And the Green Grass Grew all Around all Around

Gordon Lee loves to be outside.  Who wouldn't with this fabulous weather we have had recently? This weekend, I was up at my parents' house, and they just so happen to have a glass door that attracted one pint-sized explorer immediately.

He walked his hands up the door until he was standing to peer outside.  Thankfully, my mother said she did not mind since she could just wash off slobber and finger prints with glass cleaner.

He not only enjoyed watching people and animals outside, but he liked being out there too.  So, making sure we stayed away from wherever the dog chose to eliminate, we let him play in a portion of the yard.  He loved it! His favorite pastime is pulling up grass and throwing it (thankfully, he didn't try eating it).  But what was even more amusing was what he did on one particular day that I took him out there!

He was getting a little restless indoors.  And since the weather was so pleasant outside, I took him out in the grass.  Immediately, he struck a pose! I couldn't believe it and I thought it was so funny I had to get pictures.  So, I dashed in the house to grab a camera.  

When I got back out there (which was just a matter of seconds), he was still holding the pose.  And I think OshKosh should look for a new baby model.  He clearly possesses confidence and poise. ;)

Yells and Whistles

Disclaimer- I haven't blogged in like week.  So this blog is pretty long with updates on G Lee! :)


Gordon Lee is now a little over 8 and 1/2 months old.  We went to the doctor last week for his 6 month well-baby check up.  Yes, it was delayed. Ha! Moving and then quite a few other events occurring over the past few months ended up pushing back the doctor's appointment.

He decided to try to entertain everyone in the waiting room by blowing raspberries.  And we subsequently had people moving away from us not wanting to get sprayed.  They still seemed to find him entertaining more than annoying.  I'm glad about that because I don't know how to stop him from doing things like that, and I actually prefer it over crying.

Anyway, he weighed in at about 22 pounds and basically 30 inches long.  He was something like 29.9 inches.  He is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. Yes, that is 90th percentile for his age (not a 6 month old).  He is in great health and very sociable.

He has never really been too particular about who holds him, but he starting to change ever so slightly with that.  He will still let people hold him, but if somebody new reaches out to hold him, he will kind of hang back to me until I "encourage" him to go.  Then, he will gladly reach out.  I guess he wants to make sure whoever it is is okay.  

He has also established another rule--one of these days we will have to explain what a double-standard is.  When he is in a room with people, he doesn't like anyone to walk out and leave.  He will crawl out as fast as he can wherever that person went.  HOWEVER, if he feels like leaving, he will gladly try to wander off.  Mmmmhmmmm

He is still not really walking yet aside from taking a few steps here and there.  But I think it is more of a confidence thing.  I have noticed that he will stand perfectly fine on his own with no problem, but as soon as he realizes he is doing it, it's as if he says "oh wait, I can't do this" and just sits down.  He took several steps yesterday as if he has been walking his whole life, but it was almost as if he did it subconsciously! Because he sort of paused in the middle of it and dropped down to a crawl.


His biggest fascination is faces.  He loves to look at faces and grab people's noses.  He also likes to put his hand on your mouth when you're talking and feel the movement of your mouth (sort of like Helen Keller!). 

Gordon Lee does not like to wear shoes. But with his recent attempts at walking for the past month or so, I get increasingly nervous he might step on something and hurt his foot (basically when we are outside).  So, my mom actually found a pair of shoes that are less restrictive.  Babies who do not usually enjoy wearing shoes apparently love them.  They are called Skidders.  Well Gordon Lee does love them! But he likes to put them in his mouth and carry them around in his mouth like a dog.  Now that he has worn them outside, I have to keep them well-hidden.

Another new development has been his attempt at working remote controls.  We allow him to play with 2 that have the batteries removed.  One is an xbox controller and the other is just an additional remote to the television.  He has been very interested in remotes for quite some time now, which is why we went ahead and gave him 2 as toys.  We were tired of his incessant attempt at grabbing the ones that actually work! Well more recently, he has been using them the way he sees us use them! He takes his remote control and will point at the TV and push buttons.  When my husband is playing a game on the xbox, he picks up his controller and pushes the buttons like he is trying to play along! I don't have any pictures of this yet, but it is just adorable!

Gordon Lee is also a talker.  He babbles on and on pretty much all the time.  When he is especially in a good mood, he will make cute high-pitched noises.  They just don't get old for me! I love hearing it every time!

Just two days ago, we were all in the living room, when Lee and I heard a whistling sound.  It sounded just like the wind when it whistles; however, there was no wind blowing on that day.  We looked at each other and I noticed Gordon Lee's lips were pursed in a whistle shape and he was whistling! He would sometimes be able to get a whistle out and sometimes not, but he kept trying.  Then, my husband went to him, started whistling, and he started mimicking! Sometimes he mimicked just in shaping his mouth the same way but he'd also get a whistle out! It was so much fun.  Lee and I do whistle a lot just because and I think he's picked up on it.  I tried to capture him doing it yesterday.  He did do it quite a few times, but as soon as I'd try to record it, he would quit.  I got one video of him putting his mouth in the whistle shape but he soon got distracted by a car going by outside.

