9 Months and Moving Like a Maniac!

  With 9 months down, Rory has a lot of new tricks up his sleeves.  (well honestly, he doesn't really have sleeves.  It's Florida.)  The first and foremost is getting Daddy and Mommy to exercise.  If Rory's awake, we are chasing him all over the house.  His crawling speed has increased immensely and he's also whipping out steps all over the place.  I think his longest stretch has been 13 steps.  Today, he did a running step.  He booked it like there was a monster chasing him.  Why was he moving so fast you might ask?  Oh, he wanted to type on Daddy's computer while Daddy was figuring out what to blog about next. 
 
  He also has figured out how to hurt himself.  This week alone, he fell off the bed.  I was scared out of my mind.  One second I was holding him on my lap as we watched obese people trying to maneuver their bodies through a little body shaped cutout of a giant moving wall.  The next second he was going headfirst off the side of the bed.  It felt like I had a heart attack and I was about to take him to the concussion doctor when my wife said, "It won't be his last fall dear, and also I'm glad you were the one it happened to first."  I wasn't impressed.

Although she was right.  The same week, he also fell backwards while trying to reach Mommy's I-Pd that was sitting on a TV Tray Table, bumping his head on the floor and also knocking the TV Table, and IPad onto himself.  I wanted to get him to urgent care immediately, but my wife said, "He's fine."

And then because things happen in threes, he also fell face first into his reclining vibrating chair while he was running away from Daddy in both of our favorite game, "Catch the Baby!"  He squeals with glee and takes off like a laughing lunatic.  As he bounded away he lost his footing and fell into his chair.  He stopped.  Squinted his face.  And looked at me with a shocked expression.  Then randomly started laughing again.  Needless to say, I've learned that he is not as fragile as he used to be.

One of the other amazingly simple things that he is doing is making a symphony of new noises.  He clicks his tongue with such confidence that I swear he's fluent in the Khoisan African clicking language.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoisan_languages  Rory also supports mouth bubbles to throat snorts.  I didn't even know some of these sounds existed.  It doesn't bother me though because I love every second of every sound.  (I'm being completely serious here but I swear that Kim and I heard him singing the simple melody that Ariel sings to Ursula in The Little Mermaid. )

Rory is the most amazing thing I've ever laid eyes on.  It boggles my mind that anyone could look at a baby and see the intricate features and watch them learn and figure out the world, and not realize that this little creature was made by a divine creator.  I can't imagine anyone looking at my son and thinking, "Yeah, that was nature's accident, but wow he's cute." 

I just can't wait to see what's next!

 

The Merman

 

  It might just be me, but I find it so hysterically odd that I have to basically tie my son up in order to get him to sleep.  It's not really his fault I guess.  He just can't stop moving, even for a nap.  He'll just whine or stand up and start jumping in the crib if we don't swaddle him.  Sometimes both.  And honestly, I'm getting tired of  swaddling him five times a day, but then again it causes him to sleep through the whole night and that is more priceless than anything.

When Rory was younger (a few months ago) we would wrap him in one amazing stretchy Carters blanket as seen in the picture.  It made him feel comfortable and put him right to sleep.  Score!  

But then, as these things tend to happen, he found he could easily wrestle his way out of the wrap and was kicking and screaming before 11 P.M.

This made life incredibly hard because my wife and I are not so good running on less than 6 hours of sleep. 



Thankfully my wife is brilliant!  (When she isn't suffering from pregnancy brain, which she will be happy to tell you, continues for the baby's first year in life.)  She had this fantastic idea to use a second blanket to wrap around his legs to keep them from gaining enough of his seesaw-like momentum to break out of his wrap.  I don't know which of us started calling it the merman but let me tell you it worked incredibly.  He rarely gets out of this wrap.  But Mama wasn't messing around, she added one more blanket to the mix just to make sure.

"It just keeps everything together!  And look he likes it!" Kim says.
"He looks like he's in a straight jacket!" I say.

But, she was right... he loves it and he sleeps!  (Yes he still rolls all over the crib and finds a way to angle himself in each corner and crevice)

Of course we'd be up a creek if we forgot the head blanket!  He needs to feel that soft happiness on his cheeks that gives him that final push into slumber.  I sure love you, little monkey.



 

Oh, the Places He'll Go!

Oh, the places Rory goes is incredible now that he is crawling around like a spider monkey.  He's so fast that I can barely catch him.  (Kim definitely can't, because she has unfortunately gotten her Pirate-Plantifatchitis foot thing back.  You know that thing that puts your foot to sleep and makes you hobble around like a drunken pirate?)  We are very thankful that he has perfected the crawl because at first he was doing some weird leg dragging thing and it was so creepy that we started calling the crawl, The Quasimodo.  But don't worry.  He crawls with amazing gusto now!  He's even starting to take multiple steps.  We really couldn't be prouder....  that is until we find him in the dog's water dish, or gnawing on a dog toy.  Then we are a little grossed out! 

He finds all kinds of nooks and crannies to crawl into.  One of his favorite places to go is the laundry room because there is just so much stuff to play with.  He loves banging on the washing machine because it sounds like a bongo drum.  The laundry room also holds the dog's dishes so as I said earlier, he just can't resist.  (He hasn't tempted to try her food yet though.)  He also likes to head to the guest bathroom to pull himself up onto the bathtub.  He really likes bathtime!  Thank God he has no interest in the toilet.  We find him in the red room with the dog from time to time because that's where I house my PlayStation games and he knows how fun it is to bang the games against stuff.  Our dog, whole-heartedly approves his actions as she lays on the comforter on the guest bed.

