August Update

August has officially arrived. And now it is time for me to keep you up to date on happenings and events within this month in regards to your greater development. To sum it up in one word "Motion". Yes, you are indeed finding a whole new found freedom wherein you are doing everything you can to walk/crawl/jump and otherwise move around in order to explore everything. You have discovered a new game which you quite enjoy playing with yourself. In this game you grab a ball, any ball seems to work fine for you, wiffle ball, mini basket ball, mini football, full size foot ball, mini dodge ball, tennis ball, the cat's ball essentially any ball that finds itself within range of your tiny fingers. After having acquired said ball you will toss it, at which point you will chase it down, pick it up, and toss it again. Exceedingly amusing to your mother and I in that you are technically playing fetch with yourself. At first we had a slight thought that this sight was a little bit pathetic in nature that you should not be resorting to playing fetch with yourself, however as we attempted on numerous occasions to join in this sport along with you we would find that it only tended to frustrate and irritate you. You truly seem to believe that this should remain as a solo sport, and well it gives you great amounts of exercise so to that end we are delighted.
You absolutely love animals at this point. You will chase down cats and dogs alike to give them a simple pat and when they attempt to lick your face you smile begins to glow. This week we took you to the Berkeley county fair just outside Martinsburg West Virginia where you were able to see all sorts of animals including cows, sheep, ducks, goats, chickens, rabbits, and pigs. This adventure was quite the delight to you although our first run through you slept the entire time, however after you had indulged yourself with a hearty nap we returned to the fairgrounds at which time you received a proper introduction to all of the various livestock.
This summer you have found a special fondness for various new foods such as chunks of watermelon, cantaloupe, pulled pork, and most especially the cheesy covered butterfly potatoes from the fairgrounds.
We just renewed the domain hietts.info for the low price of $8.11 from our sponsor website Richmond Daddy and the renewal is good for a year. Your mother and I concur that this is a fantastic deal considering that entry to this blog with this domain is easily found at jacob.hietts.info as opposed to just using the link to my blog account. It also includes several additional features such as email accounts that we can all utilize, the ability to include a subdomain for your younger brothers name when he arrives, and several other great things.
I also finalized my schedule for the upcoming semester in college and I am looking at being able to graduate this coming spring. Having children and being in skool presents several financial obstacles nonetheless we continue to keep moving forward to a brighter future. At some point it will all pay off for the greater good and your mother and I will most likely begin registering the hietts.info domain in 10 year stents to secure ownership of it for our family for several decades to come.

And on the subject of the hietts.info domain It is my great pleasure to announce that as of August 21st I discovered that this domain has achieved an Alexa rating making it actually quite valuable. For that fact especially I will be including a rating and value widget within this posting just below.

Always Growing: New Motor Skills

I can report to you slightly after 4 months and you are able to shake a rattle. You show strong understanding as to the concept of shaking the rattle in order to make sound, and in the concept of like items that are rattles that make this noise. You have a monkey face on a fabric stick sort of rattle and you prefer to shake it slowly back and forth harvesting out of it a soothing sound. Also, your favorite toy Squirtle the Turtle, has a mirror in his belly and a rattle for each of his four feet. You shake him back and forth the length of your torso to create the similar sound from him.

You also have a third, a hard plastic rattle that came as a fixture to a play surface we got for you. It can be separated and this is how you prefer to play with this toy. As you can also use the hard plastic as a sort of teething ring. Did I mention your teething as of now.....

Your ability to get up a crawl around is all but near around the corner for you at this time. Indeed you are learning new and interesting motor skills at an exponential pace. I seek that you would find such great excitement as your son also begins shaking a rattle with meaning. With complete understanding as to the concept of shaking that rattle, and how he is now become a "little scientist". Guard him dearly!

Summer Fun

There are a few things to keep in mind when discussing fun in the summer months. Firstly, sunscreen is a very important tool, especially for young children who have the tendency to play in the sun for long hours without taking notice to the effect it is having on their skin. Next there is taking into consideration a few things regarding swimming. It is not wise to go swimming immediately after having eaten because it becomes possible to experience cramps. Having cramps while swimming can be fatal, especially at times when swimming not in a pool but instead swimming in the ocean or a river. In order to avoid cramping it is best to wait at least 30 minutes after eating before swimming. Water consumption is a vital thing to monitor in summer heat because a heat stroke is no laughing matter. The average person should consume at least 8 glasses of water per day, however when the heat index is highly elevated this requirement could easily increase greatly. Keeping safety tips on your mind during your summer activities is an important preventative step towards keeping your fun from being shortened by a trip to the emergency room. Being safe does not have to keep you from enjoying your summer fun.