Men are that they might have JOY

At least Garrison seems to have been created to be joyful.  Last night we introduced him to pasta with tomato sauce.  I wasn't planning on letting him feed himself (thus the omission of a bib), but he was much happier when he was able to squish the noodles between his fingers and into his hair.  It was so fun watching him enjoy eating.  

9 months is an age of discovery, and Garrison is taking on everything he can.  Unfortunately, it is also an age with a lot of frustration.  He is getting his third tooth right now- one of the top front teeth, and its a doozey.  He's so happy most of the time and then I think he notices that his teeth hurt and he'll start screaming.  Thank goodness for Ora-gel and Tylenol.  Crawling comes with it's frustrations, too.  He is getting so good at it and now that he can reach things up on the coffee table, he is learning the word no.  He doesn't like it AT ALL. 

So this brings me to a discussion question.  Back when I was waiting every day for Garrison's first smile, I remember understanding a little better the scripture in Nephi that refers to opposition in all things.  Garrison learned what discomfort and pain were before he could learn to smile.  It would seem that every milestone is preceded by frustration and unhappiness.  So...  do you think that we have to experience pain and sadness before we can truly be happy?  Do you think that people that experience more pain or difficulty in their lives have the potential to feel more joy?  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Cute pics from last week

Garrison wore his first tie last Sunday, so we had to get a picture of him and Dad together in the hall.  I have to say, the men in my life are both so handsome.

Garrison's all ready to learn how to count- he has the stance down for hide and go seek.  If only he wasn't face down in the dog bed.  Maybe he's searching for Necia's hidden kibble stash.

Our events for last week include Garrison getting better at crawling- he is now starting to get up on his knees to crawl.  He is also pulling himself up on the furniture to stand.  In the midst of all this excitement, Jared and I sold our car to carmax and bought a new Honda Pilot on ebay.  So, we are all ready to adopt again!  We have the room in our car for another 5 kids- I'm ready to fill it up ;) !

Pioneer Day pic

Don't we make a cute pioneer family?  We attended the Pioneer day festivities last thursday at my parent's stake party.  It was a really hot day, but they had lots of fun things going on.  So, we decided to get a family picture.  Garrison was less than amused, but tolerant.  He almost looks like a two-year-old.  Hard to believe he's only eight 1/2 months.  Judy got all dressed up in pioneer garb to tell stories in one of the booths.  She looked very authentic, I wish we would have gotten a picture of her, too.

Things can ALWAYS get worse

So what's worse than taking care of a baby that's puking and has diarrhea?  Taking care of him while puking yourself.  I'm pretty sure now that it wasn't paper that made Garrison sick, because I don't recall eating any paper.  I woke up yesterday at 3:20 am knowing that things were not going to stay down.  They didn't.  I feel much better today, though occasionally queasy and Garrison seems to have survived yesterday's neglect.  Thank goodness it seems to have been only a twenty-four hour thing.  On a brighter note, this morning the G-man was sitting straight up in his crib.  This is the first time that he has figured out how to sit up on his own (unless he did it yesterday and I just didn't notice).  

Everything Comes Down To Poo

Garrison was sick for the first time yesterday. Jared slept upstairs the night before last because his back is so burned from working on my dad's sprinklers that the bed is just not comfortable. So yesterday morning he said Garrison threw up a couple of times during the night, except I didn't really believe him because my definition of throw up is different from his since I've been a nurse for 10 years. So we tried breakfast. He really wasn't interested, but I got about half of it down him before it ALL came up. It was like I had created a volcano for my science project. Well after that I was still dumb enough to try and feed him a bottle. That came up, too. So just for the record, Jared, you were right. Yes, I was wrong. I quit trying to feed him anything after that. We spent the day just hanging out upstairs together. Garrison really must not have felt well, because all he wanted was to be held. He usually wants nothing to do with my lap because crawling and getting into trouble are so much more interesting. Which brings me to the reason for all the bodily fluids. Once it all came shooting out the other end, I noticed a piece of paper in his poo. I guess that Zack from Scrubs was right. Everything comes down to poo.

While You Were Sleeping

I worked last night out of the goodness of my heart (and because of my empty wallet).  All went well, I enjoyed yet another fun and fabulous night with the crew on night shift.  I arrived at home around 6:45 and promptly put the earplugs in and climbed into bed.  Jared was already upstairs with Garrison who was awake by 6:20.  Apparently much fun was had while I was asleep.  Jared proudly displayed these pics for me when I emerged from my cocoon at noon.

8 Months Old

What a fun 8 months it's been!  It is truly exciting watching Garrison grow.  He has just recently achieved forward motion, but it is more of an army crawl using his arms mostly.  He continues to get into trouble through whatever means he can, so the days are more and more interesting.  He is beginning to hold his own bottle, although he would much rather I hold it for him.  He's rather stubborn about it, actually.  He'll see the bottle coming and put his arms down and stick his face out.  It's pretty funny.  These pics are my lame attempt at a home photo studio.  If my subject weren't so darn cute, they would have really sucked.  Ahh, someday I will have a real camera and lighting.  While we're celebrating Garrison today, here's a shout out to his birth momma Michaelene, without whom this day would not be possible.  I don't know if all those other kids out there know what they're missing, but I hardly think it is fair that one child should be loved by so many people.  Garrison is so lucky!!