And Baby Makes Four

Where have the last three months gone? We’ve been just a tad busy with buying a house, moving in, unpacking, etc. With the holidays just around the corner, I figured I should squeeze in a few blog posts while I have the time. So, here’s an update on what Peter is up to at 15 months old.

Weight and Height: 21 lbs. 11 oz (15th%), 32 inches (75th%) – Still tall and skinny, just like his big brother! His 15 month check up went well this week. He is meeting developmental milestones and is healthy. I’m especially thankful that the tubes have continued to prevent ear infections.

Vocabulary: Most of Peter’s words are still pretty vague, with many sounding like “uunnh” to those without a discerning ear. Still, he regularly uses the following words: ball, bye, mama, dada, hot, shoe, uh-oh, out. He also uses the baby signs for “all done,” and sometimes “more.” He often communicates by pointing at something he’s interested in and asking, “Uh?”

Nighttime Sleeping Habits: I am beyond thrilled to report that Peter has been consistently sleeping through the night for a few weeks now. Shortly after we moved into our new house, I decided I was ready to stop nursing him when he woke up at night, and let him “cry it out.” The first night was painful, listening to him cry for 50 straight minutes, and later on another 15. But the next couple of nights the amount of time he cried when waking decreased dramatically, and by about the fifth night, he didn’t wake up at all during the night. Needless to say, I am a changed woman now that I am getting uninterrupted sleep on a consistent basis, after months and months and months of being woken up once, twice, or even three times every night by my baby. The short version here is that Peter now sleeps from about 8:15 or 8:30 p.m. – 6:30 or 7 a.m. The time change has thrown him off a bit, but hopefully he will adjust quickly (he’s been waking up around 5:30 or 6 this week.)

Naps: Peter is still taking two solid naps a day. One lasts about 75 to 90 minutes around 9 a.m., and the other is about two hours, coinciding with Benjamin’s afternoon nap, around 1:30. Even though the morning nap limits what we can do in the a.m., I’ll hold on to it as long as I can.

Food: I’m introducing more table foods every day, but I still often give him baby food pouches – it’s just so quick and convenient! Plus, he still gobbles them up. But last night he “mmmmmed” his way through our dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas. The more he likes the taste, the more enthusiastic the “mmmm.” He also likes cheese, broccoli, bread, carrots, strawberries, chicken, etc. I’m now nursing him only about three times a day, breakfast, lunch, and bedtime, but he also drinks cow’s milk.

Playing: He loved to explore our new back yard, whether it’s figuring out how to walk across the stepping stones, pushing his toy lawnmower, or investigating the plants. When inside, one of his current favorite things to do is climbing, which makes me nervous! He climbs on the end tables and jumps onto the sofa in the living room, and he tries to climb on top of the dining table (I usually catch him on his way up). He’ll try standing on just about anything, from an upside down laundry basket, to a wobbly toy. He still enjoys pulling plastic containers out of kitchen cabinets and trying to take things out of the kitchen trash. Thankfully he’s beginning to lose interest in the toilets (yuck!), but still unrolls toilet paper and paper towels when he gets the chance. He likes playing with toys in Benjamin’s room, and playing in his closet and sliding the doors open and shut. He has a blast when we have dance parties in the living room (Benjamin’s current choice is to “rock out” to Bon Jovi.) Peter’s version of dancing involves standing in place and bobbing up and down, swinging his arms from side to side.

Out of the house: After months of crying when I dropped him off at the church nursery, Peter now seems okay with me leaving him there, except when he’s very sleepy. At the park, he still enjoys playing with sand toys and swinging, but he’s also now interested in the slide and climbing the steps. He’s still pretty content to sit in the shopping cart at the store, but he gets antsy after about 30 minutes.

Time with Daddy: Peter has been a mama’s boy for most of his life, but he is starting to really enjoy time with Brad, too. He loves snuggling with him after bath time, sitting in his lap to watch tv, and getting tickled by him.

