bumps and bruises

I realized that it had been a whole week since I have written about Andrew. Travesty! LOL, anyway, overall he's doing OK. He's gone back to screaming before naps sometimes and it drives me up the wall. The worst days are when he takes a short nap in the morning and then cries for 90 minutes straight during his afternoon "nap". At that point, I take him out of the crib and move on with his dinner as if the nap had actually happened. Then, since he's exhausted, he proceeds to fuss and cry for the next 2-3 hours during dinner and playtime. He screams during the bedtime routine and then cries off-and-on for the next 2-3 hours in his crib. Yep, that is about 8 hours of almost constant fussing, crying, and all-out screaming bloody murder. Add Momma's PMS to the mix and you've got a wicked combination. Thank goodness, Daddy knows when to bring home a bag of chocolate and not say a word when it mysteriously disappears far too quickly. These days of no afternoon nap are rare, praise God! They are just so horrible when it happens that I had to write about it.

Other than the crying thing, though, things are going great. Andrew is walking a lot now! He doesn't walk more than several steps at a time, but he spends most of his time upright. He only crawls when he wants to get somewhere fast, and I do mean FAST! The poor little guy is still working on his coordination, though, and has too many bruises to show for it. It hurts my heart to see them, but that's what you get with a daredevil son who's got the mobility of a 12-month old with the normal cognitive skills of an 8-month-old. He is all boy, and wants to explore above all else. Bruises aside, it is such a joy to see him go. He's a trooper and takes the bumps in stride. He's such a happy guy as long as he gets his sleep or when he's got new people to talk to.

He's also eating really well now! I felt so bad--the other day, when I picked him up from babysitting, I found out that he needs more food than I have been giving him. I used to pack two meals for her to feed him. However, since I started giving him one of his meals at breakfast, I just packed one meal (making it 2 meals of solids per day total). After he finished the meal I packed, she gave him a jar of baby food she had in her pantry for another meal, and he gobbled it up. Sure enough, the last couple days I've been giving him 3 meals a day plus 28 oz. of formula, and he is happy. The days of solids being optional for fun/testing for allergies are long gone. This boy wants food!