Moms

If stay-at-home mothers were paid the market rate for the work they do each day, they would be earning a salary of nearly $70,000 a year.

The national survey found that the average housewife spends just over 9-1/2 hours a day, seven days a week, taking on the roles of nanny, cleaner, cook, chauffeur and shopper. That leaves her with a little more than 2-1/2 hours for "me" time.

Just some interesting info I found in an article online written last Mother's Day. No complaints here though—I would do what I do every day for no pay, because the reward of seeing my little boy grow up is priceless. : )

Random...

Connor and I had a wonderful day yesterday with Brynn and Val. It was so nice to carry on an adult conversation for a little while (Connor was WONDERFUL and napped for 2.5 hours at the time). Connor had a great time showing off his pulling up skills and 'cheesing' at all the cameras. What a ham he is! We both loved having them over and hope they can come again soon! : )


On a side note: I think Cooper has been teaching Connor some things these days. For one, Coop is known for clanking around in the blinds at night. Well...now we have two little guys clanking around in the blinds!

Also, Connor still is determined (and crawls faster than I have ever seen him) to get into Coopy's water bowl all the time! I continuously tell him "yucky, no-no", but what does Connor understand...to him its a water source to splash around in. If Connor is not headed toward Coopy's bowls, he is off to Coop's toy basket! He has become so strong that he pulls himself up onto the basket with one hand then reaches in with the other hand to grab a toy. He must see that the squeaky dog is Coop's favorite, because he always grabs that one (kinda funny since Coop has 100 toys and he always comes out with the same one!).

'Mom, I won't get into Coop's bowls...I promise'

'Ha...she's not looking'

Connor is also ALWAYS pulling up now. The coffee table is his favorite place. He loves to steal the remote, bang on the glass, hold on and look down under the table at the books on the bottom shelf, and clank around with the coasters. I got pretty lucky, since most of our furniture has rounded edges...but that still doesn't stop a few good bruises and bumps from day to day.

Pictured with his favorite screwdriver

Peek-a-boo

Getting gutsy--grabs the TV, then lets go for a few seconds, then grabs the TV again.

We have also been practicing the art of falling asleep on his own. I usually nurse Connor to sleep, but he's been getting to the point where he's tired but still fights falling asleep. Yesterday we had great success! He cried for about 6 mins (which feels like an eternity), then cuddled up with the bumper of his crib and went to sleep. He woke up about 45 mins later, let out a few cries, but by the time I got to his door, he had rolled over and went back to sleep! He has a heartbeat sound on his noise machine that works WONDERS when trying to get him to sleep without my assistance. He's such a big boy and has been napping/sleeping well at night ever since. He's really growing up and rather quickly : (.

Connor's world is opening up!

We are almost to the 8 month marker and boy-oh-boy has Connor grown up in such a short amount of time!

He is crawling like a pro & usually bee-lines straight through his toys and over to Cooper's! Crawling into things is not the issue anymore...its the pulling up on things! If I could put a helmet on this child, I would! He is climbing everything- the sliding glass doors, walls, ottoman, coffee table, jumper, toy basket, silk palm tree... For what I thought were cute little handprints up and down my sliding glass doors and on my coffee table, have since become giant smears and constant windexing on my part!! We have to move his mattress down again, as standing up has become quite easy for him these days! His wonderful fish tank toy has to be taken down from his crib too, as it became a stepping stone for him to escape this crib! No one tells you that when you move into your house, you should plan light years ahead to have baby safe furniture, padded walls, and everything should be sterile!! Connor is getting better at pulling himself up then letting go and falling to his toosh in a sitting position, but I know we will continue to have red spots/bumps/bruises on his little noggin' as he continues to explore his world!

Meal times have been more fun and a struggle at the same time! Connor has quite the opinion on what he would like to eat and what he does not prefer! He is officially on big boy foods, as he wants to have nothing to do with baby food anymore. I'm trying to be creative to sneak baby food into his meals (to use up the ones I have stocked up in the pantry). I have done lots of research online and talked with other moms to get good, healthy ideas for meals now. Some of Connor's favorites include cottage cheese, sweet potatoes, hashbrowns, crackers, yogurt, mango, pancakes, and egg yolks! He is definitely like his mother, as he would much rather have fruits than his veggies! I try to mix them in with other goodies to sneak them into his diet. He is also doing great sucking up a straw (the little ones in juice boxes) as well as taking a sippy cup. I pretty much have to drink juice or water anywhere, because if Connor sees me drinking something, he has to have some too...which is probably a good way to get me to drink and eat healthier : ).

Pooping is never an issue with Connor anymore. He used to be so predictable and you always knew when he was pooping because his whole face would turn red and he would grunt loud and proud. Now, he's rather sneaky and usually don't know he's poopy until his lovely odor gives it away! Yes--the scents and appearance of his pooh has become quite interesting since we have discovered all these new foods.

Although Connor seems to be hitting milestone after milestone rather quickly lately, he still has yet to have a tooth pop through. Seems like he has been teething forever with the drool and gumming everything, but lately it has become worse. He loves to chomp down on things (fingers, collar bones, toys, mommy while nursing!!!) Maybe soon...although I like his all gummy smiles!

