The Dismount

Marty is learning to roll over and can go from his back to his tummy--the harder of the two-part process.  If you put him on his tummy before, he would stay up for a few seconds then flop down on his back.  Not so anymore.

He seems to be getting stuck at the top and yesterday he gave me two scares.  I laid him on his colorful play blankie while I went to fetch a new diaper and some socks for him.  I was in his room for nearly two minutes when I heard an ear piercing scream.  I ran back to the living room.  In those quick few seconds I stepped away, he managed to flip himself over on one of his teethers and couldn't figure out rolling back over. 

That same night he gave me another scare, but I shook after pondering a different outcome.  Marty woke up at 3:00am and made some whiney noises indicating he wanted to eat.  Usually he does this for a good 10-15 minutes before it turns into a real cry.  I felt as if I had just gone to bed and desired those extra 10-15 minutes of snoozing so I turned the baby monitor down to a quieter setting.  Suddenly I was jolted awake by angry cries.  Not sure how long I had slept, I dashed out of bed and into his room next door.  To my horror, he was face down and stuck in a corner of his crib trying to rock himself into a righted position.  Quickly I flipped him over, scooped him up and held him tight.  I vowed never to turn my monitor down for a selfish 10 more minutes of sleep ever again.

I need to teach my son how to successfully master the dismount on his roll to prevent future incidents such as these from happening, which give his mother heart murmurs, wrinkles, and gray hair.~*

Tickles & Giggles

I'm realizing my son is super-ticklish.  I realized it yesterday when my hubby tickled Marty's back and he rolled over trying to get away from it.  He rolled again when he was tickled once more.

I also realized it today when I placed Marty on my chest and rubbed really lightly down his ribcage.  I heard some little noises that sounded like small coughs so I stopped and held Marty out in front of me.  He had a big smile on his face.  I smiled back and started laughing.  Those weren't coughs at all, but little laughs; his first giggles.  He sounded like Ernie from Sesame Street.  Too funny!  We played this game some more until his giggles ran out. 

I already couldn't stand how cute he was before.  Now I just can't handle it.~*

Creating the New "Full"

I introduced Marty to solids when he was four months old.  An all night scream-fest inspired me to try something new.  I figured he was teething and the spoons I have are coated and good for gnawing on, so I made up some rice cereal and launched a spoonful toward his red, tear-streaked face into his wide and wailing mouth.  It was the only thing that calmed him down.  Thus the journey had begun.

I only started giving him cereal in the morning.  He was getting constipated (oh joy) and I thought about switching him to oatmeal, but someone told me to try bananas; later I found out this was a binding agent.  The pediatrician told me greens would do the trick, so I gave him some sweet peas--also a binding agent.  Finally the pediatrician recommended prune juice mixed with rice cereal.  This has seemed to work really nicely. 

Upon the 5 month mark, I introduced him to new foods: sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots--which stain everything.  Spoons, clothes and even Marty's face have an orange tint to them and the aftermath looks as if I fed my son Cheetos.  At the 5 month mark we were up to two meals a day, breakfast and lunch, and I was going to hold off on the third meal, dinner, until he reached 6 months.

Well lately I've been waking up with my son at what seems like "ungodly" hours.  And he's hungry.  So I nurse him and it would usually be enough to lull him back to sleep.  Not so, now that I have created the new "full."  I only got smart to this last night after I tried dinner.  He couldn't get enough.  Where he would normally stop chowing at a tablespoon's worth of veggies, his typical consumption during the day, he ate a jar and a half of sweet potatoes and finished it off with 3-4 oz of breastmilk.  Needless to say, I didn't have to feed him during the night.  While he did wake up early a little gassy, a soothie and some rocking was enough to send him back to dreamland.  I've got a growing boy on my hands.~*

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Marty is on a roll--literally.  He started last Wednesday, only one day after they introduced this new technique to him at PT.  I put him under his rainforest canopy playmat to kick around while I putzed online.  Some little grunts from his direction caught my attention only a few moments after I set him there.  When I turned to look he had gone from his back to his tummy all by himself and was stuck in a break-dancing style pose with his butt in the air.  I was so excited but he was not amused; I don't think he quite knew how he got himself in that position.  I took some photos of before and after.  He didn't try this manuever on his own the rest of the week, but this week he's taken to rolling very nicely.  I'll have to move some furniture around to give my little rolly-poly more room.