Week 36 & 37 - Milestones...so far!

Week 36 & 37 - Milestones....so far!
(4/18/10 - 5/1/10)

Since this blog is being used as Andrew's baby book and most baby books have sections for milestones I thought that I would list all of the things that Andrew is doing and ALMOST doing now that he is 8 1/2 months old.

Body: 24.5 pounds, 30" long (91st percentile)

Rolling over : He is a rolling master. Can roll easily from front to back and back to front. Will sometimes roll to an object if he really wants to get it.

Eye Contact: Phenomenal eye contact, no worries there!

Eating: Well this is a different topic all together. Recently (within the past 2 weeks) he has decided that he likes the "O" cereal and the puffs that you can get from the store. He is working hard on his "pincer grasp" but hasn't quite got that yet. So most of the time the cereal is on the floor because he tries to grab with a "sweeping motion" with his hands.

Sitting: He is a sitting champ. He sat pretty early and is honestly very very stable. I don't ever have to put any pillows around him when he sits now. He still might occasionally fall but that is because he is trying very hard to crawl and sometimes gets tripped up and will topple.

Crawling: We are very close to this. He can butt scoot in circles and can somehow get a foot or two across the floor by just wiggling and moving his legs. He is at the phase where he is shifting his legs to the side and then trying to rock up onto his hands. Of course that one pesky leg keeps getting stuck.

Walking: He is obviously not walking, but I had to put this in here because he is a "crazy maniac" in his walker. He gets going so fast that he will lift his legs and coast to a stop.

Talking: This is the one area that I am worried about. Of course all books say he should be babbling which is the bababa, mamamama, dadadad (basically combining consonants and vowels) but he just hasn't done this yet. That doesn't mean he isn't talking. On the contrary, he is very vocal. He is always ahhh'ing, oohhhh'ing, uuuhhhh'ing, blowing rasberries, and he does a "TTTHHHH" sound. We just haven't gotten any of those pesky consonants yet! (hopefully he is storing up or maybe it is the teething)

Teething: We have 4 teeth (in 4 weeks) and is currently worrking on the 5th tooth! He is a cutie with teeth.

Grabbing: At this point in his life there is nothing safe from his grasp! He will take anything out of your hand, and will gnaw it to death! He has also started to swap things from one hand to the other!

Sleeping: Before teething started we were having some good nights (up once a night) now that teething has started we are a minimum of twice a night with sometimes 3 times. But that is what happened with his brother so I am not worried! This too shall pass!

Name: At this point we are fairly certain he knows his name. If you call his name 9 out of 10 times he will look immediately. Of course if he is playing with his brother or a toy forget about it, but hey I don't always look if I am engrossed in something either! hehehehehe

Joint Attention: Now a days this is a big one that people look for and Andrew is good to go on this one! Part of him being curious is that when he finds something interesting he will look at it and then look at you (or the person doing the interesting thing) almost to say "What the heck is that?". He will also look at something that you point to, and has gotten pretty good at actually looking at the object not just your finger.

clapping: This one is tricky, I think he is trying to clap but am not 100% on this one yet. It really looks like it, but of course he doesn't do it on cue yet....so we will wait and see.

Personality: This is the best part of all. Andrew has the most pleasant personality. Don't get me wrong he cries and can get grumpy (he lets you know when he isn't happy). But he loves to smile, will catch your eye from across the room and give you the biggest smile imaginable! He is also EXTREMELY curious, and the #1 thing he is curious about is his brother. What Jacob has Andrew wants. I am not looking forward to him crawling cause I think Jacob will finally get a dose of what "sharing" means!

Week 35 - Kramer hair???

Week 35 - Kramer hair??
(4/11/10 - 4/17/10)


This week I have to talk about an obvious conversation point in my house or even at playgroups that seems to be getting the attention of family, friends, and yes even strangers! It is my sons hair!! The only person I can think of off the top of my head (no pun intended) that his hair kinda reminds me of is Kramer!

