Edward wasn't too bothered by the Hawks' defeat at the hands of Indiana on Saturday. We caught a few dribs and drabs of the game amid our busy morning and early afternoon and were glad not to have wasted more time on it! Ed was way too busy rolling and "cruising" to pay much attention. He likes to walk along the furniture or turn from the furniture to flop onto a parent. He forgets that he can't stand unsupported though and occasionally gets so excited or distracted that he lets go and falls on his butt. Plenty of padding there, so no worries.

This book is a current favorite as he likes to take out the puzzle pieces and chew on them. Who needs the creation story when you've got a tree, a sun, a dolphin and an elephant to chew? He seems to understand that they fit in their respective "pages" but doesn't have the dexterity to pull them out and put them back on his own. He loves that they come out though and occasionally takes breaks from chewing to wave the pieces around and shriek.

He's also taken to a bit of whining, which is not terribly appealing. But now that he's more mobile he gets frustrated easily when he gets stuck somewhere (like when he moves backward in attempting to crawl and ends up with his butt wedged under the couch) or when he can't reach what he wants. He figured out that he can tip the toy bin toward him so he is no longer limited to just what is within arm's reach while lying on his belly. This discovery was very entertaining to watch.
Our weather turned quite chilly this week, so we pulled out the shamrock blanket that was a staple of Ed's early playtime last winter. The other side is a soft, fluffy, sheep-like material--a great insulator! But as noted above, he scoots and rolls so much now that it doesn't take him long to move away from it. I wonder if his survival instincts will keep him close to the warmth as it gets even colder through the winter (ha ha.) And yes, he does have bare feet, despite the cooler temps. He pulls off his socks immediately (and at daycare, he believes it is his mission to de-sock all the other children as well.) Our doctor actually recommended bare feet for learning to walk--better stability. Of course we wrangle him into socks and shoes before going outside.

Ed and I went on a 5K walk this morning and it was quite chilly to start. I of course warmed up with the exercise, but I wasn't sure how I'd know if Ed was warm enough. I probably went overboard with the sweatsuit, bunting, hat and lap blanket, but he wasn't sweaty when we got done and he did manage to sleep a bit, so he must have been fairly comfortable.

As promised.
Ed did not stay up late tonight, even after a late nap. Something about the 7 o'clock hour just says "bed" to him, which is OK with us. Sometimes I feel the same way by that time of day!

But we had a little playtime after dinner and before the meltdown. Here he's standing at the ottoman playing with his stacking cups--a current favorite. He likes to put the small ones into the largest one and then shake it around so it rattles. He also likes when John stacks them into a tower so he can knock it down. He'll sit by himself and play with the set of five cups. Then we like to joke that Ed is "in his cups," which is an expression that used to be reserved for one particular friend's state of inebriation. Oh, how life changes.

Edward sailed through his nine-month appointment today. He kind of got a raw deal though because this was supposed to be a no shots appointment, but it's the time of year for flu shots so he had one of those. And has to go back in a month for the second round. Poor guy.

But he's happy, healthy and staying right on the growth track they expect. He weighs about 20 1/4 pounds and is 27 2/3 inches long. That's the 38th and 21st percentile, respectively. Then, there's his head--18.11 inches, 63rd percentile. What a melon! Big heads seem to run in both families though so I guess it should be no surprise. Lots of room for that developing brain!

The 2:15 appointment time meant his nap was delayed by more than an hour, but I think he was distracted enough by the whole experience that it didn't affect him too much. He went right to sleep as soon as we got home. We may have to wake him for dinner or else face a late night. Maybe if he stays up late there might be some pictures to post later.

Today was another gorgeous fall day, and Edward took advantage of it by sitting outside with Mary and playing in the leaves. Here he strikes a pose as the rugged outdoorsman. Mary piled a few leaves on him and he didn't much care for that. I guess he'll take that "rugged" thing in small steps; baby steps, if you will.

I got the rake out shortly after this was taken to continue my efforts to build up the pile, and while Edward was intrigued, he didn't seem terribly eager to help. Just wait...

A trip to the apple orchard today was the perfect occasion for some fall photos. It's gorgeous here today--70s and sunny. The leaves are falling in the warm breeze. The apple crop is abundant this year following last year's bust. (Last year a late freeze killed all the blooms in the spring, leaving no fruit in the fall.) The orchard also has a pumpkin patch, though we opted not to pick our own. They had plenty already picked--good idea to avoid having to lug it up from the patch! We got a basket of apples though and split them with Ed's friend Eva and her mom, our friend Erin, who joined us for the outing. We also had the opportunity to try out this new backpack carrier handed down from friends whose daughter has outgrown it. John says his back doesn't even hurt too much so we must have had it adjusted just right.
And even though it's the kind of thing he'll hate us for later, we just couldn't resist capturing the memory of our little pumpkin in his Halloween costume.

