1st Father's Day

June 10
Another new skill Gerritt has acquired over the past couple of days. When he hears a familiar tune he claps his hands. I've been clapping while singing to him, so he must have picked up on that. He used to clap with his fists, now he is clapping using the palms of his hands. So funny! Also Gerritt loves to eat his sweet potato puffs! A month earlier when I gave them to him he choked, however, no problems for the past week. I usually put a few out on a table in front of him for practice. He will grab a couple, but then doesn't know how to get it into his mouth. His fat little fists are holding the food morsels so tight, he can't get them into his mouth. So I have to feed him the puffs one by one. It is adorable to watch him open his mouth like a little bird. Gerritt can definitely tell when I am about to feed him something solid. He gets excited & starts smacking his lips & swallowing. He hates to sit at the dining table & watch us eat. He looks so sad! He just watches us put food into our mouths with such longing. So I usually try to give him something to taste as well.
June 17
This week Gerritt tried yogurt for the first time. He loved it! I thought he was just going to taste a couple of spoonfuls, but he ate almost the whole container! He looked so cute eating it, we had to videotape him. Last Sunday we've celebrated our first Father's Day. We started the morning with going to the Farmer's Market. I carried Gerritt in my Ergo baby carrier & he really enjoyed looking around at all the people & dogs. My husband & I bought him a new hat, the one that provides shade for front & back & covers the ears. After Farmer's Market, we went out for lunch at the Lanai Thai restaurant. Gerritt sat in a high chair & played with his toys most of the meal. He really enjoys watching objects drop to the floor, so we did a lot of retrieving. After lunch we went to Walmart to buy a new car seat for Gerritt. This way there is a car seat in every car. Today Gerritt picked up a sweet potato puff with his thumb & first finger for the first time. The puff didn't quite make it to his mouth, but it's a start!
June 22
Gerritt has been teething again for the past 4 days. It all started last Thursday night when he woke up about 4 times. I knew something was bothering him. He awakened on Friday morning at 6:30 am & did not nap during the day at all, which is very unusual for him since he naps twice a day. I've tried & tried multiple times to put him down for a nap unusuccessfully. I rocked him in a rocking chair, sang lullibies to him, gave him his favorite blanket, undressed him thinking he may have been too hot, made sure he was full, gave him liquid Tylenol & Ibuprofen, etc. All to no avail! I've even tried sleeping next to him. Gerritt would just roll side to side, on his tummy, back on his back, then sit up, all this repeat x 100. :-) He is sure energetic! Gerritt stayed up for 13 hours straight until he finally gave in & fell asleep at 7:30 pm! Needless to say, I was exhausted & couldn't wait for my husband to get home. On Saturday I worked an evening shift at the hospital while he took care of Gerritt. Again our little monkey didn't nap until 5 pm. Today, on Sunday, Gerritt only napped for 1 hour in the morning & fell asleep at 9:30 pm after being given both Tylenol & Ibuprofen at the same time. It looks like he has 4 more teeth coming in - 2 on the bottom & 2 on the top. Poor baby! We are bracing ourselves since this is only the beginning. Gerritt also got another cold 2 days ago - stuffy & runny nose & sneezing. I have a feeling he is going to start crawling within a month. He is so active, just can't sit still, kicking his legs & moving constantly. He is often reaching for toys in all directions, sometimes ending up on his tummy. We are so excited about that next stage. I know it's going to be a lot more difficult to keep him safe & he'll need close supervision at all times, however, I am also looking forward to him being a little bit more independent & getting some relief for my back pain from all the lifting I've been doing.
June 29
After struggling to put Gerritt down for a nap for several days in a row my husband has finally figured out a way to do it. We went back to swaddling & rocking again, just like a few months ago when Gerritt was a little baby. The first time I swaddled him in the morning he slept for 2.5 hours and then again for 2 hours in the afternoon - catching up! What a relief to find a solution to our new problem! About 3 days ago, Gerritt also started doing something new. If he is really unhappy about something we are doing (like trying to put him down for a nap instead of feeding him first when he is hungry), he cries loudly, kicks his arms & legs, & arches his back so it is really difficult to hang on to him. I've seen toddlers do this at the grocery store & was shocked to see Gerritt doing the same moves so early. I am not too worried. It happens rarely & all in all Gerritt is a happy baby when all of his needs are met. I need to start teaching him sign language soon to increase his ability to communicate & to decrease his level of frustration. Must be so hard not be able to say what you want or need...