Speaking of cars going by outside, he loves to go for walks! I've been trying to get him out on a walk every day that the weather is favorable.  Thankfully, it has cooled off a lot this week and we are able to get out more.  He likes to look at everything and he especially loves his little steering wheel on the jogging stroller.

Motor Mouth

I am having one of those mornings where I have woken up early for no apparent reason (the baby is sleeping and has been since 9:30 PM), and I can’t seem to go back to sleep. I also had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night and felt restless all night long.  I will probably being taking a nap today. :-)

I am also slightly perturbed this morning.  Before giving up Facebook for Lent, I deliberately took all measures to keep it and any temptation of logging onto it out of my way.  I turned off ALL e-mail notifications.  I made sure to log off of it from my computer AND my phone.  So far, this has been working great….until…this morning! I was checking my e-mail via my phone and saw an e-mail that looked like it was from some kind of message board.  I wasn’t sure what it was or where it was from.  I thought some of my friends started a forum somewhere based on the info.  So, I clicked the link and BAM! I was logged onto Facebook? WHAT? HOW? I didn’t even put in my log in information. So, I’m thinking one of two things happened.

A.)  Somebody hacked my account (which is doubtful because I have an extremely secure password and I am the only one who has had my phone)

B.)  Facebook has now made it possible to automatically be logged on when you click on a link to it in your e-mail...I am thinking maybe just with phones, though..still not sure.

So, I was pretty agitated by that.  I did not use it to read or look at anything and promptly logged off. I did not break my Lent…just in case anybody was up at 6 AM and noticed me on there for like the 2 minutes it took for me to get off of there. lol

Anyway, since I happen to be awake this morning and not currently having to stay on top of little chubby cheeks, I figured I might as well share the plethora of pictures and videos that have accumulated since my last blog post.

 He is not upset in this picture.  He just found it funny to make this face one day and I had to take a picture.  I call it his "kung fu" face.

 Cruising the furniture

 "Can I play with that baby in the camera? He looks like fun!"

 Proudly disobeying me.  I said, "No sir" and he looked at me with that mischievous little grin.

He is again fascinated to see himself in the camera.

Now for a couple of videos...

This first video is the reason for my blog title.  He has been enjoying going around all day long making raspberry noises.  I call it his "motor" that he has running while he plays.  It really sounds like he is trying to pretend he is a machine or car on the go.

This next video is pretty much a continuation of the last one.  He just started making cute sounds in addition to his motor.

He has been working on language a lot recently--practicing different things he can try to say.  He is very comfortable with "mama" now and uses it quite often. He started using it in reference to either myself or my husband.  I am guessing he did this because he realized the term applied to an adult and he can't figure out how to say "dada" yet.  Now, however, "Mama" has become more of a command.  He will come to me and say "mama" when he wants something from me.  He doesn't necessarily want Mama so much as he wants Mama to do something for him.  Here is a video of him commanding "Mama" because he is trying to get in my lap....not to sit there, though, but rather he is interested in climbing me in an attempt to get up on the couch.

This is Important

Concerned about the status of today's economy, Gordon Lee has a very serious message he would like to convey to the general public.

Gordon Lee says "Mama"

Fun

If there is one word I can use to describe Gordon Lee, it is fun! He is almost always having fun and I have so much fun watching him!  The older he gets, the less he cries.  And when he does cry, it is usually for a very specific reason such as being tired or hungry.  Below are some pictures of him having fun with various things!

He LOVES this frog chair that we got him for Christmas.  But he isn't interested in sitting in it; he likes to tackle it.

He is consistently proud of himself whenever he pulls himself up to stand.  And he especially likes to peek at you from behind something.

Whenever he has been actively playing (crawling around, trying to walk, etc.), he then wants to sit in my lap and play.  I think it is his way of winding down.

In this next picture, he is getting near the point where he is about to sit in my lap, but he is making sure I'm nearby while demonstrating the height of fashion.

Like I said, he is just so much fun! In the video, he is taking 1 step.  That is his new skill he is practicing.  He likes to pull himself up on that brown ottoman, slowly let go of it, and try a few steps.  He made 4 the other day.

Entertainment

Gordon Lee has many ways of entertaining himself! He's pretty good at finding whatever there is around him that can be played with (including many things he is not supposed to have).  
Here, he is blowing raspberries on a ball and having a blast.  He did this for a good 30 minutes.

He has also found his diaper to be very entertaining.

This next one is just entertaining to me.  Gordon Lee says "mmmm" when he takes a bite.