July 2009 - Recap

Dear Nataroo,
July was quite the month for you, my little love. Your personality has really started to show, and let me tell you something, munchkin - you are one goofy kid (though given your parents, you never stood much of chance to not be goofy). And I'm almost positive that July was your last immobile month. How I'll miss you being immobile ...

Speaking of, you now can get up on all your hands and knees. You rock back and forth with such determination, but you haven't quite figured out the whole left-knee-right-hand and right-knee-left-hand combination. But that doesn't stop you from going places. Oh no. You have no problem going from Point A to Point B. It may not be in the most efficient or most graceful manner, but you get there.

You love to munch on your toes (and you love to munch on mine, too - you'll have to stop that because my toes aren't nearly as clean as yours).

You seem to be physically unable to remain still for more than three seconds. You're ALWAYS moving. Gramma Lu doesn't remember me being like that. And Nana doesn't remember Daddy being like that. So where did you get the notion that being calm and/or stationary is terribly uncool?

July brought you into the world of solid food. And you haven't looked back since! We've given you butternut squash, sweet potato, banana, and avocado. And as shown by your impossibly deep fat rolls, you think solid food is fantastic. I usually give you a veggie after your morning nap and some oatmeal after your afternoon nap. You get so excited when I put you in your high chair. You open your mouth and start squawking.

Speaking of squawking. WOW. You are an incredibly noisy baby. Lately it's been runs of "Bababababababababababa" or "Dadadadadadadadadadada". And if we're not watching you while you're mid-squawk, your "Bababababababababababa"s and "Dadadadadadadadadadada"s quickly become BABABABABABABABABABABABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" and DADADADADADADADADADADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA". You love an audience, you little ham.

You're also a ham on the Jumperoo. You don't mind jumping if nobody's watching you - but you're much happier if all eyes in the room are on you. If you see you have an audience, your face lights up and you start jumping harder and harder (I'm actually a little surprised you haven't launched yourself into the atmosphere yet). It's so cute to see you get all worked up. You crack yourself up (and don't worry, you crack Daddy and me up too)

You have a tooth coming in - or at least, I hope it's coming in. You've been 'pre-teething' for what's seemed like months. But you've just recently started to act like your gums hurt. God bless whoever invented the mesh feeder. We fill it with a frozen cube of baby food and you instantly cheer up - it's yummy food plus it numbs your gums a bit. Double bonus.

Daddy and I haven't sat in the church sanctuary together for something like three or four months. We'd either go to the Family Room (where a live feed of the church service is shown on a TV) or one of us goes to church while the other stays home with you. But we figured that it was time to try out the nursery - and you did great! When we drop you off, Daddy and I get a card with a number printed on it. If you have a problem during the church service, the nursery volunteer gets that number to flash up on a screen at the front of the church. We spent the whole service with our eyes glued to the screen, knowing that our number would eventually flash up. But it never did! You handled the nursery like a champ. Daddy and I are so glad we can go to church together again - we missed doing that so much.

You're able to roll over while swaddled and that's not terribly safe. So this was the month that Daddy and I decided to wean you off being swaddled when you go to sleep. The first few days were really rough. And we haven't been doing it enough to call it a success yet, but it's definitely gotten better. You look so cute in your jammies, but I miss seeing you look like a baby burrito. You made one cute burrito.

You enjoy being on your tummy much more now, and in keeping with your motto of "I might explode if I'm calm for more than three seconds, so I must be moving at all times", you thump your left leg up and down (and up and down ... and up and down ... and up and down ...). I'm not sure if that means you favor your left side and might eventually be left-handed. Or if it means your right leg is just a little too weighed down with your aforementioned impossibly deep fat rolls.

You're getting really good at sitting up by yourself. You still have the occasional face-plant (but with a 95th percentile head, it's understandable that you'd be quite top heavy), but you've gotten to the point where you can sit up, reach for a toy, and not topple over. If you hold on to my fingers while you're sitting up, you immediately start rocking back and forth. You're going to give yourself Shaken Baby Syndrome, you silly kid.

The only 'low point' this month was your first beach trip. I don't need to rehash the tears, fussing, and general misery. I wrote it all down here. (You'll probably have your second beach trip this month ... hopefully it'll be better than this one)

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Month six has definitely been our favorite month. You're so playful (except, when, you know, you're not - and you have no problem letting us know you're not in a playing mood) and funny. I can't begin to tell you how thankful we are for you. How blessed you make us feel. How surprised that this overwhelming love we feel for you hasn't rendered us completely incapacitated. You are an almost-19-pound ball of joy.

We love you so much.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy