Rubber Ducky You're the One...

.... You make bathtime so much fun.
Mauer has been really enjoying bath time. Now that he is on the move, he will get on his hands and knees in the tub and crawl around to get to his favorite toys. He reminds me of a frog! He will also slap and kick over and over and over again. He doesn’t mind getting water in his face at all! Maybe he DID get some of my genes!

We started brushing his teeth. He really enjoys brushing his own teeth and he doesn’t mind when I help either. Of course, I am using the word "tooth" very loosely since he does not have any yet. We have been expecting one any day for over 4 months now.

His potty chair came in the mail the other day. Now before any of you make your own judgments about that… many countries throughout the world have their children potty trained before age 2. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that in the United States, you had to get a prescription for diapers for children over 30 pounds! Okay, back to Mauer. He sits on it after dinner and/or before bath time. At this point, he is just getting used to having it around and sitting on it. (Which, he thinks is pretty rad.) It’s still a little too big for his tiny bottom, and his little legs just graze the floor. We will worry about him making a deposit later.

Ready or not! Here he comes!

This week, Mauer has decided he does not mind being on his hands and knees. For the past few weeks, whenever we set him on the floor in the crawl position, he would fuss and roll to sit on his bottom. I knew he could crawl, because I have seen him do it a time or two. Now he is on the move. He still gets frustrated when he goes from wood floor to rug but he is moving! At times, I see him pulling himself across the wood floor like a paraplegic too. I guess his legs muscles need a break!

Some of Mauer’s other accomplishments:
Clapping. Well, it is like the silent clap. I used to think it was just coincidence that he was making contact with the palms of his hands, but it is actually intentional. We clap together when we are REALLY excited. You know, about things like swallowing a bite of food, or crawling a few feet.
Eating. I don’t know what they did at daycare, but they started to spoon feed him and now he will try eating anything at home (without screaming). I’m not sure how they do it, but he comes home in the same clothes I sent him in and they do not have a morsel of food on them. Could they be stripping him down to put him in the highchair? I don’t think so. They must not let him use the spoon or let him “explore” the food as we do at home. He has also been eating what we eat. Of course, when he has chicken and rice, his chicken isn’t marinated in teriyaki sauce. He has also had spaghetti. Spaghetti nights are also bath nights. I find noodles EVERYWHERE! It’s pretty cute to pull off his shirt and find noodles stuck to his chest.
Crawling. So the house is pretty baby proof. Todd and I are not. We cannot leave things like the ironing board (iron atop) in the living room anymore. Yikes!

I have been working a TON lately. School starts on Thursday and I’ve been doing lots of enrollments and orientations with new parents. This means long days at work. Thankfully, Todd and Mauer have been super accommodating. For starters, Mauer has been eating more solid food, which makes it easier for me to keep up with my milk production. And, Todd has been able to bring Mauer to my office after he picks him up from Daycare. It’s a nice way to revive my energy and plug away for a few more hours. I hope things settle down soon. I thought the beginning of October would bring about some regularity, but one of my teachers quit so I will be hiring and training in a new person around the beginning/mid October.

Video Clips from this week

Below is a video I took (with my phone) of Mauer trying to get on his feet. No, he hasn't mastered crawling, he doesn't even crawl at all (well, I saw him do it once). He just really wants to get on his feet. So far, he gets to his toes, pivots and then goes in a new direction. Don't mind the dog, he's being his typical self- annoying.

I have no idea how he knew that I had my camera when I was pointing my phone at him. He's quite the ham. He knows what to do when you point a camera at him, as you can see. Again, he's trying to pull himself up. He's using the laundry basket and the couch. He's been making this really weird noise with his tongue lately. Todd and I have tried to imitate it, but we can't figure it out. You can kind of hear it in this video. He clicks his tongue and then makes a mini-fart noise.

Visiting Olympic National Park & Goodbye

Mauer & Lila finish their visit with slobbers and their favorite toy. Goodbye Lila, Jenny & Cary!

The Adams' Visit

Jenny, Cary & Lila were able to stay in Washington with us for an entire week.

We took a ferry to Bainbridge Island from Seattle.

Mauer and Lila spent a bunch of time in their car seats.

Baptism

We were so thrilled to have Mauer’s Godparents, Jenny & Cary to join us for his baptism. Our good friend, Michelle, also joined us. She was there to snap photos for us!

I made Mauer’s cake with my Betty Crocker insert pans. I used white cake for the outside and devils chocolate for the inside. There was some debate as to whether or not that was appropriate for a baptism! We decided it was an angel, devil cake; so I am sure that negated any bad juju.

During the service, we all gave him the sign of the cross on his forehead. Mauer was in a happy mood for the entire baptism. At the end, he fell asleep. Good boy!

At St. Mikes, they like to set the children in the baptismal font and scoop water onto their heads. He did not seem to mind. We had our fingers crossed that when we pulled the diaper off, that we didn’t have any surprises.

Twins vs Mariners

I was given a pair of tickets to the Mariners vs. Twins game from my co-worker. What a nice gift! We decided to try taking the Sounders Train, so we parked the car in Tacoma and took a relaxing and scenic train ride to Safeco Field. We had a good view and we were surrounded with Twins fans. To top off the afternoon, the Twins beat the Mariners.