Boy's Best Friend

Lola and Jude were our babies before we had you.  They were very spoiled; they didn't know they were dogs.  People warned us that our "dogs" would become "dogs" after you arrived.  I didn't believe those people, I couldn't imagine that I would love them any less than I did.  After all, Lola had been ours for 6 years and Jude for 5; they were members of our family and had somewhat satisfied my maternal instinct while I was waiting for you.  But I will admit that I did eat my words, because after you were born, the dogs took a backseat and became "dogs".  Your dad and I still love them, we just didn't have enough energy to give them the same amount of attention as we did before you were born.  Now that you are older, we have more time and energy to give to Lola and Jude and we go on almost nightly family walks when it's warm enough.  Nonetheless, it's a good thing Lola has you to show her attention and unconditional love...you have been infatuated with Lola from day one. 

We have so many pictures like this one where you can barely see Lola in the background watching/supervising you.

You are only 6 weeks old here.  Please excuse me while I cry for a second!

 

We have a video your dad filmed maybe the 2nd day we were home from the hospital.  He got up before we did, and came in the room early in the morning to film us sleeping.  Lola came in with him, and as he was filming you in your bouncy seat, she stayed right beside you-sniffing you and almost protecting you.  When you cried, she would get really nervous and try to lick your face.  Now that you are more alert and mobile, it's obvious that you guys are going to be best buds!

You talk to her all day, and smile at her, and laugh at her when she sneezes or stretches.  But you scream at her, in what can only be described as Chinese, when she leaves the room.  It breaks your heart.  When she doesn't come back you cry!  Lola's a good sport though...

she lets you climb on her,

and pull her hair,

And in exchange, she only wants to lick you on the face, which you now allow even though your dad and I try to prevent it, especially your dad.  But one day while he was at work, I put you in front of her and snapped some photos of your love fest!

"Oh, hello Lola!"

"That tickles, Lola!"

"What? We love each other!"

Something tells me the two of you are going to find ways to get into trouble once you start walking.  But Lola will love it because she will have someone to throw her the ball all day long!

"We didn't do it!"

You like Jude too, but he suffers from some sort of social anxiety disorder and only comes around when there is food involved or to bark at every little noise.  Although, the other day he was watching you play and you fell over; he jumped up and ran over to sniff you and make sure everything was okay.  After that, he was overwhelmed and went back to hiding under the bed!

Month 7...my new favorite

It’s not that I don’t want you to EVER grow up; logically I know that isn’t possible.  It’s just that I want you to stay exactly the way you are for like 6 more months.  I am loving you at 7 months.  Right now you are barely mobile.  Mobile enough by rolling that I have to keep an eye on you, but not so mobile that I have to watch your every move.  I’m not prepared for that yet; I still need to baby-proof the house! 

You smile constantly, at everyone, everywhere we go.  And you think everything that happens is hilarious.  Even if I look away and then look back at you really fast, you die laughing!  You are a little chatter box!  Your dad says you must get that from me.  You talk, well babble, all day and you don’t have an inside voice either (that also comes from me).

You love your toys right now and it’s so fun to watch your brain develop as you learn something new every day.  You love to take your toys apart to figure out how they work (you get that from your papa TT).  I bought you a xylophone and showed you how hit the keys to make music.  You stared at it for a second with big eyes and then grabbed the edge, leveraged it against your feet and flipped it over.  You touched the holes where the screws are and looked at your dad and I like “Can I get a Phillips screwdriver please?”  You won't ever hit the keys, and if we try to take your arm and make you, you get really mad! 

Eating might be your favorite thing, but you’ve always been a good eater!  You eat solids twice a day and your favorites are: sweet potatoes, carrots, spaghetti squash and a puree of acorn squash and apples I make for you.  Oh, and you got your 2 bottom teeth this month!  That hasn’t been very fun.  They have broken skin, but they are still just little buds. 

You’ve learned how to give me kisses.  Some days you are too busy playing to give me a kiss, and you push me away.  Other days you want to give me lots of kisses and you are so lovey.  Those are my favorite days!  Recently I was rubbing your head while I was feeding you.  After a while, I moved my hand down to your belly and rested it there.  You reached down, picked up my hand, and put it on your head and made my hand move to rub your head again.  Now, it’s a necessity; without fail you take my hand and put it on your head every time I feed you.

You are developing more of a personality with each passing day, and you love to try to make your daddy and I laugh by being silly.  Sometimes you do what we do, and look away and then look back at us really fast!  Of course we think your comedy routine is the funniest thing we have ever seen and then we tell each other that you are probably the smartest baby alive.  You are happiest when we are both spending time with you together, especially when we go on family walks and bring the dogs. 

At night before we put you to bed, we both hold you and sing “Amazing Grace”.  It's something we started the first week we brought you home from the hospital, now we have to do our bedtime ritual or you won't go to sleep.  While we sing, you smile and touch both of our faces and then try to share your paci with us.     

I know you have to grow up, and I know I will love your next phase too, maybe even more than this one, but I just want you to stay my squishy baby for a little bit longer.  However, I don’t think that is going to happen because this morning when I went to get you out of your crib, your face looked thinner and your body looked longer.  Sadly, your baby face is transforming into a toddler face-literally overnight.

The Royal Treatment

Bath time used to be somewhat of a stressful time for your dad and I.  We did our best to make you content and comfortable, lest you get mad and hate baths forever!  There was a very specific routine we followed.  First, we turned up the heat to keep you warm and toasty.  Then, we put the plastic bath tub on the island in the kitchen so we could be on both sides of you.  Next, we debated over the best water temperature, testing it over and over again with our hands, wrists, and elbows...after all, your skin is more sensitive than ours.  We even bought a rubber ducky that was supposed to read "HOT" on the bottom if the water was too hot.  Through trial and error, (basically from you screaming the whole time) we learned that the duck lies.  It said "HOT" even in semi-cold water.  When we decided on the perfect water temperature and got all of the supplies lined up, we quickly undressed you and stuck you  in the tub feet first.  Quickly because we would get peed on if we took our time, and feet first because we wanted you to get acclimated to the water before we just threw you in.  Once in the tub, the royal treatment began...

1.  Soak wash rag in warm water and put on your chest to keep your core warm.

2.  Begin QUICKLY washing each body part, starting at the top and working down while singing to the tune of the wheels on the bus.  i.e. "this is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands, this is the way we wash our hands, when we take a bath"

I love those little feet!!

And those precious hands!

3.  Rinse you off without getting water on your face.

Oops!  Dad got some water on your face!

I think you said, "No more pictures mom!" I have a feeling I will be hearing that phrase often as I will probably have taken a million pictures of you before you graduate....from kindergarten!!

4. Dry you off with your fluffy, hooded towel.

I am obsessed with that double chin!

"Seriously mom, no more pictures!!"

5.  Carry you to your room where the space heater has been warming the room and classical music is softly playing.

6.  Begin 20 minute baby massage.

7.  End with pajamas.

During baths you were very serious, kind of like you knew you were being treated like a king, and almost like you felt entitled to the royal treatment.  As first time parents, we played right into your first born tendencies.  We take full credit for making you needlessly high maintenance!

Now that you are 7 months old going on 3 (years), and we aren't as concerned about catering to your every need (at least during baths), bath time looks more like this:

We throw you in, give you some toys and watch you splash and squeal and chew on your toys.  We all enjoy bath time so much more this way!