Sleep

So we are back to fighting naps again and the unpredictable schedule has started to drive me a little bonkers! The insanity oozes when it takes me more than an hour to fight a delirious child in a nap battle. I came to the conclusion that if he is not down in 30 minutes, I am concluding my efforts and will let him just be crazy. Another factor in this naptime nightmare is that our neighbors are building a new addition and the construction is right outside of our bedroom. **hammer**pound**yelling** I guess you could say we are getting paid back for our project that too the better part of a year and Hollis has to suffer (OR is it ME that is suffering-lol).

Nights have been a small challenge lately because of teething and now that he cut his top teeth we are getting a little more sleep. However, the whole "a normal 6 month old should sleep through the night and nap twice a day for 3-4 hours" scenario in all of our research is, quite frankly, BS! All of Hollis' friends are going through similar stages. We moms are just sharing our experiences, but most importantly our support. When I look at the clock and it is time for our 6pm bedtime routine and I just completed a nap time routine--well you can imagine I wonder where my day went and why I could not manage to wash one dish. Ahhh! This too shall pass, right!

Just a couple pictures...

Hollis checking out the grass at the pool.
There were some obviously well fed geese waiting for a handout. (or a finger, be careful!)
It's a good thing he doesn't have all his teeth yet.

A little cooling off at the pool.

I managed to get a little progress made on our screened in porch early while it was still cool. Later in the afternoon, when it was scorching hot, we all headed over to Deep Eddy Pool to cool down. Hollis was fascinated by the grass and dirt. He kept feeling it, pulling it, scratching at it, and of course tried to eat it (only once). He had fun with us holding him in the pool, but would have really enjoyed it if we had stopped at the store and gotten him a floaty he could sit it. (next time!).

Locomotion

I started to assemble a toy that we got for Hollis yesterday morning. Wire slides, wooden blocks neatly packed in a cardboard box. I opened the box, dumped out the parts, and Hollis comes streaking across the floor to attack the box! It was the fastest we've seen him move yet. Here is a little video of him crawling around a few minutes later.

Tooth, tooth, tooth and another tooth!!!

Hollis is trying out for the Chewing Olympics next week! He has successfully set the record for the most amount of teeth cut in a child under 7 months of age and we believe he will fair well in the Teeth Marking competition. This week he cut not one, not two, but three top teeth with a fourth on the way (Remember he already has two bottom teeth)! The drool competition was rescheduled from this past week to two weeks from now and we are little concerned he will not do well since his bout of teething should be finished. I hope the judges give us points because of the inconvenience of rescheduling :)!

On a semi-serious note, this kid is cracking Chris and I up! Other than being in extreme teething pain and attacking everything in site, he seems to be in a constant state of happy, screeching delirium.

He is leaving puddles in his wake (no pun intended) all over the house b/c he is now crawling! Yikes! Watch out. We also have to get out of his way when he is in his spinning play gym (see video below). He has mastered running in it and began his quest for the fastest infant sprints last week when he discovered that he could chase Boudreaux around the kitchen in a circle. Time and Hollis are moving way too fast and we can barely keep up!

Hollis and His Food

Keep away from my food or I will smash banana all over you! Don't take my water either because I need to wash it all down. I love the way things mash under my pounding fist and seeing it fly through the air onto the floor gives me a high! The colors and the textures are magnificent. Since we are following Baby Led Weaning approach I get to experience it all between my fingers and toes; my belly button even gets to taste the food once in a while. I demand more, more, more. I yell out "Eah, Eah, Eah, Eah" so my mom and dad know I need an abundance of food and when I am tired I rub it all over my face. Check out the list of foods I have had the luxury of feeling mash between my gums, two teeth and tongue:

pineapple
apple
pears
squash
zucchini
mouchi (Rice bread)
sweet pot.
avocado
broccoli
asparagus
plums
Pluot
mango
peaches
Strudel (hee hee)



I am anxiously awaiting four more teeth which will enhance my food experience!

