and Mama J picked a couple out she wanted to get for him. One was zip-tied to a piece of cardboard, and we handed it to him so he could hold the toy. We forgot that anything he holds will get licked, slurped, and gnawed on, and so ten minutes later I looked over and half of the cardboard was in tiny confetti pieces all over Gummy Bear, the blankets holding him up, his face, his chin folds... it was a big mess!
We had so much fun being able to see Gramma D, Foxy, Papa M, and Mama J. I'm so grateful we live closer to them, and to my parents too, so we can share Gummy Bear's silliness with them and spend more time with them. I'm so grateful we don't have to make the 11-17 hour drive to see family, especially since having a kid made it even longer. I'm so grateful that our family loves us, and wants to see us and help us out. I'm so grateful for the Gospel, and for my son and how awesome he is, and for my loving Husband Man who tries so hard to support me and make me feel awesome and beautiful. Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Gummy Bear: 4 Months Old
(He's 4.5 months at this current time, but I'm a mom now-- I'm always late. No matter how hard I try.)
Gummy Bear went in for his 4 month checkup at the beginning of November, and here are the specs:
He's about 25.5 inches tall, 63%; 15.2 pounds, 41%; and his head is 43 centimeters, 86%. BMI is 27%. He has a big head! He must be as smart as his daddy!
Gummy Bear is turning into such a goofball. He is starting to get excited over seeing certain toys over other toys; right now it seems like he loves the stuffed bunny rattle that came with our baby swing, and the elephant rattle that my mom bought him. He also is a pro at finding (and sucking/chewing on) the tags of all his toys. He will sit there and suck on the tags for forever! He still loves bathtime, and now that he kicks his feet when he's excited, it means that I often get wet while I'm bathing him!
Speaking of putting things in his mouth... if it touches his palm, he grabs it and tries so hard to get it into his mouth! We're talking EVERYTHING! His feet, his burp rag, my hair, his toys... He'll get something close to his mouth and drool and lick it until it's soaked! Then we just trade it out for a fresh one... sometimes I'll just let him chew on a burp rag, because it's easier to clean up!
The goober also loves to be upright. When he's sitting down, if he wants to sit completely upright but is stuck in a reclining position, he puts his chin to his chest and tries so hard to sit up! It's so funny to watch. He also adores standing, probably because he can see everything, and more people can see him... which means he gets more attention. He LOVES attention and definitely knows how to get it! He's very social, and smiles and smiles when you get up in his face and make faces and noises at him.
(He's sitting in my lap right now, putting his hands on the back of mine as I type and trying to grab my fingers as they fly across the keys. I love this little guy!!)
He hasn't quite figured out how to giggle yet (although he's really close!). We blow raspberries on his tummy and goose him and make faces... He soaks up every minute! He only holds his bottle when he sees it and I'm not giving it to him fast enough, and then he's only grabbing it to put in his mouth like his toys. Otherwise I guess that's Mom's job! I've replaced one of his evening feedings with solids, I just stuff him silly with oatmeal or rice, or bananas, pears, peaches, or apples, and he's been sleeping (mostly) through the night (which is A-MAZING).
He's figured out how to roll over, and very recently (about 4.5 months-- today actually) he's started rolling more than once. Not in succession, but enough in about five minutes that I have to stop cooking dinner and move him away from the books, or that stack of papers, or Husband Man's MTG cards... When he is on his tummy, sometimes he'll put his face down on the ground and stick his rear in the air, sort of making an A with his body (not a very tall one, but you get the picture). Oftentimes he scootches forward, so he's sort of "crawling" but not really (and it doesn't look very intentional, either! Hahaha).
(I've since put him on the floor while I finish writing this, and he's rolling everywhere! We are in trouble now! That will make it harder to keep him from licking the carpet!!)
He also has started laying on his tummy when he sleeps, occasionally. I've discovered (well, Grandma S discovered) that he loves to sleep on his side, and usually he ends up on his back again. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, sometimes I'll hear him moving around, eating his blankets and scratching at the sides of the pack 'n' play, eventually ending up on his side again or on his tummy.
One of my all-time favorite things is to hear and/or watch him sucking in his sleep. If his mouth is open you can see his tongue roll up, just like a little puppy, and his jaw moves up and down and you can hear him smacking in his sleep... I just think it's so cute! The other cute, puppy-like thing he does-- he sticks something in his mouth and bites down on it, and then he looks around with it hanging out of his mouth!
Did I mention that he LOVES attention? He woos all the ladies, regardless of where we are. He smiles at the checkout ladies in Walmart, who go out of their way to say hello while we're in the self-checkout lanes. He flirts with the women at church, as well as the Sister Mishes. He has all of his grandparents, and all his aunts and uncles, wrapped around all his little fingers and toes-- all he has to do is flirt with his victim, and smile and grin, and 9.5 times out of ten they pick him up.
Of course, Mama is still his favorite. If Husband Man is holding him and he hears my voice, he cranes his head around, trying to see me. If he can see me, sometimes he'll whine to be pulled out of the carseat or to be picked up... but if I move out of his sight and don't say anything to him then he eventually stops. The chiropractor checked out his back and GB started crying halfway through, and when the chiro tried to distract him, GB just stared at me and whimpered. Still a goober!
