Peek-a-boo (with a sock)

Last night, I was folding laundry while talking to my dad on the phone. Sydney was playing with a pair of his socks while I was chatting.

I glanced over at Sydney, who was sitting with his hands above his head, holding one of his socks, while his face was completely visible.

At first, I thought he had figured out "SO BIG". And then, I looked closer at him, attempting to "hide" his sheepishly smiling face behind the tiny sock held high above his head.

I excitedly asked "Where is Sydney? Where did Sydney go?"

He quickly put his arms (and the one tiny sock) down, as if declaring "Here I am, Momma!"

"PEEK-A-BOO!" I exclaimed with great enthusiasm.

He, proudly, grinned from ear-to-ear.

I...WannaMyMomma

For the past few days now, Sydney has been a JABBERWOCKIE - talking up a storm! 

He has mastered the sounds of the letter "B" now. (If only one of us were named Bah, Bub or Bob!)

When he eats, he says "Mmmmm" with nearly every bite of food that we give him. (THAT is SO CUTE!) Along with all of the Mmmmm's at the table, Sydney also babbles Mmmm, Maah, and what sounds an awful lot like Mamma.

When we pick him up, he grabs on now, almost as if he is giving you a hug. He is starting to figure out to put his arms up when he wants UP. He plays Peek-A-Boo (by himself) with a burp rag, bib or placemat. A few times now, it seems that he is inching closer and closer to grasping "SO BIG", too.

He now makes crawling look easy and has moved onto climbing. He is trying to work himself up to his feet (next to the couch, recliner, car seat and dog crate.) Unfortunately, he does not have the balance to be standing on his own. (We do NOT want him to tackle the stairs yet!)

He is skilled with his hands. He works in S...L...O...W......M...O...T...I...O...N..., working his fingers delicately to pick up and maneuver small objects in his hands in order to position them properly to get them skillfully into his mouth. (He is loving his YumYum baby crackers and his Gerber Graduate puffs because he can feed himself.)

Sydney is well-aware of the cats. He often smiles at them, as if he expects them to smile back. Whenever we ask "Where is...", he knows the words CAT, Eddy and Otto and will look for them. I'm not sure if he knows the word DOG yet and is more reserved with his smiles towards the unpredictable puppy that Mike now calls SCRAPPY most of the time.

Yesterday, Mike was playing with Sydney, but Syd kept turning around and looking for his mom. Mike put him on the floor and he started crawling towards me - uttering what sounded amazingly like I...wanna...my... momma. (We both thought that is what he was trying to say.)

Mike wonders if we (Sydney and I) sit around all day, repeating MA-MA over and over. He also wonders WHEN Sydney will start to say DA-DA (because we had read that THAT sound is easier for babies to say.) Mike DOES understand that Sydney spends 99% of his time with me.

We are both noticing that Sydney is starting to show some separation anxiety lately. He often wants to be WITH US and starts to cry (with tears rolling down his cheeks) if we leave the room. (Otherwise, we NEVER see tears, unless it is bedtime and he wants to be with us instead of alone in his room.)

The household is now awake. Mike and Scrappy have been downstairs playing for 30 minutes or so. The cats have been eating and prancing on the desk as I type. (Now that we moved the litterbox to the office, Eddy has recently made the office QUITE stinky.) And with the noises downstairs, I can hear Sydney in his room - starting to make wake-up noises.

Good morning, Wednesday... we're ready for another good day (and an outing to the breastfeeding support group)!

Sydney grabs puppy parts

This afternoon, after Mike had gotten home from work (early), we brought the (naughty) dog out of the kennel. Mike had been sitting on the floor bonding with Sydney while I was trying to make nice with the dog that had chewed on yet another cabinet door in the kitchen and peed on the kitchen floor three times despite MULTIPLE trips outside. 

While I was entertaining the puppy with a Rawhide bone, while he laid on his back between my legs, Sydney crawled over to the puppy. He started to pet the puppy and then, he noticed it's "puppy parts". Sydney, completely intrigued, pinched and grabbed a small handful of "puppy parts", while the puppy continued to chew on his bone, never noticing the baby. (To Sydney, it must have resembled a nipple since it isn't uncommon for him to grab a handful when it is time to nurse.) 

Before any damage could be done, we removed Sydney's grasp from the puppy and quickly washed his hands.

Yesterday, he played with the sleeping dog's ears without the dog even waking.

We thought it was WONDERFUL that the puppy did not react AT ALL to the seemingly uncomfortable situation(s). GOOD (nameless) DOG.

