Milestones Galore!

Robin has done so many amazing things, I figured I needed to update this before there are too many to list.

First off, he's got teeth! The front two bottom ones sprouted on July 8th and 15th.

He did very well for the first one, though he had a rough day with the second. It probably added to his discomfort that we were up in Breckenridge with Dean's parents at their timeshare. Teething while away from home was a bit rough on the little guy. But he's a trooper, and made it through!

He has also recently begun standing up on his own! He started using objects that were low to the ground, and he would kind of lean over the object while he got his feet under him. But now he can pull upright using objects that are higher up. And even more recenlty (since I began writing this post yesterday, in fact) he has learned to stand up using a flat surface, like a wall!

He even has begun the bare minimum of cruising, although the most he's moved so far is about a foot.



And now for the most amazing feat that Robin has accomplished recently: he has figured out how to climb stairs! It follows well on the heels of standing up, I guess. We tried to see if he would follow a toy up, and he did.

There are seven steps from the landing up to our living room, and he has gone up that flight of steps several times now. I also sat two steps down while he played at the top of the stairs, and after I caught him a few times as he started to tip down, he seemed to understand that going down stairs means falling, and wouldn't try to go in that direction anymore. Not that I'm going to stop using the baby gate, by any means!

Robin's 4th of July sparkler
Train rides in Breckenridge and at Belleview Park

ROBIN IS CRAWLING!!!!!!!

That's right, CRAWLING! It first happened on Saturday when my parents were playing with him on the floor and he tried to grab my mom's camera. She moved it away from him and he followed!

Hip, hip, HOORAY! We've tried to put toys just out of reach before, and we've shown him how to crawl, and tried to help him move his limbs, but on Saturday it finally all clicked. Now we have to be a lot more careful where we leave things--it's time to finish babyproofing.

Just two days before, he mastered the concept of getting into a sitting position by himself. He's really advancing like crazy these days. Last week, it seems like he fell over from a sitting position more often than usual, so I'm thinking that he was probably trying to figure out the stomach/sitting transition and crawling and was falling because he wasn't quite getting it yet. That's my theory, anyway. He's got it now!

We had a good time on Father's Day. "Robin" got Dean a shirt that says "Super Dad" and a matching onesie for himself that says "Super Baby." We had my parents and Dean's brother over for a bbq (the rest of Dean's family was out of town, so we had them over this weekend instead.) It was a pretty casual day and we also played some games on our new Nintendo Wii. It was fun to have some games we could get our parents interested in playing.

Robin and I went to the zoo last week with my friend Christin and her two kids. It was fun and we got WET! It started pouring rain about a half hour before we were planning on leaving. We hid under a canopy for a while and then finally decided to brave the elements to get back to our cars and leave.

He's also learned to splash in the bathtub. You can see the ripples he's made. Just like the ripples he's made in my life and heart. (awww, sappy!)

More of Robin

Robin is still growing and developing like crazy. He still hasn't learned to crawl forward, but his scooting backwards is very fast and more controlled now. He can also scoot forward while sitting upright, although that takes a bit more time. He can entertain himself pretty well and loves to have the freedom to move himself around.

I finally caught some of his babbling on video!!! For your viewing pleasure:

At the beginning of June, we attended the first birthday party of Gavin, the son of one of Dean's coworkers. Here they are together on the merry-go-round. It was fun, and showed us what we have to look forward to (babies on sugar highs!!!)

At the end of May, we went bowling to celebrate my birthday. Robin had fun playing with a bowling ball and chilling with his Grandmas (who were party poopers and didn't bowl!)

While at the bowling alley, Robin pushed himself to a sitting position from his stomach for the first time! However, this is a feat that has yet to be repeated at home.

Here is Robin playing with Zax, the teddy bear my Aunt Catherine made for him.

No, this photo wasn't faked. Robin has used the toilet! Granted, Mommy and Daddy (mostly Mommy) are the ones who are toilet trained at this stage, but when we notice he's going or about to go, we get him to the toilet like a big boy!

We also finally started using cloth diapers mostly full-time (just not while out on long outings where we expect to have to change him.) I'd been intending to do that since before he was born, but it took me a while to get my butt in gear. But now he's Eco-Baby!

Last week, we had Robin's friend Christian and my friend Vanessa over for a few hours. It was good to get the boys together now that they're a little older and can interact more.

We let them play in the giant Hoberman Sphere.

Solid foods are progressing pretty nicely. He's had both rice cereal and oatmeal and several fruits and veggies. I had been giving him cereal twice a day and a fruit or veggie once, but now I've started mixing up his meals so he'll have more than one item at each meal. In addition to the pureed stuff he's also had small pieces of blueberry and watermelon. The only thing he's rejected completely so far has been the homemade rice I made for him. :( But since I made a good amount and froze it, we're trying it mixed with other things in small doses to try to get him used to it. I think he may have rejected the rougher texture more than anything else, which he'll get used to. This video is of the first time he tried bananas. Even though he made the faces, he still kept opening his mouth for the food, and now he likes bananas. Enjoy!

"Mama," "Dada," and other milestones

Our vacation was a big time for Robin, he hit several milestones while we were gone.
The biggest, for me anyway, was that he started babbling "Mama!" It's so cute! He doesn't seem to be associating me with the words yet, but he said it!

He's also thrown some other consonant sounds in there, and a few days ago he managed "Dada" too! He also said what sounded like "Daddy" last night. Unfortunately, he's just as camera shy about babbling as he was about cooing, so I don't have any good videos of either. He babbles a little in this video, but the big thing to see here is him rolling over from his back to his tummy (which he does all the time now.)

Another thing he did while we were on vacation is we think he is doing the sign language for "milk." We're not 100% sure (the context isn't always correct, but usually is) but we think that's what he's doing. So he's begun to communicate!

He got to go swimming for the first time on vacation! The first day, he kept splashing himself in the face and then looking around to see who was splashing him--it was cute! We took him down the kiddie water slide too, and we went to the pool several times. He never fussed, so while he often seemed unsure of the water, he didn't hate it!

He is so close to crawling now, as you can see below. He's getting up on his hands and knees more (though it helps if he's backed up to something solid like a wall) so pretty soon he ought to be able to master the concept of moving forward. We have the baby gate up over the stairs, so at least he can't take a big tumble.

Hiking with Daddy

Creeping

We celebrated our first Mother's Day at the Zoo on Sunday. We probably tried to do too much, but we still had fun. We got a wheelchair for Virginia this time, so she didn't get worn out walking all over the place.





Robin is developing so fast! (sniff) He's rolling over easily in both directions now, and will do each several times while playing. Most of the time when I go to take him out of his crib, I find him on his stomach (and he always goes down on his back.) I'm expecting him to crawl very soon. Currently he pushes himself up on his arms and then slides backwards. I don't think he quite realizes that he could control where he goes, since he pushes himself away from his toys and then fusses about it. Pretty soon, though, he'll get those knees under him and then Look Out! We're somewhat babyproofed... although the biggest issue is keeping the living room clean (since excess stuff on the floor isn't necessarily safe.)



On my birthday we went to Cherry Creek reservior with one of my friends and her kids (ages 3 and 1.) Robin got his first taste of the beach. He kept pulling his feet out of the water when I dipped them in (I guess the water was too cold.) I was amazed at how many bugs there were. We thought they were mosquitos, but since neither Robin nor I came away with any bites, they must've been something else. It was nice to get out and spend some time with other people.