Sneaux New Pants

Sneaux (as I have taken to calling him today) is still working on his standing skills. Every once in awhile it seems that he is going to let go of whatever it is that's stabilizing him, and he's just going to take off and walk. You can almost see the will on his face...but then he changes his mind. I'm glad. In this house, where's he going to go?

DOGGY DOOR!!!

So...what do you think of these short pants, huh? This whole post is really just a big ruse to show Rooney off in his cute little outfit.

I'm a proud Mother. What can I say?

No One Stands Alone

Today Rooney had a playgroup hosted by Renae. It was alot of fun and it was nice to see so many people we haven't seen in awhile. The kids seemed to have fun, although I think most of them are too young to actively play with one another, and some news was shared by the moms that was pretty exciting. It's not my news however, so hopefully they'll post it on their blogs.

Hey! We got to spend some time with Felix and Renae! That normally only happens on holidays. Hopefully we can make this playgroup more of a regular thing.

Now for the exciting news! Unfortunately I was yakking and not taking pictures, but while we were at the playgroup Rooney stood up all by himself. It was so exciting because we were all talking when all of a sudden it got quiet and everyone gasped! I wish I had my video camera or something. Oh well. Maybe I can capture his second time.

Who's Snuggable?

Oh Rooney's had a busy weekend! Rooney's Aunt Kristi and Uncle Andy came to visit from Palo Alto. This is the first time Kristi and Andy have seen Rooney in person so I think it was kind of exciting for everyone. They stayed 4 days and we got together with Rooney's other aunts & uncles Dan, Kim, Mark & Eileen. Everyone is so busy these days, so when someone comes to visit it's good when family takes time to stop and get together. Hopefully Kristi and Andy were so moved by their love for their nephew that they'll decide to move here and be close to him. (Rooney asked that we put in a word)

I previously posted pics of a sweater that Kristi knitted for Rooney (Too Cool For School) and lucky Rooney received another one. Unfortunately, I do not have a pic of Rooney in it at this time but click on this link: Rooney's New Sweater and you can view it on Kristi's knitting blog. It's pretty cute and I'm sure he'll look very handsome in it.



Something very special happened this weekend as well. Rooney woke up crying and making his Mmm Mmm sound. He makes that sound alot. Now I know this is a fluke, but it still felt wonderful and I was very excited, when Rooney said "Momma" twice! Mike and I both looked at each other and said "Did he say Momma?". Makes me wonder if he normally wants to say Momma when he's making his "M" sound. I don't know but I was pretty jazzed. I will not declare it his first word at this time though, because I do believe it was a fluke.

As usual, this weekend Rooney got tons of attention, got to flirt plenty and I'm pretty sure everyone found him Snuggable, just as his shirt says.

The Many Loves Of Rooney

Keeping Rooney contained and entertained has become very difficult. The boy just wants to move, stand, and crawl. We came up with a simple, yet, what I believe to be, clever solution. We put this bolster on the floor and Rooney can roll, stand and torment the dogs. This seems to keep him thoroughly entertained and he doesn't get too hurt.




We've also solved the "entertainment" issue for when we are at restaurants...

or Starbucks...


If all this fails, we can just find another baby

The Easter Bunny Is Coming To Town

Sunday was Easter and Rooney received a little visit. He's been a good boy the last 6 months so...wait does the Easter Bunny have that stipulation? Anyway, it was a casual morning & Rooney lounged in his jammies with Mom and Dad.

Later that day we went to Dana and Renae's for dinner. Renae's immediate family was all there so Rooney go to watch alot of kids play and we decided to join in the Easter Egg Hunt. I think we did pretty good, considering Rooney can't walk yet, and those other little kids are FAST!





We had a good time and it was good to be with family.



Lastly, as you know Rooney is now eating baby food. I thought it might be a good idea to let him try to feed himself and I decided to snap a few photos. I do believe he got some of it in his mouth. He kept himself pretty clean but I was washing bananas out of his hair later that morning.

