Tag Archives: crawling

8 Memories From My 8th Month Since Going Dad

Okay, things are getting interesting around here now! Just as I was hoping, Avery started crawling only a few days into her 7th month and now she’s as mobile as a mouse!

I’ve never heard of or used that saying before, but from what I see, mice can be pretty mobile. True?

Since she’s started crawling, we seem to see less of that demon of hers because now she will simply crawl to us if we walk out of sight. It’s almost been 6th months since I’ve actually left my job and become a full time stay-at-home dad, and I have been impatiently waiting for Avery to do more.

I’d say she’s definitely doing more, and it seems only a matter of time until she’s taking her first steps. Maybe in another month?

Walker in training.
Has anyone seen my other sock?

Once she gets that down, we’ll be doing burpees together in no time!

Lets start, shall we?

1. As I already proclaimed, you’ve become an official crawler, and WOW, you can really get places now! If Mommy or Daddy set you down and there’s a cord, cat, or dog in sight, your face lights up and off you go.

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Because of this, we are getting a great lower back workout from having to pick you up and set you back down elsewhere……or it’s just hurting more. We are extremely proud of how far you’ve come, Avery, and you continue to amaze us and steal our hearts every day.

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2. Now that you’re mobile, I no longer have to set you in your booster seat while I’m in my office the kitchen. All we need is to setup a couple barriers so you don’t wonder too far, and you just hang out in the kitchen. At times, you’ll get fussy, but as long as you have a toy/wooden spoon, you’re content for a while.

Practicing how to taste test on the spoon.
Practicing how to taste test on the spoon.

One thing that scares me is that you gravitate toward our feet and I fear the day we accidentally step on your precious fingers.

I just happened to want to be in this spot, promise.
I just happened to want to be in this spot, promise.

Hopefully that will never happen, but I apologize in advance if it does. This also makes me realize a major con to having leg hair since you like to practice climbing on anything! Yeah, I might have a few patches on my legs.

3. Mommy and I aren’t sure whether you like or have a personal vendetta out for your bear, but now that you can crawl, you’ve really been handing it to him. First, you “wrote” an instructional post on how to fight a bear, and then you had a rematch where your fight was caught on video.

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I got him, don’t worry.

Maybe you’ve grown tired of seeing him next to you the same time each month as we take pictures of your new monthly age. We’ll never know for sure, but the smile on your face and excitement you show when you make eye contact with your bear is priceless. Mom and I love watching you roll around and play so well!

4. Now that you’re getting better at eating those colorful veggies we put in front of you, we are making it a point to sit down as a family for dinner. I still have my different eating schedule where I eat my main meal after you go to sleep, but I have raw veggies to munch on while sitting down.

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You’re also really good at “finishing” everything we give you…..until we lift you from your seat to see you were sitting on everything! This makes the steamed broccoli a blast to clean, and we have a nice trail all the way to the bathtub every night as a result. Fine with us, we’re just happy to see you at least eating some of the healthy veggies so well!

5. I had seen baby activity/busy boards on Pinterest and knew I wanted one for you. One weekend, I brought you with me to the Home Depot to get supplies and a few days later, as you slept in a while, I put it together.

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I wasn’t sure how you’d like it, but I guess having door stops made it an automatic win!

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6. After seeing you begin to crawl, a light turned on in my head letting me know this meant it was time to build a fort! The Ninja Turtle blanket was a must, and I only hope we can enjoy the classic TMNT movies and cartoons one day soon.

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As you grow, I expect we’ll build more intricate fort structures and insist Mommy joins us immediately upon arriving home from work. Obviously, you’re never too old to play in a fort…

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7. Even though you had a tiresome day at G-Ma’s on the 4th of July, we were able to keep you up to experience your first Cliff Notes version of a fireworks show. The bright lights and sounds caught your attention, but a half smile was all you had left to give by the end of the day.

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The sun seemed to take forever to go down that day, and after we were able to let you see a few of the big blasts, we brought you in to take a bath and get some much needed rest.

8. And finally, after we’ve been thinking you had teeth coming in since you were 4 months, your first tooth has made an appearance!

Avery's First Tooth

Your top front right tooth is the most prominent, but we can see your two bottom front teeth emerging as well. That is, when you aren’t hiding them with your tongue and looking like you already had your wisdom teeth removed.

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It’s exciting, but you are also very cranky. I know it must hurt though, and we are hoping for the pain to go away fast. It looks like you are too…

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I don’t know if one of my memories at 9 months will be of you walking, but you can rest assured we’ll work with you every “step” of the way.

Avery, we love you so much dear and we can’t say it enough. Therefore, we’ll just keep saying it over and over…..and over. We love you and are so proud of everything you do. Even if it’s poop 4 times in a day!

Do you have any favorite memories of your growing child? I’d love to hear other’s stories if want to share.

Our Baby Gives a Tour of the Kitchen

Hey there! How’s it going? Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

We are hanging at G-Ma’s house for a second night, and enjoying each other’s company as Avery keeps everyone entertained. Now that she’s crawling, things are definitely more interesting, and it’s hard to keep up with this girl! What happens when they start walking?

Walker in training.
Walker in training.

 

Maybe we should look into those leash and harness contraptions….

The other day, while I was in my home inside our home, the kitchen, Avery wanted to give a pictorial tour of our kitchen and dining area. I told her no at first, but then she turned on her super cuteness and I caved…

But don't you love me, Daddy?
But don’t you love me, Daddy?

