Tooth!!!

I FINALLY have my first tooth! Kind of. It poked through the gum earlier this week, but it hasn't made any progress since. It's about time! You've been able to see it under my gums for several months, and the doctor noticed THREE MONTHS AGO that my gums were puffy due to teething. At this rate, all my teeth should be out and shining in about 3 years. We'll try to get pictures this weekend.

Fixed thing number one

Mommy's watch miraculously started working again today, AND it no longer buzzes when you turn the light on. I didn't break it; I made it better. She owes me an apology in the form of a locopop.

Up, with visuals

Tonight when Mommy and I were playing before dinner, I went straight for the stairs. This is my second time EVER on stairs, and I think I did a pretty good job! The camera's kinda shaky because Mommy leaned in a few times to catch me, afraid that I was going to fall. But I'm going to save falling down the stairs for another day.

(The gate at the bottom of the stairs will be going up within the next couple days).

Up

I can now crawl up the stairs. All of them. Just thought you should know.

Broken thing number one

I'm a little mechanical genius. I've figured out how to open the gate at the top of the stairs (although I'm not big enough or strong enough to put enough weight on the pedal to open it), as well as how to take it down (but I don't have enough fine motor control to undo the bolts). I've also figured out how to take Mommy's watch off her wrist, which I do every chance I get. Well, DID every chance I got. Yesterday, the LED backlight wouldn't turn off, and all night it was making a buzzing noise. This morning, nothing's showing up on the display. Daddy thinks I not only did something to it with my drool, but I also hit some combination of buttons. Mommy's just upset because the watch (Target's finest plastic watch, costing a whole $10) is waterproof. Salty ocean water won't hurt it, but I will! And now she has to go to the trouble of getting another watch, which I more than likely will break as well, because, well, that's what I do.

Typical Saturday

Today we got up, went to the Durham farmers' market where we met up with Lisa and Owen and got yummy cookies, tomatoes, and green beans. Daddy carried me around in the backpack carrier, which I love because I get to see everyone! We then ran a bunch of errands and ended up at Tyler's Taproom in the American Tobacco Campus for lunch.

I had some of Mommy's burger and garlic fries, which were really good, but then I got yelly. Mommy and Daddy let me crawl around in the grass to get my wiggles out before we went grocery shopping.

It's hard to tell we're in the middle of a moderate drought based on this grass, but I didn't really care because it sure felt nice between my fingers as I ripped some of it out. We also walked along the creek, where there was a nice cool breeze.

This was a pretty typical Saturday for us - farmers' market, library, errands, lunch, then home. I just wanted to post some pictures because I'm especially cute today!

First ball game

Tonight Mommy, Daddy, and I went to a Durham Bulls game. It was Teach for America Alumni Night, so not only did we get cheap tickets, we also got to enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet consisting of hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans, mac-n-cheese, and potato salad (which we didn't eat because it was super hot out and we wanted to avoid botulism). We only stayed for a few innings because it was really warm, plus it was past my bedtime. We played the Richmond Braves. I wasn't too interested in watching the game, although I did notice when a homerun ball landed pretty close to us! I was more interested in watching all the people, eating my mac-n-cheese, and dancing to the music.

We were right in the front row, between first and second base in the outfield. I can't wait to go to another game when it's cooler!

Family reunion

We just got back from a long weekend in Bluefield, Virginia/West Virginia, where Daddy's dad's family is from. Here's what we did.

Thursday, Mommy and Daddy picked me up from daycare at noon and we drove up. I slept most of the 3 1/2 hour drive, and when I woke up we stopped at my first McDonald's, just so I could get my wiggles out in their playplace. Then I got yelly for the last hour or so. We met my aunts Debbie and Donna, my uncle Mark, and my cousin Chris at the hotel. I haven't seen my aunts since I was sick with RSV at four months, so I wasn't too sure about them. We went to dinner and Uncle Mark gave me lots of cantalope and corn, so I decided he was ok.

When we got back, Mommy and Daddy inspected the crib in our room. It was really junky! One of the legs wasn't even attached to the crib bottom, so if I'd been in it, there's a good chance it could've broken and dumped me on the floor. Fortunately we'd brought my pack-n-play with us, so we just stuck the crib in the hallway for the night.

On Friday, we went to my great-uncle June and great-aunt Evelyn's house. Here I am with Evelyn, and below are Great-Uncle June and their son Gary.

After offering me flowers to smell, Aunt Donna (who has her seizure medicine in her mouth, not a cigarette!) took me for a walk down the road to see the neighbors' plastic lawn animals. I still wasn't sure about her at this point, so when she took me away from everyone I yelled really loudly (but it didn't do any good). I wanted to go back and play with all the doggies! June, Evelyn, and Gary have four, and they were so much fun! I petted and sniffed and crawled after them.

