Serif was laughing a lot last night so I decided to get the camera and try to record this cute little moment. By the time I found the camera and got back to the living room he was starting to settle down and the laughing was slowly turning in to a fuss (tired and hungry). I decided to video it anyways and to my pleasant surprise I captured something extra special. Watch this . . .
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
A Quilt from Great Grandma Musser
This is my Grandma Musser. She is my mom's mom. This is Serif's Great Grandma and the one and only Grandma he has. Her name is Lena Mae Musser and she lives in a hollow in Grayson, KY. She comes to visit all the family here in TN periodically. The past few years it hits in May because so many of her great grand kids are graduating and she's yet to miss a one! I didn't get to see her much this time and she was leaving to go back home at 5:00 this afternoon. I was fortunate enough to leave work a little early today so I could take Serif to see her and to also get their picture together. Since Serif's going through a phase of 'I want mommy', I had to be the one holding him. 
This past Christmas (2008), Grandma made Serif a quilt. It never made it to us until today, when Grandma was able to give it to him directly. How special. She made it all by herself and she even drew the little animals herself, cut them out and hand stitched them on to the quilt. There's a mouse, a bunny, a cat and a dog. So cute Grandma and how special this will be to all of us. You always amaze me with how much you get done and how special you make people feel. We love you!!!
Serif says, 'Thank you Grandma! I love you!'Sunday, May 24, 2009
Shopping Fun
I took Serif shopping with me today while Jeff returned some stuff to his dad's. Serif stayed in his carseat in Target, but by the time we hit Babies R Us he was ready to get out of there. I carried him in the store with me and decided to see how he would do in the front of the cart. He LOVED it! I think he thought it was a game or something at first. As I would push him rather quickly to get through the store he would do this hmmmhmm-like laugh and just grin at me. He was really enjoying looking at everything from this new perspective. He just kept checking everything out. I was really proud of him for doing so well. Only once did he try to eat he cart (yuck!), but I caught him. He was in a really good mood today and I think it must have felt good to him to get out for a little bit. It's so amazing to see how much he's growing. It's times like this when I go to record something that I realize that much more how quickly this is all going. I'm enjoying every minute of it though and absorbing as much as I can.
Boy's got the Croup!
Serif woke up Friday morning with this horrible cough. When he would get excited his breathing became very labored and his voice was sounding horse. We called the doctor yesterday morning and they said it sounded like the Croup and that maybe we should bring him in to be checked out. Well . . . sure enough. We took him to see Dr. Ladd and he diagnosed it right away. He said it should go away within a week and not be contagious after 3-4 days. He told us to watch for signs of ear infection because often that will follow. He said that would probably happen on Monday if it's going to. We're keeping our fingers crossed that he'll dodge that one.
We went to see Pops last night and fixed some Shepard's Pie. Jeff and I have been researching new recipes online and this one's doing pretty well. Serif's spirits have been pretty high despite the illness. I think his top tooth is bothering him more than the croup! Friday he went down for a nap around 1:00 and I woke him up to eat at 5:00 (he was due to eat around 2 or 3). He's sleeping a lot. I guess so he can get over this thing. He even took a nap at Pops last night (a time that he is normally not so tired). Poor guy. It should be over soon.
(more photos to come)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Watching T.V.
It's Wednesday night 'Lost'. Dad can't miss it, Serif needs entertaining and Mom needs to clean the kitchen. This is a typical shot from my perspective for Monday night Wrestling, Wednesday night 'Lost' and Thursday night '30 Rock'. My boys are quite amusing to me. . . and quite cute too I might add.This was actually taken 2 weeks ago. I've been very busy lately and trying to catch up with some of my posts! Sorry to bombard you all at once with so many! Soak it up while you can, it may be a little bit before the next one too. It's getting harder to find time! I'm trying though. . . really!
Thumb Sucking and Teething
When 6 months hit, Serif would rarely take a pacifier without just chewing on it . He began spitting it out and plugging up with his thumb. Previously he would suck on the pacifier for a couple minutes to help sooth him to sleep, then spit it out and doze off. Lately, he's been preferring his thumb over anything else when it comes time to sleep. When I finally caught it on camera he was actually asleep and had it in for a while. You can see he's got it in his mouth pretty well.I really think it's due to the whole teething thing. I think it just feels good to him to have something soft to rub those gums on. His 2 bottom teeth are in pretty good and we're starting to see them now when he smiles. His top 2 teeth have been working their way in. His gums have been white and puffy for a couple weeks now. We just noticed his top right tooth breaking the surface yesterday. Today you can see it even better! Do you see it? Yay Serif!
