Walk Like a Toddler

Okay so lil guy is down for his morning nap and I have a few precious moments to write a little something. So he is ten months old by two days and the boy is walking!!!! I am so exhausted already. He runs me ragged... and as I am writing this our nearly 14 year old dog made me get up and move on the couch so he could have the corner. Those eyes... those eyes, I don't stand a chance when Ethan gets older do I? Sometimes you just have to be willing to compromise. Tee Hee

So back to our walking 10 month old... yes you heard me correctly, he is ten months old! He sticks his arms out and goes for it... he looks like baby Frankenstein on the move. He is very very good at it and has no fear. The thing I love about him walking is the sense of accomplishment and excitement he gets on his face when he reaches his destination. There are times now where he walks from one room to the next and doesn't even blink an eye in doing so. The other day his daycare teacher told Mama T that he is their most active child and she doesn't know how we keep up with him! He is in to everything now.

Well we don't know how we keep up with him either... ha ha ha...that is the value of having them young I guess. So what experiences have you had with babies and walking?

Man slaps strangers crying child

I know this is a few days old, but, can you believe this? A man decided in Stone Mountain, Georgia decided it was okay to slap a woman's child because she was crying in a WalMart store. He apparently walked up to her and told her he could make her daughter be quit if she couldn't and then walked off. Moments later... he walked up to her 2 year old daughter and slapped her at least four or five times across the face. He then had the audacity to tell the mother... see I told you I could get her to shut up.

Is there ever a time this is appropriate in today's society? Is there ever just cause to discipline a strangers child in public? I know what my thoughts on this topic are, but what do you think about it?

If he had done that to my child... we both would be seeking bail money.

And besides this... what is going on in the state of Georgia? I think we are heading in rewind instead of fast forward... oh my. We need to be looking to another state and soon!

Dr Ethan and Mr Poopy Pants; Is Cutting Teeth Making Your Baby Mad?

Our baby is always so sweet and friendly-hardly anything gets him down.  He's a great sleeper and a voracious eater, as mentioned in a previous blog.  All of this is true until he begins to cut his teeth.  His whole demeanor changes from happy go lucky to go f%^k yourself.  Now, I didn't mean to be ugly just then but last night I woke up with his feet in my face (because he refused to sleep in his bed, another symptom of his chompers).  He has been dealing with this since he was three months old, but he only just got his first teeth two weeks ago!  All the pain and none of the glory I guess.  Well, he had finally gotten over that bout, back to sleeping, eating, and in a good mood when the one on the top decide to make it's move.  There is no planning for this-one day everything is great and the next he's eating the coffee table.  Now, the coffee table is old but it's kind of disconcerting watching your child eating furniture.  We have tried Tylenol, Motrin, homeopathic teething tablets (these actually do seem to work), day and night time Orajel, teething rings (frozen, refrigerated, and room temp), washcloths, our keys (not by our choice), cat toys (ditto), his toys, paper, teething biscuits, books, frozen waffles, Popsicles, all of the remotes, his thumb, and OF COURSE his multitude of pacifiers!

Do we really need teeth?  Plenty of babies, mountain folk, and Shoney's waitresses seem to get along just fine without them.  I mean, there are lots of things that you can gum and get along just fine (everything can be blended people!  You can cook and crush all 500+ recipes from the Joy of Cooking and not fret that you might loose the flavor of your aspic).  You go through teething and for what?  Years of going to the dentist, which I would like to remind is also painful.  I'm just asking you to think about it people!  Teeth are not your friends!!  Unless they're attractive.  Then they make you look good and that's all that counts (sorry mountain folk!). 

For the Love of Food

Okay... I know it has been a while since we have written, but you all know how life is. Anyway... here is my question, should I be worried at the amount of food our little guy eats. It seems these days I could stick cardboard on his highchair tray and he would eat it!

Does he even have taste buds to taste what he is putting in his mouth? The boy loves food. I am thinking I am going to have to go out and definitely get a second job just to support his eating habits... ha ha ha! I remember what is was like for my mom when my brother was in the house. I would constantly see her at the grocery store.

He isn't quite ten months old yet and seems to just want to eat and eat and you guessed it eat some more. His favorite things include Vanilla Wafers, cantaloupe, cherrios, pancakes, toast, potatoes, Gerber cheese puffs, green beans, biscuits, corn bread, cooked pasta...is anyone seeing a pattern here? The boy loves carbs and starches already! He is a good Italian already... I need to get that boy some rice, so he can experience his other side of his heritage.

He still eats his pureed foods also and loves the veggies and the fruits. The only meat we have tried him on is pureed chicken by Gerber. We are trying to keep him off meats as long as we can. Don't know why exactly other than to say we just don't know if he is ready for them... I am sure I will get a call from my mom about this post... tee hee Love you mom!!! Besides... he only has two teeth on the bottom and what can you chew with those?

Has anyone else noticed that there is not a tremendous amount of help out there for trying to figure out the baby diet and what to feed them and when? It is nuts!!! We have just been trying to see what he will eat and what he won't eat and to be quite honest, we have not found a lot he won't eat! I have even had to dig a few pieces of dog food out of his mouth every now and then... that boy is quick!

So now I am on a search to find some baby food suggestions... I am definitely going to try and give him some tofu for protein even though their is not a lot of taste to it. Anyone have any other suggestions...

Labor Causes a Brain Drain

Why is it I feel as if I have been abducted and probed lately? Does the feeling of being totally overwhelmed ever go away after birthing a child? My brain has so much stuff going on in it that it reminds me of the kid in Charlie and Chocolate Factory that just had to get himself shrunk and put into the TV.

Well my brain and every thing in it are those floating particles in the air prior to being all put into the TV as the boy, but the unfortunate thing is that my brain particles never formulate back into anything productive it seems.

Is this a common thing for new moms or does it come from being full-time mom with a full-time career?