My favorite things...

Admit it.  Every last one of you is singing the song.

But no, I'm not going to inflict a video of my personal rendition upon you.

I'm just popping on between diaper changes to gush a little, and vent a little, and wowzers, have I really almost made it through seven whole months of parent-hood?

My favorite thing about JJ's recent developments has GOT to be his newfound ability to entertain himself in the cosleeper for half an hour in the mornings.  This affords me the unbelievable luxury of waking up slowly, rather than being yanked into consciousness by the shrieking banshee child.

There's also introductions to the puppy-dog, which are going AWESOMELY well.  John was a bit worried about how Lady (our Malamute) would respond to JJ, so he's been very cautious now that we have her back with us.  She is, I am happy to report, being a wonderfully behaved goggie around teh babbeh.  (Yes, I'm speaking lolcat/babytalk, sue me.)  She has shared Mommy-lap with JJ and given him his first doggie face-washing.  The look on his face, y'all, was priceless.  One of those "I need 24/7 video coverage of my entire house and yard" moments.

Despite teething issues, JJ is continuing to sleep decently most nights, thank God.  It's interesting, I can tell how comfy (or not) he is by how many times he wakes up at night to nurse.  Once = comfy baby.  Twice = iffy, might be teeth, might be just wanting to snuggle.  3x or more = Not. A. Happy. Camper.

Kiddo is getting HEAVY... haven't popped him on the scale lately, but I've had to let the waist on his diapers out another notch.  Kid's getting him a little belly.

The other day I ran across some pictures of me at this age, and now I can see how he looks like me.  It's nice, because mostly I think he looks like John.  Oh, he definitely got the red hair, but it's already as dark as mine, so I don't really hold out hope for it STAYING red as he gets older.  Dark dark brown with red highlights, though... that's gonna be some niiiice hair.

Oh, dear.  I'm gonna have to watch out for the little girls with this one, aren't I? *facepalm*

The progress toward crawling is a little scary in its pace, the little bugger is desperate to be mobile by any means fair or foul.  There's a lot of army-style belly-crawling, lots of wiggles and scoots, and rocking on his hands and knees, but he also pulls up to his feet if he's got parental fingers to hold onto.  Still thinking he might (mostly) skip the crawling stage and go straight to cruising.

He's fascinated with the handset phones, he figured out how to make it go "beep!" and hasn't allowed me a peaceful call since.  The little green light that says my computer is charged is also a source of obsession, and he's constantly trying to get his little hands on the cord.

So, I'm actually really glad that this post sat unfinished overnight, because this morning JJ wiggled his way over to Mommy, just so he could lay his head on my shoulder and snuggle.  *melt*

Oh yeah, and one more thing... this right here:

This is my favorite time of day.

"Stranger Danger", 3-2, and other news...

Anybody who has or is planning to have children has likely read about a few of the more common six month milestones.  Little man has hit a couple of them early, and I'm bored, so here we are. *wink*

Crawling's the big one, and while JJ is trying REALLY DANGED HARD, he's not quite there yet.  He's got the motion of arms & and the motion of legs, and he's got that he needs to push up with his arms and push forward with his feet, but he hasn't quite figured out how to coordinate it all so he doesn't smoosh his face into the mattress.  It infuriates the poor guy, and I'm sitting there biting my lip because the baby rage is just that hilarious.  *I will .... NOT... laugh... at my child...  with, yes.  At, no.*

Minnows is being extremely tolerant 

of JJ using him for a stability-assist!

Last Saturday (4/28), JJ abruptly decided that he no longer needed three naps every day.  Which, despite the fact that I missed it at first and tried for the next two days to coax him into taking a third full nap, is a relief.  My little guy needs a minimum of 90 minutes of continuous sleep in order to really be alert and happy and functional.  He doesn't get it, he is a GRUMPY BEAR.  Coordinating three naps of a minimum of 90 minutes each (and no longer than an hour and forty-five) left very little room in the day for getting anything else done, and getting out of the house was difficult to the point of not being worth the effort.  = Stir-Crazy Laura.  So, after deciding on Tuesday "Okay, bug, we'll try it your way and see what happens", on Sunday I am happy to acknowledge defeat.  Oh, he was super fussy the first day, but each day he gets a little happier, a little less screechy, a little less tired, and...

... (wait for it)...

HE HAS STOPPED WAKING ME UP FOUR FREAKING TIMES EVERY NIGHT.  We're down to one middle-of-the-night feed, somewhere between one and three in the morning depending on how many times he fussed up for food after bedtime, and that, friends, is a routine I can totally deal with.  I no longer feel the daily constant need to crash on the couch every time the baby is asleep.

He's also gone back to very quick transitions into sleep, thank God.  

I LIKE letting him nurse for the first 10-15 minutes of a nap... 

he is one limp baby going into the cosleeper!

I had to get some new binkies a week or so back, when I caught JJ trying to stuff his entire Soothie into his mouth.  Yes, I know, I mentioned that particular pitfall when I reviewed the Soothie.  So when I caught JJ doing exactly that thing, I took the Soothie away, gave him one of our less than preferred binkies as a temporary fix, and ordered him some more age-appropriate binkies from the same supplier... product review coming soon!

Last, but certainly not least, "Stranger Danger" has indeed reared its ugly head.  Now, John is having some trouble with the concept... when I mentioned it to him, he looked at me like I was a little bit bats and said "I don't really see how Grandma is a stranger..."  *shakes head*  He's a guy, he's literal like that... shoulda figured.  Anyway, JJ has pretty much decided that only Mommy and Daddy are acceptable, and does the Little Screech Owl thing (but mad/sad) whenever I leave him with Grandma, even for a few minutes.   (Rest assured, I still DO, if only because I need sunlight and sexytime every once in a very great while.)

What can I say... he's my little snug-a-bug!