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...