Unfortunately, he fell asleep in the car on the way home and now thinks that half-hour snooze counts as his afternoon nap. He must be well-rested for the evening though since his former teacher is coming to babysit while we head out for an anniversary dinner. No crabby babies tonight! (Yes, Ed does get crabby. He's squawking at the moment because he does not want to be in bed.)

Once again we have been remiss about posting photos here. Never fear: Edward is still cute and very photogenic. His parents have just been a bit lazy.

He is moving around pretty well these days, though still not crawling. He gets close, but would rather roll to get where he's going. As you can see from this photo, that doesn't stop him from getting where he wants to go. Here he tries to pull a toy out of his toychest in the moments before heading off to day care.

He is working on (at least) a couple of teeth, and is practicing standing up (with the help of a parental hand or leg, or the ottoman), and has added "ma" and "da" to his previous vocabulary of "ba." He hasn't attached those utterances to meaningful things, like say Mom and Dad, but we're sure that's just around the corner.

When he's not babbling, or crying, he's laughing. It's pretty easy to get a good belly laugh out of Edward, particularly if you're a Dad willing to crawl across the floor making noises. You have to know your audience.

Today was Edward's nine-month birthday. After taking his "official" nine-month photo in the familiar spot on our couch, Mary took advantage of some great Indian Summer weather this afternoon to get some outdoor shots of Edward. He's grown quite adept at posing, and even has a ready smile most of the time as well. He seemed to enjoy this outdoor session, lazing about in the too-long grass and the growing number of leaves scattered in the yard. He sees a place to play, I see impending work. One day, he'll get to share in that with me. Enjoy it while you can, Ed!

His schedule is back to normal after traveling on Sunday. He had a good visit with a lot of relatives that haven't seen him in quite a while, so he had changed quite a bit in the intervening months. He enjoyed playing with his cousin, Bailey, as well as the many others gathered for lunch.

Edward is growing so quickly that he has nearly grown out of his car seat. So, we bought the next size up, which he'll be able to use for a few years. We'll install it much like the other one, rear facing, until his first birthday; then he'll finally be able to turn around and see where he's going instead of where he's been. He gave the seat a test drive tonight, and will take it for a real drive this weekend for a trip to see cousins, an aunt and uncle, grandparents and great grandparents.

After the seat testing, Mary took the opportunity to give Edward a hug. No one would dispute the fact that Edward loves his mother, as evidenced by yet another over-the-shoulder picture here.

However, no guy ever wants to have his Mom slobbering over him in public, even if the only witness is Dad. So, understandably, Edward balked at her next move, when she planted a wet one on his cheek. This is a rarity, of course, as even at his crankiest (yes, believe it or not, Ed is occasionally cranky), a view of Mom is all it usually takes to bring a smile to his face.

A major breakthrough in Edward's world today--literally. After gallons of drool and months of gnawing on everything in sight, he has a tooth. It may be a few days (weeks?) before it's visible in photos, but I felt it this afternoon--it's definitely there.

In anticipation of his emerging set of choppers, we've been giving him a few more finger foods in addition to his diet of milk and pureed fruits and veggies. He likes to feed himself so much that even while receiving a spoonfed meal, he's rooting around on the tray for things he can pick up. He still loves the Veggie Puffs and will bypass other things on tray to get to them and shove them in his mouth by the fistful. He also seems to like grapes now that I've loosened up and realized I don't need to cut them into microscopic pieces. I seriously think I cut them so small at first that he couldn't even see them to reach out and pick them up! Overprotective? I can't deny it.

The cheese hasn't gone over too well so far-- shredded cheddar and mozzarella as well as tiny cubes of Monterey jack have been rejected with a lovely gagging noise. So subtle. I may try American, but those three are what we had on hand. I did find some little crackers that are not baby food, but are thin enough for him to gum. They are shaped like bunnies (shout out to KG in AZ!) He's getting the whole wheat variety--I know I'm a tyrant Mom. But I figure as long as I have sole discretion I might as well try to establish a taste for something relatively healthy. He'll be bombarded with kid-directed marketing soon enough and start making demands.

He is also entertaining himself (and his parents) with some new consonant babbling ("ba ba ba" "ma ma ma" etc.)

We had a pretty quiet weekend here, which was OK by us. It meant a lot of play time. Of course, we took pictures. Top to bottom: Edward humors us by wearing his tag toy as a hat (note the drool); Edward gazes across the room while standing against the ottoman; Even Edward himself is amazed that he can hold up the tag toy with one hand and keep his balance with the other gripping the ottoman.

