Clingy Weekend

LR had an odd weekend. Guess he's decided it's time to shake things up a little bit. Saturday we spent doing some odds n' ends around the house. When LR went down for his first nap we finished water proofing the deck. After he woke, we ran to the grocery store where I finally had a chance to use the cart seat cover that I ordered. It worked wonderfully except LR was tired and wanted to be held instead of sitting in the cart. I ended up huging him while he sat in the cart. It was a little tough to steer, but he just wouldn't let go. So, all of a sudden he's become very cuddly. He wants to hug all the time. Don't know if he's teething or just entering a new stage. He still wants to walk, but as often as not he wants to be picked up and held.

After we got home from grocery shopping, LR went right down for another nap. He slept for a little over an hour. When he woke we played for awhile and practiced with his walker. When he grabs my hands to walk I give him one and then hold my second hand in front of him. He'll take a few steps toward my hand. We're up to 5 steps one handed now. In the evening we spent some time visiting with Uncle NY who was up for the weekend for a RedSox game. Bedtime was pretty uneventful. Unfortunately, Sat night was a tough one. He woke at midnight, 3, 4:30, and then 5:45 for good. Not sure what happened. I'm thinking he got overheated, but maybe it goes hand-in-hand with whatever is making him want to cuddle so much. It's time for him to get his top two teeth and he is starting to drool more. Who knows...

Sunday he was off schedule because of the poor night's sleep. Everything was shifted about an hour earlier. Between naps 1 and 2 he rubbed his eyes and acted tired most of the time. I think he was relieved when I finally put him down for that second nap. After the nap he ate his weight in watermelon and was pretty happy. Gigi's friend was visiting and she kept him very entertained. She has 37 great nieces and nephews, so she certainly knew how to make him laugh. Gigi and her friend watched him for a little while in the afternoon while we went to a few open houses. Then we came home and fed him a dinner of bread, avocado and strawberries. He was thrilled with the menu. I also introduced him to mashed potatoes (which he loved) somewhere in there this weekend, I just can't remember when. He slept better last night, but still woke at midnight and cried for a few minutes.

This morning he cried when I left for the first time. Hoping that doesn't become a daily ritual...

Spinning

LR woke at 5:40 for Daddy on Thur morning. I made a bottle for them, but LR was up for the day since he wet through and needed a complete change. They played until I got up. I took LR while Daddy got ready for work and then we traded places. LR and I played ball by passing a small rubber basketball back and forth. He used to throw it, but recently it's more like "the sharing game" where he wants to put the ball directly in your hands.

I forgot to blog about the other day when I tried to give him a banana popsicle. I cut up large chunks of banana and stuck them on popsicle sticks. He likes them, so I gave him one while he was sitting on the floor. He ate a little, but then he wanted to wave it around like a sword. *bop* on the floor, *bop* in his hair, *bop* on the wine fridge. I grabbed hold of the stick with him and tried to keep it from getting banana slime everywhere. He got so irritated that I was holding it that he let go, whined loudly, and spun on his butt in a full circle. When he got back to facing me, he grabbed the stick again and put the banana end in his mouth for a second. Then he wanted to wave it around, but was foiled by the mean mommy again. So he whined and did another 360. I thought it was so funny. After a third time, I decided it was time to ditch the banana.

Last night he was happy when I got home. He's had two 90 minute naps during the day and ate heartily, so he was in a good mood. We played inside and then Gigi said she had put clean water in the pool, so we headed to the deck to play in the pool for awhile. I dropped a plastic fish into the water and it splashed him, but it also made him laugh hysterically, so we did that for awhile. He got a little chilly, so we headed back inside where I dried him off, put some shorts on him and sat him down for a dinner of pasta, carrots, broccoli, and pears. He wasn't super keen on the pears, but he loved the pasta. Daddy came home at the end of dinner. He put LR in the bath and they played until bedtime. I gave him a bottle which he didn't really want, so I bounced him until he was drowsy. Then he went into the crib easily and was out just after 8.

