Baby Musings II

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I think about is paper. I love it! I love to rip it, I love to wave it in the air and up and down, and I especially love to bite it. My mom hates it when I play with paper because I get so excited that I start sucking and chewing on it. Which, why wouldn't I? It is so fun when you suck on it so much that the paper gets all soggy and start to stick to one another. I love the way disintegrating paper feels and tastes in my mouth! Yum yum YUM!! She's always rushing over and pulling paper out of my hands and then digging spitwads out of my mouth. The thing she doesn't realize is that she can't stop me. There's paper everywhere! Those lower level bookshelves are my fave. All those paperbacks...it's like paradise! And then sometimes, a piece of mail drops to the floor and I'm all over it. I have ears that know exactly what falling paper sounds like. The best is when my mom leaves her purse on the floor and she hasn't zipped it up.  There are reciepts oozing out if it and begging to be played with. She always gets so flustered that I keep finding paper, it is a war she'll never win!

When I'm not thinking about paper, I'm thinking about walking. I'm only thinking about it, not really doing it. I don't really get the point of it, actually. I'm a pretty quick crawler and I walk along the walls like nobody's business. I pretty much do laps around the kitchen and family room all day. It is way funner than those silly toys Mom always tries to get me to play with. And, cruising is how I troll for paper. See, sometimes paper slips under the sofa or under the counter and sometimes a book isn't quite pushed in all the way on a shelf and the only way you'd ever know is if you cruise by places fifty times a day. It is quite the rush seeing paper so available. But anyways, my mom and dad are pretty much obsessed with walking. They do this thing where they hold onto my hand to help me walk around. It is usually pretty fun, except sometimes, they let go of my hand. At first I thought it was because they were distracted, but then I realized it was because they were trying to trick me into walking all by myself. How rude! Well, I'm onto them. As soon as they do that, I drop to the ground and refuse to stand up again. Sometimes I whine, even. That's actually the best thing to do because then I get picked up. I only like to walk when I can hold on to stuff. 

I also have this thing called "Welcome to my Learning Farm" My mom says it is a 'walker' but really, it is this way awesome thing that I get to push around and it sings to me! "Welcome to my Learning Farm, we have lots to show you....Shapes and colors, music too....There's so much to do-oo!" Oh I love that song. Anyways, I'll walk when I can hold on to "Welcome to my Learning Farm," the furniture or wall, or my mom or dad's hand. Any other way is totally unnecessary.    


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See that copy of the Ensign? I totally ripped that one up! Yessss. And Mom's book? You can totally see a perfect bite mark in it. I'm so awesome at eating paper. And yes, those are bruises on my head. Sometimes I fall OK? And sometimes my mom doesn't watch me close enough.



PS: The video from last time should work now. My mom didn't realize it was on a private setting.

Etc.

My favorite Russell moments lately have been after his naps. I'll go into his room after I know he's been awake for a while (I usually give him some 'alone' time when he wakes up becaues he's so relaxed and seems content to just coo and be).  I sit on this chair next to his crib, tell him hello, and ask him about his nap. He looks at me, sits up, then picks up one of his stuffed animals and hands it to me. I take it, give it some kisses, and then he gives me the other stuffed animal. I take it, play with it for a few seconds, and then he gives me his blanket. I give the items back to him and we do the whole routine again. It is very sweet. I don't know how long it will last, but for now, it is something I want to remember.

Other things in our lives:

• Brandon is looking forward to the season finale of the Bachelor Pad, or what I like to call The Show That Brings Out the Worst in Human Behavior. He's captivated though and there is nothing I can do about it.
• I'm reading Bossypants. It is quite funny although it has swears and is sometimes inappropriate.
• We are starting a budgeting system and getting it established is kind of a nightmare but it does help me feel more in control so I know it is a good thing. Do ya'll have any tips, resources, or suggestions of things that worked for you?
• The other day a tarantula attacked me in the garage.  I almost screamed like the time I saw that snake but then I chilled out because tarantulas are actually great little critters. And it really didn't attack me...it just was near me.
• The below video is from almost a month ago...I haven't uploaded our most recent pictures and media. Anyways, he was just starting to eat grapes and I was bitting off small chunks of them and spitting them onto his tray. That sounds really gross but in case you didn't know, we are birds. I'm the mommy bird and he's the chickie*.  That laugh, though! There's nothing quite like it.

  

*That is not true at all. We are humans.

Ridiculous

Most of Russell's clothes are dirty.  As I result, I was forced to clothe him in this onesie that reads, "DADDY'S BEST FRIEND" because it is pretty much the only clean one left. Ridiculous. (The onesie not my inability to stay on top of the laundry.) The notion that a baby is a grown man's best friend is so absurd. If that was the case, then I should be down right terrified that my baby's daddy was agoraphobic or a pedophile.  And if one of those two issues were our reality, I would not be broadcasting that to the world. Then again, most text on baby clothing is ridiculous. The Carter's brand is especially guilty*.  There's also those onesies that say, "I love boobs."  Um yes I get the joke and yes I'm all about breastfeeding but come on peeps, lame-o.

That's the onesie in question. This picture is from a few months ago and isn't quite in focus...but boy o boy is  Russell chunky there (maybe it is from the ice cream?)! He has actually slimmed out some...that onesie actually fits him better today than it did back in May.

That's all I wanted to say for now. 

What do you think is ridiculous? Let's get a good list rolling. I'm in the mood.

*I do fall prey to dumb baby slogans, though.  A few months ago, I bought him this Carter onesie that says, "They call me muscles."  I thought it was pretty silly, because get it, 'Russell's muscles?' Totally justifiable.  I also really wanted this baby onesie from H&M that said, "I (heart) Mum" because get it, Mum means Mom in British?