24 Weeks

Well look who’s on time this week! Happy 24 weeks to my Mister Man!

 

He’s growing so quickly. I remember when we put the toy bar on his car seat and celebrated when he first hit one. Now he grabs them and pulls so he can see it bounce. He uses both hands to grab at whatever he can get his hands on. And you have to be quick to prevent it, otherwise he’s going to have a hand full of your french fries before you know what happened. And hopefully that’s all he gets.

He’s rolling over very easily now. His new trick to avoid naps is to roll onto his stomach immediately upon getting laid down. And he’s started to get mildly mobile by rolling. One thing he likes more than rolling, though, is sitting. He LOVES sitting. I still keep the boppy around him while he’s sitting, but he only uses it when he tries to look behind him and falls backward. He falls forward or to the side very rarely anymore. Unless, of course, it’s when he manages to move forward a couple feet the ONE moment he’s left by himself for two seconds, then he falls forward against the coffee table. Poor baby. But he’s decided that launching himself forward is awesome, especially in the bathtub. One minute he’s sitting, the next he’s launched himself up and over. Don’t worry, no injuries yet.

Sweet potatoes have been a giant success so far, so on Sunday he moved on to peas. He isn’t quite so much of a fan with peas, but he’s tolerating them. He’s also moved up to eating twice a day, once before I head to work and once in the evening. Justin teased me quite a lot for videotaping (is that still the word when there’s no tape involved anymore?) his first experiences with rice and sweet potatoes, so I just had him take pictures this time. Even after all his teasing of me, he took a TON of pictures. I’ve included the choicest below.

His personality is shining through more and more. He’s mostly a ham, grinning, shrieking, and giggling for whomever will listen. He does have a temper, though, which is rearing its ugly little head. His temper tantrum consists of growling. If I let it go on too long, then he’ll eventually start fussing, but mostly he just growls. He’s getting much more choosy about where he is and what he’s doing. If he’s left in another room, like if I leave him in the living room while I start dinner, pretty soon he’ll realize he’s alone and starts growling. He also gets bored with the same position for more than fifteen minutes or so, depending on his mood. I just rotate him among his toys. He spends a little time on the floor with some toys, then the swing, then the high chair, then the play pen, then back to the floor. Sometimes he sits on my lap for awhile, but I’ve had to cut down on that because I swear his arms are three feet long. It doesn’t matter how far I think I’ve put something, he manages to find it. Today he managed to find a cough drop. I haven’t had a cold since Christmas, where in the heck did he find a cough drop?! His favorite is pens, though. He loves pens, but I keep seeing him with a big ink stain around his mouth, so I’m trying to keep them away from him. Today he lost access to his Prince Lionheart seat (looks like a Bumbo) because he started to arch his back and nearly tumbled backward out of it. But since he’s sitting on his own, he’s pretty happy in the high chair anyway and hadn’t been enjoying the seat as much. Sometimes I get to thinking about how quickly he outgrows things and I start to wonder if they were worth the money. Then I remember just how much he enjoyed them, even if it was for a brief period, and I realize I’d buy them many times over again, just to see that grin.

I really hope he’s a good kid, because I’m going to be TERRIBLE at saying no to him. I’m so lucky my sisters are good kids, because I can’t even say no to them, so I KNOW I stand no chance with him. I don’t exactly have a good track record with being firm with him yet, as evidenced by bedtime around here.

And, pictures! Pay attention to Laika cleaning the floor around Mitchell during breakfast this morning. She may discover she likes him after all!

Boy Meets Girl

First, happy 23 weeks to my little mister!

 

Second, it’s snowmageddon! 9.5 inches fell this morning, and more is falling right now. Justin, Mister Man, and I are all enjoying our snow days immensely. Pictures!

Third, Justin and I celebrated our NINTH anniversary (dating) on Tuesday. And when I say “celebrated”, I mainly mean we acknowledged it as I headed to bed at 8. Because we’re super exciting like that.

Nine years ago on Tuesday (the 19th), a mutual friend celebrated a birthday. Boy meets girl. When I think back on it, it really was boy meets girl. We were so YOUNG.

 

I was only 19. Justin was only 20. If Mitchell comes home at 19 or 20 and says he’s met his soul mate, I’ll lock him up. Of course, Justin and I were WAY too cool to say something like soul mate back then. We were just a couple young kids who enjoyed each other’s company.

Amazingly, as we grew up, we only grew closer. Sometimes it hits me how very much we’ve changed since we met, and it’s very lucky that we changed together rather than apart. We adopted a couple of puppies, Kingsley and Laika, and moved to Texas.

