I'm one proud (and exhausted) mama. We had a big accomplishment this week! William was playing near the couch on Thursday, saw something he wanted (the TV remote of all things) and pulled himself to standing to get it. I was happy and anxious all at the same time. He's getting so independent! Of course I made him do it over again so I could video it. He has done it over and over again since then. He can now walk up and down the length of the couch holding on. My big man!
Also, on the crawling front, we have a makeshift crawl that is serving his purposes for the time being. I would call it a modified army crawl. He will get up on all fours, but he always reaches for something quickly and belly flops. This process repeats itself until he reaches his destination. It is kind of a cross between a leap frog and a commando. Tres cute!
My little man is super smart. I know every mom says that, and they are probably right. William has figured out that when he cries/fusses at night, I hide on the twin bed that lies next to the crib. The other night I was lying there quietly praying for William to go back to sleep when I hear crying pretty directly in my ear. I look over and William has crawled to the end of the bed, pulled down the bumper and is staring straight at me and yelling "get me out" in sobs. The jig was up. Since then, anytime he wakes up at night, he pulls down the bumpers and looks for me. It was kind of cute at first, but I really want him to just go back to sleep so it's getting old. Another example of my son's ingenuity happened this morning. I had a bathroom emergency and so I just set down William in the floor of his room and ran. I quickly heard banging and so I hurried back to find William with a screwdriver (where in the world did he get that????) trying to put it in the hole of the humidifier. that was sitting on the ground. Oddly enough, he was putting it in the proper spot to unscrew the humidifier lid. I know it was just an accident, but I was impressed. He and his daddy will be rebuilding computers in no time!
William has been making more and more babbling sounds. On Thursday he said "Ma!" and he has said it many times since while reaching for me. He has said it other times too, so I don't fancy that he know exactly what it means yet. He also said "byebye"to Francis's parents when we left Abby's party on Saturday. It was super cute. He has said bye many times since. He will connect the dots all too soon!
I mentioned Abby's party. My adorable niece turned one year old on Thursday and her party was Saturday. We drove down to Houston. William did pretty well in his new "big boy" carseat. I am so proud of him. Abby's party was absolutely delightful. Cynthia decorated the house a bit like the barbie dream house. It was pink and perfect for Abby. So glad I was able to go!
Yesterday Francis took his inaugural voyage with his new kite. It was a lovely afternoon, even if it was a little chilly. I hope we get more family outings to the great outdoors in the near future!
Well, that's all I can think of for now.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
February 21, 2012
I have a child who sleeps. Not consistently, but he is capable. After I posted last week, William slept 7 1/2, 8 1/2 and 10 hours in a row on consecutive nights (Mon-Wed). Plus, he has finally started taking naps during the day in his crib. He's been taking one or two 1 hour naps.Thursday night though, Francis pager woke up William in the middle of the night and then the storm woke him up Friday night. It is hard to hear him cry and not be able to feed him. I have been doing my best to stay calm, pray and do what I think is best. Last night, thank goodness, William made it from 7:30 until 4am. I hope he can keep sleeping longer and longer until he makes it through the night. for now, I will be grateful for a break during the day.
Valentine's day was relatively uneventful. I made lasagna for Francis and myself, and William went to bed early so we could have some quiet time. The fact that he has started going to sleep very quickly has really given us more time to spend together in the evening. I am enjoying getting to have adult conversation at the end of the day.
Francis took off Friday and got off Monday so he had a 4 day weekend. We got to relax and just have some family time. Saturday, Francis's parents came into town for the day so they could visit their favorite grandson. They could not believe how much he has grown! He showed them how he is walking around holding onto my fingers, and how well he sits up and plays. He is pretty amazing, I must admit. It was great to have them here and we had a lovely day!
William has now completely graduated to 12 month clothing. He is so long! He looks like a little boy in his new wardrobe. My baby! He's a bottomless pit too. Tonight he ate 8 1/2 ounces of baby food, some rice cereal, some cheerios and some yogurt drops for dinner. He could be going through a growth spurt, but more likely he just takes after me. Boy, is he a good eater!
Last night I got a real treat. I was able to drop off meals at two friends' houses who just had newborns and then I was able to hang out with Becky and have a girls' night. Francis watched William. Having a rare night off was something I sorely needed, and I am so thankful I was able to enjoy it!
Finally, William is getting closer and closer to crawling. He gets up on all fours and lunges for objects he wants. I wouldn't be surprised if he skipped straight to walking, but I try to give him tummy time every day so he can have every opportunity to succeed. On the walking front, William took four steps yesterday while only holding onto me with one hand. He's getting more and more independent. I can't wait to see what's next. Ok, it's my bedtime. Goodnight!
