The musings of ME:
SAH mother of 3 kids, spouse of a doctor-in-residency, caretaker and teacher of random children.


Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Mobile Man


Ho-ly Cow! I'm exhausted! A few days after my last blog, Jack figured out how to get up on all fours and rock back and forth. I thought that would last a while, but oh no! The next day he was taking his first crawl-steps to a welcoming proud papa. It has been 2 weeks and now he is pro! He will no longer stay on his blanket and play with toys; his poor little legs are getting raw. I have to keep pants on him because no amount of lotioning seems to help! Of course, with mobility comes accidents, and I am fighting my nurturing, over-protective mother instinct and allowing him to fall. I know he will learn how to pick himself up and move on if I let him do this. It has been hard though, not to scoop him up in my arms and cuddle him when his pride is injured from a recent fall. I'm trying not to raise a sissy-boy, so I just tell him, "You're okay. You're tough." He looks up at me as if to say, "Mama, where were you on that one??" Inwardly, I'm crying inside...

I'm really glad we haven't spent a lot of money on toys since Jackson doesn't spend any time playing with toys now. He has better things to do, people! ...like find things he is not allowed to touch! His favorite among this category are: dirty silverware in the dishwasher, the trash can, Lady's food, the vertical blinds, and many, many cords! He actually managed to rip a door stop off the wall and was near having it down his throat when mommy caught up to him and stole his fun toy away! (Luckily, Mommy just completed her infant/pediatric first aid and CPR course, so she knows just what to do if said baby manages to complete the task next time! Super mommy to the rescue!!)

The other new thing this month? A is for..attitude! Who ever said a baby under 1 year can't talk back is wrong, wrong, wrong!! My little man says all kinds of dirty words at me, the only problem is they aren't intelligible yet! They come out as a sort of mad growly grunt with a furrowed brow and a death look! Yes, an 8-month-old can give a death look, I've seen it!

Jackson is also trying new words. Well, no one else believes they are new words because they sound pretty similar to the old words, but I spend so much time with him, that I know he has an extensive vocabulary and I happen to speak Jackson, so let me translate for you. He can now say duck (Duh), Dada (Dadadadadada), Mama (buhbuhbuh), and Uh-Oh (Uh). We are working on Bite (Buh), Bottle (Buh), and Bye-Bye (Buh with a hand curl movement). Genius in the making, I tell you!

One of Jackson's favorite pastimes is reading bedtime stories. He will actually sit on my lap and remain still through at least 3 board books. His favorite books are the barnyard animals books. For some reason, he is keenly aware of animals around him and loves to hear the sounds they make. He laughs hysterically as I attempt to make bird, cow, chicken, bumblebee, dog, horse, and many other animal sounds. He really loves stuffed animals and finger puppets as well. Last week, I had us both laughing until we couldn't breathe when a giraffe finger puppet kept giving him kisses on both cheeks.

Stay tuned for next months blog! I'm sure it will relate Jackson's new walking abilities as he is quite good at walking with minimal assistance, and can stand momentarily without support. He is pulling up on furniture to his knees right now, so it won't be long until I am chasing a toddler on foot around the house! Good thing daddy has the stairs and the play room gated off! Now I can let him loose in a huge play area that I know is safe for him to play in and I can get work done at my table, too. I'll post pics of the new crawler and my now too-cute, finished Pre-K as soon as I get my camera fixed. (Pics are coming out blurry right now and I can't figure out why!)

3 comments:

Kirsten said...

Girl I hear yah loud and clear...I speak fluent Braeden, and now that he is coming along with his sign language so does Josh. It's so fun when they become mobile - you just wait:) So happy that he's doing so well!!

Shana said...

HELLO! It was so nice to get to see you and Jack when you were in town last. He is so cute!
Welcome to what I like to call, the toddler workout! For such little people, kids at this stage can give you a major workout every day. Wo needs a gym really?
Even though you will feel so exhausted from chasing him down and trying to keep him from harming himself 24/7, this is such an exciting and fun age because they are learning so much! ENJOY IT-as much as possible, because it really goes too fast. Then you have a three year old who can really give you sassy attitude and talk back and throw temper tantrums. Sometimes I ask myself, "Where did my little sweet baby go?"
Take care! I want to see more pics!

Melissa Taylor said...

Believe it or not, I really miss that age in my kids. Every day I wish that I could have a few of those early days back. So, enjoy chasing after him and having to keep a close eye on him! Morgan misses you, and she really likes reading on your blog, so keep the news coming. She did really well in 5th grade, and she is so much more grown up now. Haleigh is wishing you were still at Rann since she'll be in 3rd next year. Morgan's teachers need to stop having babies and leaving! Glad all is well with you.