And he crawls

After weeks of looking so incredibly close to crawling, we have finally achieved it. Little B is officially a crawler - and Mommy's job just got a whole lot harder.
He started crawling Sunday and just 48 hours later he looks like he's been doing it forever. He is all over the place now and so happy. He just keeps crawling around the floor, with a smile on his face. Our newly independent little boy! He looks so cute on his hands and knees, with that little tushy up in the air.
I was reading up on childproofing and it's amazing that any of us survived childhood. There's so many things that I would never even think of - foil and saran wrap, for example, because of the serrated edge on the box. That would never have crossed my mind We have a massive job ahead of us, since our house couldn't be less child-friendly. Barrett has already worked his way over to the fireplace, the stairs and the wine rack, so we have lots to do!
And not only is he crawling now, but he's starting to try to pull up on things too. Where did our helpless little baby go?!

Twins

By pure coincidence and not at all planned by me (ahem), Barrett and I wore matching navy and white striped outfits the other morning.

He may be a mini-Tim but I have control of his wardrobe at least.

Barrett - Eight months old

Dear Barrett -

I think I need to do a calendar check because there is no way that you are 2/3 of a year old already. I look at you, sitting up so confidently, playing with toys, aware of everything around you, and I can see the little boy you're becoming. I love it, but I want to slow time down, to keep you my little baby for just a little bit longer.

You are so full of curiosity. Your hands are constantly out, grabbing at everything: my coupons at the grocery store, racks of clothes as we walk through aisles at the mall, and the remote control (come on now, don't you know that's Mommy's toy?). So grabby! But I know you just want to know what everything is. You know no fear either, so we have to keep a close eye on you. While you used to want to linger on my lap in your milk-drunk stupor following a meal, now oftentimes you turn and try to roll right off, as if "okay, I've been still long enough, now it's time to get back to exploring!"

Your little personality continues to develop but has stayed consistent since you were in my belly. You are generally such a calm and happy little guy. I watch you through the window at daycare and see the other little girl your age come up and take the toy right from your hands and you just sit there so calmly and let her and watch her play. You are so mellow, kiddo. You do let us know when you need some attention and once I pick you up, you settle down and are just happy to be in my arms. You have your moments of impatience (I can't imagine where you got that from!), but you are easy to soothe. You are really starting to imitate things we do - you shake your head no, bang your hands on the ground, and just this week, waved goodbye to me. Aww!

You are literally days away from crawling and I'm so excited for this new milestone. I am not excited for babyproofing our completely un-baby friendly house, but I can't wait to watch you learn this new trick and scootch your little self around. I was so excited for your rolling but now am rethinking this trick - you refuse to stay on your back now, which makes diaper and clothing changes so challenging these days!

Two little teeth are peeking out the top of your mouth and it always takes me aback when I see them. It'll take some getting used to, just like your bottom ones did. Right now you're still eating purees and I am going to start giving you some things to try to munch on your own in the next few weeks. Your new favorite food is peaches from the fruit tree out back. They have made everything else undesirable by comparison. You have learned the truth - why eat peas or broccoli when you can have sweet peaches or apples? I think my little picky boy has inherited mommy's sweet tooth.

I know this next month is going to be so exciting, as you learn to crawl and get your little independent self around. I'm excited for it!

Love
Mommy


Attempting to crawl right off the chair. Our own little Evil Knievel


Monkey jammies in the morning




Not hiding his feelings on broccoli

Lots of laughter

The easiest way to get Barrett to giggle like crazy is when I nibble on his legs. He laughs like crazy! We took some videos of these laughs. But beware - there's a fine line where it's suddenly not so funny to him!

Balloons!

Barrett got his first balloon the other day. He was so cute with it, I couldn't resist posting a video

Wiggle worm

Pictures with Barrett used to be so easy. He would sit there calmly and nicely next to his teddy bear and I would just have to point and shoot. Um, those days are over. B made that clear with his 7 month photo shoot a few weeks ago. To say he's wiggly these days is an understatement. I was lucky to get one or two decent shots out of the picture taking.

Haha Mommy, you actually think I'm going to sit here next to this bear for your silly photos??


Yeah, not happening


Wow, I can pull off the arm chair cover


This is exhausting. I've got to take a rest


But first, let me show you how flexible I am


You're not intersted in my stretches? well BOO to YOU!


Now I'm really getting tired of this


Anything better going on back there?


That's right momma, you like that view?


Alright, enough, I'm outta here


And that pretty much summarizes the photo shoot. And I'm guessing it'll get even more difficult from here on out. Thank goodness for digital cameras, right?

Millions of Peaches, Peaches for me

In the last two weeks I have been a mini-Martha Stewart. I have made: pureed peach baby food, peach ice cream, peach jam and have 4 frozen bags of peach slices in my freezer, ready to be used for cobblers and ice cream. Hmm, what is the theme of this cooking?

