Getting A Little Culture

Today Rooney and I went to the KidQuest Children's Museum with Moms Club. As you may remember the 1st time Rooney and I went here with Moms Club didn't go so well (see Moms Club...Shmoms Club). In retrospect ,that day actually went really well since we met Krista and Parker, who are now our good friends. Anyway, since Rooney is walking now he was able to roam around and I think he had alot of fun. There were alot of things to touch and play with and once those got boring there were a few stairs that kept calling his name.

To see more pics of Rooney getting a little culture at the museum click here

Advanced Moves

Wow this weekend! Saturday we hosted the Moms Club charity garage sale at our house. I've never actually had a garage sale before. You know what...it's alot of work! I would equate it with moving, and I hate moving, so that must mean I hate garage sales! Many moms donated items to be sold, but many moms also dropped off their "junk" which just cleared out their garages. Anyway, the day was successful, we got to meet many of our neighbors, it was for a good cause & all remaining items got donated to charity (minus the bag of toys I shopped for while I was working). All in all the garage sale was a good thing.

Sunday we had a BBQ at Dana's house. Jim's daughter, Jamie, came to visit from Iowa. Jamie hasn't been here in 8 years so seeing Cuyler, Natalie and Megan was a big shock to her I think. We had a good time at the BBQ, Rooney showed off all afternoon his advanced cool walking moves. He also got to play with alot of kids! Renae's 4 nieces were also over visiting, 2 of whom are 5 or younger. Rooney really seems to like being around other kids and hanging out.

Today, Roonster and I went to Newcastle Beach and Park with the Moms Club. It was a nice day and Rooney just walked all over. He didn't really want to play with the other kids; just wanted to walk. All this walking tuckers him out though so we left after an hour or so. Rooney is also advancing on what he will eat now. The trick for me is to stay ahead of him creatively. The new food I am getting him to eat is bread. This is great because it kind of opens up a whole new can of worms with how I can feed him. I've been trying to get Roonster to eat avocado for quite awhile. I was able to make him avocado-hummus little sandwiches today. He seemed to like that so I made him avocado-tahini sauce sammies a little later. I also found these single serve organic soups so tonight he also had butternut squash soup for dinner. He was really cute because when I was trying to feed him, he was tired, and as I got the spoon to his lips he tried to bat it away. However, I got a little soup on his lips, which he tasted, must have liked it, because he pulled my hand (with the spoon) back and took a bite. He also self-fed himself watermelon. That was unusual because it seems he does not like to self-feed himself soft foods. One day I'll figure this kid out.

Here are some pictures of Rooney walking and playing with his new maraca.






Finally, I have received a few more pictures from Dan & Kim's wedding. To view them click here

Wedding Recovery Week

This week's post will mostly be dedicated to pictures from Dan & Kim's wedding and visiting family photos. We have downloaded many peoples pictures plus I am waiting for more. I decided not to post too many of Dan & Kim because they had a professional photographer take their pictures and it would be nice to wait and see those photos before any of our very amateur photos are published. I am trying to have the photos concentrate on Rooney but I think I'll slip a cute one of someone else in every once in awhile.

To catch up with non-wedding news...this week has been wall-to-wall action. OK maybe not action but we've been pretty busy. Tuesday we had a craft day with Moms Club and we made some really cute washcloth puppets (guess which ones is Rooney's!). Of course all the kids were too young to make their own but to tell the truth I think the moms may have had more fun than the kids would have. Today Rooney and I went for an ice cream (or gelato) social. Pretty good turn out today and Rooney got his very first taste of chocolate gelato. He wasn't as impressed as I was, but that was A-OK with me, it just meant I didn't have to share.

Rooney's Wedding and Reception Pictures

Teaser

There will be a much more extensive post about Dan & Kim's wedding soon. Our photos did not come out that great so I have to wait & see what comes in. I know a few other people took some really nice pictures.

However, I wanted to post something and I think this picture is pretty sweet. This is a pic of Rooney and Mike before the ceremony. I think they were having a little "Dad, Son Time" before the show.

GG Comes For A Visit

Today started out pretty much like any other day for Rooney. He woke up, played for an hour, had a bottle, took a nap, woke up and ate breakfast, played for another 2-3 hours then had another bottle and slept for another 1-1/2hrs. An enviable schedule.

