The Skinny on the Chubster

I wanted to write some of the things M has been doing lately.  I am always amazed at how quickly he grows and changes, but this past month in particular has been packed with milestones.  Well, maybe more than actually acquiring new skills he has really finessed old ones.  Seeing him move those little limbs with more coordination makes him seem so much older to me. 

Recently, M has loved to grab people’s noses.  He is constantly grabbing our faces with those cubby little hands of his.  He also loves to throw his hands up in the air when he gets excited.  When we talk to him in our most excited voices, he throws those arms above his head and waves them all around like he’s at a rock concert.  It’s pretty darn cute.  

M loves to suck on his fingers.  The middle finger and ring finger in particular.  He hasn’t used his pacifier in months (except for during take off and descent on the airplane to help his ears pop). 

Cutie Pie has been getting better and better at sitting up on his own.  And he has been trying harder to do it without help.  Often when we put him in his car seat he will lean forward as hard as he can so that his head is not touching the back of the seat.  He does this while he’s sitting in the stroller too.  He really wants to be able to balance and support his own weight. 

He continues to be a pretty quiet baby, but he does have times when he is a jabber box.  We LOVE it when he talks.  He seems most talkative when he is in his bouncer.  And sometimes he will sit on my lap and look up at me and talk and talk like he’s just telling me all about it.  I love those times.  I adore our “conversations.”

M just barely started doing this thing where he fusses with his lips pursed tightly together so that he makes a kind of humming noise. And man, our child can SCREAM.  He doesn’t do it often, but if he misses a nap or gets overly tired, our kiddo can blow the roof off the house with his hollering.  That is generally the only time M gets really upset.  He’s a pretty cheerful dude, but don’t even think about messing with his sleep schedule.  

One of his newest tricks is sticking out his tongue.  He is CONSTANTLY sticking his tongue out or sucking in his bottom lip.  He makes such adorable little faces. 

Cutie Pie continues to love all his solids.  He has tried a few different veggies now (green beans, squash, carrots, and peas) and has liked all of them.  I think mealtime is his favorite time of the day.  Like a true man.  He has a total fascination for watching us eat.  He watches every bite travel from plate to mouth and smacks his little gums like he would like a taste too. 

Second only to mealtime, M still loooooooves bathtime.  I think he would splash and chew on his rubber ducky all day long if we would let him.  He also loves when we sing “wheels on the bus.”  I have invented a dozen rather creative verses and accompanying actions because I get tired of the same old song every single time.  If M is upset, usually a few rounds of “wheels on the bus” or “popcorn popping” will happy him right up.  He continues to love peek-a-boo and likes to be the one to pull the blanket off his face.  He LOVES to dance while we hold him in our arms and spin about the room, or if we just hold him under the armpits and help him do a jig of his own. 

I suspect that M is maybe left handed because, so far, he has preferred doing things with primarily his left hand.  He almost always grabs objects with his left hand first.   

It’s interesting because I can already see a few things that M and I have in common.  I don’t know if any of it is learned from me versus just commonalities, but I like that we are so alike in certain ways.  For one thing, we both LOVE going on adventures.  It doesn’t matter where we are going, we just like to go.  M is at his very happiest when we are strapping him into his car seat or stroller.  And he is a total trooper when we are out and about.  He is perfectly content as long as we are on the go.  I am totally the same way.  It’s nice to get out of the house, even if it’s just to go to the grocery store.  We also both have a very small comfort zone when it comes to temperature.  And we both love people watching, but get a little shy when we are the center of attention.  M does not seem to like having lots of people crowding around him looking at him.  He will laugh and chat and sing all day long, but if he has an audience he totally clams up, just like me.  He does the same thing if he sees a camera.  Hence dozens of pictures of M’s serious face to one of his smiley face.  He’s just a bit camera shy. 

(I love this picture of him.  I know it’s a little blurry, but those big blue eyes KILL me.  Silly boy.)

We sure do love our little sweetheart! 

Avast Matey!

Yesterday was National Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Krispy Kreme observed the day by offering a free doughnut to anyone who remembered to talk like a pirate.  And they gave anyone who dressed like a pirate a DOZEN free doughnuts.  Well, you know us and our inability to pass up a good deal.  We donned whatever pirate garb we could scrounge up from costumes past and took the wee one along for an excursion to Krispy Kreme.   

No cuter pirate has ever sailed the seven seas! 

We walked away with 38 doughnuts (most of which we gave away to friends)!  We were most proud of our spoils! 

Oh and Spence did a little segment about our doughnut pillaging on the news.  You can watch it here. 

First Trip to the Beach

I was so excited to go to the beach I can’t even tell you! When I was growing up, our family would hop on over to the beach multiple times during the summer. I love sprawling out on the sand, riding the waves, and strolling along the pier. Summers simply aren’t the same here in ole’ landlocked Idaho. Even though I haven’t lived in California for over four years, I STILL can’t get used to a summer without the ocean. It’s my dream to live near the ocean again someday. I want M to have the summers I had growing up.

