Development

Geoff can reach for toys now. He still bats at them, but he is also able to grab and hold links on his own.

Also, Geoff likes to chew on his burp cloths. At first, I think he was just bringing it up by default when he brought his hands up around his face to stretch. (He always did like his arms and hands up around his face - even in his 3d ultrasound pictures!) But now, he grabs the cloth and brings it up towards his mouth to chew on!

Although he does not love Tummy Time, he is still developing. He has now rolled several times from his back to his side, and today his legs were completely flipped - if he could have figured out how to get that arm under him, he would have made the back to tummy roll!!!

He also had a good tummy time today - he kept his head up for about 5 minutes and even reached for a toy while on his belly!

I don't know if I mentioned it, but he's still been somewhat fussy at times, but not too bad. He also started waking up at 4 AM, when he used to make it until from 1 - 6:30.

lately

Geoffrey has woken up at 4AM for the past two days (as opposed to his traditional eat at 1, eat at 7 schedule he's been keeping pretty much nightly since I've been back to work.)

It is so cute to watch him dream. I wonder what a three month old dreams about...

tidbits

Geoff went swimming in the big pool for the first time yesterday. He's been in the jacuzzi several times and seems to like it a lot. We were not sure how he would handle the colder pool, but we didn't get a chance to find out - Danny and Grant inadvertently heated the pool to 92 degrees! He had fun and enjoyed it for about a half an hour!

Geoffrey has added a high pitched squeal/scream to his repertoire of sounds. He uses it when he plays with his toys, squealing happily. He also uses it when he's really worked up in a crying fit - when it escalates to that scream, daddy and I give each other a look. Daddy thinks it is funny. Mommy has premonitions of three year old temper tantrums, but right now still jumps at the sound of it to try to solve the problem.

One thing that is more related to pregnancy recovery - I have been losing my hair. Gobs of it. I know it is normal - but man, I can't believe that I am not bald!!!!

3 months - observations

Geoffrey's Likes:

He loves Mommy and Daddy an Uncle Danny and Belle-dog.

He likes to laugh, and squeal, but his favorite noise to make right now is gurgling. He likes to get some saliva or milk pooled in his mouth and then smile and gurgle. He does this a LOT!

He loves his toys. He mostly still looks at them and bats at them, but he can start to hold some of the rings/links on his own. He can look at them for long periods and be amused, talking and laughing. He really is aware of them and interacts with them now! We use the toy bar on his swing, his rain forest mat, and now we bought a toy bar that can attach to different things, such as his car seat. He really enjoys these! It is quite cool to see how his interaction with them has developed!

He loves to suck on/chew his arms! He is really good at grabbing one hand or arm with the other now.

He loves baths/jacuzzis/warm water. I've been bringing his baby bath in the big bath so that he can take baths with me- that is a lot of fun! This weekend, we might go in the big pool - it was up to 85 degrees yesterday!

Being outside.

When Mommy sings to him.

Dislikes:

Sleeping in his crib during the day.

Shots (duh.)

(I am trying to think here - there was a reason I started a dislikes list and I can't remember what it was... ) He's actually a pretty happy baby - and the last few weeks of fussiness weren't a direct effect of something he didn't like. Hmmm.... maybe I'll come back to this.

Oh!!! Duh!!!! He still hates Tummy Time! I worry a bit about this - as I feel like he should be stronger with his tummy skills at this point - being able to hold himself up with his arms a little bit, but I know he'll catch up with this... but still - nothing will entice him - not mommy or daddy, not his toys. Most of the time he just cries! Poor guy. It makes mommy sad when he has tears!

Other Observations:

He is starting to sit upright with support. He uses his Bumpo for short periods. Sometimes we put his swing in the upright position, but lately he seems to be too excited and will sometimes tilt too far forward and then be leaning in front of the support pillows. He can also sit propped up on the couch or bed with blankets and pillows. He seems to like the view this way. We have started to take him in his stroller without the car seat attachment, too, once or twice.

 Outings:
Geoff has been to DIsney two more times. His 5th visit was a short one on Thursday, May 7th. We just did the Sleeping Beauty walk through, Mommy did Matterhorn, and we did Buzz Lightyear. His 6th visit was on Friday, May 15th. We went with angie, Andrew, and Cori. It was crowded - but the big people rode California Screamin', and we all rode on Mickey's Fun Wheel (formerly the Sun Wheel). Then we rode Tower of Terror before closing down DCA with 3 rides in a row on Monster's Inc. all together! Cori and Andrew came home with us. Andrew was a big help getting everything to the car. On the way home, Geoff was gurgling, and Andrew said, "I think he tried to say my name!" Cori flipped out and got mad because Geoff wasn't trying to say her name. Hee hee. She was pretty tired! It was kind of funny.

Geoff also takes lots of walks with Dad and Belle at night. He loves these and often stays awake looking around at everything!

He is also great about running errands to stores with us. He's also been to Round Table twice this week since Daddy discovered a new Round Table buffet in Fountain Valley!

He also enjoys visits from Nonna, and going over to Nonna and Grandpa's house, as well as Grandpa and Grandma DeeDee. He loves being a ham for the web cam when he talks to Grandma and Grandpa Bobby on Skype, too.

He's a busy boy! And he is truly loved - he brightens our days more then we could ever imagine!
 

3 months - Growth Spurt?

Geoffrey Walter is 3 months old. Dios Mio. He has grown and changed so much already!

