The Monster Roars While Swinging Doors On Squeaky Floors

The Monster Roars – Recently, Brody has developed a rather annoying habit. He has discovered that if he gently lifts his larynx, lowers his diaphragm, and supports a steady stream of breath riding over his vocal chords, he can roar like a monster. And I mean ROAR. Like putty his little monkey face squishes distinctly before the roar passes through his pungent lips.

Beau and I marveled at and venerated over this newly formed knack at first debut. However by the third or fourth performance, we realized his roar could be suspect of manipulation and exploitation.

We decided the most affective way to condition our monster would be by delaying our recognition of the roar. While he is not fully domesticated as of yet, there is definite progress and we anticipate a pacification of the beast soon.

While Swinging Doors – Brody is obsessed. If there is a door within sight, there is very little that can distract him from clambering across the room to play with it. Beau entertained – and tried to convince me of – the idea of not baby-proofing the house as a way to teach Brody not to get into trouble. In other words, let Brody get into things he shouldn’t, and if he gets hurt he will learn his lesson. I know this sounds harsh and believe me I had no intentions of falling for this method, but it was suggested by Beau with good intention.

Brody went from somewhat mobile to (arguably) MVP Baby Crawler in seemingly no time. It was the morning when Brody had swung open a cabinet door, pulled out the Windex and spilled it all over himself, in a matter of 2.2 seconds, that Beau was convinced child-proofing was probably a good idea.

We still give him access to many doors throughout the house, and he could likely spend an entire day swinging doors open and shut over and over again, without tedium. Occasionally Brody will inadvertently close a door during play, and at these moments the monster roar resurfaces, but we pick and choose our battles every day with this little man and have learned to prop the door in a way to avoid its latching, and subsequently the bellow of the beast.

On Squeaky Floors – Our little bungalow is old. 90 years to be exact. When we initially toured the house during our pre-purchase showing phase, we were exceedingly charmed by this trait. The main floor of the house features all original hardwood and it always warms me to imagine the array of footsteps – small and big - that categorically walked these planks. That was, until a baby came into the picture.

Every night after Brody slips into slumber, Beau and I typically retire to our family room in the basement. There we are able to audibly enjoy the capacity of Beau’s life-long coveted and acquired (and excessive in my opinion) entertainment system.

Imagine the path from your living room to your bedroom is covered in egg shells. Now imagine those egg shells not only crumble, but also pop and crackle when stepped on, at a decibel that could arguably rival Beau’s top of the line Bose (pun) subwoofer. Crossing this path quietly and swiftly is the feat we attempt to conquer every night. On most nights, we are successful. However…

I know you moms who are reading this can relate to what I am about to admit to. Every night, it is completely impossible for me to retire to bed without creeping into Brody’s room for a peak of the rise and fall of his chest cavity indicating a steady little breath. I simply can’t imagine slumbering away without that being the last image of my day. Unfortunately this means I risk waking the monster with every crickety creaking this task undoubtedly unveils.

It goes without saying that our next house will be creaky-floor-free, and we are very thankful that the apartment we are moving into in TC does not contain hardwood.

Brody Blabs

Here's a cute little video of Brody babbling...

Fever and Affection

Every month since Brody was born I hear myself saying, “this is the BEST age.” And with each new development, I say it again. I suppose a better saying would be, “this is the BEST experience.” Right now, I feel like 9 months is the best age but I know by next month I’ll be saying it again about 10 months old.

In the past few months Brody’s personality has really begun to emerge. He is sweet, funny, impatient, mischievous, loving, and Beau and I are both are completely and utterly enamored with him. He has a phenomenal laugh and we concur that when we hear that goofy giggle, it instantly lifts any stress in our life.

Recently Brody has begun showing signs of affection. It’s so utterly wonderful. With Beau, he gives wet, gummy, open-mouthed kisses. Sounds gross but it’s way too sweet to have that deter Beau from going in for kisses. My mom and him have a very lovely little affection. My mom leans her head in towards him, and he reciprocates with a soft and gentle head butt much like an Eskimo kiss. With me, he snuggles and kisses me. When I pick him up and when he nurses, he rubs his hand softly back and forth across my arm, and it feels like heaven. Just as with a cat, we constantly want his affection, but he will only give it when he wants.

The past two weeks I have been remiss in writing this blog. I apologize for not updating those of you who are addicted to Brody updates (those whose name starts with a ‘G’ and ends with a ‘randma’), but alas we are back.

The whole family was struck with a nasty, nasty cold over the course of the last week. Our poor little angel was hit first, and it was by far the saddest and sweetest thing I’ve ever experienced. He had a fever that hit 101.7 and broke only after two doses of Tylenol, an entire day of wearing nothing but his diaper, and finally a bath. (I have learned that no matter how ill, how cranky, or how tired my little monkey is, when he sees the bathtub filling up, it is guaranteed to bring on a smile.) His nose was constantly runny, and he had a cute little cough to boot. The entire day he had this low, sad little whimper going on and he was extremely affectionate and cuddly. He would not let me put him down under any circumstances, and he had no interest in anything other than being held and comforted. I didn’t complain one bit!

The next morning he woke up as if nothing had happened, and we were relieved. Two days later, Beau and I both got hit with his cold and were probably much bigger babies about it than Brody was. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how cute and cuddly he was on that day, and with carrying the virus myself now, wish I could get some of that from him again. After all the medicine, tea, and rest, I wonder if there’s any better remedy for feeling sick, than a good old snuggle session with my baby.

In terms of recent developments, I am slowly watching any semblance of my own independence slowly but surely fade. Brody is officially crawling on all four limbs and the little bugger is FAST! If I put him on the floor anywhere, he immediately crawls over to the closest piece of furniture and pulls himself to standing. He likes to pull himself up at the bookshelf and pull the books off one by one, all the while squealing and babbling as if he is performing a very important task. I have mastered the “Mommy Stance” of standing or sitting behind him, arms up in a ready position, prepared to break every inevitable fall.

Brody’s mischievous nature is certainly promising. No matter how hard we try, if he knows he’s not allowed to touch it, he wants to touch it. And his tenacity is far beyond any possible interception. The other day, he kept reaching for a cable that was connected to a small speaker which was sitting on top of the book shelf, about five feet high. In a matter of a millisecond, he had pulled on this cable and the small but dense speaker fell on his big head.

There is no doubt about it, our little Monkey is a tough cookie. He cried for a few seconds, Beau comforted him, and within two minutes he was back to exploring. He had a small little bump on his head, but he was completely oblivious to it.

When I first got pregnant, I wanted a girl so badly. When we found out it was a boy, I was immediately thrilled and now I just can’t imagine having a little girl. Brody is most definitely a little boy in every sense of the word and he is keeping us on our toes every minute of the day. I am so comfortable and in love with being a mom to a little boy, that I secretly hope we end up a house full of boys.