A New Toy
When Serif turned 6 months we had to break down and get more toys. He's been getting a little bored with the ones he has and the jumperoo is slowing down a little. He'll still go in there, but there's less bouncing and more chewing on the toys. He's started sitting up really well, to the point that we can sit him on the couch or floor and he will play with toys by himself. He still topples over sometimes, but he's gotten really strong. That mostly happens when he reaches for something he can't quite reach and ends up on his side, back or flipped forward so far he looks like a sandwich. It's a new world . . . again.This particular toy is a 'Laugh and Learn'. He seems to really like it. It has 3 different settings (music, play and learn Spanish) so it should last him a while. It lights up, talks and plays music. Pretty great stuff. Here are a few photos of Dad introducing him to it.
This last one is with the legs on it, which will obviously have to come at a later date. Poor guy can't see the top! Helmut's still doing great with Serif. We just had to take him to the vet last week because we noticed he wasn't eating and he never ate his 2 treats we gave him before we left for work that morning. That NEVER happens. Obviously concerned, we had it checked out. We're still not sure what all was going on, but they think it was a high content of bacteria in his system. We're wondering if he ate a mole or something. We've been noticing him digging in the soft spots in the back yard lately. We also wondered if it wasn't adjustment to having to share (or give up) time for Serif. A little pampering with walks, car rides, medicine and canned dog food seemed to help bring things back to normal. It's been a much better week.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
6 Month Check-Ups
Serif had 2 doctor's appointments this week. Monday he went back to the Cardiologist for a check-up on his heart murmur. The visit went very well. The doctor said he sounded normal and he was not hearing the murmur at all. That being said, he said that it has healed and no more visits or tests are necessary. He proceeded to tell us that if he ever gets another murmur it would be totally unrelated to this first one. Apparently once they're healed they can not re-open.
Tuesday Serif had his regular well visit check-up. All went well and he was in a really great mood. Not sleepy at all this time. He did great with the 'squirt in the mouth' medicine this time. The nurse said it tastes like sugar water. Not sure why he wigged out on it in the past unless he just didn't like the idea of being made to take it. He wanted to hold it and suck on it this time. Everything's going to the mouth these days.
He only got 3 shots this time. Of course he didn't like those and yes, he cried. Once we got him up his cry just sounded like he was sad and like it hurt his feelings (as well as his leg). I felt really bad for him, but Jeff and I stay upbeat with him to keep his spirits high. We've been noticing a difference in his cries lately and some of them are getting really sad sounding. It sort of melts you and makes you just want to cuddle him up. He really doesn't cry much though so that's a good thing. If he does start getting fussy, the front porch swing seems to always be a nice cure. He loves it out there! (These photos are of Shot 1 and Shot 3. You can see how it escalates.)
Now, what you've all been waiting for . . . the stats:
Weight: 21 lbs 9 oz (97th percentile)
Height: 27 - 1/2" (80th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17" (25th percentile)
Most of our questions this visit was on the subject of food. Last week I called the Doctor to see what the next step would be on feeding him because 2 servings of cereal at bedtime (plus milk) just didn't seem to fill him up completely. He said to go ahead and start him on food 3 times a day. Now up that point I was only giving him milk during the day and cereal at night. This was a big adjustment, but Serif LOVED the food and took to it like a charm. I was very proud of him. He started with squash then carrots then sweet potatoes. The doctor said to start with yellow, then orange then green then fruit. All the change sortof of made it a little tougher on his digestive system so we ended up starting the fruit before the greens. I guess he'll try some peas this weekend.
During the visit he continued to tell us that stage 1 and 2 babyfoods are fine for him. He even told us that our food is okay as long as it's not a 'choke-able'. I asked him what to expect within the next 3 months before we come back for his 9 month check-up. He described it as follows:
6 months - (food like canned vegetables) - smash 3 times with the bottom of a skillet. (and Stage 2 food)
7 months - smash 2 times . . . (and Stage 3 food)
8 months - smash 1 time . . . (and Stage 3 chunky food)
9 months - he should be able to eat whole peas!
Jeff was very excited about this. He's always trying to feed him our food and I've been much more reserved with all of that. The doctor said the things NOT to give him are nuts, honey and things like steak that he could potentially choke on. The only time we should give juice is if he's, hmmm . . . a good way to put this . . . a little backed up? He also said that eating 4-6 times a day will continue to be normal through the next visit. Since starting food, he's been eating every 4 hours rather than 3. It's amazing the difference in your day when you're not tied to that tight of a schedule. I guess he's eating 4-5 times a day now.
