We Have Teeth!!

They’re here!!  After what seems like months of teething pains, those bottom two teeth have finally made their appearance!  Yesterday we could feel them, but today we can actually see the tops of his bottom two teeth poking through.  This was the best picture I got of them.  :) 

He’s Mobile… Sort of…

Knox was playing nicely on the blanket next to me, and the next thing I knew, he had literally rolled across the room in search of new toys! 
I think he thought he’d been sneaky…
Hey there! 

Day 7 – Turning Himself Over in the Water!

So our swim instructor decided that we should put Knox in a wetsuit to see if it would help him relax.  Turns out it worked!  She said it acts sort of like swaddling.  It also makes him just a little more buoyant, which helped him be able to turn himself over in the water!  So proud. 

Sweet boy in a wetsuit! 

Monkey Feet

The boy loves using his feet as hands! 

Teething Pains

Those teeth have GOT to be coming soon!!  In the meantime, we’re finding creative ways to ease the pain.  Turns out a frozen wash rag is just the trick!
This is as good a place to rest as any…
He plays with toys with both his hands and feet.  Little monkey.  ;) 

Cuteness!

Loving his exersaucer these days.  We’ve had to get creative with our teething toys, and I found one that works pretty well: crushed ice in a baby sock.  It’s cold, and conforms around his gums.  Here he’s trying to figure it out…
Not bad! 

Day 5 of Self Rescue Swim Lessons

Still working on getting him to relax, but there’s less crying now!

Happy Birthday to me!

This year has absolutely flown by.  It literally seems like just yesterday that my family and I were celebrating my birthday at Momo’s with Italian food and a big brownie decorated with a “30” on it.  I was about halfway through my pregnancy at that point, and I can remember thinking I wasn’t sure how I’d survive a whole Texas summer pregnant in that kind of heat.  Little did I know that it would go on record as being the hottest summer in Texas history, with 71 days over 100 degrees.  But, I digress... 

So much has changed in a year!  Logan and I bought our first house and are loving it.  After we closed on the house, we packed and moved in 2 days, unpacked, painted, redid a bathroom, added ceiling fans, changed out all the doorknobs, took out every shred of old landscaping, put in completely new landscaping, bought a plethora of household appliances, sealed and stained the decking around the pool – and are now relaxing and enjoying the fruits of our labor.  I had to say goodbye to my sweet Lucy girl, which was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.  I still miss her terribly, and hope I made the right decision.  Our vet is amazing, and actually sent me a handwritten card in the mail a few days later saying that when you have to make a tough decision in life, you weigh all of your options and then do the best you can with the cards you’re dealt, which is what I did.  Doesn’t make me feel any less guilty, or make it hurt any less, but it is what it is.  We all know she was crazy, and so there was nothing we could do but love her for it.   :)  A few days after saying goodbye to Lucy, we welcomed Knox into our family, which has completely changed us forever.  I thank God every day for giving me the gift of a healthy, happy baby.  I think I’m even more cognizant of what a blessing that is since I work with sick babies at the hospital.  Knox is truly a joy – usually pretty laid back, but when he’s decided he wants something, he wants it now!!  (Yep.  Sounds like me…)  Logan and I are having a blast with him, watching him grow and learn new things.  It’s been quite a journey learning how to be first time parents together, and I couldn’t ask for a better, more supportive parenting partner.  He gets my quirks, and loves me for them anyway.  I didn’t think I’d be one of those people that goes on and on about how wonderful their kid is, but when it’s true, you just can’t help it!  ;) 

We celebrated my birthday with family last weekend, and then Friday night my mom watched Knox so Logan and I could have dinner at Capital Grill.  (Amazing, as always.)  Then on Saturday when Whitney and Cody came over to swim.  We always love hanging out with them.  Ross and Jessica came over for a bit later that evening to see Knox and just relax.  My throat started feeling a little funny, but I brushed it off.  Before the day was over, I was wrapped up in a blanket on the couch with a 102.7 degree fever.  Not how I’d planned to spend my birthday weekend!  I went ahead and drove to the weekend clinic down the street and asked them to run a rapid strep test on me.  Turns out my instincts were right, and I had strep throat.  Happy Birthday to me??  I’ve been on antibiotics for a couple of days now, and am no longer running a fever so I’m feeling better.  Fortunately, Knox hasn’t gotten sick, and is acting just fine.

Logan got me pretty flowers for my birthday.  Love them.  (and him too…)

A funny candid shot of Logan and I before going to Capital Grill.  Take two.  :) 
Dessert!

Knox and Uncle Ross hanging out. 
Overall, it was a great birthday.  (I got to stretch out the celebrating for a week, so I think I did alright!)  Hopefully next year I won’t have strep again! 

Day 4 of Knox’s Self Rescue Swim Lessons

A little less crying today, but still pretty tense.  Now that he knows that he’s going to have to “work” during swim lessons, he doesn’t particularly like it, so he sort of balls himself up.  They’re working on getting him to relax so he can float.  He also has started grabbing onto his hair with both fists and hanging on tight, which may affect his ability to turn himself over in the water, so we’re working on that too. 

Starting Infant Self Rescue Swim Lessons

I recently started looking into swim lessons for Knox – mostly because I thought it would be a fun thing for us to do together, and I’d enjoy meeting some people with babies his age to play with.  But as I started doing some research, I came across something called “Infant Self Rescue” swim lessons, and I knew immediately that it was something we had to do.  Babies can start lessons as young as 6 months of age (Knox is 7  months) and it teaches them how to survive if they fall into a body of water alone.  They learn how to turn themselves over in the water and float calmly on their back until help arrives.  Before “graduating”, they must perform this skill fully clothed because the weight of clothing plus a regular diaper is much different than just a swim suit.  At around 15 months of age, they learn how to swim a few strokes, then turn over and float to catch their breath, then swim some more until they reach a place they can safely get out of the water.  It is absolutely amazing that babies can learn this! 