Well, I am off to gnaw on something else!
Hollis

Puddles Puddles Everywhere

How many puddles of previously eaten meals can Hollis make in one short hour? If you guessed 5, then you win a free surprise trip to see the nice Dr Caldwell on a friday afternoon! The little guy had his first encounter with a stomach virus and took it on like a champ. Out, virus out! Up, up, and out!. Although, to his credit, as soon as he caught his breath he was smiling again. Are we sure he's sick? Barb (the nurse) was probably looking at us like, "uh, he looks too happy to be sick". But he really was, at least according to my shirt and the blood count. Doc said he should be better by tomorrow, hopefully. Since we've been home he's been such a trooper. We went though the normal nighttime routine with a dinner of bananas and pedialite. (Mmmm, yummy!). Jen was feeling like she was going to get it too when we got home, but she seems to be feeling better now. I think she was empathizing and really felt his pain. She's such a great mom. Nobody worries like a mother, and she's so in tune with him. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a nice quite restful night. Let's hope Hollis is on the upswing.

Flexibility

As a mother I have learned that being flexible in my life keeps me sane! Hollis' ability to flip flop around from this to that in the blink of an eye amazes me and keeps me on my toes. When we woke up this morning he immediately turned onto his stomach and started doing his morning (baby) sun salutations. He first gets onto all fours then presses back into child's pose and then move through a plank into upward facing dog and repeats and repeats and repeats. I am thinking to myself "I am so stiff and need to at least walk around a little before I jump into my morning practice!"

I am so thrilled that he makes Chris and I stay young mentally and physically yet we have matured emotionally on this wild ride of parenthood.

The exploration of food is an exciting daily task and since we are baby led weaning we get to see him go through the thought process of "what is this thing that squished under my hand on the table when I slap it down" & "Eweeee this feels weird in my mouth" & "come and get it, Boudreax". Applesauce is his favorite and he had the most fun with broccoli two nights ago.





I am back-logged on my posts, but here is a precious pic of Hollis and some of his play pals last Saturday. We have a great group of parents that we have stayed in touch with after our births and Hollis loves to interact with his friends.

Changes

I was really enjoying my sleep with my Mom out of the room and then last night she decides to come back to bed and I felt like she was making me eat! Just the smell of her got me cravin' the good stuff. We nursed several times and I am just exhausted today. I took two 1.5 hr naps and feel pretty well rested, but hope that we can all sleep through the night tonight. Mom! Leave Dad and I alone!

Mom's Notes: Hollis' top gums are bulging on the front surface so we are keeping our fingers crossed that they present soon because we want our little angel to feel better. He has been quite fussy and needy of his mama lately and is constantly seeking relief, but I think it is hard for him to figure out how to chomp down with his bottom teeth in tact. Hopefully, we can travel to Seattle in a few weeks with some new pearly whites to show off to Aunt Jen and Uncle Kristian!

This gummy set back has not stopped him from doing the military crawl all over the living room and his first destination was the tangle of cords by our TV. Oh, how we need to childproof ;0. He has already figured out that Boudreaux is a really exciting toy and within seconds he is ready to pull his tail, giggling. H also thinks it is hilarious the way B wants to attach the mailman! I will never have to buy another toy as long as B is around!

Stokke

Mom and I went out to buy a highchair today so I could sit closer to the table. Most of my food has been hitting the floor because I am sitting too far away from the table in my hook-on chair! I am so hungry because of this mishap. I can't wait until Dad gets home so we can play some of our favorite games in the bath tub before bed! My favorite bath toy at this time is my yellow rubber duckie. It tastes so good!

I spoke to Grandmom today and her East Texas accent got me laughing pretty hard. Where is East Texas anyway? Well I guess that is enough for my first blog entry; now I am going to give some thought to how I can give Dad a hard time while he puts me down for bed tonight. I am so busy!