How Rooney Got His New Groove

Rooney is in the process of changing things up again. His solid sleeping through the night basically stopped when he started teething. Other than being woken up, it wasn't that bad because he just needed his pacifier back or needed to be fed. Wham Bam back to bed. Once he started rolling over that's when it became a bit rougher. This kid needs to move!

We had to change a few things:

1. When he was put down at night he needed to be bounced, swung or rocked. I mostly had to bounce him though.
2. Instead of getting up once to give him back his pacifier, because he was rolling around and getting up on his knees so much, he would lose his pacifier several times-to deal with this we had to give back pacifier and then bounce.

We got used to this routine, not as good as it used to be, but we knew it could be worse. Now Rooney has started to scoot, pull himself up and eating baby food. He is becoming more independent and is starting to assert it! Now at night he does not want to be bounced, rocked or swung. He just wants to stand or sit. I had to institute a new nightly routine to try and get him to sleep. The new routine is as follows (the new routine coincides with Mike & my dinner which is in parentheses):

1. Bath at night (Mike starts making dinner)
2. Lotion, little baby massage & jammies (Mike is still making dinner)
3. Feed 6oz bottle w/rice and formula while listening to Bed, Bed, Bed (Mike is finishing dinner/plating meal)
4. Put Rooney down for bed/Shoo out dogs (Susan gets drinks for dinner, turns on baby monitor & Mike brings out dinner)

Now our routine will be first & Rooney's will be in parentheses:

5. Sit down to eat, dogs hover at feet (Rooney is rolling over, getting on knees and/or trying to stand in crib)
6. Take bite of delicious dinner (Rooney starts moaning)
7. Get up to tend to baby/Susan or Mike is guarding each other's food from dogs (Rooney is now moaning and/or crying)
8. Sit down & take 2nd bite of dinner (Rooney starts moaning)
9. Get up to tend to baby/Susan or Mike is guarding each other's food from dogs (Rooney is now moaning and/or crying)
10. Sit down & take 3rd bite of dinner (Rooney starts moaning)
11. Inhale dinner while luke warm (Rooney is wailing)

This goes on for a little while but eventually Rooney does go to sleep & Mike and I can catch up on a little TiVo. This little scenario normally starts again just as we're just about to fall asleep a couple hours later.

We know we've still been let off easy, compared to some other parents, and Rooney is very sweet to sleep 10 hours straight every once in awhile and throw us a bone.

Rooney...4 Feet High And Rising

As you know, Rooney has started eating baby food (is this really considered a "solid"?), and up until this last week, it worked out well when I fed him in his bouncer/rocker. However, the MD's office suggested feeding him baby food first (before formula) when he becomes hungry so I have been feeding him about 3 jars a day. For Courage and Rocco, this means 3 opportunites to try and steal said baby food. Since I only have two hands, and one is feeding while the other is protecting the bowl, it's been very hard to shoo the boys. I realized I really had to get Rooney to higher ground, so we broke down and bought a highchair this weekend.


So far, this may be my favorite purchase yet. I have assured Courage and Rocco they will reap the rewards soon enough from Rooney starting to eat food. They just have to be patient. You'll notice Courage being patient in the above photo.

There were other new things this weekend besides the highchair. Rooney also started pulling himself up to stand. Now that's not new news since I wrote about it in the last post, but what is new, is that we had to lower Roonster's mattress again because he was standing in his crib and could lean over the edge. Lucky for Rooney he does not have the somewhat common abnormally large baby head, because it could have easily pulled him right over the side. So we have conquered, for now, the getting over the side problem, but because he is now standing, we took out the bumper, and are soon to face the "getting limbs caught in the slats" problem.

This should be good for a couple good blood curdling screams in the middle of the night.

