9 Months!

I realized I never posted Dean's 9 month pictures, which is a travesty. You should all sue me for withholding such cuteness from you. You should, but please don't.

Dean is becoming more and more interactive. He loves to imitate sounds and is kind of getting the idea of high fives. He loves playing peek-a-boo. When we put him in his crib, if he ever starts fussing, all we have to do is put his blanket over his head. He pulls it off and we gasp and smile and he just laughs and all is well.

At his 9 month appointment he was 21 pounds 15 oz (75%) and 29.25 inches long (75-90%). He's wearing 12 month clothes and filling them out. We've started checking out summer clearances to buy 18 month clothes so we're prepared. He's getting to be a pretty big kid.

One of my favorite things about Dean right now is that he eats my cooking. He's had honey balsamic chicken, taco chicken bowls, sesame chicken, ginger soy pork loin, spaghetti, etc. The only thing he hasn't eaten well was honey bacon chicken. He LOVES nutrigrain bars and graham crackers. We've done quesadillas and mac n cheese for lunches and he's done okay with those. He also eats lots of bananas.

PICTURES (the most important part!)

Helping Grandma Anne play the Organ

The boy loves to eat!

Jam session.

Hiking in Payson Canyon

Bean Museum at BYU

With Uncle Michael

More hiking...all sense of order gone out the window.

Now back to the Bean Museum...

The best two decisions I have ever made.

The classic best toys: Cardboard boxes and pots.

On our way back from Utah. Happy traveller!

The first Nutrigrain bar. I quit letting him feed himself those after that sticky mess.

Can you tell how high the water splashes are on the shower curtain? He's a pretty forceful splasher.

Beary huggable. Unbearably cute.

Are you kidding me right now? How is it possible to be that cute?!?!

First time in one of the cool car carts. He only started driving it in the checkout line.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth

We drove home from Utah on Tuesday, July 15th. Dean woke up screaming at 11:45. That very, very rarely happens, so we went it to check what was wrong. He was still kind of asleep, but tossing and turning and crying. I just rubbed him back for a minute and he calmed right down and went back to sleep. Then he woke up screaming again at 12:45. That time when I went in, he was burning up! He had also pooped. So, I changed his diaper and gave him ibuprofen and he slept just fine the rest of the night. In the morning, Trevor got him up and he was again burning up and he was touching his ears. His temperature was 102. I called the doctor and they said, "How quick can you get here?" So we went in at 9:30 that morning. One ear looked a little inflamed and his throat looked red. They asked about his appetite. He'd eaten breakfast just fine. The doctor, who I hadn't seen before since his normal pediatrician was out of the office, prescribed amoxicillin and explained that if the infection was actually caused by a virus instead of a bacteria, the amoxicillin wouldn't work and he would get a rash. Well, later that day, Dean started getting a rash and he quit eating. By the next morning, the rash was looking pretty bad. I called the doctor's office again. I tried describing the rash to the nurse saying that I didn't want to stop the amoxicillin if it wasn't the "amoxicillin rash" but also wondered if it might be an allergic reaction or a heat rash. The rash showed up that morning on his cheek, but only on the side of his face he sleeps on, and in the knee and ankle creases on his legs. I didn't know if it was somehow sweat related. Of course, it's impossible to diagnose a rash over the phone, so back into the doctor it was on Thursday morning. His usual pediatrician, Dr. Martinez, was in that day so we were able to see her. She took one look at the rash and was able to say it wasn't the normal amoxicillin rash. She looked in his ears, and the one that was red the day before was clear but the other one was slightly inflamed. Then she looked in his mouth, and what had been a slightly red throat had developed sores all over. That explained the lack of appetite. Luckily, he would still take sips through a straw. She was able to say that it wasn't an ear infection after all, it was hand, foot, and mouth. Dean was full blown miserable on Wednesday and Thursday. Finally on Friday afternoon, he took a bottle, and later at dinner even ate some green beans. After that, he felt just fine, but the rash still was terrible. It didn't bother him though, which is surprising to me because the rash was red bumps and even blisters all over his legs. Here are some pathetic pictures.

 I took this two days ago. It looks so much better! And now it looks even better!

The three days he felt so bad were some of the most emotional days of my life. I couldn't stand seeing him in pain. I just kept thinking about how hard it must have been for Heavenly Father to watch Christ suffer physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It must have been agony for him. Watching Dean, I felt so helpless, and that was miserable. I can't even imagine the struggle of having all the power to release his pain and choosing NOT to do it. Heavenly Father and Jesus could have stopped the suffering at any point, but it would have meant stopping the Atonement, and They were never going to do that. We must be loved a whole, whole, whole lot for someone to be willing to suffer and parents to watch that suffering to benefit us.

