September 28, 2004

Here's something that really blew my socks off. Tonight at dinner Bailey was sitting in his high chair and Nanny gave him a graham cracker and like two seconds later the cracker was gone and Nanny asked, "Where did that cracker go?" and not missing a beat Bailey answered, "I ate it!" And I wasn't the only one that heard it Amanda did too. Funny how he can shape his sounds into words at the perfect time.

I'm thinking about Bailey's first birthday. I want to have a party but I'm not sure what the theme, if any, should be. I mean if he were older he could say, " Hey, Mommy, how about a Sponge Bob party." or whatever. But since he can't do that. I guess Daddy and i will have to decide.

Oh, one more cute thing before I go. If you say "Super Bailey", Bailey will repond by putting his hands up in the air like he's flying. Too cute!!!!

How do you get it on the spoon? 

Wow! So this is what ice cream feels like! 

September 27, 2004

Sleep seems to be the major issue now. The whole cry it out thing just doesn't seem right to me, but I can't spend forever getting him to sleep in the middle of the night. I have been trying a lullaby CD and that seems to help, but then I think that the pain from teething wakes him up and because he hurts he can't get back to sleep. I have also tried a lavendar and chamomille air freshner to help relax us. Any suggestions????

September 25, 2004

Ok, so I can't be really sure yet, but I think that Bailey has finally started saying MAMA!!! You wouldn't believe how happy I was to hear that come from his mouth. Amanda says I am crazy that it doesn't even sound like MAMA, but I don't care. Close enough for me.

So, we were out shopping at Wal-Mart today and I saw a girl there that was in my childbirth class. Our class was pretty small, only four couples and out of those four couples there were two baby boys and two baby girls. Guess the odds really are fifty-fifty, huh? Anyway, her son was born about twelve days after Bailey, but the differences between them are like night and day. Bailey weighs 27 pounds, he weighs 21. Bailey has 8 teeth, he has 1. He is walking and Bailey os happy just to be pulling up and cruising. I guess that every baby develops on his own schedule, but it is interesting to see the differences.

September 23, 2004

I am so glad that I got the picture thing figured out. It'll come in handy when we go back to Japan. Friends and relatives in America can read all about Bailey and see pictures as well.

Bailey is getting smarter and smarter day by day. For example, his Blue's Clues chair. When we first got it (about four days ago) he got so frustrated that he couldn't get out of it by himself. And then, overnight, he somehow figured out that if he makes his bady stiff like a board he can just slide out of the chair and onto his butt. Another example, he pulled up on the back of the love seat under the archway because he wanted to get something on it. He was too short to reach it, so he decided to stand up on my leg to give himself the height to reach it. And it worked!!

He has been a real fire cracker a ll day. Amanda's friend Kristin came by and he was laughing at everything she did or said. He thought she was the greatest. Then, later in the evening when I was helping Mom clean up the dining room, he wore himself out crawling back and forth just to be in the middle of everything. So, he has already gone to sleep. He wore us both out today.

Chilling in my new Blue's Clues chair 

Another Halloween option. 

Super Bailey in one Halloween possibility. 

September 20, 2004

Slowly, but surely, Bailey is getting better. He still has a runny nose and sleeps more than usual, but othet than that he is doing fine. So fine, as a matter of fact, that as he was watching Boobah this morning he had his arm around the cat and they both just sat there watching TV. Pretty cute considering Bailey usually agitates Belle by pulling her ears or beating her head.

Recently at bath time, I started putting the soap into the water so it makes bubbles and he loves it. He likes to splash around and try to catch the bubbles. Tonight he splashed so hard that they got all over his face and he had a little Hitler-like mustache. He also loves his Sponge Bob sponge that Andy gave to him. It has a little plastic holder that we suction cup to the window and whenever I put him in the sink he always looks up for it. It is so funny to watch him search for Sponge Bob.

Even though Bailey can't speak he is getting really good at showing you what he wants with his eyes. Like bathtime and Sponge Bob. And feeding time, for another example. When he wants a drink he stops taking food and stares at his cup until you hand it to him. Wonder what he'll do next. . . . .

September 17, 2004

Let's see. . . . . Where to start? Bailey has really been doing some cute stuff latlely and it is hard to remember it all. I guess that I could start with the trip to Morgantown yesterday. Mostly, he just slept because I had to wake him up early and he didn't sleep well the night before, but when he was awake he was a babbling fool. He said two new "words" that I had never heard before. One sounded an awful lot like nanny. The other one was from a show Bailey likes to watch that comes on PBS, Boobah. Well, he said the "b" sound with his lips pursed together and held it for a long time and then let out a quick and soft "ba". We were all surprised by that one.

Then, on the way back from Morgantown he started to fuss because of being in the car for such a long time, so I got into the back seat with him and gave him his blanket. Out of nowher he started putting the blanket over his face and pulling it down suddenly. I then realized that he was playing peek-a-boo and I started making faces and noises when he pulled the blanket down. He played until I thought his arms would fall off.

