Turns out meat really is murder...

So I went to an infant CPR and safety class today and know that the #1 choking hazard is for kids? Meat! Maybe that will help my campaign to keep Tate a vegetarian just a little longer.

The class was really good. It was led by a nurse at Prentice (where Tate was born). The instructional video for the CPR part of the class had actors portraying a scenario that involved grandparents babysitting their infant grandchild. They find the baby unresponsive in her crib and begin CPR. Even though the "baby" was just a doll, it brought tears to my eyes to even think about it.

The choking information was good too. The instructor said everyone in the class would probably have to help their child during a choking incident at some point since when kids first start eating they tend to shovel in more food than they can handle. Ha. She doesn't know about my plan to puree all of Tater's food until he's 16.

Let the good times roll

On Friday, January 14 Tate finally rolled over for the first time! Brad was on a conference call in the bedroom so I couldn't call him in, but I could tell it was about to happen. One minute he was on his stomach, then he arched his back and threw his head back and let the weight of his huge noggin propel him over. He was pretty nonchalant about it, until he saw how crazy I was going and he started smiling. I put him back on his tummy and he did it again. He must not really be that into the whole rolling thing, though, since he didn't do it again until today when Brad was gone. So for now it's the Snuffleupagus of milestones--no one sees it but me.

5 months!

I know I say this every month, but I can't believe Tate is 5 months old already. I didn't include any milestones for his 4-month photo, but I think that is because the change wasn't so dramatic from 3-4 months. He just kept getting stronger, but that was about it.

There was definitely a change from 4 to 5 months. Over Christmas we noticed that he was holding up his head so much better, and that he could sit up when we supported him. He also grabs EVERYTHING now. He grabs onto my shirt and holds it when he eats. He'll grab a wipe or his clothes when I'm changing him, and when I try to pull it away from him we get into a little baby vs. Mommy tug o' war and he laughs and laughs. And everything he grabs goes right to his mouth.

Other than that Brad said he read somewhere that babies will start to get your jokes around this age. It's so true! The other day I made a silly joke and he laughed right on cue. It was probably more the look on my face than anything else, but it was still fun.

A bit of a backblog

Ack...I'm so behind in posting. Below is a summary of Christmas 2010.

Favorite holiday memory: Tate meeting his grandpa, great grandmas, aunts, ancles, and cousins and watching our families make him so happy and vice versa.

Least favorite holiday memory: Tate having a meltdown at dinner in Lakeside (where we stopped on our way home) because he was so overtired from the whole trip. He was shaking his head back and forth and scratching his head and face. He ended up with a big bloody scratch on his cheek, and we felt like the worst parents ever. We packed up our dinner to go, and got him to bed asap.

Tate's revenge: He woke me up every 45 minutes that night.

Favorite holiday quote: (from my ususally non-church-going sister, after I asked how she liked the Christmas Eve service at her minister neighbor's church) "Well, you know. We're not really into the whole J.C. thing." This might be my favorite all-time holiday quote, right after my grandma telling my mom c. 2002 that "Sandy will never find a husband if she doesn't stop swearing so much." (I'd accidentally said "damn" and "hell" at the dinner table.)

I hope I'm better at keeping up Tate's baby book than I am at updating this blog.