Peek into daycare

We leave a disposable camera in Conrad's cubby at daycare. I wish we had thought of this, but they mentioned it in one of their newsletters and immediately got one.

We've been getting daily notes about cute pictures they've taken so were excited to finally get the pictures developed this last weekend.

Finally, we have a peek into his daily activities... from the pictures, it looks like he gets into some mischief (getting stuck in the toy bookcase), self-admiration (Conrad looking at himself in the mirror) and hanging out with the gang (please note, they were actually trying to get a picture of Conrad kissing the little boy in the jumper as that was what prompted them to grab the camera-- Conrad insisted on hamming it up for the picture instead). And, as always, practices standing on his own.

He definitely keeps busy and keeps his teachers on their toes. He doesn't nap a whole lot there anymore. He always wants to be part of the action.

Doting grandparents

Conrad is so blessed to have a set of grandparents so close! Grandma and Grandpa visit on a regular basis and Conrad LOVES all the attention he is showered with when they are here. They are so great about letting Barry and I get away and catch a movie, dinner or just get some errands or grocery shopping done.

He definitely has his Grandpa wrapped around his finger. I think those two will be best buddies and go on all sorts of adventures together.

Despite getting a flu shot when I was preggers, I got the flu. Please note, I have NEVER gotten a flu shot and NEVER gotten the flu... so like any paranoid new mom-to-be, I got the flu shot as soon as possible. I mean, as my OB said, "I can't think of anything worse than having the flew and having a newborn." Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Anyway, getting to my point!

At that time, Conrad was in daycare downtown near my work--- almost 30 miles away. There was no way I could get Conrad to daycare on my own and Barry had to be at work WAY before daycare opened and watching Conrad the entire day--- no way!! I called Grandpa and he immediately agreed to come up that night and watch Conrad the next day.

He was amazing with Conrad. I handed him over that morning (with a huge diaper full of pee) and didn't hear a peep the rest of the day. Granted, I wasn't completely with the program, but I never heard even a wimper but heard plenty of laughs and giggles. I am so thankful Grandpa came up to watch Conrad for us. We couldn't have asked for a better sitter!!

and, I won't be getting a flu shot next year!

Jumperoo

If you don't have a jumperoo, get one NOW!!! This burns off so much energy for Conrad. He absolutely loves it. He started with a door jumper but upgraded to this jumperoo after we bought our house.

Here's a link to him showing off his jumping skills. He entertains his daycare class on a regular basis. He apparently doesn't just jump up and down at daycare but jumps side to side and yells and hollers.

Beware of some unfortunate side-effects of the jumperoo. I think all the jumping gets his bowels moving...so... we have had a few episodes of BM squeezing out of his diaper, out of the jumper and plopping on the carpet. However, if you pull him out as soon as the grunting begins (we definitely have a boy!) then we are safe!!!

Enjoy the video!

http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l258/liljon56_2006/?action=view&current=Conrad-62808014.flv

Family time

Barry, Me, Jill (Barry's sister) and of course, Conrad after a yummy Mexican food lunch. Barry's parents and Jill come to see us just about every other weekend. This gives us a chance to get some errands done without hauling Conrad along with us.

First crush

I thought we wouldn't encounter this until at least kindergarten, but Conrad has his first crush...

on his daycare teacher!!

He may be having a fussy or rough morning but once he is in her arms, he is a changed boy! He suddenly is all smiles and giggles. This morning he was even hugging her face. It was pretty cute, but I was a bit jealous.

However, I am extremely grateful for him to be cared for by someone who adores him as much as he adores her. She is great about giving us daily updates and writing notes about his cute moments each day. He started mimicking her cough the other day. Now, he practices coughing all day long.

Crawling basics

Conrad has been working on his crawling coordination for some time now. His first signs of crawling were more than a month ago when he was trying to paddle/swim across the carpet. He wasn't very successful in getting anywhere with that technique so he moved on to pushing his chest off the floor and trying to get on all fours.

For the last several weeks, he has been getting on all fours and rocking back and forth. One of three things usually happens: 1) he tries to crawl but only his arms are coordinated, the back legs are not in sync with the arms yet so he belly flops, 2) he decides to sit back up at an angle and does this repeatedly to get where he wants to go or 3) he straightens his back legs and has his butt in the air before going to his side to sit down.

At daycare today, he apparently performed this third technique but looked underneath his belly at his back legs... he also saw his face in the mirror and started making faces at himself or what he thinks is a "friend in the mirror." We appreciate the notes his teachers write to us each day about his daily happenings and cute moments from each day.

Last night, he finally got most of his coordination together (see his pics for proof!). Barry kept moving his favorite toy of the moment (the edge piece off of our kitchen mat) to motivate Conrad to crawl. All the parts are not moving smoothly yet so he would stop to rest/reset and then pick it up again for a few more steps.

I guess this means we need to get ready to install some baby gates around the house!

Tigers & lions & bears, oh my... ok, just lion

I am definitely addicted to Craigslist. I scour the baby & kids section regularly... first, it was to look for a baby jogger- bought a reversible one and LOVE it.

I'm always on the lookout for someone selling several cans of Enfamil at a good price and have bought several and saved a TON. Any of you using formula know what I'm talking about!

Now that Conrad has his own defined space, it is slowly getting de-cluttered and becoming his own. He has a jungle/animal theme. I always search for things like- tiger, elephant or LION. I hit the jackpot a few days ago with this HUGE lion. It is the perfect addition to Conrad's room. He was hanging out in the living room but now is guarding Conrad's crib.

We have started putting Conrad down for his naps in his crib. Before that, he was taking his naps in our bed, sofa or his pack 'n play in our room. He probably will not actually be sleeping at night in his crib for a while because of Mom & Dad.... but napping in his crib is a start for us!

Baby pool fun

Since we don't always have the energy to load up the stroller and all the swim gear and head down to the pool, Conrad has his own one-ring baby pool in the backyard. That and I couldn't pass it up for only $3.77!

He definitely enjoys the pool and who knew a rubbermaid container could provide so much fun for him? He definitely drank his fair share of pool water and was showing off for his grandmother who was in town to visit. He thought it was a lot of fun to pick blades of grass and bring them into the pool to swim with him.