Walking and Swimming

Daddy got up at 6 with LR on Tues. Tried feeding him plain yogurt with blueberries mixed in. I never knew how nasty plain yogurt is. He rejected it and so did I... right into the garbage disposal. Yuck! We had a wonderful babysitter from the team come and help out since Gigi was still feeling under the weather. She took him for a walk and put him in the pool. I guess he was pretty well behaved. In the evening he showed me how he could use the dining room chair to walk around. I guided the chair around major obstacles, but otherwise, he drove. It was easier for me than bending over and holding his hands and the pads on the chair legs created enough friction to keep the chair from sliding too quickly across the floor. After playing for awhile I plunked him into his high chair and fed him a dinner which consisted primarily of avocado. He ate a whole one all by himself. The pasta and broccoli were merely distractions.

Was up early with LR on Wed, but he fell back asleep in my arms and was out until 6:30. Gigi was feeling up to the task on Wed, so she returned much to LR's delight. I got home on the early side after a doctor's appointment, so we headed out to the deck for a dunk in the pool. The water was very warm after sitting in the sun all day, so we added some cool water to it from the hose. He splashed around, but it wasn't too long before he decided he wanted to crawl out of the pool. If I weren't worried about him getting splinters in his hands and knees, I'd let him. Shortly after I took this picture, I took him out of the pool. Daddy came home and had picked up dinner on the way, so we all ate while LR played around the dining room table. Daddy put him down for the night and after he talked to himself for awhile, he fell asleep around 8.

Pump up the Volume

LR was up at 5:20 this morning. Last week I experimented with altering his schedule to make him wake up later, but he seems to be back to his old tricks. I was exhausted, so not very playful for him this morning. Daddy let me get another half hour and then we did a quick tag team to get ready for work. Gigi called in sick today, so Daddy worked from home in the morning while I ran to the office. Daddy really got the easy shift since 2 hours in the morning is taken up by his nap, but I'm not complaining. Ok, I'm complaining a little.

Daddy fed him lunch before I got home and apparently they also took a quick walk in the gorgeous weather. I put him down for his second nap soon after coming home, but it only lasted 40 minutes or so. It took him a little while to shake off the nap, but once he did we had a great time playing in the kitchen. I let him pull out metal bowls and his big wooden spoons. He put on a real show for me while I baked some cupcakes. I gave him a snack of stars, cheese, and water which he ate from a large tupperware bowl on the floor. The cheese ended up crumbling all over the floor, but he was content, so I didn't mind. Then we took a quick walk to the park where I put him in the swing for a few minutes. I realized it was just a little too hot to be out though, so I cut our outing short and brought him home. After that he was a little cranky. I think the afternoon nap was just too short. He was tired during dinner and even let me spoon feed him carrots! He's been rejecting jarred food for awhile, so I was surprised. He ate his pasta and broccoli half heartedly, but he came to life when I brought him watermelon for dessert. I was afraid he was going to explode, but there was no way he was going to leave any watermelon on his tray.

Any time not eatting today was spent yelling. Not in an unhappy way, he's just testing out his volume control. He got really excited to see Gigi's dogs. He yelled and yelled and yelled at them when we went to visit her downstairs. "DA! BA! DA! DA! AHHHH!" Not really sure what to do with him when he does that. If I put him down on the floor when he's that excited, he'll just rip their tiny Westie ears off.

Daddy came home just in time to read LR some bedtime stories and put him to bed. His new PJs fit well and they're nice and soft. They're 18 month PJs and they fit well around his Buddha-belly, but the sleeves and legs are a little long. Built just like his parents!

Weekend in Review

Sorry for the delay in posting. We had a busy weekend. LR is exploring the whole house and gets really pissed when he hears the gate close in front of the stairs. Of course, the stairs completely fascinate him. Why wouldn't they? He can easily navigate the small stair between the kitchen and laundry room now and he likes hanging out in the laundry room where the big glass doors to the deck are. Also, the washer, when in use, is almost as interesting to watch as tv.

