He's A-Walkin!

It's about time! Conner finally decided that walking really is a lot more fun than crawling, even if he's still faster on all fours! Everyone told me that when he did start walking, he would "take off"....they were right! Sometimes he gets ahead of himself and falls down, but he seems to know when it's coming. We took him to the park today to let him "roam" around. He looks funny because he holds his arms up for balance. He doesn't seem to care where he goes, or how far away he gets from us (probably not a good thing). And instead of staying on the nice, solid concrete or play area, he prefers to get out into the grass and dirt. I guess that's a boy for you!

We also went to the fair with Aunt Kathy and cousins Brian and Claire. They were out of school one day, so we met them there around lunchtime. The main stops for us were 1) the petting zoo (of course), 2) the Ferris wheel, and 3) the ice cream stand - Conner's favorite!

Hello and Goodbye Summer

Yes, it has been quite a while since I last blogged! I am FINALLY taking the time to sit down and attempt to pick up where I left off. Summer has definitely come and gone. Well, not the heat part of if, but the slowness of summer vacation. (Since I work with the school system/educators, my summers are very slow when schools are out.) So, what has Conner been up to for the past 3 months? Well, I'm glad you asked....

I've stopped keeping up with what he eats now, because he pretty much eats anything! He LOVES chicken nuggets, applesauce (still), and watermelon! I really think he could survive on just those things if we would let him. He is still good about eating veggies and fruit too. We have stopped making his baby food though, and buy the occasional pre-made stuff instead. (With grocery prices so high, I don't think we saved much money making it ourselves anyway.) He is also off the bottle, and has mastered the sippy cup. Daycare really helped with this, since he really didn't have a choice there. They did help him with it at first, and then he slowly figured out how to do it himself. He also can drink out of a straw, and he LOVES juice boxes! We don't give those to him too much, since he usually drinks 1/2 juice, 1/2 water out of a sippy.

Yes, our little man is growing up fast. He started daycare the first of June. We got him in at Explorers in Pearl, a new daycare that is under the same management as Silver Spoon. The good Lord took care of us on that. Conner has been on 2 waiting lists for about a year, and they are still full. I needed somewhere for him to go by August, and the Lord provided! He seems to really like going. As soon as he is dropped off, he is off playing and doesn't cry when we leave. Jeremy usually drops him off, and I pick him up. I've got the better job, because when he sees me he is all smiles and can't crawl over to me fast enough. I pick him up and he just stares at me with this huge grin on his face as if to say, "Is that really you, Mom?" It is adorable.

And yes, Conner is still crawling, although he really wants to walk. He is constantly wanting someone to "walk him" around the house. He cruises around all the furniture and walls, so I don't think it will be too much longer before he'll be walking on his own. Then he'll really be dangerous! So, I'm not rushing it one bit!

I think Conner had a good summer. He went to the movies for the first time to see "VeggieTales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" at Tinseltown. He loves VeggieTales, but this movie didn't have enough music in it for his liking. He did make it through the whole movie, and only fell asleep for about 30 minutes. He also had his first birthday party on June 14. He had fun with the cake, as you can see from the pictures below. He also went swimming a few times, which isn't his favorite thing, but he does okay. He always seemed to rather crawl around the pool instead of being in it! And while Jeremy and I went to Key West, Conner got to stay with his Mamaw and Papaw and his Aunt Kathy! Oh, and how can I forget the most recent event....going to my family reunion in Blue Mountain, MS! Conner was a very good boy through all of this....the car ride up there and back, enduring the reunion, and staying overnight in Tupelo. Next week he gets to travel to Kosciusko to stay with Mae-Mae, while Jeremy and I go on the beach retreat with the church....can't wait!

So, I hope you've enjoyed the blog, and I'll try to be better at updating more regularly! :)

Recent Happenings

Conner will be 11 months tomorrow! I can't believe that it's time to start planning his first birthday party. We have decided to do a family/close friends party at my parents' house on June 14, which is the Saturday before his actual birthday. I don't think we'll do a themed party this year, although he really likes VeggieTales. (Can you get an animated movie on a cake?)

We have tried lots of new fruits and veggies - avocado, peaches, mango, asparagus, spinach, and butternut squash. The only one he really started to dislike was spinach. We've also been giving him some Yo Baby yogurt, and he really seems to like that. I've started to give him the sippy cup more, but he's not taking to it very well. He may drink a few sips out of it, but then he's done and pushes it out of the way. I've tried different kinds of cups and putting different liquids in it (diluted juice, water, formula), but it's not going too well. If I put it in front of him, he'll just play with it and bite on the spout. He doesn't turn it up far enough, and when I try to help him, he gives up! I'll have more time to work with him on it this summer, so we'll see what happens!