So there’s a snap shot of Peter at 15 months. He was a monkey for Halloween, so I’ll leave you with a few pictures from that night, as well as a couple of other recent shots.

Peter turned one on August 4! We celebrated his birthday a few days early while my parents were still in town. We kept things simple: sang “Happy Birthday,” let Benjamin blow out the candle, ate cake and ice cream, and opened a few gifts. Instead of making a cake, I bought a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing from Walmart, and it was delicious! Peter liked it, too, as you’ll see in the pictures below. His birthday gifts included several clothing items (he’ll be a well dressed baby this fall!), a fridge farm magnet set (the one that has been a hit at Mama C’s house with all the grandkids), a shape sorter, and a couple of books.

Here’s a glimpse of Peter at one year:

• Weight – 19 lbs. 12 oz. (10th%) – Peter is following in his brother’s footsteps by being a “light weight,” but he is still bigger than Benjamin was at one year (18 lbs.)
• Height – 32″ (96th%) – He’s certainly a tall boy! However, I’m suspicious that the measurement may have been a bit high, since Peter was quite squirmy when they did it. Benjamin was 29″ tall at one year.

Walking:

• The most exciting development is that Peter is now walking! I witnessed his first steps on the evening of Friday, July 29. I was talking to my mom in the kitchen (it was during my parents’ visit), when I suddenly noticed Peter taking steps toward the trash can. (We now have to keep the trash can out of his reach because he loves trying to get into it!)
• For the first several days he would only take three steps at a time before going into his “monkey” walk (on feet and hands with bottom in the air) or crawling. But over the past week he has taken off, so to speak. Walking is now his preferred mobility method, and he’s had practice on various surfaces (grass, sidewalks, carpet, tile, sand, etc.)

Talking:

• Not much to report on the talking front. I guess he says “mama,” “dada,” and “bye,” but he doesn’t really have other words yet. He does imitate us occasionally, and so I’ve heard him say “uh oh.” We are doing a tiny bit of signing with him, but so far the only one he uses is “all done” (waving his hands back and forth when he finishes eating).
• He understands a lot of what we say. When I ask him to hand me an object that he’s holding, he holds it up to me. When I ask where Chloe or Benjamin is, he looks around for them.

Eating:

• I’m still nursing Peter, but trying to cut out some of his “snack” feedings and replacing them with food snacks. Also, since his waking during the night has been such an issue (most likely because of teething), I’ve continued to nurse him back to sleep out of convenience (and because we are living in an apartment with neighbors who I don’t want to disturb with a baby who is “crying it out”). Hopefully we’ll be moving into a house next month and I can go cold turkey on the night time feedings. 
• As part of my effort to gradually wean him, I’ve started giving him food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, plus a morning and afternoon snack. He is still eating mostly baby food, but I found our food mill in the back of the pantry, so we will start offering him some milled table food as well, until he grows more accustomed to chewing. His newest food experience has been smoothies. Benjamin and I often share these for lunch, but now I mix some with rice cereal so I can spoon feed it to Peter. This is the best way I’ve found to get him to eat all sorts of healthy foods, including spinach, avocado, strawberries, bananas, Greek yogurt, etc.
• He has taken to cold milk very easily. I offer him a sippy cup at meal times, and he takes several big gulps of it. When we reached this phase with Benjamin, I had to actually heat the milk and give it to him in a bottle for him to even consider taking any of it.

Sleeping:

• I should be so sleep deprived right now, but somehow I have survived Peter’s chronic night time wakings. Several nights ago he was awake something like six times, which means I was waking up about once an hour through most of the night. Most nights it’s once or twice that he wakes up, and then he wakes up in the morning between 6 and 6:30. I know, most of you are thinking that it’s time for me to sleep train this child! You are right, but our living situation isn’t conducive to that right now, so I’m going to endure it for another month or so until we move into a house.
• Other than his night time wakings, Peter sleeps from about 8:30 or 9 p.m., until 6 or 6:30 a.m.
• He still takes a morning (8:30-1oish) and afternoon (1:30-3:30ish) nap, and his afternoon nap still coincides with Benjamin’s. I am so thankful to have two good nappers!

