"Ball"

Deegan learned to say the word "ball" a while ago. He has always loved playing with his toy balls (as I shared in the last post). A few weeks ago he started paying attention to the balls hanging in his bedroom. Then as I stood him up on his changing table after a diaper change he realized he could touch them... what fun! Now, when Deeg is really grouchy we hold him up to the balls and let him hit them. This video was longer, but I shortened it. You'll see that Deeg is quite squirmy and he even says the word "ball" a few times.

Now this has become an evening ritual...

Playing alone

We try to let Deegan entertain himself when he's in the right mood. Most of the time we are playing with him or at least following him around to ensure he doesn't fall onto a sharp corner or hit his head on the ceramic tile. There are a few times during the day that he sits down to quietly look at his books by himself. He has really grown to love his books, especially the "Touch and Feel" books.
But sitting still doesn't last long...

then he's back to being on the go. He loves to crawl through the dining room chairs.

Do you see the ball that Deegan has? That's one of his Oballs. He has two Oballs; the rattle oball is the one you see in the picture and he also has a big oball. If you're looking for a gift or toy for a baby or toddler, I encourage you to check them out. They are great for little hands to get a hold of. Deeg's other favorite ball is his Gertie Ball. They're a great toy and he has enjoyed them for many months now!

The Steps

Deegan didn't know that our house had stairs... until last week.
Now that he knows they are there, every time we go downstairs he immediately crawls to the steps and wants to climb. It's pretty funny because we'll go downstairs and get comfortable on his playmat, then he'll take off to the steps. Eventually the novelty will wear off, but until then... we'll chase him up the stairs.

We recently did some work on our stairs. They used to have wood paneling and brown trim. The finish on the stairs was chipping off and the floor on the landing was stick down tile. We sanded the stairs, stained them, put a clear coat on them and re-painted everything. Then J and his dad did the ceramic tile on the landing. We are pleased with the result and we think Deegan likes it too.

Play Area

Now that Deegan is always on the go, we've been spending a lot of time in his play area downstairs. I remember the days when he laid on the blanket in the middle of our living room, kicking, cooing and playing with the same three toys for several hours a day, for several days in a row. He never got bored, he never tried to escape... he was happy.
He requires a bit more excitement these days... a variety of toys, lots of interaction and a change of scenery. We don't mind providing the toys (I think we enjoy finding new toys more than he does) and we certainly don't mind the interaction- he is so much fun! We did have to do a little work to make a play area suitable for Deeg in our basement. Our basement was a "Man Cave" with lots of additional clutter. J and I spent some time getting organized. Then I brought home a few things from my classroom for organization (more about my teaching job later). Now we have a great space for Deegan!

I dug out my old toys from when I was a kid and found this car. I remember playing with it- now Deegan loves to push it around.

I brought home this bookshelf from my classroom and Deeg loves to stand and pick out (and chew) on his books.

Now when we come upstairs from the play area Deegan will stand at the gate at the top of the stairs and scream. I guess that is his way of telling us he likes it down there.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all dads out there! At our house, we're celebrating this dad:

We're celebrating the dad that was born when our sweet Deegan came into this world. J is a fantastic dad. I have fallen more and more in love with him as I watch him grow as a father. We've both learned a few (or thousands) of things since becoming parents. Today I'll share some of the things it means... to be a dad.

1. Being a dad means teaching your baby two important words: Da Da.
2. Being a dad means coming home exhausted, but finding the energy to crawl around on the floor and play with your child.
3. Being a dad means realizing that small children create a magical time in life, and praying you won't miss it.
4. Being a dad means losing hair to little hands pulling on chest hair, nose hair, head hair, beard hair, and the most painful- leg hair (I know all dads are nodding in agreement about this).

5. Being a dad means gently roughhousing with your child even though the mother thinks he will break. Babies love it.
6. Being a dad means wondering how such a tiny baby can smile and deliver a nuclear blast in his diaper.
7. Being a dad means singing your favorite music to your baby at night. And the great thing about babies is, they don't care if you sing the Beatles, Twisted Sister, or Garth Brooks.

