Another week has passed and once again, I’m way behind on posting! Work has been crazy – a bunch of deadlines and our sitter has been MIA quite a few days. I am so excited to be starting Micah in daycare in a few weeks – the predictability should make my life a bit easier. Let’s start off with a cute picture of Micah:
Micah has been working on his troublemaking skills this week. He discovered how to shove his hand out of the crib and throw his pacifier on the floor, or grab things off of his nightstand. He got some paper off the nightstand, so I cleared off most of the odds and ends. One day when I went in to get him after his nap, I noticed that he grabbed the doggy Build-a-Bear from the nightstand that my father made for him. I guess the good news is he loves his Build-a-Bear.
Micah has also recently discovered that he loves power cords. He especially loves to grab hold, yank and chew. It is not a habit I find amusing. He also loves to pull all the paper stuff off the new coffee table. If left on his own, he will shred and/or eat the paper. He gets VERY angry when I keep the papers away from him. We just purchased baskets for under the coffee table – one for papers and another for his toys. I think he will spend most of his days emptying the contents of these baskets. Monday, he could not stop pulling out and playing with all of his toys (and he also decided to claim a few of the dog’s as well).
I also think that we may have crossed into “mobile” territory – Micah is rolling and army crawling all over the place. He is not quite crawling, but he does lean forward from a sit to all fours and attempt to crawl before flopping on to his belly and taking off. He is also trying to pull up on things now – if I stand him up, he can hold on and cruise, but even without my help, he is pretty close to pulling himself up to a stand. He manages to get into some interesting spots, and he pulls down any items within his grasp.
He really needs to be watched at all times – he likes to eat everything. Monday, he managed to get his hands on one of those little silica gel bead packets (for keeping things dry). I found him chewing on it – I’m just lucky he didn’t choke!
I am amazed how he manages to sneak all this stuff in his mouth WHILE we are monitoring and watching him! He is definitely trouble with a capital T.
Speaking of trouble, this hunger strike has been a real pain in the neck – he just has not been drinking enough milk. It has had me worried, but I’ve been trying to be patient. In the meantime, Micah does seem to LOVE solid foods. He is a bottomless pit, just like his father. We have been experimenting with pasta, and I finally successfully made some zucchini for Micah. He just loves his veggies! We are slowly eating thicker chunks of food, and he can easily eat pieces of pasta and other soft fruits and veggies. Nevertheless, he still seems to hate the mesh teether – this great contraption for delivering bigger chunks of table food. I think he just hates the texture of the mesh bag, but I wish he would use it! Even without the mesh contraption, he is doing really well with table food. We have tried Cheerios, and he seems to love those. I still think he has an easier time eating the puffs because they melt in his mouth, but it is good that we have a few more options! He also seems to be developing his pincher grasp – he can pick up the puffs, pasta and cheerios and put them in his own mouth! I am amazed everyday by how much he is growing.
Micah is a pooping machine. One day, he managed to make a big pooping mess, and then he peed in his hair while the babysitter was changing him. Twice. Yes, that is right, twice. He was soaked and we had to bathe him. I could not figure out how he managed to get THAT wet.
Last Wednesday was a fun day for us. Our sitter took the day off, so it was a Mommy & Micah day. We spent a few hours at playgroup, and I got a little work done in the morning and afternoon while Micah napped. At 5:00, we went to another one of those concerts – Micah just loves watching all the kids dance and the entertainers singing. Immediately after the concert, we went to a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s at a local diner. A friend of mine from high school will be running a marathon, and all the money he is raising will be donated to Alzheimer’s research.
On Friday, we went to a potluck at Micah’s new daycare center. We had a great time – we were able to meet his new teachers and a few of the other babies in his class. Micah will be a “Minnow” starting August 31, and I already have a good feeling about this center.
