This is the blog entry just before our Halloween themed blog entry on Halloween weekend and it was full of all sorts of firsts for the little guy. Last weekend, we took Billy to beach for the third time, although this is the first time we actually hung out at the beach for more than 10-15 minutes without him being covered up in a stroller. We made sure to cover him in sun block and to bring a beach umbrella to keep him the shade, but being the water baby that he is, Billy wanted to spend a lot of time down by the water. Of course I had to walk him out into the ocean so he could get dipped in for the first time.
After some time in the water, Billy and Antoinette settled in at the water's edge, just far enough to not get hit by big waves, but close enough to get washed over by the remnants of what was left before they receded back to the ocean. He would get startled with each wave, as if not expecting them when they rushed over his feet and legs and then smile and occasionally smack the water. But he seemed more interested in watching the water rush back out after it had gained his attention.
After a long day at the beach, it was time for a nap, which is the picture you're seeing below. But there were plenty of other stories that happened this week. Like Billy's trip to the grocery store with his Mother. Billy has a tendency to scream at the top of his lungs in excitement at just about anything. Usually his screams are accompanied by a big grin and happy hands smacking things, but one thing they are not is restricted to the house. He's more than happy to unleash these ear piercing screams in public. Well, on this trip to the grocery store, Billy was in need of some distraction, so Antoinette handed him the grocery list. Not a good idea. After tossing a couple items in the cart, she turned to realize he had the list in his mouth, and when she took it out, Billy had munched off a Jaws sized bite mark. Not bad for a toothless mouth. She was able to recover the lost pieces, although they were now in the form of a wadded up ball of paper. That will be the last time we hand the little guy anything in paper form.
Billy's diet is coming along nicely. He's broadened his solid food horizons to include a host of fruits and vegetables out of the jar, as well as his oatmeal and rice cereal. Antoinette has also been blending up some green beans and bananas to baby food consistency and he's been taking those, too. He threw up once from some solid food, but everything else since has gone down well. So far, we really haven't found much he doesn't like, except he isn't really a juice drinker. Could be the sippy cup or it could be the watered down juice is just too much after a few sips. We're not really sure. We've also been working on getting his schedule to 3 big meals a day with a couple snacks and reducing his naps to a pair of 2 hour naps a day. The naps are dwindling in number, but the meal reduction is coming much slower. I know it will take some time, but we'll get there. Billy has been holding his bottle up on his own for longer periods of time now. He's getting about 10-15 seconds straight sometimes before dropping and needing it repositioned.
There are other signs of physical development in the little guy, as well. His jabbering has increased where he is now shortening his "dadadadada's" down to just "dada", "baba", and "rara". We're not real sure if he knows what he's saying yet, but its improved. He is also quickly developing an understanding of the word "no", like when he pulls Momma's hair or tries to reach into his mouth to touch his food after the spoon comes out. I'm fairly certain its the tone of voice that he's responding to and not the word itself, but it gets the point across. Billy has also seen an increase in his hand control which has led to several new developments, such as trying to "catch" his pee stream in the bathtub and being confused when it seems to slip right through his grasp every time.
Speaking of baths, the little guy has outgrown his existing tub and graduated to the next level up, which is a giant inflatable rubber duck given to us by my former coworkers at my previous job that sits in the bathtub. Billy seems to get a better grip in this thing and therefore has less of a risk of falling forward, or so I am told by Antoinette, who is the only one to have used it so far. It also has a temperature sensor in the bottom of it that changes color if/when the water temperature is too hot for a baby. Billy's introduction to Mr. Duck was an interesting one as he seemed intrigued by the expression on his new buddy's face.
Billy's increased hand control is also leading to changes in his ability to move. From the ground, he uses a combination of rolls and spins to orient himself and move himself around the room. While he's not stationary, he certainly isn't crawling yet either. These new techniques are not exactly efficient, but they are new to him and he seems to enjoy them. Basically, he rolls to his stomach and then uses his hands to rotate his body 90, 180, 270, or 360 degrees, and then he begins rolling again. In a matter of minutes, he is often found 6-7 feet from where he started and in a reverse directional facing position. He also seems to have discovered the first step of crawling although I can't get him to duplicate it. Billy has this blowup penguin that when hit, bounces back up like one of those kids punching bags. But when it does so, it sings and makes noise. He loves it, so I set it about two feet in front of him. Over the course of about 15 minutes, he managed to drag himself 2 feet to reach the penguin. Each time he dragged himself by smacking his hands on the ground and pulling a little, moving him about a 1/4 inch or so. Pretty funny, but more importantly, he's learning that he can control his body and the direction it moves and he can therefore change the set of objects and circumstances before him.
Finally, the temperature has dipped quite a bit this weekend. We are getting January temps in Jacksonville in mid October. The high today is 68 degrees, which has people here in a panic mode, just about freezing to death. Billy got his first taste of some chilly weather and he was initially startled by the first cool breeze to his face and then just went with the flow. Antoinette had some friends in town, Uncle Steve and Aunt Rhonda, so we met them in St. Augustine for Billy's first trip to a restaurant and also the farthest he's ever traveled from home (about 45 minutes south of where live). He was very well behaved at Cracker Barrel, where we met them, and only needed to be picked up a couple times to limit his fussing. It was a very fun weekend with Steve and Rhonda.
Then we went into St. Augustine so the youngest Lionhood could visit the oldest city in this country. We even took him to see the oldest fort in the United States, which is about 400 years old and where they were firing off live cannons this weekend. We then took him on a stroller ride up and down St. George street, which for those of you unfamiliar, is a small tourist street that is loaded with shops and restaurants all set to look like they are hundreds of years old. Much of the city street and the cemeteries are easily that old, as are the 200 year old gates that line the entrance to St. George. It was quite an experience and a beautiful 70 degree day (again, chilly enough to bundle up in jeans and sweatshirts).
Hope you all enjoy and see you for Halloween...
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