Something Moore

So it's begun... Pierce is starting solids.  At our 4 month check up the pediatrician asked if we wanted to start him on solids early and at that point he had no interest in what we were eating so I said not yet.  I didn't want to start Pierce on solids until he showed signs that he was ready.  In my mind those signs were things like the ability to sit up, teeth, tracking Clay and I as we ate, grabbing for our food, ect.  At Thanksgiving we gave him a couple of tastes of potato but nothing substantial.  However, in the last couple of weeks Pierce has developed a keen interest in the goings on at the dinner table.  So we've started giving him a few bites.

I've decided on avocado as the first food.  I didn't like the idea of rice cereal and having a process grain be the first food.  I'm also interested in baby led weaning which feels much more natural to me than spoon feeding a baby.  So for the last couple of weeks we've had Pierce sit at the table with us and play with a spoon to get use to meal times.  It's been an interesting transition but I think it's working okay.  So far we are just getting Pierce used to the feel of a solid food in his mouth and what to do with it once the food is in his mouth.  While he's not quite sure what to do he clearly wants more!



Pierce has also developed an interest in Baxter and Maggie.  He really really really wants to feel their fur.  At first they were willing to get close but when they discovered that Pierce is an ear grabber they now keep their appropriate distance.  But if we're all on the floor the dogs will come and get in on the action.  And I'm really pleased with them because so far if Pierce starts to bother them they just get up and walk away.  They really are great family dogs.

My folks came down to visit this Thanksgiving and honestly I don't remember the last Thanksgiving I had spent with my parents.  In college I started going to Dallas for Thanksgiving since it was expensive to fly home and it didn't make a lot of sense to fly home for Turkey Day and turn around 2 weeks later to come home for Christmas.  So many years ago I started spending Thanksgiving in Dallas with my aunt's family.  It's turned into a tradition for Clay and I so when my folks said they were coming for Thanksgiving I figured why change tradition!  And off we went to Dallas.

But before we could head south, mom and dad spent a few days with us.  Or perhaps more appropriately they spent a few days with Pierce.  Clay and I had to work a couple of days so Gramby and Geezer had fun babysitting and bonding with their favorite grandson!**


While the boys worked on the media room mom helped decorate the nursery with some Star Wars decals she had found.







**  Since he's their only grandson I can say these things!

That's right folks we now have a mobile baby on our hands.  No longer do we have the days that we can lay the baby down and come back expecting him to be where we left him.  NO!  Now he's got places to go, people to see and things to do!





The last several weeks have been crazy.  We've had several big changes to our little family.

Clay had to put down his beloved Tigger last week.  Tigger had been with Clay for a long time and had made the move from Canada to Oklahoma.  While Tigger and I weren't best friends, he was a part of the family.  We're glad he's no longer suffering.




Also, Clay got a new car.  This is his story to post about at some point.  Just know that it's fancy!

Finally, my best friend Amanda came down and spent the weekend.  We had a blast hanging out and catching up.  We also caught the OSU v. WVU game!  Lots of fun.  I'm blessed to have a lifelong friend like her!

Last weekend Alyson and Clementine came down for a long weekend.  I hadn't met Clementine yet and Alyson wanted to give Pierce some snuggles so she decided to come on down.  It was a lot of fun to see the cousins together. 

When we first got to the house we set the kids down on the floor and Clementine tried to pull of Pierce's ear.  He didn't quite know what to think about that.  


We decided that the whole weekend was like having twins.  One of the babies was always needing fed or changed or cuddled or played with.  It was a TON of fun, but holy cow, if you have twins I'll give you a medal!

Clementine liked Pierce's jumpy chair.  As you can see Pierce is still a bit too small!









But mostly we enjoyed watching the kids interact.  I think Pierce learned a lot from Clementine since he started actually playing with his toys after watching her. 






And I think Clementine liked having someone smaller than her to beat up on!

Last weekend Pierce discovered his voice.  Ever since then he has spent a great deal of time making his little noises and cracking himself up.  Of course Clay and I find this absolutely adorable, that is until I go to nurse him and all he wants to do is talk.  Then he becomes frustrated when he can't talk and eat at the same time.  I've tried to explain to him that the rule "no talking with your mouth full" will apply for the rest of his life.  So far it hasn't sunk in.

He was being exceptionally cute the other day so I took a couple of videos.  (I'm sure only grandparents will be interested in watching both versions of baby babbles!)









 
When Clay's sister came to visit Clay's dad sent cash down for Ally to buy Pierce a gift.  He was very specific that he wanted to buy a gift for Pierce and not just put it in college savings.  So Ally and I went shopping and bought a baby activity chair.  Lately Pierce has been trying to stand up so last weekend I told Clay we should assemble the chair because he might be ready for it.  When we put him in the chair Pierce sunk up to his eyes and his toes dangled above the floor.  Definitely too small!


However, Pierce still seemed to enjoy the chair so the other night we put a tool box under his toes so he could reach and he had a blast!





As you can see Pierce really likes the lights.  He also likes to look at himself in the mirror.  And no longer is he happy being cuddled, but this boy wants to stand!






He is also enjoying time playing with the jungle gym toy.



And finally a note about children's clothes.  Or more specifically little boy's clothes.  Do these pajamas make any sense to you?!?





That's right, it's a monkey and a dinosaur.  I'm not totally up on my different eras but I'm pretty sure that the modern era animals did not exist with prehistoric era animals.  Clay and I are convinced that the children's clothing manufactures just have bins of random cute creatures and they just grab a random selection and sew it on any old outfit. 

Since I've been back to work life seems to have sped up and I got behind on a post I meant to put together a couple of weeks ago.  Clay's sister, Ally and husband Rick came to visit Pierce at the end of August (again, we have no delusions that anyone comes to visit Clay and I anymore!).  It was a ton of fun.  Originally Ally and Rick thought they would bring down their three boys, but in the end just the two of them came and we had some great times hanging out and loving on a baby.

Our big activity while they were here was a round of golf.  We dropped of Pierce at daycare and went to play 9 holes.  At first I had some guilt about leaving Pierce at daycare when I'm not at work and should be taking care of my baby.  But I also realize that I needed some fun times for me and it was only a couple of hours.  We had a lot of fun.  It was Ally's first time to golf EVER! so we played best ball between her and I and had a pretty good round.


And a cute baby video!