Here's the photo of Jeff and Serif at the end of the visit.
We tried to get some 'family' shots with the iphone. You can see how they turned out. So, here's our 'photo-booth' shots from the end of Serif's visit. 
Tuesday Serif had his regular well visit check-up. All went well and he was in a really great mood. Not sleepy at all this time. He did great with the 'squirt in the mouth' medicine this time. The nurse said it tastes like sugar water. Not sure why he wigged out on it in the past unless he just didn't like the idea of being made to take it. He wanted to hold it and suck on it this time. Everything's going to the mouth these days.
He only got 3 shots this time. Of course he didn't like those and yes, he cried. Once we got him up his cry just sounded like he was sad and like it hurt his feelings (as well as his leg). I felt really bad for him, but Jeff and I stay upbeat with him to keep his spirits high. We've been noticing a difference in his cries lately and some of them are getting really sad sounding. It sort of melts you and makes you just want to cuddle him up. He really doesn't cry much though so that's a good thing. If he does start getting fussy, the front porch swing seems to always be a nice cure. He loves it out there! (These photos are of Shot 1 and Shot 3. You can see how it escalates.)
Now, what you've all been waiting for . . . the stats:Weight: 21 lbs 9 oz (97th percentile)
Height: 27 - 1/2" (80th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17" (25th percentile)
Most of our questions this visit was on the subject of food. Last week I called the Doctor to see what the next step would be on feeding him because 2 servings of cereal at bedtime (plus milk) just didn't seem to fill him up completely. He said to go ahead and start him on food 3 times a day. Now up that point I was only giving him milk during the day and cereal at night. This was a big adjustment, but Serif LOVED the food and took to it like a charm. I was very proud of him. He started with squash then carrots then sweet potatoes. The doctor said to start with yellow, then orange then green then fruit. All the change sortof of made it a little tougher on his digestive system so we ended up starting the fruit before the greens. I guess he'll try some peas this weekend.
During the visit he continued to tell us that stage 1 and 2 babyfoods are fine for him. He even told us that our food is okay as long as it's not a 'choke-able'. I asked him what to expect within the next 3 months before we come back for his 9 month check-up. He described it as follows:
6 months - (food like canned vegetables) - smash 3 times with the bottom of a skillet. (and Stage 2 food)
7 months - smash 2 times . . . (and Stage 3 food)
8 months - smash 1 time . . . (and Stage 3 chunky food)
9 months - he should be able to eat whole peas!
Jeff was very excited about this. He's always trying to feed him our food and I've been much more reserved with all of that. The doctor said the things NOT to give him are nuts, honey and things like steak that he could potentially choke on. The only time we should give juice is if he's, hmmm . . . a good way to put this . . . a little backed up? He also said that eating 4-6 times a day will continue to be normal through the next visit. Since starting food, he's been eating every 4 hours rather than 3. It's amazing the difference in your day when you're not tied to that tight of a schedule. I guess he's eating 4-5 times a day now.
Here's the photo of Jeff and Serif at the end of the visit.
We tried to get some 'family' shots with the iphone. You can see how they turned out. So, here's our 'photo-booth' shots from the end of Serif's visit. 
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Lounging at 5 months
I posted this because I just love the photos AND because you can really see how much Serif is growing. I've been looking back at photos from 1, 2 and 3 months and it's amazing how different things are already. It's crazy! Anyways, the boys still like to lounge a bit and catch an episode or two of Andy Griffeth. Serif still likes the television, but we're really trying to entertain him without that being the focus. Even if you put him in the jumperoo, he'll turn to face that thing. We really have gotten to the point that we'll just turn it off. Probably better for everyone (Jeff may say differently on that though).
Serif, Pops and Their Rockers
Serif got his first rocker yesterday. We bought 2 adult rockers for me and Jeff about a month ago, but they didn't have Serif's size in stock. A few days ago we got the call that his rocker was finally in! So yesterday Pops (Jeff's Dad) went to Murfreesboro to pick it. So here's Serif trying out his new rocker with Pops. 
I think Bessie (Pop's dog) enjoyed their rockers too. She never gets to be that close to Serif, so this was quite a treat! Serif didn't really seem to mind either.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Laughter
Serif turned 6 months old on Thursday. How strange to say that already! He's been laughing since 4 months I guess, but I've never gotten it on video. Jeff was playing with him Thursday night and I found it was the perfect time to get in on camera. He's so funny how he just stares at the camera. I think he could spot one across the house. Anyways, just thought I'd share the moment.
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