It's been awhile, eh? Well, time to knock the dust off, ready or not. I have neglected writing because things have seemed fairly boring lately, and it is hard to make a boring thing into an interesting story. But I will try, as the passage of time continues and Ruckus ages daily.
Things That Have Been Happening
Ruckus has three new teeth! They are on the top, and none of them are the top front teeth. This has me nervous that the top front teeth will not have enough room to grow in properly and will be crooked. There seems to be nothing I can do to stop this or change this, so I'm going to try to stop worrying about it. It is hard to stop worrying about things that worry you (me), isn't it? I find it amazingly difficult.
The teething process has been very unpleasant. Ruckus has been cranky to say the least and it has been going nonstop for so many weeks that it seems like part of his personality. I am trying to keep in mind that this is temporary, and it will pass and my sweetheart of a son will make a charming and triumphant return very soon. Like the not worrying part, this is hard to do.
I have a new wrinkle, or wrinkles. I must sit and frown/scowl all day long. Perhaps it is from worry. Or maybe it is due to squinting, which is due to lack of sleep. Regardless, there is a nice new groove on my forehead, between my eye brows. I'm not a fan. I am now sitting here smirking, forcing my forehead to lie flat and not wrinkle. The area under my eyes will suffer from this new expression, but if it saves me having a permanent mark on my forehead, so be it.
Ruckus is 32 weeks old now. In real time that is about 7 1/2 months old. He had his 6 month shots a couple of weeks ago and aside from an overnight fever, had no issues with them. He even had the first shot of a two part flu shot, so we will have to go and get the second part of that done in a couple of weeks. Shots always make me nervous because of what people say about bad reactions and the possibility that they cause or contribute to Autism. I am hopeful that we never have any issues with shots and that he will just get his immunities and nothing more.
The baby has been making me think he is going to crawl any day now, for at least a month, maybe more. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks, and soon enough, he is moving backward at a snail's pace. This is a huge relief to me, as I am not quite ready to deal with forward momentum. If he could just slow down and take his time that would be great.
We are getting settled into our new house and have had to make some adjustments to our routines as a consequence of the layout of the house, furniture that was there before us and so can't be messed with for now, those sorts of things. One thing which has not been well received in the new house is Ruckus's highchair. It is an A-frame design and as a consequence it takes up a huge amount of room when set up. I'm talking like a 5x3 area on the floor, just to sit the baby down for lunch or dinner. This barely worked in our old house and doesn't work at all in the new house. We tried it a few times, wheeling it from his room into the kitchen, trying to fold it up and leave it in the kitchen, trying to get a glass of milk and maneuver around the dog while it is fully expanded, and it just doesn't work.
Lucky for us I had purchased a booster seat some time ago. See it here. This is actually a seat you would use to train a baby on how to sit without falling over or forward, it has a toy and snack tray that rotates around it Lazy Susan style, and is designed for use as a booster seat for 'older children'. Since Ruckus is no dainty thing he fits in the booster part fabulously so we've strapped it into one of the dining chairs and so far, it has been a huge space saver and the baby seems to enjoy sitting like a regular people at the table. Win!
Of course there is a drawback to everything and here it is - he hates the toy tray. We have put him into the seat without it a few times and he is fine but as soon as you slide the toy tray on he is screeching to be let out and seems to be showing genuine fear. Not Good. Perhaps he will grow out of the fear at some point. We will wait a month or so and try the toy tray again. I don't care how much you've spent on a toy for your child - when he or she expresses an instant fear type response to it you will fling that thing so far from your child that people on the street had better be ready to duck. Or maybe I just spoil my kid.
Along the same lines of feeding/spoiling, we all went out as a family for Cinco De Mayo this past Saturday. We went to a local Mexican restaurant which we get to every few months, and have for a few years. I remember when Dad and I first went there we were on one of our early dates, having dinner before a basketball game downtown. We went there a couple of times when I was pregnant with Ruckus, and at least once, maybe twice, since he was born. So they know us, and when we were being served our waitor says, "So this is him, this is the baby?" We say yes, this is the guy... haha. He remarked on how much Ruckus has grown since the last time he saw him, now he's sitting in a high chair and everything! Anyway... I sat next to him so that I could feed him some of my dinner, knowing how he expects to eat with us now, and not before or after. I spooned up some beans and rice and fed him those while I ate my spicy things.
It was very loud in the restaurant on this day, so Ruckus screaming here and there throughout the meal didn't seem to disturb anyone. Or perhaps I've already become one of those oblivious parents who thinks my kid isn't bothering anyone. I thought that the feeding was going pretty well until I had almost cleaned my plate and happened to glance down at the floor. It was covered in rice! It seems that as soon as I would spoon some rice into Ruckus and turn my head, he would spit it out or it would fall out of his mouth, down into the high chair, and then onto the floor. There was a huge mess! His hands were covered in beans and rice, and so was the top of the highchair, and the edge of the table he could reach.
I grabbed him up, brushed him off and we went into the Ladies Room to clean up a little. He was very good about letting me wash his hands in the sink. We got back to the table and I couldn't really figure out how to clean up our mess without smearing it into the carpet, so I just kind of brushed the rice off of the high chair and table and called it good. I left a couple extra dollars tip in the hopes that they would forgive us. I'm sure they must deal with similar situations all the time, right? Kids are messy! And loud. And next time we go there, Ruckus will be a little older, and might do something cute and endearing, and they likely won't remember the Rice Incident, right? Right...
Yesterday we did some unpacking and cleaning, and Ruckus sat in his little booster seat in the kitchen, visiting with me while I put away my china set. I explained to him that I'm going to give it to his wife some day, and that he and she can pass it on to their own children when they are old enough. I told him the dishes and silverware had been passed down through three generations so far, and he'd be the fourth, so it was important that we not break Mommy's dishes. We shall see how careful he is once he is up and around in a few months. I suspect this conversation will be long forgotten by then!
I think you are all updated for now!
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