This Little Piggie

Little Man has discovered a new favorite toy ... no, it is not one of his many soft cuddly bears, nor the brand new exersaucer mommy and daddy bought him, no, not even one of the developmental toys from his Nana ... his new favorite toy is .... his big toe! Ever since our little monkey was just a kidlet in the womb he has had a thing for his big toe. His little piggie made it's debut when Little Man used it to scratch his forehead during a sonogram when he was only 19 weeks in the oven and today it is masquerading as a chewtoy. Aunt Ashlie and Nana believe that Little Man is on his way to being left-handed ... it just so happens he only plays with his left toe .... I wonder what that means? If I had only known how entertaining a toe could be...

The Grass Is Always Greener

Meals have taken on a whole new meaning for our little family. Those of you who know Travis know just how important food is to him and how…shall I say... passionate he is about eating. It turns out that Little Man is equally as passionate and can scarf down food like a big boy, the problem is only about half of it actually makes it in his mouth. Inspired by a story my friend just shared with me about her dad watching her kiddos for the weekend and not using a single wipe (let’s just say the grass in the backyard by the garden hose is very green) I decided to get a little creative with cleanup. Little Man got a kick out of the makeshift shower and I got to test the absorbancy of his diapers. :)

Summertime And The Livin' Is Easy

We just got back from a weeklong trip with the fam' at the Watercolor Resort in beautiful Santa Rosa, Florida (near Destin). We were guests in a friend's vacation home known as the "Lily Pad" and had a wonderful time riding bicycles, kayaking, playing games, relaxing on the beach/pool and laughing as much as humanly possible. From the cobblestone streets to the gorgeous sand dunes and luxurious southern style homes the atmosphere made for a magical week and the perfect family vacation.

Little Man wasn't nearly as excited about the sun, surf or sand as the rest of the family was but he did have a lot of fun eating vegetables for the first time. Feeding him made me feel like we were competing in some kind of eating contest for babies. Guess the apple doesn't "rot" far from the tree (that was for you Hay). Oh and for the record, although I am a fair-skinned person, my son naturally appears to be very tan (no, Jackie, I do not secretly put him in a tanning bed) so when you see him this week please keep the "he sure got some sun!" comments to yourself ... there are no tanlines on that boy!

Aunt Ash and Nana were determined to get Little Man sitting up on his own this week and he seems to have figured it out although he doesn't have the trunk control to pull up to that position or maintain it for longer than 5 seconds (does that even count?).

All in all it was a wonderful week and hopefully the first in a long line of family vacations, even if we can only get the whole family there for a portion of the week (Adam and Jordan had to go back early). Guess I'm headed back to my windowless office and 60 degree INDOOR weather (my office neighbor keeps it really cold).

School's Out For Summer

Whew! What a busy week! I'll just touch on some of the highlights...

Aunt Hay graduated from High School this week and we had so much fun watching Aunt Hay "officially" become an adult. Nana did a great job running the ceremony (she is HS principal) and we all had a blast seeing friends, family and loved ones.

On Tuesday Little Man had his "4 month" visit and we've been instructed to begin adding vegetables to his diet. Little Man is already taking a LOT of rice cereal twice a day (and sleeping 8 hours at night ... H-A-L-L-E-L-U-J-A-H) and will start sweet potatoes (daddy's favorite) on Saturday.

Yesterday was the last day of Little Man's Mother's Day Out Program and the official mark of summer and so we are headed to Florida for our first FULL family vacation. Woooohoooo

Wiggle Worm

So we've r-e-a-l-l-y been trying to help Little Man strengthen his back muscles through the exercises that the doctor gave us but he has really strong legs and is such a wiggle worm that we aren't making much progress. Here is this morning's attempt at tummy time.

Before....

After...

And after that...

Yes, he went OVER the boppy...don't ask me how, I have no idea.

Happy Birthday To Me

Yesterday was my 27th birthday. I am generally the type of person who prefers people not to know when my birthday is just because it is so awkward...ok, I know I have issues. My husband, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. Trav LOVES birthdays (especially his own) and would shout from the rooftop if he could; planning birthday parties for him are a lot of fun because every year he turns 5. This year he was very sneaky and took off work early to drive home, sneak in the house, steal my keys and security card so that he could get into my office, decorate it, and get back home before he was supposed to pick up Little Man. To top it off, he asked my boss's permission first (for those of you who know what a rule-follower I am sure you can fully appreciate what this meant to me). That night Travis cooked my birthday dinner at my parents house and then they watched Little Man while Trav and I went on a mini date to the gym (my choice...we never get to work out together). It was a wonderful birthday.

Learning Curve

Travis and I have been implementing some of the directed play suggested to us by the pediatrician and have been having a lot of fun with it. Some of it is so easy that it makes me feel stupid but for the most part I am amazed at how much more stimulated Little Man is by the additions. Since Little Man started rolling over when he was 3 months old, any time we put him on his tummy he rolls right onto his back, making his tummy time very short. We added wax paper to the equation (left) and suddenly his tummy time stretches as long as 20 minutes. Who thinks of this stuff?? To increase the amount of time on his tummy even more, we have been helping him spend some time on his knees either up against one of our legs or on a boppy. It is amazing to see how much the simple changes have changed his interest and interaction.

This afternoon Travis was invited to Little Man's Mother Day Out Program to do a fire presentation for the kiddos. I think the kids were really scared of him at first because all that gear is pretty intimidating but after a few minutes of questions they were all inching forward to be close to him. Little Man and I were so proud of daddy and took lots of pictures of him in his gear.