Isaac's first swing

AND he liked it.
No crying here.
We did have to add a blanket around his neck, to make him a bit more stable.
~Given~Phin~Isaac~
swinging in the same swing!

Phin's Easter Day

included a playdate!
Phin's friend, Mayah, came over for lunch and even brought an Easter Basket for my boy! It's funny to watch the two babies together. Phin just wants to watch and maybe touch her a little bit. Mayah looks back at Phin with a little bit of concern in her eyes - as he's so much BIGGER than she is!
We had burgers on the grill and a nice salad, of course.



Phin was quite excited by his Easter basket. Mostly, he wanted to EAT IT! :)

Phin's Cheer-I-O-s

Additionally, this was Phin's first try at the Cheerios. I decided that he needs to be able to start working on self feeding. He hasn't has a chance to put food in his own mouth lately - besides a rogue bottle here and there. The Pediatrician said he should not have fruit until he's able to pick it up and eat it himself. SO, before apples (that's a joke) comes a cheerio!











Feeding by Daddy, video by Mommy!

Drinkin'

Phin's Big Day

This is a picture of Phin and Mommy!
Phin had a good morning hanging with Daddy while Mommy went out to hunt (deals) and gather (produce) at the local supermarket!


Mid-day, Phin wrapped himself up in his play pad! We love our silly boy!


In the evening, Mommy gave Phin his first "Trainer cup." He knew what to do with it straight away! Phin sipped while reclining on Daddy!

Ya, so I used to groom dogs...

and I thought, it can't be THAT much harder to cut boy hair. Right?
So, I watched Dan get his last haircut and then last night while Grandmother Allen played with Phin, Mommy went after Daddy's hairs like he was a naughty little Mini Schnauzer. For the first time ever, it went okay. I am sure it'll take less time and less mirror checks by daddy in the future. I tell you, it's a BLAST being a member of this family. Phin gets fish oil squeezed into his mouth (via a dropper) daily and now, daddy get's "home haircuts"! Woohoo!

Sunday Night Family Fun!

Spring!

Phin wanted to TOUCH the flower...

He did not, however, want to be photographed WITH the flowers.

Creative Problem Solving?

Phin has a bad habit - of scratching the all get out of his head. I know he has some dry skin and I am sure it itches, but that is no reason for him to be drawing blood on himself. Most of the time I have him wear a hat (and yes, I also oil his head often) but lately, he has found that he's able to take that hat off himself.
So, my first idea was to construct for him mittens that He is unable to take off. However, I was unsure of how to make said mitten without a pattern.
SO, what is the next best thing?
I thought back to my honorary degree in Occupational Therapy.
The answer?
"Mommy, why did I have SOCKS on my hands in this picture?"
For good reason son!
LeaAnn would be SO PROUD!

Phin's rocking and learning (hopefully)

Okay, I am NOT trying to be one of those pushy parents. However, it seems my little boys really LOVES to watch TV. I am sure I have touched on this topic before - if not on the blog, then certainly in person. I have done research and it states that children should not watch tv before they are 2yrs old. Further research suggests that more so, parents shouldn't use the tv in lieu of personal one on one attention with their child. Additionally, at age one, a child can understand the EMOTIONAL aspect of programming - so while they don't completely understand the show in full, they can glean the emotion out of the program - which is why we don't let our children watch adult programing. (I don't know if I have explained that well, but it makes sense to me.)
So, it's basically impossible to keep his little eyes off of the tv - especially when he's not in our arms all of the time anymore. SO, I though on the situation and tried to find a good solution. I think my solution was a good one. It was:
iKNOW Animals, Letters & Sounds (DVD series.) It teaches letters, sounds and animals of the rain forest. The series is actually made for pre-schoolers - which Phin is currently NOT a preschooler. Nor is my intention to make his a super early reader - or whatever. What I AM trying to do is make a healthy alternative for something he's doing that *I* don't find OK. So, he wants to stare at the TV? Well, okay. It's gonna be the Rain forest animals then. Hey, I have learned some interesting things too - like a taper has four toes in the front feet and three toes on the back feet. I can also pick out an agouti from a picture lineup. Trust me, it's party time here at the Hyphin House! Woo Hoo!

Check out our involved he can get in the video (though, it's not for very long in one sitting). (He is standing in his exer-saucer, staring at the tv).