Thanks to our peach tree in the backyard, we had stacks of peaches in the last week. It was absolutely awesome. The first year we moved in, Tim was mowing the lawn late summer and happened to find one laying on the ground. He brought it in and said "Look what I found. I think that tree out back might be a peach tree." Little did we know the next year the entire tree would be pretty much orange from all the peaches. The next two years we didn't get any, due to wet and cold spring weather but this year, we were happy to see all the peaches again. This peach tree was the one good thing the previous owners did for this house.

We took a bunch in to co-workers and to Barrett's daycare teachers and still had plenty to eat and freeze. Barrett is a big fan of the peaches too. I think they might be his new favorite food. Tonight, when I made him peaches with oatmeal mixed in, he actually cried when they were done, funny boy. We're looking forward to enjoying all the wonderful peaches through the fall and into winter!

Barrett - Seven months old

Dear Barrett

Happy 7 month birthday! Unfortunately I'm writing this a few weeks late because time is getting away from me these days. Every spare minute I have, I would rather spend with you, instead of in front of a computer. You are growing at such a fast pace and each month you seem to learn more and more skills.

You are a master sitter now. I know you'd like to figure out how to pull yourself up to a sit by yourself, but you aren't quite there yet. Your newest thing is to hold your arms when we come to pick you up, it's so cute!

You had a crazy growth spurt right around 7 months. One day you fit perfectly into your 6 month clothing and the next day, it was all way too short. It was pretty much overnight. I look down at your body and am always surprised to see the belly rolls, the fat little thighs and the long baby body. No more tiny little newborn with skinny chicken legs! I love to kiss and tickle your belly . But my favorite place to kiss these days - your chubby thighs. You laugh and squeal when I kiss your thighs, which makes me laugh, which makes you laugh even harder.

You are starting to get a little stranger anxiety I think. You get pretty quiet in large crowds and although you still give lots of smiles when strangers smile at you, you aren't as smiley or at ease as you used to be.

I still visit you at lunchtime to nurse and I love the time away from the office to spend with you in the middle of the day. I get happy to get the call from the daycare to tell me you're ready to eat. I sing and talk to you and you just gaze up at me while you eat. Lately you've been falling asleep while you lay there and I am so happy how restful and comfortable you are with me in that room, in that chair. It's so hard to lift you up and take you back to your classroom.

I think you may be the most-loved baby in this world, we are absolutely head over heels in love with you, my dear baby!

Love,
Mommy

Alfalfa

I have had my share of hair angst. I fight the wave, the thickness and the cowlick at my hairline. When everyone was sporting the Brenda Walsh thick, straight bangs circa 1992, my attempts weren't quite as successful. Mine resulted in thick, slanted bangs. Because of the cowlick at my hairline, the left side touched my eyebrows while the right lingered up about 1" above them. Not a good look, especially combined with the glasses and braces. Let's just say 7th grade wasn't my best-looking year.

However, I don't know if I've ever seen a cowlick quite like Barrett's. They are definitely unique. Yes, there's two of them. They swirl away from each other, resulting in a little "tail" that comes down from between them and then one that sticks up where the swirls meet.

If he was a girl, we'd probably never have to give this a second thought, since long hair would cover them. But since he's a boy, I see a lifetime of struggle with this funny little thing! Check them out for yourself:

see the swirls and the little tail between them?


Close-up of the hair sticking up. It's kind of hard to see, I know


And then in this one, you can see how it sticks up in the back. Too funny!

Peas and Carrots and Squash, oh my!

We officially have an eater on our hands. After a slow and reluctant start, he's finally a willing participant in 2 meals per day and starting to love them (most of the time). He's tried peas, carrots, apples, butternut squash, sweet potatoes and green beans. He wasn't such a fan of the green beans or sweet potatoes, so we'll have to try those another time. We thought he liked apples the best, until we tried butternut squash. Oh my oh my, does he love it!

So far, I've been making his food myself. There are a couple reasons I'm doing it:

1) I like knowing exactly what goes into my baby's mouth. I won't have control over what he eats forever but for now, I can. I am buying most of the veggies and fruit organic sometimes. There is a "dirty dozen" list, of 12 produce items that contain the most pesticides, so those I'll definitely plan on buying organic for baby food.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/01/dirty.dozen.produce.pesticide/index.html

2) it saves money. One butternut squash cost me about $3 and yielded about 25 1oz servings. As opposed to a $.50/serving that I'd probably spend at a store. Not too shabby!

3) I wouldn't give Barrett anything that I wouldn't eat myself. See the color difference in the store bought peas vs the homemade peas? (the homemade ones are frozen) Which would you rather eat??




It really didn't take much time to make the food. I spent just a few hours doing it.







Some of what I made and froze for my little guy


Enjoying the fruits (and veggies) of Mommy's labor.
Peas please!






Carrots. We have to watch those fingers because he is a little too eager to feed himself


(We actually do dress our child, but I guess it's just makes for easier clean up when he's shirtless!)

And his absolute favorite: butternut squash. YUM!