Then it was lunchtime. Evelyn gave us sooooooo much food: ham sandwiches with fresh garden tomatoes, green beans, mac 'n' cheese and mashed potatoes, two kinds of salads, and three different cakes! I ate so much!

That evening we went to K&W Cafeteria with all the relatives that were in town. Again, I was fed so much food! It was late when we got back, so Mommy and Daddy decided to skip my bath and just go straight to bed. Big mistake! Two and a half hours later, I got my bath and went to bed. There's so much happening on vacations, I just don't want to sleep and miss out on anything!

Saturday Mommy and Daddy ditched me to go see Stardust at the local movie theater. While they were trying to find cash because the stupid backwards hodunk theater didn't take credit cards, Donna, Debbie, Mark, and Chris took me to Applebee's for lunch. I wasn't too sure who these people were, and I was hungry, so I screamed for awhile, but they stuffed me with food so I calmed down (my love is easy to buy). They also rubbed a balloon on my head to make my hair stick up!

After lunch, when Mommy and Daddy got back, we went swimming in the pool. I LOVE pools! Fortunately this one was heated, because the weather was cool up in the mountains (well, at least compared to back home). I probably shouldn't have gone swimming for as long as I did though, because at this point I'd become really congested with a nasty cough. Aunt Debbie says this always happened to her and Daddy whenever they were in Bluefield as kids. Yuck.

Saturday night was the big reunion. We went to a seafood restaurant and sat around eating and talking. I got to eat hushpuppies, which I love. Aunt Debbie carried me around and introduced me to all my relatives, giving Mommy and Daddy the chance to eat their dinners while they were still warm. Then it was back to the hotel to go to sleep.

Unfortunately, I didn't sleep very well Saturday night. I woke myself up coughing really hard. Mommy and Daddy ran a shower because the steam helps me breathe better, but unfortunately that's about all they could do for me. They didn't have my humidifier or any medicine for me to take, and it wasn't possibly to prop me up in my pack-n-play, so Mommy and I ended up sleeping upright in an armchair for several hours so my throat would drain. Daddy offered to do it, but Mommy wouldn't let him since he'd be the one driving the next day and she didn't want him tired.

Sunday morning we got up really early and went to breakfast with some relatives, including Aunt Evelyn who kept calling me "Zack." But that's okay, because she's really sweet and gave me yummy food! We promised to visit more often, especially when we found out we have an uncle living about an hour away on Lake Gaston, and then we were on the road. I didn't do so well on the way back; my cough was pretty bad, so I kept waking myself up. But we made it back eventually. I spent the afternoon playing with my new toys and enjoying the best part of a vacation - being home again!

Trapped!

Since I'm crawling so much, Daddy put a gate at the top of the stairs so I don't fall down them.

I like to hold on to it and yell, "Let me out!!!"

It's a really cool gate. It's pressure-mounted to the walls, and it has a foot pedal so you can just open it and not have to take it down all the time.

I quickly noticed the foot pedal; as soon as I'm strong enough and coordinated enough to push down on it, watch out!

Great giggly gumballs!

Mommy's friend Mary bought me a toy gumball machine when we were in the Midwest at Easter, and recently it's become my favorite toy! I've figured out that if you push the lever, it lights up and plays music. I like to sit and push the lever over and over and over and over and over. Mommy tried to get it on video, but I'm not a monkey that performs on command! It was much more exciting to crawl over on top of Mommy (which is my second-favorite thing to do during playtime). She and Daddy both make great jungle gyms!

Pool party II!

Yesterday Mommy and I hosted a baby pool party. A couple babies came over and splashed around with me. Here's a video of me and Jaekob playing.

We had so much fun splashing around! Jaekob is six weeks older than me, which in the baby world means he can do lots of stuff I can't, like put blocks in the container instead of just pouring them out. But we still had fun playing together. He really liked chewing on my ducks!
Then another baby, Tayla, came over. She's two months older than me, but I'm bigger! Here she is with Jaekob, who climbed back into the pool.

Vaccinations

I went to the doctor today for my nine-month checkup. It's hard to believe I'm that old already, isn't it! The doctor said I'm doing great, and he gave me another stick (tongue depresser) to play with. I weigh 19 lbs 9 oz (although probaby in all actuality I'm less than that, as I'd just eaten breakfast and had half a bottle), and I'm 29 inches long (that's 3 inches short of half Mommy's height!).

I wasn't scheduled to get any shots today, but a woman from Duke was there recruiting babies to get a meningococcal (meningitis) vaccine. It's used on kids as young as two in Canada, and the Duke people are running a study to see if it's effective for infants as well. I got a shot today, and then I'll get a shot at my next check-up when I'm 12 months and some bloodwork when I'm 13 months. I cried for just a few seconds when the lady stuck the needle in, and then I was over it. I'm a tough little guy!