On Sunday, we were slightly…overbooked. I have a bad tendency to overcommit. We attended a first birthday party for my friend’s daughter at 2:00. We had agreed to go to a “Cousins” BBQ at 4 hosted by one of my cousins, and we had reservations at 6 at a new restaurant to celebrate my father’s birthday. We left the house at 12, and went to Target to pick up a present. While walking through the aisles, Micah saw Elmo. He has recently fallen in love with Elmo – he had one in the pack ‘n play with him at my friend’s house, and he couldn’t stop smiling and hugging Elmo. Ever since them, he shrieks with joy when he sees Elmo on Sesame Street. When he spotted Elmo, he smiled and reached for him. I thought it was so cute, so I grabbed Elmo and handed him to Micah. After we were finished in the aisle, I took Elmo and put him back on the shelf. Which led to Micah’s first tempertantrum. It started out slowly – first the bottom lip began to curl down in a pout. Then the whimpering started. Then the sobs and tears and back arching followed. I was stunned – I did not think Micah cared enough about any one particular thing right now. He immediately stopped when I handed him Elmo (I needed to test the theory), and then shrieked bloody murder when I promptly returned Elmo to the shelf, told him no, and headed off to the next aisle. I briefly considered just buying him Elmo on the spot, but I decided it would be a bad precedent to set. I will definitely go back and get him that Elmo soon – he really is too cute when he is hugging it! Who knew his love of Elmo would lead to his first tempertantrum? I did not see that one coming.
After Target, we ran a few other errands, then arrived at the party. It was a nice afternoon, and Micah had a great time. He even surprised us by ending his hunger strike – he drank 5 ozs of formula at the birthday party! At 4:00, we left the party to stop by the Cousins BBQ. We had fun hanging out with all the cousins. Elliot offered to do the grilling, and we stayed long enough to taste the marshmallow fluff and ice cream pie. Yes, that is right – graham cracker crust, 2 layers of ice cream, a layer of chocolate, a layer of marshmallow fluff, topped off with mini marshmallows, all lightly broiled to melt the marshmallows. At 6:00, we said our goodbyes and drove to family dinner.
Micah was a trooper – even without getting his afternoon nap! We tried out a new Italian restaurant, and the food was wonderful. We ordered the restaurant week special, and I think we were all stuffed before our entrees even arrived! At dinner, Micah drank another 3 ozs. He ate 2 jars of baby food (rice lentil dinner and banana peach oatmeal), and he spent most of dinner gnawing on a crusty chunk of bread. He was so cute at dinner – smiling and waving at the people sitting next to us and happily munching whatever he could grab.
After dinner, my brother and parents came back to the house for dessert. Naturally, I decided to make a cake. We (my brother, mom and I) decided to buy my father an ipod touch for his present, so I made him an ipod touch cake. Or rather, I attempted to make an ipod touch cake. You see, my edible image printer decided to stop cooperating. It was feeling rather…pink. Yes, I said pink, not blue. Apparently, the printhead is all clogged, and pink is the only color that can get through. Instead of a black screen with colorful icons, the image was…pink. Needless to say, the image did not look so good. Yes, I stuck the horrible image on the cake anyway – I was frustrated, out of town, and figured it was better to have an ugly cake than no cake at all. Clearly, the cake was a bit of a bust – tasted great, but not one of my success stories.
Monday we were without a babysitter (again). We think he might be saying “Hi” in addition to waving, and he might have said “mama” and “dada” today. I also thought he might have said “doggy” but it is pretty hard to tell. I did end up videotaping Micah being adorably cute all afternoon – I just couldn’t help it!
Tuesday we had our babysitter back, so I had a productive day – I got some work done and made and decorated a cake for a baby shower. Wednesday (today), we went to see a singer at a local mall with our playgroup, and the kids had fun! Our babysitter came back this afternoon, and I got a bit of work done. Tomorrow we have our babysitter again, and I think Friday we will be trying to get Micah’s 8 month photos done!
On another note, my dog is turning pure white. I am not sure if it is the new medicine she is taking, but overnight she seems to have gone from chocolate brown to white. My poor puppy!