8. Being a dad means resolving not to miss the smallest details of your baby's life.
9. Being a dad means learning how to do things one-handed.
10. Being a dad means being your child's entertainment center.

Being a dad means realizing that more than a baby has been born. So has a father.

Walking!

Yep... he's moving. He has been taking a few steps at a time for about two weeks now, but on Wednesday he seemed to decide that he was ready to walk. He's looking much more stable and taking up to 15 steps in a row! I like to let him roam the backyard because there aren't any sharp objects or hard tile floors... just big piles of Duke droppings (which we try to keep picked up).

How is Dad doing?

If you didn't know, J had surgery yesterday. If you've been following for a while, you know that he had surgery last May. He had a bone graft done and it didn't work. Yesterday he had three bones removed from his wrist (including the bone that was dying and the graft didn't save). He had a nerve block done so he couldn't feel any pain (or his arm) when he went to bed last night. He woke up with a lot of pain, but we're trying to keep his arm elevated and iced.

For most of the day, J relaxed on the couch and rested. I tried to keep Deegan entertained and busy, so we went in the backyard and played in the pool. J joined us and discovered that Deegan likes to be squirted on the head! J squirted him on the head and he would laugh his deep belly laugh.

Then J and Deeg took a walk across the lawn.

Baby Speedo

Deegan has a cute little baby speedo. It is actually a cloth diaper made for swimming, but it's more fun to call it a speedo. There are only a few years in a male's life when they look good in a speedo and I think it is safe to say that Deegan falls into the "cute in a speedo" years right now.
He was watching Duke... very serious.

Then splashing... very fun!

Then the "ooooh face"... very cute!

And the baby speedo... love it!

Family Picnic

All this wonderful weather inspired us to get out for our first family picnic. We headed over to Deerfield Park in Mt. Pleasant and brought the high chair, stroller, lunch, and dog. It always feels like we're hauling so much stuff!
Deegan loved eating lunch in his travel high chair. He loves being outside and he loves eating... so it was a good time!

Cute Little Bum

Deegan LOVES to get in the tub. He hears the water running and comes crawling down the hallway at lightning speed. Then he pulls up on the edge of the tub and tries to get in. He was successful last week- he would've landed in the tub head first, but I caught him.

I have always enjoyed bath time with Deeg, but it has become more stressful now that he's pulling up and standing all the time. He wants to stand in the tub and it makes me nervous. He throws himself around, trying to grab at the faucet, stand at the edge, knock shampoo bottles down and chew in the washcloth. I am pretty sure my blood pressure goes up during bath time... but it returns to normal when I can rock Deeg to sleep and smell that sweet baby smell.

Splish Splash!

I couldn't decide which photos to post... so I posted quite a few. You don't mind, do you?
Deegan loves splashing in his pool. He doesn't need much water to have a good time. He really got his hands splashing around- he ended up soaked from head to toe just from the splashing. He kept trying to eat the water too- he is certainly exploring the world with his mouth right now! Deegan has this new look (see below) which he usually does in his high chair, but was doing it a lot in the pool last week. We reinforce it by laughing, smiling and doing the same "oooh" look back at him.I am always excited to get a good photo with Deeg. J thinks he is starting to look like me. I am not sure yet. I think he inherited my ears, but I also think I am the only one that has noticed that.

Deegan continues to love Duke. The love is certainly mutual. Duke feels extra affectionate toward Deegan on days that he throws food on the floor or leaves spit up on the carpet. Either way, they're buddies.

Other than Deegan and I having the same ears... I am finding that he has a fascination for things found in nature (remember the bird poop?). Maybe he'll grow up to be a nature-lover like his momma. Maybe he'll be a scatologist, botonist, or whatever he wants!

Sometimes after Deegan falls asleep at night I hold him in my arms and wonder what the future holds for him. I wonder what kind of relationship we'll have in 25 years. I wonder how he'll change the world. I wonder when he'll feel heartache for the first time. Then I try to stop thinking about the future and enjoy the now. I breathe in his sweet baby smell, listen to his steady breathing and enjoy the feel of his warm little hand resting on my chest, because the future is never certain... but that moment, that love I feel for him... is the realest thing I have ever felt.

Wordless Wednesday