Tristan's Story

Tristan has his first-ever cold. :'( I guess for being 7 1/2 months old, that's pretty good, but I still feel so bad for him.

He woke up yesterday (Saturday) with a runny nose and sneezing. By the afternoon, he had a low-grade fever and by night, he was completely congested. We're using Vicks Baby to clear up his congestion, and Baby Tylenol to keep his fever down, but he's just miserable.

I hope my little guy feels better soon!

Here's a story from yesterday (8-14-08) which was Tristan's 7 month 'birthday'

Tristan has a little stuffed duck that he loves to play with... so the other night, I was telling him DUCK, that's a DUCK over and over... and he started repeating it back to me. Which we all went crazy over, but he was just imitating me.
Well , we were in Wal-Mart and Tristan was sitting in the buggy and all of a sudden, he said DUCK DUCK! I wasn't paying attention really but I happened to turn the way he was facing -- and there was a big toy duck sitting on the shelf. It looked NOTHING ilke the one that Tristan has, except that it was yellow and had an orange bill, lol.
Anyway, he recognized the duck and called it by its name... I was so proud, I just had to brag! :D

And here's a picture of my handsome boy:

It's amazing what a difference a baby can make. I know it's cliche, but he is such a joy and brings so much light into our everyday lives.

Today, he watched me hide a toy in the laundry hamper and not only did he pull himself up to standing, but he he then reached for the lid to try to get inside so he could retrieve his lost toy. He's so smart!

Then this evening when his dad came home from work, he was playing with my cell phone while we caught up on our day. Brandon's phone started ringing, so he handed me the baby and then started laughing - his caller ID said that *I* was calling. Tristan had called his dad on my cell phone! It was an accident, of course, but he was so excited to hear his dad on the other end! ;)

He also learned how to open the kitchen cabinets today, so it's off to the store I go and the baby-proofing officially begins!

Tristan is learning and doing so many new things every day now, it's just amazing to watch him grow.

He can now sit up independently, crawl, pull himself up into a standing position... He picks up anything and everything he wants. He loves to watch his dog play and run and I know that it won't be too long before he starts joining in.

He now eats 2 meals a day, plus table food snacks in between. Yesterday he got his first taste of a pickle - and loved it!

I got him on the waiting list for Lil' Ones Academy several weeks ago, but it looks like they might not have a spot for him before I start back to school, so on Monday, the husband and I are going to tour Pecan Ridge School. They have individualized curriculum, internet cameras, and lots of other things that I'm really interested in. They teach the babies sign language along with all the basic concepts you would expect. It's a little more pricey, but it's worth it to get him into a quality center where the staff will really care about him. :)

Tristan had his second playdate yesterday.

I met Alena through CafeMom when Tristan was first born; she lives about 15 minutes away in the next town over, and has a son that is just 2 months older than Tristan. Back in May, we met at the city park and let the boys swing, but Tristan was really too young to do much interacting with other babies.

Yesterday, we went to Alena's house and Tristan and Russ got to play together. They're both crawling now, though Russ is almost ready to start walking! They didn't really understand the concept of sharing (of course!), but I think they did great to be as young as they are.

We look forward to having lots more playdates when them in the future!

Tristan is napping at the moment... he finally got some relief from his teething tablets and was able to rest a little. The poor baby screams in agony sometimes, his gums hurt so bad. :( I ordered him an amber teething necklace. When we were in Killeen, I heard lots of good things about them, so hopefully it wasn't a waste of my money. :)

Yesterday, Tristan stood straight up on the bed, put his arms above his head, and growled. He's growing up so fast.... Of course, he can't *stay* standing up for very long, but it's cute just the same. He also rode in his 'big boy stroller' for the first time yesterday, when we tagged along to Brandon's VA appointment. He loved it, but we need to find a toy bar or something to keep him entertained.

I'm trying desperately to get in the habit of posting regularly, but Tristan is 6 1/2 months old today and it just hasn't happened yet.

The baby is cranky and grumpy most of the time now. He's teething, and miserable, and so are the rest of us. But he's started cuddling and saying words and he's so sweet that it's pretty hard to hold it against him.

He crawls now, in his own special way... he would much rather use his feet than his knees and if he could just work out that balance thing, he would be walking instead. He can pull up, too, but the same principles apply.

He's eating solid foods... he has oatmeal with fruit every morning for breakfast (his favorites are bananas and peaches) and then a veggie for dinner (likes: green beans and sweet potatoes, hates: peas). I've snuck him a taste of a few table foods, but nothing too serious.

We're still waiting on news of his daycare arrangements for the fall. I'm really looking forward to finishing my degree, but I know that after the first hour or so, I'll be missing my little boy.