Dexter Videos

It's been a couple of weeks, so I figured we'd showcase a few cute Dexter videos. His cuteness is pretty irresistible (if I do say so myself), and his sweet baby laughs are contagious. Here's a good one:



Recently, Dexter has taken to playing peek-a-boo with US. Silly baby fools us every time!


And he loves his see-n-say, even if he doesn't *quite* have its intended/proper operation figured out.

Dexter Can WALK!

Today, Dexter took SIX steps all by himself! He is 10 months, 11 days old.

For several days, he's been taking one or two steps, but I felt like we needed at least 4 steps for it to count. Today, he definitely hit that mark.

His Mom and Dad both got to see it, and Granddad turned around in time to catch the last little bit.

Of course there is no video or other evidence of the actual first steps, but a few minutes later we lured him with a donut just to get some video. (We're counting this one as 14 steps.)

Dexter's Inujries

They just keep coming! He'd better get the hang of this walking thing soon, or we're going to be in big trouble.

Between July 20 and August 6, he had a black eye, a bloody nose, TWO separate episodes of being bitten at day care (not his fault, but geez), and now, a bloody lip!


This time, he was just standing up, holding the remote control. He fell backwards onto his cute little butt, and somehow his lip got smooshed between the remote and his teeth. There seemed to be a lot of blood (although a lot was probably spit), and then he rubbed it all over his face, so it looked more like he'd been in a bar fight.

Again, he wouldn't let us near him with ice, but the bleeding stopped quickly, and he's long since moved on with his busy little life.

Here's hoping we can pretty much retire this "injuries" tag now. (ha!)

Dexter is TEN Months Old!

Double-digits! How did that happen?!

Dexter slept in to celebrate his month-i-birthday (~7pm - 8am!) and was all smiles when we did pictures in the morning.



Developmentally, he's making slow but sure progress. Despite our (ok, my) predictions, he is not yet walking, but he is stumbling between people who try to make him walk. :) And, of course, he's standing on his own and babbling more and more. After 5 months of our dedicated efforts, though, he still won't wave bye-bye.

Still, he's about the happiest baby you could ever imagine, despite his streak of injuries. And yes, I'm going to add an "injury" tag, since he now has *another* one - a bite from another child at daycare. They don't tell you who did the biting, but they do tell both sets of parents. I think I know who it was, though, and I can't imagine it was malicious (they are babies, after all). No broken skin, but he has some neat-o teeth marks on his wrist. I just hope I'm not on the other end of a note like that anytime soon (or, you know, ever).



Speaking of teeth, let's go over our list of current Dexter facts, shall we?

• Teeth: Dexter still has only 7, although there is a white spot where #8 will soon be poking its way through. Sometimes I think I can feel a bump, other times not so much.
• Hair: Too much! I can see a haircut in his future, but I'm trying to hold off until October. It's not in his eyes yet, so I think we're OK for a while.
• Knees: Raw, as you can see in the photos above. I keep trying to tell him that his knees would feel better if he'd walk, but he just doesn't listen (or just doesn't care?).
• Weight: 25.4 pounds, fully dressed with diaper. We feed him often, but he really just never stops moving.
  
• Height: Unknown. He's definitely getting taller, but - as one might expect - it's slowing down a bit. He can hook his arms all the way over his crib rail, though, which is something he couldn't do a few weeks ago.
• Sleep: Hit or miss. We had a pretty good month overall, because he wasn't really sick or teething in earnest, but he still often decided he needed a little hug in the middle of the night. Still, we'll take one wake-up over the 15 we were seeing back in February.
• Food: We're moving more and more to table food, but he still loves his purees. Favorite table foods include the usual suspects (bananas and cheerios) but also cantaloupe, donuts (ok, not too many of these), black beans, peas, carrots, corn, green beans, macaroni, and crackers.
• Verbal: He's still got his moments of chattiness, but we haven't yet identified a sound as being tied to a specific thing. We still read to him every night and talk to him all the time (and wrestle him to put hydrogen peroxide in his ears to get/keep them clear of excessive earwax) to make sure we continue making progress in this area.
• Gross Motor: Not much that hasn't already been said. Standing on his own (either positioned or stands himself from a squatting or bent-over position) and stumbling between people.
• Fine Motor: We are seeing continued improvement on the pincer grasp, but I'm not sure it's 100% yet. He's also stacking things and putting nesting cups/boxes within one another. I'm not sure where that fits in the motor development categories, but it's something!
• Books: No new real favorites. We added "That's not my Lion," "That's Not My Monster," and "That's Not My Car" to the repertoire. He still loves the touchy-feely books and will sometimes talk to them at night while we feel the fuzzy parts.
• New Tricks: Not many. Supervising the deck work is taking a lot of concentration.
• Personality: He's still our HAPPY Dexter! Not sure how we got so lucky in that department, but I am not asking too many questions.

Dexter's First Bloody Nose

Ever since last summer when we found out we were having a boy, I've been told over and over to expect lots of bumps and bruises and scrapes. Yet somehow I still didn't anticipate a black eye and a bloody nose within 2 weeks of one another at the ripe age of 9 months.

The scene of the incident:

Yep. His usual hangout - by the window in the living room, watching Dad and Granddad work on the deck. There was nothing there - no toys, nothing to slip on or trip on. I didn't see him, but my best guess is that he just lost his balance and whacked his nose on the window sill. I heard a thud, and the crying began as I was on my way to investigate. There was much screaming. When we went out onto the deck to tell Dad we were OK, the bleeding started.



The screaming and crying lasted continuously for at least 15 minutes, then continued off and on for another 20 or so. Granddad had him laughing before too long, though. In the meantime, Dad was on the phone with the pediatrician making sure we didn't have to worry about a concussion or anything really serious. (the verdict: no worries) Naturally, despite our best efforts, he would not allow us to put any ice on it.

He ended up taking a nap for about an hour (fatigue leads to clumsiness, which is the only thing I can think of to have caused such a thing) and woke up with a still-achy nose. We're giving him all of the hugs he can tolerate, but he's still not sure whether he'd rather be held or crawl around and play.

And there's definitely some bruising and swelling. Poor baby isn't going to look super-handsome in his 10-month pictures on Tuesday!

Here's hoping I don't need to add an "injury" tag to this blog.

Tootsie's End-of-Summer Visit

Tootsie managed to squeeze in one last visit before she had to go back to school. Dexter was VERY excited, even though it meant a few days away from his best buddy Jeremiah at daycare.

We didn't manage to get too many pictures of the visit, but believe me when I say they had LOTS of fun. There was walking (well, stumbling). There were trips outside (we have the dirty onesies to prove it). There was peach-eating (yum!). Dexter even got to enjoy the first-ever meal on the new deck (which is coming along VERY nicely)!

A hugely grand time was had by all, and Dexter wasn't *too* spoiled by the end of the visit.





(I believe there are a few videos from this visit, though. I hope to add those soon!)

Dexter's First Shiner

Poor baby lost his balance at daycare today (7/20) and whacked his face on a little table they have there. I'm told he didn't cry or really break stride, that they didn't realize he had hurt himself at all until a few minutes later when it was red and swollen.

Dexter does mark very easily - he's always got some pink spot or another from bumping into something or playing or whatever - but it usually goes away just as quickly. This one stuck around for over a week and turned black and blue.



He's obviously very upset about it. ;)