Cruising!

We saw this past Sunday, on Kelly's birthday, that Dash is "cruising"—he pulled himself up to the seat of a child's plastic chair and then walked with it as he pushed it. We were all kind of stunned, while he was screaming with excitement, grinning like crazy!

I'm torn between being excited that he's growing and doing so many things and wanting him to stay little and cuddly. Lately, when I pick him up to hug him, he just twists and twists as I'm walking so he won't miss out on anything that he could possibly be seeing. I've been holding him close with one hand around the back of his head so he'll stay still and I can get a good cuddle in.

Dash vs. Lanna at seven months

My parents had a photography studio take a triptych of photos of me when I was seven months old. About a month ago, Auntie M. was looking at this the triptych and asked our dad, "where did you get those photos of Dash?" and she was serious! It took a bit of convincing to get her to believe they were pics of me. This experience inspired me to have a professional try to recreate the triptych with Dashiell, since he's pretty much the same age right now. Here are the photos of me:

Even though Dash had a bruise on his forehead the day of the shoot, the photographers went ahead and took photos -- they said, "it's okay, we have Photoshop!" Which is really giving Photoshop a lot of credit IMO, but I hope they know what they're doing. It was a light-purple and yellowish blotch on his left upper forhead. It's more greenish today. Here is how the proofs looked:

An additional pose we tried was to a "Lou Reed" homage portrait -- a friend of ours gave us a velvet underground banana shirt for Dash and put on a pair of Rosie's sunglasses, so he was "waiting for his man" with a grungy step ladder they had in the studio. I thought it was so cute!!

Fatboy!

Dashiell's six-month checkup was January 12th (yes, I know he was actually seven months) and he is now just a few oz shy of 18 lbs and is 26 inches (50th percentiles)! Quite the solid little guy. His head circumference got 75th percentile, but I can't recall the exact measurement. AJS's favorite nickname for him now is "fatboy"! The doc didn't have much to say, since things are going pretty well and we're hitting milestones, etc. He didn't get his shots because he had a temp (99.6 degrees), had a nasty cough, and a goopy runny nose.

While I had him at home this morning, despite being under the weather he was crawling around like a little crab and pulling up on everything—the couch, bookshelves, entertainment center, laundry baskets, me, his sister, you name it. They tell me at daycare he's always in the middle of the action when the other kids are off getting into stuff AND has been pulling up on cribs and pushing them around (they are on castors and a linoleum floor). I'm amazed that he's doing so much!

The night before his appointment, he woke up around 2 a.m. and just didn't want to go back to sleep. It seemed like he was really interested in trying out his new skill: he pulls himself up to his feet in the crib, lets go with one hand, pivots carefully, then sits down and starts over. Whew. And Mommy had to be watching, because if I left him alone, he would start crying again. After about 4 visits like this, I finally just let him cry himself to sleep and I really have no idea what time that was, but he was back up at 5 a.m. Thank goodness that doesn't happen often!

Life in the String household

Well, my lifestyle has shifted since we have two kids. I do so much housework it's like I'm a fiend, but I can't ever get the big stuff done. As soon as we're home from work, I run to the dishwasher and unload/load it, then run to the laundry machine and unload/load it, and by that time it's time to have dinner, so I feed myself and the kids, clean up after dinner, put dirty dishes in and run the dishwasher, then run downstairs and turn on the laundry, then fold clothes while I watch one episode of Dora the Explorer with Rosie. Then I give Dash a bottle, change his diaper/pajamas and put him to bed while AJS puts Rosie to bed. I might have time to read a little or watch one TV show before I go to bed.

The mornings are a flurry of getting everything loaded in the car for daycare, dressing everyone, feeding the kids and the bird, and getting on the road. Am I the most boring person ever? We only socialize with other people who have kids now and a girlfriend and I were celebrating when another couple we know told us they were expecting (they're "in the club").

Diaper rash & first tooth

The amoxicillin has given Dash a raging rash. A girlfriend suggested that I try Burt's Bees diaper ointment, and since I had a tube, I tried it. The herbal smell was so strong that I decided to stick with the Boudreau's Butt Paste that we normally use. If it's still bad in a day or so I'll try pure zinc.

The poor little guy has been screaming bloody murder & some diaper changes require both AJS and I holding him down and he still manages to almost wrestle himself off the table along with the diaper, the changing mat, and anything else he can reach with his feet and hands. He's torn the edging off of the window screen. The changes are taking 3 or 4 times as long with having to retrieve everything on the floor, trying not to get kicked or punched in the face, and attempting to cover his rash with ointment.

He's also cutting his first tooth! I've been attributing the diaper rash to the amoxicillin, but would cutting a tooth have anything to do with it? I've been giving him Tylenol all weekend, because he seems like he's in so much pain.