FOR REAL WALKING!!

So, it's no longer just "first steps" today it is officially walking. Just out of the blue he took off away from me and across the room. Kitties beware! I have to admit that mommy teared up a little at the sight of it! My little baby is growing up!

Don't worry, that last little fall didn't hurt a bit although, in the 20 min it has been since the video was taken he has face planted into a few unpleasant items. He'll be just fine though! : )

Cutie Patootie in PJs

Just some cute shots of him in his pajamas! The last one is from this morning.

Update on Mr. Spots

Clayton has been doing much better than he was on Thursday. No more throwing up!! He does run a low fever occasionally and his rash is completely ridiculous, but the doctor assured us that it's a viral rash and it probably doesn't bother him at all, and it doesn't seem to itch or anything like that - he is just covered in spots! I have tried to take a picture of it, but the spots don't really show up. He is still extra crabby today, and I still am giving him ibuprofen occasionally. His sleeping schedule is getting really messed up because we end up putting him to bed or down for a nap early since he can get so cranky! Hopefully we'll get back to normal soon!

Oh, so here is the picture I took. It does not do Mr. Spots justice, but you take a look if you want

Poor, sick baby!

Clayton came down with a stomach bug this morning! He didn't nap very well yesterday and had a horrible night last night (he kept waking up and fussing frequently), and then this morning after he woke up and I fed him a bottle, he barfed it all up. All over him, me and the chair, it was quite disgusting! After I got him all cleaned up, we cuddled for a while and then he seemed like he wanted to be put down to fall asleep since he was squirmy and uncomfortable. So I laid him down in his crib and he appeared to be asleep, so I went into my room to change and clean up, well over the baby monitor (sure glad I had it on) I hear sputtering and coughing! I run in and Clayton is sitting up, nearly choking on all his new throw up and it's running down his front, his back and down the wall. We both cry for a little bit since we were both so scared and disgusted, then we took a quick shower to clean up. He threw up about three more times, but a lot less volume so they weren't as much work to clean up, but I don't think he liked being jostled around so much have his shirt changed all the time. He cuddled and napped in my arms on the couch while I waited for Kearney Clinic to open and I talked to the nurse who said to bring him on in just to make sure he didn't have a bacterial infection and need antibiotics (he felt quite warm and I knew he had a fever).

Our regular doctor was out of the office today so we just saw the on call doctor. His temp registered at 98.6 which was odd, because even the nurse that took it said she thought he felt warm. . . When I took his clothes off so we could weigh him (Clayton weighed exactly 19lbs) I noticed that he was starting to break out in some red spots on his torso and face. Dr. Rogers took a look and declared his nose and ears to be clear, but with all that vomiting and a rash (the new red spots) he wanted him to see an actual pediatrician. At this point I was quite concerned! We saw a different doctor though and she said that it is a viral rash, confirmed that his ears, nose and throat seemed to be clear and it was probably caused by the adenovirus which is quite common and not a big deal (big sigh of relief). It can cause a lot of different things like pink eye or respiratory illness, and the common cold, but for Clayton it seems to have lodged in his digestive tract. She had her nurse take Clayton's tempurature and it was 101, I thought that was more accurate to how he felt! The doctor said I can expect the fever to last for 3-5 days and just try to keep him comfortable with some children's ibuprofen or Tylenol.

He was able to keep his food down for the rest of the day and after some ibuprofen seemed to be doing much better and took an almost three hour nap after some lunch. (We were at the clinic for about two hours!) He didn't feel like playing too much, just wanted to be cuddled and held by mom. We did have a little fun though, here is his new trick:

If Clayton Could Talk. . .

He would say "Happy Birthday Grandpa Mark!" (yesterday, whoops)  "I love playing with you and I can't wait to come visit again!" So here is some video from when we were there about a month ago:

And a little bonus picture, also from about a month ago. I spike up his hair and then told him to "smile for daddy" so I could send a picture text message to Darrel. What a cutie!

Sunglasses!

These are from quite a few days ago, but I kind of forgot I had them! He doesn't really like wearing them, and I had to keep a hold of his hands otherwise he will rip them off of his face and EAT THEM! : ) As Darrel would say, "funny baby."

First Steps!

Last week, he took about 3 steps toward my mom when she was at our house visiting, but it was all gravity. This morning he was taking up to 6 or 7 steps in a row before crashing! Not quite "walking" but he is getting soooo close. His biggest issue is that he is scared of doing it, once he realizes we have let go he doesn't want to do it any more. One day he will get brave and just TAKE OFF!


As a bonus clip (and before it becomes obsolete!) here is a cute clip of him walking along with dad (from a little over a week ago):

At the Lake

Today, Darrel, Clayton and I drove to Johnson Lake again where Darrel's parents, and brother Tyler, and sister Betsy and her husband Brandon and son Kolby were all staying for the weekend. Clayton had a blast being outside and out in the water!!

And playing with Grandma:

Sorry it's kind of weird at the start, the camera had been inside and since it's so hot and humid outside the lens kind of fogged up!

Clayton's 9 Month Check Up

Clayton had his 9 month check up yesterday and he is 28 3/4 inches tall (70%) and 19 lbs 8 oz (35%) and has a head circumference of 46 1/2 cm (85%). I was a little worried about his weight dipping to the 35th per cent tile (he's typically been about 50-55%). But his pediatrician explained that often once a baby starts moving around and crawling he is burning a lot more energy and may establish a new growth pattern. She suspects that to be the case! He only had one shot and did a really good job, he only cried a little bit, but it still breaks mommy's heart!

9 Months Old

Sorry, I haven't been very good about posting lately! : ( Clayton is hard to keep up with these days since he is all over the place now. It's so great that he loves to explore but it sure keeps mommy busy and hard pressed to find a moment to sit down at the computer!!

Hi, my name is Clayton and I am 9 months old today and I LOVE to play in this box!

Darrel and I took him for a walk in order to extend the amount of time he could be awake before his afternoon nap (if it's too early he gets so cranky before bedtime. . .). Unfortunately, he just fell asleep!

Cruisin' around on the furniture!

Long 4th of July Weekend!

Clayton had a busy weekend! On Sunday he was running some voice experiments! I have been tapping my hand on his mouth when he says "ahhh" and it keeps him entertained for a few minutes listening to his voice change. Looks like he was trying to do it himself:

Yesterday we went swimming in the backyard pool which Clayton loved, but was cut short when a wasp came to visit! Yikes! We bought some little fireworks to show him during the day, these little bees the wizzed up in to the air. He cried. . . : ( Oh well, maybe he will have more fun next year. Here are some pictures from yesterday:  My First Fourth of July. Here are two of my favorites:

Happy Independence Day!

Oh, I think I could get it!

Daddy's Home!

Clayton sure seems happy to have his Daddy back again!!  He was trying to grab his hair and glasses, and thought that his evasive maneuvers were pretty funny:

It looks like he is crying, but he was smiling. He loves getting under there!

Look at that devilish expression!