Wednesday, April 28, 2010

15 Weeks

Well my baby, you’re 15 weeks old!


You refused to smile for Sunday’s photo shoot. You just weren’t in the mood. But generally, you’re a smiling fool these days! You laugh and grin and emit these hilarious throaty yodels that crack me up every time. We have some good laughs together, you and I.


On the other hand, you’re really amping up the tantrum capabilities too. You’ve been so hard on poor Sarah this week. When she arrives in the morning you just cry and cry—big, wet tears and screams and a red face, the whole shebang. It breaks my heart! Yesterday I actually let her leave an hour early because I just couldn’t take it anymore. And you know what? As soon as we were together, you were juuuuust fine. We played happily for the next three hours. Hmmm. Separation anxiety already?! I don’t know. It warms my heart that you calm down like that for your mommy, but at the same time poor Sarah needs to catch a break! I hope you’re easier on her today.


You’re still chewing on your fingers and pretty much anything else you can get your hands (er, teeth) on. Maybe you really are teething! I don’t feel anything budding under your gums when I touch, but who knows. You're actively reaching for things now and you're coordinated enough to make contact. You can spin the beads around on your jumperoo and move them back and forth if you concentrate REALLY hard.

Here you are in the seat we borrowed last week from CeCe and Gramps (please disregard the over-flowing box of too-small clothes that I need to pack up in the background!):




Sleep training has stalled. I plan to find some resolve somewhere this week to get started again. I just so love having you in our bed. BUT…you’re about a fraction of a hair away from rolling over, and as soon as that begins I don’t think our bed will be such a safe place for you. Plus, you’re already becoming a more active sleeper than you once were. You flail your arms around several times during the night and have hit me in the face more than once.

(These photos were taken in low light with no flash as I didn't want to wake you. Then again, you sleep so soundly...it probably wouldn't have bothered you at all!)



Speaking of which, you gave me a fat lip this past week mister! Mommy’s friend Lisa was visiting and we went to Amish country for the day. We were eating lunch when you caught me off guard and butted right into my mouth! I think we both cried (my eyes watered at any rate—and you howled!). My lip puffed right up for a little while. That’s one heck of a noggin’ you have, little man!

We also went to the Cleveland Zoo with Lisa—your first trip to the zoo! You’re a bit too small to be overly impressed, though. In fact, you slept through much of our zoo adventure, but you were a little trooper and barely cried at all. When you got tired of the stroller and started to fuss, we popped you out and you rode around in a front carrier quite happily. We even had lunch at Great Lakes Brewery with Stephanie (Stephanie and Lisa were both mommy’s bridesmaids, by the way) and you were a lovely dining companion right up until you projectile vomited all over Daddy’s pants and the floor. Fortunately they’d been wise enough to stick us out in the beer garden area, which has a concrete floor—easy clean up for them, and I didn’t have to feel too badly about grossing out our fellow diners.

I can’t believe you’re one week away from 4 months! You’re changing at warp speed these days. I’m sure I’ll have more exciting news to report this coming Sunday. Maybe your eyes will be brown by then, my little blue-eyed boy (STILL! Despite how dark they look in some photos, your eyes are still a deep, clear blue in person. Maybe your grandpa Judgie is making his presence known through those beautiful blue peepers...).

I call this your hound-dog expression:


Hanging with daddy (in dipes that match his shirt, no less!)


Refusing to smile (it's a good thing you have such a cute pout):


Monday, April 19, 2010

14 weeks



Well my baby, you turned 14 weeks yesterday! Half-way to FOUR MONTHS. Wow! Time is just flying right by.

You met a few more of your cousins this month. Ryan, Zach and Liam came to visit from New Jersey on their spring break! Ryan is 14, Zach is 12, and Liam is a few days older than you are. It was fun seeing the two of you together (and hearing the duets when you cried in tandem). Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to share yet of you and Liam, but I know Gramps took a few so maybe I can come back and post one.

I do have a sweet photo of you and Zach together:


Shortly after this photo was taken you apparently let a real zinger rip and Zach gaspingly handed you back over.

You’re still loving your wiggle time, and you really wave your arms and legs around frantically these days, getting an excellent work-out in.

You’re still sucking…er, chewing…your fingers off. Yes, you seem to be chewing more than sucking these days. I’ve felt your gums and can’t feel anything blossoming in there yet, but ever since CeCe told me that your Aunt Lauren had four teeth by four months, I’ve been curious to see what has you chewing away lately! More often than not, this is your look:


In fact, it was hard to get a photo of you with your monkey that didn’t involve one or more fingers being inserted into your mouth!


But I did manage to capture a few. Pretty soon I won’t be able to take the horizontal photos any more! Look at how long you’re getting:




My big 14-week-old boy.



Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Phone Pics

Every now and then I go through my phone to check for cute pictures worth sharing. I found a few today...plus I have a video of Tatum's morning calisthenics, with him waving his arms and legs and squealing like crazy! But it's fairly huge and I'm not sure how to edit it down, so that will have to wait.

