Walkage

The most consecutive steps as of right now: 6. I'm sure full on walking is in our near future as braver and braver attempts are being made.

Little Dare Devil

I thought you were being a dare devil last week when you were trying to climb in your toy box. You weren't very successful or maybe you didn't like standing on your toys but you gave up before you climbed in all the way.
That was only the beginning of your dare devil antics. This is what you tried today:

You climbed up and down from this position several times and thought it was hilarious each time. For some reason, I sense boo-boos in our future...

10 Month Repertoire of Skills

You have grown and changed so much in such a short amount of time. You are always acquiring some new skills that boggles my mind. Overnight you added giving high 5's to your list of skills. You also love to climb and will climb on anything you can. You are a proficient self feeder and quite the social butterfly (with other babies not adults). You like to play games with me and tease me.

I think you are close to walking but if you take a bit longer, that is ok too. You don't usually try around me. You will walk if I hold one of your hands but it is usually just to chase me. I was told that you took a step at daycare the other day and then sat.

Milestone Weekend

Several milestones were mastered this weekend. We had non stop waving. I don't know why you were waving most of the time but you just kept on. There was tons of clapping. Sunday was the first time I saw you clap but you made a big production out of it. I tried to get both of these on camera but you get interested in the camera when you see it and forget about everything else.

Your second tooth is about half as high as your first tooth, which is all the way up. Both teeth are on the bottom front. Again, I can't get a picture because you stop smiling and try to grab the camera every time I try.

You also slept through the night two nights in a row. We had a really bad sleeping week last week because you had croup and were miserable. Now that you are feeling better, you have been sleeping much better. I hope you continue letting both of us sleep all night. We both feel much better in the morning.



The biggest milestone of the weekend was the two steps you took. You were holding onto a chair (barely) but wanted to come to me. You took two very wobbly steps and then fell on your knees. After you fell, you didn't want to try again but that is ok.

Operation Get Taevin to Like Water

First Attempt: Baby Pool

I have taken up a crusade to make Taevin comfortable with water. We already know that he hates the bath (see post Green Ears). Today I decided to try a baby pool. It took forever to blow up the pool. It was especially hard because Taevin decided it was fun to climb in and out of it at the same time. I thought he would remember how much fun he had in it empty once we got outside and it had some water. The side yard is a slight incline so I set it up as close to flat as I could. All of the water was still on one side of the pool. I put Taevin on the opposite side so he wasn't in the water but a bit came up to his feet. He was less than impressed.

He did climb through the water to get to me but freaked out for quite a while after I pulled him out.

Next Attempt: Real Pool

The Tale of the Swaddle

First we swaddled.
Then we didn't.
Then we did.
I don't know how many almost 9 month old babies out there still need a swaddle to go to sleep but that is about the only way I can get you to actually lay down. You did sleep one night without the swaddle but you were already asleep when I put you in the crib. Lately this is what happens:
I swaddle you to get you to sleep and then you break out and sleep just fine with out it. I wonder how I can get you to lay down without it as you really don't need it to sleep anymore.

Who Needs Toys?

Who needs toys when you have dishes?
Ok, I know there are a few toys there but they are mainly dishes. Taevin wandered away from today to go exploring. This was almost unheard of until recently. I watched him crawl down the hallway without interfering to see where he would go. He only had two choices: left to his room or right to the laundry room and bathroom. He chose left. His room is baby proofed pretty well so I let him explore a bit on his own without looking for mommy approval. I walked in a few minutes later to find this.

Bye Bye!

I don't know that it was your first purposeful word, but it was your first mimicking word. And I didn't get to hear it. When I went to pick you up from daycare today, your teachers were gushing about how you said it plain as day several times. Other babies were leaving and one of the teachers said bye bye. You repeated it and repeated it and repeated it. When I came, you wouldn't say it at all. I like to think that's just because you were so excited to see me that you forgot all about it :).

