Roll Over, Beethoven

I really, really, really, really, really hate to post this because it seems like Murphy watches my blog. But heregoes anyway.

The boy has rolled over from back to stomach 3 or 4 times now. It's taken some bribery with a toy or a slipper or whathaveyou, but still, it's very cool.

Also, he is beginning to awkwardly sit up by himself for very brief periods. This is neat stuff but also very amusing when he goes careening over onto his side or completely clam shells like a little contortionist.

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Doggone

The Boy has discovered the dogs and is quite interested in them. The looks on his face are like, "Hey, those things move around and make noise, but they're not like mommy or daddy."

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Funny Bone

He's gone from slight giggles to full-on laughter when we wash his neck. What a great sound.

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Shit Happens, Finally

The Boy hadn't pooped since Monday, so we were a little worried.

[12:39] TheWife: Houston - we have poop!
[12:39] *** Auto-response sent to TheWife: I am currently idle.
[12:40] TheWife: well you can be idle
[12:40] TheWife: I'm still going to send you a message
[12:40] TheWife: cuz I know you're thrilled to read about poop
[12:40] TheWife: :)
[13:00] Me: this is Houston
[13:00] Me: Was the poop contained withing the designated containment unit?
[13:15] TheWife: yes
[13:15] Me: That's good news
[13:16] Me: good, I'm glad he pooped. i dind't want to go into the weekend without poop
[13:16] Me: ummmm
[13:16] Me: did I just type that?
[13:16] TheWife: yah. welcome to parenthood

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Poo Pants

Be careful what you wished for never rang so true. The Wife did not realize The Boy had pooped on Sunday, so Monday morning when there was still not poop, she explained to him that he needed to poop so we knew everything was working okay.

Fast-forward to lunch. The Wife is making a sandwich. The Boy is in the swing (which, BTW, barely has enough power to move him in all his monstrosity). She thinks she hears something, looks over, and the boy has spitup. She hears something again, but isn't quite sure what. She finishes making her sandwich and sits down to eat when she notices the smell associated with the sound. So she scarfs down lunch and takes him in to change him. She just whips off his pants like normal, only to discover there's more poop in the pants than anywhere else. Oh, and now it's everywhere else, too. While keeping The Boy's legs under control, he figures he can help by grabbing a handful and making handprints on the wall. So, half a stack of wipes later, everything is under control.

Oh, and not swaddling him at night is going just swimmingly. He only woke up about 5 times Sunday night and about 4 times last night. I hope we all survive this transition.

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Pancakes

Well, the fenugreek seems to be improving the supply of boob juice. Of course, now both The Wife and The Boy smell like a stack of pancakes soaked in maple syrup. It's the weirdest damn thing. Yes, I'm exaggerating some, but there truly is a distinct maple syrup smell.

We tried that baby cereal/rice stuff with a spoon again tonight. He did surprisingly well.

We're also going to try not swaddling him tonight. Being unwrapped and not having binky seem to be the primary problems when he can't put himself back to sleep. So we'll see how this goes.

The Boy has taken to burping loudly in public. Geez, kids these days have no manners.

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iiiiiiNSTUnttt 444444 meeessSSSSUgginnnnG

The Boy is quite helpful with IM, as you can see:

[14:54] TheWife: you
[14:54] TheWife: gO to happy h
[14:54] TheWife: our tonight?
[14:54] Me: well, I do kind of want to make a brief appearnace
[14:54] TheWife: r1
[14:54] Me: but if not, that's fine too
[14:55] *** You have been disconnected. Fri Mar 10 14:55:00 2006.
[14:55] *** "TheWife" signed on at Fri Mar 10 14:55:08 2006.
[14:55] Me: I was wondering how your day had been going. If he's been a pill and you need a break, I'll just come home
[14:55] TheWife: CRAZY KID

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Hair

The Boy is actually starting to get some hair. Well, he's still bald as a cue ball, but his peach fuzz is getting a little thicker and a little darker. There may even be a few hairs that are an inch long. And it's almost light blond instead of light clear.

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Hi

The Boy rolls from his back to his side, just can't quite get all the way over.

He reaches for everything you hold out in front of him. More often than not, he grabs it. But sometimes you can tell he hasn't quite mastered that hand-eye coordination thing and he completely misses. But when he does grab it, this is for sure, it's going straight to his mouth. Unless of course, he misses and rams it into his forehead. Which is usually followed by a look that can only be, "HEY, Who the HELL hit me?".

Speaking of coordination, he's getting better and better at getting that binky in his mouth. Yah, I know, some of you think binkies are bad. Well, fuck off.

He doesn't usually find much comfort in me, especially in the evenings. I'm learning to deal with it, but it kind of sucks. I know it will pass, but that doesn't make it suck any less. I just want to be a comfort to him and I want to give The Wife the breaks she needs and deserves.

