February 2012

February has been a fairly rough month for us, 

but sprinkled throughout all of the chaos there has been plenty to celebrate as well!

Towards the beginning of the month, Bruce came down with some kind of illness - most likely just a cold - that really rocked our world!  It took a little over a week for it to run its course and we're extremely thankful to be done with it!  Bruce was mostly just super-snotty, but he did run a high fever one day, and a come-and-go low grade fever for a couple of days.  We spent about a week of constant holding/pacing during the day and night cuddling/sleeping on the couch.  Not a fun experience at all, but it could have been so much worse.

My mom and Rick came up to visit for a few days in the middle of the month.  I'd like to think that they came to celebrate my 30th birthday, but I have a hunch there might have been a grand-baby ulterior motive!  At least I was lucky enough that they were here to help during some of Bruce's sick days as well.  Lots of arms to pass Baby around to.  We celebrated Valentine's Day by all going out to breakfast at Ozzie's, a favorite restaurant of ours at the local airport.  The grandparents were hoping to introduce Bruce to pancakes, but (thankfully) he slept through the whole meal.  It's hard to tell those grandparent-types no!  We ate to our hearts' content and then waddled out.  We then celebrated my birthday by having our traditional fondue dinner.  Charlie's mom was even able to come down and join in the festivities!

Despite being sick for nearly half the month, Bruce has been knocking down milestones left and right!  Everyone asks if he's crawling yet...  Nope.  But he's getting awfully close!  He does a little booty lift that makes him look like an inchworm, and he has started pushing up on his hands.  He just can't seem to get the two moves together yet.  He has started to dig his toes in a little, trying to push off creeper-style, but it's like his belly button is tethered to the floor.  He can pivot around in a circle though, which he enjoys.  To be honest, I'm not quite ready for him to start crawling, but it's great watching him start to put the pieces together.  It won't be long.  In the process, he also has managed to roll from his belly to his back now a few times.  I think it's been by accident because he always looks so shocked afterwards!  Until he masters that skill purposefully though, it's nice that he at least has figured out that when he's on his belly, he can put his head down for a rest anytime he gets tired of holding it up.  He isn't sitting up on his own yet either, but he's getting better at keeping steady and I'm sure it'll come soon.

In addition to pre-crawling maneuvers,  Bruce has discovered his tongue and all its glory.  He spends most of the day sticking it out, pointing it, curling it, and his all-time favorite - blowing ooey, gooey, motor-boat raspberries.  Sometimes he sounds like an engine, other times like the last of a ketchup bottle, and then there's plenty of bathroom humor sounds in the mix.  Poor baby's chin is all chapped from all the drool he looses all day long.  He seems to have a good time doing it though, so I guess he'll have to live with a vaseline covered chin.  Another favorite game of his is the "grab mama's arm" trick during diaper changes and clothing exchanges.  He has quite the grip and gets the giggles every time.

Mr. Pants has definitely gotten Bruce's attention this month.  Up until this point, I've always tried to make sure the cat is respectful of the baby - now it's flip-flopped and it's the baby hurting the cat I'm worried about.  Bruce has only managed a few handfuls of fur so far, but he tries every chance he gets!  And whenever he sees the cat saunter by, he thinks it's really funny.

This month Bruce has decided to give up on conventional toys for the most part and is always reaching for whatever we have instead.  His recent joys include phones, remote controls, the calculator, and of course - anything we're drinking.  He loves cups!  What's great though is he already knows what you're supposed to do with one, and as soon as he gets his little hands on one, it instantly goes up to his mouth for a drink.  So far we haven't tried giving him a cup with any liquid in it, but the doctor told us this month at his check up that we can start introducing a sippy if we want.  Baby has no idea what he's in for!

Bruce is really into textures lately also.  He loves feeling anything he can get his hands on - and not just cat fur!  He's fascinated by the yarn blanket that lays over the back of the chair in his nursery, and loves to scratch his never-trimmed-well-enough fingernails on my jeans.  He loves any kind of plastic, any kind of paper, especially the mail, and any kind of metal, especially spoons.  The list could go on forever.

We call this "the penguin"

Food has been a little more challenging this month unfortunately.  I don't know if the two are related, but ever since his cold, Bruce has been a little more stubborn at meal time.  He still will eat his fruits and veggies without complaint, but starts to cry any time we offer him his rice cereal or oatmeal, even with fruits mixed in.  The kid never ceases to confuse me.  So we're taking a break from the cereal for a few days and we'll see if he'll change his mind.  We got his high chair a couple of days ago, but it doesn't really slant backwards, so he'll have to be able to sit up a little better before we can use it.

Eating his shaker egg

Sleep has been a little more challenging this month also.  Again, I don't know if the two are related, but ever since his cold, his nice nap rhythm has disappeared.  I thought for awhile he might have been shifting from three naps to only two.  Unfortunately that meant that most days I either tried to force him to take three naps when he really didn't need the last one, or let him skip the third one when in actuality he really needed after all.  It's seems like the last day or so though we've been back to three naps, although we're unfortunately down to just 30 minutes at a time.  He tends to send mix signals in regards to his sleepy cues, but we're trying to get it figured out.  Like I said, the kid never ceases to confuse me.

Taking a head rest

Bruce had his 6 month "well baby" visit this month.  He had a few more shots, but other than the initial screaming, he didn't have any side effects this month.  Yay!  He's still maintaining his growth curve -  the 95th percentile for height and the 10th for weight.  We don't have to go back again until 9 months, and no more shots until his first birthday!  Woo hoo!

Miss Willie

We finished up the month by making a quick day trip to Stillwater to visit Granny K, Grandpa Bill, Miss Willie (Bruce's cow) and her new calf, Scottie.  Bruce even got to "drive" a tractor while we were there.  He'll be working harvest this summer no doubt.

 

Seed catalogs have been arriving in the mailbox, all the trees around here have buds ready to sprout, and our hands are itching to get into the dirt.  Spring is right around the corner and we're getting our plans together for the garden.  Can't wait!

And on a closing note, here's one last picture of the little man.  The jury is still out on who he looks like, but I finally took a picture of him that is a dead-ringer for Charlie as a little kid.  I often wonder what he'll end up looking like, what he'll end up sounding like, and what his little personality will end up being like.  So much to look forward to!