Baby's first Christmas

Baby's first christmas... 2009

An adorable reindeer at our door.

Last night and today, we celebrated Baby's First Christmas. We had opened a few gifts last night. Then, Sydney went to bed on Christmas Eve wearing the red, Santa's Favorite sleep sack from the Raboine's.

Sydney got some new books and a few new toys. 

Although, he was equally impressed with the wrapping paper (which he thought he should eat).

One of his toys came with three balls. You put the ball into one of the openings and it will fall out a tunnel below, making a giggle noise. Sydney kept opening his mouth and leaning towards the openings, as they must have resembled "A CUP" to him.

Since Sydney has a fascination with the remote control (aka Daddy's toy) and the cordless phone(s), it was only fitting that Sydney got a toy phone for Christmas. It sings songs, talks and lights up... which is WAY COOLER than the one red light on the remote control. (Phone not photographed with baby, sorry.)

He is also entertained with the sound of his toys as he tips them over in their storage bucket, as well as chasing plastic balls around on the hardwood floor. 

While playing, it took a few minutes (and failed attempts) before he realized that if he had a ball in his hand, he had to let go before trying to pick up another ball in the same hand.

I'm sure that next year will be a lot more fun, as he'll hopefully know NOT to eat the paper.

Video Clip: Sydney plays peekAboo/Crawls

Tonight, during our Christmas Eve candlelit dinner, Sydney grabbed his burp rag and started to play Peek-A-Boo all by himself so, we grabbed the camera.

Later, he decided to try crawling, but never gets the traction he needs off of the hardwood floors. Here is his tri-pod form... where he waves a leg in the air. GOOFBALL.

New discovery (BP)

This afternoon, Sydney had just woken from a nap in my arms and was sitting calmly in my lap when all of a sudden, I had a warm sensation in my lap. Sydney's diaper had failed miserably and both of us were ALL WET!

Mike watched the puppy (who still does not have a name, other than NO!) while I diapered Sydney so that we could both get changed into dry clothes.

During the diapering process, Sydney reached down and made a new discovery:

BOY PARTS!

(Thankfully, it was just a wet diaper and NOT a poopy one!)

Mike tells him: That's OK to play with that Syd, most guys do.

Perhaps the experience will teach Sydney to be gentle with his grabbing - as he has gotten rather rough when grabbing handfuls of skin on our necks, as well as grabbing ahold of my breasts and nipple. At least, we can hope...

Puppy remains nameless (and naughty)

Our puppy remains nameless.

WHISKEY

Mike had wanted to get a dog and name it WHISKEY so that when Sydney goes to school, he can talk about how much he misses his whiskey and how he has whiskey at bedtime each night. And then, when we get the call from the principal's office (or child protective services) they wont find the humor in naming the dog Whiskey and feeding this kind of who's on first/what's on second-type schtick to a child.

SCRAPPY

When we met the puppy, he instantly reminded me of SCRAPPY from the cartoon Scooby Doo. He was much smaller than the other similar dogs, but was big enough to run with them. So, Scrappy was a consideration.

RASCAL

When the puppy started stealing the baby toys and taking strings of lights off the christmas tree and attempting to run with them in his mouth, Mike quickly grabbed them and uttered "Oh, you little Rascal!" So, RASCAL was a consideration for a namesake.

DICKENS

After hours of working with the puppy today, Mike had announced that it was a little dickens. So, DICKENS is now in the running for a name. (It is a Christmas puppy so, it could be named after Charles Dickens, right?)

MAYTAG

I told Mike that we should name the puppy MAYTAG since I would have preferred to get a new dishwasher instead of a puppy, but Mike reminded me that we can use the puppy for the pre-rinse cycle; therefore, it IS my new dishwasher.

PUPPY THINKS HIS NAME IS...

Honestly, I think that the puppy believes that it's name is: NO! (or NO BITE!)

YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME...

My brother tells me that seeing our puppy brings back memories of how difficult it is to train a dog. (Beamer is an INCREDIBLY WELL-BEHAVED DOG!) He said that she was the same way when she was a puppy and he told me that after a year (or a year-and-a-half), something CLICKS and they just "get it". I gulped, trying to choke down my fear that this will take that long to train a puppy. With Sydney crawling for just a few days now, we are noticing how much he is getting into already and how much quicker and skilled he gets with each passing day.