Valentine's day was relatively uneventful. I made lasagna for Francis and myself, and William went to bed early so we could have some quiet time. The fact that he has started going to sleep very quickly has really given us more time to spend together in the evening. I am enjoying getting to have adult conversation at the end of the day.
Francis took off Friday and got off Monday so he had a 4 day weekend. We got to relax and just have some family time. Saturday, Francis's parents came into town for the day so they could visit their favorite grandson. They could not believe how much he has grown! He showed them how he is walking around holding onto my fingers, and how well he sits up and plays. He is pretty amazing, I must admit. It was great to have them here and we had a lovely day!
William has now completely graduated to 12 month clothing. He is so long! He looks like a little boy in his new wardrobe. My baby! He's a bottomless pit too. Tonight he ate 8 1/2 ounces of baby food, some rice cereal, some cheerios and some yogurt drops for dinner. He could be going through a growth spurt, but more likely he just takes after me. Boy, is he a good eater!
Last night I got a real treat. I was able to drop off meals at two friends' houses who just had newborns and then I was able to hang out with Becky and have a girls' night. Francis watched William. Having a rare night off was something I sorely needed, and I am so thankful I was able to enjoy it!
Finally, William is getting closer and closer to crawling. He gets up on all fours and lunges for objects he wants. I wouldn't be surprised if he skipped straight to walking, but I try to give him tummy time every day so he can have every opportunity to succeed. On the walking front, William took four steps yesterday while only holding onto me with one hand. He's getting more and more independent. I can't wait to see what's next. Ok, it's my bedtime. Goodnight!
Monday, February 13, 2012
February 13th, 2012
Happy almost Valentine's Day! Much excitement in the Phillips household as of late. All of it surrounding the half-birthday of some little Mr. Man. William is now 6 months old as of Saturday!
We took William's 6 month photos on Thursday. I wanted to be able to stick photos in Valentine's cards, so we got them done a couple of days early. The poor photographer was not very skilled with young children, and he kept trying to put props in the shot which William would then play with. We got the money shots though in spite of it and that's what matters!
William had his 6 month check-up on Friday. Dr. Enders was amazingly impressed with my little guy. He was standing (holding onto my fingers) and jumping up and down while looking in the mirror when she entered. She asked if he is already crawling and then said it won't be long because he is so active (she said she hadn't seen a more active little boy). William measured 18lbs. 10 oz., 27 1/4 in long and 46 cm in head diameter. He is still over the 100th percentile on his head. I think it is just holding all those awesome brains! She believes his top teeth will be coming in any day, and in fact, I think I felt one of them yesterday! After checking him over thoroughly, she made a comment that surprised me. After he had once again tried to walk away from her using only one of her hands she said, "the earliest I have ever seen a child walk in my personal experience is 7 1/2 months....but, I don't know." She said this both with concern and a bit of amusement. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Yes I want him to be exceptional, but I don't know if I can handle a 6 month old walking independently around my house! God knows what is best though, and he has a plan.
On William's half birthday, we moved to giving him 3 meals a day (before he was getting two). He has been trying all sorts of new food, including meat (in baby food of course). The three most notable things that happened on his birthday were that: William has water for the first time, he drank out of a sippy cup for the first time, and he fed himself a biter biscuit (first time he has fed himself anything). He is thoroughly enjoying his new freedom.
My wonderful Aunt Camille watched William last night so that Francis and I could go out on a date. William had his own Valentine's date with his "Uncle Mille" (what she says William should call her). He got her candy and a rose and wore his Valentine's outfit. They had a good night. Francis and I went to Longhorn steakhouse and then went and was the movie Red Tails. It was a lovely night, and I appreciate getting to have it!
Now for some less happy news. The doctor recommended since William has met the age and weight requirements, that we cut out all night time feedings so that William can sleep through the night. The score currently stands 1:1. Friday night was not much of an issue so I am not counting it. Saturday night William cried for two hours before I gave in and fed him. Last night he cried for an hour and half, but he finally put himself back to sleep and slept for 5 hours. Hopefully, this struggle of wills will not last more than a week. I am so tired I can hardly stand it, but I must press on.
Accomplishments of this week include that William is pulling up on things. He can stand while holding onto low window sills, the outside of his Exersaucer or anything else low enough that he can use for leverage. Also he actually almost crawled this morning. He got up on all fours and lunged. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it and I keep waiting for him to do it again. Finally, William has been walking around everywhere just holding onto my fingers and he can now pull himself to sitting or standing using my fingers. He's getting so big.
Oops, I hear him waking up from his nap (he is actually taking them in his crib the past few days since he has not been sleeping well at night). Time to sign off!
We took William's 6 month photos on Thursday. I wanted to be able to stick photos in Valentine's cards, so we got them done a couple of days early. The poor photographer was not very skilled with young children, and he kept trying to put props in the shot which William would then play with. We got the money shots though in spite of it and that's what matters!
