June 2004

06/28/04

Tomorrow is Tommy's 5 month birthday!  Here are a few thoughts on the occasion.

• He's obsessed with the info tags on toys, clothes, anything really.  He turns toys over in his hands until he find the tag and then plays with it instead of the toy.  It's really exciting when something has two tags!  Then he can separate them and rub them together.  Very strange. 
• Speaking of strange, he's also obsessed with my hair.  He's always grabbed at it, but now he takes it much more seriously.   When he's nursing he often won't settle down until I lean forward so he can grab some hair.  Then he rubs it over his eyes and forehead until he falls asleep.  Hopefully he won't grow up to be like the "creepy thin man" in the Charlie's Angels movies.  
• He's become wary of strangers.  I can't just hand him to people anymore.  He needs time to warm up to them and even when he's started smiling at the new person he still wants to know where I am at all times.
• He can pick up things, hold them in either hand, pass things from hand to hand, and use a pincer grasp with his thumb and middle finger.
• He sits up well enough now to use the highchair, the new rear-facing car seat and the big kid stroller configuration.  He doesn't sit alone well enough to sit on the floor without a person behind him or to use the highchairs in restaurants.

Hee!  Send me your ideas for captions for this picture.  I'll re-post the picture in a week or so with all of your ideas (if I get any).  My caption..."David McEpp of the Clan McEpp (and son) descend from the highlands"  

06/27/04

I think this is a good picture of David.

This was Tommy's first ride in the stroller without the infant attachment.  He can sort of sit up well enough to use it this way, although he had slumped over by the end of our walk.  We need more of those ring/link thingies so we can hook more toys to this and the high chair. (BTW, Tommy looks a lot like baby Sally in this picture.)

06/25/04

Here are some pictures of the bedtime routine.

Bath time play with the red frog.

After bath, waiting for diaper and pjs

In pjs, reading just one book before nursing and then sleep.  David always sits in the other rocker through the book.  When David isn't home Tommy spends the whole time looking quizzically at the empty chair.

06/22/04

When Mommy came back in the room I'd rolled across the room and was exploring all the neat buttons on this DVD player.  Guess it's time to baby proof.

Big grin

See!  I do have two teeth (and drool a bit).

06/21/04

Tommy weighed 18 lbs 11 oz today.   Just thought you'd like to know. J  

06/20/04

Happy Father's Day!

Poor Tommy was so tired this afternoon.  

Playing with Daddy in his newly assembled highchair cheered him right up.  When I walked in the door after shopping for a Father's Day present Tommy was screeching with laughter -- the kind of over-the-top, hopped-up-on-goofballs laughter that occurs when a tired kiddo is tickled mercilessly by Daddy.

Big boy clothes from Uncle Benny.

06/16/04

Well, we're home and Tommy now has two teeth.  Teething may have made him a bit fussier, but the trip still went really well.  It was great to see Terry and Amy.  The wedding was lovely, of course.  We has a fun time visiting with all of the assorted wedding guests and family members.  Tommy seemed to be loved by all.  Our quick visit with Beth, Ray, Lily and Gregory was so very relaxing and fun.  Here is a selection of pictures from the last 7 days.  Sadly, we didn't manage to get a picture of Tommy with Terry and Amy.  I'm bummed about that.  I needed one for Tommy's Who Loves Baby? photo album.

Hotel room entertainment...

David was playing around with the camera.  I like the result!

Auntie Shirley

Aunt Martha and Aunt Justina (Aunt Phebe and Aunt Frieda were there too but we didn't manage to get a picture with them.  Sorry!)

The sisters (Sylvia and Shirley)

Cool Hat.  Fifteen minutes after this picture was taken in Churchville, NY Tommy flipped an entire glass of Root Beer all over me.  I was soaked and sticky and laughing very hard.

Tommy and Gregory.  Gregory is 5 weeks younger then Tommy and significantly leaner.  There are more pictures of the three kiddos on Lily's website http://lily.mearsplace.com/ and Gregory's website http://gregory.mearsplace.com/

Tommy, Gregory and Lily.

Babezilla and the Little Dude au natural (Tommy is swishing spit around in his mouth.) 

Tommy loved this kid's keyboard.  We'll have to get one.

Beth & Gregory  

06/09/04

Tommy has a tooth!  It's his left center bottom tooth.  I know I said I wouldn't post again until after the trip, but this news is too big to keep quiet.  It's barely visible, but I can feel the tip of it with my finger.  I discovered it yesterday when I put my knuckle in his mouth to gum.  Ouch!  Here's a picture to commemorate (of course you can't see the tooth yet). Oh, and all this tooth growing must be wearing him out because he slept from 8 pm last night to 7 am this morning.  J

06/06/04

David just left for a business trip in California.  He gets home Wednesday, and we're leaving for Terry's wedding (David's brother) on Thursday.  The wedding is in Warren, PA.  After the wedding we'll drive to Rochester to visit Beth, Ray, Lily and Gregory Mears.  We'll be home on Wednesday June 16th.  I'm telling you all this because I probably won't put up any more pictures between now and the 16th.  I should have lots of good ones to share after the trip though!  

I'm tickling his back and he's laughing.  The visual effect is somewhat spoiled by the hand in his mouth.

  More tickles.

06/04/04

I probably shouldn't say this because I'll jinx myself.  He seems to have figured out sleeping through the whole night, from 8 pm to 5 am.  He did it Mon-Wed last week and then we had three horrendous nights from Thurs-Sat.  It took me that long to figure out that the new "overnight" diapers I put him in on nights were really uncomfortable and keeping him from sleeping.  Stupid Mommy!  I switched back to his regular diapers Sunday night and he's slept all night long every night since then.  I guess he did wake up a lot Monday too, but there were fireworks going off for Memorial Day so that doesn't count. 

He's also figured out how to roll from front to back this week.  He now rolls both directions at will and can even roll multiple times to reach a toy...even if it's across the room.  It's made him a happier and less frustrated little boy.

It's almost impossible to get a smiling picture now since he's really perplexed by the camera.  He'll be giggling and grinning and then I pull out the camera and this face is the result.

Too bad this one is fuzzy.  He rolled over onto his stomach to reach the cloth book and is in the process of rolling back onto his back so he can chew on it in comfort.

06/01/04

Practicing sitting.

I was trying to get a picture of him sitting with his hands propping him up, but he fell over just as I clicked.

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