Learning to Sit!!!

Micah is learning to sit. It's been a process, a gradual one, and I'm OK with that. But he is getting much better. This shows his cuteness (hard to miss) plus it shows how well he is sitting while playing...in the kitchen...with daddy...while daddy is multitasking (I should leave them alone more often!).

More on the Food

I wrote the other day about trying peas and carrots together and how Micah did with it. He LOVES carrots. He did OK with the mixture. Didn't seem real excited but seemed interested. Mostly it just seemed harder for him to eat the skins of the peas...
Well, I had some more of the mixture from the batch I had made originally, so we decided to finish it off tonight. And I remembered to get the camera out.
He has had a bite or so (as you can easily see that Dad is feeding him!) here.

Seems to be doing OK. Not getting it all in his mouth, of course, but some of it seems to be going down.

As you can see, he is not overly thrilled, but is still (cautiously) opening his mouth.

He is cleaned up now. Not real sure that he wants to look at what he is supposed to be eating. And definitely not sure that he wants to be eating this at all. We keep trying...

But then we get the ultimate answer as to how he really feels about the peas and carrots:


I don't think we will be finishing the peas and carrots any time soon!

I mixed up some peaches and bananas after this and he got very excited about the fruit!
For a view of what it looks like when he really does enjoy his food...

Arms open and ready. Mouth WIDE open in eager anticipation. A much better response to the good stuff!

New Foods

This has been a great week of trying new foods. Some he has had before, some he has not. This is our first week trying to combine foods (other than something with cereal) and it has been great.

Earlier in the week I mixed avocado with banana. I think this helped him eat the avocado better than he has in the past by itself. I only mashed the banana for these meal and I think that he is not quite ready for this level, but he did eat it.

Last night we tried combining peas and carrots. He has always loved carrots, but this is our first time with peas. I do not have a mill, so I think the skins were a bit harder for him, but he did eat it. He just spent more time concentrating on what to do with it once it was in his mouth.

And today I tried cantaloupe mixed with banana. I had some cantaloupe that was a little soft when I cut it up for us a bit ago, so i put the soft pieces in the freezer for a while. Got them out and thawed them before pureeing them with half a banana. It was probably about 4-5 ounces of food (at least!) and he ate it all. I think it helped to have the banana fully pureed for now, so we will stick with that for a while before trying to mash them again.

I love trying new foods (for us and for him) and I am very excited that he seems to enjoy trying new foods as well. And it's all homemade. FABulous!

I'll remember to take pictures next time. It's more fun with photos!

A week with Grandma!

This is Micah visiting me one day last week!

I need to get some shirts for Micah and myself.

Mine would say "I survived a week without my son. Almost"

Micah's would say "I survived a week at Grandma's"

No. Not really. It was a great experience for Micah I am sure! We came back and he is walking and talking and eating steak...

Well, maybe not all of the above, but I think it really was great.

He was going through a fairly clingy stage just before we left, so I knew this would either be really hard or really good. It was really good. He was shying away from people he had previously been comfortable with. But after a week at grandma's he is ready to hug and smile at anyone!

He's getting more comfortable with falling asleep anywhere again. Even on our laps or in crazy environments.
His personality is coming through more now.
He is starting to be able to sit on his own.
He is responding to his name when called.
He is becoming even more aware of what and who is around him.

And there is so much more! It's crazy to think it has already been 6 months. It's also crazy to see how fast changes occur. Especially gone for just a week and coming back to a new little boy! What a lovely boy God has created for us!!

The bottle

My son is hilarious. And Matt being his dad makes him even more hilarious. Matt has really enjoyed helping Micah learn how to hold a bottle on his own, and Micah has really gotten into it.
I recently came home from working out to find this.

Isn't he just absolutely adorable?! It is undeniable! It's kind of cute too that he is not really getting that much out of the bottle-which has some natural apple juice made by his momma!-but instead is more enjoying the challenge and independence of the process.
Let me give you a better idea of what was actually going on:


Yes, this is the middle of our kitchen floor. This is what Micah was doing while daddy was making dinner and mommy was working out. Totally cute and funny! He wasn't moving. He didn't have a care in the world. I think he was a little curious why we were trying to get pictures of this. He didn't think anything was funny. Or worthy of a photo.
But we did. Oh, the cuteness!!!

