Who wants a flip-flop?

What a difference a few days make. Maddox is now crawling, as you could see from the last post. He is saying da-da a lot. Even ba-ba. Ma-ma is not even in the picture. So, a quick look at the scoreboard will reveal Cody 1, Nicole 0. I know, I know... she's not acknowledging the fact he's saying da-da, but it's okay. The score is what it is. Also, he's pulling himself up on things. Mainly me while I lay on the floor while he plays. He is pulling himself up so much that we had to lower his bed down in the crib, so he doesn't fall out. Because that would be what he would do. Whatever it takes to get him in our bed at night, he'll do. At this point in his life, I'd call this is passion. That and rubber duckies. Technically he has time for 2 passions, and as his parents, we are committed to letting him pursue his passions, so we encourage him, so, whatever. Basically he isn't a baby any more. He's turning into a boy and I'm left wondering where the last 9 months went. What was I doing the whole time!

In other news, Nicole and I have decided to take a child and infant CPR class. Mostly because of 2 things:

The first, when he eats, I can barely keep myself together. I know he's technically 9 months old, but in my mind, he just started eating cheerios a few weeks ago. So every little cough or any random pause in breathing, while he eats drives me insane. "Is he choking... when's he going to breath. Nicole, let him finish that bite. He's got too many cheerios in his mouth. Wait, let him eat. How did he get so many cheerios in there!! I can't take it! I'm freakin' out here!". It really is agony. Hopefully I'll get myself together before his first date with a girl, otherwise he's going to have "issues" later in life.

The second, I am coordinated about a lot of things, but when it becomes baby time, I'm a complete spaz. Take a look at my track record. Who here has dropped a remote on a sleeping baby's head? (ME). Who here has dropped a baby face first into his car seat? (That's me). Who here has almost dislocated a baby finger while putting a shirt on? (Definitely me). And also, let's get this out in the open. Sweeping a baby's mouth is a myth. It doesn't work. Here's what happens when I do it. Fat finger jammed into the mouth of a baby that is partially choking on an object visible only to babies, results in said object being jammed further down the throat of a baby. It is easily the most terrifying thing that has happened to me. Max found a piece of plastic on the floor... how he found it I will never now... but he was choking on it. I go to sweep his mouth, because in theory, I've heard it works. And the situation gets worse. Fast forward to the end and I'm taking him to Nicole, who is in the shower, and I'm all... "He's choking on something and I can't get it out!!!!". She saved the day. Apparently the water in the shower forced him to swallow it like a pill. Good job Nicoles!

So long story short, I'm taking a class. Will it help me? I really hope so, but I'm skeptical. The one thing I think it will help with, I bet it will take the edge off when it comes time to help baby. I'll be less apprehensive. I might get so cavalier that I sweep his mouth for no reason at all. If he even cringes at peas, I'll have them out of there so fast!

Okay, so here are his current likes and dislikes:

Likes:

1. Flip-flops (Mine or Nicole's). He likes to eat them.
2. Nana's face. He likes to eat it also.
3. Other baby's pacifiers. Preferably tied around other baby's neck. It's kind of like a delivery.
4. Climbing on me while he plays.
5. The monkey in his crib. (Kyle Fields)
6. Rolling over on the changing pad.

Dislikes:

1. Bed time. His long time nemesis.
2. When his face meets the plastic part of his car seat.
3. Waking up in his own bed.
4. Not being allowed to roll-over on the changing pad.

Falling Down on the Job

Here's some older photo's that I should have posted by now. A lot of these are at the Dallas Arboreteum during the whole "Dallas Blooms" fiasco. Sorry for the delay... but I did bring video of Max crawling, so we'll call it even.

Crawling Maddox

Okay... sorry again for the delay. I've actually been working hard to bring everybody this video of Maddox crawling. Not exactly the first time he crawled, but really close. At the very least, this is his 4th or 5th time... so still pretty new at the game. And of all things... he was heading after his maracca, currently his favorite toy. Hope you guys enjoy.

Quick tip... after you watch pork chop crawl, there are videos that are shown at the bottom of the screen... these aren't the same Maddox. Just fyi. They are actually other "you tube" videos of other babies crawling that also have the name Maddox. So in other words, all your attention should be spent on our Maddox, not others.

Feels Good to be a Dad

This is my favorite picture of Maddox to date. It makes me smile everytime I see it. What a pork chop he's turning out to be. He's been really fun lately. He's learning new tricks by the dozen. Here's a quick list of what we've taught him within the last week or 2:

1. He will give you a kiss on command. (Actually he learned this about 2 or 3 weeks ago, but it's his best trick). Granted, it's not really the traditional "puckered up" kiss, so much as the "open-mouth, cheek-licking" kiss. And, if you ask and aren't prepared for it, you may catch it on the mouth. He mixes it up, sometimes he makes you wait, sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes he doesn't even wait for you to ask.


2. He knows how to wave. He'll hold his hand out and move his fingers and smile with his mouth open. It's really funny.


3. He knows how to hug. It takes some convincing, but if you are holding him and ask for it repeatedly, you can guilt him into doing it. Hugs consist of him laying the side of his head on your shoulder. The length of his hugs are decided by him. Typically they only last a few seconds, but occasionally you'll get lucky and score one that lasts up to 10 seconds. It's kind of awkward, trying to determine if he's still hugging or just fell asleep. Oh, and the open mouth neck bite is complimentary on some hugs... depending on how he feels at the time the hug is requested.


4. He's learned that banging his maraca on the wall while you hold him is his favorite trick. Basically, you take him to a select, interesting stretch of wall or post or window (if you dare), tap on it lightly to let him know it's okay, and he will wail on it with his maraca. I asked, and Maddox said it's his favorite.

So these are the happenings. I haven't taken the pictures off the camera yet, so that will have to wait another week. Also, by this time next week, I hope to have the CD-Rom that will enable me to post videos on here. So I'll try to catch some of these tricks and post them.