Choices

I've been meaning to write this one for a while now, but haven't found the time until now. The other day I took Owen over to the felt box where I keep all his toys when he's not playing with them. Rather than pick a toy out for him and play, I decided to see if he would pick one himself. So I floated him down over top of the box and asked him to pick out a toy. What I witnessed was pretty cool. He reached out his hand toward the Skwish, paused, thought for a moment, and then decided to pick up the Whoozit instead. It was amazing! For the first time, at least that I've witnessed, a whole, real live person's thought went through his head! To think that 6+ months ago, he couldn't really do anything, and now, he has thoughts and opinions and feelings about all sorts of things. Wow.

Solid food

I must be being punished by someone out there who doesn't like it when I brag about Owen... Some of the ladies from our prenatal class have started a facebook page so we can stay connected and also discuss various things as they come up, compare notes... you know. All of our babies are at the age where you need to start feeding them solids and since Owen is one of the oldest in the group, he's got a lot of experience under his belt, relatively speaking. He's been such a good eater, taking pretty much everything I've given him and so I was singing his praises to on the facebook page. Well, let me tell you, since I did that, Owen has decided that he's not that into food anymore. At least, not for eating. Now, whenever I put something in his mouth he doesn't care for, he slurps at it, makes a face, and most of it ends up down the front of his bib. He's not even that into his cereal anymore. And he'd rather play after about 4 bites. You can imagine what happens when he does the razz with a mouth full of squash. His appetite seems to have really taken a nose dive. Last week he was eating about 3 tbsp of cereal and at least 2 tbsp of vegetables and/or meat. Now, I'm lucky to get 2 tbsp of cereal. I think part of his previous appetite was the 6 month growth spurt, but this new found decision making about what he likes and doesn't like is getting pretty frustrating. I hope he figures it out soon. I just went to the store and made up a BUNCH of new food for him, and it's now taking up valuable freezer space.

Nevertheless, I'm off today to buy a real high chair for Owen. He's been sitting in a travel booster that's really meant for a toddler up until now, and he's been banging his head on the wooden chair back, which makes him cry, and then he's really not interested in eating.

Owen and I were just playing and I happened to get a glimpse of his top gum. There I saw the smallest break in the skin where a tooth is soon to be. That sure happened fast!


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Owen woke up at 6 this morning and wouldn't go back to sleep. We put his soothed in about five times, I fed him, we even brought him to our bed. "Nope, Mom, I'm awake." Yea right. Now, at 8, this is what he's doing.


We're off to swimming lessons now. I hope he's caught up by the time we get there.

Mom's know best.

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Thirsty

Once again a few days have passed since my last post. I will update on why in another post since I don't have a lot of time riht now. For now, I just want to write something quick about Owen's growing independence. We've been feeding him more solids since he seems to always be hungry and I'm having trouble keeping up with supply. Also, he seems to really like eating. Since he's been eating more, his poop has been a lot more solid, to the point where I worried he might get constipated. I saw him at it the other day and he really strained. Anyway, we bought him a training sippy cup since things weren't going very well with the regular one I have. He just couldn't figure it out. Today, after his mid-day meal, I filled it with water and made the sign for thirsty (we're trying to teach him sign language too) and then I put the cup down beside him. Wouldn't you know it, he picked the cup up by the handle, put it to his mouth and drank about 20 mL. He sure picks up new skills quickly when he's motivated.

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The other crazy thing that happened on Tuesday

As I said in my earlier post, it's been a crazy cuple of days. I've been trying to get details finalized for our trip to Italy (and trying to learn some Italiano) and prepare for a duo road trip to Saskatoon. But there was something else that I have to write in the blog. Later in the day on Tuesday, when we got home from swimming, I found a TOOTH poking through in Owen's mouth. It's the front lower right one. Of course, he hasn't been bothered by it - no crying, nursing strike, or other changes in behaviour you read about in the books. He is the best baby ever.


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Little Swimmer

We started swimming lessons on Tuesday. I'd have written this post then, but things have been somewhat crazy. Anyway, it was really fun for both of us. I'm not sure what I expected the lesson to be...  There was some back floating, tummy floating, song singing, and "jumping" off of the edge of the pool - Owen standing on the edge, me pulling him into the pool. We were in the "big" pool, but in the shallow end, which meant that crouching, I could stay covered. The pool is heated, which was really nice for both of us. Owen didn't care much for the back float. At first, he seemed uneasy about having his ears under the water, and although he did relax a bit, his legs stayed straight up in the air the whole time he was on his back. It's gonna be hard to do a flutter when his feet aren't in the water. He really took to the front float though. It not that long, he was kicking and trying to dog paddle with his hands. He did swallow a little water when I wasn't careful about keeping his mouth out of the water. No biggie though. I really liked the song singing... I'm starting to run out of songs to sing to him and he really likes it when I sing. It seems to have a calming effect on him.

I remember thinking when I booked them that 30 minutes was a bit short, but that's all they really offered. But, by the end of the lesson, Owen was pretty tired, and somewhat cold... his lips were blue. We made our way into the wading kiddie pool after the lesson to warm up for a bit. Getting him and me rinsed off, dried and dressed was quite the affair. Basically, I dripped dry while I got Owen into clothes. He's never been in the water for as long as he was and his toes looked like little raisins. I tried to get a picture, but all I could get was this blury one... those feet have never stopped moving (hey Dee?)!

Afterward, while Owen had a nap, we went to Starbucks and after he woke up I took off his toque to find his hair looking like his mama's. Maybe he will have my crazy hair after all.