Hollis and Skylar

Hollis and Skylar sitting in a tree. K i s s i n g....

Just a little fun!

I love, love, love the taste of dog bones!

Can the day get any better!?

Experimenting with Sounds

I am beginning to see what this muscle in my mouth can do. I like to stick it out, roll it, click it and even spray spit with it. I think this might be the start to learning how these big people in my house communicate! My favorite things to say are OH! and I have wrapped my father around my finger by saying DAD! I am having so much fun signing for milk that I like to trick mommy into thinking it is time and I am really not hungry. Ah! When will they learn that they are mere pawns in my game.

Photobooth fun

Our friend Debbie setup a photo booth at her house as part of an art walk this past weekend. With a remote, digital camera, backdrop, laptop and printer, she had a (very nice) improvised photo booth in her driveway. While Jen was teaching a yoga workshop on labor and birth, Hollis and I spent some quality time taking pictures and playing in the sand. As you can see, he was his usually camera ham self.

First goose egg.

Hollis is sometimes like a monkey. Crawling, climbing, exploring. Sometimes, he's like a bear. Growling, grunting, scratching his back. But sometimes, he's like the tazmanian devil. Spinning faster, faster, faster. We were all in the kitchen, with Hollis on the floor, giggling about something from the tupperware drawer. I started playing the look away, look back game and Hollis started twirling around on one knee. Around and around he went until he went thunk!!! He spun himself, headfirst, into the door frame under the bar. He's got a little bruise and a small bump to show for it, but he bounced back in just a few minutes. Giggling and spinning again....

Stop interrupting me!

Sometimes I find focus in the simple things, such as tupperware. And just when I'm starting to really make sense of it all, along comes dad and wants me to pose for a picture. Grrrr. Just give me some peace and quite so I can explore the lids and bowls!!!

The Burden of Broccolli

The other night at dinner we decided to introduce a plate full of mixed pasta and veggies to Hollis. This was the first time we gave him a mixed dish and he dove right in. After a few bites Chris and I noticed he was very agitated. He kept his mouth tightly shut--"mmmmrrrr, mmmmmrrrr, mmmmmmmrrrrrrrr, " he yelled. He continued to shove food in his mouth but would not chew or swallow. With his cheeks packed for more than 5 minutes we decided to intervene and see if we could help. Not knowing what the "problem" actually was, I gave him some water to see if he would drink. He drank with is cheeks packed like a chipmunk but wouldn't swallow any of the food. Chris and I couldn't help but laugh at him. I then began to dive into his mouth to check out the situation. Index fingered hooked, I tried to clear a path from his tongue to his throat. He would not let me in at first and continued to say "mmmmmmrrr, mrrrrrrrmmmmmrrrrrr." Finally I was successful: pasta, peas, broccoli and carrots started dropping out on the table in front of him (tons of food). I thought I had everything out but he continued to say "mmmmmrrr, mmmmrrrrr, mmmmmmmrrrrr." After wiping away the tears from laughing so hard, I stuck my finger in a second time and fished out a piece of broccoli that was approximately 1.5"X 1.5".

Chris and I will never know how such a little guy could pack away so much food. We know he can eat a ton but had no idea he had the cheek capacity of a lion's belly

Children's museum

Today Mom, H and I went to the Children's museum. Hollis had a blast! We set him down in the Rising Star area (for the little kids) and he took off. No fear at all.

Mmmmm, fish!

I can play the Xylophone!!

Hmmm, what's over there?

There was a big plastic tube that you could pump bubbles through. Hollis was mesmerized!!

My New Past Time(s)

Toys are of no concern to me...I like to find things in the house that I can experiment with. For instance, the stereo. It has become my life's mission to see what these buttons do.



Shoes...You would have thought they had become a thing of the past, but I have found a new way to use them! They make a tasty snack. Think of it as recycling.
In this next shot I am testing out the couch. Is this object a match for my strength?


I take my work seriously and hope that one day my work will be recognized by Scientific American. It has become so hard in this world to get published; I only hope my efforts are not meaningless.

First Sign!

It was too hot for Hollis' Monkey Costume in the parade

Happy Birthday, Hollis! I can't believe nine months has passed so quickly. I am so proud of your discoveries!

For all of you readers out there: Hollis turned nine months on Halloween. He had a great day full of fun and play and the evening ended with a walk in the neighborhood Halloween parade and a trip to a friends house. Our friend was doing a documentary/photo op of trick-or-treaters and we got a great family picture taken that I hope to have soon to post.

H and one of his little neighborhood friends. They kept petting each other.

Mom and Hollis. Can you guess what mom is!?

Tonight while I was running (still training for that dang 1/2 marathon) Hollis showed off his new sign "milk" to Chris after dinner. I guess he wanted desert! Life couldn't be any better!

Chow!

Fall has finally arrived!