So lets see... Saturday. LR woke up at 6 and since Daddy was already up, squeezing every ounce out of the weekend, he took LR and let me sleep another hour. After I got up we took a walk to the muffin shop down the road. We picked up a few muffins for the weekend and then took the long way home. LR was content to look at everything and I signed a few things as we passed: tree, flower, dog, etc. When we got home he had a big breakfast of yogurt and blueberry muffin. Such a mess, but he loves it. I'm probably feeding him too many sweet things, but he loves broccoli, so I figure that makes up for it.

After breakfast and a little cleanup, LR went down for over 2 hours. That morning nap continues to be his longest and most regular. I ran to Babies R Us and picked up a walker/rider for him and some 18 month PJs. His feet are HUGE all of a sudden and he's outgrown his 12 month PJs. After he woke and we all had a little lunch we ran out to look at a few houses in Winchester and Concord. LR was really well behaved and we let him crawl around when we found clean carpet or wood floors. When we got home LR took a very short nap which made him pretty crabby by the time dinner rolled around. He seemed to like the walker, but the closest he got to using it correctly was crawling while pushing it with his hands on it.

By Sunday afternoon LR was starting to get the hang of the walker. Daddy managed to get him to stand while holding onto the top of it and take a few steps. We were worried about the walker not having any friction control, but that doesn't seem to be too much of a problem yet. It may just be that he's tentative right now. I'll have some pictures of him using it up soon.

Sunday was much the same. Took a long nap in the morning, looked at a few houses in the early afternoon, napped when we got home, and then entertained our friends whom we had over for a casual BBQ. I'm looking forward to when I can let him walk outside on the deck. Right now I have to hold him the whole time we're out there and he gets pretty squirmy. Eventually I took him inside to crawl around while everyone finished their meals. He got really fussy when we tried to get his PJs on, but he loves the bath right before that. If I could figure out how to dress him in the bath our problems would be solved.

Stormy Night, Beautiful Day

After a series of humid days in the 90s, we finally got the storm that broke the spell. The lightning and thunder rolled through around 4am. LR woke up screaming at 4:30 which was odd because the thunder never got very loud. I went in, made him a bottle and rocked him back to sleep. He came and slept with me until 6:30. Then we were both up for the day. I got ready for work while he played. Gigi came up and helped out so that I could get out the door.

Gigi and LR took a long walk today and stopped at the farmers market in Arlington. They picked up fresh blueberries and raspberries. He had a slew of blueberries for dinner, some pasta and at least a quarter cup of cottage cheese. After dinner I gave him a bath where he immediately tried to dunk his face in the water. His enthusiasm gave him a mouth and nose full of water. He sputtered for awhile and was much more tentative about it afterward. I let him play for awhile, but when I got tired of chasing him around the tub and was good and wet, I took him out and dried him off. I've stopped trying to get him in PJs on the changing table. I'm happy with just getting the diaper on. Then I take him out to the living room to wrestle him into his clothes.

I let him crawl around the floor for awhile while Gigi and I ate dinner. Unfortunately, he gagged on something he found on the floor under his high chair and brought up a bit of his dinner. You should have seen my mommy-ninja like moves. He was in my arms when he started to gag and I whipped him around right as he barfed. I even got a kudos from master-Gigi who was watching. The picture at the top was taken moments later. He was obviously no worse for wear.

The second picture is an example of what he does every time he finds his blankey. He's even started to go looking for it when he's tired during the day. Even more obvious than sign language. I've told Gigi that she'll have to crochet another one before she leaves.

Getting the hang of it

Tried his new schedule today with slightly less success. Took awhile to get him to go back to sleep this morning and then we only slept for another hour. I've yet to figure out how to get him back into the crib. So far he just cosleeps with me until he gets up again. When we woke up, I put him in the exersaucer while I showered and got ready for work. Just one more day until Daddy gets home from Portugal!

