Sutter

Hey everyone! I got a new skill I’ve been working on, and I’m very proud of myself about it! Yesterday I showed my folks that I can sit upright all by myself for like up to 15 seconds! Sitting up is pretty awesome - and the best part of all is that you can totally mess with your mom by staying upright just long enough for her to grab the camera, and then toppling over to one side as soon as she gets it good and steady. (I’m a little trickster!). My new upright posture also makes it possible for me to take baths in my bath seat in the Big Kid Bathtub! Cool, huh? The Big Kid tub is really fun - you can stay in there a while and Mommy lets you splash around and make lots of noise! Mommy also says that when I am bigger, I get to take baths together with Decker! Can’t wait!

Hi everyone! Today I am six months old - happy birthday to me! To celebrate, I believe I will have some yummy strained carrots for dinner. Mmmmm! No teeth yet, but probably soon! Bet my mommy can’t wait.

Hi everyone! A couple of days ago I told you all that I was close to scootching - well, mission accomplished! Yesterday I decided I was getting really tired of just hanging out on the blanket and having to roll everywhere to get where I wanted, whether it was over to my big brother or to one of his books (which I am constantly trying to get my chubby little mitts on). Anyway, I decided to finally start using my arms along with my legs, and now can scootch  across the room with a galloping galumph! It’s a lot of fun, and I basically keep doing it (even though my mom keeps grabbing my legs and pulling me back to the other side of the blanket to start all over again) until I wear myself out! As a result, I am falling asleep quickly and deeply - I need my power naps to energize for the next few laps! I am determined to catch up with Decker as soon as I can - watch out everybody, here I come!

Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I last checked in, but boy oh boy have I been a busy little bee! First of all, I’ve been GROWING like a weed - I had my latest check-up last week and I have gained another 2 lbs and another 2 inches! The doctor told my mom that I’m in the 95% for height and the 50% for weight, so it looks like there’s gonna be TWO tall boys running around the house in a few years! (Mommy says that’s good, b/c we’ll be able to lift things down from the shelf for her).  I was a brave boy at the doctor’s office, and my big brother kept me company and told me it would be ok, so when they gave me three shots in my legs (ow!!!), I only cried a little and then I calmed right down and fell asleep. Because Decker was so nice to help me, I let him pick out my toy from the treasure box and let him keep it until I can play with it. I do that with lots of my stuff.

What else? Well, I’ve added some new foods to my dinner repetoire! Now I get to have rice cereal every night, matched with some kind of veggie. So far I’ve had green beans (meh), sweet potato (mmm) and squash (YUM! Gimmee MORE). Tonight, Mommy says we’ll try peas. Daddy says he’s sorry.

I have been continuing to roll all over the place, and my neck is super strong now, so I can hold myself up on my forearms when I’m on my tummy, and Mommy can carry me on her hip no problem! (We travel around the house a lot like that). Best of all, I have discovered that if I stick my tush up in the air and bend my knees and then kinda move my bottom half of my body forward, I can scootch! It’s not the most efficient means of locomotion just yet, as I still haven’t quite figured out the coordination of my upper body to correspond with the caterpillar action of my lower half. So, I basically end up pushing forward on my face, getting my arms pinned, wriggling them loose, squawking, smiling, then starting all over again. It’s really quite exciting though - and my mom and dad seem pretty psyched to watch it! Hey, I aim to please!

My big brother is still the coolest guy in town. He makes me laugh and grin huge gummy baby grins and I desperately want to be 3 years old already so I can go play with him. I’m big enough now to play in my exersaucer (’bouncy bounce’), and he will come over and keep me company so that’s neat. He just seems to know everything about EVERYTHING, and he likes to play with me, and we are best good buds. He reads to me a lot and gives me toys and likes to come check on me when I am sleeping. (Although Mommy tries her best to discourage that - I’m not sure why? He always wakes me up - what’s wrong with that?).