William had his 6 month check-up on Friday. Dr. Enders was amazingly impressed with my little guy. He was standing (holding onto my fingers) and jumping up and down while looking in the mirror when she entered. She asked if he is already crawling and then said it won't be long because he is so active (she said she hadn't seen a more active little boy). William measured 18lbs. 10 oz., 27 1/4 in long and 46 cm in head diameter. He is still over the 100th percentile on his head. I think it is just holding all those awesome brains! She believes his top teeth will be coming in any day, and in fact, I think I felt one of them yesterday! After checking him over thoroughly, she made a comment that surprised me. After he had once again tried to walk away from her using only one of her hands she said, "the earliest I have ever seen a child walk in my personal experience is 7 1/2 months....but, I don't know." She said this both with concern and a bit of amusement. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Yes I want him to be exceptional, but I don't know if I can handle a 6 month old walking independently around my house! God knows what is best though, and he has a plan.
On William's half birthday, we moved to giving him 3 meals a day (before he was getting two). He has been trying all sorts of new food, including meat (in baby food of course). The three most notable things that happened on his birthday were that: William has water for the first time, he drank out of a sippy cup for the first time, and he fed himself a biter biscuit (first time he has fed himself anything). He is thoroughly enjoying his new freedom.
My wonderful Aunt Camille watched William last night so that Francis and I could go out on a date. William had his own Valentine's date with his "Uncle Mille" (what she says William should call her). He got her candy and a rose and wore his Valentine's outfit. They had a good night. Francis and I went to Longhorn steakhouse and then went and was the movie Red Tails. It was a lovely night, and I appreciate getting to have it!
Now for some less happy news. The doctor recommended since William has met the age and weight requirements, that we cut out all night time feedings so that William can sleep through the night. The score currently stands 1:1. Friday night was not much of an issue so I am not counting it. Saturday night William cried for two hours before I gave in and fed him. Last night he cried for an hour and half, but he finally put himself back to sleep and slept for 5 hours. Hopefully, this struggle of wills will not last more than a week. I am so tired I can hardly stand it, but I must press on.
Accomplishments of this week include that William is pulling up on things. He can stand while holding onto low window sills, the outside of his Exersaucer or anything else low enough that he can use for leverage. Also he actually almost crawled this morning. He got up on all fours and lunged. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it and I keep waiting for him to do it again. Finally, William has been walking around everywhere just holding onto my fingers and he can now pull himself to sitting or standing using my fingers. He's getting so big.
Oops, I hear him waking up from his nap (he is actually taking them in his crib the past few days since he has not been sleeping well at night). Time to sign off!
Monday, February 6, 2012
February 6th, 2012
So, a big week here. It's been a bit of a roller coaster to say the least. In case any of you are under the delusion that I am a perfect mom (I'm not for the record), this will dispel any confusion. I met my breaking point this week. Around 6 months of getting more or less no sleep finally caught up with me. It didn't help that I stopped fixing my eyes on things above and started to feel like I was drowning. When I said I had a breakdown, I mean I had a full on anxiety attack Thursday morning. William woke up for the sixth time that night and I shook so hard, I couldn't even pick him up. Francis took him for a little bit while I just cried. I was overwhelmed and had no energy to deal with it. But as the song suggests, sometimes healing comes through tears and a thousand sleepless nights is what it takes to know He's near. God in his infinite mercy and grace saw fit to give our household three nights (Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday night) of rest. William slept for 7 hours and then 4 more Thursday night, 8 hours and then 3 hours Friday night and 7 1/2 hours and 3 hours straight Saturday night. I am hoping this is a new trend. Last night was not so restful, but I will continue to pray that William will sleep through the night. Don't think I haven't tried just about everything in my power to help him sleep. And lest some well meaning person who reads this thinks I should just let him cry it out, I have tried. He has peed all over his bed twice, cried hard (for a very short time) and spit up/threw up all over him self, and the last time he buried his head in the corner of the bumpers and cried because he couldn't get out. I am going to ask the doctor if there is anything else I can try, but I am beginning to wonder if this is just a lesson I am in the process of painfully learning.
Ok, now onto happier things. William has tried all sorts of new foods this week. He likes prunes and pears, but does not like bananas or green beans. This is the first vegetable he has not gobbled up at first taste. We have been a little bad and have given him some table food, but mostly he only gets what comes in a jar for now. He's a good little eater, I knew he would be though.