In the meantime, here's Tate sticking out his tongue:


Wearing his Aunt Julia's alma mater (an outfit that her son, his cousin Luke, generously shared with him! It's a 12-month size and still a little big...as it should be on a 3-month-old!):


Doing the wiggle dance (this is what I have on film--I'll come back and share it if I can figure out how to make it smaller):



And here's a photo of his elusive dimple. We were visiting some friends in Strongsville last weekend and as we were leaving, Tate smiled at one of them and she started shouting, "He has DIMPLES!!! Oh my gosh, he has dimples!" Why yes, he does--they just don't come out very often! (Actually, I should say IT doesn't come out very often, because I'm pretty sure his dimple is on the right side only.)


Monday, April 12, 2010

Bouncy Tate


The exersaucer/jumperoo thing-a-ma-jig that we ordered last week has arrived! And while I think Tatum is a few weeks away from being able to really use it the way it’s intended (his legs are a trifle too short and his neck is maybe just a *bit* wobbly after he’s held it up for a while), still, he LOVES hanging out in there. He sits upright like a big boy and looks all around and laughs and entertains himself. Once he’s able to start actually bouncing and engaging with all of the toys, this is going to be his favorite place in our house I think!

Oooooh, what’s that over head?


Hmmmm, there’s a lot to look at here! What should I do next?




Maybe grab one of these ring thingies!


(In case anyone was wondering…we still have a blue-eyed baby! Either some major recessive genes are at work here or Tate’s eyes are going to change soon to match mommy and daddy’s!)


Squeal! (Yes, Tatum has mastered the squeal! It’s quite a shriek when he gets wound up, loud and ear-piercing!)



Letting my fingers do the walking…


Uhhh, listen, Mom? You might want to stop taking pictures soon…


I’ll give you one more minute!


And one more close-up…


Then it’s “go time”!

(I so wish that last picture had turned out better, it cracks me up!)

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Three Month Update

This whole “getting back to work” thing has somewhat stunted my attempts to keep Tate’s Space updated! However, it feels good to do something for myself a few days a week (I consider working to be doing something for myself!) and contributing to our family finances again. Sarah is working out beautifully as our helper; Tate seems to enjoy being with her, and the time she spends at our home allows me to work on a part-time basis.

In the meantime, our sweet boy has hit three months! Happy Three-Month Birthday, Tate!


What’s changed in the past month? Well, you’ve continued to grow and grow and grow. You put weight on your legs and love being upright. In fact, we decided to go ahead and get you an exersaucer so that you can bounce around in it (or at least hang out in there) while sitting up like a big boy. It should be here tomorrow and I can’t wait for you to try it out! You sat in a bouncy swing over at your cousins’ house this week and seemed to think it was pretty nifty.



You’re newest thing is chewing—you chew on your fingers, the nipple of your bottle, and occasionally on mommy! I can’t quite figure out what this is all about. Part of me wonders if you may be teething. That sounds crazy for a three-month-old, but apparently your Aunt Lauren had four teeth by four months!!! Oh my goodness! CeCe says it’s because you want a steak. She’s teasing of course, but she did suggest that I consider giving you some rice cereal soon. I want to talk to your pediatrician about that, since it’s too early (I think!) for you to be eating solid foods just yet. You do show an interest in people eating though, following the food from the plate to our mouths and smacking your lips. Who knows, maybe some rice cereal isn’t such a bad idea.


Getting you on a sleep schedule seems to be a gradual process. You’re still so young that I hate leaving you to cry in a crib. I know, I know—it’s best for you to get used to a routine that involves soothing yourself to sleep, and I need to toughen up and learn to let you cry sometimes. But at three months, I don’t think you’re quite capable yet of soothing yourself, so more often than not you’re still falling asleep on mommy or in a swing or in the car. I’m working on figuring out whether you seem to have a natural sleep pattern and have been writing down your nap times so that I can keep track of them over the past few days. Hopefully between now and four months we’ll work out a regular nap schedule for you and be on our way toward better sleep habits!

There’s been a dramatic change in your level of interaction with us this month. Just in the past week or so, you’ve really started to consistently laugh and grin and engage with us when we’re talking to you. One of your favorite times of day is first thing in the morning, when you wake up with a smile all cuddly and sweet. You love getting changed now, and will grin up at me from the changing table and laugh if I tickle your tummy. It’s the best thing in the world to see that smile!


Three months of wonderful…I can’t wait to see what four months brings.


Monday, April 5, 2010

Tater Bunny

Tate's first Easter was a hit! He was a very happy bunny:



Unfortunately Bruce pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve or something in his neck (he's at the doctor's right now!) and wasn't able to come to church with us, but we met up with our cousins and CeCe and Gramps for the service and it was lovely. Lauren's girls were beyond adorable in their little matching sundresses and bonnets!

As is typically the case, Tate did well right up until communion, at which point he decided he was HUNGRY HUNGRY and we slipped away to the ladie's lounge for a bit.

I'd hoped to capture an Easter picture with his cousins, but gathering the whole crew together is a bit of a logistical challenge at this point, so I'll settle for separate photos of each. Unfortunately the only photos of I have of Parker with Tate include a drugged-up husband/daddy (thanks to the neck pain!) and I know he wouldn't be crazy about them, so I probably shouldn't put them up on the blog.

I do have one sweet photo of daddy holding his little guy to share, and several more from our visit to CeCe and Gramps for Easter brunch:





Serious little bunny:



Campbell bunny:

Cousin Paige:


Mommy and her little guy (showing the mom hair I posted about on my other blog!):



Hope everyone had a beautiful weekend and a lovely Easter, if you celebrate Easter! 12-week photos coming soon ...