Lordy-Me, we are starting to...WALK?!?

So, this past week was AMAZING for the milestones Anthony hit. But first, lets rewind a little bit more. On Sept 19th, the In Laws came and helped baby proof. They helped anchor things to the walls and build the cube storage, and lower the mattress in the crib. Up until then, we still had our Little Man sleeping in the Pack N Play (PNP) in our room. We were also still doing a lot of co-sleeping (he wakes up in the night, I grab him out and nurse him back to sleep, which I typically fell asleep before I remembered to put him back in the PNP. Well, after we had the mattress lowered, we decided that we would start putting him in his crib and get that phase of his life going. That way I can reclaim my side of the bed and he might be able to sleep better. Also, he woke a lot during the night. We waited until the next night before starting this, starting out slowly with putting him in there asleep, and when I finally went to bed, if he woke up, I'd scoop him out of the crib and bring him into our bed. Worked for a night or two, then the devil possessed my child. We thought it was just that he wasn't used to all the changes we were making. It wasn't until about the 23rd or so we decided to check out his gums and see if that was the issue. Sure enough, his gums were swollen and had that "tooth" feeling to them. We got excited and made sure to keep the oragel and tylenol nearby for the total melt downs. Well, it was about 10 days later when we were still dealing with the teething thing. Took another look and sure enough, there was another "toothy" feeling on the other side. I was secretly scared, but kind of happy because it meant that he was going to get both at once again! Totally explained why he kept shoving his fingers up his nostrils! He was trying to trigger the nerve to make the pain go away! (I can relate from when I had to have my front teeth worked on and my face hurt for a full 2 days after!) So he now has both bottom front teeth and 2 top front teeth...here's the funny thing, he has the bottom two in the middle of the front, but not on top. The teeth on top are actually the next one over on each side. His smile looks something like this
FX**XF
F*XX*F
F being his fangs, X being the teeth he has, and * being where there aren't any teeth yet. Its pretty funny to see him smile and see the while bumps not line up. But his teeth seem to be feeling better.
BUT, on to the main topic I'm sure is burning on everyone's mind. Yes, my little man has taken his first steps. On the 7th, Anthony showed us that the barricade we have up to keep him just in the living room and out of the pantry and garbage can wasn't enough to hold him anymore. That's right, he climbed over a basket I had put at the end of a line of rubbermaid totes. Then, the 8th, he climbed over the totes. The totes being about 3 inches higher than the basket. Of course he didn't know what to do when he was on top of the totes and fell off more than once (We did catch him when we saw he was about to fall), but he knew just how to do it every time. Lovely. No sleeping EVER now! Going back to the 7th, he also took full advantage of me laying down my head on the couch. He went up to the entertainment center (which we have blocked off best we can so he doesn't play with things he shouldn't) and pulled down the one side of that barricade and pulled down a tub of something we were using for his bum when the diaper rash came around. That's right, VASELINE. (you mix equal parts of vaseline, lanolin based diaper cream, zinc diaper cream, and cortizone cream and it works like MAGIC!) My kid then proceeded to smear it all over himself (all over in his hair and ears down to the tips of his toes and in around his diaper line). When I woke up, I noticed he was where he wasn't supposed to be. I called him back over to me and he came crawling over quickly. That's when I noticed the weird glowing sheen on his face. I thought he had chewed through the tube of A&D (without zinc) and was thinking "Oh boy, I'm in for it now!". I started cleaning him up with baby wipes (because they have that little bit of cleaning agent whereas a towel doesn't really get all the greasy feeling off) when I noticed that his toys were covered. I got him cleaned up and then noticed the tub of vaseline.
Now, we had used about 1/4 of the tub for putting on his circ so it wouldn't stick to the diaper, along with using it for diaper rash. Well, I picked it up and set it on a wipe on the couch so I could keep it out of his reach and clean it after I cleaned the toys. I knew I didn't really want to see how much he had used, but I had to know at the same time. I took off the top and looked in to find (to my horror) that about 1/3 of what was left was GONE. I didn't freak at first about him swallowing any because its petroleum jelly. Same stuff as in chapstick, just means his poops are going to be interesting for a while. Well, I saw on the back of the vaseline tub that you need to call poison control RIGHT AWAY. I make the call (gotta see why its so urgent to call) and he tells me that Anthony is going to be fine, they just worry that the vaseline will get in their air ways in which they will cough A LOT and that's when its a problem. So, Anthony is fine, the toys are clean, and it took scrubbing down my little terror twice to get all the slimy feeling off, but we learned a lesson. NOTHING in his reach. Put it 5ft up or back so he can't get to it.
But, getting back to the time line. Adam comes home early on the 8th and starts playing with Anthony. I had the laundry basket (the tall kind) in the living room looking for something while the boys played. Then Adam got this wild idea and told me to hold out my hands and call Lil Man over. So I do. And he TOOK THREE STEPS my way! HE WALKED to me! Of course as soon as he could reach, he took my hands, but point is he walked to me! He hates standing alone, let alone moving also! We tried like crazy to get him to do it again, but he pretty much refused. Kid has no fear. He just leans toward the person he wants and makes them catch him if anyone tries to make him stand alone. Just today (the 11th) I made him take 2 more steps toward me. I can't get him to walk to Adam yet, but we are pretty sure that he's going to be walking a lot more by 11 months. Pretty scary! He's also vocalizing like a MAD MAN! He was jabbering for about 30 mins solid without anyone there to provoke him to keep talking. I swear many of the sounds sound JUST like words we say a lot. Time to cut back on swearing!
He's also eating his food with bigger chunks. I don't have to send the bananas through the food processor anymore! And he'll even eat them off a bigger adult spoon! Time to make him slow this growing business! His appetite also seems to be growing, which is scary. He was polishing off about 10 oz at every meal and about 6 oz for his snack by the time he was 9 months. He's also starting to develop a little belly, so we know that he's packing on some weight. We shall see soon enough if he's back to where he was on the growth charts. I'd really like him to be back in the 50th percentile, but I'm not going to punish myself if he doesn't. We all know that he's healthy and growing. Heaven help us, though, when I stop nursing him. If he catches a glimpse of boob when I'm getting out of the shower, he instantly wants to nurse. He'll even grab my boob and stuff it in his face when I carry him to the bedroom so I can get dressed. He likes his Momma Milk! LOL shall be interesting to see how he takes weaning off that in about 6 months, but we'll cross that bridge later. I'm sure he'll be busy exploring all the other goodies around him!
Well, I'm exhausted and going to head to bed so I can get some shut eye around him waking up. We now try a little bit of sleep training, but more relaxed on some of the rules. Seems to be working well for us! He still wakes up, but he's sleeping longer stretches in his crib!