Playing:

• Peter continues to play well on his own. He wanders off to the toy basket in the hall, or to Benjamin’s room, and entertains himself for awhile. Favorite toys right now are any objects good for carrying around in his hand while he practices walking (a toy screwdriver, a small stuffed animal, a toothbrush…), or any groups of items he can take out of a drawer (bowls, sippy cups, lids…) and sometimes (if I’m lucky) put back in.
• Now that Peter is walking, Benjamin sees him as more of a playmate. This has been a fun, sweet development. They ride around the apartment on the little sit and ride cars, and Benjamin comes up with imaginative things for them to do (go camping [under the table], hide from a bandit [under the bunk bed], etc.). Peter probably doesn’t know what game he is playing, but he just seems thrilled that his big brother is paying attention to him and not hitting him or knocking him down (this still happens sometimes).
• He’s no longer content to sit in the stroller and watch when we go to the park. I take him out and let him explore, but always under my watchful eye, since he still tries to put anything and everything in his mouth.

That’s all I can think of right now. Here are some recent pictures of our little Peter bear. We love him so much and are having so much fun with him!

Peter at eleven months old

A sweet, curious, and very busy boy: that’s what Peter is at eleven months old. He hit a growth spurt over the last few weeks and is suddenly chubby again, and just tall enough to get into all new kinds of trouble. He becomes more mobile every day. It’s not uncommon now to turn around and see him standing up in the middle of a room, without any furniture to hold on to. He can also crawl from one end of the apartment to the other at lightning speed! Here’s a look at what his daily routine and personality are like these days:

Favorite Activities:

• Saying “ah” – He’s not really saying words yet, except for the occasional “ma ma” or “da da,” but he often expresses his opinion by uttering “ah” in a variety of intensities, lengths, and volume. It’s amazing that one little sound can have so many meanings!
• Opening the kitchen drawers that contain the sippy cups and kids’ dishes, and pulling them all out one by one, scattering them around the kitchen floor. I have to watch my step, but I’m just glad that he stays entertained this way while I’m washing dishes or cooking a meal.
• Standing up from a seated position, without pulling up on anything for support – we have been very impressed by this demonstration of strength and balance! He is usually holding a toy when he does this. He can also stand in place for several seconds before falling or sitting down. No hands free steps yet, but he’s getting close!
• Wandering off to his or Benjamin’s room to play with toys by himself – He especially enjoys digging through the toy box in Benjamin’s room. They must seem much cooler than all the baby toys in his room. Benjamin also has an alligator mirror from IKEA that is a soft, cloth lined, full length mirror. Almost every time Peter goes in the room, he knocks this over, sits on it, and makes funny faces at himself. So cute to watch! He also likes to climb up on Benjamin’s bed (which is just above floor level) and rub his face on the soft sheets, and to grab Benjamin’s sound machine off the night stand and turn it on. He is a busy, smart baby. I’m happy that he can entertain himself so well!
• “Dancing” to music – It doesn’t matter if it’s on Benjamin’s CD player, on a commercial, or on a movie. He’ll dance to anything with a beat! Benjamin was watching The Prince of Egypt a couple of days ago, and Peter danced his way through the opening song (“Deliver Us”), and when it was over, he reached his arms up in the air very dramatically, and applauded enthusiastically. It’s nice to know that he appreciates good music!
• Crawling around with a small toy or sock in his mouth (must be related to teething)
• Waving “hello” to the wall lamps in our apartment building (he doesn’t wave to people, only the lights – I’m not sure he knows what waving means – either that, or he knows something about the lights that we don’t!)