When he woke up from his second nap he had a fabu lunch as well. I'm pretty excited because I was able to get Rooney to eat lentil soup (and like it...very important) and feta cheese! I can't believe we got him to eat feta and seemingly like it as well. These Baby Mum-Mum's are so awesome. All these eating and sleeping seemed to strengthen Rooney's resolve to walk. He was walking all around this afternoon. Farther and faster than I think he's walked before.

Rooney also had some special visitors today. Grandma and Grandpa Wade came in today...and Rooney's Great Grandma Wade came too. I was really happy that Great Grandma has finally been able to meet my sweet pea. Rooney showed off his walker skills, walking and flirting skills.








He's pretty sure he's got them in his back pocket now.

So Difficult

Rooney has been a real challenge trying to get him to eat lately. Seems the only things he wants to eat are yogurt and anything spread on a Baby Mum-Mum. He's not interested in self-feeding himself anything soft (e.g.bananas and peas). He is also not interested in anything I have prepared for him (other than no-cook oatmeal) and if he has to so much as use a tooth on any food from a jar...forget about it. I'm not all that creative in the kitchen as it is anyway, and Rooney's eating issues, are really sapping any ability I may have had. We don't even make our own dinners! We still order them from Designed Dinners.

Something else I have been trying to work on with Rooney, is getting him to know how to use a sippy cup. Things have not really been sailing in that area either. I finally found a sippy cup that has a sipper made from the same material as the nipples on his bottles. The theory is that he will be used to the flexibility of the sipper and will try to suck like he does on a bottle. I think I need more. I have to put some incentive in the cup. I was staying away from juice but I may have to pull out all the stops soon. I did let Roonster drink out of my cup this evening. He seemed pretty jazzed at first but after a couple of sips I think he realized Peach Ice Tea wasn't his thing.



Not only is Little Mister Wade snubbing my culinary skills but look what he's doing to this new toy I got him! I was pretty excited about getting this for him and actually went on a hunt for the 2 in 1 piano/xylophone.

It's possible he's trying to play with the piano with his toes but somehow I'm a little dubious.

Big Boy Walking Shoes

Rooney's had a busy couple of days. Thursday Roonster and I went over to his buddy Parker's house. Parker's mom needed to be sans baby for a little bit so we went over to keep an eye on things.

Oh man these two boys are so cute together! They explore, communicate and play together. They also have problems sharing and they want something the other one has already. I think these playgroups and hanging out with kids his own age will be such a huge benefit to Rooney. Plus it's kind of nice to be able to hang out with someone (Parker's Mom) who is basically at the same place you are and bringing your baby over is a benefit.

We have also been getting ready for Dan and Kim's wedding. Rooney's been working on his walking skills and he's doing pretty well, but I don't think he'll be able to "walk" down the aisle, especially with the new shoes we got him. We got him some new big boy walking shoes that have an actual sole. His other shoes were crib shoes and the sole was soft leather. These new shoes have a flexible sole but they are still heavier and stiffer than the crib shoes. When he wears them it seems he drags his feet a little more. Hopefully this won't set him back too much in walking. These shoes are so cute and I think they'll look very dashing with his tuxedo that he is wearing for the wedding.

Maybe we can pin the ring pillow to his back and he can crawl it down the aisle.

Boys Club

Yesterday was Rooney's Moms Club baby playgroup. We had a great time. It's so fun to see the kids together and how they interact with each other. They seem to have their own language that primarily relies on verbal clicks and arm movements.

Every once in awhile there is a finger to the eye. I'm not sure what this means, but it must be very important, because it always elicits an immediate response from the fingeree.


Besides their new language they also seem to communicate heavily through music. All the kids at one point were playing an instrument and there was talk of getting their band back together. I'm not sure what that meant, but they seemed to. They all waved their instruments in a show of solidarity.



The day was not all about male bonding, rhythmic grunting and banging. These little monkeys had to be fed...








so the day was capped off with a Cheerios food frenzy.

With Feet

It was requested that we post new video of Rooney walking...with feet. Since he's new to this whole walking thing, the video is short but sweet.

