Drinking Lessons!

Maletch is always taking (or trying to take) my cups/drinks out of my hands... and when I've let him take it- he puts it to his mouth and tries to drink. So I decided to run out and get him a "sippy" cup.
I read that it is a good idea to teach how to drink from a regular (non-sippy) cup at the same time that you introduce the sippy- and switch back and forth with the lessons- so that is what I did. It has been so fun and messy (hehe) watching him learn! He took to it immediately and preferred the regular cup over the sippy.
Although it is messy using a regular cup, like when he decides to turn it upside down to see what happens- I'm really impressed that he knew immediately how to drink and was actually swallowing the liquids on his first try. Since then, I have also taught him how to drink from a regular water bottle too- he loves it!

Better Not Buster!

Who, me?? I'm so innocent, look at my face!

He makes us so nervous that he is going to get the idea to pull himself over and out of his "bassinet"- which yes, we know that is coming- so I watch him like a hawk! We are getting ready to transfer him to his crib exclusively and when we do- this will drop to a deeper playpen. This has been beside our bed and his crib is in his own room.

I know he is going to make the transition well because he has slept in his crib several times for naps and he likes his bed a lot. I think I will have a hard time with the transition because I check on him constantly throughout the night- and I think if he is not in my eyesight I will be worrying and going back and forth all night. It's funny because I didn't understand parents that shared rooms with their babies (beyond a certain point) so I had a 3 month rule- that he would be in his own room after he turned 3 months... well, that was BEFORE I had a baby! Haha! Now that he is here- I get it! With the scare of SIDS and even the "what if he needs me and I don't hear him" worries- it will be very hard separating. We are about to invest in a Video Monitor- to help me be more at ease (so I can hear AND take a peek at him). We were also given a Baby Movement Monitor as a gift which picks up on every breath. It will sound an alarm if your baby doesn't breathe for 20 seconds. Between the two monitoring systems, hopefully mommy can be able to sleep without worrying. :)

Christmas in August??

Doesn't he look so cute in his high-chair! He looks so little in it too, huh?

One of his many new toys, he can chase fish in the "duck pond."

He's a happy boy in his jumperoo! I will try to add video soon of his crazy jumping. He actually makes the bungie-cords recoil from jumping so hard!

Aaahhh, it's been like Christmas this week at our house! With Maletch always wanting to sit or stand and practically refusing to lie down- we decided to offer him many of his "older boy" things that we already had waiting for him. This included lots of "big boy" toys, of course- as well as his high-chair (just for fun- not for eating yet- since he won't start on solids until 6 months of age) and we graduated him from his baby bathtub to a toddler one and so much more! He has just LOVED everything so far!

We try to introduce no more than 1-2 new things in a day (as per recommended by all the books) so as to not "over-stimulate" him- although I don't think it's possible to do with him, hehe! He loves everything- especially new things. We have not decided when we will stop on this "spree of new things"- we might just keep giving him everything in his stash since he seems to be ready for everything now. John and I went crazy shopping before he was born and filled a large closet full of shelves- stuffed full of things- many of these items were intended for Christmas and his 1st birthday.

Since Maletch is what his doctor (and the books) call a "very active baby," he bores so easily! They say he won't be fully satisfied or even easily satisfied until he is walking- which I know is true because he would jump in his jumperoo all day if I would let him- and that would that make him happy! I still have to limit his time in it to just 1-2 sessions of 20 min each- max per day, because he is back to jumping like a maniac! There was a short phase, where he had to split his focus between: playing with the toys on the jumper and the act of jumping, but now he is officially more talented than his daddy (hehe) cuz Maletch can multi-task now! Sorry honey, but you know you can't do two things at once (I just love teasing John bout that) =) Maletch can be playing with 2 toys (one in each hand), having a cooing conversation, AND jumping through the roof- all at the same time- and he does them all well! It seems like his concentration is unbreakable, no matter how many things he is doing! He doesn't forget about one toy- for the other, and he never forgets about jumping.

I just love my days with him they are always busy and full of surprises. The hardest part of my job is keeping him from being bored. I am the official "activities director/coordinator/planner" and "toy switcher outer" and its like a marathon all day. So, right now we are in hopes that all the new exciting toys and things will entertain him longer and will hopefully satisfy him until he can walk! And then the hardest part of my day will be keeping him out of trouble and away from accidents. Ha!

Except its not funny cuz he's already heading there fast- I can't believe already the difference in things he's grabbing and trying to get into this week! Those are stories for different posts :) I'm getting a little panicky about how to baby-proof everything ok, well obsessive because everything is not baby-proofable so you can't baby proof everything- so I just keep finding everything to be a hazard! I don't know how we all grew up through the exploratative and fearless baby stage and made it to adult hood safely? :) Or did we all have more accidents than we know about and our parents just didn't tell us? Haha!

I know, I know, it's called "welcome to parenthood"- someone told me to prepare to worry for the rest of my life!

And I figure I will.

