Applause, Please!

Or maybe even a standing ovation is required. My baby slept IN HIS CRIB last night. No car seat!

Night before last, Will didn't sleep so well. When Daddy checked on him at one point, he had turned on his side in the car seat with his head where his butt should be and his feet dangling off the edge of the car seat -- and he was sleeping that way. I found him the same way, so at around 4am, I took the car seat out, laid him on his side, and he slept that way until 6. So, Ellis and I realized that Will was finally finally finally ready to get out of that darn car seat.

So, yesterday, I came home, changed his crib sheets, and got his bed all ready. After storytime, Will slept comfortably on his side in the crib (without waking up at all) from about 7:30 until 1:00AM. Unfortunately, after that, he woke up just about every hour, (thus, Mommy is a bit sleepy this morning). I know it will take some time because he is not used to waking up in the crib and, I think, has a hard time falling back to sleep. I'm crossing my fingers that the combination of solid food dinners (had a solid food breakfast this morning!) and sleeping in the crib will lead to all night sleeping soon.

But what a huge accomplishment for Will. I am so very proud of him! Yea!!

5 Months Old

I know I've said it many times, and I have no doubt I will say it many many many more on this blog -- but I just can't believe how much my baby has grown! I've had several moments of shock lately. For instance, my baby couldn't quite reach the floor with his toes when I put him in his new Jumperoo a few weeks ago. I had to put a little seat cushion underneath him, so he could make it jump. Today, I realized he was flat-footed on the floor and I needed to actually raise the level of the Jumperoo. How the heck did that happen?


Will acts more and more like a little boy and less like a baby every day. And I know he is only 5 months old ... man, this is going to get tough on me as he grows up. Right now, I'm just trying to absorb every minute of being with him. Every single, fun, smiley, moment with him. Here are some of his big accomplishments/changes over the last month:

1) Will can now roll over unto his stomach from his back. One day, he couldn't stand to be on his belly and would just sort of flop over on his side, then all of sudden, there he was on his belly looking up at me. It happened last Sunday when Gampa was visiting. He was talking to me while I was sitting on the floor next to Will who was playing on his mat. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye -- there he was on his belly propped up on his hands! I can tell he wants desperately to figure out how to move once he is up there looking around. But he does get tired on his belly quickly. Problem is, he can't roll back over on his back yet - so he'll fuss till we turn him over. And then proceeds to roll right back on his belly and fuss again!

2) I love watching Will observe everything around him. He will just stare and stare at things going by. He recently noticed our cat, Mitzi. He stops whatever he is doing when she is nearby and watches her like a hawk. Today, she sniffed him and he reached out and touched her face. I think she was as surprised as me but, remarkably, she did quite well! Will's classic, "I am absorbed with something important" look is big eyes, mouth gaping open, and little to no other movement:

3) Will still sleeps in his car seat, but I think we are getting closer and closer to nighttime sleeping in the crib. All this past weekend, Will never napped in the swing. He only napped in his crib. YEA! I have to put him on his side and stuff blankets around him to keep him on his side. (yes, the APA is probably out to get me now. But you try to convince him he should sleep flat on his back, on a mattress as hard as a rock, without a lovey or anything to hug. Yea, right.). Will has slept as much as an hour and half that way. He did it at day care last Tuesday too! (No update on his sleeping habits ... he still doesn't sleep through the night and his ear infection got him off track ... but we're working on eliminating that 2-3AM feeding best we can!)

4) SOLIDS! Yes, Will had his first solid food dinner today!! I can't believe it! He started to slowly warm up to solids over the last few days - especially applesauce. The boy LOVES LOVES LOVES applesauce. I'm amazed by how much he will eat. But today we went out and got him a little highchair booster seat, so he would have a more comfortable place to eat. I also fed him his bottle first, so he wouldn't get upset about not having it yet. And it worked! Will ate almost half a little jar of applesauce, two heaping spoonfuls of bananas and I even got him to eat some oatmeal cereal. He would open his mouth wide for more, even making a sound to tell me "give me more Mommy, now!"

5) As Will stares at the world around him, he is getting better and better at playing with toys. He still isn't quite there yet, but tends to do more than just stuff the toy in his mouth. This weekend, I discovered that my little baby fits in his Exersaucer, and he loves it --

6) Will absolutely loves to stand. He almost always smiles when you help him stand up. He will even do it with a straight back, flat-footed. He is just so strong. (Mommy fears he will be an early walker. He even stood for a little bit of time holding on to something a few days ago.) I need to get a good picture of this ...