Well, tomorrow we are going to a big place called the aquarium for Daddy’s birthday - Decker says it will be fun and we’ll see penguins - cool! Check you all later!

Hi everyone! Well, as I mentioned in my previous post, I am now 5 months old, which means that my mom and dad said I was now old enough to try rice cereal for the first time! Mommy says she figured it was about time, because everytime she waved food in front of me I would try to lunge for it! (Especially apple pieces!). I was hoping my first meal would be something cool like the stir fry veggies I see my folks munch on regularly, but apparently you need teeth for stuff like that. Being still just a gummy little guy, I got stuck with rice cereal with formula. But you know what? It’s good! I got to sit in my very own big boy high chair, wear a brand new bib and use a brand new baby spoon, and my mom fed me while my big brother hovered around excitedly and kept asking me how I liked my ‘Sutter Cereal’. Dad videotaped and photographed the event - I guess everyone was pretty psyched for me! At first I didn’t know what I thought about this new substance being served to me, but pretty soon I was opening up my mouth like a happy baby bird and asking for more! I can’t wait to try the next entree - reportedly, it will be squash or sweet potato! Mmmmm…

Hi everyone! Well, technically I won’t be 5 months old until next Tuesday, but what the heck! This past week I have just really gotten the hang of this rolling thing, and it is my favorite thing to do! If you put me on the floor, I will roll and roll and roll until I either wedge myself really good under a piece of furniture, or get picked up by someone and placed back at my starting position all over again. It’s a great way to get around - if I spot something or someone I want to get to, I just roll on over until I hit my desired destination! Mommy says she wants to cover me in swiffer cloths, so I can help dust while I’m at it!

I have also pretty mastered those things called my hands - they are awesome! You can use hands to grab anything you can reach/pick up, and then unless a grownup curbs your style, you can then place said object in your mouth! Also great fun: when you within reach of a grownup’s face - you can reach out and tweak their nose and pull their hair! How cool is that? When nothing else is around to grab, I am also always very content to just grab my own ear and pull on that as well!

So, I live with my mommy, daddy and a WAY excellent big brother named Decker. Mom and Dad are nice and all, but I really only have eyes for my brother. He is super funny and plays with me all the time - and he was the first one to make me really and truly giggle out loud! (He was jumping on the bed and dancing, and I thought - understandably - that that was HILARIOUS). He brings me toys and pacifiers and tries to get me to talk to him and always wants to help - pretty sweet, huh? So the best part is that now, I have graduated from my bassinette in my folks’ room and am now sharing with Decker! Yup, I’m out of the ‘rents place and am now sharing a pad with my best friend! He seems psyched about the arrangement as well, which is good!

The sun has been out more and so we have been going outside (well, I hang out on my mom’s front in a snugli) so Decker can play. I like being outside, except lately there’s all this green dust flying around and it makes me sneeze and sniffle! So we have to keep it kinda short. But my dad says that’s a temporary thing and pretty soon we’ll get to stay out a lot longer. Yay!

Have a good weekend everyone! Hope you all get to grab a nose or two!

So big brother got to go and see a really cool parade last night. I was stuck at home with Daddy last night. Woo Hoo! All we did last night was to have staring contests, and Daddy can’t win a staring contest if his eye lids were taped open! Lame! I can’t wait to walk so I can join them for the parade next year!

As a side note, I’ve developed a sense of humor. I will now laugh when surprised or when I’m tickled. I didn’t think this was a very big deal, but mommy and daddy sure seem to enjoy making me laugh. I guess I’ll humor them for a while!

Peace out!

S.

Hi everyone! Well, as my mommy said to daddy on the phone this morning: “Houston, we have a paradigm shift!”. Yup, as of Thursday, Jan 18 2007…I can now roll from my tummy onto back. I’ve only done it once, but it completely took my mommy by surprise! Especially because I did it quite easily, right after she had set me down on a blanket for tummy time. I just rolled on over onto my back, easy as you please, like “hey, no big whoop - just felt like looking up at the ceiling for a while…”.