Phin's First Orchid Show

I got a flier from the Orchid Society - stating that this weekend was the Orchid Show.
While I was pregnant with Phin, I had to give up my orchid hobby (as we needed a room for a nursery). It worked out well though, I donated the orchids to my Orchid Society - and they were divided between knowledgeable orchid enthusiasts - where I knew the orchids would continue to grow in wonderful environments and be safe.
Well, while I can't keep any orchids in the house anymore, I did think it would be alright to take Phin to his First Orchid Show yesterday.

I got myself and Phin dressed and we snapped a couple of shots before we left for the Garden Center. The orchid society could NOT have picked a better weekend. As it turned out, I was dressed too warm for the event! Phin slept through the whole thing - which was fine. He IS a little boy...

Tummy Surfing

Phin's shorts set

I usually go to the discount outlet and buy things on clearance with coupons for Phin's clothing. The other stuff, I try to make for him. My plan is to try to make him shorts for summer because, really, how hard can shorts be?
The last time we went to the outlet mall, I did "splurge" and buy him something that was not on clearance - and instead only on "discount."
It was this shorts outfit and it WON because - - - you guessed it! The elephant on the front!

So, today it was over seventy degrees outside and Phin wore his shorts. The biggest reason is because Phin needs to be making vitamin D. Phin needs approx 20 min. of sunlight to make that vitamin D. So, instead of his wearing fleece footed jammies, we put on those cute shorts and T-shirt and went outside!

So, I took Phin's exer-saucer outside and grabbed Maggie's tennis ball thrower and Phin and I went outside to play. Phin was very excited about watching Maggie run away and come back again. As you can see below - I am unable to get his attention for the picture because he's watching Maggie.








After a bit of time outside (we didn't spend the whole twenty - I believe he has to "work up to it" as he seems to have my fair skin tone) we came in and he played on the floor. :)

Phin hates his carrots!

65 degrees today!~

Since it was warm and since my baby is growing so quickly, I decided that TODAY was the day. Since it was "warmer" out, I put Phin's overall shorts on him. He will never be able to wear them again, but see, when I bought them, he was a newborn. I was looking at the shorts and thinking that nine months from his birthday would be MAY which would be a fine time to start wearing overall shorts...








Somehow, this pose reminds me of Conan OBrien!

Phin's new walker

It's not actually NEW, it's from Cousin Given and Auntie Annan - but it's Phin's first time to use it. He's actually very good as scooting backwards and I believe that in time, he'll start moving forward too!

Phin's second sweater from Great Great Grandma.

I love this sweater too. (Under it is a shirt from Auntie Nicki. You can see the shirt in the carrot eating video.)


This face looks like ME!

Phin's first food!

organic carrots - made by Mama...

Today was the day...

I took a picture of him this morning - looking cute in his little outfit.

Then later in the day, he was playing on the floor as I worked on dinner.
I looked at him and what did I see?
Belly time?
Very carefully, I grabbed my camera and grabbed a shot and what did he do?

He tried it hide it away - like the baby bullhead we created!

But once he knew I knew, we went back to his belly to play for a bit.

SIX

Today, I woman guessed how old my baby was. Her guess was 10months. I told her, my baby is six months old today. I then came home and straightened his closet. I took all of his newborn, 3 month, 6 month and 9 month clothes and put them into a storage saver bag. It took an XXL bag that is full to the top!
It’s been interesting because this month, Phin’s friend “Mayah” was born. She is currently about the size Phin was when he was born. The last time we visited the family, we saw Mayah’s little tiny baby feet peek out from her blanket. It was breath taking – not only because they are Mayah’s feet… but also because just six months ago Phin’s feet looked just like that. HOW is it possible that in just six months time Phin has moved from newborn clothing to 12 month clothing? HOW is that possible?
Over the last month, I have truly enjoyed watching Phin grow – mentally. In the last four weeks, he has started rolling over from tummy to back. Now, he still refuses to go back to his tummy but we hope that will change in time. ☺ There are other things though. Phin is very interested in food. He knows where his food comes from and he’s gone to “self serve” mode which is funny because I remember how it was an hour long battle (in the beginning) to get twenty minutes of feeding out of him. I remember one morning after my mom had left I was unable to wake Phin up to eat. He was physically fine (breathing etc), but he was simply not interested in waking up to eat. The doctor had told us that he should eat every three hours and so I was beside myself with what I should do. I called my mom in TEARS asking her what I should do. She was scared he was unresponsiveness or not breathing when I said I couldn’t wake him up – but after she understood the problem she assured me that it was fine and when my baby was hungry, he would let me know. She was, of course, right. But, I digress. Phin’s new obsession with food is actually with Daddy’s food. Phin watches it in Daddy’s hand or on Daddy’s fork and then it goes to Daddy’s mouth and then it disappears! I watch the confusion on his face over and over as this disappearing food/drink happens. He has also started to notice things. Looking over my shoulder as we walk down the hall – watching Maggie walking behind us…
Everyone who watches this blog has seen his rocking on his standing machine…
Yesterday was a great day. It was in the upper 60’s, lower 70’s and it was Phin’s first day to spend some time outside. I showed him how we get the mail. We looked at our yard and also we sat on the deck. We sat on steps that were in the shade and he even took the initiative to lay on his belly on the deck to feel the wood. I let him do it until I noticed that his clothes were getting DIRTY and I immediately picked him up and brushed him off. Daddy says “Let him be a boy” and I will! But right now, he’s still a BABY!
And this, this was Phin’s big 6month surprise: Great Grandpa and Grandma came to visit! See the pictures and video below.

