Dennis

I loved watching Dennis the Menace when I was a kid. There was a movie that came out with Walter Matthau as Mr. Wilson and even though I was a bit old for it, I loved that too. I thought Dennis was great. So much fun and so lively... I think you can tell where this is heading. Yep I wished if I had a son he would be like Dennis. Now clearly I wasn't putting much thought into this as I do believe that our thoughts have power and strength, which is why I should have put a bit more time into picturing the weeks after the birth as calm and beautiful with a baby who barely cried instead of thinking how adorable it was how Dennis always seemed to be getting into goodhearted scrapes and trouble.

I think that day by day Teddy's true personality is really starting to show through, and lets just say that at this moment it looks like I got my wish. If he is awake he is looking around, moving around, trying to get at something just out of reach, something with which he most probably should not be playing. He doesn't like to be held or cuddled unless you are at that moment allowing him to touch something which he isn't big enough to reach on his own. My PEKiP instructor once commented that Teddy nursed not only for food or comfort but also clearly for pleasure. That used to be true but it is like at about 6 months a switch went off in his head and he realized that everything he was seeing could be interacted with, and every moment he spent nursing was a moment he could spend trying to pull something off a shelf, or rip something in half. Now nursing occurs only directly after naps and bedtime and once in the night when he is still a bit too tired to realize that he could be squirming away.

He loves to play with things that he shouldn't and it isn't due to lack of his own wonderful toys either. I am super relaxed when it comes to play so although he is allowed to roam free, I also have a great area set up with lots of different toys. Wood toys, toys I have made, toys that aren't toys but which he likes, plastic noisemakers, etc.

Here is a picture to give you an example- the most time he has spent on that play mat? 2 minutes. The amount of time he has spent trying to get under my computer desk? Way, way, too much. Thankfully we ascribe a bit to the whole European/modern /minimalistic aesthetic and there aren't very many things which he can pull down, take apart, etc but what there is, has been.

I won't lie. While it does drive me a bit crazy at moments, like when I was trying to bake these Schlesische Lebkuchen (Silesian German Gingerbread cookies) yesterday (ending up just doing it after bedtime).

For the most part I love it. I think it is adorable, and I love that he is robust and doesn't cry due to pain basically ever, that for some reason he isn't much interested in other kids or babies unless he can gnaw on their feet, or grip their faces with his pudgy little claw hands(I constantly cut his nails and still they somehow manage to dig in), that he loves to bang on the keyboard, pull cords, and thinks the word no is delightfully amusing. I love that so far he is turning out to be my own little Dennis. He may push us away when we try to give us kisses and not seem to care much for us when there are things to see and explore but that just shows me we did something right as he clearly feels more then secure in our love.

He is wonderful. Really truly wonderful. I love that I get to spend my days taking care of him. I honestly at this moment can't imagine doing anything else. Life is good.

Considering it is also Thanksgiving I thought I would throw out a few quick things I am thankful for.
-I am thankful for my mother. She is supremely awesome. Honestly you may think your mother is cool, and wonderful, and great but she probably does not even come close to mine. OK well she might but probably not :D
-All of my online and real life friends who have gone through many struggles but who have managed to get pregnant and in some cases have babies. I am SO thrilled for you all.
-My family. My husband. My son. Perfection.


Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Busy, busy, busy

I've been busy these past few weeks. Thankfully I have little moments like this to help make every day a good one.

Ooh lemons

In some ways Teddy is a very relaxed, stress free baby.
Like when it comes to eating.

Keeping in line with many parents before us, Thomas and I did the "give your baby a lemon test" this weekend. The results were not surprising.

We have movement!

As is probably apparent by now, I love my son. I love spending time with him, and I love that I get to stay at home with him.

However.

The past weeks I have been ready for bedtime.... oh about 10 minutes after he has woken up. Why you ask?

Because for the past few weeks Teddy has been trying to move. Trying to crawl. Trying to get to all the enticing outlets, sharp edges, and whatever other inappropriate "toys" have sparked his interest. Unfortunately Teddy is a bit chunky. And not that clever when it comes to gross motor skills apparently.

He has spent the past weeks pushing as hard as he can with his arms, and kicking his legs, but absolutely refusing to try to put his knees on the ground to help push himself forward. This led to a lot of backwards movement. This also led to one very frustrated baby.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbyXkrP0BUo

Some babies joyfully learn new skills, trying over and over until it works with a smile on their face.
Not Teddy. After a 10 second try, Teddy was loudly protesting, and then when that didn't work, crying.

I tried to distract him, but he didn't want to do something else, he wanted to crawl. Now. Well actually he wants to walk but that is a different post.

After lots of naked time, time with other babies,and sheer frustration and determination, Teddy finally managed to move forward. He did a sort of caterpillar/army crawl and the first time was actually crying the whole time because he didn't realize he was moving forward.This was 2 days ago and things have greatly improved.

He is still fussy because he realizes that this caterpillar crawl isn't efficient and I don't think he has yet realized that he can use it to just move forward as so far he always uses it to get something out of his reach. But it is a first step.



I'm so so proud!!! I mean I can't even imagine the frustration of knowing you can somehow move but not being able to figure it out. And then to top it off being surrounded by all these idiots who for some reason won't just pick you up and walk you wherever you obviously need to go. It is just so exciting for me to watch him slowly learn these new skills. It is really amazing all the things that babies have to learn and it does make me very proud of him...

.....and really pleased that the whining has been reduced by about 50 percent.As I won't lie, he was starting to drive me a little crazy :D