Water Boy

We have spent Memorial Day weekend visiting Greg's family in Missouri, and today Davis had a new experience: his first time in a swimming pool.  (Previous experiences with water have been limited to the baby bathtub.)  We went to the indoor pool at the local recreation center, and our little guy looked too cute in his pint-sized swim trunks! His initial reaction to this new concept of "swimming" went something like this: We tried to put him in his new little baby float and he practically had a panic attack. He spent about the next hour glued to Mommy's chest sucking his thumb while I walked around the pool with him to try to acclimate him to the water and show him that it wasn't so bad. Once he calmed down, we had to take baby steps.  He started out clinging to my chest while I sat in the zero-depth water, then progressed to sitting on my lap facing out (still sucking his thumb of course), then having his feet dipped in, then sitting in the water with Mommy behind him, then standing up and walking (with assistance, of course) to Daddy, then eventually dabbling his hands in the water . . . as he eased into it, he started warming up to the water a bit and even managed to take his thumb out of his mouth and smile at Grandma. We tried the float again and this time he decided that maybe it wasn't half bad.  We pushed him all around the pool in it while he leaned back and relaxed with his feet up (see his little feet poking up against the mesh?) It was a choppy start for our little water boy, but by the end it was smooth sailing, and Davis had the adorable raisin-wrinked baby feet to prove it!

From Loving the Life We Live

Picture Perfect Day

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Reflection

(A post is in the works - and has been for a long time - and I have a lot of pictures to share, but somehow I always seem to have something else to do.  One of these days I'll get it done!  For now, just sharing this little reflection...)

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Daddy's Boy

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Before and After

Before . . .

During . . .

After . . .  First haircut! He wasn't fond of getting his hair sprayed with water, or having hair clippings fall on his face, and ended up having to be held by Mommy to get finished up, but overall, Davis did well getting his first haircut!

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Twelve Month Stats

Davis had his 12 month well child check-up today.  He was very excited to be at the doctor's office.  He likes to look at the people in the waiting room, and while we were waiting in the exam room he just wanted to bounce on the exam table and try to peel the Superman decal off the wall.  Lots of smiles!  Luckily for him, the doctor recommended waiting to give his 12 month shots until next week, since he had a fever the first part of this week.

Without further ado, the 12 month stats:

Weight: 20 lbs. 14 oz. - 41st %ile
Length: 29.75 - 43rd %ile
Head circumference: 18.75 - 88th %ile

Yes, I realize that this is a little less than he weighed at 9 months and less than a pound more than he weighed at 6 months.  I have been anxious about his lack of weight gain, but his doctor isn't concerned at this point.  Breastfed babies tend to start off big and then taper off, finding their "true" growth curve later on.  So she thinks he is probably just finding his curve, plus being sick and not having much appetite hasn't helped.  Pinching the fat on his little arms and legs and patting his potbelly, she observed that he certainly doesn't seem malnourished!  :)  As far as his length, well, I am sure his measurement at his 9 month appointment was wrong in the first place.  And his head?  Hopefully there are some big brains in there.  She commented that he's very social (and cute).

With this illness he's had this week, he does have an ear infection coming on, so we're going to start antibiotic drops and go back next Friday for an ear check and to get his vaccinations.  Fun fun fun.  I'm glad to put them off for a week, though.

And in case you need evidence that Davis is feeling much better, I have entitled this picture "The Aftermath" . . .

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Birthday Recap

Since I'm home with a feverish, coughing, snot-nosed one-year-old today, I might as well take advantage of naptime to write a birthday recap.  Don't worry - I think Davis will survive.  He's probably enjoying some of the perks that come along with being a sick baby, like extra Mommy cuddles (he has been saying "ma-ma-ma-ma" today) and being allowed to watch Sesame Street while sitting on the carpet with a bowl full of Cheerios (he seemed like such a big boy, doing that).  Although I must say, I'm extremely annoyed with whatever dummies couldn't figure out how to give their babies the correct dosage of the concentrated infant Tylenol drops, thereby causing the government to mandate a switch to non-concentrated infant liquid, which means you somehow have to get your baby to swallow three times as much medicine.  Argh!  Thanks a lot, people!  My shirt now smells like grapes from having Tylenol spit out all over me. Luckily, while he has had a cold, Davis was feeling pretty happy on his birthday!  Greg's parents were staying with us for the weekend, and Davis always enjoys getting extra attention.  We went to get his 12 month portraits done, which is always fun, although the little stinker wanted to crawl around instead of staying in a nice pose and it was hard to get him to smile while semi-looking at the camera - but there were no tears and we got some cute pics, so I count that as a success!  Then we had lunch at McDonald's and Grandma shared her french fries with him.  :)  Of course he enjoyed that!  By the time he woke up from his afternoon nap, my parents were here, Greg was home, and my sister soon arrived.  Let the birthday fun begin! Aunt Shalimar made Davis an awesome teepee to play in.  It can be used inside or outside and folds up.  Davis looooved it.  He crawled in there right away to have a look around. He thought it was fun to close the flaps and "hide," then open them up really fast - peek-a-boo! Davis' Uncle Jeff and Aunt Janelle came after work and we really got into the birthday presents.  His gift-opening skills could use some fine-tuning, but he started to get the hang of it after awhile! We had cake later on, out in our screened porch.  Davis wasn't sure what to do at first.  He finally reached out to grab one of the frosting balloons off of the cake and was bewildered.  He rubbed the frosting on the side of his high chair and didn't know what to do with his sticky hands.  I popped one of his hands into his mouth, he hesitated, then he stuck his hand back in and sucked on it, and figured out that it was good!  We cut him a piece of cake to dig into, and he picked up a huge chunk and took a big bite!  After that, there was no stopping him!  Mmm . . . chocolate cake = delicious! Davis was not as happy about getting the cake cleaned off his face and hands, but all in all he had a super day!  We are so glad that he was able to share the day with so many of our family members.  It's going to be a lot of fun (and a lot of work) having a one-year-old in the house!

From Loving the Life We Live