We Have a Da Da!

Holden has started "sharing."  I think his friend, Baby E taught him how.  Holden will pick up something (usually a block,) touch it to his nose (not sure what that's about ... is he smelling it?) and reach his arm out to hand it to you.  We praise him and say "thank you."  He smiles back.

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Holden likes it when you blow gently on his face and has started blowing back ... sort of.  He puckers up his lips, scrunches his eyebrows, and starts spitting on you.

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At the grocery store today, Holden sat in the shopping cart like a big-little boy .... no carrier .... for the first time.  He was beside himself with joy.  He greeted people with a very loud "hi" and tried to help mommy by touching everything in the cart ... in an effort to move items to make more room, I'm sure.  

Riddle me this, Batman ... why is it that the ONLY parts of the cart he touched were the parts NOT covered by the shopping cart cover I brought with us?  The cover has dangly toys all over it, but that did not hold his attention like the shiny cold metal.  Holden also repeatedly leaned over to eat the rail at the top of the cart.  NASTY!

Jordan has "complained" that Holden says "Muh Muh" all the time and never calls for his daddy.  The last time Jordan watched Holden for several hours, Jordan repeated "Da Da" over and over which was answered with "Muh Muh."  While shopping today, Holden said, "Da Da" several times while in the beef section.  I scrambled to call Jordan, but Holden was done before daddy answered and was then more interested in eating the phone.

As we were leaving the checkout, a female associate waved at Holden and said, "bye."  Holden waved back.  I melted.

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Holden now has one and a half teeth poking through his bottom gum.  He looks so different with just a couple of new white ridges in his mouth.  I can't imagine what he will look like with a mouth full of them.

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One last bit for the day - while dressing Holden for bed, I slid his PJ shirt over the top of his head and HE pulled it down over his face by himself.  He seemed very impressed by the accomplishment and giggled.

-Carmen

 

Leche .... Good

Eureka!!! Holden made his first sign!!! He signed "MILK" this evening!!! I realize I am using a lot of exclamation points, but this is very!!! very!!!! exciting to me!!!!!! ........... !!!!!!!!!!

He watched me make the sign for milk for the umpteenth time, lifted his hand and very thoughtfully repeated the action. I did it, again ... he did it, again.

In case you are curious this is what it looks like, I'm a little less "loose" with my hands than deomnstrated .... and NO this is not me.

-Carmen

Healthy, you say?

Our little family made the weekly trip to get bulk formula and dog food on Sunday. It was so stinkin' hot we dressed Holden in a onesie and no shorts. We wheeled him around in his umbrella stroller which is less insulated than the carrier so the little guy sweats less.

In the checkout line a woman approached Holden, as women do with the "ooooos" and the "ahhhhhs" followed by a good squeeze of his leg and a "my he's a healthy one, isn't he?"

Jordan and I stopped breathing for a second. Did she just call him the "f" word? After she scurried away, Jordan looked at me wide-eyed void of blinking, he looked down at Holden's pink Michelin Man appendages, then back at me and said, "I think we should have put pants on him."

Holden is frequently referred to as "HEALTHY" and I never gave it much thought, but pinching an inch on his thigh was too much.

I get it ... he's VERY HEALTHY!

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Holden now plays peek-a-boo with his blanket. He covers his face and mommy says, "Wheeerrreee'sss HOLDEN?" He pulls the blanket back revealing his big blue eyes and smiles ear to ear. Mommy says, "ThErE HE is!" Holden giggles at his success, and he repeats the process of pulling the blanket back over his face. What's funny about this to me is that he has to be in control of the blanket. HE wants to cover and uncover his face. If mommy does it ... it's just not the same.

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Check out the Popeye onesie we found for our little muscle man.










-Carmen

Mr. Independent

The picture is of my Aunt N's cat and Holden wrapping up a very intense staring contest. Holden won. He started off petting the kitty, which turned into grabbing ... which turned into yanking her hair. She decided to watch him from afar.

I wanted to post something Sunday, but our internet service out here in the far reaches of civilization is questionable at best.

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My gorgeous cousin H is getting married and the family was invited to one of her showers over the weekend. I took a ton a pictures that at this very moment I am waiting oh so patiently (as I have been for the last 3 hours) for them to conclude their upload to picasa ... out here... in the far ... far .... oh so far reaches of civilization....

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Holden news.... He was a perfect angel over the weekend. We are doomed with the next kid (whenever that happens.) Holden is so happy! I don't think it gets any better than this.

