Pictures and Progess

The Amazing Normy is blossoming right before our eyes in to the cutest, coolest, and most advanced little boy on the face of the planet. This past month has been a whirlwind of milestones. He turned five months old on November 12^th, and really he has been taking off since a little before then. He came home from his visit at Grampy and Grammy’s in Naples a different baby than when he left. It was in Naples that he REALLY started getting grabby. Suddenly at meal times I had to start being cautious of what was within his reach. I was eating at a Taco Bell the afternoon before our first weekend trip to Tampa (So that was October 27^th) when he reached up and grabbed the paper from around the delicious 7-Layer Burrito I was snarffing and gave it a good tug, nearly sending my burrito to the floor.

From there on out we would hand him a spoon at dinner time so he could amuse himself while we ate. At first it would take him a little while to reach out and get his fat little fingers around it. However, by the end of our three week visit he was a pro. The spoon grab was one smooth move that lead straight to his mouth. The funniest thing was watching him cram it back a little too far. He’d make the cutest little gagging noise! Okay, I know that probably makes me a bad Mom, but it was freaking hilarious!

His biggest accomplishment in Naples was learning how to turn over from back to front. It happened for the first time after changing his diaper. I wish I had jotted down the exact date, but it was probably November 1^st which was a Wednesday. He did it just a couple of times that day, but the next day he rolled-over over and over! Every time I would lay him down he’d FLIP!!! It was funny because all of a sudden he wanted to rollover as soon as I put him down, even if it was to change his diaper. It was a riot trying to keep him from steam rolling poop everywhere. There was once in Naples he did a full 360 degree roll, but I haven’t seen that since.

So now that grabbing and rolling-over are a normal part of his daily routine, there are new skills for my darling Norman to accomplish. Right now he’s working pretty hard at sitting up all buy himself. Today he did so for the longest stretch yet. It was probably a whole 3 minutes!!! He’s still pretty tipsy, but I betchya’ that in two weeks he will have it DOWN.

Yesterday was a big day for my baby. We started him on cereal yesterday! Sort of. It went GREAT! He LOVED it! Of course I made his baby oatmeal with boobie milk, so it wasn’t so much of a new taste sensation. His dad and I had a blast shoveling big bite-fulls of yummyness in to his open and willing little mouth. He didn’t throw it up either, as we had speculated was likely.

That being said, I don’t think we will be giving him any more cereal for a week or two. By his bedtime he had developed a little rash on his butt and we notice just a touch of blood in his poop. We’re going to keep an eye on him; but I don’t think it’s serious. I think we just jumped the gun with the solid food. Maybe we should have started with baby rice cereal instead of baby oatmeal?

We ordered him a super cool highchair. I am totally STOKKED about it! Perhaps once it arrives and Smoochy gets it assembled we will give solids a try again. Next time we’ll try with rice instead of oatmeal and see how it goes. I am excited to introduce him to food. I guess a part of me is a little sad that soon he won’t be exclusively nursing. I will miss the feeling of knowing he doesn’t need anything but me to thrive; but it’s just a little part. I am mostly just looking forward to helping him discover all the wonderful tastes that are out there. It’s going to be so much fun. Plus, as an added bonus, Smoochy will be able to take on a more active roll in feeding the kiddo and I know he is looking forward to that as well.

My little baby is turning into such a big boy. He sure is strong. Just TRY and peal something (like my hair) out of those little hands if he wants to hold on. Plus, as of a few days ago he can pass objects from one hand to the other. And the cool thing is now he can stand up holding on to just your fingers. His balance is really developing. He’s even started bouncing a little once he gets good and steady. But the VERY BEST is now he gives kisses, wet open mouth soft baby kisses!

So, there you have it. Normy: on his way to greatness!

***UPDATE***

It’s almost been 24 hours since we noticed the bit of blood in his diaper and we haven’t seen any since. I really think it was the cereal. So, we’re going to wait a little before we try again with RICE!