Gigi reported that he took a nap this morning, but didn't want to go down for his afternoon nap. When I got home from work he had just fallen asleep. He ended up sleeping from 5-6:15. I finally woke him up so that he would eat dinner and then go to bed. We played for awhile while he woke up and then I fed him blueberries and pasta. He wouldn't look at anything else while there were still blueberries on his tray. After dinner he took a nice long bath. I took him out of the bath chair and let him play in the tub for awhile. I was amazed when he decided he wanted to put his face into the water to see what it was like. I hadn't tried to introduce him to that other than practicing blowing bubbles in a full cup of water in the tub. He just put his nose and mouth in and I thought it was a fluke, but he did it 4 times during the bath. He also really wants to stand up in the tub, so I'm trying to discourage that.

After tub time I got him into PJs and he surprised me again. I had noticed (I think I mentioned it in the last post) that he's waving a whole lot more recently. So during the evening, I kept trying to get him to sign "mommy." No dice, but he did try to sign the itsy-bitsy-spider with me tonight. I sang it once and since I always clap at the end, he clapped with me. Then I decided to sing it again, curious if he would join in. He smiled for the first line, mimicked rain for the second line (I had always thought he was just waving his arms in excitement, but it's much more clear now), and raised his arms for the line about the sun. I was so thrilled to see his participation that I sang it for a third time. That time he just wanted a hug though. Fun evening!

New Schedule?

So we've been under the impression that LR was just an early riser and we needed to get used to it, but the past 2 mornings have been a little different. Sunday morning he woke up at 4:45 because his legs got caught in the crib slats. I went in and got him and then he seemed like he was awake. I, however, was not. I made him a bottle and took him back to his room where he drank half and the other half ended up leaking out all over both of us. I guess I picked up one of the new nipples and hadn't bothered to seat it correctly in the screw cap. *sigh* So I changed my shirt and put him in a new sleeper. Then I let him play around on his floor for a half hour. Then he needed to be changed again. (He's a morning pooper - like clockwork.) When I changed him I noticed that his normal I-don't-want-to-be-changed fuss was combined with an I'm-tired whine. He rubbed his eyes a few times, so after he was changed, I bounced with him on the exercise ball a few hundred times. He closed his eyes, so I tried to put him in the crib, but he woke up. I then rocked him in the glider for 5 minutes and he was out again. This time I took him to bed with me and, miracle of miracles, he slept for 2 more hours! I felt bad for the babysitter because I knew he'd be completely off schedule. She seemed to cope without a problem though.

Today he woke at 5:15 and I went through pretty much an identical routine sans the formula spillage. He slept until 7:45 and might have gone longer, but I dropped a plastic cup in the kitchen. Oh well. Gigi reported that he took his same naps, just an hour and a half later on average. He seemed happy when I got home and I guess he was all day for the most part. I just put him down at his normal time, so that hasn't changed. Maybe we have a new schedule?

Dinner consisted of blueberries (new food), pasta, cheese, and carrots. He's waving more often now which makes me think he's trying to get a handle on the signs for "mommy" and "daddy" since you basically wave your hand in front of your face. Not sure if it's wishful thinking or not.

New Sign

We had a very busy day today. Daddy got up with LR at 5:15. I joined them at 6:30. LR had his usual breakfast of Yo-Baby and stars. Then we walked and walked and walked and walked. He was tired out by 9 (I was tired out by 8) and went down for almost 2 hours. During that time Daddy and I got to work (knowing it would be our most productive time of the day). We water sealed half the deck, started work on 4 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, picked up the living room, and Daddy did a few small fix-it jobs around the house. LR woke up feeling very rested. After a little quality play time he had a lunch of cereal, applesauce, watermelon and cheese. He doesn't love the cereal any more, but we're still pushing it so that he gets the iron he needs.

