Learning to Move

I guess he's getting tired of having to ask mom and dad to tote him wherever he wants to be, so he's decided it's time to start movin' on his own.

Of course, this getting mobile thing is a lengthy process, but yesterday and today he's started getting his knees underneath himself! Next step, forward motion!

It's kind of sad to watch him try soooo hard and not go ANYWHERE, but he'll get it eventually! I'm sure my exuberant over-praising helps :) I guess it's time to get out and buy some baby gates. And put plugs in all the outlets. And vacuum/sweep the house. Hide electrical wires. Awesome...

8 Months

My baby is 8 months old today!! AAAKKK!! As cliche as it sounds, time has flown by... I guess I try to block out those first 3 1/2 months, but even then, he's been home for nearly 5! AAAKKK again!

When the ladies in the NICU told us this would happen, I laughed in their face. It felt like those first months passed in slow motion. I was just so anxious to get out of there and get on with our lives like a normal family, I thought it would never happen! But I get a little sentimental when I take a minute to remember just how far he's come. And when I see the 27th on the calendar, it's a small reminder to enjoy every minute, because they're gonna be gone before we know it.

He was such a teenie little thing for so long!

Cry, Baby!

Since I got "yelled at" earlier today for not blogging, here goes :)

What I had intended to blog about was how the last few days it has been EXTREMELY difficult to get Dex to bed. He cries and cries and cries. He doesn't want to go to sleep, so he cries. But he's just SOOOO tired, so he cries. Lay him down, cries. Pick him up, cries. Feed him, cries. You get the picture. So, I thought, okay, I'll get a few pics of him wailing since nobody's seen that yet!! And as much as I enjoy it, I wanted to share with everyone.

Well, come to find out, Dex doesn't cry in front of a camera. Voila!! And to think all I had to do this whole time was walk around with a camera in his face! I'm thinking I need one of those harmonica holders that sits around his neck. I'll just tape a picture of a camera on it so he always thinks he's getting his picture taken... genius.

I put him on the floor thinking that would do the trick, but he'd just wimper around until I pulled the camera out, then I'd get a look like this:

Or this:

Poor, mistreated little boy! Pitiful!

This one, he's just taunting me...

Daddy finally picks him up. He must think we're all suckers.


I think I finally said "Cry, dangit!" Scared him a little :)

Laughing Baby

I was playing with Dex this morning and for no apparent reason I started shaking a small binder memo-book over his face. Well, turns out he LOVED it! He's just now started laughing, and it is the cutest thing I've ever seen!! I'm sure I look like a complete idiot trying to get him to laugh, but it's sure worth it :)

Three Things...

Here's catching up on everything new that's going on. He's growing and changing so fast, my posts can't seem to keep up!!

He's finally started to figure out his Bumbo (below). Before, when he would be put in it, he'd fall completely forward until his head was at his knees. Now, he's actually sitting up for extended periods of time! I feel like this is progress, although I'm not really sure of what. His stomach muscles are getting stronger?


Second, I started trying to feed him some rice cereal at night to help him sleep longer. Actually, I just put a little in his bottle before bed, but just for fun, I gave him a more concentrated amount on a spoon, and this was his reaction:

I'd say he's not impressed...

And finally, here's Declan's newest "thing":

Feet straight up in the air! Haha! I THINK it's because when I play with him I act like I'm "eating" his feet, which he loves. So...when he's just laying there, he thinks maybe if he makes it a little easier for me, I'll play some more! But it's hilarious to see him in the living room all by himself with his feet like that!

New Header

Just to warn you, I'm playing with my blog header, so it may change a few times on ya here in the next couple of days! Found some online scrapbooking sites (THANKS MOM!) that are really, really fun to play with! If you like doing that sort of thing, check out www.scrapblog.com or www.cropmom.com, both really cool!

We are starting the chewing! Awesome! Anything that will go in the mouth, we're putting in the mouth. He does look super cute doing it though :)

How many people does it take to entertain a baby? Two, plus the one behind the camera...

Sweet boy smiling one of his many smiles today. He had quite a few visitors...including Uncle Levi, Tia, and Jordan. Daddy Doug, Jack and Kathy for a couple hours, too. Baby boy loves company!!

New Favorite Pasttime

Finger sucking. Nice. Now his hands are all slobbery, all the time. And I have to constantly wipe him with WetOnes to TRY and keep as many germs out of his mouth as possible. I know, I know... Pretty soon he'll be eating dirt and licking shoes, but for now I do what I can! I'm sure when he's older, I'll look back and say "Remember when I thought I could keep germs out of his mouth? Aaaahahahaha!"

New Toy and New Pics

Well folks, no more excuses! I now have in my possession the key to my fitness! :) Thank goodness for Craig's List, got a heck'uva deal on this sweet ride! Hopefully Declan will be riding soon and often!

Notice Lilly checking the tires for safety reasons...

Dex has become very animated lately. Sooooo dang cute to watch! I spend most of my free time trying to make him smile and always get a variety of looks.

And finally, I bought him some shades but he's still not quite grown into them. Oh, and he hates them. In case you couldn't tell.

'Sup...

What are kids, if not little dress-up dolls?? Hehe!

Progression of a Smile

As I said in the last post, he refuses to smile for the camera... so I made Sean try to coax a smile out while I sat "hidden" off to the side.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"No, seriously, what are you doing?"

Almost.....

Success!! :)

Wow, that only took 45 minutes...

Rangers Game

I keep trying to get pictures of Declan smiling, but that boy spots a camera from a mile away, and just stares at it, never to crack a smile as long as he can see it. He's got that "hhuuuhhhhh??" look in all my most recent pics!

(looking a lot like his dad here...)

We went to a Rangers game last night, so Aunt Linda came to watch him. Laughing and smiling up until I got the camera ready!!

Just a tiny, little smile???? Please? No? *sigh*

The game was fun, but right around the 7th inning, these clouds started rolling in... so we decided to high-tail it out of there! VERY good idea, actually. Rain delay for 2 hours, game lasted till after midnight... They would have found me sleeping under the bleachers if we'd have stayed.

Still had fun for a couple hours! And the Rangers won, so I'm sure it had something to do with us being there. We almost got wacked in the head by a foul ball (twice), almost 5 minutes after Sean said "Don't worry, we don't have to worry about flies here." :) Good call, hun!