September 13, 2004

Well, it seems that the so-called cold is actually an ear infection. We went to the doctor today and she said that his right ear is infected and gave him an antibiotic that he has to take for ten days. He doesn't seem to mind the taste, he actually smiled when I gave it to him the first time. In addition to that, he has to take Motrin for the fever and Cold/Allergy for the congestion and runny nose. Lots of medicine and all different flavors.

They also had to push back his well baby check from September 20th to October 14 because he can't be taking antibiotics when he gets his shots. Oh yeah, he tipped the scales at 27 pounds and 7 ounces. Wow, he is a big boy!!

September 12, 2004

Bailey is ten months old today and is officially battling his first cold. Poor little guy has an especially hard time sleeping at night maybe because of the congestion. But, in a way, he has been milking it for all that it is worth. He makes these fake cough-like sounds, rolling his tongue and forcing air through it. He also wants to be held a lot more and even sat still for TWO story books. Hopefully, he will get a good nights sleep tonight and feel better tomorrow.

September 10, 2004

We had a major breakthrough last night. Bailey was so sleepy, but he kept fighting it- kicking his legs and waving his arms. So, Mom just put him down in his crib, he played with his crib toys for a while and then drifted off to sleep all by himself. I was gonna try it again tonight, but he was pretty fussy and so I laid down with him until he fell asleep.

September 9, 2004

I love to put Bailey down for his naps. Usually he can hold his own bottle, but when he is sleepy, I hold it while he plays with my fingers- stretching, twisting, pulling. The sleepier he gets the less he plays with my fingers and the more he starts rubbing my arm- quickly then slowly until his hand just rests on my arm. When he is finally asleep he tucks his hands under his chin and he looks just like those ultasound pictures we got when I was pregnant. In those, he always had his hands near his face.

I also like it when Bailey and Nanny play the battle of wills. Bailey will start with babbling dadadada and Nanny will come back with nananana and it goes back and forth and with each turn Bailey's pitch gets higher and his voice a little angrier. I don't know if he actually understands what is going on, but it is so funny to watch him morph from a sweet almost singsong dadadada to a godzilla one.

September 7,2004

Wow, did Bailey have fun last night with Nanny. We had been in the car most of the day- taking Michelle back to the airport and shopping- and Bailey was tired of sitting all day. He wanted to be on the floor, moving around and playing. When we finally got home around nine, I put hium on the floor so I could go to the bathroom. When I came back Nanny was playing with him and he was having a ball. He was crawling around the room and Nanny was crawling after him saying "I'm gonna get a boy!!" Bailey was cackling and crawling as fast as he could go. They played like that for a long time until they were both pooped out and Bailey was ready for bed.

September 6, 2004

Bailey did the cutest thing this morning. He woke me up around eight and I had to go to the bathroom, so I put him in his crib. When I came back he was so content playing with a stuffed animal that he didn't even see me come back into the room. I watched him, from my bed, as he played shaking the animal amd chewing on it's tail. Then, bored with that, he started to crawl around and finding a comfortable space in the middle of the crib, sat up and started bouncing up and down on his butt all the while chanting "hu-ya hu-ya hu-ya". He sounded like a little Indian. Enough of that and it was time to pull up and blow raspberries on the crib rail until he noticed me and reached up with his arms to get out. It's so cool that he can entertain himself more and more everyday.

September 4, 2004

Lately Bailey has been standing up by himself and he doesn't even know it. Take today, for example, he had pulled himself up on one of the higher corner tables and was playing with a set of keys. He let go of both hands, stood for a few seconds and fell down as soon as he realized he didn't have any support. on the way down, he hit his head and started crying. Poor little boy!! He just needs a little more confidence, courage and leg strength and he'll be able to do it all by himself. Walking can't be that far behind. . . .

September 2, 2004

We went to have a family picture taken today. Mom has been harping on that for a long time, so I decided while Michelle was in and Bailey and I were in we would just do it. Bailey did so well, he loved the photographer lady and she didn't have totry very hard to illicit smiles from him. Only towards the end hwen he started to get tired and hungry did he actually make her work for the smiles.

Everyone says how friendly Bailey is, but in the back of my mind I keep thinking about separation anxiety and clinging to mom. Maybe he won't be like that though. As it is now he is only really clingy when he is tired and/or sleepy. Since i am the one who usually puts him to sleep, I guess he thinks I am the best one for the job.

September 1, 2004

Lately Bailey has been doing some really cute things. When his Nanny sings the song "Shake your Boooty" Bailey starts dancing. Or maybe it is more like shifting his weight from foot to foot, but it is darn cute. He is also practicing getting down when he pulls up. It goes like this, he pulls him self up on the coffee table cruises around for a while and gets bored. used to be he would just cry until someone came to his aid, but now he will just let go and fall back on his butt. Then he will repeat the whole process again. I guess practice makes perfect. He is also trying so hard to stoop down from a standing position to pick up a fallen toy. Sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't but that doesn't stop him from straining to do it. So cute!!