 

Texas was a dose of reality for us. Two years, all alone, with no company but each other. Luckily it turns out we REALLY enjoy each other’s company. I realized at that time that my favorite way to spend an evening was sitting on the couch with Justin and my puppies. It was during this period that I realized Justin was my absolute best friend. Given the choice of a night watching a cheesy movie with him or going out on the town, I gladly choose him. I think this is only partially because I like going to bed so early, too.

On December 15, 2007, during the worst ice storm to hit Kansas in 30 years, Justin and I were married. It was a very memorable ceremony, mostly because almost everybody was in some sort of accident getting to the wedding and/or reception. After a short honeymoon in Shreveport at which I took all of a drunk guy’s money at the poker table, we settled into being an old married couple back in Kansas.

Things were quiet for the most part, punctuated by Justin being a rock star and getting awards at school, until everything changed on December 23, 2011, when I peed on a stick and we learned our family was about to expand.

And now, Mitchell has arrived, and all is well in the world. All because a boy met a girl, and they decided to take a chance.

Two People, Two Monumental Events!

Two of the most important people in my life had monumental events this week.

First, my original baby, Teri, was a homecoming queen candidate. I’m pretty sure she just took it as a challenge to make me cry, because in her interview (repeated for the entire audience), she stated she admired me the most. The girl is just the sweetest thing to ever hit this earth. Lots of pictures of her looking like a runway model in her homecoming dress and GIANT heels follow.

Second, Mr. Man ate his first solid food tonight: sweet potatoes. My first attempt at feeding him sweet potatoes didn’t work so well, through no fault of his. I decided to make it myself because it looked so darn easy, but, long story short, I set a sweet potato on fire in my microwave. So obviously he didn’t get to taste my first round of baby food. This time it went MUCH better and he even seemed to enjoy it! Video follows. Enjoy!

5 Months and 22 Weeks

Mitchell turned 5 months old yesterday and 22 weeks old today.

 

Notice the period instead of exclamation mark at the end of that sentence. Here’s why.

Mitchell’s cut-off date at work is 6 months. He has one month left. I’ve begun waking in the middle of the night with panic attacks at the thought of not having him with me. I can’t tell you how absolutely thankful I am to have had this awesome opportunity, but I can’t help it: I’m terrified at the thought of him having someone else as primary caregiver. Absolutely terrified. I can’t even begin to explain how many emotions are racing through my head. I had no idea it would be this hard, and I haven’t even done it yet! Next Wednesday will be a good test, as I’ll be away from here from very early in the morning until pretty late that night. I’m crossing my fingers I don’t deal with another bout of mastitis.

On to happier news. Mitchell is adorable and fabulous. He still hates the new bassinet and loves sleeping in my bed, but he’s getting better. He slept for 7 hours in a row last night before he realized he was in his bassinet. He also still hates his cereal, but I think I’m just going to quit with the cereal and move on to veggies. Forget what the books say. Silly books. He’s working so hard on sitting up by himself. He’s getting very close, but he seems to get bored and just lay back, which is why I try to keep the boppy behind him. Kingsley is still his favorite thing right now. Thank goodness Kingsley is so good with him. He doesn’t mind getting his fur pulled or anything. I’ll sit Mitchell on the floor and Kingsley will come sit near him and Mitchell will just giggle at him. It’s adorable. A close second favorite thing is this cube that plays different instruments and classical melodies and lights up. He loves it and is getting very good at turning it around to play the different parts.

And, pictures!

21 Weeks!

Mitchell is a whole 21 weeks old.

He’s insanely happy today. It’s pretty great. Of course, he’s almost always happy. Except when he has the gas. Then he’s very upset. Thank goodness for the gripe water!

And, fun with daddy!

This Kid’s On A Roll!

Earlier in the week we got a roll from tummy to back, and Friday we got from back to tummy! He’d been so close for so long, but he never could get that arm out from under himself, but Friday he finally did! Don’t worry, I got a picture this time.

Remember Mitchell’s very first bath? He looked so tiny in his little bathtub. Well, I still use that bathtub when he takes a shower with me, but he looks a bit different in it now.

And now, a few more pictures. He’s having fun playing with his toys during the Super Bowl, but check out his face when Kingsley came around the corner (he’s the bit of fluffly white in the upper right corner of the second to last picture).

Seriously, this kid’s favorite thing right now is Kingsley. He absolutely loves him. Kingsley can just be sitting on the couch, and if Mitchell catches sight of him he starts giggling. If Kingsley moves, Mitchell tries to follow him. He loves grabbing hold of Kingsley’s fur. Thank goodness, Kingsley tolerates him really well. He obviously doesn’t enjoy it all that much, but he just sits there and lets Mitchell pull on his fur and screech with joy. It’s pretty darn adorable. Laika, on the other hand, absolutely dislikes him touching her. She moves her head to stay out of reach the whole time he’s near.