This is the video I came across that convinced me that we needed to do this with Knox.  After watching this and thinking about how many drowning children I’ve seen at the hospital, there was no way I’d be able to live with myself if something happened to Knox and I hadn’t given him the skills he’d need to survive. 

Our classes are private 10 minute lessons Monday through Thursday for 4 to 6 weeks, depending on how long he needs to master the skills.  Yesterday was our first day, and I thought they’d just start by getting him comfortable in the water.  Nope!  They jumped right in and started working on teaching him how to roll over from face down in the water into a float.  Logan left work early to be there, and I was so thankful that he was!  As I sat there by the pool crying my eyes out watching them put my baby face down in the water, I had to remind myself why I was doing this.  Throughout Knox’s life there will be things I do for him that are not easy, but are for his benefit – and this is one of them.  Logan smiled at me and told me that while he was there to support Knox, he was really there more for me!  He knew I’d be a wreck.  :)

I was too busy crying yesterday to take any video of the swim lesson, but I did get a couple of pictures.
I’ll continue to post videos of Knox’s progress, because I think I’ll enjoy looking back and being able to see how he improves.  Here is the video from today, Day 2 of lessons. 

Drowning is the number 1 killer for children under 5 years in 18 states.  The water should be a fun place for kids… but unless they can save themselves if something happened, it’s a very dangerous place.  I’d encourage anyone with children to enroll them in a self rescue swim class. 

http://www.infantaquatics.com/

http://www.infantswim.com/

Father’s Day and My Birthday Celebration

This year Logan and I had all of our family over to our house to celebrate Father’s Day and my Birthday.  It was very hot (as Texas summers always are), so we spent a lot of time in the pool to keep cool. 
Logan and Aunt Jess playing.
Four generations of LaPrades!
Three generations of Lowrys.  :)

My side of the family. 
I’m so in love with my little family unit!  :)
 
Knox helping Daddy open his father’s day card.
New picture with Ron Ron.
Chewing on Sophie.
See how much he loves his Aunt Jess??  :)

Rubber Ducky…

Since Knox is now in the big tub, I didn’t want him to plop over and bump his head on the side, so I found him this fun inflatable ducky tub.  He’s a fan.  :)

Happy 7 Months, Knox!!

This big guy is so cute!  He’s becoming quite the little flirt.  Everyone that sees him comments on just how blue his eyes are, and now that his eyelashes are getting darker, his eyes stand out even more.  Gonna be a lady-killer, this one.  ;) 
Still chewing on those fingers (and toes, and toys, and anything else he can get in his mouth) but no signs of that first tooth just yet. 
It’s been a big month for milestones.  On May 12, 2012, Knox started rolling his way around the play mat to get to the toys he wanted to play with.  He’s realizing that he doesn’t have to just be stationary all the time, and I think he likes this bit of independence in choosing where he parks.  That same day he also started waving his toys around in the air while he played with them, which is apparently very, very fun.
On May 16, 2012, he started rolling onto his side to sleep at night, and by May 21, 2012 he was positioning himself onto his tummy to sleep.  So, we made the move to his real crib up in his room on May 22, 2012.  (I blogged about that here.)  That’s still going well, and he’s really only waking up once at night to eat.  He’ll sleep from 6:45 pm until 4 or 5 am, and usually go right back to sleep after he eats.  The later he wakes up, the harder it is to get him to go back to sleep, and since our goal is to start the day no earlier than 6 am, I find myself in a predicament.  If he wakes up at 5:15, I know he probably thinks he’s done sleeping, but according to my baby sleep book, if I go in and get him that early he’ll start to always wake up that early so that he can start playing.  However, by the time he’s finished eating, it’s close to 5:45 and I know he won’t probably want to go back to sleep.  So basically, I’m just hoping that he’ll start sleeping in a little longer so that I don’t have to be conflicted about what to do.  :)  Either way, I’m just happy to be getting longer stretches of sleep.
7 month feet!  (They’re always moving, so it’s hard to get a picture!)
On May 22, 2012, Knox started saying “dadadadadadada”, and on May 27, 2012, he actually looked at Logan and said “dada”.  It completely made Logan’s day.  I do think it was a coincidence, but it was fun to hear either way.  He’s pretty much stopped with the “dadadada’s” since then and has gone back to his favorite sound, the “mmmmmmmmmm”.  So we’re working on saying our vowels.  :)  Also, on June 9th, 2012, Knox began sitting up completely unassisted!  Big boy! On June 13, 2012, he started doing what I call “motorcycle hands” and the “genie rub”.  Motorcycle hands is where he takes whatever it is he’s holding – my finger, your shirt, a toy, his own arm… whatever – and continually twists it so it looks like he’s revving a motorcycle engine.  Genie rub is where he rubs something side to side, over and over.  (Usually it’s while I’m holding him, and he ends up doing this across my chest, so I’m guessing one of his three wishes is for food…)  Anyway, both of them are pretty funny.    He also has these clear toy balls that have other tiny colored balls inside of them, and now instead of just shaking the balls, he actually twists them slowly so he can watch the inside balls move and hear them rattle.  It’s cute that while he’s twisting the ball with one hand, the hand that’s empty starts twisting too.  :)
His hair is finally getting long enough to do in a mohawk when it’s wet! 
The months are flying by, and we are having so much fun with this boy.  I can’t wait to see what new “tricks” he learns next month!