Fun Things Gumba Does

Before I forget all of these things, I'd better write them down. Here's a list of cute things Gumba has, or still is doing:

- He just started hitting his head while nursing. Strange I know, but the mommy forums on the net say their babes have done the same thing. Also while nursing he'll tug on his left year, and only on the left! I heart nursing. (Sorry Jenny)

- He is now turning the corners of furniture, which is a pretty big step. Before he could walk in a straight line while holding on, but then he'd have to stop.

- Pretty sure he goes after the baby gate and china cabinet for attention. When I tell him no he smiles at me then starts to shake/open it. This morning he put his arms up in preparation of being moved before I even got to him.

- His love for the vacuum. One of his friends also loves the vacuum, and cries when it gets turned off!

- Waves

- When I hold him, he finds my thumb and holds on.

- Talks to himself while riding in the car. He usually fakes a cough. I cough back and the game has begun.

- Laughs at nothing and for no reason. I wish humor came that easily to me, so does Husband.

- He goes after Lilies bling (dog tags) and she obliges. Last night Gumba was determined to get around her, and the only way to do it was to go through her. Lilie is a great dog.

There are plenty more things that just aren't coming to mind at the moment, or things I probably only find adorable. But Gumba really is the most precious thing ever. He's still relatively quiet and when we're at the station visiting Husband he snuggles on daddy's lap.

What are you're most precious memories of your precious babies?

Cute Videos

Here he is spending time with one of his best friends:

Look how much fun feeding yourself oatmeal can be, and no we don't do this often:

Sad Sad Day

Gumba is now 10 months old! And not much has changed, although he is much more capable pulling himself up on things and getting down. I've let him climb up the stairs a few times and no ragging on me about that. We have stairs, the kids' gotta learn, better when I'm there. This month also marks the most unfortunate of unfortunate days for me. Gumba is now taking one bottle of formula a day when I'm at work. Very sad. I'm remaining upbeat though. Not too many working moms make it to 10 months without formula so I'm very lucky. Gumba doesn't mind either way, food is food. Speaking of food, we've added a few new items to his menu. He now enjoys the taste of blueberry, nectarine, and mango! Also he gets cheese which he loves. However this can be expected because both Husband and I LOVE cheese. And today he tried yogurt for the first time! Since avocados are out because of his intolerance to them I started to look at other high fat/calorie foods that are good for him, hence the cheese and yogurt.

There have been several requests from Granny and Grandpa for pictures and video. Gumba can now reach the top of the table. Yikes!

I Jinxed Myself

I don't think I'll ever write about Gumba's sleep progress. It seems every time I do he spites me, he's got this sick sixth sense. It's 1:45am as I write this. Gumba has been crying for almost 45 minutes, this is his second time waking up. Last night after I wrote the last post he woke up twice, but fell asleep within 10 minutes. So we're doing worse, way worse. Woe is me.

Shooting Myself in the Foot

At least I hope I'm not. Many of you know what a difficult time Husband and I have had at getting Gumba to sleep well, both at night and during the day. When Gumba was first born he slept with Husband (I cherish my space too much). Gumba liked feeling us close, which was understandable considering he spent the first 10 days of his life in an isolete in the NICU. Getting him to sleep by himself took a lot of patience, much hair pulling, and a lot of trial and error. Gumba would only fall asleep in our arms, and then sometimes wake up when put down. I know where our mistake was, don't need to point it out. If you could only have seen how cute and precious he was, there was no way I could listen to him cry. The day finally came that we could put him down drowsy but awake, but the routine to do this was 15 min or longer. Then, we got it down to a couple of minutes. We NEVER thought this possible. Two months ago we succumbed to the CIO because I was still nursing 4-5 times a night. I was exhausted and I knew something had to be done. We really really wanted to do the attachment parenting thing, but Gumba was a baby not responding to this strategy. After a month of CIO Gumba was still waking up at least once a night and crying for 30 minutes. Gumba then had an ear infection and was back to sleeping with us getting nursed 2-3 times a night. After his ear infection cleared up the CIO was re instituted and with great effect. By night two he was sleeping from 6:30pm - 5am. After Gumba waking up at 5am and not going back to sleep for a week or so I decided to start nursing him at this early wake up. I think he was really truly hungry. Since I started nursing him at this early time he has more times than not slept until 6am. An added bonus is he's starting to get up later for this early feeding. This morning he woke up at 5:40, nursed him, and he slept until 6:30. He is taking naps at 9 and at 1. Six months ago I wouldn't have said this was possible.

I hope I didn't shot myself in the foot for telling you this. Sometimes I think Gumba knows when I being boastful about such stuff.