After lunch we thought it'd be a good idea to run to the stores to get some bigger PJs for LR and a new baby monitor. Ours broke a few weeks ago. I tried to keep him awake on the ride there so that I could test out our brand new cart seat cover, but he nodded off just as we pulled up to the stores. *sigh* So Daddy drove around while I went into Babies R Us and I drove around while he ran into Home Depot. LR woke up when we got home, so it was a quick and early nap. At home we had a fun afternoon. We walked a lot, of course, but LR also showed us the sign for "ball." I didn't recognize it at first, but Daddy pointed it out. I thought LR was clapping, but he was putting his hands together just once when we showed him a small basketball. Then Daddy taught LR how to put the basketball through a small hoop that came with the tunnel system. Daddy would show LR how to do it and then lift LR who sometimes dropped the ball through the net and other times just held onto the net. It was very cool. I'll get a picture of it next time.

Oh and nothing makes LR laugh harder than when we play peek-a-boo around the small couch. He crawls around 3 sides to where I'm hiding and then I pop out and he shrieks. He loves to be surprised. It's half chase half peek-a-boo, I guess. That game went on for at least 15 minutes.

This evening our neighbors dropped off their 2 month old for a few hours until his Dad gets off work. The V-man is very cute, but reminds us why we love LR just where he is. LR was a little curious why I was holding a different baby, but at any given time he had one of our attentions, so he was content. So LR went to bed right at 7:30 and now we just have the V-man for another couple hours. In any case it was a pretty great day.

Turn Around

LR's big accomplishment over the past few days has been learning how to navigate the step from the kitchen into the laudry room. It's only about half a step, so it's a good one to learn on. Every time he gets to the top of the step, I say "turn around" and sign for him to turn. Up until yesterday I would have to follow the command by physically turning him around and helping him find the floor beneath the step with his foot. Yesterday we went through the routine and after a minute of smiling, he turned arond and reached down with his foot. Hooray! These little accomplishments are so amazing.

So everyone has sore backs. LR wants to walk all day long now. If you leave you hands out for him to grab, he'll try the "finger breaking" technique that I teach to my rugby players. Don't remember teaching him, but he picked it up somewhere. If you ever stop before he's ready to stop, you're rewarded with some loud shrieking and then a whine or two. You have to distract him with something else pretty quickly, for example banging a metal pot top on the ceramic tile floor. Boy, what a sound that makes! We can thank Gigi for that particular game.

Wednesday he was up at 5, so Daddy and I took turns. Even worse, Thursday he was up at 4:45! I let him talk to himself for awhile, but finally went to get him at 5. This morning he was up at 5:40, but I'm really hoping that since his bedtime has gone from7:30-7:45 that he'll start waking closer to 6am. That feels human at least. He really should be getting closer to 10 hours instead of 9. It wouldn't matter if I could only get to bed at 9. What time is it now? Damn, it's 9:30 already. I'm going to bed...

Long day

LR had a long day today. Woke up at 6am and seemed to be on track. Gigi had to take her dogs to be groomed and LR napped a little in the stroller on the way but woke up when they got home. Usually he takes his long nap in the morning, so she just crossed her fingers that he'd take his long nap in the afternoon to make up for it. Unfortunately she had to go pick up the dogs right around the time of his second nap. She tried to walk, but a few steps from the door and the skies opened up. She got him inside and then started hearing loud thunder and even some hail. So she loaded him into the car instead. When they got home, he had been asleep for 5 mins and she made the transfer, but he only stayed out anther 5 mins.

I was expecting a cranky baby when I got home, but he was pretty reasonable. We played hide n' seek around his Jumperoo. He laughed enough to make both Gigi and I join in. I finally snapped a pic of him in his tunnel system which he absolutely loves. He was coming for the camera, so I had to work quickly. He ended the evening with a brief dinner and a quick bath. Put him down at 7:30 and haven't heard a peep out of him since.

Blowing Bubbles

(New photos added below.)
Woke up early this morning. 5:15 and I heard him call out. Daddy made a bottle and I tried to get him to go back to sleep, but it was a no-go. So we went out to the living room to play. He cruised around the coffee table and made sure to grab hold of my hands a few times to do some walking laps around the house. He has almost no stability, so he leans forward enough to go at a run. I'm terrified that I'll step on his feet while trying to hold him up.