The weather was PERFECT. It was a hot day and the gloomy fog that often hangs over the ocean was nowhere to be found. Just lots of sunshine, not a cloud in sight.

I love these pictures I snapped of my sister and her little sweetheart. Ev looks so small in such a big world.

I love this one too. It’s like Ev is reaching for M and saying, “Come on cousin, let’s go on an adventure!”

Even though M looks a bit serious in these pictures, he really did like the water. He was fascinated by the waves splashing on his little toes. He seems to like the water more and more every time we take him swimming. Little fish.

My cute boys. M loved looking out at the water.

We all took turns boogie boarding while the others stayed on shore with the babies. Grandma and Grandpa watched M and Ev while the rest of us played in the water for a while. It was SO MUCH FUN! I hadn’t been boogie boarding in over a year. While I was out boarding, a fish brushed up against my leg and I screamed bloody murder because I had just been thinking about “Soul Surfer.” Not the best topic of thought when you are out on the water I suppose.

M with his Grandpa and Grandma:

I always laugh when I see pins for “perfect beach waves” on Pintrest. It kind of makes me think that anyone who thinks that you can get “perfect beach waves” has never actually been to a beach. Because the thing is, the humid, salty, beach air does TERRIBLE things to your hair. Most of the people at the beach have frizzy, fly away-y, crazy, hobo hair. Which is fine and all, it just makes me giggle.

When we got home, we turned on the jacuzzi to bathwater temperature and all hopped in the warm water to relax. The babies had so much fun splashing and kicking around. In fact, Mason splashed like he has never splashed in his entire life. He was having a total ball! It was so cute to watch!

First Trip to Disneyland

Last week, our family went on a little trip to California.  M has now been on four airplane rides!  He may be a young little squirt, but he is already quite the traveler.  He has been to as many states as he is months old (five)! 

Spencer and I ate some delicious cupcakes, and M gnawed on his giraffe while we waited for our plane.  M did great on the flight, he slept nearly the whole ride.  He continues to really like his car seat, so he was happy as a clam to hunker down and chew on Pluto’s nose until he fell asleep. 

We went to Disneyland and California Adventure on our first full day in California.  It was such a fun day spent with Grandma and Grandpa and the Satko clan (my sister and her family)!  We were off to kind of rough start when this really rude man sat next to us on the tram.  He took one look at M and then said to me, “Why on earth did you bring him?  He’s going to make your day miserable.”  I was kind of taken aback that someone would say something so mean at the happiest place on earth.  He then proceeded to lecture me on the stupidity of bringing a baby to Disneyland and criticize my ability to put little shoes on M for the duration of the ride.  And then he photo bombed our picture before going on his merry way.

I can kind of see maybe not wanting to bring a baby to Disneyland if you have never been before because it is a busy day for a wee one and they will probably tire out before you have seen everything.  Of course, M won’t remember this adventure, but that’s ok!  We aren’t going to wait until he is old enough to remember everything to take him to do fun things.  It wouldn’t have been half the adventure if Baby weren’t there with us!  Plus, all of our tickets were free, so it didn’t bother us that we weren’t able to do EVERYTHING. 

Even though his unkind words didn’t put us in the best of spirits, by the time we were inside the park I was already in a better mood.  And M proved that meanie wrong, he was a champ all day.  He had lots of fun going on the little rides and when he was tired, he just napped in his stroller.  All of us had a delightful day. 

We went to California Adventure first.  We walked through the new Cars Land; it was really cute!  We didn’t go on any rides in there because that was the most crowded part of the park, but it was fun to walk through.  Mason then napped in his stroller while we used the baby swap to ride tower of terror. 

Once M was up from his nap, we took the babies to the Bugs Life Land to ride some of the little rides. 

And then we went to the pier to ride the newish Toy Story ride.  M really liked that one.  He was rather fascinated by all the bright colors and loud sounds. 

Halfway through the day we headed over to Disneyland.  They had the CUTEST fall decorations up!  I love how they decorate for all the holidays.  I was walking through the park and exclaiming to Spencer, “I LOVE FALL! I LOVE LOVE FALL!”  Then Spence reminded me that I say that about EVERY season except for winter.  It’s very true.  I hate winter but get very excited about the other three. 

We got M some little mouse ears and I kind of died because of his cuteness.  I mean, look at those babies!  Is there anything cuter?

We gave M his first taste of cotton candy and he was in sugary heaven.  We recorded it because it was so dang cute.  What you don’t see is that M was crying right before he got his first taste.  But that sugary goodness happied him right up!  He only got a few tiny tiny bites, but he loved it. 

We had lots of fun riding more little rides in Fantasyland.  M was great until the Dumbos and then he pooped out.  You can’t see his little face, but he was slumbering as we soared through the air. 

There’s the whole group, minus M who was sleeping in his stroller by that point.  It’s funny to me that we look a bit more wilted than when we started the day.  It was HOT!  That’s why the babies get progressively more naked with every picture.  M started out with shorts, socks, shoes… but by the end of the day was just wearing a onesie.  It was just far to warm for clothing. 

It really was such a magical day, I want to go back real bad!