Ten Months!

Oh the things you did between 9 and 10 months. You started crawling with your belly off the ground more, you are starting to get your 3rd tooth (can't tell exactly what one it is, but it started poking through on Wed the 22nd. Its one of the top left front ones. Its still pretty flat and hasn't poked through too much, but its giving you all the grief in the world. You seem to have been possessed this week though. You were crying over the smallest of things, you don't like your usual foods, you fight even more against me cleaning your teeth and gums, you have your pointer finger jammed up your left nostril almost all the time (must be to help with the nerve pain) and you want to snuggle and nap on me even more so, but your face must hurt because you keep tossing your head side to side to get comfy.
Speaking of sleeping, we lowered your mattress for your crib and cleaned out all the extra stuff so you can start sleeping in there. You started on monday the 20th and it was a rough go, but its getting better, even with you teething. Of course, when you wake up at your usual 4 or 5 am time for a midnight snack, I bring you into our bed for some snuggle time and you stay there with me until you wake up between 8 and 9. I can tell you like the family bed time as much as I do, and I think Papa likes it just as much because you like to snuggle up to him to fall asleep again. You are so funny, and you also seem to think its ok and pretty funny to pick on him too. He likes to make you think it annoys him, but I know he likes it to some extent. Next is getting you to nap in your crib. I like our napping together time, but there will come a time in our lives when you need to be in your crib and we need to start prepping for that soon. (I know anyone reading is going to be appalled that I still nap with my kid on my chest, but that's our one on one time and I love how snuggly he is when he's starting to drift off and when he's waking up, but doesn't want to sit up or start playing again) Just in the past day or so, you've been letting go and pushing away from things to test your standing. I can tell that walking isn't that far off. You don't like it when the person holding you starts trying to make you stand alone, but when you want, you'll let go and see what happens. You've learned pretty quickly that falling on your butt isn't going to hurt and you can get back up VERy quickly.
You are into everything worse than ever. I thought we would be ok with the height of our entertainment center and all (you still like to pull up on the glass part, but you've gotten smart and start pulling up on the wooden sides and do it quick so I don't see), but you have proven me wrong yesterday. You not only pulled yourself up on the entertainment center, you also cleared off a bunch of things up there and found the spare batteries we had taken out of the swing and put up there to be put in the charger. Thank God I happened to look over just as you pulled it down and it fell out of your hand. So now, we have to use your rocking chair, entertainer, and the top to your toy box to block off the tv and the rest of the entertainment center. For any other baby we would only really need to block the front and all would be well. Not you. I ran out of ideas of things to use to block the front, sides, and keep you at least 2 feet from even being able to reach the thing. You are so smart too, because you've started to even pull things out of the way to get what you want.
You've also started some talking. You say "AhMah" for Momma, "Dah" for Papa (or dada, depending on what he wants you to call him, we'll work on forming that better), and you also still use "Neh Neh" for when you want food or to nurse. If you want someone to pick you up or hold you, you go over to them or you make good eye contact and start opening and closing your hands quickly. Its like a "gimme!" kind of thing. Its really cute and really awesome that Papa and I can use your "gimme" hands to get you to come to us. Its amazing that now it feels like all your actions aren't random at all anymore (you have your VERY odd moments still) and that its all with purpose and its becoming something that we both understand perfectly.
You still LOVE to nurse. You won't take a bottle from me unless we are in a car or in a store and I can't nurse you. I bring you into the bathroom (along with your entertainer) for when I have to get ready for work and you will play in that, but once I'm out of the shower, you barely let me dry off and put in my contacts before you want me to pick you up and carry you (even while brushing my teeth!) and you often move the towel out of the way so that you can help yourself. I noticed this one day as I was getting dressed and you fought with me for a while about me putting on a bra because you wanted to nurse. Papa finds it so funny that I can coax you to my side of the bed by getting your attention and showing you the nip. You also like to pull on my shirt and bra to let me know that you want boob and you want it NOW. You've made me flash people in Walmart because you were thirsty. Its pretty funny that you know just what and where the momma milk comes from. You even inspect Papa's nips. You've come pretty close to latching on, but you stop at the last second like you get tickled by a chest hair or you notice that it doesn't look like the ones you nurse from. Its pretty funny and you do it all the time!
You really like your puffs and yogurt melts even more now. You like the container even more though. You use your bottom teeth to pop off the top and scatter them all over the living room so that you can choose just what exact puff you want. Of course you also hate it when I start cleaning them up so you come over and sit on the pile. What a nut you are.
You are finally in size 3 diapers, but we've run out of the Huggies (which I have grown to LOVE) but we have to suffer through a HUGE box of Pampers Cruisers before we can get more Huggies. Something about the Huggies, the lining doesn't all fall and get bunched up between your legs, they fit better, the tabs hold better, they last longer (one pee and you have a Cruiser SOAKED!), and they don't ride up your belly as much which causes them to fold over funny and irritate your belly and just below. You are also pretty hard to keep still and diaper, so the Huggies being quicker and easier to put on you is a HUGE plus. I just wish I knew someone I could sell the Pampers to, I'd go out and buy a TON of Huggies.
You love your toys, but you love the non toys more. Paper, boxes, tags on clothes, bottles, and anything else you shouldn't have. Stupid thing is, I have NO clue where you find this stuff. I vacuum twice a week and you still manage to find the strangest stuff. Just the other day, you sucked the cotton ends off a q tip. I don't know where it came from, but I stepped on it and noticed that it was all messed up and had NO TRACE of cotton on it. You had literally sucked all the cotton off. I didn't notice until about 5 mins after you crawled away so I had NO chance of pulling it out of your mouth. Just hope you poop it out ok...
You've been chewing on EVERYTHING. Even your crib is starting to get the brunt of it now. The other day I went to put you in your crib so I could go to the bathroom and noticed markings on your crib that weren't there a few days before. I looked closely and saw it very well could be teeth. Then I notice that you have flecks of the finish on your face. I hope we can find some sort of teething guard so that you don't destroy the thing before we get to put your siblings in there!
Well, my love, its about that time that I start getting ready to go to bed. I like to stay up late so that I get my alone time and all while you are sleeping. Then when you wake up and want to come to bed with us, I'm not waking from a dead sleep, I'm just laying down. You actually JUST woke up, my love. More to come and keep growing strong. You are amazing.