This was a big week. You started babbling on Monday. Yesterday, you stood all by yourself (not holding onto anything) for about 30 seconds. And today, you repeated words. You are growing very quickly.

Green Ears

We decided to make bath time harder by adding ear plugs to the mix. Of course, they are necessary but for some reason an 8 month old doesn't understand that. After much fighting, we got the ear plugs in and got you into the tub. For a few minutes you tried to pull them out of your ears but you got used to them pretty quickly, or perhaps, you were just distracted.
A bonus picture. This is what happens every time I get your hair wet:
You try to get out of the tub. This results in Mommy being soaked by the end of the bath. I'm not sure why you don't like water much (whose kid is this?) but I'm hoping that after a summer involving a lot of swimming we can change that.

Down With Purees!

During lunch today, I was yelled at for serving pureed chicken with squash. I relinquished and offered a few pieces of cubed chicken which led to a very happy baby. And thus, a dinner of only finger foods.
I figured out a method to this madness. I only put a few pieces on the tray at a time and when those are gone, I put more. Otherwise, they all end up down in the high chair. You take pride in being able to feed yourself. Not being able to feed yourself seems to be your only problem with purees. I am a-ok with moving on to finger foods because it means much less work for me :).

Welcome Back!

Surgery. I don't care how minor or common a surgery is. No mother wants to hear that her 8 month old has to have surgery. But, that's exactly what happened. Ear tubes 3 days ago. It was nerve wracking. It was stressful. It was so hard to hand you over to the doctor. And even harder to listen to you cry when you woke up, knowing I made the decision that caused you to be crying like that.

But it was completely worth it. In just a couple days, you have changed so much. My happy little boy is back.
In the weeks and months before the surgery, you spent most of your time following me around and wanting me to hold you. Today, you flat out ignored me to do some exploring. First, you found the bags I didn't put away when we got home.
I promptly put them away which upset you, but only for a minute. You moved on very quickly. You tried to get Tori's picture off the fridge and got pretty angry when you couldn't reach it.
That only lasted a few seconds as well though. You spotted a Tupperware lid I had let you play with a little earlier. You were quite happy chasing it around the floor for a long time.
I couldn't get your attention for anything. When you did look at me, it was just to laugh or say something and then go back to playing.

Welcome back, little boy! I am very happy with the results of the surgery. I am elated that my little boy is no longer in pain. I love seeing that wonderful light back in your face.

Boxes Are Fun

A Few Smiles

Since you haven't been feeling well, I really have to work for your smiles and giggles. I think your 8 month birthday deserves a few great smiles from the past week.
From his excitement in these pictures, you would never know this baby has been sick for over a month, would you?

And for some reason, Taevin is still obsessed with the TV.

Sleep Update!

I have been nervous about posting this too early but here it goes...

Last Friday you surprised me by sleeping all night. It was completely unexpected because you had been having a lot of bad nights. I woke up before you and was scared that the monitor had broken and I was sleeping through your cries, until I heard you cough on the monitor. Relieved, I went back to sleep. You slept from 7pm until 5:30am. I was so very excited. Since then you have slept through the night 4 times (57%). Of the 3 nights you woke up, only one night did you get up more than once.

I find this amazing considering your ears are still infected. Not to mention we have had almost 8 months of really rough nights and to have them just fade away has been wonderful (for this week, at least). I hope you keep up this amazing new talent. Mommy has been enjoying her rest and I think you have been too.

A New Use For the Jumperoo

You rarely let me put you in the Jumperoo anymore. In fact, you don't like any baby holding devices unless you are eating in your high chair. I am glad that the Jumperoo is not going to waste and still has a function for you.

Caged Baby

"Hey wait a minute, I'm stuck"

"Maybe I can chew my way out."

I Don't Need to Read

For some reason you are much more interested in chewing on books than reading them. I try to read them to you while you constantly try to take them from my hands so you can eat them. You discovered my hidden book stash and got mad when you couldn't reach them. I took the lid off to move them and you immediately grabbed one to feast on. I guess that is another way to absorb information.