SYDNEY UPDATE

Sydney is still crawling on his toes, but he has been picking one foot up and waving it around in the air while he is perched on his two hands and other foot. He truly is demonstrating his own tri-pod method of crawling. He is HILARIOUS to watch! He is fascinated with the lights and ornaments on the tree. (Perhaps, he has been watching the puppy too much.)

New foods this week were APRICOTS, which he ABSOLUTELY LOVED and a BLUEBERRY & PEAR blend, which he also seems to have liked a lot. He also had some BROCCOLI earlier this week and enjoyed that quite a bit. (Sorry Chicquita, but he still does NOT like bananas.)

Doggy Days and toe crawling

Last night, Mike and I drove near Baraboo, WI so that Mike could meet 'Tank'. Unfortunately, on our beautiful drive, we encountered many twisty, windy roads and hills - which did NOT do well for my motion sickness. On our drive, we even muttered the words "So, that's where the House on the Rock is."

After meeting 'Tank' (and a menagerie of countless other animals), we agreed to make him a part of our home. 

And then, we tried an alternate way home, which turned out to be just as twisty, but now, we added darkness and snow to boot. By the time we were back in Dubuque and ready to pick up Uncle Mike from his truckstop, I had everything I could to try to NOT throw up and even practiced my labor breathing to try to distract me from the queasiness. From that point on, it was NOT a fun night for me and I even went to bed nauseated. (YUCK!)

Sydney wore his bulldog outfit (from Aunt Betty) to go meet 'Tank'.

Sydney checks out the toys that came with our new puppy. (They squeak!)

Today, I woke up feeling MUCH BETTER, but was a little nervous about my day with the dog AND the baby. Sydney has been crawling for just a few days now, but seems to get more skilled as the days go by. When asked "Sydney, where are you going?", I got this look of "WHO ME?"

Crawling is some serious business... it took him a while, but eventually he made it from the middle of the living room, all the way across the dining room and to the threshold to the kitchen.

His first day of crawling, he was on his hands and knees. And now, he seems to think that it works better to stay off of his knees and move on his toes instead. Here, he demonstrates his TRI-POD form of crawling.

Ah, yes, this is kind of fun. There is SO MUCH to see and touch!

And the back angle...  crawling on his toes. (By the way, I would be mad if someone took a picture of me from this angle.... it is NOT my flattering side at all, but somehow, Sydney pulls this look off wonderfully.)

PUPPY TAILS

With our first day, with puppy, Sydney got jumped on as if he was a fellow dog friend. He also got head-butted when the dog took a flying leap towards the chair when Sydney was nursing.

I REALLY WISH we could keep the puppy from biting! His teeth are sharp! It was an interesting day watching the puppy constantly try to steal Sydney's toys. Also, the puppy realized it is cold outside and he kept peeing right outside the door and sometimes on the step. Then, he wouldn't wait for me to open the door and he was crawling underneath it to get back inside. After Mike came home, we decided upon a new potty routine.

We struggled with the name of the puppy. Mike decided that he does NOT like the name of 'Tank'. The puppy acted tough like Scrappy from Scooby Doo so, for a while, we considered naming him that. However, when he started trying to take the strings of lights off of the christmas tree, Mike announced "Oh, you little rascal..." and we then, thought THAT name was more fitting. (Sydney, too, has been taking that same string of lights off of the christmas tree, as well as tearing paper off of presents.)

So, we're thinking that RASCAL will be his name. Things certainly are interesting with a mobile baby AND a naughty puppy in the house.

Trying to stay off of the naughty list

Now that Sydney just learned to crawl, he decided to take the opportunity to better explore his surroundings. Now that he has crawled off of the shag area rug, he is fascinated with the hardwood floors, the woodwork, the texture of the living room wall, and the plastic plug covers. 

He is also fascinated with...

you guessed it...

THE CHRISTMAS TREE!

Sydney REALLY liked the Winnie the Pooh ornament, which he promptly removed from the tree and put into his mouth. Then, he became interested in the blue and white strings of lights on the tree.

It has been QUITE an interesting day, noticing that he is no longer interested in his toys, but now is intrigued by the world around him. We'll have to work extra hard to make sure that he stays off of the naughty list. (Now, if only we could master a better bedtime routine...)

Finishing the year strong (reported by Daddy)

Finishing the year strong

reported by Daddy

Sydney is finishing the year with a very eventful December. 

He now knows how to drink out of a cup (much better than out of a sippy cup or spill-proof bottle).

 

Yesterday, he ate his first cracker-type food, proudly feeding himself. (It melts in your mouth.)

