If At First You Don't Succeed...

Pick yourself up and try again. That's exactly what Mr. C did. Or it could be that anything is possible with the help of a HIPPO! The hungry, hungry hippo is supposed to eat the blocks as you roll over them but Mr. C prefers that he eats shoes. Take a look at him on the go with Mr. Hippo! 

Mr. C almost gave me a heart attack several weeks ago. Hubby and I was in the kitchen and Mr. C was in the living banging on the coffee table. I happened to look over and he was standing in front of the table trying to fix his sleeve on his shirt. I ran into the living room so fast afraid he was going to fall face first on the table. Well to my surprise he was standing on his own and he eventually just fell back on his booty. He has been doing this just about everyday now. He'll pull up on something let his hands go and see how long he can stand before falling. I finally caught on video. Take a look.

                                   

Do I See A Tooth!

Do I ever! Mr. C is cutting teeth! He has a tooth coming in on the bottom. I just noticed it yesterday when he had his mouth open ready to chew on the strap from his diaper bag. There was a little red spot on his gums. I rubbed my finger across his gums and felt a tooth coming through. My little boy is growing up. To be honest, I can do without the teeth. I'm just not looking forward to being bitten. He's still nursing so I'm dreading the thought of teeth clenching down on me. I was talking to a woman at my church and she told me she was told to pluck her child when he bit down so he'd know not to do again. Now I don't know about you but I don't think it's a little brutal if you ask me. I guess I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it. Although when he's old enough to understand I don't think I'll have a problem plucking. Then again how can you pluck someone with a face like this!

Watch out for that baby!

Now that Mr. C can stand and crawl there is just no stopping him. He is constantly on the move getting into every little thing. 

Here he is standing on the side of the TV trying to get a hold of the magazines.

And now he is trying to go for that glass. He will stop at nothing I tell you!

Here is a little video of Mr. C on the move now that he has the crawling thing down. He started crawling the week before he turned 7 months and he hasn't sat still since. He just loves crawling around the house exploring every little thing he can lay his eyes on.                                        

                                           

My Big Boy

My little baby boy that I use to know is gone. He grew up to be a big boy! Yes indeed, Mr. C has grown so much these past few months. He is now mobile and it's hard to keep up with him. He is officially crawling. He's not to fast yet but if you turn away he'll be gone. He is in everything around the house. He loves pulling all the DVD's out from the TV. It's funny to see how adventurous he is and curious to know about everything around him. If he notices something he will make a dash for it to see what it is and of course to see how it tastes. That's one of my concerns now that he mobile. Mr. C sticks any and everything in his mouth. Just last weekend he ate a piece of a paper towel and I didn't realize it until he had already swallowed it. I hurried to put my finger down his throat so he could barf it up but no paper towel. About five minutes later he spit up with the paper towel in his vomit. I cannot take my eyes off this little guy for a second. 

Now that Mr. C is officially crawling and able to pull up on things, this is how he wakes up in the morning and after a nap. He pulls up on his knees looking over his crib as if to say "Where is everybody?" And of course he does it with a big smile on his face. He's such a happy baby. 

Soon we will have to lower his crib or the little thing will tumble over the side. He has not pulled up onto his feet yet so we can probably hold off a little while on lowering the crib. It takes me to wait until the child is actually pulling up on his feet to lower it. I think I'll lower it this weekend. I don't want my little baby falling over the side of his crib. 

Infant Massage

Mr. C had a wonderful time on Saturday (as did mommy and daddy). He was a baby volunteer at the Potomac Massage Training Institute in Washington D.C. They had about 5 baby volunteers that day. Mr. C did exceptionally well. The way it worked was the students used a doll as their baby while the parents used their own baby to massage. The students taught us different massage techniques which Mr. C loved. We worked with two of the students Jessica and Tracy. We attempted different techniques for about an hour. Jessica and Tracy were great. The massage was so great that later that night Mr. C slept for 8 hours. This is the longest he has ever slept in his life. I was very impressed. The next night (Sunday night) he slept 10 hours. We will definitely continue with the infant massage if they get Mr. C some extra Z's at night. Mommy is very happy that the little one is sleeping through the night (at least the past two nights anyway). 

Well we've decided to share what we went over with our readers. Below is everything we covered just in case you would like to try it on your baby.

Legs

• begin working on the legs
• touch and hold the leg
• use slow meaningful strokes from babies ankle to the top of the thigh
• use nice even pressure all the way up pressing of the leg from the ankle up

Feet

• bottom feet slow pressure points (you can also stroke bottom of feet. this tickled Mr. C so we use the pressure point technique)
• pressure on the top of the foot, small pressure points on each toe to the top of the foot
• touch hold on the foot

Back

• small circles on the shoulder blades
• when baby is sitting, support him/her in the front with your hands and continue with thumb spreading going from either side of the spine out (do this very slow)

Buttocks

• small circles on each cheek (one side at a time)
• fan fingers from the crack out (helps with constipation)
• hip circles with three fingers (more fingers better, it gives baby a little less stimulation which helps to organize the baby's mind. you don't want to overstimulate)

Arms

• press on the arms starting from the shoulder and going down to the wrist
• you can follow the same movements completed on the legs.

You can use grapeseed oil to do the massage 

6 Month Exam Update

Today Mr. C went to his six month check up at his pediatrician's office. He had to get three shots which mommy wasn't to crazy about. This is the third time I had to sit and watch my poor baby scream his head off because the nurse jammed 3 needles into his chunky legs. Mr. C went off immediately. I tried to console him but he wasn't feeling it. Once it was over he cried a little more and then put the sad face on. When he had his 4 month appointment I cried. This time around I toughened up and didn't shed one tear. Mr. C shed enough tears for both of us. Once we got home he was just fine. He actually wanted to show off his colorful band aids. Check him out. 

So how did he do you ask? Let's take a look.

• Weight: 19 lbs. 10 oz.            (85th percentile) 
• Length: 27"           (75th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 43"   (30th percentile)

So as you an see Mr. C is doing rather well. He has a rather small head though. I guess that's a good thing so I won't complain. 

Happy Birthday!

Today is Christian's 6 month birthday! I can't believe it has been six months already. He has grown so fast I don't know where the time went. Only six more months and he will be 1 years old. I have really enjoyed these past six months raising him. He brings such joy to my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Children really are a gift from God and thank God everyday for him. He's such a happy little boy and just loves attention. It's funny how babies have their own personality at such a young age. Christian is a funny, quirky, loving, silly, aggressive and sometimes demanding little guy. I love everything about him. I can't wait to see how he develops more over these next six months. 

Happy Birthday little guy!!! I love you sooooo much!

I know, his hair looks a little crazy. We are still trying to work on that. 

By George, I Think He's Got It!

Christian has been trying his hardest to roll all the way over. Well finally he has got it down. He has been rolling over but struggling a bit. Now he has it down to a tee. I have been putting him on the floor more and more lately and he has been rolling away. He is still trying to get the sitting up thing down but still needs a little more practice. He'll sit up by himself for a short period of time but before you know it he ends up on his stomach. I think he will have mastered it soon though. As mommy likes to tell him, "Practice makes perfect." 

I almost forgot to mention....Christian is trying to crawl. I had him on the bed last week and he managed to make his way from one side to the other (it's a king size). I was pretty amazed but realized I need to keep an eye on him or else he'll fall off the bed. He isn't exactly crawling but inching his way around. It's funny to watch him. He actually looks like a little inch worm. I'll have to make a video so you can see him in action. That'll come at a later date.