Now, I know that my guy is waaaaaaayyyyy cuter than Kramer, but seriously his hair is HILARIOUS! I don't know if all babies go through the crazy hair phase that Andrew is going through, but I know that Jacob went through this phase and from what I have heard I went through this phase with my hair too!!! This light blonde hair is growing in at a pretty fast pace, and when it come in it is sticking straight up in the air! You can't do ANYTHING to lay it down (not that I really try to lay it down). So between this hair and his new teeth he is a C-U-T-I-E P-I-E!!!!!

We also had my mothers wedding this weekend and the boys were dressed in their matching purple suits! Jacob and Andrew have been "playing" together here lately....well actually it is really Jacob handing Andrew things to chew on and then Jacob trying to wrestle with Andrew and Andrew just getting knocked down.....but hey it is the start of their "brother" relationship and I have enjoyed seeing it start. I can only imagine what it will be like once Andrew is mobile and can crawl all over Jacob and steal his toys!!!! UH OH!!! But because they have been "playing" Jacob wants to be near Andrew all the time, and Andrew just LOVES his brother so at the reception Jacob decided he wanted to hold Andrew.....YIKES....at least he wasn't dropped!

Week 34 - Burnin' rubber!!!

Week 34 -Burnin' rubber!

(4/4/10 - 4/10/10)

Well ladies and gentlemen I have found myself faced with an almost 8 month old that has decided to get mobile and get mobile QUICK!! Now I know you are thinking....

You: WOW is he crawling??

Me: Well no, not yet!

You: So then he must be walking?

Me: Well...... not exactly!!!!

You see when I say quick, I mean in the physical speed in which he is moving. And how is he moving at warp speed you may ask...

His favorite way to get around is his walker....and I mean HE CAN BOOK IT PEOPLE!! He can be from one side of the house, turn around, and be all the way at the other side of the house before you can blink. He also has the leg strength to push the walker up onto the carpet and start wheeling around up there too!!

I love it, I really do!!! Although mobile children come with problems like "baby proofing" they also offer new experiences in exploring, and playing!!

In terms of his "other" movement options, Andrew has started when sitting to turn his outer leg up so that his foot is flat on the floor and then he is "rocking" on his arms trying to get up on all fours. While on his tummy Andrew is learning how to pull his legs underneath him while up on straight arms. So I think his "content to sit and play" days are coming to a close soon. I need to go baby proof!!!!


We also almost have 3 teeth! His first tooth is through and two others are so close you can see the ridges of the tops through the gums, and they are very swollen! It looks like his fathers family teething has struck again with Andrew......Jacob had all teeth (including 2 year molars) by 15 months and it looks like Andrew will be following in those family teething footprints!!! Don't worry though I have already stocked up on Motrin!

We also had a wonderful Easter, here is our Easter 2010 family portrait!

Week 32 & 33 - Disney and Chompers!

Week 32 & 33 - Disney and Chompers!
(3/21/10 - 4/3/10)

Well I missed two weeks of posts, but I have a very good reason! Do you know how long it takes to pack for a week long trip to Disney World when you have NEVER traveled with one child, much less TWO CHILDREN?? A long time!!!

And just so you know I packed wwwwaaaaayyyyyy too much! The first mistake I made was that I packed for warm weather, but didn't take into account that the nights in Florida are still a little chilly. So poor Andrew and Jacob had to wear the same long sleeve/long pants outfit 5 days in a row!!! Talk about dirty!!! But the days were nice with weather in the mid to upper 70's and other than rain the first day we got there, it was sunny skies!

Andrew didn't really know what was going on in Disney, but he was along for the ride and seemed to enjoy the loud music and the bright colors. He adjusted well on the trip and allowed his father and I to take him away from his normal sleep schedule and have most of his naps in the back of the stroller. During the week long trip we FINALLY got a tooth that actually came in, you know that alleged tooth that has been coming in since he was three months old......yeah that one...well it finally decided to join the world!!! The funny thing in that his brother got his first took on 4/25 and then proceeded to get 8 teeth in eight weeks.....wonder if they are going to be the same?? They were born pretty much on the same day (two years apart) and have met many of their milestones almost identically....looks like I could be in for "hell weeks" part two!!!!