Handed him off to Daddy while I grabbed a shower and then Gigi took over. Today they went to the mommy-movie at the Arlington theater. Unfortunately, he was a wiggle worm and mid-movie she had to take a break just to let him walk around in the lobby. She held him every which way, including upside-down, while trying to watch. Guess that's the last movie for awhile. He slept a bit on the walk home but woke up when she tried to transfer him to the crib.

When I got home I found a very happy LR. He was holding Gigi's hands and walked up to the gate at the top of the stairs to greet me. He was smiling and giggling. The past few days he's been imitating our laughs and makes a "hya-hya-hya" sound every few minutes. It keeps us laughing. After a dinner of broccoli, green beans, carrots, cheese, and watermelon (boy does he love watermelon) I got him into the bath. His favorite game in the bath now is to blow bubbles in a big cup of water that I use to dump water over his head. First I blow bubbles and then he takes the cup from me and he blows bubbles. When we first started the game a week ago he had a hard time figuring out when to take his mouth away from the cup so that he wouldn't inhale water. Now he's got it down. He blows bubbles, moves his mouth away and takes a breath. It's amazing how fast they learn. He thinks the game is a riot. I should really get him into swimming lessons especially since we looked at a house this weekend that has a pool!

Cruising along

LR and I got up early again yesterday. We played and ate breakfast and then woke Daddy up at 8am. Then I got in a quick nap. LR is trying to clap now, but it's more like pounding his fists together. He's been spending the mornings crawling in and out of his tunnel system. His newest activity is walking while holding our hands. Sometimes it's at a run and other times he's so wobbly that he has to sit down. He likes to walk into the kitchen where we've given him access to the cabinet with all the recipe books and take out menus. He pulls them out and chews on them daily. In actuality, he has access to all the cabinets. I'm still waiting for the baby proofing magnets I ordered last week. They come with magnet keys and as long as we don't lose them, everything will be okay. Magnets will also keep him from opening the cabinets just wide enough to pinch his fingers.

After playing in the kitchen he usually heads to the laundry room where there is a very small step down. We're working on negotiating the step. I want him to go over the step backward, but he disagrees with my theory on gravity and wants to go head first. We made a game of it yesterday where he would climb halfway up the stair and then sit back down. I would say "bump!" and clap for him. He did that a few times and then he lifted himself up, but didn't step up at all and sat back down. I clapped again. After that he just leaned forward and sat back down, testing how little he had to do to receive clapping. It was very cute.

He had a nice long nap in the morning and then we went out and ran some errands. He didn't nap again until later in the afternoon and only slept for 30 minutes or so. Definitely not enough and he woke up pretty cranky. We tried the pool outside which was fun, but after 10 minutes or so he got chilly and wanted to come out. At dinner we noticed a rash on his forearms and we don't know if it's eczema or if it's irritation from all the crawling and cruising. It seems to come and go with the use of a moisturizer, so I think it's eczema. Too bad we just had our 9 month appointment. I might call Dr. Nick if it gets any worse.

Dinner consisted of steamed french green beans, carrots and broccoli, oatmeal cereal, and cherries for dessert. I like that we don't have to do jarred food much anymore. It makes eating out easier since he wants to feed himself. He hated jarred green beans, but he seems to love the steamed ones. Carrots were always a favorite, but the baby ones that he can grab a hold of are much easier to clean up and don't stain as much. We ran a quick bath for him after dinner and Gigi took care of him while Daddy and I tried to clean up the kitchen. I finally washed his highchair cover which had gotten super gross. I also wiped down the plastic of the chair and it looks like new again. Then it was bedtime and Daddy put him to sleep easily with a bottle.

Back to the new routine

Gigi is home finally and boy was LR happy to see her. He gave her a nice hug when she came up this morning. He was hiding under the Jumperoo when she first came up, but he crawled out and into her lap as soon as he saw her.

