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.