Nine Months!

Oh sweetie, the trouble you are starting to cause. You've started pulling up on EVERYTHING and you seem to think that everything is going to hold you tight and not let you fall. You seem to have learned from being in the entertainer that you don't have to hold on always and that you can jump without anyone being there to hold your hands. You've pulled yourself up on the side of the entertainer, reached for something, and then the thing spins around on you and you end up rolling on the ground. Most of the time, you get yourself righted and don't even bat an eye before you are at it again. But sometimes you also just lose it and need me to come over and tell you that "you are ok" and give your owie a kiss. That typically calms you and you'll want to go back to playing. Its so cool that you are usually really good at dealing with pain and getting hurt. You don't go and make a huge production about it unless its yet another time you go and crawl your lil buns off the bed before I can even catch your foot and you bonk your head. That's ok, you typically roll off Papa's side and he always has a pile of clothes on his side that you land on so I know you can't really get hurt. You are just such a toughie that you will go and smash your forehead into my lips for a kiss and won't flinch, but I'll get a fat lip and cry out because of it. Brute!
You are crawling, but you do more of an army man crawl. I compare it to an army obstacle course where you have to crawl under the net. Your arms and elbows kind of pull your whole body along with your legs and feet just flopping around behind you. Its really funny to watch. You will crawl with your belly off the ground, but its rare if you do it for long. You are also into everything even more so. I can't keep you on my lap at my computer because Papa has taught you that if you hit space bar while he's playing his game, it does nothing but make the character jump. You do that to Momma and I lose my place on whatever I may be doing.
You took VERY well to adding in another meal and the dr wants us to add in 2 snacks also because you went from the 50% to the 25%. We've been adding in 3rd foods dinners. They ahve bigger chunks and you don't really care for it. You like to make like you are gagging, but you calm down and have learned to chew a little with those gums before you swallow. You have found certain ones you REALLY don't like, but you also have favorites. You also have loved the latest round of fresh fruit. I've done pineapples, pears, plums, peaches, mangos, cantalope, kiwi, strawberries, corn (yes I know its not a fruit, but its the only way you eat your mac n cheese), and a few others that Papa brings home from the store. You can't get enough of most of them and have gotten used to the food processor going. You know it means that your food is going to be VERY fresh.
On to the next month, my love. You are growing SO fast! I've already started thinking about your birthday party, since the months are flying by and it will creep up on me if I don't start planning it now!
Love you forever, little man. You are an amazing gift to us!
You are still in size 2 diapers although you are 19 lbs and all. I'm not complaining for now because we get more diapers in the box and I personally like the swaddlers more than the cruisers, but sooner or later you have to graduate to the size 3 my dear love. But the dr just loves the personality you have. You still don't like Ann very much (the nurse who comes in with the needles and all), but you are a little more ok with her since she didn't cause you pain this time. She just loves your big blue eyes and HUGE personality. You charm all the nurses when we take you into the weighing stations. They also can't believe how old you are. Seems like there might be a few ladies who have followed your cuteness and all. What a silly boy, always flirting with the girls.
You also LOVE to laugh. Your silly self laughs at the simplest things. And when you really laugh, its like the typical baby laugh, but when you do your amused laugh, you chuckle, then you inhale really deep and long like you are trying to catch your breath, then let out another good chuckle. I can't even stand up, I'll laugh so hard, when you are laughing that amused laugh. Its just so funny! That also seems to cause you to do it more too.

