As promised, here is some video of Edward playing Friday and Saturday. He's had a pretty good three-day birthday weekend extravaganza... Well, actually, it's much like his other weekends, with his parents playing with him nearly the entire time he's awake. He definitely is becoming more playful and interactive, and that makes the days awfully fun.

We got the pictures but didn't manage to squeeze in a blog post on Edward's eight-month birthday. It was Friday night and I couldn't face any more leftovers and was all tapped out on creative ideas for cooking so we decided to go out for Mexican food. Edward sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time. Earlier this week he sat in the grocery cart. In both cases, I was glad for the safety belt as he is very wiggly and the seats are big enough to accommodate a much larger child so there was a lot of room for slipping. But he did fine. At the restaurant he liked to play with the spoons we weren't using. He dropped two on the floor and then we had to shift to his own toys. He dropped the rings on the floor before I got smart and hooked one end of the rings to the seat belt and the other to his teething book so it would not fall. He was going through toys too quickly. He would have had them all on the floor before our meal even arrived! A good solution. He was happy while we ate and we all made it home in time for his bedtime, followed soon thereafter by ours!

At eight months, Edward is so much fun. He reacts to seeing us--always excitement even if we've just stepped out of sight for a moment. He plays and babbles and blows lots of raspberries, even when Grandpa isn't around (ha ha.) Actually, I think it must have something to do with impending teeth. He has been blowing and spitting for all he's worth this last week, soaking bibs and shirts.

In addition to these photos (the top one is afternoon and the bottom one is morning--in pajamas that were a gift at birth that seemed HUGE at the time!) we took some video of playtime, but we spent a lot of time trying to capture one of his best moves, so now John needs to do some editing before it's ready to post. Stay tuned.

Ed likes to play with blankets. He laughs when I put it over both our heads. Then he pulls it off, which as you may guess is fabulous for the hair (not something he needs to worry about!) However, he doesn't seem to realize that there might be more than one way to get the blanket off his head. He knows how to reach up and pull it forward, so even if lifting from the front and pulling back would expose his face faster, he still pulls forward until the whole blanket passes over his head and into his lap. And, let's face it, then back to his mouth!





For the strong-of-stomach, here's a shot of tonight's dinner--a combo jar of spinach and carrots. If Ed could talk, he might echo his older cousins' lament, "Mommy, this is not my favorite!" He eats it, but not eagerly. He needs intermittent relief in the form of the fruit course to keep him going. Tonight he got particularly frisky, sucking on his fingers while still holding some spinach in his mouth, leading to gooey spinach to squish in his fingers and rub all over his face up to his eyebrows.


And the NEAN (Never Enough for Aunt Nora) shot of the day

John recently noted that it really seems like Edward is actually playing with the toys we give him. He explores every angle with his fingers and mouth. When we stack the blocks, he knocks them down with his hands or feet. He's discovering details like fringe on the giraffe he's playing with here and manipulating it with his fingers. We've had gorgeous weather the last few days so after naptime we've been taking the blanket out to the yard to play outside. It never takes him long to realize he can pull the blanket back to reveal the fascinating grass underneath. He pulls it up by the fistful and tries to put it in his mouth. Luckily John doesn't use any chemicals on it, but still, I watch closely to interrupt the progress from ground to mouth.

He's sleeping better now that the meds have taken effect for the ear infection. However, this morning he woke up coughing at about 5 a.m. and never really got back to sleep. Not sure if that was what prompted his first nap of the day, but it sure was cute. I had just given him his cereal and banana and was working on my own bowl of cereal when I looked up to see him like this.

Well, he's getting impatient with my computer time, so I'll sign off with one last photo of the red pants that were part of this week's fabulous package of hand-me-downs from his cousin Sean courtesy of my amazing sister-in-law Diana. Ed will be well-dressed at least 'til his birthday in these duds!

Someday I will use guilt to my advantage with Edward, but for today, the guilt is all mine. Saturday night he woke up screaming at about 10:30. He would not take the pacifier and nursing only soothed him momentarily. Then back to screaming. In the past this has meant one thing--ear infection. We gave him Tylenol and called the 24-hour nurse advice line to see if there was any way to resolve this without a trip to the emergency room. Unfortunately we do not have an urgent care clinic in the area so on weekends and after hours the ER is the only option. In a college town, the ER on a Saturday toward midnight is not fit for man or beast, and certainly not for a baby!

It took a long time on hold but I finally talked to a nurse who listened to all the things we'd done (Tylenol, rocking, holding upright, warm compress) as well as Edward's behavior pattern (normally a solid sleeper--only wakes up screaming with an ear infection, which has happened twice before) and seemed convinced that the ear was the problem. She decided to page the doctor on call to see what could be done without coming to the ER. But when the doctor called back there was no negotiating--she could not, would not provide any medicine without seeing him. I understand this, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating at midnight with a screaming kid.

