Sweet Potatoes are Go For Launch

We got back home from New Mexico/Dallas trip on late Sunday night. Connor did horrible on the way there. Every single click, bang, whoosh and person scared him on the plane. I can confidently say that he thoroughly hated flying. He even had his own ticket so we brought along the car seat. I ended up holding him most of the time and wrapping a blanket around his head and holding his ears to dampen the sounds. The flight home however, was much better. I didn’t bother bringing his seat and just held him. He slept most of the time and when there was a sound he just looked at me for reassurance and fell back to sleep. The nicest part was bringing along the stroller that my Dad got for him while we were in NM. On the trip down, I had the sling so I’d have to strap him in and take him out and strap him back in again etc etc. How miserable that was for both of us. With the stroller however, I could just pop it open (one handed!) and lay him down in it. He never woke up and I was able to push him through the airport without a peep!

On the downside, we both have managed to catch a nasty chest cold. My little inner voice told me this would happen and I shouldn’t travel, but did I listen? NO. At least the worst of it hit once we got home. But the trip started off rough and was a hard push for both of us. I should have waited a few weeks. When will I learn to listen to that little mommy voice inside my head?

Some good points on the trip were that; my family finally got to see him, although the dinner night we had at GG’s house he had tummy ache and cried most of the time. He did great though on the other days. He hung out with Papa and really enjoyed it. He got to meet his Uncles Wesley and Thomas and he also got to meet the dogs. They did great around him and vise versa. Charlie thought I had brought him a gift and thought Connor was HIS and whined and fussed over him. Bueller also thought he was master-protector and forced his way into our room any time Connor fussed or peeped and even slept outside the door or next to the crib. Bueller also did this with me when I was pregnant with him. Connor liked to pet them on the head. I was afraid he’d be scared or pull on their ears, but he did great! Living up to his namesake so far!

Now that we are home, Connor has never been happier to play with his toys even though he is ill. Other than his cough and runny nose, you’d never know he was sick. He plays so good and hard and smiles at absolutely everything. He has grown up so fast in just a week. I see him handling toys differently than a week ago and taking the world in like never before. This trip made him grow-up a bit I think. He responds to his name when you call him and the moment you have his attention he smiles a HUGE gummy smile. He is learning to flirt with other people (Women if course) instead of being scared. I have been worried about that since he just has a fit normally if we even go to the store. He just loves to be at home.

Connor’s 2 bottom teeth are getting closer to breaking free and he is actually feeling better. I think being able to get more in his hands and then to his mouth helps a lot. I’d like to get him into the photo studio before they pop out though. I only have one picture of him smiling without his teeth and I’d like to have a few more. He is honestly so amazingly cute when he smiles. He’s an extremely happy boy and I need to capture that.

He turned 5 months on Sunday. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone by; Almost a ½ year!

He acted like he wanted to eat everything I ate when we were in NM, so we started baby food yesterday. I’ve been giving him yogurt for weeks now but in very small quantities, just to help his digestive tract. We started off with sweet potatoes and he loved them! He ate a whole jar of them (in 2 sittings.) We will also start DHA Rice cereal this week and then once we know how he reacts to that, we will try something new next week. He does so good opening his mouth and letting me know he wants more by waving his right hand. He even tries to hold his own spoon. He hasn’t figured out that he can dip it back in the dish to get more, he looks to me for that but hey, if he wants to feed himself, I’m OK with that! I guess it’s time to go get a high chair!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, he LOVES to stand up and he’ll even try to take a step forward to get to something. I stood him up and he held onto the coffee table all by himself this week! He still hates being on his tummy and gets frustrated trying to crawl, but he’ll grab on to my hands and stand up when I say ‘stand up.’ He gets this big silly grin on his face when he does it too, like he’s proud of himself. I think on his 6-month birthday I’ll get him one of those Fisher Price walkers that turns into a push-car for later. He’s really eager to get up and go.

Things Connor can Say:
“Hi”
“Da-Doo” which means “Love You”
“Uh-Oh”
Puckers his lips and Kisses

Connor Can Understand:
“Sit Up”
“Stand Up”
“Lay Down”
“No”
“What Time Is It?” (When it’s time to eat)
“Love You” (He smiles really big, giggles and sometimes says “da doo”
“Hi” & “Bye Bye” and waves and sometimes says “Hi”
“Where’s Daddy?” (He looks around the room)
“Kiss You”
And now “Connor.”
I think he even tried to say “Daddy” last week. He looked at me while talking on the phone with Daddy and said “Da?”

Of course, he has his little baby language that only he understands. He makes this little frog, throaty sound and modulates and also raspberries over and over. Papa calls him “motor-boat.” ☺