Eight Months!

Sorry, baby boy, Momma's been out to lunch for a while and needs to catch up on everything for your blog. I know, bad Momma, but you'll still love me either way!
So, you've really been progressing VERY quickly with rolling all over. Its the main way you get around now. You also sit up all alone and don't need to concentrate to keep yourself upright. Its just amazing to think about! You got two teeth within a week of each other (Its all in your baby book, my love. I don't see a need to keep posting it everywhere when you have a baby book, a journal, a calendar, and 2 medical journals). You handled it pretty well, although you were a big pain in the bum for the first tooth, but I think you were having so much fun playing with the new addition in your mouth that you didn't notice the second one coming in nearly as much. It came on quickly too. One day I only feel the one tooth nub, and the next day while I'm washing your tooth with a wash cloth, I notice you have a second white nub starting to poke through. Luckily it broke through very quickly. So now you have both bottom teeth and its so cute to see. You don't like it when anyone tries to check them out and you HATE it when I wipe off your teeth after a meal.
You've really developed a love for my water bottle too. Its just a simple water bottle from work that cost 50 cents, but you LOVE playing with it, sticking the mouth piece in your mouth, and when I let you, you LOVE drinking out of it! What a goofy nut you are!
You've also been sleeping like a gem. You have yourself on a set schedule and you make sure that we pay the price if anything doesn't go the way you want it to. We are looking at adding another meal (lunch) so that you can pack on some calories and not be so skinny. We will be adding that in the coming month or so. You also haven't met many foods you don't like. You love fresh fruit and veggies the most though. Papa brought home 2 lbs of baby carrots and we made a project out of steaming them, putting them through the food processor and then the blender to get them into a smaller pieces that you won't gag on. You LOVED it! We ended up giving you so many, though, that your poor lil bum turned orange! Of course we backed off and started giving only half a jar (4 oz in a jar) so that you still get the veggies, but you don't turn colors.
We are thinking about starting the baby proofing process now too. You are VERY stubborn and don't give up easily at all. You KNOW that when we take something away, its gotta be around somewhere and you will turn the house over just to find it. I wonder where you get your bullheaded-ness from...?
You are also showing a desire to start pulling up and walking with help. I don't know if I like it, because it means you will be getting around all on your own. I like you depending on me to carry you around. I guess its all a part of you growing up. Just wish you didn't do that so fast.
Well, little boy, I need to work on getting the other months up also, but just remember that Momma loves you VERY much, and you can ALWAYS come to your parents for anything. We'll always love you no matter what. You are an amazing miracle.

Seven Months!