Earlier this month, he officially stood up on his own.

TODAY we can officially report that he has crawled. He wound up making it all the way across the living room rug. (He was on a mission to catch the toy mouse that Grandma Carol had sent... we believe for the cats, but hey - whatever works!) 

We can only imagine what all he'll get into next year.

Poor baby

Last week, I read that babies at this age learn to read emotions off of our faces. 

Poor baby Sydney will be deprived of emotions like sadness, hurt and anger since he lives in a house that his daddy describes as "annoyingly happy".

That's not the end of the world, is it?

Traditions are Mmm, mmm good

(Click on image to view larger)

I had asked Mike about any specific holiday food or tradition the he recalled. He mentioned his Grandma Guard's KRINGLA. When I asked more about it, Mike and Lowell both had a difficult time describing it to me

Mike found a recipe online so, Lowell baked them at our house on Sunday.

Recipe for Norwegian Kringla –

Ingredients: 

1 c. sugar

Butter (the size of an egg)

2 egg yolks, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. buttermilk

1/2 c. sour cream

1 tsp. baking soda

3 c. flour

2.5 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

a dash of nutmeg

Directions: Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla. Put the soda in the sour milk and sour cream. Add to the egg mixture. Add the sifted dry ingredients. Chill well. Roll into long rolls and form into bows, pinwheels or pretzel shapes. (Grandma Guard's were always figure-8's, I'm told.) Bake in a hot oven 450°F, until light brown (or paler, if you like).

Now, I see why they are hard to describe..

not really a muffin, not really a cake, not really a cookie, not really a bread.... hmm... delicious, light, sweet.

Then, yesterday, when we got home from Sydney's check-up, there was a box on our doorstep: Goodies from Grandma Carol!

YUM! 

Thanks for the Guard Family Treats!

While we enjoy the tasty baked goods, Sydney is enjoying chewing on his Baby Einstein dragon. (Teething... we think.)

STATS 28 weeks 5 days old at 6 month checkup

Name: 

Sydney Michael

Age:

28 weeks 5 days

Height:

27"   (50th percentile)

NOTE: 8 weeks ago, he measured at 26.5" and 75th percentile; makes us wonder if they measured incorrectly - especially since he is too tall for many of his clothes.

Weight:

18 pounds 3.25 ounces  

(50th percentile)

Eyes:

Bright Blue

Hair:

Fluffy fuzz. Mostly light blonde in color; sometimes has a red cast to it.

Likes:

Warm milk. Silly songs. Rhymes. Chewing on fingers - anyone's will do. Staying up late and sleeping in. Playing in the bathtub. Petting the cats, especially Otto. Playing in the Baby Einstein Activity Center. Flirting with "the baby" in the mirror. Dropping toys on the floor to see what sounds they make when they fall. Playing peek-a-boo. Attempting to drink from a sippy cup.

Dislikes:

Eating solid foods when he thinks that he should have milk instead. Trying to be put to bed before he is ready. Being woken up before he is ready. The first diaper change of the day - when he would rather be eating. Putting on mittens.

Skills:

Smiling. Rolling over from back to stomach. Reaching for toys. Pulling himself to a stand out of the laundry basket or inverted papasan stool. Playing with his pacifier - now that he can get it into his mouth on his own. Dancing to 'Old MacDonald'. WALKING! Pivoting on the floor in record time when playing on his belly. Propping himself up onto his knees and wondering what to do next.

Foods:

Rice cereal, bananas, applesauce, pears, prunes, avocado, butternut squash, sweet potato, mashed potatoes, carrot, green beans, spinach, peas, apple juice

Weekend review - with photos

You like to drink from your sippy cup, but manage to get most of it OUTSIDE of your mouth. Still, it seems to be quite entertaining for you.

You are mommy's little helper... sometimes, mommy drags your highchair into the kitchen so that you can sit and watch mommy work on dishes or cooking. 

You were fussy over the weekend, wanting to be held or super close to mommy at all times. We're guessing that your mouth was bothering you from time-to-time since you kept eating your bib, burp rag or any cloth toy you could get into your mouth. On Sunday, Grandpa Lowell kept you entertained and you were happy.

You are getting to be so skilled with your hands. You are noticing small details, like buttons and zippers. You can pick up your toys well to play with them. (You especially LOVE to play with the remote for the tv.) You can even put your own pacifier into your mouth.