Too Cool For School

Today was a big day for Rooney. Although I did not witness it with my own eyes, Mike watched as Rooney pulled himself up to stand. This was the first time he has stood up, and certainly the first time, unassisted. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it may be his last. After he stood up, he was unstable and fell backwards. Poor baby nailed his head on the floor. He fell on a thick rug, but I'm sure it was a pretty solid and shocking fall. He cried for awhile but thankfully Mike got him to calm down and then he was all smiles.

Today Rooney also received his cool, new sweater knit for him, with love, by his Aunt Kristi. You can see Roonster modeling it in these photos.

Where's the catwalk?

Momma's Little Pin Cushion

Today was Rooney's 6 month MD appointment. As you can see, he had a lot of shots. On these occasions, it's lucky for him, that he has his mothers thighs.

Rooney received all the regular shots plus a flu shot. We have ducks that wander around the neighborhood, I thought it best if he was prepared. Anyway, you can imagine the shots did not go over well, but once I picked him up he stopped crying and was fine. The nurse in the office encouraged us to give him even more solids and suggested feeding him baby food before we bottle feed him so he can really chow down. Thankfully for Rooney, that doesn't seem to be a problem.

So now for the stats...are there any wagers? He is officially 29 7/8" tall and weighs 19 lbs 3oz. His percentages have stayed the same and his height is still off the chart. But, we knew that, even without medical confirmation.

After all the excitement of the day, Rooney was pretty wiped out and needed to snooze. Good thing because the Easter Bunny needed to go shopping.

King Kong vs. Gigantor

Yesterday Rooney turned 6 months old. Of course the time has gone so quickly but Roonster has grown and changed so much, that sometimes, it feels like he should be older. He is starting to be able to sit and play with many of the toys he received at Christmas. I have really been waiting for this time. It is nice that he can play somewhat independently with his cool toys. He still falls plenty but I have created a padded play square for him on the floor. He is pretty safe in there & I can just dump a bunch of toys on the floor for him. Other than taking up the whole living room, it works pretty well.

Today Roonmeister and Daddy got to hang out together. I was filming a Vacuware infomercial this afternoon. Mike was supposed to be working, but when I left he was acting as a jungle gym, so I'm sure Rooney was able to squeeze in some playtime. Tomorrow is Rooney's 6mo. MD appt.

I am excited about this because I can find out exactly how big this kid is. I swear he is as tall as a 1 year old. I can almost predict Rooney will be one of these kids that everyone mistakes for being a 5 year old when he's 2. Everyone will look at me in shock when they see him and he can't tie his shoes and his speech is still short sentences. They'll ask if he has started school & I'll have to say not for 3 more years. Confused, they'll give me a blank look and then be forced into the awkward position of asking if he has a learning disability? I'll have to say "No, he's just tall". They can figure out what that means on their own.

As a bonus for King Kong we are going to an Infant Massage class on Thursday- or is it just a massage for your infant? Either way, if I was Rooney, I would be very excited! Maybe we can learn some tricks for getting him to sleep right away.

Lastly, Rooney has been a little under the weather this weekend. I'm not really sure if he has a cold or if he's just teething. He doesn't have a temp. & seems to feel OK other than he's been sleeping alot. His nose is very snotty which I believe is causing him to have a cough. Friday was kind of a rough night, but we elevated one end of his mattress a little more and have been aspirating. He seems to be getting better. Just in case, we did not go to Baby Fun at the local library.

We'll post Gigantor's stats soon & look for me on an infomercial soon. Unfortunately, I didn't catch when it was coming out.

Mike Gets Called Out

After Mike got called out on the last post, he got to work that night, and edited some of the footage we wanted to post.

In the new video, Mr. Shrill, Mike edited it down to just a snippet of the cooing/screaming Rooney was doing that morning. He was super cute this morning when he was attacking his feet, sitting up and seemingly just so happy.

We had alot of fun getting this on video (you may remember Ride'em Cowboy from a previous post) so I hope everyone, including Rooney, enjoys watching it.