A Baby of Many Hats

No, I don't mean hats literally (although Tristan does have quite a few). I have been so busy keeping up with Tristan and all his new adventures and explorations I haven't had too much time to post. Tristan is changing and growing so much every minute...it seems like he discovers something new each day and his personality adjusts with his new discovery. He has become quite the chameleon, sometimes he is a "Momma's Boy", sometimes an "Independent", other times an "Adventurer" and so much more. It's like he wakes up each day and picks out a new "hat" to wear (I really hope that others are familiar with the saying "man of many hats", so that you guys don't think I'm crazy...it just explained this time in Tristan's life so well).

The Adventurer
Tristan is all about going new places and doing and seeing new things. I have tried to keep him busy and feed his curiosity with new activities. Last week Tristan started his 2 week swim lessons at Landa Park. As many of you know, it has been raining FOREVER here and it of course rained his first four days of lessons, but we still had the lessons 3 of the days...boy was that interesting! The class is pretty laid back, not a whole lot of structure since most of the kids are anywhere from 6 months to 18 months. We pretty much sing songs, pat the water, kick in the water and splash around. I don't think Tristan will be swimming like a fish anytime soon...maybe next year.

The week before last Victor and I took Tristan back to Sea World for a few hours. We went with our friends Tony and Melissa and their son, Kaeson. This trip was a little more for the adult since we could ride the roller coasters and one of us could watch the babies. And if you know Victor, he was obviously the one watching the babies since he wants nothing to do with roller coasters! Nonetheless, Tristan had a good time just hanging out and observing the new surroundings. I also took Tristan swimming at the park and we went swimming in a man-made lazy river at the Hyatt hotel in San Antonio. He did so good on the "river". We went around twice with him sitting on my lap, he even fell asleep for awhile. Then, I put him in his "floatie" and pushed him around multiple times. We had a blast.

Last week, Victor and I took Tristan downtown New Braunfels to watch the fireworks display on the 4th. His eyes were pretty well glued to the booming fireworks, well, that is when he wasn't giving Victor or I big hugs (but more on that later). I think he just liked seeing the bright colorful lights in the air. Maybe next year he will really understand what is going on.

The Lover
So, Tristan has become quite the "lover" lately. At any given moment when we are holding him he will wrap both arms around our necks and squeeze tight. It is the greatest feeling in the world. He also gives what we call "kisses"...I am sure that is not his intention, probably more of him trying to attack something with his razor-sharp teeth, but we will call them kisses. When he gives me hugs and kisses it just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

The Explorer
So it was going to happen sooner or later...Tristan is beginning to crawl! He is so interested in everything around him and he has begun to figure out how to get to things without our help. At a little over 7 months he started pushing himself backwards by pushing his butt in the air and pushing back with his hands. Once he got the hang of it he started moving all over the place. Over the last week or so he has decided that the backwards moving is not so good and has began to creep across the floor forwards. He pulls himself across the floor with his arms to get to an object he wants or just to explore some new ground. I think he is well on the way to full-fledged crawling because he gets into a couching position on hands and knees from a sitting position. Soon he will just start going instead of flopping on his tummy and creeping. I can't wait for it, but I am sure I will be wishing he was still creeping slowly when that day finally comes.

Well, not only does Tristan want to explore new things on the floor, he wants to check out his crib from all angles. The other day I set him sitting up in his crib just to see what he would do...I guess he decided this was the perfect time to see if he could pull up because he grabbed the side of the crib, pulled up on his knees and peeked his head over the side of the crib and looked down. It was the cutest thing and I of course was right there with the camera. I guess we will be lowering his crib to the bottom level pretty soon once he figures out how to get into a sitting position from his tummy (still working on that one!).

Finally, my little "explorer" is very into new textures, and has been for about the last two months. He just can't get enough of the carpet fibers...I really don't need to buy him toys, I could just let him play with the carpet all day! He wants to touch everything and grabs for anything he can get his hands on to. He has some stacking cups that stack on top of and inside each other. Now, he doesn't know how to stack them on top of each other, but he has recently figured out that one cup is inside of another, which I have read is a big developmental milestone. He can pull objects out of a cup and can sort of put an object in. The little things are just so exciting for Mom and Dad!!!

The Loner
Independence, independence. Victor and I finally moved Tristan to his crib about a month ago. Previously, he had been sleeping in our bed, but many people warned us that we better break him of this habit before it is too late. So, we finally took that hard step (for us, not him) and began letting him sleep in his own room, in his own bed. Although it is not quite as easy as being right there (it requires me getting up in the middle of the night and walking to the other side of the house), I think he likes it. In the mornings (or middle of the night) we often find him in a completely different position than when he went to sleep, so he is definitely a wiggle-worm when he sleeps!

He has also begun to want to do things himself. A few times over the past 2 weeks I have tried to put his binky in his mouth when he is crying and he just purses his lips and gets mad. I ended up setting the binky down, and I'll be darned, but that little pillbug would reach over, grab it himself, put it in his mouth and look at me. After a few times, I finally realized he just wanted to do it himself.

The Momma's (and Daddy's) Boy
I think we may be starting a little bit of separation anxiety. Over the last month or town Tristan knows when you leave him or sit him down and walk off. If he doesn't want you to, then he just starts crying and holding his arms out for you to pick him up, which we of course do! He also has started to recognize when you take a toy away from him that he wants...this also leads to crying and screaming which inevitable leads to him getting his toy back. I think he already has us wrapped around his chubby, little finger.

The Show-Off
Is anyone surprised that my child might be a tad bit of a show-off? Didn't think so. Around 7 months Tristan mastered the skill of clapping and has since then showed it to everyone he knows, or doesn't know. Whenever he is happy or just wants some attention, he immediately starts clapping, doesn't matter where we are at or who we are around. Although, my favorite is when Victor gets home from work and Tristan sees him, his hands automatically start clapping...it is the most adorable thing.

He has also began to "talk" quite a bit (yes, I know another "surprise" for being my child). Tristan has learned a lot of new syllables over the past few weeks and likes to tell them to everyone. Sometimes he just starts babbling and other times he says "gee" and "da". We are working on "dada"...I should be working on "mama", but I figured we could work on that one later!

The Chewer
Oh, did I mention that Tristan's top two teeth came through about a week or so ago? Yes, I said top two...they broke skin on the same day. He has really been enjoying those teeth since he is gnawing on everything and they are gradually coming out more and more. He has started eating finger foods, we just started with small puffs that dissolve in his mouth. When he gets one in his mouth he chews with his four little teeth and then rolls it around in his mouth, then finally swallows it. I am going to start giving him more chunky foods in the next few weeks. Soon he is going to be eating what we eat...

Well, if you made it this point, you are truly dedicated because I know this was an extremely long post and you still haven't see the gazillion pictures posted below. I will try to do a little better going forward about posting more often. There will definitely be a post (and pics) from our next big adventure...our family vacation to Puerto Rico in two weeks. Hopefully, a few posts, video and pics in between now and then too!