This past weekend we went to College Station for an International Cheese Society meeting. Lol, if you don't know what that is, it is a get together Francis and some of his college friends have every so often. We take turns hosting. It is a lot of fun. William got inducted into the society with the cheese name: CamemBear (like Camembert, but he is called little bear in this house). Cute, huh? Anyway, the meeting went smoothly and fun was had by all. William got to play with two of his favorite friends: Penelope and Olivia. Penelope is exactly two months older than William (Olivia is a year older). When he came in the door, she was so excited! She tried as hard as she could to get to him. He soon saw what fun she was and the two were inseparable for much of the day. Penelope has an old toy rotary phone with a long nylon cord. She put one end in her mouth at about the same time William put the other end in his mouth. They looked like the spaghetti scene of Lady and the Tramp. Adorable. Then we put William in the walker and Penny in the exersaucer. The babies got as close as they could to one another and reached over their respective toys to grab and hold each other's hands and arms. They might have a future together. Who knows! The best thing Penny did was show William what I've been wanting him to do for a while: crawl. When she would leave him and crawl away, he would try to follow and just tip over or roll. He finally got up on all fours like her and started to rock. I was SO EXCITED! He has done it many times since Saturday. I can't wait to get his first crawling on video. Now I really need to baby proof everything!
I would be remiss if I did not mention that on our way out of town on Sunday, William did make his first trip to the A&M campus. It was raining so we didn't get out of the car, but I got a short video to mark the occasion. Was William excited, you ask? Lol, he slept through the whole adventure! We tried to wake him, but the sound of road noise mixed with falling rain was too clever a temptress. Hopefully next time we can get better photos.
Well, that's it for now!
ADDENDUM: I forgot two things when I wrote earlier this week. 1. William is conducting many experiments lately. He might be an engineer. He waits until I fill up the dog bowl in the kitchen and then runs into it repeatedly with the walker to knock all the water. He has come at it from every angle and is getting really good at it. The other thing he has figured out is how to stop the water from his small tub from draining out. He wouldn't let me get him out of the tub one night so I pulled the plug. He splashed for a bit and suddenly realized it was draining. So he splashed harder and harder until he found the hole and covered it with his hand. It was too late. Now when I pull the plug, he closes it again before much water drains. He's so smart, hehe.
2. William has been feeding himself bottles at night. He holds it in his hands until he gets to tired and drops it. It is so sweet to see him do something for himself. He's growing up so fast!!!
Ok, now onto happier things. William has tried all sorts of new foods this week. He likes prunes and pears, but does not like bananas or green beans. This is the first vegetable he has not gobbled up at first taste. We have been a little bad and have given him some table food, but mostly he only gets what comes in a jar for now. He's a good little eater, I knew he would be though.
This past weekend we went to College Station for an International Cheese Society meeting. Lol, if you don't know what that is, it is a get together Francis and some of his college friends have every so often. We take turns hosting. It is a lot of fun. William got inducted into the society with the cheese name: CamemBear (like Camembert, but he is called little bear in this house). Cute, huh? Anyway, the meeting went smoothly and fun was had by all. William got to play with two of his favorite friends: Penelope and Olivia. Penelope is exactly two months older than William (Olivia is a year older). When he came in the door, she was so excited! She tried as hard as she could to get to him. He soon saw what fun she was and the two were inseparable for much of the day. Penelope has an old toy rotary phone with a long nylon cord. She put one end in her mouth at about the same time William put the other end in his mouth. They looked like the spaghetti scene of Lady and the Tramp. Adorable. Then we put William in the walker and Penny in the exersaucer. The babies got as close as they could to one another and reached over their respective toys to grab and hold each other's hands and arms. They might have a future together. Who knows! The best thing Penny did was show William what I've been wanting him to do for a while: crawl. When she would leave him and crawl away, he would try to follow and just tip over or roll. He finally got up on all fours like her and started to rock. I was SO EXCITED! He has done it many times since Saturday. I can't wait to get his first crawling on video. Now I really need to baby proof everything!
I would be remiss if I did not mention that on our way out of town on Sunday, William did make his first trip to the A&M campus. It was raining so we didn't get out of the car, but I got a short video to mark the occasion. Was William excited, you ask? Lol, he slept through the whole adventure! We tried to wake him, but the sound of road noise mixed with falling rain was too clever a temptress. Hopefully next time we can get better photos.
Well, that's it for now!
ADDENDUM: I forgot two things when I wrote earlier this week. 1. William is conducting many experiments lately. He might be an engineer. He waits until I fill up the dog bowl in the kitchen and then runs into it repeatedly with the walker to knock all the water. He has come at it from every angle and is getting really good at it. The other thing he has figured out is how to stop the water from his small tub from draining out. He wouldn't let me get him out of the tub one night so I pulled the plug. He splashed for a bit and suddenly realized it was draining. So he splashed harder and harder until he found the hole and covered it with his hand. It was too late. Now when I pull the plug, he closes it again before much water drains. He's so smart, hehe.
2. William has been feeding himself bottles at night. He holds it in his hands until he gets to tired and drops it. It is so sweet to see him do something for himself. He's growing up so fast!!!
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