Another Milestone!

I realize that traditionally, milestones at almost six months consist of mostly physical accomplishments.  However, I am equally excited about this one.  My baby is getting so big!  Today Xander had his first addition lesson!

Okay, well that is kind of a lie.  Technically, we have been doing an addition lesson every day for a few months. Since I show him Doman style dot cards and we show two new quantities and retire the two oldest every day, he should have some concept of adding a new object.  (We are almost done with dot cards!  81-90!)  However, today was the first time it was presented as 1 + 1 = 2.  Of course it isn't presented with numerals, but quantities.  We finally hit the addition section on his Little Math program!  By the way, he was VERY interested in it.  He cooed the whole time!  That little guy and his math!

I found some great little colored objects at a garage sale that I plan on using to help reinforce the mathematical concepts.  When he gets a bit older I can use Cheerios or raisins also.  I should do the Doman style equation lessons, but honestly, I am just too lazy.  Trying to dig through and set up 15+ equations to show him spread out throught every day is just a bit overwhelming.  Little Reader will just have to do.  I am excited to see how he approaches math when he gets older!

Book Challenge

A week an a half ago I wrote about the 1500 book challenge.  That weekend I made up a spreadsheet to help us keep tract.  My original goal was 100 unique books for his first year.  Well in the week or so I have been keeping track, we have already read 34 books, in addition to some I am not counting.  I am thinking of increasing our goal.  I think I will go to 250 for now, and possibly bump it up to 500.  It will get more challenging as we go, just because we do not have that many books!  We would have to make frequent library trips.  Anyway, we will see.

In other updates, Xander is sitting better and better everyday.  Yesterday and today I made him sit up to watch his YBCR.  He didn't seem to mind at all.  Soon, hopefully, I will eliminate the bouncer completely.  Probably a good thing, he is approaching the weight limit.

Unfortunately, now that he wants to sit all the time, it is even harder to get him to spend time on his tummy.  He cannot push himself up on all fours yet, but he is getting much better at reaching for things.  He rotates himself as he plays, and he does get some movement in.  Unfortunately, he usually pushes the toys he wants forward, out of his reach, and moves himself backwards, away from the toys.  Needless to say, this causes a lot of frustration.  I also notice the other night, while I had him on his back to dry him off after his bath, he was scooting himself backwards, sliding on his back.  I know it wasn't intentional, but it shows he is getting stronger.

Xander still LOVES his food.  We finally switched him to a bigger bottle.  He likes veggies better than fruits, but now eats about a third of a jar at a time.  It is nice to be able to give him more during each feeding; I have less crying to deal with.  He has tolerated every food well, except apples.  We are not doing them again for a long long time.  They really upset his tummy, and gave him diarrhea for a few days.  I am excited to be able to branch out to a wider variety for him!

Almost a Sitter!

For a while now Xander has enjoyed sitting in my lap.  He has always been pretty strong, but really wobbly.  The last week or two I have set him in front of me and he would sit on his own for 30 seconds to a minute.  Well yesterday I had him sitting on the play mat and he sat alone for long periods of time!  I do put the Boppy around him, or make sure I am there to catch him, because he still has accidents.  He tends to reach for things that are too far away and fall over.  Sometimes he also likes to push back on his legs and throw himself onto his back.  I think in another week or two he will be sitting solidly by himself!  I also don't think we have too long before he is mobile.  He really wants to be.  He wants to be able to grab everything in sight and gets so frustrated when he can't!

A Hard Day and New Discoveries

Yesterday was a hard day for me.  Xander went to day care for the first time.  It is a home day care with a wonderful lady I have known for years, but still, it was hard to let go.  Yesterday was only a partial day as a trial run.  I scheduled my CLEP test during the day for that purpose.  He apparently did pretty well.  She said he had one crying spell where he stuck out his lip and cried.  She said he looked so cute all the other kids came over to see what he was doing, which made him stop crying.  Once they started walking away again, she said he stuck the lip right back out and cried to get their attention.  The little stinker. :)

Next week he will start going all day, twice a week, while I complete my CNA classes (now required to get your RN).  Unfortunately, I also had my Microbiology class last night, so until 7:20 pm, the only awake time I had with him was spent feeding him.  Needless to say, I came straight home from class and spent the evening with him.  We read stories, played with his new ride on toy, and took a bath together.

Speaking of our bath, Xander has learned how to splash!  It is so funny to watch.  He smacks the water, but still jumps when he splashes himself.  We also worked on kicking his legs.  What he particularly liked was trying to play with his feet through the water.  Last weekend was particularly warm, so I had him in shorts and no socks.  As a result of bare feet, they are his new obsession.  He REALLY wants to get them to his mouth, but can't figure out how to do it from a seated position.  He ends up folding himself in half trying to get them in.

To encourage him to play with his feet, I put these rattle socks on him.  He thought they were great fun!

Xander now says mama, but I am not too excited because I know it doesn't count yet.  I think I have written before that he babbles when he cries.  Well, it has progressed into saying "mamamamamamamamama" when he cries.  I really need to try to capture it on video.  However, I know that when I show it to him in the future he will ask why I video taped him crying rather than seeing to his needs. :)

YBCR is still Xander's favorite, but he has decided he also likes Baby Signing Time really well now.  He watched it with my dad a couple of times last week.  My dad pointed out that Xander gets really excited about the word "milk."  I had had no idea he even knew what milk was yet, let along recognized the sign for it.  It makes sense, though, for a little boy who loves nothing more than to eat.

1500 Book Challenge

I am an avid early education blog reader.  (I am the type of personality that tends to get obsessions, and find out everything I can about whatever that particular topic is).  Anyway, I have seen multiple home schoolers and early educators talk about the 1500 book challenge.  Their goal is to read 1500 unique books, not counting a book more than once.  They can be books the parent has read to the child or the child has read to the parent.  My son is only 5 months, 1500 unique books in one year, NOT GONG TO HAPPEN.  However, it got me thinking.  Maybe it would be fun to do an adaptation.  100 unique books by his first birthday, 200 by his second, 300 by his third, and so on.

Working towards a goal is always fun for me.  Most importantly, I think it would help reinforce the priority of that special bonding time with Xander.  It would also guarantee me more variety than rereading the same books over and over again.  I will have to think on it some and maybe try it out for a while and see how it works.  Also, I think I would have to be able to reread some of the books from year to year.  Our library just isn't that big and I would go broke buying books in a few years!

Watch Out Ladies!

I thought I had years before I would have to worry, but I was wrong.  My son is a flirt!  He loves women to talk to him and coo over him.  If he is particularly happy with the attention he is getting, he does this little raise up and down of the eyebrows. It is so funny!  Of course it works, though.  Who could resist giving him attention after that.  I really hope I can get it on video sometime.  Next thing I know, he will be winking or whistling.

Conflict

So I've realize that being a mother has a huge inherent flaw.  I feel it is my job to encourage, teach, and push my son to the best of my ability.  However, my whole heart and soul wants to hold on tight and keep him my tiny baby forever!