First trip to Wenatchee

This weekend we've visited Chris & Gerry in Wenatchee for the first time since Gerritt's birth. It was so fun for me go back & to show off Gerritt, however, it was very tiring. Gerritt was completely off his feeding & sleeping schedule. Poor thing, the first night there we put him down to sleep in his new portacrib in the guest room. He woke up crying & yelling at 2 am, scared & confused, not knowing where he was. There was no way he was going back into his crib, so we put him in bed between us. He slept peacefully until about 7 am. The 2nd night I didn't even try putting Gerritt into his portacrib since he was clinging & holding on to me very tightly all evening. I ended up sleeping next to him in my queen-sized bed with my husband sleeping in the guest room. That morning Gerritt woke up at 5:30 am, ate, then slept from 6 to 7 am. He hardly took any naps, afraid to be left alone in an unfamiliar place, and only if he was very very tired. One day he napped from 5 to 7:30 pm. Both nights Gerritt went to bed at 10 pm.
On Saturday another event happened. Gerritt learned how to go from laying to sitting position all by himself! He uses his abdominal muscles & arms to push himself up. What a strong boy! It is all of a sudden such a challenge to change his diaper or get him dressed since he is trying to sit up the whole time. Also putting Gerritt to bed is more difficult. I used to put him down & he would fuss for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep. Now the minute I put him down he sits up. So we play this game: I put him down, he sits up, I put him down again, he sits up, etc. I finally just decided to let him sit until he gets tired enough to fall asleep. Tonight he sat for about half-an-hour. He was getting sleepy & his head was falling lower & lower on his chest, however, he refused to lay down. It is the funniest thing! I finally just held him in my arms & rocked him to sleep & then lowered him into his crib. Yes, we've had to lower his crib's mattress this weekend. When I saw Gerritt's new acrobatics, I knew his current crib arrangement was not safe any more. All it takes is him leaning over the rail while sitting in his crib to fall out.
All in all it was a fun weekend. Gerritt got to meet my old friend Anna, Judy & Jerry Lawson, & Diane & Greg Olshavsky. He got lots of attention, play time & holding. He has certaintly improved being around strangers. He used to cry if someone unfamiliar just looked at him, now occasionally he lets that person hold him for a couple of minutes as long as Mommy & Daddy are nearby. Judy was so sweet to buy the cutest toy bus with little people inside it & a few books for Gerritt. Chris & Gerry bought a touch-and-feel Farm Animals book for him. Gerritt is sure lucky to have so many people who love him! It seems that during this weekend Gerritt has grown so much. He is going to start crawling soon I am afraid!

Gerritt is 8 months old today!

Wow, we've made it this far! Yesterday I was organizing my computer desktop & putting away unused icons & found document titled "Gerritt's feeding/diapering schedule." When we first brought him home from the hospital, we kept track of all the feeding times & amounts as well as diaper changes. He used to wake up every 1.5-3 hours! I don't know how we've made it. You sure forget those difficult times quickly. Here I am rested after a full night's sleep (Gerritt slept from 9 pm to 8:30 am) & it's hard to imagine going back. However, we are thinking of having another baby fairly soon. I loved being pregnant (except for the last 2 months)! And you feel like you are expecting a miracle.
I am also starting a new position in Planned Parenthood on June 4th. I will be in Marysville 3 days a week instead of splitting my work between Marysville (1 day/week) and University District (half-day on Saturdays). I am looking forward to working at one place & making it my home. I love the staff I work with so it should not be difficult.
The next 2 important skills in Gerritt's development are progressing from sitting to crawling & learning to pick up objects with thumb & forefinger. He lunges forward often when sitting & I was trying to straighten him out afraid he may fall on his face. However, now I know the next step will be crawling. Gerritt doesn't pick up objects with his thumb & forefinger yet, he grabs them in pawlike fashion (I tried putting out finger foods (sweet potato puffs)). Another important part of the reach-grasp learning is developing ability to release the grasped object. Gerritt has certainly been doing that - dropping things & watching them fall while sitting in his high chair. He also loves to play with body parts, especially sucking on his pudgy little toes. Grabbing Mommy's & Daddy's noses, hair & glasses are also a fair game. :-) Gerritt is also developing gestures. For example, when he wants to be picked up he extends his arms & raises his eyes toward me in a "Please pick me up" gesture. When he doesn't want me to put him back into his crib for a nap, he clings to me & holds on tight to my clothes.
Gerritt has also gone from 3 to 2 naps per day. Usually he sleeps between 10 am to 12 pm and 3 pm to 4:30-5 pm. Bedtime is 8 or 8:30 pm. Most of the time he falls asleep on his own, occasionally I rock him, sing lullibies, stroke his head or rub his back.