Conner went to the beach for the first time about a month ago. It didn't go as well as I'd hoped. We went to Seaside, FL, and the weather was perfect. The first day we went out on the beach, Conner didn't want to leave my side, he didn't want to be near the waves, and he ended up falling asleep in my lap. I had hoped he would love the beach like his mommy, so I was disappointed when that didn't happen. Come to find out, he was sick that day. After we got back to the cottage, I took his temperature and it was 102! It must have just been a 24 hour fever virus, because he was better the next day. We tried the beach again another time, but he still didn't seem too thrilled about it. Maybe it was because he was due for a nap, but I had hoped he could just lay on the blanket under the umbrella and go to sleep. That didn't happen. Maybe it was too bright outside for him....I don't know. He thought the sand was weird, and he tried to eat it, which wasn't a good experience. Oh well, there's still hope for him yet! We'll try the beach again next year when he can run and play. He did enjoy the pool though, which made mommy very happy! :)

I think we have finally found somewhere for Conner to go after this month. There's a new daycare opening in Pearl in June, and they had spots open in the 1-year-old room. Of course, he won't be 1 year old when they open, but they said that would be fine. However, they asked if he was walking yet, because that's usually when they move up to the 1-year room. He is definitely not walking, and I seriously doubt he will be by his first birthday. They didn't deny me the ability to register him though, so I hope it will be okay. The main thing is that we got him in somewhere! I didn't really need a full-time daycare for this summer, but if I didn't go ahead and sign him up, I would go back on the waiting list and there's no guarantee that a spot would be open for August. Needless to say, I didn't want to take my chances! He's been on 4 waiting lists, and I was starting to worry! Thank you, Jesus! You have provided once again....should I have expected anything less?

New Videos

Check this out - I've added some videos to my blog! (Danielle and Shelley, I hope you are impressed!) Jeremy helped me, of course! Anyway, I hope you like them. And....I can even put them on my iPod - how cool is that?

Nothing new really going on here. Conner has widened his food samplings to sweet potatoes, bananas, and applesauce! Next we're on to sweet peas, plums, and more green beans, sweet potatoes, and pears. He also had a cracker when we went to El Potrillo the other night. The nice waiter brought him 3 packs without knowing that Conner really doesn't eat crackers. But, we decided to let him try it. I didn't want to hurt the nice man's feelings! :) And of course, we also let him suck on a lemon....he loves it! I would get video of that, but it's not very entertaining - he's doesn't even make a face!

I'm so ready for warmer weather. Today I added Conner to my gym membership at The Club so he can go to the pool this summer. They said it might even open this weekend! I've even bought him a little "boat" to sit in, and also a little pool for our backyard. He's all set! Of course, we go to Seaside, Florida in a few weeks for his first beach trip. I'll definitely be sure to get some video and pictures of that!

Crawling

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

After Bath

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

First-time Blogger

Well I am finally getting on the "blog bandwagon!" I have been hesitant to start yet another project that I'll have to keep up with, but y'all will just have to be patient with me....I'll update it when I can!

Conner is now over 9 months old. I can't believe how time flies! I'll soon be planning his 1st birthday party! His buddy Patrick's is coming up in just a couple of weeks....wow!

For those of you who don't know the daily "happenings" of our little man, I'll get you updated. Let's see....he is now eating real solids (not just cereal). He has tried carrots, green beans, yellow squash, pears, and now broccoli. Amazingly, he seems to like all of them, but he was getting a little tired of the carrots after the seventh consecutive day of eating them! We are making all of his baby food. Well....Jeremy is making all of his baby food. I do help with picking out his next food, as well as putting them in containers once they are pureed. I still think his favorite food so far is green beans, but the pears could have been a tie.

We have also experimented with the sippy cup. I think we finally bought a kind that he likes, but it's success could also have been attributed to the diluted white grape juice that was in it! Either way, I'm glad he is learning to use it. Hopefully we can leave the bottle behind when we switch him to cow's milk in a few more months.

As far as mobilization is concerned, I am marking today down as the first "official" day that he has crawled. I saw it with my own eyes AND videotaped it! Yes, I know he is a little late. I think he's been capable of crawling for some time, but he just didn't want to! Instead, he resorted to scooting around by dragging his whole body with his upper body. Or, he would get on his hands and knees and then just put himself in a sitting position. Maybe us having hardwood floors had something to do with it, I don't know. I really haven't been wanting to rush anything, since a mobile baby will only further complicate our lives! He also seems to have more interest in trying to pull-up on things (mainly me while he's sitting on the changing table) and standing. I thought he might just skip the whole crawling phase and go straight to walking, but maybe not.

Regardless of what he's eating or doing, he is still such a cute little boy (at least we think so), and we are very blessed! I hope to get more pictures and maybe even some video on here soon, so stay tuned! :)

Karen