I haven't blogged lately because the last two weeks were a little more difficult then usual. Nothing major, but for the most part, Mr. Geofferson was extra fussy. In the afternoons/evenings he would have very little content time, and would mostly cry or fuss or need to be held when he wasn't sleeping.

Daddy and I were perplexed. Did Geoff need a nap schedule? Although his night time sleep was fairly consistent, he had no schedule for day time sleep - he just snoozed when he was tired. It worked for daddy and I - and was really no big deal to us when Geoff slept. Could that be the problem? We started keeping track of is naps to see if we could develop a schedule, and tried to put him down for some. However, he cried most of the time we put him down, and seeing that he is still a bit young to Ferberize, that didn't go to well.

I started doing some research, and remembered that babies often have a major growth spurt around 3 months. Perhaps we were gearing up for that? '

In the meantime, we just cuddled and loved - and gave him lots of baths since he likes those. Lately, I've been getting in the big bath tub with him, and putting his baby bath in there with us.

On Thursday night, Geoff was like a new kid - he was happy and giggly and talky all night, with very few fussy periods! Friday night was pretty good, too! 

Was that the growth spurt? Was that it? I was waiting for something worse, but he seems much happier again! We'll observe the next few days and see!

Mother's Day

On Sunday, May 10th, I celebrated my very first Mother's Day with my wonderful family! I wanted to spend the day with Geoffrey and Grant - so we decided to drive down to San Diego for the day. We visited Balboa Park - Geoff slept almost the whole time. In retrospect, we probably should have woken him up at the park - because on the drive home he wasn't sleepy at all and cried for a large part of it - poor boy - at that point he wanted to play and stretch! Anyways, before the drive home, we went back to Kafe Yen in Pacific Beach - this Asian Fusion restaurant we had found by chance a few years ago. It was very yummy! It was a t dinner when Geoff first got a little fussy. Really over all, though, he did well. I loved being with my boys, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend my very first Mother's Day, then with Grant and Geoff!

Grant and Geoff also gave me the most amazing Mother's Day gift. We now are members of the Disney Vacation Club! We own at Saratoga Springs! I am so excited for the family vacations and traditions we'll be able to develop at Disney World!

Overwhelming

Sometimes the feelings of love are so strong and deep, it is overwhelming. How did we create such a perfect, lovely creature? And everything works! His big blue eyes, his cute little stuffy nose, his tiny mouth that laughs and cries and eats and coughs and sneezes, his little ears with the tiny ear wax, his arms, his hands that hold and grasp and wave, his strong legs, his cute little butt - he poops, he pees, he farts... his stomach digests, his heart beats - his lungs breathe.... so ordinary, common, everyday, expected - and yet so miraculous and amazing.

Wow

6:45 am

Good God, can that boy fart!

Daddy's Story

Grant wanted me to share this story:

The other day, Grant was feeding Geoff a bottle. Geoffrey was flailing his arms around accidentally hit himself in the face, which made him cry.

Grant found this very amusing.

(chuckle...)

2 1/2 month pediatrician visit

On Monday, May 4, Geoff had a visit with Dr. Chang. Geoffrey is now 25 inches long and weighs 14 pounds! Dr. Chang says that he is doing very well - everything she checked - eyes, abs, back, ears, etc. looked good. He is tracking well with his eyes, and his neck is strong.

He got two shots - DTAP and PCV, and an oral rotovirus vaccine. Poor guy - he was already getting fussy before nurse Florence came back in, and he was crying through the oral vaccine. By the time he got the first shot, he was wailing, and the 2nd one brought a full blown, high pitched screech. Poor guy! I was holding him and Grant was holding me. He didn't have much reaction to the vaccine - no fever or anything - but he was definately fussier then usual on Tuesday.

10 weeks - 2 1/2 months!

Geoffrey is ten weeks old now - or 2 1/2 months. I guess I need to start talking in months now - but I am not ready for him to be old enough to start talking about him in months!

This week was sort of erratic as far as his sleep is concerned. One morning he woke up at 8:45, and another morning he woke up at 11:30! Still, the other three days were his normal 10 - 10:30 ish wake ups. However, this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) he has spent a LOT of time sleeping. Another growth spurt, perhaps?

On Thursday, Geoffrey made his 4th trip to Disneyland, and had his first park hopping experience! We started out at DCA and had dinner - it is the beginning of the food and wine festival. Then we went over to Disneyland. I fed Geoffrey in the baby care center, while daddy found a place to sit and check his email. Daddy texted us a picture and when we were done, Geoff and I tried to find him based on the pic he sent us. It was fun! After, we rode The Jungle Cruise, and then Grant rode Splash Mountain single rider. Next we went on Winnie the Pooh, which Geoff really seemed to enjoy - his eyes were huge as he took everything in! Daddy took Geoff on Winnie the Pooh again while Mommy rode Splash Mountain, and then we were able to jum in the line for Haunted Mansion in the very last group before the park closed!

This morning (Sunday) Geoffrey got his picture taken. Kelly, a music teacher at my district, came over and took some beautiful shots of him. We'll probably have Kelly come over and take shots every few months. Geoff was a very good boy for all of his pictures!

This afternoon, we went to a BBQ at Grandpa and Grandma Dee Dee's house. Aunt Tammy, Uncle Dave, Lexi, Aunt Darci, Uncle Scott, Drew, Parker, and Karson were there. What fun! Your cousins loved seeing you, and everyone else loved holding you!

Tomorrow we have a doctor's appointment for Geoff. I'll blog more then...