Who wakes up every morning smiling and cooing and greeting the world with warm gestures and pleasantries? Not I! "Hello sheets .... hello bumper pad ... nice to see you zoo animal mobile ... big plans for the day, Mr. Teddy Bear?" I just stare at him in the wee hours of the morning when I would give anything for another hour of sleep, thinking, "where did YOU come from? You can't possibly be my child." I HATE getting up in the morning. I miss my pillow ...

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Holden is done with his white noise during the night. I stopped turning on "Rain on a Roof" about a week ago. He is doing fine without it. However, Jordan and I were sleeping better with that static coming over the baby monitor. I don't even know how high to turn up the volume on the monitor now. I gauged the level by the sound of this static.

Last night, I mentioned my dilemma to Jordan who suggested I turn on Holden's "baby t.v." (waterfall crib soother) and listen for it on the monitor. Holden was completely zonked out when I crept into his room and reached in his crib to tune in the baby t.v.

Back in my room, I began adjusting the volume on the monitor listening for the soothing sounds of water and tree frogs, but I heard nothing. Great! The monitor is broken! I turned on the video part of the monitor to see if the screen was working. It was. Sneaky VonSneaky Pants turned off the baby t.v. all by himself. I guess it was interfering with his dreams of chasing rabbits.

-Carmen

Daddy's Office

We visited Jordan this afternoon.  Click on the image below to view our album.  Once you get to the album you can click on slideshow, if you like.


-Carmen

Play Ball!

Check this out!  Best toy ever!  The last frame is the best part ... Holden's pronunciation of "momma."

-Carmen

7 Months ... again

I couldn't resist.  Just one more 7 month pic.

-Carmen

Happy 7 Months!

My favorite thing about Holden this month is his curiosity and concentration.  I love watching him scrunch his eyebrows together thoughtfully as he is working something out.  Put anything ... anything at all new and different in arm's reach and he must have it .... and put it in his mouth.  

Holden has also started reaching up for someone to pick him up and you can tell he wants to crawl/walk oh so very much.

For the first time today, I put Holden on my hip and he wrapped his chunky legs around my waist to hang on.  

We also had to upgrade to size 12 month onesies, today.

-Carmen

Already?!?!?!?

He's 7 months already?  How did this happen so quickly?  

I haven't taken his 7 month pictures yet.... bad mommy.

So in the meantime, here is the bath one again ... but this time in black and white!

-Carmen

Sitting up …. CHECK!

Holden has had a lot of firsts lately, so let’s get caught up.

Jordan and I thought he would never hold that big ‘ole head up on his own while balancing on his bottom. We have watched several babies in the same age range poised and sitting pretty for weeks. Surprise! He is officially sitting up completely and freely. One day he couldn’t do it…. and the next, bobble headed baby was imitating a tightrope walker with arms spread wide, and viola!

The surprises don’t stop there. Holden has kicked the swaddle blanket! I put him down on the flannel tortilla to make a baby burrito and he grunted loudly at me, tucked his arms to his chest and rolled off of it. Just like that …. he was done with it.

Let’s see what else…… He is definitely saying momma, but it sounds more like muh-muh, and he saves it for when he is horribly distressed and only muh-muh can make it right. How sick is it that I get a kick out it? He has also added “hi,” and “hello” (heh-woe) to his vocabulary and tries to throw in a wave. He only greets you when promoted and even then, only when the mood strikes.

We have added “eat” and “more” to the sign language vocab. They are working well.

Since Holden does not like water, and we keep offering it to him, he has figured out how to fake like he is drinking it. The little bit that actually makes it into his mouth is collected behind his bottom lip, which he releases in a gush when he thinks you aren’t looking. Sneaky, sneaky.

As I have mentioned before, Holden fake coughs on occasion. We figured out this weekend how that got started. He hasn’t done it in a while so I thought he may have become bored with the dramatics and moved on. WRONG! Mimi and Pawpaw visited and after Holden got reacquainted, he started fake coughing in front of Mimi. Mimi of course gushes, and he smiles ear to ear. So all weekend when he wanted Mimi’s attention he would start “coughing.” Mimi was more than happy to oblige. Sneaky, sneaky.

In the next picture, Mimi is showing Holden pictures of ..... Holden, of course.

One last goodie. Holden sat up in his bathtub all by himself for the first time tonight without any assistance from the infant seat. He was concentrating so hard. So cute!

I’m off to hang out with my hubby for a little while before we call it a night and start another work week.

Goodnight!