And so the tour ensued. Enjoy!

Oh, hi there, welcome to our kitchen! As you can see, behind me is the fridge and freezer. It’s nice and silvery; perfect to see my fingerprints on!

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And right here is the oven, where Daddy does his baking and roasts a lot of vegetables.

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It’s also silv…..oh hey, look, I can see myself!

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Pretty cool, I can see other things too. So shiny….

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Huh? Oh yeah, the tour. Sorry, I love seeing myself.

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And this right here, is one of our two bar stools for the island. Mommy sometimes holds me as she tries to eat, but I play a game called “grab everything and shake it while making your body go straight”. So far, I’m winning.

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I also like to practice pulling myself up on it like this…

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But I’ll save that for later, let’s move on to the dining room.

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Here is our dining room. This is where we sit down to eat at night and I…..oh, it’s Lou, our fat cat.

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Let me just go try and grab some of his hair out really fast.

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Nope, wait, stay right there, Lou.

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There you go, hold that tail still and I’ll be right there.

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Well crap, he didn’t listen.

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If I can just make it over this electric cord to Lou…

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Oh, and here we are back at the start. I guess Daddy didn’t want me giving any more of the tour.

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Thanks for visiting, that makes me happy. Until next time, hope you have a great weekend!

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I Hope She Likes Ninja Turtles and Forts

Did you know the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles originated in a comic book? They were created as a way to parody 4 popular comics of the 1980’s. Just your interesting fact of the day; you’re welcome.

If you’ve been reading my blog or following any of my social media outlets recently, you know Avery has “turned in” her rolling skills in exchange for crawling. Yes, this means more work for Going Mom and me, but it’s also exciting since it means more playtime during the day!!

We still can’t wrestle or run around the house as I chase her down with the “tickle birds”, but her crawling means that time is coming soon!

Wrestle?
Wrestle?

Turtles are a big thing in our family, hence Avery’s newborn pic in a turtle crochet as my blog header, and our home has several turtle toys, blankets, and stuffed animals spread throughout. If she grows up hating them, I’ll know we went overboard, but hopefully that’s not the case. Hey, her first encounter with our pet box turtle, Tash, went well, so I’d say things are going in the right direction so far.

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As a kid growing up in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were (I think they still are) awesome! Somehow, Nickelodeon has managed to take over the TMNT franchise and have butchered the way they look and act which really pisses me off. Despite this, I stand true to being a Ninja Turtle fan, and hope to impart my “turtle love” on to Avery.

The original.

Even as Kelley is trying to sound out “momma” and “papa” for Avery’s first words, I’ll throw in “turtle” for an impartial first word. If she says “turtle” first, there’s no animosity for her saying “mom” or “dad” first; win-win!

I don’t even know what to say…..

Man, if only I kept those original Ninja Turtle action figures from my childhood; the ones in stores now just aren’t the same. Please tell me I’m not alone here. Any other original TMNT fans who are disgusted with what they are now?

Sorry, had to rant a little, back being a parent……kinda.

Another thing I’m looking forward to is building forts with Avery. Another childhood (and parenthood!) must is having a fort to let the imagination run free. When you build a fort, it can be King Arthur’s castle or a space station from the future; both cool things, by the way.

Yesterday I figured I’d try and combine my two hopeful desires by quickly making a fort with her new playpen and a big box along with a Ninja Turtle blanket for the door.

I know, this is the Nickelodeon version; I work with what I have!!
I know, this is the Nickelodeon version; I work with what I have!!

Not much to look at, but it’s perfect for her first fort encounter. Or so I thought….

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I sat her down, proud of my turtle themed structure, and watched in anticipation for her to crawl into the fort. And then I waited, and waited a little more; nothing.

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“Oh, duh.” I thought, “She doesn’t realize she can crawl through the blanket yet, I’ll just put her in there myself.”

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She wasn’t impressed.

Get. Me. Out!!!
Get. Me. Out!!!

I helped her out of the enclosure and continued watching her in hopes that she’d come around and heed my efforts, but her fussing simply increased with each passing moment.

#fortfail

It was right around naptime, so I’m telling myself that’s the only reason for Avery not immediately taking a liking to awesomeness that is what I’m deeming the “Cowabunga Fort”. My efforts shall not be thwarted, and you can rest assured I’ll continue trying. Just like our baby-led weaning experience, I’m sure she’ll catch on and “take a bite” after several attempts.

Kelley is not totally signed on to Avery playing with Ninja Turtles, not because they’re labeled as a boy toy, but because she just doesn’t like them herself. Fine with me, now I have two girls to convince Ninja Turtles are totally tubular, dude!

We both believe toys should not be gender specific, and try hard to surround Avery in a variety of things colored more than just the typical pink. If we had a boy, I’d like to think I would be perfectly fine with him playing with a doll. After all, playing with dolls is not about being a girl, it’s about taking care of another person, about developing social skills, learning body parts, and so much more.

Read more about how beneficial it is for both boys and girls to play with dolls here. I found this link in another blog from the guest poster, Torsten Klaus. The blog is FromaDaddy, and I suggest you check it out as he shares great stories about his life with two children and one wife.

What’s your opinion on gender specific toys?

Were you raised to only play with toys geared towards your gender?

How do you feel about the Ninja Turtles operated under Nickelodeon vs. the orginal?