I Like Being a Sort of Hippie Mom

As it turns out, I kind of like being a "hippie" mom. I love cloth diapers. Not only are they way cheaper and healthier for babies they are great for the environment. Years ago NBC did a program during a green week campaign and an episode showed how many disposable diapers one baby goes through from infancy to potty training. I was horrified. It was probably then that I committed to using cloth diapers when the time came. Thankfully I have a husband who is as committed as I am. Which is good because he is the primary care taker. I love making baby food. I've been lucky enough to exclusively breastfeed for almost ten months, go me! It's taken a lot of patience and dedication on my part. It sucks having to pump two-three times a day at work. But now it's time for solid foods. Making Gumba's food has enabled me to still feel like an integral part of his feedings. Plus I like the food and when he doesn't finish I have a tasty healthy snack! Now I know there is much more I could be doing to be an actual hippie mom but I enjoy red meat, showers, and my car. We all have to start somewhere.

I Support Vaccines

I don't normally get involved in this kind of thing but it's something I must share my thoughts on. Even though I feel passionate about many things, I usually share my thoughts with those who are like minded, and my husband...a great debater I am not, and plus, it's easier. I believe in getting vaccines. Gumba gets vaccinations as will all of our children. They are a GREAT idea. Who wants their child to get a life threatening illness or worse die of whooping cough, measles, mumps, polio, or anything else preventable? And yes, that is the point of vaccines, to prevent serious illness and death. Here are few of the most common reasons people don't want to vaccinate their child:

- "Vaccinations cause autism." There are SO many studies that discount this. And, have a little more faith that their isn't a huge conspiracy to hurt your children. Why would someone lie? Yes, scientists are people too, and they have also have children. It's their job to find these things out. I should know.

- "My kids just aren't going to get them; all the other kids out there are." However, you are putting my child at risk. You are putting INFANTS at risk of death. You are putting the ELDERLY and those with other illnesses at risk. You are putting those, who can't get vaccines because of real medical causes, at risk. You are truly putting others at risk.

- "Too many too soon." Our immune system is BOMBARDED hundreds of times a day with foreign microbes. Our immune system is designed to fight these things. That's why immunizations are so successful.

I've added a few pod casts that have great information in them about vaccinations. If you choose to listen, which I hope you do, please do so with an open heart and mind. I know I seek out other people with differing opinions to hear their side, and see if I can be persuaded, even if I'm not always so open to share my opinion.

The podcast at Science Friday is on the upper left hand corner: http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200808292

Lets Kill The Children or A Defense of Vaccines

Taking Our Medicine

Shot of Fear

Recurrent Fever

I do worry if I'm doing the right thing each time Gumba gets a vaccination, but I firmly believe that the benefits far out weigh any risk. Living is risk in its self, yet we all strive to live our lives as fully as we can.

A Glimpse

I saw a glimpse of my future today, scary. I watched Gumba crawl around the house for an hour. He was busy checking out everything. Up, down, up, down, up down. To the oven, up, down, up down. To the table, up, down, up down. To the china cabinet, up, down, up, down. Panting loudly as he went. Proud of how much he's able to do. Not wanting to be held, wants his own space. As I watched him crawl I realized that in a short while this was only going to get harder once he starts to walk. Gumba will move so much faster, which means I'll have to be much more diligent. I can't believe how big he is, how grown up he already seems, and he's only nine and half months old. This too doesn't even seem possible. How is it that a year has almost passed?

Nine Months Old

Gumba just recently turned nine months old and to celebrate I'll give a run down of how busy he (we) was (were).

- Started to get first tooth. He's been working on this for several weeks and it's only a third of the way in!

- Pulling himself up on everything.

- This quickly manifested into Gumba having to figure out how to get down from everything.

- Walking along furniture. Still not his favorite though.

- Just started to wave! It's pretty cute, he stretches out his arm and then looks at his hand as it moves. Yesterday in JoAnn's he way wooing the ladies.

- Eating oatmeal. I made this amazing blueberry sauce that I can't wait to give with the oatmeal. I'm totally excited.

- Found out he's a little behind developmentally. I guess if you don't clap or wave to your child they don't learn it. So, we're practicing.

- Had his first official illness, and ear infection. Thankfully it's cleared up. I'm back to getting (better?) sleep. Husband and I were taking turns sleeping with Gumba during naps and bedtime. By the end of it all I was pretty wiped out. Now he's back to sleeping on his own.

I'm sure I've missed something. But there's most of it anyway. Next I'll post about Husband and I's month. Everything that could have gone wrong did.

- Oh, let's not forget about Gumba's baptism with his cousin. The visiting priest was awesome and grabbed the two of them and started walking around church. I don't have any pictures, my parents have them all. Both sets of grandparents were able to be there, and Gumba's godparents were visiting from San Diego. Afterwards we had a barbeque at our house were 19 immediate family members (from McGilvary side) were here. That doesn't include everyone by the way.