I guess that sounds like we aren't paying attention to him, but I'm telling you that all it takes is a second for Kim to look down at whatever fantastic meal she is cooking, or me to look from the television while The Evil Queen glares at Emma for bringing Maid Marian back from the past, (Seriously Once Upon A Time?  Let Regina be happy!) and Rory is gone.  He's just that quick.

Rory also has this other game he likes to play.  Grab every thing in sight that I tell him not to touch!  It's a fantastic game!!!   We enjoy pulling him off the entertainment center fifteen times in 3 minutes.  My wife blames me for picking out the bird shaped knobs.  I do admit that Rory goes right for the knobs but I'm telling you that those things are amazing!  Who doesn't like birds? 


  He also thinks its great fun to leave the room after I ask him politely to sit and play with his toys.  He will look back at me with a devious grin and wait for me to get up and grab him.  Then he shrieks and takes off as fast as he can away from me.  I race after him and catch him and he laughs.  I can't help but melt when he laughs.  He is the best baby in the world.  However, I am slightly worried that he laughs when I tell him, "No."  I'm sure it comes with time... right?  Lie to me, if I'm wrong. 

Oh I hope I'm not painting Rory to be a crazy little punk monkey that never stops moving, even though that is exactly what he is.  But he gets into some really great places too.  Like right into Daddy's arms when he's a little scared or sad because he knows I'll keep him safe.  Always.

Very First Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is always a fun time if you're are a kid fortunate enough to have a mother.  You get to make little crafts and write notes about how much you love your mother and all the cool things she does for you.   Of course I've never been a mother so I don't know how awesome it feels to celebrate being a mother while actually being a mother.  I can however give you a little insight from my wife by doing a Mother's Day Interview on her very first Mother's Day!

Josh:  So how does it feel to be a mother?

Kim:  Huh?  That's a strange question.

Josh:  Why?  I need to know how it feels from the mother's perspective.

Kim:  Hmm.  I guess I'll tell you, but you have to tell me what you said earlier when I wasn't paying attention.

Josh:  Just tell me!  It's for my blog!

Kim: OH!!! FOR THE BLOG?!?!?!?   I LOVE IT!  RORY'S MY FAVORITE GUY!  HE SMILES!  HE IS MY HEART!  THAT'S EVERYDAY NOT JUST MOTHER'S DAY!  IT'S SO FUN TO BE A MOTHER BECAUSE I ALWAYS WANTED TO AND NOW I GET TO.  I JUST LOVE RORY WITH HIS LOUD ROARING IN CHURCH SERVICE.  RAWR RAWR RAWR. 

Josh:  Thank you for the sound effects. 

Kim:  But.... He's getting so big. 

Josh:  Yes.  That's what babies do.

Kim:  I compare him to Aaron Jack and Gina Jo's baby, Rae, and Rory's like a giant! He's never going to be that small again.

Josh:  Interesting.  Now how do I write that?  With a glistening tear in her eye, she ponders the size of her baby.

Kim:  YOU WILL NOT WRITE ABOUT THE CRYING!

Josh:  Fine.  I'll write about it, but I'll promise you that you can have another baby someday that will be that small.

Kim:  TRUUUST ME!  I KNOW THAT!  I'VE ALREADY PLANNED ON IT....  but it won't be Rory.

Josh:  Oh... well I thought you knew how baby's worked.  They tend to get bigger and grow up, ya know?

Kim:  And another thing... I'd like him to stay still for one second so I can get his handprint to look like more than a smudge. 

Josh:  Yeah, well that's a lost cause.  He is like a caffeine induced rabbit.

Kim:  Humph.

Josh:  So, overall I'm getting the sense you like being a mother, right? 

Kim:  It's the best thing in the world.  I love my baby boy more than anything in the world.


Happy Mother's Day Kim!  You are an amazing mother and I love spending every waking, sleeping, breathing moment with you and Rory!  You two are the best gifts God has given me!  I love you both very much! 


 

Poop-tastic! (This blog has been rated P for excessive Poop Talk.)

If I'm being honest I could write a book on baby poop.  Not that anyone would read it, except for maybe the 65 percent of people that love a good poop story.  Anyways, let me tell you about the top 5 best poops of April.

Number 5:  Rabbit Poop:  The little pellets that you sometimes can find in Rory's diaper and wonder which woodland critter left it behind.  Surely no human could possibly make something so small.


Number 4: Blueberry Poop:  It's what happens when Mommy makes blueberry applesauce and feeds it to him three meals in a row.  Poor, Miss Anna had to deal with this blue poop that causes staining on contact.  And to think, she didn't even get any pork chops with all that applesauce.  What a shame.

Number 3: Brown Pants:  The wet and slightly filmy coating that covers every inch when you open the diaper, and somewhat resembles a slight tan on a warm summer day. 


Number 2: Slushy:  I really don't need to explain.




And our Number 1 Poop:


Back Brace Poo:  This subtle creeping poop oozes its way up a baby's entire back until all you can do is hose him off in the bathtub.  It usually smells like a rancid raccoon that's been laying out in the hot sun for a week.  ( I took a picture but my wife begged me to not to post it because she doesn't think anyone wants to see it.  I did remind her of the 65 percent but she still said no.  I finally gave in.)


I hope you enjoyed  (If you are in the 65 percent).  I know we sure had fun
wiping those clean.  I may have gagged once or twice and I usually can handle anything BM related.  Just watch out for the Back Brace Poo. 


Any cute face can make this one at any given time.