Weaning the Boy

Not a whole lot new in our lives, except Jeff's job is insanely stressful right now. Michael and I do what we can to support him, although Michael's support mainly consists of clinging to his Daddy when he has to leave for work. He seems to understand when Jeff is about to walk out the door and crawls quickly to him and climbs up his leg, begging to be picked up. It's pretty cute to watch but makes it hard for Jeff to leave.

Beyond that, things are pretty normal around here. Our days consist of eating, and practicing eating on our own:

Sleeping:

And playing (and being a bad, little boy):

Although, to go along with feeding himself, Michael is down to nursing only once a day now. It's a little hard and he wasn't very happy with me when I cut his morning feeding out. Here's his second day of a "real" breakfast:

He's a little grumpier in the morning than he used to be, but we'll get use to it... eventually.

Like I said, there's not a whole lot new, so here are some fun, random pictures of the boy:

(doesn't he look spiffy in stripes and camo?)

Not Walking... Yet

It's been a while, but I was waiting for Michael to walk so I could have something exciting to talk about. As it is, he's taken a few unofficial steps before diving at either his dad or myself, but no actual walking.

He does still love his little racer. All I have to do is aim it at an open area and he'll climb up and wander off, yelling and smiling.

We've taken it outside some, too, while the neighbor kids ride bikes. Our neighbors, who adore Michael and wish he was their little brother, enjoy pushing him around when he gets tired of walking:

The racer is a big hit overall, but every once in a while, Michael will switch back to his other "push toy":

Our big boy has been practicing eating with a spoon. After feeding him for a bit, I'll hand him his spoon and let him go at it on his own. It starts out okay:

But after a while it becomes too much of a hassle and he drops it in favor of a more hands-on method:

At least he's happy, and he's getting some practice feeding himself.

Also, this kid loves loves loves the camera. If I point it at him, more often than not he'll give me a great big grin. I wouldn't be shocked if "cheese" ends up being his first word.

It's His Party

We celebrated Michael's birthday at Grandma and Grandpa Day's house. We had cupcakes and sang to Michael.

Michael was a big fan of his cupcake:

So messy!

Michael's birthday gift didn't actually get here until today (I'll plan ahead better when he starts caring more). It's a push and ride toy we're hoping will help him want to learn to walk. I had to assemble before it was technically "kid friendly" but Michael was more than willing to help out:

Once I got the wheels on it, Michael fell in love. It took some convincing to get him off and let me finish putting it together:

But once it was done, off he went!

And, with it being a push and ride racer, I got to play too: