Fun and games

Perrin is becoming more and more playful the older he gets. He likes some of the classic games like peek-a-boo and patty cake. But his favorite games are the ones he invented himself. Here are a few of the games he loves the most:

• The "throw the toy on the floor over and over to see how many times Mommy will pick it up" game
• The "pull Mommy's hair when she bends down to give me a kiss just to see if she'll say ouch" game
• The "pull the dog's hair" game, or it's sequel, "pull the dog's ears"
• The "make lots of big splashes in the bathtub" game--bonus points for covering the bathroom floor in water
• The "roll across the floor" game--the only problem is Mommy keeps putting me back at the starting point
• The "pull the tissues out of the box and try to eat them" game
• The "try to grab the bowl of food while Mommy is feeding me" game--followed by smearing the food all over my face, clothes, and high chair when I succeed
• The "make lots of weird noises" game--especially fun when Mommy makes weird noises back
• The "try to eat the book while Mommy is reading it to me" game

Next step: Monopoly!

Is that the same baby I had yesterday?

Everyone who's ever had a baby knows that they grow and change quickly. I've noticed a couple of changes in Perrin in just the last week or so.

First off, Perrin has a tooth coming in. I can feel it barely poking through the surface of his bottom gum. My first reaction was, "Yay! A tooth!" My next reaction, in anticipation of his increased fussiness, was "Oh no, a tooth!" My last reaction was a little more surprising: I felt sad. Never again will he smile up at me with his toothless baby grin. I'm sure his one-tooth smile will be just as cute, but it's kind of sad to realize that we're passing through stages that I'll never get to experience with him again. In some cases, that's a good thing. (So long, sleepless nights. I don't miss you in the least.) But I wonder if I'm really appreciating and enjoying each stage as much as I can, knowing that it'll go by all too quickly.

The other change I've noticed is that he's become much more talkative and is making all kinds of new sounds. He can even say Mama! Okay, it's actually more like mamamamamama. And he's never actually said it to me... only to Trey. But still. Is it too early for me to gloat that his first word was Mama? :)

Just this morning I laid him down on the floor with a frog toy just out of his reach. I said, "You can get it, Perrin! Just stretch out and grab it!" He was babbling away, and I swear it sounded like he said, "I can't get it." I cracked up.

As sad as it may be to see my little baby growing up, it's exciting too. Besides, if he weren't growing and changing, what else would I have to blog about? :)

Battle of the wills

Perrin is a nap fighter. He sleeps pretty well through the night, but during the day we're in a constant battle of the wills when it's time for him to take a snooze. Some days are easier than others. Some days (like yesterday), are terrible.

I tried putting him down for his morning nap at 9:00. He almost always goes back to sleep for an hour or so right around that time, so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But I was particularly anxious to get him in bed because I had a couple of work-related things that needed to be done immediately. Wouldn't you know it--on the day that it's most important for him to take that morning nap, he cries on and off for two and a half hours. Two and a half hours!!! Of crying!!! I was ready to poke a pitchfork into my brain after about the first hour of it. I tried rocking him, feeding him, changing him, burping him, etc. All the normal things. Then I wondered if he was having some teething pain, so I swabbed his gums with baby orajel. (Oh, man... he didn't like that. The cries turned into screams). Then I tried some less traditional methods to get him to stop crying. First, I took him into the bathroom and sat him on the sink and let him dip his feet under the running faucet. He liked it. So that stopped him from crying for awhile. Then later I took off his clothes and let him roll around in just his diaper. He liked that too. (On a side note, do all babies like being naked, or is it just mine?)

Finally, finally, glory hallelujah, he fell asleep. I was so relieved that I could finally get some stuff done. Unfortunately, by that point I was really too tired to be productive. ::Sigh::