John had an inspiration to put Edward in his carseat and rock him that way. Eureka! He fell asleep so we left him in the carseat in our bedroom and went back to bed hoping for an hour or two. We got four, which was an unexpected treat. At 4 a.m. he woke up, but soon settled back to sleep propped up on John's arm in our bed. We made it until about 6:45 that way, though Edward was pretty restless and I got kicked in the head several times. Not restorative sleep, but better than wide awake.

On Sunday he seemed better and we even got him to take a 2+-hour nap laying in his crib, so we started to think maybe we were wrong about the ear. Maybe it was mouth pain? Oh, the drool in this kid! We went back and forth about the wisdom of a daytime ER trip on Sunday but since he did not seem uncomfortable we decided against it, vowing to kick ourselves if we had another midnight screamfest. There was no kicking. Edward slept through the night with one or two coughing fits and one 4 a.m. meal.

He was cheerful this morning and ate breakfast as usual. We felt we'd made the right choice, but I decided to call the doctor once the office opened to see if he could just get checked to be sure. They got us in by 10:45 a.m. The doctor looked in the left ear, which is where his other two infections have been. There was quite a bit of wax, so she said she thought it looked red (i.e. infected) but couldn't be sure. Then she looked in the right ear. "Woah!" she exclaimed. "That's not just red, it's bulging and opaque."

Stab me right in the heart with the guilt knife! He could have started getting better a full 36 hours sooner if we'd gone in on Saturday night. Well, given how long we might have languished in the ER waiting room, maybe only 34 or 35, but still.

So now he's back on the antibiotics, which have worked quickly the last two times so we'll hope for the same this time. Now that he's had three ear infections in the first eight months of life, all in the summer, there is cause for concern about this becoming a pattern. We will have to follow up with our doctor in a month so she can see how the healing is progressing. Then a few weeks after that he'll have his regular 9-month well-baby check so they can look again. By then we'll be into October and heading into the worst part of the year for colds, which of course are the precursor to ear infections. But by then he'll be spending even more time upright than he is now, so maybe that will help keep things drained.

I can't stand to see him in pain and be powerless to fix it. But I also can't stand the thought of him having surgery--even as simple a procedure as placing ear tubes. We are very lucky to have immediate access to such great medical care, but I really hope we won't need it.

We were all a bit slow today thanks to a lack of sleep. Mary and I (and Ed, of course) went to the home of our friends Tom and Erin for dinner with the two of them and our friends John and Nicole. Ed's friend Eva was already asleep when we got there, but Ed hung on until about 8 p.m., when he laid down to sleep for the evening. We had dinner and then sat around a fire outside. It was so nice to catch up and enjoy a nice cool night, that we didn't realize it had gotten to be pretty late (for us, that is). We got home just before midnight, put Ed to bed, and hit the sack. Ed had other plans, however, waking up about every hour. Suffice to say we didn't get much sleep.

Luckily, we had a visit planned with Grandma and Grandpa Kenyon, who perked us up and played with Ed while we lounged. Ed and his grandpa had a good heart-to-heart talk about the need to get more sleep, so we'll see how well that works tonight.

We had a good BBQ lunch, and then sat at the table talking. Edward decided he wanted to help clean up, and grabbed a napkin to wipe up the table, and his mouth... and then decided to crumple the napkin, try to eat the napkin and eventually discard the napkin. This was all captured on video, of course, which you can watch below. He and I also played "Rocketman" (which is pretty self-explanatory when you see it), which is captured in part two of the video double feature.

Ed, while getting more comfortable with it, is still not a big fan of posing for the camera, and he let me know that with this serious expression after I captured the napkin incident.

We were in Evanston this weekend for the funeral of Mary's Grandma Ganey. It was a bittersweet opportunity to see family and friends again after having been back just a few weeks ago for a visit. Everyone remarked about how big Edward is getting, reminding us that the incremental changes we see on a daily or weekly basis are compounded for those who don't see him as often.

We do know Edward is getting bigger, the evidence being the way his clothes fit. His 6-9 month clothes are getting tighter even though he's barely halfway into his eighth month. The biggest shock, however, came when he tried on some swimming trunks Mary bought for him last week. Knowing we would be staying at a hotel with a pool, we decided it was time for Ed's first swim. The smallest trunks she could find on the end-of-summer sale rack ($3) were 18 month size. They're a bit long (as is the style, thankfully), but the waist fits just fine. This makes me wonder what size he'll need when he really is 18 months old. Regardless, with his floppy hat, sunglasses and new trunks, Ed was ready to go.

We took him down to the pool and I carried him in. The water wasn't real warm, but not too cold either. Ed seemed a bit puzzled throughout the entire ordeal, but never seemed scared or upset. Mary climbed in after us and we took turns carrying him around the pool, keeping his head and shoulders above water. He seemed content to put his trust in Dad and Mom to keep him safe, and occasionally seemed to actually enjoy himself by splashing around a bit. It was probably just enough like bathtime that it didn't seem to foreign to him.