Several months ago, we started feeding Thomas with a spoon.  He would try to pull the spoon from my hand and feed himself.  He just made a  huge mess.  Between us and the babysitter, we managed to break that habit.  Now, he’ll just open his mouth like a little bird without grabbing at the spoon. Well, he is almost 10 months old, and I would like him to learn to feed himself.  I read about it, and learned that the fatter plastic spoons are easier for babies to grasp.  So, tonight at dinner I loaded up the spoon with some fresh avocado and left it on his tray.  He picked it right up and put it in his mouth!  He ate it all, and only made a small mess.  I think it will be a while before he can actually dip the spoon into the bowl of food.   

Thomas just started waving bye-bye recently.  It is usually hit or miss.  Sometimes we’ll say good-bye to someone, but he won’t start waving until he’s buckled up in the car.  Other times, he’ll wave when we wave to him.  The last few days, he has started responding to my command.  When I say “wave bye-bye,” he does!  This is the first command he has responded to.  It is so cute!  I shot a video this morning.  Yes, his thumb is always  in his mouth.  He’ll usually just wave with the other hand.  The thumb rarely  comes out. 

Thomas is definitely too young for the zoo.  It didn’t help that he missed his afternoon nap, and was completely exhausted.  The weather was gorgeous, and there were dozens of moms pushing strollers.  I could see how it’s a great place to take kids.  We’ll take Thomas back when he’s older. 

The first spot was the petting zoo.  There were a few goats out in the open, but most of them were “resting” behind a rope.  There were also some sheep and a potbellied pig in some enclosures.  There was a bucket of brushes, and the children could brush the goats.  Daddy held Thomas up so he could pet and brush one of the goats.  

Just past the petting zoo, there was a “children’s room.” It was air-conditioned, and filled with quiet activities.  The employee inside said that it’s a great napping spot in the summer.  There were cubbies with animal and occupation dress-up outfits .  There was a bookshelf stocked with animal books.  One half of the room was filled with flower pillows for sitting on.  The wall was lined with more pillows, and there were lots of stuffed and plastic animals to play with.  

 I plopped Thomas down on a flower pillow.  He took a minute to look around, then started crawling around.   He loved it!  He pulled books off the shelves.  He face-planted in a giant stuffed elephant.

  He could have stayed there all day.  It was like a fantastic romper room made just for him.  After that, we took a tram ride around the perimeter of the zoo.  I look forward to going back and actually seeing the animals! 

I am not a fan of co-sleeping.  I was terrified when Thomas was a newborn that he would be smothered.  We’ve all heard the horror stories on the news.  So, from day one, Thomas slept in his own bed.  When I finished nursing him in the night, he went right back into his bed.

The last few months, Thomas has had trouble napping at home on the weekends.  He is so used to napping in his pack n play at the babysitter’s.  He will cry and cry when I try to put him in his crib for a nap.  So, occassionally I will just take a nap with him on my bed.  He’s so warm and snuggly.  I love it!

Still, we had never slept with him in our bed at night.  Until this vacation.  We are staying at my mom’s new home for the first time.  Our room is upstairs, and apparently has no insulation.  It gets very hot and very cold.  Poor little Thomas is having a very difficult time sleeping at night.  The one night was really hot, but we managed to cool the room with a window air-conditioner.  The other nights have been extremely cold.  He is waking up at different times in the night, which he never does at home.  I manage to get him back to sleep in his bed sometimes, but other times he just cries and clings to me. It breaks my heart!  So, we have been bringing him back to our bed to sleep for up to half the night.  I love it!  I wouldn’t want to do it every night, but it’s kind of fun for vacation.  Even Daddy doesn’t seem to mind.  Although, the bed is pretty small and Thomas kicks when he wakes up. ;)  Last night, we made it to 4:30 am before bringing him to our bed.  Hopefully when we get home, he won’t be in the habit of sleeping with us. 

is much different than flying with a 3 month old.  That was how old Thomas was when I flew with him the first time.  It was super easy- he nursed, slept and had diaper changes all throughout the flight. 

Fast forward six months, and he’s a very active, crawling  9 month old.  Not so easy.  This time, I had my husband with me, which was a huge help.  The advice I’ve been given is to feed the baby on take-off and landing.  I did manage to get him a bottle for both take-offs.  For the landings, he just sucked his thumb.  He didn’t seem too bothered by the pressure.  The difficulty was during the flights.  He gets a bit loud when he plays.  It’s not crying, or screaming.  More like a yell.  It’s cute, but not on a plane full of strangers! 

On both flights, the only way we got him to nap was by laying him on his back across both of our laps.  We had bulkhead seats, which was great for the extra legroom.  However, the armrests don’t go up, so we had to do some maneuvering in order to keep him from laying on the armrest.  He and I both managed to nap, while Daddy took advantage of the peace and quiet.  His ipod actually got used, as opposed to mine.

So far, we’re having a great time visiting my family.  I haven’t put any photos on the computer, so that will have to wait.

Thomas’ new name is Mr. Mischief.  Since he started crawling, he has found many activities that are apparently really fun for him.  They are also not allowed by Mommy.  

I caught him in action this weekend.  He loves playing in the fridge.  Here he is with his booty sticking out! 

He also has started putting the cat food in his mouth.  Today, I pulled kibble out of his mouth two times!  Here he is playing with the dishwasher.  He likes to slide the drawer in and out.   

We still have some work to do with the babyproofing.  He rips up any magazine he gets hold of.  I just don’t know where to put the cat food so he won’t get into it.  He’s getting faster at crawling every day. 

Since Thomas was about 6 months old, I have been making baby food for him.  He has never had jar food, only home-made.   I try to get to our local green market on the weekends to pick up organic vegetables.  I think it’s important that he does not have food with pesticides.  I’m able to find carrots and pears at the local grocery store.  The green market will have carrots, green beans and squash.  I just read this article on Cnn.com.  The First Lady planted a kitchen garden- the first working garden at the White House since WWII.  I would really like to plant a garden at our house.  I am thinking of making a container garden.  I would like to plant herbs and veggies.  I’ve read about it, and it doesn’t sound too difficult.  I just need to get motivated.  And get to Home Depot.

I just bought this Jumperoo on Craigslist for $30.  I knew we didn’t need it, but it was pretty cheap.  Every time he goes in his exersaucer, he jumps in it!  I thought he would enjoy the jumperoo.  

The first time we put him in it, he was a bit cautious about jumping.  It was a slow little jump, and he kind of whimpered.  I wasn’t sure if he liked it or not.  Now, he definitely likes it.  We have found that if we let him jump for 15 minutes or so right before bed, it wears him out!  

Overall, I would give the Jumperoo  (5 smilies out of 5).  It is a bit bulky, but it folds up pretty well.  The baby likes it, and that is what’s important. 

When Thomas was born, some friends gave him a sailor suit. I posted about it in the fall.  It was  12 month size, so I figured he would be about a year old when it fit him.  I would get pictures taken and send photos to the people who bought it for him.  Well, Thomas wears 12 month size now!  He’s only 8 months old!  I figured I should get those pictures taken before the suit was too small.

It was a bit of a production to get him into this outfit.  It has funny buttons that connect the top with the bottom.  I completely forgot the hat, but he looked cute anyway.  I had a very difficult time with the bow tie.  I retied it in between each shot, and it still looked crooked.

Here he is, in all his sailor suit glory.  I think it turned out pretty cute.

Most of Thomas’ long pants come with pads sewn into the knees.  They really help protect his knees when he crawls, because we have laminate floors.  They can be tough to crawl on (I know- I tried it!).  The weather has been warming up- last week was in the 80’s every day.  I’ve been dressing him in shorts, and I’ve noticed that he’s a bit uncomfortable when he crawls.  He will lift his knees up and try to move around on his feet and hands instead.  

A girl I knew in high school has a website selling baby gear.  I went on the other day and saw this product.  They’re called Silipads.  They are knee pads that slip on to give extra protection when a baby is crawling.  I thought they sounded great, and bought a pair.

They arrived very quickly, and I immediately put them on Thomas’ knees.  Every time he crawled, they slipped off his knees.  I kept adjusting them, but they kept slipping off.  At least I only paid $9 for them.  I am not sure why they did not work for him. 

I give this product  (2 smilies out of 5).  They earned points for a great concept, plus they’re cute.  Too bad they didn’t work.