I missed him more than words can describe.

Dan left Friday morning - early - to help those in South Missouri who had lost power due to the ice storm. Thursday, I had felt an "itch" in my throat and thought I must be coming down with what my mom had a week earlier. Well, I was right on one account...

With Daddy gone, Friday I felt worse and worse. I didn't venture out to the gym in the morning and really didn't feel like eating the whole day. I did have some dinner and before I knew it, not only was my whole respiratory system flipping out along with my sinuses. I shortly realized that not only did I have a cold, I also had a very nasty flu.

Something you may not know about me is that one of the things I hate most is - to throw up. Most of the times I have thrown up in the last, say, five years have been due to food poisoning. The first time since Dan and I have been together was while we were engaged. We had eaten at a pizza place in my home town (which soon thereafter went out of business) and had plans later that night to go to a 4th of July display near Columbia (Daddy Bill's). Dan tried to hold my hair back for me as I lost every bit of liquid from my body. Little did he know that I need to be alone with my vomit - so I yelled at him to leave the bathroom and I was miserable on my own.
Another time, we were at a movie. I believe it was a X-Men. The theater was spinning and I was trying to keep up with the story line. When I got home, it was vomit city and Dan knew to let me be.

So, this is how we ended up to a house full of a sick Mommy and a little baby boy. Daddy was off to help other people and this time, Mommy really needed help too. I spent Friday night sleeping on the bathroom floor and then moving to the kitchen to fill up my water glass. My body was reverberating in pain with each breath and simply drinking water was a chore that sometimes took half an hour to accomplish. Lucky for me, my little boy came through like a champ - sleeping the whole night through like everything is right with the world.

I knew, however, that I NEEDED help.

I thought through the list of people I could call. The family with a brand new baby of their own and one less adult in the house - no. Families who had older children - but most possibly not the equipment it would take to care for a 5 month old. Another lady I know who would probably watch him - but I didn't have her number and I didn't want to impose on her with her already full house of children. I prayed that my first (and perhaps only) choice was available. I did an Internet search (thank you facebook) for Mike's number and emailed him at something like 4am - seeing if they were in town and available to take Phin for me.

Now, you have got to understand. Phin has never actually be away from me for more than - maybe - two hours. I take that back. He's been alone with both Grandmas for hours before... but certainly no one outside of the family. So, for me to leave him with anyone tells us two things: A) I was certainly very ill & B) I trust Mike and Melissa in a way that I don't trust most people. I trust Mike and Melissa with the most precious gift I have ever been given.

Mike and Melissa kept Phin all day and until 1am this morning when Daddy got back from South Missouri and we drove over to get our boy. They said he was easy and happy and didn't eat much. He was a happy like super star and everyone did just fine. Well, everyone but me. While sweating with a fever and being dehydrated I missed my baby so much that I came to trusty ole hyphin and looked at pictures of his smiling face.




I missed him more than words can describe. Which "him" - both of them actually. I am glad that Daddy is so involved with helping those who need it right now. I am happy that Phin was able to stay a whole day (something like 17 hours) with trusted family friends and be okay. But man, I missed both of my guys!

I guess, at the end of the day, I am happy that my health is returning - but mostly, I am happy everyone is back, under the same roof. Superbowl Sunday? For me, it's Thanksgiving!


(and to add insult to injury, this is what Maggie was trying to do while I was so sick!)