We got our first real snowstorm this week - getting 10.2". Since it looks like it will be a White Christmas, mommy took you outside to take your picture in it (while Grandpa Lowell made you smile).

When we take you outside, we dress you in your reindeer outfit or your baby blue bear outfit. You are so warm and snuggly. You were a hit at the grocery store yesterday... LOTS of people had to come tell us how cute you are with your bright blue eyes and adorable reindeer outfit. (You were stingy with your smiles though, reserving those for your family.)

Sydney stands up

12.09.09 Standing Up

Last week, Sydney was sitting in the laundry basket and decided to stand up on his own. (Thankfully, I was right there since he is top-heavy and flipped forward.)

Last night, he pulled himself out of the inverted papasan stool.... with some encouragement from his daddy. 

"Come on, come on. Come on Syd, you can do it! You can do it!"

"Come on, come on. Come on Syd, you can do it! You can do it!"

(Sydney squeals in delight.)

"This is the last time, show everyone how you can stand up."

And when you did, Daddy proudly exclaimed "I knew you could do it!"

"I knew you could do it!"

Then, mommy predicted you would flip out, but Daddy insisted that you were "just fine." And then, you flipped right out!

Daddy caught you in the air and hugged you, announcing "That's what mommy didn't want you to do."

"That's what mommy didn't want you to do."

Daddy reminds mommy that "Boys get bumps. That's what we do!"

12.10.09 

Happy Birthday Grandma Olson

We also want to wish Grandma Olson a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We love you!

Fire alarm birthday

Sydney woke in the wee hours of the morning for some odd reason. Within minutes, Daddy's cell phone rang... the alarm company was reporting a fire panel alarm at work. Daddy thought that Sydney was psychic.

Perhaps, he realized that TODAY was Grandpa Lowell's birthday and that we hope to celebrate it with him later today. 

We remain hopeful that the snow lets up later so that we can travel safely to Grandpa's house for dinner. Then, we figured that since Daddy has Thursday off of work, we can have a sleepover at Grandpa's. We'll have to keep an eye on the forecast and weather conditions as they change throughout the day.

Whether or not we come for dinner, Grandpa knows that we're thinking of him on his birthday.

It is almost 3am and hopefully Daddy will be back from the alarm call soon. Better get back to bed... to warm it before he gets back.

Winter WI wedding

On Saturday, Uncle Mike married Aunt Karin, giving us all reason to celebrate. Also, Sydney  recognized that a beer bottle resembled a water bottle or a baby bottle and wouldn't let go.

6 month snapshots

Sydney is a smiley guy. He still gets a little confused where to look and what to do when we get out our digital camera, video camera or our cell phone camera. He'd much rather look at our faces and SMILE, SMILE, SMILE.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. I think this might be the first photo of the three of us that we've had taken since this one:

As you can see, A LOT has changed since then! (The day we left the hospital... six months ago.)

Grandma & Grandpa Olson came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us, we well as Grandpa Lowell.

After dinner, we went to Grandma/Grandpa's hotel and we all went swimming. We thought that since Sydney LOVES splashing and kicking in the bathtub that he would love swimming in the pool. We brought his bath ducks along and had the entire pool to ourselves. As he gets older, we are guessing he will enjoy swimming more.

The weekend following Thanksgiving, Sydney and Mommy went to WI (since Daddy was working a ba-zillion hours). Grandma Olson thought it was OK to blow bubbles IN THE HOUSE. 

NOTE: This was NEVER OK when Mommy was little, but the rules seem to have changed slightly for grandchildren.

Sydney was dressed in camo bibs... it is deer hunting season in WI.

Here, we are practicing for a family Christmas picture. Another smile JUST LIKE THAT will be great!

Sydney, you SURE ARE CUTE! We love you SO MUCH! At 6 months old, you are A LOT OF FUN!

Airplane disaster

We took Grandpa out for greek gyro-style pizza the other night. He held Sydney on his lap while we all ate. Grandpa would cut a bite of pizza, load it onto his fork and bring the fork towards Sydney and then, up over Syd's head and into Grandpa's mouth. This went on for a minute or so before Sydney started opening his mouth, as if one of these times that bite of food might be for him. Time and time again, the food went to Grandpa, but Syd kept a watchful eye.

Sydney was watching quite intently and Grandpa started entertaining him with airplane sounds.

When the pizza was gone, Mommy noticed that Syd had some crumbs in his hair.

Grandpa brushed it off, asking Sydney "How did that get there?"

Mike quickly replied "Must have fallen out of the plane."