Rudy is becoming a champ at walking. He walks everywhere and its his preferred way of getting from point A to point B (unless he's in a real hurry, then screw it, he'll speed crawl). Some sprints are as much as 15-20 steps (I'd guess) and other times he take 2, falls, gets up and takes 2 more, falls, and continues on. But he rarely gives up and crawls instead -- he's persistent and not a quitter, that's for sure! He doesn't want to be held, unless I'm trying to do something -- then I have a whining baby hanging on to my pant legs. But he generally wants down, where ever we are. Recently Gran and I took Rudy with us to Sam's Club to buy groceries. We came fully equipped with the cart seat cover and wipes to keep any and all germs and dirt away. By the end of the trip, Rudy wouldn't sit in the cart and wouldn't be held. He was only content and not screaming if he was walking on his own. And so we left with a baby with black hands, toes, and knees. What can you do?!
For about the last couple weeks Rudy has decided he isn't too interested in "baby food" anymore (of course I had just stocked us and LeeAnn up with at least a months worth of baby food). He will still eat his oatmeal and prunes for breakfast and I can occasionally get him to eat some of the fruit and/or the dinner varieties, but that's about it.
The main foods on his menu right now:
- Green beans (only if they are offered first and no other food options are in sight)
- Macaroni and Cheese, the shaped noodles (the kid can't get enough -- I thought the mac and cheese addiction started in the later years??)
- Elbow macaroni with red pasta sauce (doesn't compare to mac and cheese, but he'll take it)
- Really any pasta
- Watermelon (and keep it coming)
- Bananas
- Gold fish
- Cheerios
- Gerber puffs
And once he is done with his smorgasbord of food, he has learned to throw it down to Rufus. Which wouldn't be so bad except while Rufus is bent over eating one thing, Rudy keeps throwing and I have to clean noodles or jelly (who would throw away a biscuit with jelly??) out of the back of Rufus' hair.
We offer him pretty much anything we are eating -- some foods he eats and some not so much. I'm still terrified of him choking so I am not the best at offering him new foods that I'm not sure about, but I'm getting better. He's 11 months old and already I'm thinking, "How in the world do I get him to eat more vegetables?!" I considered getting "Veggie Straws." They come in a potato chip bag and look similar to the puffs he eats. Upon careful inspection, hoping to find the words "equivalent to x number of vegetable servings," I found nothing. In fact, the ingredients didn't even list vegetables, only potato flakes and celery powder... good try, I guess.
Our move into Granpa and Gran's went very smooth and so far so good. Living with Mom and Dad definitely has its perks, for all of us.
Rudy loves company and attention and he gets lots of it.
Mom helps me more than I could have ever expected. I'm not entirely surprised that she makes our bed (she's always been anal about that), helps clean Rudy's bottles, does our laundry with hers, and makes delicious dinners (not that I expected it -- don't get me wrong, I appreciate it immensely) but homemade smoothies in the morning before work, packing my lunch for me, and overall just being around -- she really goes above and beyond! Not only do I love the help but her company, too. She is making my life so much easier. And this, in a roundabout way, is making John's life easier, too. What's the saying, "Happy wife, happy life"?? :)
Rufus is attached to Dad whenever he's around. Mostly because he feeds him well...steaks, popsicles, anything and everything. Rudy is quite a fan of the popsicles, too.
And having neighbors next door with a pool has been great, too. The Kramps are nice enough to let us come swim pretty regularly. And being right next door, it isn't a hassle to run over and swim for 30-45 minutes and come back home for naptime/dinner/bedtime. Rudy does good in the water for about the first 30 minutes or so; "swimming" around, splashing, and he especially loves standing on the steps. Then he just wants to walk around on the concrete surrounding the pool, which wouldn't be a big deal except with the smoldering hot temperatures we've been having lately, the concrete is wayyy to hot to be cruising around on barefoot. I tried to put his sandals on him tonight. He still isn't too sure about shoes yet. I probably should get him in that habit (especially if he is going to be walking around places like Sam's!).
4th of July Eve
"Raise the roof because there's not enough room for all the good stuff"
Rudy is a master cabinet-opener. It is his new favorite thing to
do. And Gran has a cabinet full of plastic plates, bowls, etc that he
loves to get into.
