and the follow-through...

ben's off work today, which means he and milo are marathoning "deadliest catch" on netflix, and i'm getting caught up on everything.

soooo.... here's the post i wanted to write two days ago:

fingernails: his nails have been growing way too quickly. i feel like i'm trimming them every couple of days... realistically, it's probably only every 4 days, but that still feels like a lot.

sitting up: milo is so close to being able to sit up on his own for reals. he'll sit solo just fine for maybe a minute, but then he starts to lean, and if i don't hold him or pull him back to center, he'll fall over. however, he's happy to sit (with some assistance) for maybe 10-15 minutes at a time.

reading books: milo finally seems to enjoy story time - at least one or two little (ie - 5 page, few words, etc.) books. before he just wouldn't sit still, the pictures and colors didn't seem to phase him. but now he'll sit and look and listen, which is good, because i've been wanting to get in the habit of reading to him, but it was hard to do so when he just wasn't up for it.

moving in the crib: milo has just barely begun to start movin' and a groovin' in his crib. it only happened a few times last week, but often he would stretch and lift his butt off the mattress and kick his legs, so then he'd wind up laying the width of the crib instead of the length. really this only happened a few times when he was still wide awake and we tried to put him down thinking he was tired. he was not too thrilled about it. when he scooted so much that his head was pressing up against the crib slats, he really wasn't happy about it. it hasn't happened much in the crib since, but when we put him on his back on the playmat, he often scootches around that as well.

hair: it seems to be growing like weeds - or at least it's getting a lot thicker, and a little longer. this silky blond tuft covering his little head, i love it.

monologuing: he babbles and talks so much now, i'm convinced he knows what he's saying and that he thinks he's communicating with us effectively. the fluctuations and variety of jarbles that come out of his mouth are fascinating, but it makes me even more anxious to start hearing real words come out of his little mouth.

tummy time: since dr. bob told us milo wasn't getting enough tummy time, i've been making sure to give him more. he's still not crazy about it, but he's getting more content, and he continues to kick his legs lots and hold himself up.

plus two bonus categories!

bath-time: i think milo is starting to realize that bath-time can be fun. not fully there yet, but there was definitely a look of curious wonderment at his most recent bath on wednesday. i tried to show him the fun of splashing, but i think he'll need a few more baths before he figures it out on his own.

playing footsie: it seems like milo's feet are almost always on the go, with sleeping being his one exception. when he's eating, he presses his feet up against the arm of the rocking chair and almost plays with it with his feet. when we hold him or he's on his back, he plays footsie with himself. when he's in his exersaucer, he kicks and lifts his feet off the floor of it. and of course, when he's in his jumping, his feet are preoccupied with lift-off.

just a reminder...

i need to write a new post for all that milo's been up to, and good glory, he's been up to a lot, apparently, what with all i've been posting!

however, last night was not very sleep-filled, so i'm just going to do a quick reminder list. maybe/hopefully i'll get to it later today? we'll shall see.

but for now:

• fingernails
• sitting up
• reading books
• moving in the crib
• hair
• monologuing
• tummy time

i knew it was coming...

just the other day i thought to myself, "gee, i have yet to be approached by an overbearing, opinionated, out-spoken mother who wants to give me old-wives-tales advice on some matter concerning my child." immediately following that thought came another: "i'll probably get ten such women in the next two days..."

well, i haven't gotten ten, but today as i was picking up milo from the nursery at mops, they were commenting on how strong milo is, and i jokingly replied that we figure he'll be walking before he crawls at the rate he's going; to which i got: "oh, you don't want to skip that step! crawling is so important; they've linked it to reading, you know. if he doesn't crawl first, he'll have trouble with reading."

i didn't know how to respond. some dear friends have warned me that "wiser" (::ahem:: by which i mean "older") generations had been taught this, but that it's not true. i decided to google it, and couldn't really find any news articles covering the topic, though plenty of blog postings and chat-forums on the subject.

this was the one i liked the most, maybe because so many people "prove" it wrong, who knows. but either way, it's not worth me worrying about. milo isn't even rolling over yet - though he's certainly started trying. (i guess those one or two times it happened a few months ago were flukes, because he certainly hasn't really figured it out again since.) he can get to his side, and he'll lift up his rear and and back off the ground (or his bed, or whatever he's on - luckily, though, he hasn't yet tried it on the changing table, but i won't give him the opportunity to find out on his own), but he hasn't figured out that if he leans to the side while he does this that he'll roll.

so anyhow, if he's not even really rolling yet, and definitely not crawling or walking, well, then what's to worry about? who knows if he'll actually walk before he crawls. and let's say he does, and let's pretend that in milo's case, these studies are correct, and he does have difficulty reading. well then, we'll deal with it. it's not like he'd be the first child to have such a difficulty. it's not like it causes blindness. or something even worse than that. sheesh.

when the lady told me this, (and she was indeed of the "wiser" generation) i simply nodded my head back inquisitively and said, "huh, that's interesting." but while i didn't really find it interesting, i didn't feel the need to correct her or scold her or defend myself. she had just graciously been taking good care of my child; i had no desire to burn that bridge.

now in that matter of childcare, i just need someone so i can go to the zumba class on wednesday mornings at 9:30 am.... maybe they'd let me bring him with, put him in the stroller and just push him around while i do their crazy dance work-out? wouldn't that be a sight! :P

double bonus post day!

HIP HIP HOORAY! WE FINALLY GOT THE OWL MOBILE HUNG!!!

channeling prehistoric

most recently, milo has started to discover a type of squealing...

although he sounds more like a delighted pterodactyl than a delighted baby (but still delighted nonetheless, so we can't complain).

yummo!

last night milo tried green beans for the first time.

he had slight look of terror on his face. but he ate them again this morning! (granted, he gets maybe a tablespoon of green-bean-mush at time, but both times he finished it.)

the new level of stinky butt we achieved this morning is a whole other matter.

oy.

i had to say something about it. i had to open my big fat mouth.

(last night he woke up at 2 a.m., fussed when i tried to put him back down after a 1 oz. bottle, but then slept again till about 6:30-ish.)

i was really hoping we'd hit four days in a row with this sleeping overnight thing and maybe make a habit out of it.

other things i forgot to mention that he's doing now:

his hand-motor skills are getting more and more impressive - purposefully grabbing the toys on his exersaucer, putting more toys to his mouth (i think for the chew factor), munching on fingers, thumbs and fists, curiously feeling the different textures of toys, grabbing mister hoots during a weekly photo session and flinging him around (i think he's trying to teach mister hoots the art of flight).

the grab-and-drop has become an unconscious regular as well.

he seems to be getting better acquainted with tummy time - i try to help him prop up higher than he does on his own (as in, next movement would be onto his knees for crawling), just so he can get that higher perspective. when he's low on his elbows, he waves and kicks his feet like a merman out of water.

and pretty much any time i look at him sweetly and say "hi milo" he flashes me a huge grin.

(i think he really likes me.)

he also has moments where he can self-entertain and no longer requires my constant, undivided, 100%, take notes 'cause there'll be a final exam on this attention, which is incredibly helpful. i mean, it might only be a minute here or there, but it's a start.