Holy Crap! You've been growing like a weed and making huge strides toward some HUGE milestones. You roll all the time. From one end of the living room to another and when you want to change directions, you arch your back, pivot on your head, and when the direction seems right, you'll lay flat, look around, and get back to rolling. You love being on your belly more and more. Its so cute, even when you roll over during diaper changing time. You'll grab the diaper cream, diaper, wipes box, towel, whatever is near by and start to play with it while I'm trying to wipe you off (poop and all if its a dirty diaper!) and you refuse to be on your back for very long. You've also grown to love "no diaper" time. I'll loosely pin a cloth diaper on you just so you don't spray all over should you let fly and let you roll around and play for a bit. Then you fight the diaper! You still freak out over a dirty diaper. Just today, you made a nasty dirty diaper and when I went to pick you up (not knowing yet that it was really dirty and all), I got it all over myself! I had to clean you up, clean up the poopy mess, and change my clothes before putting you back in a diaper. What a mess! That's ok, though. Anything for my handsome prince!
You are eating like a champ again. Over vacation, you had so many distractions that you were starting to eat much less and taking much longer. Now we are back to eating fairly quickly and almost all that's in your bowl. We did Oatmeal with Banana mixed with carrots along with your peaches and rice (all out of rice cereal and you were still hungry!) and you LOVED the oatmeal with bananas! I love watching you eat so well. You also eat so much better in a high chair compared to the bumbo, but your high chair got recalled (and the repair kit won't fix the cracked plastic, besides the legs and all the other things wrong with it), so we will have to go back to the bumbo for a little while until your new high chair comes in the mail.
You traveled like a champ for vacation! You did so well for having your poor little butt in that car seat for 16 hours. You slept a lot of the time, but you also watched your movies and played relatively quietly while everyone else worked on us getting to Colorado so you could meet your Grandma Sheryl and that side of the family. You took to everyone there so well! You cried a little when we saw Great Grammy and Great Poppy, but you quickly warmed up to them, Grammy first, then Poppy after a few minutes. You seem to really love your Aunty Antonette. She sure loves you to pieces too! Grandpa Mark sang to you a few times too. You couldn't be bothered to eat, sleep, play, or do ANYTHING while he was singing, you were hypnotized! And when Sheila Dog walked by? Lordy be, you wanted to play with that hair and pull those ears. You actually did pull her ears and she snapped at you, but that HARDLY stopped you from wanting to do it again. You also warmed up to Dirk, Cindy, Mary, and PJ. You didn't get to meet Steven, as he's currently teaching in Denver (so proud!) but you seemed to like everyone. During photos with them, you stole the remote and started messing with the channels, language, and volume. You also almost set a parental password on them, but they managed to distract you enough to get the remote away. Too funny, little man!
You didn't want to be very quiet for church. Wasn't too bad when they were singing and during the times when some people would jump up to say AMEN! and all that, but during the prayers, you were jabbering away. And you weren't even noticing another baby (Braylynn, I think her name is) was staring you down. She really liked the toys we were using to keep you entertained. We ended up having to move to the hallway and then into the cry room, but you quieted down after we nursed you a little. You also were AMAZING going to the top of Pikes Peak! You barely fussed at all! Only about the last 20 minutes of the ride (90 mins each way!) to the top and the first 20 mins heading back down. You slept a lot of the time. You also charmed a Belgian couple. They took a few photos of you because of your blue eyes and promised me that they wouldn't end up on Facebook. You charmed everyone on there too! I think a lot of people were expecting you to cry the whole way up and the whole way back down, but were so happy that you didn't. You also got your first taste of my sandwich too. I had just unwrapped the sub and put on the pickle and tomato and was bringing it to my mouth, when you (in your bjorn, on my chest) reached out faster than a snake and grabbed my sub, pulled out the tomato, put it in your mouth, and kept the other hand firmly holding the remainder of my sandwich. All the while, I hear my phone ringing in my purse! All I could think the whole time was "Wow, when it rains, it pours. And I'm friggin HUNGRY!" But Papa got the tomato out of your mouth and we got your hands out of my sub (which wasn't mangled too badly) and we decided playing musical baby would be better for us to all eat.
You gained a BIG love for restaurant menus. Oh man, you have to play with it, chomp on it, wing it around, slap it, slobber it up, you name it. If its taken away or you drop it, you FREAK! You also demolished a Long John Silvers hat after slapping it in my face a few times. You get really possessive of things that you really shouldn't have!
You taking your baths out there was so cute too! We didn't have a baby tub, so Grandma Sheryl came out with a 3 gallon bucket that had flimsy sides and handles. You loved it! You figured out how to get one foot up and noticed how everyone laughed at that. That encouraged you to get the other foot up on the rim also and the water level came up to your lips! You loved it, gave me a heart attack. Grandma gave you a cup, which you filled with the bath water and tried to drink. You got SO mad when I took it away, dumped it out, and gave you an empty cup. you didn't like that one bit! You are too smart for your own good. You also got the chance to drink from a straw. You're a natural at that! Slurped down the water like you had been doing it for ages. You also went swimming in the pool there and loved the waterfall. You couldn't get enough, until you had had enough and wanted to eat and take a nap. You ended up snuggling into Grandma after you ate. She carried you around and loved the dickens out of you the whole time! You two were just so cute together! You two got your snuggling on while your Papa and I got to play around in the pool before we had to get on the road and come back home. We did have a big problem with someone making bottles for you too often and you got more used to that than nursing, but you are back on track again, now.
Grandpa Mark tried pretty hard to teach you to crawl. You wanted to, but didn't really get the whole concept together. You'll be crawling soon though, and we can send the video of you doing that when it happens.
You've been cranky since we came back (all that spoiling!), and now you have a low grade fever on top of it. Papa and I are hoping that it means you'll be getting teeth soon. We also hope that you get your teeth in multiples, not just one at a time. You are sleeping pretty well too. You like to sleep on your side, and most of all your belly. Papa gets nervous about you sleeping like this, but to make him happy I'll stick a nuk in your mouth so he doesn't freak out. Hoping this fever stops soon. We've been keeping you on tylenol, but I'd like to get back to life as usual, happy baby and all. Right now, you just refuse to be put down for long. You liked it a lot when we got home from vacation and we put you in your entertainer. You stayed up extra late playing, laughing, and smiling. We didn't have the heart to take you out until you started rubbing your eyes.
Momma is going to head to bed now, my love. I'll be posting on here at least once a month and trying to keep up with all the new things you do. I love you to the moon and back endlessly.
Love,
Momma

Six months!