Jenna, Robyn and I got together this weekend for a play date with the boys. It was nice to have some adult time and be entertained by the little ones, too. Nolan and Rudy only wanted the toys each other were playing with (especially Rudy -- he was pretty grabby) and kept fighting over the same toy. Luckily, they are easily distracted into wanting something else. Levi is sitting on his own now and was very entertained by Rudy and Nolan. He kept laughing at them and having a great time. It was a lot of fun for everyone!
John and Ray have been busy working at the new house. Ray is getting close to having the wiring done and John started on drywall last week and got a lot of it hung. John and I also spent a day in Bloomington last week doing some shopping for the house and bought the rest of our cabinets and our kitchen countertops and FINALLY found tile for the backsplash and bathrooms that we agreed on (let me tell ya, I felt that was a major turning point in our progress). We also figured out the master bathroom layout (after 3 hours of playing, "or we could put the sinks here, the tub here...") and purchased the claw foot tub (John says I better take at least one bath a week to justify having it. I said that was fine...I'll be happy to relax in the bath while he watches the children). And I think we may have decided on the flooring (for the 10th time) <--- I wrote this a couple nights ago and just came back to add pictures and since then, we are back to not being decided on the flooring. Of course. The furnace guy will hopefully be done soon so we can turn the air conditioning on and I can get to painting (yea, 100+ degrees for two weeks and Ray and John have been sweating it out). And are you sitting for this??...we may be purchasing doors real soon. That's right, moving into a house with doors! <--- And we also DID order the doors!!
I love the squatted baby stance -- might be my favorite
Notice his hair cut? This time he went to his live-in barber, Dad, for a buzz. I almost teared up when he got done. My little baby is looking like a little boy now. When did that happen?!
Rudy went to grab a toy and decided to sit without paying attention to his surroundings and tried to sit on top of Levi. Its hard to see Levi's expression in this picture, but he was laughing at Rudy, thankfully!
This one cracks me up. The ball actually just missed Levi, but it looks like it is headed straight on. And Rudy looks so innocent -- probably the one second he wasn't causing trouble.
John and Ray have been busy working at the new house. Ray is getting close to having the wiring done and John started on drywall last week and got a lot of it hung. John and I also spent a day in Bloomington last week doing some shopping for the house and bought the rest of our cabinets and our kitchen countertops and FINALLY found tile for the backsplash and bathrooms that we agreed on (let me tell ya, I felt that was a major turning point in our progress). We also figured out the master bathroom layout (after 3 hours of playing, "or we could put the sinks here, the tub here...") and purchased the claw foot tub (John says I better take at least one bath a week to justify having it. I said that was fine...I'll be happy to relax in the bath while he watches the children). And I think we may have decided on the flooring (for the 10th time) <--- I wrote this a couple nights ago and just came back to add pictures and since then, we are back to not being decided on the flooring. Of course. The furnace guy will hopefully be done soon so we can turn the air conditioning on and I can get to painting (yea, 100+ degrees for two weeks and Ray and John have been sweating it out). And are you sitting for this??...we may be purchasing doors real soon. That's right, moving into a house with doors! <--- And we also DID order the doors!!
Our closet
View of our master from the back of the room -- the front part of the room will be like a "sitting room" and the doorway to the left will be the master bath door and the door to the right leads out to the hallway
View of our master from the front -- the french doors to the left lead to the back yard and the doorway in the room leads to our closet
Our master bath with some walls chalked in -- the square to the left will be the toilet room and the square to the right will be our shower
Some walls still need to come down here and be added, but this was a full bath but (where the red line is) will be split to be the half bath and the washer/dryer room
The kids' playroom
The hallway taken from the end of the library
Right side of the kitchen
Left side of the kitchen
The pictures don't do it justice, because they really all look the same with white, empty walls. But after weeks of looking at studs, wiring, insulation, etc, white walls make a HUGE difference!
Living room -- just to show how this room has become the catch-all for anything and everything
The open backyard -- definitely in need of some grass!
Slowly by surely, we are getting there...
Well, looks like potty training should be easy! Haha....(kids' playroom with 2 toilets!)...love the pics! That one of the little boys and the green ball made me LOL!
ReplyDeleteKate was also very independent and strong-willed at that age. It drove me crazy. But I just kept telling myself, "someday these will be POSITIVE traits!"