Then I got hand, foot, and mouth from Dean. I had a pretty bad fever last Sunday and was absolutely freezing all day. That's not normally people's problem right now in the Phoenix area. And my throat hurt really bad. My fever only lasted Sunday and I didn't have any rash, but Monday night I braved looking at my throat in the mirror, and it looked BAD. My heart broke a little more as I thought, "THAT is what Dean was dealing with?! Poor kid!" On around Tuesday or Wednesday, I finally got fed up with being stuck in the house and we went on walks in the morning and then I even braved going to the store. By that point, Dean was definitely suffering cabin fever and we were ready to be out and about again. Overall, hand, foot, and mouth sucked. Try not to get it.

8 Months!

I don't think there was every a baby in the world who was loved as much as Dean is. We're in Utah right now, and he has aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents absolutely fawning over him. He doesn't mind. And truth be told, neither do I. It's nice to have other people to entertain him. Especially since I was a slackerface and never did the AZ Constitution class I have to do in order to renew my teaching license which expires the end of July. So Mima has been helping with Dean quite a bit while I work on that. Here are some things we love about 8 month old Dean:

He twirls his hands and feet when he gets excited. It is so dang adorable. My mommy heart melts because he does it when he sees me (or food). He loves me. Sometimes he shows it in strange ways.

He is generally very happy. He loves to smile and giggle. He doesn't get upset very often, but he sure lets me know when he's unhappy.

He is learning more and more everyday. He is now great at pushing up on his hands with his arms straight. When he's on his belly he can pivot in a circle, but doesn't really move forward or back yet (at least not intentionally). He can roll from back to belly! The first time he did it was in his sleep. This is what he thought of it:

He woke up a few times from naps and at night from rolling over. Now he's better. I knew he could do it, but hadn't done it other than in sleep, so I gave him some motivation, and voila!

He is trying new foods all the time and does great with them. He's liking fruit more and more. He's had peach slices and did great. Here he is with an apple slice he gnawed on.

If he's a little fussy, I can give him some puffs and he cheers right up. He can feed himself the puffs and has almost mastered the pincher grasp. His fingers are a little raw because once he puts the puff in his mouth, he leaves his fingers in there too and sucks on them. We're trying to teach him to let go of the food.

disclaimer: he does occasionally wear clothes

He's learned to suck out of a straw like a pro. He loves to share my and Mima's fruit smoothies in the morning. The video just plays continuously and is a bit choppy, but you get the idea. He loves drinking from his sippy cup, too. Next step: hold his own cup.

He is getting more interactive. He likes to play ball. If you roll a ball or car to him, he'll roll it back to you.

He loves being outside. That's another sure fussy fix.

He loves water. He's been swimming several times and really likes it. He soaks the entire bathroom with his splashing during bath time. He looks so cute in his swim outfit (and with his nakey bum in the bathtub).

He loves dogs! He thinks they are the funniest creatures in the world. Trevor's cousin Jana has a miniature poodle and Dean loves him so much. When Presley runs by, Dean lunges after him. Here he is laughing at Walter.

Dean has had some fun adventures this month. He spent a lot of time in the car. Lots of errand running and of course, the drive to Utah. Good thing he's a happy car rider.

He had a major blow out on the drive to Utah. It even went through onto the carseat. And of course I didn't put an extra outfit in the diaper bag because of all the clothes we had packed. Buried in the trunk. So, naked boy it was. He slept so peacefully. Not for long, but he was super happy and singing along to the music. Trevor got an awesome video. I'll try to upload it later.

A few days after getting to Utah, he completed his first 5K. Grandma Anne pushed him in the stroller. She walked the 5K and came in 4th in her age group!! (out of 4) That allowed Trevor and I to run at our own paces. My goal was to make it the whole way without walking and I did it!

before

 after

He went on a hayride around Salem with Mima. It was a little cold!

He likes knitting with Mima and reading the paper with Papa.

Dean loves all the new toys at Mima and Papa's house and at Grandma Anne's. He is so cute with this little drum. He likes to bang on it with his hand. Clearly, he still has some learning to do as far as the drumstick.

He is 21 pounds already and is getting so big! He is so fun! Trevor always says he feels bad for everyone in the world who doesn't get to be around Dean. I agree.