Development Comes With A Price

It's amazing how fast Antonio is developing and moving along. Last week he had his 9 month check up. Everything was great. His doctor was quite impressed with his development. Antonio, being my son, is extremely vocal and made sure to demonstrate this to the good doctor. In addition to mimicking sound, he also mimics gestures. We've been working on bye-bye with him and he does it for the most part. When I leave for work in the mornings, I always wave bye-bye and half the time he waves back. I learned at the doctor visit that he understands this gesture to mean that the person he waves at is leaving. I will explain how I know this. Antonio is a very determined baby and easily let's you know when he does not want to do something. His doctor started the usual check up routine that includes moving Antonio into positions that he hates. During the physical exam, Antonio actually grabbed the doctor's hand twice and pulled it away from his body. When the doctor continued to probe, Antonio slapped his hand. I was shocked. After the exam his doctor sat with us so we could discuss everything and I could ask my questions. About a minute into the conversation, Antonio started waving bye to the doctor. It was the first time I had seen him do the gesture without someone prompting him. I took this to mean it was time, in Antonio's mind, for the good doctor to leave.

 It's not uncommon for Antonio to demonstrate his boredom or lack of desire with something. He will attempt to slide out your arms if he is tired of you holding him. If something is offered to him that he doesn't want he pushes it away, turns his head to the side, or throws his head back while making an unusual grunt. I'm glad he is expressing himself, however, I'm learning that with babies all these great developments come with a price. Example-when I take things away from Antonio he gladly expresses his discontent by throwing himself back. Not good. I've never been fond of temper tantrums and based on current activity my cub will throw lots of them. Antonio is very mobile, crawling and cruising with the best of them. My father gave him this toy that he can push around while standing/walking and Antonio LOVES it. Since Antonio prefers to walk, but can't because he hasn't mastered that balance thing, anything that assists him in walking/standing is his best friend. At first I was thrilled by all the mobility. I mean what mom wouldn't be. Here is the price-Antonio NEVER stays still. I'm constantly running behind him as he cruises from one place to the next, of course getting into things he shouldn't. Bath time is difficult because as you know soap and water make things slippery. Antonio wants to pull to standing while in the tub and explore but the rim of the tub is of course slippery. Bath time last night was an adventure as we tried to keep him seated while he fought us and tried to stand. We then tried one of us helping him stand while the other bathe him but of course our independent cub would have none of that.  He wants to stand on his own. The result is him trying to throw himself back to let us know he doesn't approve of our assistance. I of course am frightened by him doing that because we are in the tub where he could seriously hurt himself. I'm learning to be careful of what I wish for. I think I am ready for him to talk but who knows what the flip side of that joy will be.

 The video below will be boring to most but to a me the mom I love it. Excuse my house I have a 9 month old. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Also, this was taken a couple of weeks back when Antonio was transitioning from the military crawl to what is normally expected of a crawl. Now he moves like lightening and tries to push up onto his legs to standing. They move too fast.

Church with An 8 Month Old

Oversleeping on Sunday mornings is absolutely not allowed. Here is why...

The cub has a very good schedule/routine. He usually wakes up around 7 a.m. We play for a little upstairs just to get the juices going then we head downstairs and have breakfast. We play for a bit and sometimes watch one of the Baby Einstein or Elmo DVDs. Since it is really hot out we also use this time while it is a little cooler to catch some outside time.  Around 9:30 a.m. we have a bottle/snack then he is put down for his early nap. He wakes around 11:00/11:30, has lunch around 12 noon, play for a while, and around 2:30/3:00 he has another snack then he naps. The second nap varies in length but he is always awake before 5:30. Depending on the weather (how hot it is), we go for a stroll or have blanket time outside in the grass. He has dinner around 6:00/6:30. After dinner he plays for a while then he takes a bath and is put to bed for the night before 8:00 p.m. He usually takes another small bottle right before bed but lately his bottle feedings have depended on his mood. He doesn't always take one and sometimes only drink 4-6 ounces. Well, I shared all that to say that he has a definite schedule and rarely likes deviating from it. I never set an alarm on the weekends because I know I will be up by 7 a.m. awakened by the sweet sounds of Antonio babbling. This Sunday, however, the cub decided to sleep until 8 a.m. We have to be out the house by 8:10 a.m. if we expect to make it to the church nursery in time to secure a spot. Staff is limited so they only take so many little ones. Needless to say because of Antonio oversleeping (of course no blame is on the parents) we did not make it in time for the nursery. This means Antonio had to go with us to the sanctuary. This has happened many times before but it becomes more disruptive as he gets older and his ability to sit still and quiet lessen.

First adventure...the lady with the interesting hair.
Once we selected a seat and were settling in, Antonio began to survey the land. His sights fell upon the lady sitting in the row before us. We go to a fairly big church so the sanctuary is designed with stadium seating. This means the lady's head in front of us was prime picking for Antonio's chubby little hands. Before I even realized where his attention was he had leaned forward and was centimeters from a hand full of hair. Of course The Husband and I were quick to pull his hand away and let him know that he can't grab her hair. After providing him with a distraction I took a quick glance at her hair to see what would have made him want to grab it. It was very intriguing and I could understand what would compel him to want to investigate it. I can't quite describe the texture and wanted to touch it myself.