There's a first for everything!

Right now there are firsts every day. Really! Every. Single. Day. I am actually surprised that it took almost six months for this first.

If you have a weak stomach, or if you are reading this while eating, you might want to stop reading. Now. Stop.

Micah had a dirty diaper yesterday evening. Not a first, you already know that! Since he was dirty anyways, I decided to go ahead and give him a bath. I cleaned up the diaper, held him under the running water to get his bum clean, and then bathed him. He wasn't real into it (and this is not normal for him and the bath) so I didn't keep him in there long.

Got him a towel, bundled him up and took him to his room. I dried him and got a clean diaper ready when i realized that he still had some poo in his butt! Did i seriously do that bad in the bath tub? I'm a terrible mom!

I wiped him, put on the clean diaper and put him down for a nap. I tried to redeem myself and show that I am a good mom by going back into the bathroom and cleaning right away. I went to dump the water out of his little tub and I was appalled. And then I laughed. Out loud!

He pooped in the tub!!! How did I miss that? I think I am still a bad mom for missing that! Where was I when he was doing his business? Looking back, maybe this is why he was not as excited as normal. Maybe it's why he was leaning to the side while sitting in the tub. Needed some leverage.

Niiice.

A whole new world...

Sing it with me. A whole new world...

OK, you can stop. I think Micah is starting to be so much more aware of the world around him. I think his first two teeth are through and he seems to be doing SO much better now! Lots of things are new in this world of his now:

We used to be able to put Micah in his car seat once in a while while he would watch Baby Einstein (and poop). Recently, though, I looked up and saw the car seat leaning forward. I walked around and found this


We realized he would arch his back and slide down the front. Very quietly and sneaky. I guess he wanted a better view of the video.

He realizes Matt is watching and gives him a look that says "what? what are you looking at?"



He used to only like to be facing out when he was held, now he is OK with be carried facing us. And I really love it now when he puts his head down on my shoulder. LOVE this!

He used to go crazy, I mean crazy, whenever I walked into the middle school room with him at church. Now, he is totally OK. Matt even held him on stage today while leading a game, and then I stayed in there with him for a long time! This is very comforting to us since we work in there!

He went through a stage where he would NOT fall asleep on us, no matter what. Did not like to be held, but would get angry that he could not sleep. Within the past few weeks he has really turned around on this one, being much, much more cuddly and even falling asleep while being held.

Micah has always had a voice. He has a good set of lungs and he knows how to use them. But it is just recently that he is really learning how to use his voice to "talk" to us. And it is very cute. Here he is starting to learn how to express himself with his voice.



For about the past 3-4 weeks, Micah has been very attached to me, gradually getting worse. He was not doing well with other people, even ones he had once been comfortable with. But not today. Today he was reaching out for every other person he saw, graciously giving them a hug. He still gets really excited when he sees me after he has not for a while, giving me a big squeeze and sloppy kiss! And this I am thankful for!

We've tried to put him in the water before, but unless it is bath-water-warm he wanted nothing to do with it. Again, not today! He went in the pool with Matt. In the almost ice-cold water, and for the most part, was very ok with it. We put him in two separate times and he seemed to really enjoy it (in his ever so serious way of showing that he is enjoying himself!).

I've Created a Monster!

OK, not really. OF course.

But I am creating a momma's boy. Or else he is going through the stage of wanting to be a momma's boy.

To be perfectly honest, there are definitely parts about it that I like. I mean, who doesn't love it that their kid reaches out for them. Cries for them. Can't get calmed down without them. I like that I can do this for Micah. It is cute. In a weird sort of way.

But I know this is not good and I know it makes life very hard. This has been a gradual process over the past couple of weeks and I thought it mostly had to do with his teething.

Micah has 2 teeth now!!

But both teeth are through and it is getting worse. I thought he was not feeling good and wanting to be with me. But I think it might be more. I think it might be a stage. And it's not just strangers. (Strangers to him, not to us. No, I would NOT hand my son to a stranger!) It's people he has been with before and been comfortable with before. It's my husband! This is NOT good.

Especially when I am getting ready to go out of town. Without him! If he doesn't get over this before I leave, I suppose he will have to while I am gone...