I guess she spent the rest of the day running after him. In the short time she's been gone, he's started really moving. He motors around all day when he's not eating. So the schedule was like this:
8-9am Chase the baby
9-10:30 Nap time
10:30-11:30 Chase the baby and see him try to open cabinets and then pinch his fingers. Ouch!
11:30-noon Feeding time at the zoo
noon-2pm Chase the baby (Are you kidding me with all the moving? Hold still!)
2-3pm Nap time
3-3:15pm Fight the urge to leave LR diaper-less instead of fighting with him on the changing table.
3:15-5:30 Strap him into the stroller and take him for a walk the park. Then, Chase the baby.

When I got home Gigi said no more family can come until she leaves. Apparently she couldn't leave him for a minute. Guess he got used to lots of playmates this past weekend! I opened one of the big boxes that goes with the tunnels and she played a hysterical game of hide-n-seek with LR. He laughed so much that I turned on the video camera and got some footage of it. Daddy came home soon after so that I could hit the gym. Daddy says that bedtime is getting later. LR wasn't tired until closer to 8pm. If that means he sleeps until 6am, I'm all for it!

Holiday Weekend

Sorry for the delay in posting. We had a very busy weekend. Grandparents and Aunt K came into town for the holiday and had a ball playing with and spoiling LR. Let's see, what do I remember about this weekend...

LR made his first conscious sign. Sunday morning Daddy, LR and I were hanging out in our bedroom looking up at the fan spinning. We've showed him the sign before and when I signed it this time, I watched LR point the index finger on both hands and look at them. Then he raised one hand and made circles with it. It was an obvious sign and the first I've seen since he learned "milk." I'm calling "fan" his first sign since he did it consciously instead of reflexively. It was very cool to watch. Daddy opened his eyes just in time to see it. I saw him sign it this morning as well. It's exciting to think that our days of no communication are coming to an end (and the days of frustrating partial communication stretch out before me for the next, oh, 50 years or so).

Sunday we had a small BBQ and had some friends over with their 5 month old King J. It was a toasty day so we couldn't go outside until later in the afternoon. Daddy and Grandad cooked up some oak-smoked salmon on the grill. LR consumed half an avocado and a jar of sweet potatoes for dinner. The heat overwhelmed him a little and with all the excitement, he was way off schedule. Two 45 minute naps does not a happy LR make. He felt better after we got him into the bath. While Aunt K watched him in the tub, cries of joy turned to cries of anguish on the deck as King J defiled his father's second shirt of the day (the first one suffered from a minor bout of upset stomach). King J's parents came in asking for a safe space to set the leaking child and a torch for his dad's shirt. Everyone dissolved into hysterics and Daddy gave J's dad a(nother) new shirt. After everyone was cleaned up, the babies decided it was time to call it a day. Otherwise it was a lovely day.

Monday Daddy went to work and the rest of us went to Toys R Us for LR's early birthday presents. Since he loves crawling under the table and into small spaces, they bought him a tunnel system (probably the same his cousin Bud has), some foam blocks, and a small inflatable pool for the deck. He has thoroughly tested and loves them all. Not sure how to keep him in the pool yet, but we're working on it. The tunnel system was a huge hit. He's very content to play inside just small portions of the tunnels and he likes the balls that came with it - soccer, basketball, and golf.

Tuesday everyone was together again, but the best time for the family to leave, to avoid the worst weather, was in the morning. Daddy stayed home with LR and put him down for his first nap while I took them to the airport.

What else... he's cruising pretty well now, but is still not terribly stable which has lead to a lot of head bumping. He's taken a few nasty spills, but seems to be able to recover quickly. We tell him to rub some dirt on it and get back out there which he generally does after a good hug. Oh and he's a terrible ham. Every time we pulled out a camera he would turn and smile his two-tooth grin and then squint his eyes in anticipation of the flash. It was almost impossible to get a candid shot.