Shane update - 7 months and keeping us busy

One day last week, Shane was being incredibly fussy for Carrie. He wouldn't take a bottle. He didn't want to sleep. His diaper was clean, and no toy was the right one. I figured Shane just wanted some outside air, so I scooped him up and we went to play in the garden.

Shane loves being outside. We looked at the sky and plants, and he tried picking up pea gravel between his toes. After a little bit, I laid down on the porch and laid Shane on my stomach so we could look up at the sky. We were laying there when I had a revelation: I knew what was bothering Shane. Right then and there, I thought up of a funny line for how to tell Carrie. I was wearing a big grin on my face when I realized my stomach was feeling wet.

Poo.

My son poo'd on me!

I quickly brought Shane inside. Carrie rushed over to help with the overflowing diaper. I took off my shirt with the Kansas sized wet spot and realized Shane's diaper must have also leaked from his leg holes, because my pants had poo splatters as well.

The irony of the situation was hilarious. I had been planning on walking in and telling my wife why Shane had been so fussy. "I would be fussy too if I hadn't had my poop of the day!"  Instead, I came running in to the tune of "Help! Our son just crapped on my chest."

Shane just smiled, happy at last.

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Other Shane stuff:

Now that the anecdote is out of the way, I guess I can switch into bullet mode. There's so much to write about, it's hard to know where to start or how to organize it! This is why writers make outlines.

Teeth: 

Shane is sporting two as I write this!  He has his two front incisors on his bottom front. They give him the cutest smile. It felt like they slowly crawled their way up for a week or two and now they're a pair of baby daggers. I don't let Shane chew on my finger with his teeth anymore. His bite is powerful enough to hurt and leave marks, and the teeth are almost sharp enough to break the skin. He's not there yet, but I don't want to bleed in my son's mouth. As for his toys and board books, the damage is mounting. Shane can scrape paint off hard toys and I accidentally left his favorite board book in reach for half a minute or so. The Very Hungry Caterpillar almost had a hole chewed through the back cover to the last page.

Speaking:

Ba-ba-ba, ba-Babara Ann!  My son likes the Beach Boys.  Tuesday, Shane wowed us with his first clear syllable. He's been singing and screaming for fun lately, but "babababababa" is by far the closet Shane has come to being able to speak actual words. I know it's a long ways off, but it's still exciting. Carrie's mom thought it was "adorable" how hyper Carrie got when she first heard Shane's speech. My wife then banged on the sliding glass door to make me come inside from watering the garden. Mrs. Cassano says we were both wearing huge smiles as our son ba-ba'd away. 

Crawling:

Crawling eludes Shane. He's getting close, though. The little stink hasn't figured out he can use his arms AND his legs at the same time. Shane has three modes of attempting crawling. In mode one, he will post up on his arms and reeeeach out. Sometimes he'll grab the carpet and it looks like he's thinking about pulling himself forward. Mode two involves Shane laying on his belly flailing all of his limbs going nowhere. It's not really crawling, but it's normally closely followed by Shane rolling over repeatedly. He'll roll front to back and back to front across the room, and then be amazed he's not any closer to whatever toys he had been reaching for.  Mode three is the closest to a successful crawl. Shane digs his toes into the ground, and PUSHES. His little butt goes straight up in the air, and his face goes flat into the carpet. Shane will keep kicking and pushing and inch his way closer to his goal and getting a rug burn on his face. If he'd only push up with his hands, he'd have it.  Instead, he just flails them out to his sides like he's trying to fly.  The whole scene is hysterical. It's also a little frustrating, because he's sooooo close.  

Shorts:

-Shane can't sit up from laying down, but he's good about sitting up if you put him in the position. We just have to watch that he doesn't arch his back and fall over backwards.

-Bibs are the devil. The boy bawls whenever anyone tries to put one on. 

-A quick distraction will then stop the crying. My son seems to have the attention span of a gnat.

-UNLESS the TV is involved. Shane zombifies when we put on his praise songs DVD. If you move in front of him, he will try to move his head to watch around you.

-Lately, Shane has been a real turd during evening feedings. He'll be arching and fighting and crying. We'll know that he wants the bottle. He'll know that he wants the bottle. Unless I physically stick it in, he won't take it. I shouldn't have to force a bottle into my sons milk-hole, but he immediately calms down and starts drinking.

-Shane seems less fussy mornings and afternoons. I think he gets tired in the evenings.

-The boy drools.

-Lots.

-Lakes.

-There was a rainstorm outside and Shane and I sat on the porch to watch it. He drooled so much that there was a wet pool under him. When I noticed it, I first though that he'd somehow peed and overfilled his diaper.

-Carrots are by far the favorite solid food. He's still not a super willing eater, but I'm sure that'll happen eventually.

-Shane still loves reading. 

-and he amazingly still loves people singing.

-He's going to be a high energy toddler.

-The cats are dumb enough to come close to him. HE loves it, but I'm waiting for him to successfully get a painful fistful of fur.

EDIT - PS - Shane loves paper/cardboard. I don't know why.  He tries to eat boardbooks, receipts, and boxes with a fervor that borderlines on obsessed.