2 Months To Go

Rooney 10 months ago


Today Rooney is 10 months old. He is so integrated into everything we do now, it's hard to believe there are still friends and family that haven't even seen him yet! Thankfully Dan and Kim's wedding will offer a good opportunity for out-of-towners to finally meet him. I'm very excited for 2 of Rooney's great-grandmothers to finally be able to hold him, instead of just looking at pictures. He is quite a flirt...especially with the ladies. Grandma's better look out!

Roonster seems to have gotten over his cold for the most part. Unfortunately, it may have been passed on to mom. The cold is bad enough, but Tuesday I also got a root canal. The two aren't really very complimentary to each other. One benefit of the root canal however, other than the obvious, is that my face is a little swollen now. I know you are asking "How is this a benefit?". Well...I think the swelling makes me look a little younger. I may try to keep the look. It's a bit chipmunk-y but you have to go with what works. With Rooney growing up so fast, pretty soon, I'll be talking about my teenage son and not by baby! (Oh no!!!)




Rooney Today

(For more pics of Rooney today click here)

Old McDonald Had A Farm...

Yesterday Rooney and I went to Kelsey Creek Farm with Renae and Felix and another mom and her son. It was pretty tough for us to get out the door though. Originally the other mom and myself had made plans to leave at 1pm. I told Renae the day before that we planned on leaving at 1pm and we agreed that she would meet us there if her schedule permitted. Monday morning I get an email from the other mom & she asked if I wanted to meet at 11am?

Rooney got up early yesterday, so if he held to his normal napping schedule, I figured he would still be napping at that time. I suggested we meet at my house at noon. We agreed and I informed Renae that we would actually be leaving earlier. She was still interested in going but was not sure when she would be able to meet us. After I spoke with Renae, I spoke with the other mom over the computer, and mentioned to her that at 11am, Rooney still had not gone down for his nap. He was totally fighting it yesterday and I figured he would sleep really well when we got home. However, the other mom offered that we could go later if I wanted to put Rooney down and see if he would take a little nap.

When she suggested this I was totally prepared just to let Rooney sleep when we got home; thinking he would sleep really well and for awhile. I told her just come over at noon blah, blah, blah. Well after she made the offer I thought about it and I decided I would try to put Rooney down again. Oh he howled and it tore my heart out. I IM'd the other mom and let her know I laid Rooney down. I assumed she would read the IM and know to come a little later. Right after I IM'd her, Renae called, and she said she was on her way to the farm (by this point it is 11:30am). Renae could hear Rooney bawling over the baby monitor and I told her not to go yet because I just laid him down and we were going to leave at 1pm again. OK. Renae decided to go home 1st and she was going to call me if she was going to be able to leave at 1pm. Rooney then started crying "momma", it was tearing me up so I went to see if I could soothe him. I tried to rock him and calm him down, but really he just didn't want to go to sleep. Since it was already 11:30am, I decide to just let Rooney get up. I gave him a relaxing bath and decide that we could just stick to our original plan. During this time the other mom had called me. When I checked my voicemail she said she was leaving in a few minutes and would be at my house around 12:15pm. I was thinking, maybe I could stall her a bit because I told Renae 1pm & I did not want to have to call her back & tell her plans changed again. The other mom obviously did not read my IM, but that was OK because Rooney was awake still. I rushed to get him fed and finish getting myself ready. As I was doing this, the other mom must have read my IM!

I notice it was around 12:30pm and she had IM'd me back. I told her to come over, Rooney was awake and let's just go. She got to my house around 1pm. Renae called said she was ready to go, I said we were about to leave and after moving car seats and getting Starbucks I think we were on the road to the farm at about 1:20pm.

We were almost to the farm when the other mom's son started crying in the car. He cried for a little bit when Rooney start to cry. Oh no! These two are setting each other off! I unstrapped the seat belt, got them both calmed down, restrapped in and they started crying again! The boys finally stopped crying when we got to the farm and met Renae, Felix and Megan there. The farm was really cute, I got a lot of good animal pictures and Felix is in almost all of them. He kept saying "Moo" when we saw the cows. It was so cute! He got to chase a chicken or two and I believe he got to pet a horse also.

Finally, what was Rooney doing during our special trip to Kelsey Creek Farm?




(To see additional farm photos click here)