Dear Anthony,
WOW. you are half a year old! I can't believe how fast you have grown and the things you have learned to do. Just last night, you were showing off all the things you know how to do now. You were rolling all over the floor back to belly to back and you were spinning to change directions. You went after me, Papa, toys, the box of wipes, your bumbo, you name it. It was beyond cool to see you do all this. I even laid down behind you and let you push your feet against my hand. You went flying forward a few inches. I could tell that you liked that idea and wanted to do it on your own, but you couldn't get up on your arms and knees enough to get going like that. You've done it before (at Holly and Chad's house), but you couldn't get your arms to cooperate with your legs to move forward. I can tell that with enough tummy time and playing on the floor, you will be crawling toward Grandma Sheryl when we are out there. I'm sure she will LOVE that! She's so excited to meet you. She always asks me to give you a huge hug and a kiss for her. She came out about a week before you were born, but you just weren't ready for this big old world yet. There are many other people out in Colorado who are excited to meet you too. I can't believe that's next week!
In other news, you are eating like such a little piggy! You chow down on about 4 ounces of solid foods twice a day. You don't like green beans (the ones you tried had NO flavor) but you like everything else so far. You've had pears, bananas (fresh and out of the jar), sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, carrots, and apples (applesauce). So far you have liked it all, but the beans. I'll be trying again with the fresh kind at a later date to see if you like fresh instead. I can't wait until more veggies and fruits come into season so we can really go hog wild with all the possibilities!
You've taken to growling at everything lately too! Last night, you were laying on the floor while Papa was making dinner and you were growling at your toys and the tv and anything else around. You are so funny when you growl. You don't make a face, you just let out the sound. Right now you are in your entertainer just growling at the toys you have in your hand. Another thing you like to do while in the entertainer is stuffing as many toys as you possibly can in between your belly and the edge of the seat. Makes it hard for you to lean forward and play with the other toys, but you seem to like it. We have the entertainer set on the highest setting for height and you are just about perfect/maybe on the taller side for it. You really get going and bouncing in that thing too. Its so funny. You'll even stomp (while paired with the kicking and heel slamming when you lay on the floor, I'm sure the people downstairs LOVE it) and it seems to shake the whole floor pretty good. You also seem to be getting close to saying "Mamamamamama". almost a Mama! I can't wait. Your grandma Tammie had it her way, you'd be saying Grandma first. I'm pretty sure its going to be Mama first.
You've also moved out of the baby tub days and we have moved you into the big boy tub (turning your baby tub into a bathseat, of course!) and you LOVE getting to play in all that water! We have to be careful with how much water we put in because the other day, you tried to drink a bunch of it up and ended up putting your whole face in the water, bent over the front of the seat. Luckily your momma was paying close attention and got you sitting up and put a washcloth in your hands. You love sucking all the water out of washcloths. And sploosh balls. and anything else that holds water. We got you a few bath toys and you LOVE the wind up ones. Every time they come by you, you SLAP!! them into oblivion. Its pretty funny. You also like to chew on the squirty toys. And you can't get enough of me using my hand to make a fountain. You love it when the water goes up high and comes down over your head. You can't get enough of it.
Moving along, you are such a nut anymore, its too cute. You laugh ALL.THE.TIME. Blowing on your belly, "chewing" on your sides, eating toes and fingers, laughing at you, looking in the mirror, waking up, someone coming home, realizing you have accomplished another feat, you name it. I can even look over at you and smile, then make you giggle in delight. And in goofier news, you will ALWAYS stop what ever you are doing when the Hometown Happenings come on. You hear that music and your head WHIPS around and stares at the tv. You can be mid tantrum and when they come on, you are INSTANTLY silenced. It took a while for me to make the connection, but its there. Not really sure why, but its the cutest thing ever!
I've got to go pick you up out of your entertainer now, dearest love. Your arms are a-wavin and that usually means one of two things. Either you've pooed your diaper, or you really just want to snuggle. Here's to hoping you just want to snuggle and you save the poo for papa! I love you little man. You've made my life so complete!
Love always!
Momma!

My Product Review

Ok, I've seen many other ladies post a product review of the things they got and use. I thought I would make my own also because I've had huge success with some things and EPIC failures with others. I'm going to list the things I love (honorable mention are things that are just as good or things that work in a pinch). Hope whoever reads this (starting to wonder if anyone does?) finds it helpful. Any questions? Just ask. I won't lie about how something worked for me.