Connor has quite the opinion these days when it comes to what he would like to do and what he does not like. He will kick his legs if he doesn't want to sit in his stroller or swing, arch his back if he doesn't want to sit in his carseat, cry in frustration if he is out of food, cry in frustration if he's crawling and suddenly realizes he's tired, and so on. He is a strong willed little fellow and is learning how to express his feelings (like I'm sure all babies do at one point).

Connors loves these days include Dora (of course, but especially 'the map' from her show), mailboxes, trees (silk and real leaves), water of any kind (fountain, sink, tub, pool, Cooper's water bowl), dogs (especially his Coopy), being outside (been that way since birth!), popsicles, sucking on my shoulder to the point I look abused... Connor is so entertaining and does so well playing independently. He loves to talk and listen to himself too! Funny little man he is!

We are currently working on waving, clapping hands, and petting nice to Cooper (he likes to just grab his fur and pull!). Connor loves when you clap your hands for him and feels so proud of himself : ). He's such a cutie pie and is growing so quickly!

Pulling Up!

So we go on vacation--Connor masters pulling up in his Pack N Play--we come home from vacation--now he is pulling up on EVERYTHING in the house! Here he is caught in action...

Connor's 1st vacation!

Well--as Connor's favorite, Dora, would say, "We Did it!" We survived our first vacation! We had our highs and lows, but way more highs than lows so it was successful! For a recap:

We got in Thursday around 4ish, the rooms were BEAUTIFUL (mom and I both agree we loved the Tommy Bahama decor and wanted to steal many decorative objects for our own homes), said hello to the fam, got settled in while Connor played on the floor, fed Connor dinner, ate our own dinner (hamburgers) around 8:00pm due to rainy grills that took a little while to get 'fired up', put Connor to bed for what I thought would be a long night (loud outside/new bed/new place/etc)...but he SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! It was miraculous and sooooo not expected!

Day 2: Connor woke up to see his Auntie Katie, took Connor down to the beach, ate lunch under his wonderful SPF beach tent (tried mac & cheese, mangos, & drank through straw of juice box for 1st time), tried the water on the beach (but was not excited about it...too cold and kinda rough), packed up and went to the pool instead (which he, of course, LOVED), tried out a new floatie, played with Auntie Nicole and Craig that evening, went for family walk, went out on a pier for the 1st time, enjoyed his bottle outside, had yummy pulled pork for dinner (big people, not Connor), then went to bed with Connor.

Day 3: Connor slept great again that night, lots up pulling up practice in his pack n play, Connor modeled his lobster swim suit from Auntie Nicole, played with Uncle Craig a little, went in the pool with the girls, played in the fun turtle fountain in the pool, went down to the beach with Papa and went into the water (this time enjoyed it!), went in the pool again with Grandma and Papa, tried his 1st real popsicle (orange)...was messy so we swimming afterwards again, watched "Dora" and was soo glued to the TV (must have missed her, since he hadn't watched her for a few days!), went for a family walk, took family pictures, enjoyed yummy cheesy potatoes for dinner, and then settled into bed (slept good again!)

Day 4: Lots of packing, walked down and met family at breakfast at Cafe on the beach, watched some more "Dora" while we loaded up the car, had fun airplane rides with Auntie Katie in the parking lot, got info on rooms for next year (with private pool, spa, and pier overlooking the bay...very exciting!), napped in the car on the way home (shortly), then Grandma entertained/fed Connor snacks the rest of the way, got unpacked, picked up Coopy from Rach's, and now...should be sleeping but I'm posting pictures.

It was so much work (trying to keep Connor on his schedule/packing/unpacking/finding everything once we got there/trying to see everyone while working around Connor's moods & schedule/packing to leave/ unpacking at home...), but we had a good time! Lots of pictures so enjoy!

Should be napping/packing but I'm posting...

Trying real sweet potatoes for the 1st time--
He LOVED them! Mr. Independent is only happy if he feeds himself now.


Best idea ever! Give child a whole peach, let him play and eat,
takes up a good 20 minutes and he LOVED it!


As Julia Roberts says in "Pretty Woman": "One slippery little sucker" : )

Connor's world has really opened up now that he can eat 'people food'. Last night we tried real sweet potatoes and a whole peach. It was such a happy dinner time for him! Connor is pretty much bored and refuses to eat baby food now. He has become coordinated enough to feed himself (although its rather messy..but hey, it was pretty messy when I fed him too!), so he is not completely happy unless he can feed himself. He was a giant sticky mess at the end of dinner and the bath had lots of sweet potato and peach debris floating around, but he got his fruits and veggies for dinner & enjoyed every moment of it! : ) We have also tried egg yolks (can't have the whites yet for allergy reasons), pancakes and toast. This morning, we had yogurt cups with his favorite, "Dora" on them...which he continued to smile at through out the whole meal : ). My little flirt!

Look who is pulling up now!

'Ahhh...now how do I get down?!'

More pulling up fun!

'Hey Mom!'

So now that Connor is officially mobile and crawls away in a flash, he is now brushing up on his pulling up skills. I try not to freak out when I see him pulling up...I want to give him space to learn, but don't want him to conk his head on a table, tumble down on the hard floor, etc. Mr. Strong Man is loving the view of the world from the floor and now up higher! He is too funny to watch his little determined face try and figure out how to get up and then...how to get down!