We are so happy that the weather finally changed so we can enjoy our yard without being eaten by mosquitoes! A lot has been happening since we last updated the blog. Hollis had his third cardiologist visit with an awesome report on the special holes in his heart (we like to call them Love Butterflies). The holes are all still present but there has been no change in their sizes and Dr. W. felt that the left chamber was actually on the "high side or normal" instead of being "slightly enlarged". The evidence of tissue that was sucked into the VSD hole is not assisting the holes closure yet, but I know that it is waiting until the right moment. Hollis is just as normal as any kid and does not seem to be affected in any way by this little anomaly so we will keep on truckin' like there is no tomorrow!

Hollis is busy pulling up and working on all sorts of sounds. He has also contracted a mild aversion to strange men. He smiles and flirts like he does with everyone from afar but the minute they come close he looks at me and makes a series of awful faces and says "uhh, uhh, uhh". I am sure I have forgotten to write about a lot, so I might be adding to this later. Hollis will be 9 months on Halloween! Can't wait to see what he learns by then!

OOOOOOhhh! OOOOOOOhhhh!

You must all obey my primate commands..ooohhh...eeehhh...aaahhh.

Who left a monkey in charge of this house? Halloween is approaching and we decided to see if H's outfit would fit him by the time the festivities arrived. Sure enough, the outfit fit just fine.
We have been busy with swim lessons, except had to go see Doc Caldwell yesterday bc he was not really acting himself. I suspected ear infection, but it turns out he has a virus. Nothing we can do for that accept nurse him and give him lots of kisses. You would not know by the pics that he is sick and he has decided to talk up a storm tonight. We are getting an ear full!

Chris and I made Hollis his very own car out of a cardboard box to pull him around the house and yard. We have yet to decorate it pretty, but we will get there. We also got a great video of him being pulled at top speed, but he could have cared less. He was more interested in leaning over and touching the grass. (video to come later)

What are they doing?


I gotta see what this is all about!


Faster, faster, faster!


On the move and learning everyday how to mimic a monkey! Here is a preview of our little monkey for Hallows Eve. The pictures say it all! He was cracking Chris and I up because he would not stand up in the costume because the elastic felt weird on his feet and he would just roll his ankles around.

As one of H's toy sings, "I'm a monkey...I'm furry and I'm funky. I hang from the trees...do as I please!"

Day 1--Swim Lessons

Hollis and I were the first to arrive this morning for our 30 minute swim class at Tom's Dive Shop. The pool is indoors and quite small. After I dressed H in his suit the other students started to arrive: a 14 month old, a 2 year old, a 6 month old and the lovely, lively Hollis were all waiting to start class. Smiling, with his dolphin fins on, he eagerly bolted for the pool and I swear he would have dove head first had we not been forced to sit for our "safety" intro. After we lowered ourselves into the pool we practiced blowing bubbles (I practiced blowing while he ignored me watching all of the other activity around him), kicking (his choice means for chasing after a floating plastic gold fish), paddling ( he didn't really have an interest), floating (relaxed while I sang to him) and getting out of the pool (amazingly enough, once I put one elbow on the side of the pool he did the rest pulling up and then crawling out). One of our exercises was to climb up a pvc pipe and then fall to the bottom and blow bubbles. I thought to myself, "oh! this is a little advanced." To my surprise H started climbing the pole and was so quick I had to catch up to help lift him out of the water. Is he ten years old or 8 months? I am having trouble keeping count!!! Once back down in the pool he watched while the instructor blew her bubbles and was taking a lot of mental notes :)! He drinks water so Dad and I have some homework to teach him how to blow bubbles and/or spit out the water so his brain does not swell with pool water.

Once again, I was amazed at his enthusiasm and fearless efforts as the 14 month old is crying next to us not taking part in any of the activities. We are so blessed to have such a happy, determined son! He trusts us so much that I am convinced our methods of babywearing and co-sleeping have laid the foundation for an independent, confident little boy.

Met with some discomfort

Well the weekend came upon us fast and our week was pretty darn good! The nanny was working out great and Hollis really seemed to enjoy her company and napped for her every day. On Friday we were concluding our weekend and she dropped the bomb on us that she had accepted a job offer in Paris to start in a month! Yikes! I know it is a great opportunity for her, but I couldn't help feeling a little defeated since I finally got to feel what some free "me time" felt like. The weekend was headed for more dis-ease when I awoke at 3 am on Friday night to discover a lump in my left breast the size of a ping-pong ball. I said to myself, "So this must be a clogged duct! No problem Hollis can just nurse it right out." Yeah! Right! Three hours later I was covered with 6 blankets, two heating pads and a hat on my head shivering with chills and a slight fever. Chris was worried because I could not get rid of the lump after much effort and the chills were not subsiding. Hollis thought is was play time every time we woke him to nurse and he was not even hungry! I nursed that boy for 6 months strait every two hours and now he is not hungry!!!!

We sluggishly got through the night and made it into the early morning hours of Saturday. The excruciating lump slowly started to work down and by Sunday evening the soreness had gone away. Hope I never have to experience this again. I actually at one point told myself I would rather be in labor!