Curious Taevin

Curious George has nothing on Curious Taevin. Everything is something to be explored, played with and even "fixed" by you. I turned the TV off today because you crawled up to it and were watching it. You grabbed your toy, pulled up and proceeded to hit the TV repeatedly. I can only assume you were trying to fix it so it would turn on again. Unfortunately, I stopped you before you succeeded in fixing it.
I used to throw things I didn't want you to get onto the couch. I haven't been able to do that in weeks. But now, you are much more away of where things go when I move them. If I try to hide it on the couch, you watch me and then pull up to get it.

It Makes It Difficult

to take a picture when the baby is trying to eat the camera. Here were my attempts today. I kept moving back and someone insisted on chasing me.
I have to say I enjoy the stream of funny faces. I'm glad you are feeling better. And well, this one is just a great smile!

Still Causing Mischief

You have had a virus for several days plus another ear infection. Yet somehow you still find the energy to cause some mischief. I walked to the kitchen to get a drink and two seconds later I hear some thumping behind me. Yes, I forgot to put up the gate and you found your way to the empty juice bottle sitting next to the garbage can. I guess that was a better toy choice than the garbage can.

You then knocked the juice bottle around until you were on the rug which added to your fun.

Too Tired

Many things you do make me laugh so much. I don't think you can even imagine just how sweet and funny you can be. You were enjoying the jumperoo but too tired to hold your head up. You would rest your head and play with the toys, then bounce a little, rest your head, repeat. You actually got mad at me when I tried to take you out which is unheard of around here.

Another Jungle Gym

You like to spend your play time climbing on me and over me. This weekend you found a new jungle gym to climb on.

A New Texture

You had your first feel of grass today. Because we are having beautiful weather, I contemplated taking you for a walk in the stroller or packing you in the car for a trip to the park. Then, I thought that you could have a wonderful new experience right here, in your own yard, while using your newly mastered crawling skills.

I laid out a blanket but didn't expect you to stay on it. You immediately crawled to the edge and inspected the grass.
You hung out there for a while picking the grass and dropping it. I decided to sit away from you to see if you would venture into the grass. Well, you did...
but you weren't too happy about it. This was as far off the blanket as you would go. After giving the grass several dirty looks, you decided to fuss at me to rescue you. After I placed you back on the blanket, you happily played away, but wouldn't go near the edge again.

The World of Self Feeding

You seem to enjoy it. Although, I'm not sure how much of it you actually swallow as opposed to how much of it ends up all over you, your clothes, the high chair, the floor. So far you have biter biscuits, arrowroot cookies, wagon wheels and puffs.

One Week, Three Skills

BABY Bear mastered three skills this week. You have perfected you ability crawl as previously mentioned, your ability to pull to a stand and you ability to get from the crawl position to a sitting position. What is there left for a six month old to learn? I was shocked by how quickly and seemingly easily you accomplished each task. You are quite clear with your ultimate goal: walking. You are so bold as to completely let go of whatever item you were holding to reach for something, causing you to fall. You then get extremely upset. Don't worry, walking will be soon enough, especially for such a determined little boy!

Who Is That Sneetch

with all those chins? I had to post this because it is the most adorable thing I have ever seen.
Sorry about the flash on the fridge. Daycare is always sending home the cutest crafts. Next to Sneetch Taevin you can see Eskimo Taevin, a part of Taevin's terrible towel and the edge of a heart that has a handprint on it. I'm a sucker for crafts!

The Amazing Tave

In a matter of 3 short days, Taevin perfected crawling...



and adopted a new goal immediately:

Yes, that's right, from the moment he figured out how to crawl, he was attempting to pull himself up on anything and everything he could reach. He was successful here, with the help of my laptop cord, which I was trying to get out of his hand, while taking a picture because I couldn't believe he did it.* Apparently my son would like to master every skill possible before he reaches seven months. Please slow down baby, I'm having so much fun with the crawling. I don't want it to end yet.

*How was that for a run on sentence?