Naps and Night Time:

• He now takes a predictable morning and afternoon nap. I usually wake him up from the morning nap after an hour and a half, so that I can run some errands with the boys before lunch. Also, I believe that he takes a longer afternoon nap if I don’t let him sleep too long in the morning, which then allows me to have a longer break while both boys take their afternoon nap (usually two hours or even more!).
• His morning nap starts between 8:30 and 9:00, his afternoon nap between 1:00 and 2:00. He is always ready for his nap. After I sing him a quick song, I lay him down in his crib and cover him up, and he usually falls asleep immediately. Occasionally he talks to himself for a few minutes, but he rarely cries about nap time any more.
• He goes to bed at night between 8:30 and 9. Again, he’s always exhausted and ready for sleep, so it’s an easy process. He still wakes up at least a few times a week during the night. I think that lately he’s actually been hungry during the night because of his growth spurt, so I’ve been happy to nurse him. And I am only awake with him for 10 or 15 minutes, so it’s not too disruptive to my sleep. He wakes up in the morning between 6 and 7. He’s a much earlier riser than Benjamin was at this age. (Benjamin slept until after 8:00 for the first two years of his life!)

Meals:

• I intended to start giving Peter breakfast every morning about a month ago, but it doesn’t happen every day. In fact, most days he doesn’t have any “food” until I give him a mid morning snack of yogurt or cereal, but he seems satisfied by his morning feeding of mama’s milk. He usually has a fruit and a vegetable baby food for lunch, and then cereal with a baby food dinner (a meat/veggie/sometimes fruit combo) at night. Sometimes he also has an afternoon snack. I know he needs one if he gets fussy around 4:00. He still isn’t a fan of textured foods. I’ve kept trying mashed up avocado and banana, but after lots of gagging I usually give up. He does like Cheerios and puffs, though.
• I had my first success with homemade baby food this week. I mixed up a batch of cooked carrots, added some water, and pureed them in the blender, and they were so creamy and delicious that I snuck a few bites! Next up I want to try sweet potatoes and maybe peas.
• After a few months of refusing to drink formula or breast milk from a bottle, I’m happy to report that Peter has decided it’s okay again. We eased him back into the idea by giving him a baby bottle of water at meal time in his high chair. Over a period of a few weeks, he got comfortable sipping the water, so the next time I was gone, he decided to drink the bottle of formula that Brad offered him. Hooray! I can now feel free to leave the house for longer than three hours at a time, and not have to rush home to put him to bed myself. He was starting to become quite the mama’s boy, so I’m glad that we’re getting away from that mindset now.

He's proud (and surprised) that he can now sit on the little bench on our balcony.

Odds and Ends:

• He has some more new teeth, but I have lost count. All I know is that he’s been drooling like crazy, chewing toys, and has a toothy grin.
• His poop schedule has normalized. For about six weeks he was having lots and lots and lots of poops. We were going through diapers like crazy! Now he just has one or two dirty diapers a day. I think it was a virus that took forever to go away. The probiotics we gave him for awhile seemed to help, but it was really just a “let it run its course” thing.
• He developed the ability to walk with a push toy this week. He was very proud!
• His hair is getting curly and thicker. It’s fun to have two curly headed boys!
• He experienced two firsts recently: a swimming pool and fireworks. He was skeptical about the pool at first, but once he figured out that it felt nice and that he was safe in my arms, he giggled and splashed his hands in the water and had a great time. He also was impressed and inspired by Valencia’s 4th of July fireworks show. He laughed, clapped, and reached his hands up in the sky as if trying to grab them. This is quite different from when I was child: I screamed and cried in the car during one fireworks show, and my dad had to carry me on his shoulders and run for the exits at Disney World to avoid me melting down when the nightly fireworks extravaganza started!
• He has shown his first interest in books. I’ve read him a few board books, and he laughs his way through them and touches the pictures.

Pausing for a brief moment before continuing on his near constant path of exploration and discovery!