I am officially 2 days away from 3 months old, if anyone is keeping track. I’m quite pleased with myself!

Mind you, I’ve only done it once so far - after that, Mommy tried to capture my new trick on camera, and I decided at that point I would rather cry. So you’ll have to take my word for it - but I’m sure I’ll try it again really soon, just when the mood takes me!

Hi everyone! Happy 2007! I have no idea what that means, but my mom and dad tell me this is a new year! What the heck is a year? I’m still getting used to the idea that there is a day and a night! (One means more light, and everyone is dressed; the other means it is dark, and mommy stumbles around trying to change my diaper and nurse me).

Anyway - it’s been a little over a month since I checked in, and I have lots to share! Biggest thing so far? I can navigate my thumb into my mouth all on my own! And I can do it with both hands! Sometimes I still prefer a pacifier (especially when I am trying to settle to sleep), but I am super duper fascinated with these thumb things. I will slurp away quite noisily and contentedly - good times, I tell ya! Mommy tells me that she and Daddy gave me a matching pair of hands and feet, but I’m not so interested in the feet, yet. They’re all the way at the bottom of my legs, and not very accessible, and I can’t use them to do much more than kick, anyway. So for now - yay hands!

My vision is improving lots, too! I can see much better now, and if you lean down to my face and give me a chance to register your presence, I will give you a big gummy smile! I also like to talk - I can coo, aah, and ‘eh’ with the best of them! I have a lot to say, although when the grownups answer me I think they may be losing something in the translation. I’ve been trying to espouse my opinions on world events, string theory, and the like - and they keep answering with coments like, “Yes, that IS a bright light! Oh - are you looking at the stripes on my shirt?” etc. Grownups - they’re so cute!

My big brother Decker is a lot of fun - he is very loud! He will come over and look at me and try to talk with me - I think he makes more sense than the grownups! He brings me my pacifier and my blanket, and now he tells me “I love you so much, Sutter!” and kisses me on the head. Cool, huh? I respond by staring at him intently. He lets me listen in when it’s story time before his nap, and I let him play with my toys in return. Good deal!

I was starting to sleep longer through the night, but now I think I must be going through a growing spurt, ‘cuz I’m eating a lot again! Maybe I’ll be ready to go play on the slide with big brother soon!

I’m almost 3 months old, and I still think things seem pretty interesting and exciting - can’t wait to see what else I discover over the next few weeks! Later skaters!

Hi everyone! Yesterday was my 6 week check-up at the doctor’s office, and I was a very good boy, even though I had to get THREE shots! Ouch! They gave me cute bandaids, but that didn’t really make up for the OUCH factor that came with them! Mommy was really nice and cuddled me after, and that calmed me a little bit. But it still hurt!

Anyway - I’d noticed over the past few weeks that anytime someone picked me up, they would say something like, “Did he grow overnight? He’s bigger since I last saw him, which was only 2 days ago!”. Well, it turns out that YES I did essentially grow overnight! At my 2 week check-up, I was 8 lbs 1 oz, and 21 inches. Yesterday, only 4 weeks later: I was 11 LBS, 23 INCHES! I gained 3 lbs and 2 inches in one month! What can I say, I’m a good eater! Mommy and Daddy says that explains why I’m already wearing bigger size clothes!

I was declared ‘very healthy’ by the doctor. The only thing I’ve had is this nasty congestion that I got from my big brother. Poor Decker came home from school with a really bad cold, and he gave it to us! But I can’t take medicine yet, so all my folks can do is have me sleep in my car seat with a humidifier aimed at my head, and then they keep using this thing called an aspirator (but everyone in our house calls it the ‘microphone’), which they jam in my nose to help me get rid of all the congestion. NOT FUN! But…I do breathe better afterwards, so ok.

There is a big tree in our house now! With pretty lights on it! I didn’t know trees could grow inside, but you learn something new every day!

Have a good week! Sniff Sniff!