We are on the search for another nanny, but in the mean time will enjoy my days with Hollis once again. (I am trying to get some pics up from the last few weeks)

Blog Blog Blog

Blah, blah, blah! In order to blog one must be organized and proactive--which I am not. We will try to update how our trip finished out in Seattle, but first wanted give a shout out to let all of H's fans know he is doing well and is starting to cut his 8th tooth. Yes! 8th tooth! He is not even 8 months and has had a roller coaster ride of cut, cut, cut, and cut. He has taken it all in stride. I, however, have had a harder time dealing with his incessant whinny voice and thought I was going to have a break down last week listening to him and chasing him around the house. All is well now, I guess we all have our moments.

We have also hired a nanny for three days a week which seems to be working out fine. She got him to take two naps on her first day in 5 minutes flat! Just like Grandmother! Another plus with the nanny is she is fluent in French and has an English degree which mean he will be speaking better than his dad and I :).

Hollis is very active and you pretty much have to run non-stop to keep him from attacking poor Boudreaux. We are of the mind-set to proof the house as well as we can so we don't have to constantly be deterring him from objects and telling him 'no'. So far this is working out well, however, it constantly reminds me how much I need to clean our bathroom! Another new feat for the little guy is that he is pulling up on EVERYTHING and getting quite a few bumps and bruises to show his determination. A lot of babble in a few paragraphs but I think I covered all of the milestones with the exception that he is getting real close to saying dada or mama in context. Still signing and hope to see him respond quite soon.

Up and up and up. (Seattle day 2)

Saturday morning, after careful consideration, we decided to do a small 1/2 day hike that was only 1 1/2 hours away. There and back before dinner. By 2 in the afternoon, we were close to the trail head, when we stopped for water and a pit stop. Our first hiccup came when I looked down at my shoes and saw that one of the soles had come off. So we went back in the gas station to look for a repair. By the time we walked out (sans repair) the other sole was detaching. Ooops. 2 small town outdoor stores later, I was in a new pair of hiking shoes. After that delay and a longer than expected drive time, we made the trailhead by 3pm. Not to be deterred we started up the hill. Up and up and up. we climbed 500 feet in what seemed like 1/4 mile of trail. The day was starting to wear on, Hollis was getting tired, the trail turned out to be sunny instead of shaded and by 4 we decided to turn back. Down was a bit quicker than up, and we had out top of the hill 'lunch' at the car. Hollis was trucking along pretty good to this point, but he was not happy about the return car ride. We pushed the little guy just a bit too far on his first full day of vacation. Kristian was wonderful when we got back home, and took H for a walk for an hour until he went to sleep. Thanks Uncle Kristian!!! H slept like a champ that night. More on day 3 tomorrow....

And let there be peaches!

Our morning on Friday started with the rather odd event of having to wake Hollis up. We actually had to be at the airport when he would normally wake up. We were originally seated near the back of the plane, on a two seat side of the aisle. A wonderful stewardess named Jo was kind enough to switch us with another couple that had a 3rd seat open on the other side of the aisle. Thank you, thank you thank you! That turned out to make the flight a lot easier. Hollis only slept for about 45 minutes, but was pretty good for the 3:53 minute flight. He didn't take a nap until very late in the day (central time), but hung in there like a trooper. We walked down to Pike Street Market (hmmm, good), where we found a nice salmon for dinner and the most wonderful peaches. We also stopped at a bakery where we found lemon poppyseed cakes, and headed to the park for a wonderful little picnic overlooking the sound.

Leaving for Seattle

So we are leaving for Seattle in a day and can't wait to see Jen and Kristian to show off our little munchkin! I went out today to acquire some 'fall/winter' clothing for Hollis because the weather fluctuates there. We went to the Pumpkin Patch to purchased some used clothing and I actually found a rain coat his size! As most of you know it rains quite a bit in Washington and we plan on hiking and being outside most of the time so I was beside myself with joy to know I could protect him from the elements.

There is much to pack so I will be putting him to work tonight now that he is crawling! He will be in charge of packing his own suitcase and carrying it through the airport. I think a little responsibility from the beginning is harmless! Now if they say there is an extra charge to board him I think we will just check him at the gate and meet him in Seattle. What an adventure that would be!

We will keep you posted on our trip when we return!

Grandmother's Visit!

Grandmother came to visit for Labor Day weekend and we had a blast! She fed me, bathed me, read me books and let me play for hours. She also helped my mom out a ton by washing my diapers and cleaning the kitchen! We took a trip to Whole Foods on Saturday to eat lunch and do some grocery shopping and Grandmother dipped my feet in the stream. What a super-fantastic time! We later got chased away by bees which was an adventure, but managed to run to safety before we got bit.

Grandmother put me to bed for most of my naps and bed with much success! I was down in five minutes flat, however, I do not do this for my parents. She must have a magic touch :). Check out the amazing pictures we took:

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!