Holy Smokes

The kid is a wild man! Nothing is safe from his tiny grubby little fingers and mouth... bugs, balls of dirt, cats, eyes, noses, toes, shoes, toilets (yeah, you read that right) ... everything goes from his fingers to his mouth. Ick!

When we went to the doctor she said we can start feeding him solids such as small soft pieces of meat, like chicken, scrambled eggs (about the only way I know how to cook an egg!), small pieces of veggies ... well, he has the hang of eating on his own and now I can barely get him to eat from his spoon when I feed him. It is so frustrating. He would much rather feed himself and make a huge mess instead of cooperating with me. His very favorite thing to eat at the moment, besides the dirt and other things he collects when he's crawling around, are puffs. They are awesome and he can't get enough of them. He takes them very seriously - examines them closely and slowly brings them to his mouth. For a while he had a hard time grasping them between his fingers, but the force is with him and he has mastered the art of bringing the puff to his mouth. He also loves rice, green beans and we've given him some yogurt as well. He's done great with these new foods - no allergic reactions or illness.

He is pretty headstrong, can't imagine where he gets that from! Another thing he has started doing is trying to keep himself awake. It is a struggle to get him down for a decent nap and night time is worst! He is so afraid that he's going to miss something. Tonight, for instance, it took him an hour and 15 minutes to finally fall asleep. We lowered the mattress in his crib because one of his newest tricks is standing up and rattling the rails on the crib. Well, tonight he rattled the rails for a good 30 minutes! I have given up trying to rock him to sleep much anymore because it is more distracting than helpful. I can't believe how much he's growing and establishing his independence these days! Still, there's nothing better than watching him grow and laugh and be happy. He is still a very sweet little guy, I just have a feeling he's going to be very stubborn!

He weighs 17 lbs and 13 ounces. 29 inches long. Still growing more quickly in length than anywhere else. He's a lean little kid. He's wearing 12 months clothes due to his length, but his waist won't hold up the 12 months jeans, so he's wearing smaller pants. Poor dude has no hips and no butt! Jen has generously let us borrow quite a few of Grants clothes that he's outgrown and I have to say, the pajamas are my favorite! Thank you Jen and Grant for being so generous and Jen, for being such a great friend and babysitter- we LOVE you!!

Here are a few pictures from the past month. We've been pretty busy, but I'm trying to make sure I continue to get lots of pictures so I can make prints for family and friends.





And sis, here is a picture of the newest member of the rents household ... behold, I present Salty Dog #2. She is hard to keep still for longer than one second, so this is a bit of a failed attempt to show you how cute she is. Maybe next time I'll be successful. But, you'll get the general idea from this blurry mess of a picture! She has some big shoes to fill given her name and the timing of her arrival at mom and Roger's house, but I think she's a great fit for them!



Well, that's it. I'm sure there are many many things I've forgotten to write, but I have limited time here and I'm very tired. I'll try to post again soon.

Love,
T, H and T