43 Weeks Old

Hello Darling Son,

I have many things to tell you about your growth and development during this week.

First I want to share that this week marks our fifth wedding anniversary.  I am happy to report that your father and I are quite in love and quite happy that we had four years of wedded bliss before you entered our lives.   We had six years of romance before we became parents, and I think this was important in  making our relationship so strong.  It is our goal to provide for you a loving example of true friendship, kindness, and selflessness through our relationship.

You turn when we say your name, unless you are having too much fun to stop your activity, and then you quickly look over your shoulder and then look away.  Its cool to know that you are aware of your name and our directions and listening to us.

You will notice that you are holding a toothbrush in these photos.  You love to brush your teeth! I assumed that babies did not enjoy dental hygiene.  I was wrong! You are delighted when you find your toothbrush and you remember exactly what to do!  We are still getting the hang of convincing you that its time to put up the tooth brush.  You love it so much!  You are pretty upset when we put it away, so we appease you by offering a hair brush or a spatula as a substitute.  Perhaps you will never have cavities in your teeth (your parents can boast good oral hygiene and good genetics... they didn't have cavities until after they were in college!).

You started to play Peek a Boo on your own this week!  You dad and I were folding laundry.  You picked up a pillow case and pulled it above your head.  You lowered it quickly and then put it back up.  When I said, "Peek a boo, baby!" you giggled.  We were stunned that you could initiate a game by yourself!

You will notice you are wearing a cloth diaper and a T Shirt in this photo.  This has been your "look" lately.  The temperature is hotter and with such fashionable diapers, I am okay to let you run around (crawl around) 

You haven't eaten much this week.  Its a result of being under the weather.  Your cough is very little and puny, and your nose is constantly running.  Its sad.  You also were contagious and gave your affliction to me!  I can tell you that it is MOST unpleasant.  My ears ache, my nose stings, and my muscles are sore.  It gives you so much sympathy for you, little darling!  While you've been sick, you only let me comfort you. You aren't relaxed when your dad holds you, which is a shame, because his embrance is very tender and comforting.

You have started to obey a really tough rule for you - no playing with the toilet!  If the bathroom door is open, you crawl inside and sit on the floor.  Even if it is dark in there, you just sit quietly in front of the toilet.  Your self control is pretty good!  You have spent as long as two minutes just sitting there patiently, waiting for us to notice your good behavior.  I scoop you up and tell you how proud I am for your good choice!

You had a few funny milestones this week.  You learned how to climb onto objects.  I have a small stair that is approximately 6 inches off the ground and one foot by two feet.  You climbed onto it and sat.  You sat and smiled and were pleased with your accomplishment. I gave you a toy and turned my back to do some work.  After some time, I heard little sighs and cries.  You started to get really upset!  You were on all fours and were trying to reach the floor.  When you could not, you became worried and afraid.  I had to teach you how to climb back down.  This was a tricky thing for you, and several times throughout the week I had to rescue you from your perch on the stair and on top of other objects.

We did a few things together as a family this week.  We attended one of your dad's softball games and we had dinner out at HyVee store on Saturday night. People commented on how sweet and adorable you were. You smiled and waved to them.  It was very precious.  When we arrived back home, you got very excited.  You pointed to the garage and made noises like "DAT".  You were pointing up to the garage door pull handle.  You love for us to let you reach for it and hang on to it.  It is so cool for you!  You do this with the ceiling fan pulls as well.  From start to finish, our trips out of our house with you are so much fun!

You are growing like a week, my boy, and I love watching it!

Love
Your Mama

32 Weeks

As you can see from these photos, it is increasingly more difficult to do these week photo shoots! I have to trick you by hiding the week sign behind the pillow, distract you with books, and permit you a pacifier to calm down!

  

Dear Baby:

Here are some highlights from your 32nd week on Earth.

You are interested in self feeding!  You fed four spoonfuls of cereal to yourself while at Douglas Grandparents' house.  You really got frustrated when I took spoon away from you to clean up!  You were a mess, but you did get some food into your mouth.  After this incident, I bought you some small cereal called puffs.  You tried to feed puffs to yourself, but you seemed disappointed by the taste. It is good practice for you to try these though.  You are pretty good at hand-eye coordination, but you do miss your mouth and hit your cheek with the cereal sometimes.

You've been getting a lot of bumps and crashes.  This is because you are so wiggly!  And so interested in crawling around the world. Usually you only cry if  a fall surprises you or  if it is REALLY painful.  Other times when you fall,  you don't cry out.  You immediately get back to what you were doing.  I think it is because you are anxious to get back to playing!

You've started to say Mom, mama and similar sounding words more regularly. Sometimes you will say dah, Dan, or Dad, too.

 You are regularly showered with kisses on your sweet cheeks. I often get kisses from you. You can give kisses on cue.  They are always wet and sometimes toothy or tonguey.  I will say, "Give kisses, baby!" and you often do!  You've given smooches to my mom, your dad's mom, my grandma, Aunt Rachel, your dad, me, and a few others.

This week you tried blueberries with apples and seemed to like them.  I wondered what greens you'd enjoy, so I bought some Gerber food for you.  You tried Spring Vegetables and loved them!  You've never finished an entire carton of baby food until you tasted the pea, bean, zucchini and rice blend!

We took many stroller walks this week.  You were joyful during each one.  You cooed and seemed to really take in the scenery. One morning it was very windy on our walk.The wind blew your face and he laughed as if you had been tickled.  You kept giggling at the wind and it was so precious.

On Thursday, many of your Landolt relatives were in town for cousin Amanda's final four basketball game.  It was your first chance in Mizzou Arena.  The buzzers and whistles and cheering crowds were a bit much for you.  You sought comfort in my arms. You were alert and curious, but I do not know if you enjoyed yourself.  You didn't smile too much.  It was so new to you.  Your grandma Becky was there, as well as cousin Tyler and a few other relatives.  They remarked at how large you've gotten!

On Saturday morning, your uncle came to visit. He brought a gift for you. Uncle Wes gave you your first pack of baseball cards.  He even opened them up for you and showed you the players.  He liked one card, an Albert Pujols Cardinals card.  You held it and smiled. We'll try to keep these in a safe place for you, and Uncle Wes said he'd buy more for you so you'd have a good collection one day. 

This week, you spent so much time with your fingers in your mouth touching your teeth. The are rising higher and higher each day! You seem to be puzzled by the small white squares on your lower gums and you bring so many objects in your mouth to bite.  Luckily, you haven't bitten your parents!

Other things you are doing also involve your mouth.  Its like you are gaining a whole new awareness of your mouth and your voice!  You are starting to blow on things (like your toys) to hear the sound your lips make on the materials.  You are also doing this buzzing of your tongue, which sounds like a terribly rude noise!  You think its hilarious so you do it a lot.  You also stick out your tongue and test out what sounds you can make with it over your lips.  You do make Indian chieftain noises frequently, too.  You are just really noisy these days! We joke that its time for you to be in the nursery since you've become disruptive to the sermon at church.

You know you are loved and safe with us because you show us affection and trust.  It is a very good feeling to know I've communicated those things as your mother.

I love you always.