All About the Kids

Fortunately for everyone, I received a new external hard drive for Christmas, which meant I could continue taking pictures (since our computer was completely filled by Thanksgiving)! The result, and why everyone will likely be pleased, is that I have some more pictures of Titus from our Christmas travels.

One funny thing we’ve noticed more lately is how Titus responds to different things. I’m not just talking about reaching for the closest toy or smiling at himself in the mirror.

Dating back quite a ways, he would look up in anticipation if you set the radio in front of him (because he likes his Go Fish so much). Recently he actually started liking his food, which means that he opens his mouth when he sees the spoon.

My personal favorite is something that is likely an old response, but we didn’t realize it until recently. Sarah can ask Titus for a kiss, and he’ll grab her face with both hands, mouth wide open, and slobber all over her! I tried the same technique where I used Sarah’s phrasing, inflection, and everything, and I didn’t even get a second glance!

I’m sure Sarah could come up with a few more of these. It’s pretty fun to see the little guy start to interact with us so much. It also means that he’s going to start to understand our moods and voice inflections better (though I can still make an angry growl sound at him and get him to giggle). Since he isn’t moving yet, we haven’t exactly had to bust out the “no” word, but that probably isn’t too far down the road!

First off, I missed the update from his 6 month doctor’s appointment. He’s 21 1/2 lbs, 29″ long, and 18 1/2″ around the head. In other words, he grows out of his clothes because they are a) too short, and b) won’t fit over his head!

Titus has been hitting a lot of oddball firsts lately. Two weekends ago, he started “shouting” when he was irritated instead of just crying. Sarah says it’s easier for her to handle the shouting than the crying, but I prefer the crying. Maybe that’s because I’m such an insensitive guy, but that yelling is annoying!

He also likes to make “motor noises” while spitting all over the person holding him. This is especially fun for him (and the spoonholder) when he’s eating carrots, which are quite runny and tend to stain worse than other foods…

Titus is a smiley baby, but it’s not necessarily easy to make him laugh. However, I accidentally struck gold this weekend when I make a simple “boop” sound at him. Titus started giggling, and it all went downhill from there! Sarah tried the same sound today, and it still makes him laugh, so we’re having quite a bit of fun with that one!

Today is Titus’ 6 month birthday–wow is he looking old and distinguished! Over the past half year, we have taken a number of fun pictures which I thought I would share.

Maybe you’ll be able to tell how old he is in each picture–I have at least one from each month (except December).

Here’s a clue, the earliest shot is from June 19th, so you may catch the yellowish tint to his skin!

Titus has been a little drool factory for the past two months, slobbering all over everything south of his mouth. We’ve had a number of people state that they were sure he was teething, but we had resolved to wait until we actually saw a tooth.

On Friday (Nov 24th), Titus was chewing on my finger when I felt a bit of a sharp prick. I tried to actively find the tooth, but couldn’t. The next day, Titus was chewing on his Auntie Beth’s finger when she exclaimed that she felt a tooth! Sure enough, there was a bit of white showing through his gums, right about where his Right Mandibular Central should be (right front tooth on the bottom)!

Of course, with all the happiness that ensued, we forgot that teething is an annoying if not painful process to the one being toothed, and Titus proceeded to stay up the whole night in fitful sleep. The next day, we hit the local Walmart and grabbed some Baby Orajel.

Let me tell you about this Orajel stuff…I like to try the things we’re using on Titus (vitamins, rice cereal, sweet potatoes, Orajel, etc.) if possible, and this was no exception. I slathered some of the stuff between my bottom lip and gums and waited for the effects of the bubble-gum flavored goo. Thinking that the results would be baby-sized on an adult, I was surprised when my whole mouth turned warm and started to tingle. A few seconds later I started to loose feeling…not just on the spot where I deposited the Orajel, but all over my mouth, including my tongue! Fortunately, this wasn’t a Novocain-like numbness, so I didn’t start drooling all over the place, but it sure did surprise me with it’s potency!

After all that, we still used the stuff on the little guy, and it seems that Titus is able to sleep because of it. That means more rest for us all, and a much more pleasant time when we’re awake!

Chock this one up to being careful what you wish for–I never knew a first tooth could turn into so much work!