Maletch Can't Wait to Show You His New Trick!!

Ok, so I wanted to post more stories last week, but couldn't find the time. I promised I was saving the "best one" for last... so I won't keep you in suspense any more...

So last week Maletch and I were sitting next to each other on the bed playing with his toys, when he grabbed a hold of me and pulled himself to a standing position!! After a lot of praise and applause, I said, "I gotta see that again!" So I sat him back down and encouraged him to do it again. We ended up making a game out of it. After about the 5th time, I figured his legs must be getting tired from the workout, so I thought I would just let him stand (while holding onto me) for a break- what do you think he did next?? He proceeded to take approx 3-5 steps while holding on and has done so each time since.
John and I keep joking, "If his doctor was so shocked by him sitting on his own at 4 months- I gotta see his face when Maletch goes WALKING IN for his 6 month checkup!" Haha!

Too Big For His Britches!!

Are you sitting down for this?? Can you believe that at 4 1/2 months old- Maletch was officially wearing size 12 month clothes!! Yep, that is correct! He is growing SO fast- I just can't keep up with his clothes!

I was a little worried that he might be getting too big- even though that went against everything I've read- AND he is not fat at all either. But just to be sure, I asked the doctor if I needed to "watch his intake." The nurse and Dr. BOTH answered at the same time, "in harmony," and confirmed what I've read in all the books- they say to let babies at this age control their own intake- that babies will only eat when they are hungry- and they will stop when they are full. And that allowing them to do so- allows them to intake more when they need it for their growth spurts. Which I've found to be completely true because, every once in a while, he will want to eat 50% more- for just a few days (12oz bottles instead of 8oz)- and he grows a ton right afterward!
Then the doctor went on to assess his growth in comparison charts to other babies his age and looked at his rate of growth from his own birth weight/height and did everythng but a cartwheel in excitement! He said, "Maletch is THRIVING!" and gestured by giving him two thumbs way up!

I am still trippin' about his size 12 month clothes- and I didn't tell you the craziest part- some of his size 12 shirts are too small already- especially getting the neck-hole over his head- because, as the doc put it- "He has a big noggin." Hehe! So he is almost ready for 18 months in shirts (at 5 months old)!! Maletch is built like his Grandpa Ebel- he is VERY stocky (with REALLY ripped arm muscles- which probably sounds funny- but I'm serious and I will try to get a picture of his arms) and he has a VERY long torso and very short legs!

As I mentioned I am having a hard time keeping up with his clothes- if you are calculating- he has gone through 5 (that's FIVE) sizes in 4 1/2 months! OK, that means each size has lasted less than a month! By the time I got everything he needed- from jammies, to comfy (around the house) clothes, to dress up for company clothes, etc- all home and washed & put away- he couldn't fit them anymore! And I kept sounding like a broken record, "Ok, he just had another big growth spurt, so I'm sure he's gonna slow down now!" But he's never slowed down- he has had one huge growth spurt after another! We are so glad that he is growing so fast and we are very surprised because we didn't expect him to be tall (or big for his age)- seeing as John and I are NOT (and we weren't as babies either).

Clothes shopping for him is a challenge too! I have to buy shirts that have extra large neck-holes or polos that have a more generous collar opening or button-ups. Then for his britches- you know how they make 2 styles of shorts for boys- either short-shorts or long shorts... well short-shorts are long shorts on him (which look great) and long shorts look like capris on him- but since he is a boy- they really look like "flood-water" pants :) And pants- well, they are just WAY too long- by like 3-4 inches! So I've been lucky in the summer because he is mostly in shorts but coming up next month when it cools down- I'm going to have the fun task of altering all of his pants or he will have to wear them cuffed. I just bought some of that iron-on hem tape, so I can hem them up and keep taking them down as he grows. It seems like just when he fits pants in the length- he's outgrown them everywhere else.

We are predicting he will REQUIRE size 18 months clothes BY his 6 month birthday (next month). I think he's trying to catch up to his big cousin Myah (who is a year and 3 months older!) This time I hope to be prepared and have that size "fully stocked" before next month because the last few sizes came SO QUICKLY that we weren't prepared. Funny because it kept happening so fast- that there was about a week at each size change that we were in denial- "it couldn't be true since he JUST moved up a size that he ALREADY needed another size"- so we just blamed it on the particular outfits' "cuts." So by the time we realized he actually needed bigger clothes, sadly, we ended up having to squish him into small clothes while trying to make the time to scramble the stores to find what he desperately needed- only to get home & wash everything- and find that he outgrew that size too! So, although he always ended up with TONS of clothes- it was always too late and he didn't get a chance to wear most of them! It has been so stressful because it seems like I'm always behind the shopping game- so THIS time I'm making a new "Game Plan"- although we JUST finished "stocking" his 12 month clothes- I GOTTA get back out there! (I know- I probably don't even have a month!) It has felt like such a waste too, since so much he never got to wear- so all we can say is that his younger brother is going to be HOOKED UP! :)