There are a lot of babies out there that aren't being vaccinated, and that really scares me. Vaccines only protect you if everyone gets them. I know one argument is that you don't need a certain vaccine because no one gets that disease anymore (like polio, which our family gets upset over because both of my paternal grandparents had it). Well, yeah, no one gets that disease anymore because so many people were vaccinated against it! If you stop vaccinating, it'll come back!

Mommy recently got really rude with a woman who didn't get her child the MMR (measles/mump/rubella) vaccine. The woman was pretty sure that her child actually had rubella, but she wasn't worried because if a kid gets it, it's usually a pretty mild case. Mommy went off on her because you know who is affected? Pregnant women in the first half of their pregnancy! It causes miscarriages and birth defects. Can you just imagine some poor woman coming into contact with this rubella-infected kid, having all these problems or losing her baby because of it, and the kid's mom not feeling guilty at all because her kid's ok!!! And it all could have been prevented by a couple shots. That's pretty socially irresponsible, if you ask me.

In a People House

Last night Mommy went out for her Triangle Mommies' MNO (Moms' Night Out). Daddy and his geeks were playing at our house, so they could hear me if I woke up. Last time Mommy went out I screamed for a couple hours and wouldn't go to sleep, so Daddy was somewhat apprehensive about her leaving again. Fortunately, I went to sleep for Mommy with no problems.
However, about an hour after Mommy left the power went out! Daddy and his friends moved outside to our nice new screened-in deck and played out there till it became too dark to see anything. After his geeks left, he came inside to check on me, but before he had a chance he heard a strange fluttering noise. It was a BIRD in the house! The cats sprang into action. Sappho leaped up and caught the little sparrow, and then Tybalt pinned it to the floor. He wanted to eat it, but Daddy managed to get the poor thing outside when the cat turned to proudly show off his prize.

Daddy was so proud of our cats! He thinks that Sappho's a pretty worthless excuse for a cat, seeing as how she's all fat and lazy, but she definitely showed her mettle! And now Tybalt's pretty much insufferable, prowling around looking for another bird to eat.

The power finally came on around 10:00 PM, about half an hour after Mommy got home. And that was a good thing, because it is HOT here! Looks like I'll be spending more time in my pool!

Daycare feeding habits

Every night before they go to bed, Mommy and Daddy get my food for daycare ready. They send four six-ounce bottles (I usually only drink two or three, but they like having the extras there, especially because once I went through a growth spurt and Mommy had to leave work to come nurse me since I was all out of milk!), a bowl of some kind of pureed fruit mixed with yogurt and baby cereal, and a bowl of something for lunch (pasta, veggies and cheese, or some kind of meat). I've been eating more and more table food, and I've become pretty good at feeding myself. Mommy's been sending leftovers for my school lunch, so she and Daddy, in their infinite laziness, decided that I may as well just eat daycare food for lunch. Yesterday, the first day that I ate the provided food, I had fried chicken, green beans, and pineapple. Yum! It's probably not the best thing for a baby to eat, but whatever. I ate everything they gave me, and it was easier for Mommy and Daddy. Everyone wins!

Typical weekend day

Here's a video of me crawling into trouble, because that's what I do.

Hmm, what DVD to pull out and eat?
Fine, no DVDs. What else can I get into that I shouldn't?
I know, I'll bounce on Mommy's exersize ball and crumble up this piece of paper I found!
Maybe I'll just drool all over something. Because that's what baby boys do.
Finally, the best part of the day - naptime!

Crawling!!!

Since I've become mobile, I've been doing the army crawl - bum down, head down, pulling myself along the treacherous, grueling terrain of the living room or my bedroom - to avoid being wounded by snipers. Well, today I realized that there ARE no snipers, so I proudly put my head up, got on my hands and knees, and crawled! Right over to Daddy's bag, which I promptly tried to go through. And once that was taken away, I crawled again! Over to the DVDs, which I promptly tried to pull down. And once Mommy pulled me across the floor away from those, I crawled again! Up onto her, where I was able to stay. I like this crawling thing!

In a mood

I took Tyler's toy again today, but it was okay because he was throwing a tantrum and not playing with it. There's a new teeny tiny little baby at daycare who needed attention, so poor Tyler had to wait four whole minutes to get his breakfast. He was whining and "being horrible," as the teacher put it, so I laughed at him. I mean, c'mon, you're nine months old. Have they ever not fed you? It's just a few minutes! Suck it up!

And on a completely unrelated note, my new favorite toy is the shower curtain. I can pull myself up on the tub and try to pull it down. And when redirected away from that, I can scrunch up the bath mats and spill the cats' water dish all over myself and the floor, then pull the cats' tails. I love the bathroom.