7) The boy is ticklish! Right at the top of his ribs, on his sides. Daddy gets him to laugh the best --

Sometimes I look at Ellis and ask him, "Can you believe this is OUR boy? That we have a son?" I mean really, how could anyone be so incredibly blessed!! :-)

Growing Fast

Then (at 7 weeks old) ...

And now ...

Will can no longer hang out in his Bumpo "unsupervised." He has discovered he can push with his long legs and make himself scoot across the counter. And I'm sure it won't be long before he gets himself out of this thing. This boy is always on the move.

Chattin' with his cousin Anna

Will's second interaction with Anna went much better that the first (see post on 3/27). Will was ready to just talk up a big storm with his cousin this time. I mean that literally. He was talking all kinds of baby talk to her. Although Anna wasn't too interested in what he had to say ---

Will is intrigued by the other person sitting in Nanny's lap."Get out of the way Nanny. I've got to talk to her."

"First, I'd like to poke her a couple of times.""She's okay! I love my cousin, Anna!"

Proud Nanny with her youngest grandkids.

The new eating place ...

Now that it is finally warm and sunny, I have been feeding Will his bottles on the back porch, swinging on the glider. Will absolutely loves the outdoors - he just stares at the trees and the leaves blowing in the wind. Its amazing how attentive the little guy is of the world now.

Its Bananas! B-a-n-a-n-a-s*

About a week and a half ago (told you I was behind on blogging!), Will had bananas for the first time and seemed to really like them. (Well, as you can see from the pictures below, its not like he was smiling or anything. But he did open his mouth and eat them.) For his first solid food, he probably ate about 2 teaspoons of it, which was pretty impressive! Unfortunately, we haven't been able to re-create his moment of solid food eating. Mixing the bananas with oatmeal cereal made him pout so hard I though his bottom lip would permanently stay that way, and giving him pears have been met with similar pouting and even some screaming. So, we are laying off of the solids for a little while, giving him some time to want it. No need to hurry him along when he is still just fine with his formula!

And this was a couple of days later (his attitude has not really improved since then) ...

*The title is reference to that Gwen Stefani song. I started singing it when he ate those bananas. And now I can't seem to get the song out of my head.

Getting Better

Its been a while since I've posted. And there are updates of pictures of Will for me to post - like him loving some bananas (he just hates rice cereal!) and talking up a storm with his cousin, Anna, this past weekend. But, we have been a little preoccupied around here.

You know that post on 4/29 about Will's ear infection? Well, it STILL has not gone away. (Although I think today might be the day for it to clear.) He has gone through 5 different antibiotics and, finally, I made the Mommy Executive Decision to quick making him suffer through oral antibiotics and give him the anitibiotic shots already. They hurt like hell - I know they do. And if I could take the shot for him, oh God I would. But the boy needs to get over this ear infection and get healthy! (And not just for his sake but his parents' sanity.) This morning we went in for the third and final shot (thank goodnes!). Already, the doctor said his ears were finally looking better. Poor Will has been through the ringer on this one - from pain in his ears, to diarrhea from the antibitoic and painful diaper rash, to pain from the horrible shots, to vomiting from the drainage of the ear infection.

Anyway - I hope to finally have time to post some more pictures of healthy Will! Despite his going through all of this, he still has been a pretty happy, playful baby!

Daddy just sent me this picture of him all wrapped up, sleeping at the day care. How hilarious is this? My baby likes to be swaddled still? Who knew!!??

Got it!

Yes! I captured Will laughing --


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Ah! I just love my son!! :)

My Will Fix

That is what Ellis and I call it when he sends me a picture of Will in the middle of the work day. Lucky Daddy gets to visit Will during the day since he works right across the parking lot from the day care. He will take a picture with his Treo and email it to me. Those pictures get me through the day ... although they also sometimes make me miss Will terribly.

I look forward to my "Will fix" every day!

Birth Announcement

Yes, I finally sent out Will's birth announcement after 4 1/2 months, but at least I did it before his first birthday! (I am disappointed that this picture came out kind of brown on the actual announcements but, oh well.)

We got the rest of the pictures we ordered from the photographer last week. They all look so good. I am really really pleased. The birth announcement picture is the only one we have a .jpg file on, but I will try to scan in some of the other pictures to share. I know we will really treasure these pictures a years from now when we can barely remember Will as a little baby.