Roman turned 9 months yesterday! In honor of his bday I edited some videos of us rocking out to "Let it Rock"! Get pumped up while watching Roman rocks out at 3, 6 & 9 months old.
March 31 -April 13th 2011
Starting work again on Feb 2011 has made it even more difficult to find the time to do this blog for family and friends but I finished one video (the silly fun montage above) so I figured its time to do an quick update since everyone we know isn’t able to be here and experience all the loveliness of Roman Wesley.
Everyday is a new adventure in his little world. So many firsts everyday. Recently his firsts have been: watermelon, new vegetable combinations (kale, potato, broccoli etc), corned beef, sauerkraut, pickles, fish, radish, beet, sheep milk, St. Paddy’s Day festivities, standing on his own, taking his first guided (and not guided!! more below, keep reading) walking steps, sticking out his tongue, laughing spontaneously & making other such silly faces (you guys are seriously missing out here!!! But I’m getting some on film and that will be coming soon!!). Thank you again Karen Dawson for the baby food processor, I'm making delicious babyfood/mush/soup daily for the whole family!
I really wanted to get him some more toys and educational activities. Luckily, I found some inexpensive used ones on craigslist! So brilliant to buy and sell on craigslist baby items that you only use for a short tiempo. So we got him a baby piano, musical table, xylophone etc.
We created a huge “safe zone” for him in the living room so he has a lot of room to move around in and a lot of fun things to discover. (April 11th - He just learned how to break out of the barriers we created out of boxes etc. So it’s back to square one. I’m going to start looking for baby gates on craigslist.) Though I still worry he gets bored being inside so much & me working from home. This next winter will be more difficult than this one cause I’m betting he’ll be even more rambunctious, curious and playful. I love to peek over at him from my desk and see him experimenting on his piano and banging on his musical discovery table or jimbo drum. He also loves the soccer ball and chewing on my yoga mats...haaa what am I saying he loves to chew on everything!
We got him his own chair which is such a lifesaver and also so much fun. I recently found him asleep on it, so it must be comfy.
Some of his favorite activities are being outside, tickle monster, playing peekabo, playing with Arjuna “Joo Joo” aka the cat, flying, watching Baby Einstein, dancing, making up ditties, playing anything that makes music. He especially responds with ecstatic obsessive excitement when I take out the guitar & play for him (I need to learn more nursery’s but for now he always smiles big when I play Nothing Else Matters by Metallica & St. Theresa by Joan Osborne. He also loves it when I sing “You are my sunshine”, “Patty Cake” etc etc.) He is one determined little boy. He will stop at nothing to try to strum and drum with me on the guitar. Makes it difficult to play anything for very long but he loves it :-)
On March 19th Roman got his photo taken professionally by Cherry Blossoms Portraits at Whole Foods Market. Here is what she captured:
Has anyone heard of “Your Baby Can Read”? I’m interested in trying it out. Children learn more in their first three years of life than at any other time so maybe we can stimulate learning to read young. Roman craves so much stimulation. I always worry I’m not stimulating him enough. But then I remember there’s always so much to discover in every moment.
One of my sweet Dads (Jack) gave me some of the greatest parenting advice recently, “[your children] did not come here to walk your path.” Such a seemingly easy concept to understand but in actuality its something--I’ve noticed--that can be difficult to master.
Roman’s 3rd tooth broke through April 4th and the forth is now breaching through. So soon he’ll have 4 teefers! His cute lil bite is going to get even more dangerous.
April 8th was one of the warmest most lovely first days of Spring thus far this year! Finally. Such a welcome relief from the penetrating bitter cold of the winter. So Roman and I went adventuring outside in his awesome fun stroller. We stopped by the little lake to check out the birds and Roman was stunned into silence.
Usually he crawls & cruises all around, babbles & is very active. But outside today he just sat there silently observing everything. He had the whole outside to crawl around and explore but he just stayed very close to me. It must have been a wonderful moment for him, so much space... he must have been drinking it in. Speaking of which, He tasted his first leaf/grass. I don’t think it tasted too well (see pics below).
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| 1st time tasting leaf/grass |
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| 1st time tasting leaf/grass 2 |
Here are some other pics of spring walking adventures:
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| Baby flame legs! |
I have to come to terms with the fact that he’s not a tiny baby anymore. He’s practically walking. He’s been working so hard to get to this point since he was 5 1/2 months old. During the last 2 wks he’s been practicing with more and more daring every time. His constant “cruising” has turning into leaping from one area to another to see how many quick steps he can take before his hands find the sturdy furniture again. And when I lean down to pick him up he takes the opportunity to walk a few steps into my arms. It’s the most precious, unexplainable thing ever! I only wish family members and friends could experience it. He’s going to be walking and talking before I know it.
Here are a few pics I got of him standing on his own in one of his favorite places to play:
(He's gnawing on a potato)
We are going to have to baby proof yet again to a new level since his little curious hands get into everything now. He can now get into drawers and shelves and really enjoys that he’s figured out how to flush the toilet. I’m trying to explain the concept of the “potty”. Since he seems to want to do everything as early as possible I figure we can potty train him early as well. Though last time I was potty training kids we used “treats” for the reward system of going to the potty. And I don’t really want to do that with Roman. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any good books? I know every child is different and I’m sure we’ll figure it out but I’m open to all recommendations at this point.
Here are some pics from the day after his first St. Paddy's party:
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| "See the lipstick stains from all the women kissing me?" |
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| Beth & Annie Padgitt gave Roman his Irish Shamrock onsie with Irish bear! |
To conclude I just want to say that I am soo speechlessly honored to know a lil sweet baby so well.
Everyday I soak in Roman's precious light-your-heart-up smiles.