Peter at ten months old

Peter hit the ten month mark last weekend, while we were busy unpacking boxes at our new apartment. During the past month, his 6th and 7th teeth appeared (he has four on top, three on bottom). The biggest change for him lately is that he is now pulling up on everything, and starting to cruise around a bit. His cousin Braylen taught him these skills when we were staying at Cara’s house Memorial Day weekend. So now he easily entertains himself by crawling from room to room, playing with whatever he can find, and pulling up on anything above floor level.

Our apartment has a nice balcony area, and we bought an outdoor rug to make it more baby friendly. Since the weather has been so nice (mid 50s to mid 70s!), we’ve been leaving the patio door open, and Peter can crawl in and out to play with his toys.

He has a mischievous streak that comes out whenever I am telling him not to do something. When I say, “Peter, no sir,” he grins at me and shakes his head “no.” It’s very cute, but at least he sometimes actually listens to me. Right now the biggest no no for him is messing with our sound system buttons.

He seems to have a virus right now – low grade fever and a rash – maybe roseola. He’s been a bit fussy, but otherwise is doing well. His sleep schedule shifted around because of the time change, and it hasn’t quite shifted back yet. Some mornings he tries to wake up at 5:30, but most days he sleeps until between 6:30 and 7. He takes a 1 1/2 hour morning nap around 9, and a 2 to 3 hour afternoon nap around 1:30. He’s ready for bed between 8:30 and 9.

He is still eating well. I nurse him every 3 or 4 hours, and he enjoys sweet potato puffs, rice cereal, and baby food fruits and veggies. He enjoys mashed up banana and avocado, and I hope to introduce more homemade pureed food and table food soon.

I haven’t had his weight checked in awhile, but he’s definitely slimming up from his increased activity with crawling and pulling up.

Peter is still a mama’s boy, and he’s suspicious of strangers. Even when he likes someone new, he plays shy and puts his head down on our shoulder. And it is clear that he loves his big brother. No matter how many times Benjamin hits or pinches him   Peter continues to follow him around and study his every move.

Reading a book with Grandad and Benjamin

Nine months old

Our baby boy is now nine months old! Over the past month while we’ve been busy house hunting in California and moving out of our Dallas home, he has hit some fun and exciting milestones.