LOVE:
Pampers Swaddlers diapers- He used to leak through any diaper we put on him no matter what we did, but we marked that up to the vaseline from his circ because once we stopped putting on the vaseline, the leaking also stopped. Love the wetness indicator on the size 1 and love the extra length on the tabs on size 2. Also really like that these diapers allow poo to show through the back so we can see if that noise was a toot or a poop.
Desitin creamy and max strength- max strength works SO fast to clear up his diaper rash and smears on so well. The creamy is just cool and works great for all the other times as it smears on well and still has a decent amount of Zinc to keep the red baboon butt at bay.
Up and Up original (40% Zinc) diaper cream- smears on nicely and doesn't have the strong medicine smell Desitin does. Only draw back is its hard as hell to squeeze the tube. Might just be a fluke tube.
Huggies wipes (the thicker the better!)- usually only need one and Adam loves the thickness and texture. The pop up tub is pretty good at making sure you only get one wipe at a time.
Cloth diapers- AWESOME for burp cloths and to make sure you don't fall victim to the Golden Shower. Trust me, Anthony AIMS for me. The cloth diapers soak it all up so I don't have to change pants so often
Bibs- I love the bibs that have the new age velcro that isn't scratchy and fasten on the side instead of the back. Easier to put on, won't scratch baby's neck, and a cinch to take off. A MUST HAVE for formula feeders as formula stains really bad. Breast milk doesn't.
Ivory bar soap- Takes out ANYTHING I swear it to you. Diaper blow out? cold water and an Ivory bar. Throw up on an outfit? Cold water and the Ivory bar. My mom turned me on to this trick and the Ivory bar is SO cheap! Plus no dyes or perfumes! Also works for just about any other soon to be stains before you wash them. Just remember to use cold water and after the washer and before the dryer, you should inspect the spot where the stain is/was. If its still there after the wash and you put it in the dryer, its pretty much a permanent stain.
Infant to Toddler rocker/vibrating chair- Check it out at Target. Its a chair that has this little kick stand that makes it lay back, perfect for laying baby down long enough for a nap (with parent nearby) or a quick run to the bathroom. It also rocks, has a removable mobile that you can add and take off the toys, and it turns into a rocking chair that they can use as a toddler! They make this chair in a swing model also for about $100. Had I known that when I got this chair as a gift, I woulda traded it in and paid the extra money for the swing model.
Baby Magic Shampoo- Love the baby smell and the pump top. Personal fav!
Johnson's Soothing Naturals Cream- Comes in a mint green tube and has the best smell EVER. I don't like the super baby smell of Johnson's pink so this stuff is awesome, thicker, and makes Anthony soft as can be!
Tide-just about any of the smells (or free and clear) are great at cleaning just about anything out and leaving that fresh clean smell. Works wonders with that Ivory bar.
Boppy-Now, I could just use pillows, but dude I got this pillow for $1 (garage sale, and yes, its a REAL Boppy) and actually bring it when we go anywhere for longer than a few hours. I like it for nursing, helping Anthony sit up for photos, and it even gets used for sleeping (infant and adult). Highly suggest a slip cover though.
Swaddle blankets- that are bigger than the typical 45inches and as close to square as possible. Sure the normal receiving blankets and swaddling blankets work for a while, but around 4-6 weeks they weren't cutting it for Anthony anymore. My swaddling blankets now are home made from a friend of mine. I'd guess they are about a yard square.
Pack-n-Play- Major help for the holidays when we spent the night at the in-laws. Not easy to get the baby out when you sleep on an air mattress and have to climb up and into the pnp, but worked awesome. There's a plastic part that came with mine that sits on the very top that I use as a mini changing table, but wouldn't use it for sleeping at all. I liked putting him on the part that sits about half way down. Worked great as our bassinet and will be used once we outgrow our current bassinet.
MAM pacifiers- This is the brand that was shoved in his mouth at the hospital (without my consent, but that's another story). They are great after all because there is no upside down to worry about. You can also get this great leash piece that clips onto their clothes, your shirt, or their car seat straps to make sure you don't lose that paci (which aren't the cheapest if you have to buy them a lot). The leash also works on other types of pacis so that's a plus! I believe this brand only uses silicone for the nipples which is awesome. Latex wears out too fast.
Baby's First Year Journal- Huge for recording all the little things he does each day. Also has bigger areas to write more than a few words and gives little factiods which are cool to learn. Also have his baby books and a calendar that I get to personalize with the months and everything. Now just to put it all together!
Similac Ready to Feed bottles- These bottles come in 2, 4, and 8 oz bottles that you can throw in the diaper bag and use on the go. A 6 pk of 8oz cost us $10 and works for at least 2 feedings.
Born Free and Playtex Ventaire wide bottles- Both come with silicone nipples that are wide and "mimic mother". Born Free cost a little more, but I got mine for free from BRU for setting up a registry. Both come with extra parts and once you read why they are there, I'm pretty sure you will like them too.
Lansinoh nipple cream, nursing pads, and milk storage bags- the nipple cream has little to no smell, a small dab will do for sure, and spreads easily. Nursing pads are huge and thin. They work great around a lot of screaming kids (any lactating mommy knows what I mean!!!) and would work for days if I used them that long. The storage bags come in an easy to dispense bag, totally safe (100% natural "virgin" plastics only used) and seal up very nice and tight. This brand has yet to disappoint me.
ANY carseat cover/bunting- LOVE the ones made out of "polar" fleece that only go over the top as you aren't supposed to have any extra layers between the carseat and the straps for safety sake. I got mine at a craft fair and its used ALL.THE.TIME. I have a Cozy Cuddler from Walmart that I'll be using with the strollers, but I won't use it for the carseat. He's plenty warm with the one he has.
Full size swing- I'm borrowing one at the moment and LOVE IT. I love being able to put him in it, turn on the music and set the speed and he's happier than a clam on the ocean floor.
Gripe water- Actually does work. I've noticed that he does tend to calm down a lot. Plus its all natural, has a gas reliever in it, and isn't really medicine.
Johnson's Nursing pads- Work just as well as the Lansinoh ones, only smaller and a little thicker. I like them for day to day.
Bjorn- Can't say enough good about it. Adjusts down to my size, up to Adam's size, carries Anthony where he should be (see my review on the Infantino carrier below), gives oodles of support, easy as cake to figure out without the directions, easy to put baby in and take him out...you name it. This thing is WELL worth its weight in the most precious of Gold. Invest the extra money in it instead of any other carrier like it.