Second adventure...the dumping of items.
So if you have been following my blog you know that the cub thoroughly enjoys music. When the choir is singing he sits perfectly still and enjoys every second of the melody. The moment they finish I believe he is inspired and thus begins his own tune. He can get quite loud so I quickly gave him a toy to silence him and occupy him so I could listen to the sermon. This does not work as well as it used to because Antonio prefers to play with items that are not appropriate nor are they toys. His first item of choice was the church bulletin. The next item was the cell phone which he attempted to throw on the floor. Then he moved to items in his diaper bag of which he would pull out an item, inspect it for 30 seconds, then throw it to the floor. The Husband did a good job at playing catch and keeping the items from rolling under the row in front of us. Eventually, his eyes landed on the cell phone of the gentleman sitting next to me. He swiftly reached for the phone and attempted to take it from the guy's lap. I of course had to apologize. I immediately thought to myself that the cub was anxious from sitting and decided to let him stand and bounce on my lap. Why did I think this? This incited the next adventure.....

Third adventure.....I got to get to that row behind me.
We were actually seated halfway up the aisle. Each aisle breaks halfway up to a walk way that leads out of the sanctuary. The walkway is wide and adorned with sitting chairs for the ushers. As the last row before this walkway, we had a mini wall behind our seats. The mini wall has plexiglass at the top. Antonio loved this. He could see the ushers through the plexiglass and it was just high enough that while standing on my lap he could reach up and hold on to the top of the wall. With pulling up being one of his new joys, he spent a good bit of his time pulling up on the wall and trying to reach the ushers seated behind us.

I'm amazed that I heard the sermon. I told the Husband that I now intend to volunteer one Sunday a month in the nursery to help with the staffing issues. I think every parent that uses the church nursery should do the same. I never fully appreciated their services until this past Sunday.

Uncles and Babies Not A Good Mix

So this won't be long. The video itself speaks volumes. Those that have brothers and children already know that uncles are truly interesting influences on babies. In my case my son is named after one of his uncles and the two of them share an odd bond. I love that they have this bond and I already forsee that my son will most likely run to him during those chaotic teenage years. The sister in me is grateful for this but the mom in me is a little scared. Here is why....

A Little Yearbook Fun

If you haven't done so in a while I strongly suggest going back to your high school yearbook and reading the words written by your fellow classmates. I just finished going through my freshmen year of high school yearbook and boy is it telling. Of course it is now 15 years old. I cannot believe it's been that long. The great thing I found in reading my yearbook is I am sooo not the person I used to be and then again I am. I'll elaborate.

If you are near my age you may laugh at "K.I.T.". I have like 40 phone numbers from various high school friends because at the end of their note they wrote K.I.T. (keep in touch) and their home phone. Of course this predates everyone having cell phones. This unfortunately has nothing to do with my revelation. I just found it humorous.

If you are familiar with yearbook etiquette it is very customary for people to end their note to you with a simple "never change" or "stay that way". Based on what I read today I have always been a speak my mind kind of gal. Most my classmates admired this trait while some saw it as rude or mean. Of course I know why the varying sentiments. It all depends on whether you were on the receiving end when I would speak my mind. So this is how I have stayed the same and changed at the same time. I still speak my mind. I've always felt that honesty is the best policy. I've also always admired when people shot it to me straight, no chaser. Because I do fundamentally believe in treating others the way I would want to be treated, I am definitely a person that shoots it to you straight. I have learned that often my advise is not wanted and can be insensitive. So, I have learned when to say things and even better how to be a straight shooter with little injury. I didn't have this tact in high school. Oddly, a lot of people felt comfortable telling me I was insensitive so either I wasn't that scary or people are really tough on paper. I'll choose to believe that I wasn't that scary. I did find comfort in reading that a lot of my classmates found me to be funny and smart. Those are two great characteristics.

It's always good to get a glimpse of how yourself through someone else eyes. I wish there was some way for people to write yearbook messages to me now. It would be pretty cool to get to read the messages 15 years from now and get another glimpse at the person I was or am.

LIfe with an 8 Month Old

I am completely amazed that Antonio is now eight months old. What's a mom to do. This first year is speeding away and soon I will wake up to a 1 year old. When I was pregnant I felt like the days just dragged and dragged. I was so eager for the arrival of my cub. Now the days fly by so fast that I think some of the memories would be a blur if I didn't have the pictures to look at and refresh the images.

The cub is doing so well. He is crawling and cruising. It's funny because we weren't sure he would crawl since he started cruising first. Now he gets around pretty well with his unique version of a crawl. He tries to go from sitting to standing without the aid of furniture or a sturdy object. He usually gets into a downward dog position and stops because he doesn't know where to go from there. It's only a matter of time but believe me we are in no rush to have him walking around. Originally I had my What to Expect the First Year, my parent magazine, baby talk magazine, and any other developmental reading on my night stand and was nose deep every week trying to mark the milestones and make sure he was on target. Now, I almost want to say I could care less. I still want to know what to look for next but I don't obsess over what he is or isn't doing. I'm slowly learning to listen to him and take cues from him. As a new mommy this is a MAJOR accomplishment. You spend so much time trying to do it right and you just want the best for your baby that you really can stress too much. Every day my cub reminds me that he may be little but he's strong.

The best part of life with an eight month old is the love. My cub definitely knows how to pack on the love. When I leave for work in the mornings he cries and reaches for me. I must admit that as much as it pulls at my heartstrings to see him sad it also fills me with a little joy to know that he has a strong attachment to me. This may be a little sick but hey I'm honest about my feelings. I think I shared before that he gives the best kisses. I get so giddy every time he kisses me that he now smiles and chuckles at my response. I'm beginning to think that he gives me kisses to see my response. I can't express it enough; life with an eight month old, well my eight month old, is just amazing.