We fed him some cereal from a spoon. It wasn't a tremendous success, nor was it a complete failure. It made for some great pictures.

We're trying to figure out how to get The Wife to produce more milk and/or get The Boy to drink some straight formula. We have trouble leaving him with anyone because we don't have a way to leave him with much food.

At times I don't think the hearing aids are doing a damn bit of good, but we have him wear them. He doesn't mind them. The fact that the loss is only mild and not any worse is great, but that's what makes it difficult to know if it's helping. We won't really know until he can tell us. So we'll keep wearing them as much as possible.

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Binky Master

The Boy took the binky out of his mouth, pulled it away several inches, and then slowly navigated it back into his mouth. I can't say it was entirely on purpose, but it wasn't accidental either. He's definitely gaining control of his hands and arms as well as eye-hand coordination.

Oh, and beware of flying binkies! As I was tucking him in tonight, he sneezed while binky was in his mouth. Man! It shot across the crib like a rocket and hit me in the arm. I feel lucky that my arm isn't broken. That thing was really moving!

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Magic Ears

A shot of The Boy's hearing aids.

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Mooey Dearest

In an impressive stretch of one's imagination, The Wife has claimed the boy said mommy. In reality, it was more like "Mooey", but hey, you take what you can get.

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16 Weeks (Does Not Equal 4 Months)

Tomorrow will be 16 weeks. The Boy is asleep in his car seat next to me as The Wife drives us to see some friends. Snow Patrol, Dido, and Phil Collins are in the shuffle. He's pretty dang cute. He's 19 pounds and 27 inches. Most people assume he's at least 6 months old.

It's possible that the teething process has begun. There's a lot of drool and he's seemed cranky.

He had fun today watching daddy dance and listening to me sing Led Zepplin.

We're not sure if the magic ears (hearing aids) are helping, but we've only been using them for a week or so.

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Abs Of Steel

The Boy is working his abs like crazy. He can't sit up by himself or keep himself balanced for very long. But he is definitely trying. In the swing. In the carseat. In the bouncy chair. He's always leaning up / forward.

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Baby Got Back

We went to look at convertible car seats yesterday. At just over 3 months, The Boy is about 18 pounds and 26 inches. He only has about 4 pounds or 3 inches before he outgrows the infant seat specs. Geez, what a tank. We have a hard time getting any kind of jeans or pants over his thighs. They fit fine once we do, but getting them there is a chore.

Unless I slept through something, which is unlikely, he slept from 9 or 9:30pm to 4am without needing any attention at all! We put him down about 7 or 7:30, and he woke up an hour or so later. So The Wife fed him and he was only partially awake. He went back to sleep pretty quickly and was out for the night. Maybe we can get him to start repeating this. Or maybe I just jynxed us.

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Now That's Funny, I Don't Care Who You Are

The Wife started a new game with The Boy that involves "beeping" his nose and chin and "ringing" his cheeks. It evokes the closest thing to a laugh that we've heard. I can't quite call it a laugh, but it's damn close.

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The Art Of Sh-Sh-ing

His body facing in to mine, which helps hold the binky in. His head in the crook of my left arm, my left had keeping his left arm from flailing. His butt in the crook of my right arm, which also supports his torso and keeps his right arm from flailing.

Then the rock&bounce back and forth, left and right. Like so:

Sh-sh Sh-sh Sh-sh Sh (no sh on 8, I have to inhale at some point)
1----2 3----4 5----6 7----8
Le--ft Ri-ght Le--ft Ri-ght

(repeat chorus)

Most attempts to NOT stand will only work for a few seconds or minutes if I'm lucky. And although this has worked several times, there are times when this just seems to make him angrier.

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12 Weeks

Oops. 12 weeks was Monday.

The Boy is over 16.5 lbs & over 25" long (it's been a week & a half since we checked). He's off the charts.

He is smiling a lot and babbling. This week, he hasn't wanted to go to sleep. Not even mommy has had much luck comforting him. He basically screams until he passes out from exhaustion. We're hoping it's a short phase. The good news is, he's still going for some long stretches before he needs to be re-binkied, re-wrapped, or fed.

He's been fitted for the hearing aids. We'll do the trial and see how it goes. They are over the ear models. We got blue hearing aids and clear ear molds. We thought a color would be a little more fun than the standard beige. If he still needs them when he's older, he can pick his own colors.

I feel like I should have a lot more to say, but I can't think of anything right now.

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ILLIN'

The Boy has a slight fever and is fussy. The Wife may be developing a cough. I've had a sore throat for a day or two.

Not good. Someone call quarantine.

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New Year's Prediction

The Blues' win on Monday was the turning point in their season. Now they're really gonna start winning some games!

(What? It's supposed to be a Resolution, not a Prediction??? Eh, close enough. You know what they say, POE-TAY-TOE, TOE-MAH-TOE.)

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