Dislike/haven't tried it yet/totally useless product
Miracle swaddling blanket- Haven't gotten it in the mail yet. This will get its own entry when it arrives. Anthony escapes almost any swaddle unless I use the swaddleme and one of my larger swaddling blankets and use a diaper pin to hold the part that wraps around in place. This miracle swaddler could be the answer to my prayers, but I don't know yet. Once I get it and if I find I like it, I'll be making one of my own that is much like it.
Dreft- Haven't tried it yet. I got a coupon for it, so I decided to give it a go and buy it. I'll more be using it as a spot cleaner or to clean a full load of baby clothes. I haven't had a full load of baby clothes that all can go together yet though.
Up and Up Creamy diaper cream- USELESS! It doesn't spread at all, it looks chunky when it comes out, and to me it smelled funky. Save yourself the hassle and either buy the Up and Up 40% Zinc or splurge for the Desitin Creamy.
Travel swings- I have one. Dislike it more than I dislike pain. It only has 2 features worth while. Granted I got it from a garage sale so expecting a lot out of it is just stupid, the music was 3 songs that gave me a headache after hearing them the first 2 times. It vibrated and the swinging part was broke but it at least did its purpose. I just don't like having to bend ALL THE WAY to the floor to get him out when he wakes and fusses. Get the full size unless you spend a lot of time on the floor.
Changing tables- I have one of these that attaches to the top of Anthony's dresser. You know what we use it for? I have onesies in the larger area where the changing pad should go (it needed a special size pad and we refused to buy that) and keep other bath and body products for Anthony for when we run out in the bathroom. It was a free piece that we got with the crib/dresser set so we aren't out anything. All his diapers are changed on a folded up towel in the living room in front of the tv.
Playtex Drop ins-BIGGEST HEADACHE EVER. I used the 4 oz bottle I got once. O.N.C.E. and now its in the bottom of the garbage can. We put some formula that needed to be used in the liner and screwed on the top (ventaire nipple and ring as we don't use or like latex) tipped it upside down to check for leaks, and put it in the diaper bag. When it came time we needed it, we opened up the bag to find the bottle got flipped upside down and the liner? E.M.P.T.Y. 99% was absorbed into a cloth diaper so that wasn't so bad, but it was a total waste of formula. As soon as we got home I had Adam take off the nipple and nipple ring and throw the bottle away. If anyone wants the remaining 3 or 4 liners for the 4 oz and wants 2 8 oz bottles and liners (no nipples though as I wasn't planning on getting rid of them and threw away the nipples), then let me know. I don't want them and don't really wanna throw them away.
Baby positioners-used for helping baby sleep a certain way. Unless you have issues in one way or another with them rolling over before they should or something else that they need it, don't waste the money.
Diaper Genie-I don't use it and don't see any reason for it to exhist. If you exclusively breastfeed, their diapers don't usually smell until they start solids. We have a garbage can in the living room that we use and when the bag is full (about 3-4 days maybe) we take it out and put in a new one.
Wipe warmers- these seem to be the biggest pain in the ass and a huge fire hazard as I've heard they either don't work or they are always burning the bottom wipes. What Adam and I do if the wipes are real cold is bunch the wipe in our fist before we even take off his diaper, giving it body warmth instead of trusting an appliance known to malfunction to do its job.
Infantino Style Rider baby carrier- We bought this because we had forgotten our Bjorn at home and needed some sort of carrier. After reading the directions many times and many readjustments, we figured that either we would return it, or Adam would be the only one to wear it. Adam is a big chested/shouldered/torso guy. After tightening this carrier as far as it would go around him, it STILL didn't hang right. When you have a carrier on correctly, the baby's head should be up under your chin where you can easily kiss their head. This carrier had Anthony down by Adam's belly and nothing holding him in from the tops of his legs to the part that went over his shoulders. Adam still had to carry him the whole time just to make sure Anthony didn't fall out or the carrier fail. I later looked in the box at the directions and diagrams and figured out that whoever had put the carrier together had put it together wrong (clasps and fasteners in all the wrong places) and had put the wrong style carrier in the box. The back support that was supposed to sit in his lower back wasn't in the right spot at all. I can't even describe how this thing didn't fit correctly and what a safety hazard it was. I've actually looked at the reviews on Target.com and see that we aren't the only ones who got the raw end of the deal.

Honorable mention (we'll use it in a pinch)
Huggies diapers- we just don't use them because they don't have as many coupons in the papers. when we were just in size 1, they worked just as good. I switched to pampers because there was a killer deal.
Johnson & Johnson baby wash- we don't use it because we like Baby Magic more. But there is a bottle of this stuff in the bag we use to spend the night somewhere. Right next to that is a bottle of Johnson's pink lotion too!
Pampers Swaddlers wipes- we have them in the tub now because it was another killer deal, but we tend to like how think Huggies are compared to these Pampers. I've seen they have thick swaddlers, but we haven't tried them as we have 2 huge boxes (abou 1500 wipes total) and don't really need any more.

I reserve the right to add more as I go through more products and times may change (sometimes diapers don't work from one stage to another) but if anyone is looking for more reviews, I send them to read Baby Bargains. This book was my bible when we registered and went shopping. It helped with the purchase of our crib/dresser set, car seat, BOTH strollers, Bjorn, and some toys. This book is so worth the $15 it cost me to save me the headache (and the many recalls since!)