The green Osh Kosh overalls got raves at daycare this morning, even if John was a bit skeptical. John himself favors a much more subtle color palate--anything other than khakis or jeans with a button-down shirt is a bit exotic. Maybe if we start early, Edward will have a more open mind. Then again, maybe John's fashion sense is a strong reaction against the 70s-era photos in the family albums and these photos of Ed will start the cycle all over.

We had a quiet weekend except for Saturday night when we thought another ear infection was flaring up. Edward was screaming, only comfortable rocking upright in our arms. This has previously been a sign of ear pain. So we called our friend to say we would miss her going away party (we'd been planning to attend in a split shift as the departure as well as the party came with too little advance notice for securing a babysitter) and got ready to head to the ER around 8:30. That early in the evening we thought we'd be safe from the drunks. As we were getting ready, Edward let out an enormous burp followed by some gas and was suddenly a new man--er, baby. We got him settled back in bed, waited to see if it would take, and then I headed over to the party. After an hour or so, I came home and John went. So all's well that ends well. Ed did wake up two more times in the night, but he's been fine since then so we think we're in the clear for now. Thank goodness we didn't schlep all the way to the ER only to have him burp himself to sleep!

This week's mystery: Why does Edward eat more at daycare than at home? On weekends, Ed usually nurses between 9 and 9:30 a.m. and then takes a nap for about an hour. When he wakes up he doesn't demand another meal until noon or later. At daycare, he eats at about that same time, sleeps at some point in the morning for 20-30 minutes, and then has a second bottle between 11 and 11:45 or so. I thought maybe I could leave a larger volume bottle for his first meal and that would carry him through the morning, but he didn't finish it. Might keep trying this approach, though I cringe at the thought of sending milk down the drain given how hard I work to produce it!

Another potential remedy will be introducing a third "solid" meal at midday. I'm hoping to make this a meal of finger foods (rather than another spoonfed meal) so I've been introducing some different items that he can pick up. Blog readers saw how the watermelon went over like a lead balloon last week. Today we tried "veggie puffs" and he loved those. Still, it's hard to see how anyone, even a baby, could get full on air-puffed pieces. I am also thinking of trying some cheese shreds this week. But just one new thing every three days or so to ensure he doesn't have a bad reaction. It all seems so bland, but I guess you can't be too cautious.

We have been reminded that it has been several days since the last photo was posted here, so first let us apologize for being remiss in our duties. It has been a busy week coming out of the holiday weekend. Edward had the chance to visit his Grandma and Grandpa Kenyon and Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Askren. He had a lot of fun with all of them, and I think it's safe to safe they with him. Here he plays with Great Grandpa, while to the left he shows Great Grandma just how big he's getting. He's a handful!

He also took the time to laze about with me while I took it easy doing some reading for work (really). It isn't often that he is content to lay around and not be moving, so we take advantage when we can.

All of that play can make a fella dirty, so baths are a necessity. About the only time Edward still feels small is when he balls himself up while we dry him off after one. Here he has contorted himself to allow for some slobber application on his freshly cleaned foot.

That is probably putting the cart before the horse, because one key reason Edward needs to bathe frequently is his habit of trying to wear as much food as he eats during mealtime. Mary decided to experiment with some fresh watermelon this week, cutting some into tiny pieces to give to Ed. As you can tell, it's an acquired taste. It got easier once she introduced Cheerios to the mix, combining the two for an odd dessert.

Finally, here's some video of playtime from tonight. Ed is growing quite adept at pulling himself up to standing position, and we anticipate (fear?) that he'll soon be much more mobile. Otherwise, it's getting easier and easier to coax a laugh from him (until he gets tired and/or bored and goes the other direction, as you'll see here).

Edward is ready for the Hawks home opener tomorrow. Well, ready to watch, anyway (or listen, as the game is, controversially, not available on local cable!) He clearly has a ways to go in learning to throw, rather than eat, the ball!

Actually, it's not even the first Iowa football game of his young life, since he was with us for the Outback Bowl in January. None of us remember much of it though, as that was back when we were feeding him every two hours around the clock. Forgive us if that whole month was a blur!

We've had a couple of chilly mornings this week--hooray for fall! I do love this time of year, even if some people find it depressing to anticipate the cold months. I welcome the return of jeans and fleece. Edward is well stocked in that department thanks to his cousin as well as some forward-thinking friends, who gave gifts at birth that he's just now growing into. We tried yesterday to capture the darling fleece jacket stitched by our friend Vickie but ended up with mostly just socks (from neighbors Bill and Tania.) Those were a huge hit at daycare--people came from other classrooms while on break to take a look! This morning we managed to get an upright look at the jacket before heading out the door to work and daycare.

Hope everyone has a restful long weekend! We will visit Ed's grandparents and great-grandparents. Fun for all!

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.