He's still a good baby, too. We traveled to Utah, and even though we spent three (probably more like four or five) days in the car, he did pretty well, and only cried close to the end. I'm sure it helped that two of his aunts and Grandma S were playing with him the entire time... But he also endured the carseat while we made trips to move the last of our stuff from our old apartment, and he sits through church without making a peep (except in excitement). We still love having him in our home, and I love watching him grow and develop every day!
Gummy Bear went in for his 4 month checkup at the beginning of November, and here are the specs:
He's about 25.5 inches tall, 63%; 15.2 pounds, 41%; and his head is 43 centimeters, 86%. BMI is 27%. He has a big head! He must be as smart as his daddy!
Gummy Bear is turning into such a goofball. He is starting to get excited over seeing certain toys over other toys; right now it seems like he loves the stuffed bunny rattle that came with our baby swing, and the elephant rattle that my mom bought him. He also is a pro at finding (and sucking/chewing on) the tags of all his toys. He will sit there and suck on the tags for forever! He still loves bathtime, and now that he kicks his feet when he's excited, it means that I often get wet while I'm bathing him!
Speaking of putting things in his mouth... if it touches his palm, he grabs it and tries so hard to get it into his mouth! We're talking EVERYTHING! His feet, his burp rag, my hair, his toys... He'll get something close to his mouth and drool and lick it until it's soaked! Then we just trade it out for a fresh one... sometimes I'll just let him chew on a burp rag, because it's easier to clean up!
The goober also loves to be upright. When he's sitting down, if he wants to sit completely upright but is stuck in a reclining position, he puts his chin to his chest and tries so hard to sit up! It's so funny to watch. He also adores standing, probably because he can see everything, and more people can see him... which means he gets more attention. He LOVES attention and definitely knows how to get it! He's very social, and smiles and smiles when you get up in his face and make faces and noises at him.
(He's sitting in my lap right now, putting his hands on the back of mine as I type and trying to grab my fingers as they fly across the keys. I love this little guy!!)
He hasn't quite figured out how to giggle yet (although he's really close!). We blow raspberries on his tummy and goose him and make faces... He soaks up every minute! He only holds his bottle when he sees it and I'm not giving it to him fast enough, and then he's only grabbing it to put in his mouth like his toys. Otherwise I guess that's Mom's job! I've replaced one of his evening feedings with solids, I just stuff him silly with oatmeal or rice, or bananas, pears, peaches, or apples, and he's been sleeping (mostly) through the night (which is A-MAZING).
He's figured out how to roll over, and very recently (about 4.5 months-- today actually) he's started rolling more than once. Not in succession, but enough in about five minutes that I have to stop cooking dinner and move him away from the books, or that stack of papers, or Husband Man's MTG cards... When he is on his tummy, sometimes he'll put his face down on the ground and stick his rear in the air, sort of making an A with his body (not a very tall one, but you get the picture). Oftentimes he scootches forward, so he's sort of "crawling" but not really (and it doesn't look very intentional, either! Hahaha).
(I've since put him on the floor while I finish writing this, and he's rolling everywhere! We are in trouble now! That will make it harder to keep him from licking the carpet!!)
He also has started laying on his tummy when he sleeps, occasionally. I've discovered (well, Grandma S discovered) that he loves to sleep on his side, and usually he ends up on his back again. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, sometimes I'll hear him moving around, eating his blankets and scratching at the sides of the pack 'n' play, eventually ending up on his side again or on his tummy.
One of my all-time favorite things is to hear and/or watch him sucking in his sleep. If his mouth is open you can see his tongue roll up, just like a little puppy, and his jaw moves up and down and you can hear him smacking in his sleep... I just think it's so cute! The other cute, puppy-like thing he does-- he sticks something in his mouth and bites down on it, and then he looks around with it hanging out of his mouth!
Did I mention that he LOVES attention? He woos all the ladies, regardless of where we are. He smiles at the checkout ladies in Walmart, who go out of their way to say hello while we're in the self-checkout lanes. He flirts with the women at church, as well as the Sister Mishes. He has all of his grandparents, and all his aunts and uncles, wrapped around all his little fingers and toes-- all he has to do is flirt with his victim, and smile and grin, and 9.5 times out of ten they pick him up.
Of course, Mama is still his favorite. If Husband Man is holding him and he hears my voice, he cranes his head around, trying to see me. If he can see me, sometimes he'll whine to be pulled out of the carseat or to be picked up... but if I move out of his sight and don't say anything to him then he eventually stops. The chiropractor checked out his back and GB started crying halfway through, and when the chiro tried to distract him, GB just stared at me and whimpered. Still a goober!
He's still a good baby, too. We traveled to Utah, and even though we spent three (probably more like four or five) days in the car, he did pretty well, and only cried close to the end. I'm sure it helped that two of his aunts and Grandma S were playing with him the entire time... But he also endured the carseat while we made trips to move the last of our stuff from our old apartment, and he sits through church without making a peep (except in excitement). We still love having him in our home, and I love watching him grow and develop every day!
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