• Crawling – While he had been doing the backwards crawling thing for about a month, on April 28 he officially crawled forward for the first time – his motivation being the cord for my MacBook. Now, two weeks later, he is maneuvering anywhere he wants to go. He loves to follow his brother or cousins around, and to check out toys, furniture, or anything else interesting that crosses his path. He is so cute to watch. If he knows he is headed for something “off limits” and you call him out on it, he starts giggling and crawling faster to get to it before you stop him. But then, he’ll stop, sit up, and look over at you to see if he still has your attention. When he realized he does have your attention, he shakes his little torso in sweet defiance, as if to say, “Just you try to stop me!” (It’s funny how this attitude is cute in a baby, but infuriating in a toddler/preschooler…)
• Eating – My initial plan was to introduce textured food early on, but we took a long break when our initial offerings of banana and avocado were met with resistance (read: gagging and throwing up). I’m happy to report that Peter now seems to like textured food, including banana, avocado, and sweet potato puffs. The puffs are a good form of entertainment when I am cooking dinner or trying to get something else done – it takes him a long time to get each one into his mouth! He continues to enjoy any and all jarred baby foods.
• Sleeping – Despite some recent night time wakings, overall Peter is sleeping very well since he had tubes put in his ears. He takes two naps a day – usually about 1 1/2 hours in the morning, and 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the afternoon. The second nap coincides with Benjamin’s, which makes me very happy.   I used to often resort to nursing him to sleep, but now I usually just sing to him, then put him in bed awake, and he cries (more like complains) himself to sleep in 5 to 10 minutes. Although he no longer takes an official third nap, if I run any errands in the evening, he will take a 30 or 45 minute nap in his car seat. If he doesn’t get this cat nap, he is really fussy by bedtime, which is usually around 9:00. He is ready to start his day between 6 and 7 a.m., but if he wakes up before 6:30, I usually put him right back to bed after I feed him, and he may sleep until 7:30.
• Communication/Language – Peter shows signs that he understands a lot of what we say. He “performs” certain tasks by request, including “clap,” “dance,” “splash,” and “pat.” We usually say these words three times in a row to encourage an enthusiastic response: “dance! dance! dance!” If I ask him where Chloe (our cat) is, he will start looking around for her. More than words, though, he is very good at interpreting tone of voice. He knows when I am being stern (like when I let him know that it’s not okay to pinch or scratch my arm), playful, or soothing. His dancing is very cute. When Benjamin plays songs on his CD, or when he hears a song on tv, Peter starts swaying back and forth or bouncing up and down. He loves dancing!
• Health – Peter has been ear infection free since having his surgery at the end of March. What a wonderful new world it is for him and the rest of us! He is happy, easy going, and sleeps well. Unfortunately, we are currently dealing with a prolonged bout of yucky poops. He is on day nine of these abnormal and frequent dirty diapers. It has caused him to lose some weight and have a recurring diaper rash, and we are going through diapers like crazy! But he is still eating, sleeping, and playing well, so he doesn’t really seem to be sick. He had his nine month check up last week, and his pediatrician sent a stool sample out for lab analysis. We should find out this week if there’s any explanation for his digestive issues.
• Weight and Height – As I just mentioned, Peter’s current issues have made him lose some weight, so his nine month weigh-in of 17 lbs. 15 oz. probably isn’t fully accurate. It places him in the 10-25th%. His height is 28 5/8″, which is 50-75th% . Benjamin weighed 16 lbs. 5 oz. at nine months, and was in the 3rd%.

So that’s Peter at nine months old. The next few months will be full of change for all of us, and despite our cross country move and adjusting to a totally new place, I don’t want to miss any of his big or small milestones.

Eight months old

Peter celebrated his eight month mark in his soon to be new home, California. He joined me and Brad on our house hunting trip last week, and he did great flying for the first time. Here is what else he’s been up to for the past month:

• Getting tubes – Peter’s biggest news this month is that he finally found some relief from his chronic ear infections! We were happy to have this procedure done (despite the hefty co-insurance deductible), since the alternative was to continue a string of ineffective antibiotics and endure many more nights with sleep disruptions. I took him to an outpatient surgery center on March 31, and I barely had time to drink some coffee and eat a granola bar before they came to tell me the surgery was finished (it was 10 or 15 minutes). A few minutes later they took me to see Peter in a recovery room, and he was grumpy and crying – no doubt disoriented by the anesthesia and unfamiliar surroundings. He sniffled on the way home, too, but as soon as we got home and Brad picked him up, he fell asleep on Daddy’s shoulder – relieved to finally be home. After a nearly three hour nap, he woke up refreshed and has been a new baby ever since. While he’s still waking up some during the night, he is much more content during the day, naps easily, and seems more aware of sounds around him. And the procedure was just in time for Peter’s first flight!
• Flying to California – Peter was a perfect example of how a baby should act on a flight. I was a little worried about our flight there, because it didn’t leave Dallas until 7:45 p.m. But he did great. I nursed him on take-off, and he basically slept the whole flight! Our flight home was at 11 a.m., and while he did sleep about half the time, the other half he played happily, clapped his hands, looked around, and entertained the grandmotherly type who was sitting next to us. It was nice to have a test run with Peter while Benjamin stayed in Dallas with my dad (we were so grateful to have his help, along with my sister and a friend). Now I’ll have a better idea of how to handle both of them on a flight. But I’m still not brave enough to fly by myself with two just yet!
• Sleeping – If I was expecting a miraculous overnight transformation of Peter’s sleep patterns after he got his tubes, I didn’t get it. Instead, it has taken several days for him to return to a reasonable night time sleep schedule. Part of the problem is that we took him out of his routine when we entered the Pacific Time Zone for five days. (Our nights at the Embassy Suites represented sleep deprivation at its worst – Peter woke up frequently, ended up sleeping in our bed with us every night when I was too exhausted to keep getting up with him, and tried to wake up at 4:45 every morning!) I’m happy to report that I didn’t have to go in his room last night. That’s not to say he didn’t wake up any – he cried a bit before I went to bed, and then again in the middle of the night, but both times he went back to sleep on his own – something that never happened when his ears were hurting.
• Napping – Benjamin’s nap schedule was always very predictable, so it’s funny to me that Peter’s is so the opposite. Some days Peter gets two solid naps in his crib, but the norm is for him to get an afternoon nap in his crib, and catch a couple of power naps in his car seat while we run errands in the morning and before dinner. But as I said earlier, he has been napping for longer stretches since getting his tubes. This morning he slept two+ hours, and right now he is approaching the 1 1/2 hour mark for his afternoon nap. I am certainly a fan of ear-infection free Peter! I think Peter’s new normal will be two 1 1/2 to two hour naps (one in the morning, one in the afternoon). He never takes a third nap in his crib now, but if he doesn’t nap long enough earlier in the day, he will fall asleep while we’re out and about in the late afternoon or evening.
• Eating – He is still a great eater. He hasn’t met a jarred baby food that he doesn’t like, as long as it isn’t the Stage 3 kind that has “texture.” (I accidentally bought that kind in California, and ended up dealing with some major spit-up.) I am hoping he’ll warm up to the idea of mashed avocado or banana, and less pureed homemade baby food soon. As for nursing, he is able to go four hours between day time feedings now, but I sometimes nurse him more frequently in the evening out of convenience, because it helps him settle down if he’s fussy/grumpy. As for during the night, since he is capable of going ten or eleven hours between feedings, I am going to try to break him of the habit of nursing to go back to sleep when he does wake up during the night. Easier said than done, so we’ll see how it goes…
  
• Playing – He is still loving his exersaucer, but he also enjoys sitting on the floor or laying on his belly while playing with toys. His current favorite seems to be his stacking cups, but he loves anything that makes noise. He gets very excited any time he spots Chloe, and even more so when we let him pet her. So far, she doesn’t run away from him.For now, I’m still putting a quilt down on the floor when he plays, but since he has learned to maneuver his way onto the carpet (see “backwards crawling” below), I should pack the blankets up soon.
  
• Learning – He started clapping his hands this month, and as far as I know “clap, clap, clap” is the first phrase that he understands and responds to. He claps when we ask him to, but also when he’s happy (and since he’s such a contented baby these days, he claps a lot!). He is becoming very dexterous, to the point that he likes to grab my skin and pinch, which hurts! I hope he grows tired of this habit soon.
• Backwards crawling – Full mobility is just around the corner for us. While we were in California, he perfected the art of crawling backwards. He has yet to crawl forward, but he gains access to pretty much whatever he sets his mind to by putting his little arms and legs in reverse and scooting across the room. Time to re-baby proof the house, but I have a feeling I’ll be much more relaxed about it this time. Our potential new house has stairs, so I think we’ll be investing in a new baby gate. I’m trying to keep the video camera charged and nearby, because I have a feeling he will be a full-fledged crawler any day now!

As for personality, Peter is a happy, easy going, curious baby who is mesmerized by every detail of the world around him. I had fun taking him and Benjamin to the park yesterday for a photo session in the bluebonnets. Peter loved sitting amidst the flowers and grass, feeling the breeze on his face, and watching his brother run around. They get along better every day now – Benjamin is becoming a sweet, helpful big brother who wants to protect and entertain his little brother. We are in for some fun times ahead!