Today Daniel is 22 months old. This past month has seen a dramatic expansion of his vocabulary and verbal skills. Literally, he probably says at least one new word a day. And he's starting to use more and more phrases too, including "Bye-bye Mama," "one more thing," "Mimi blanket," "Daddy reach it," and, as of the other day, "peepee potty." (More on that one in a minute.) It's amazing and exciting to watch him learn so much and communicate so well.
The other day Daniel was playing with his Scout toy and it was singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Daniel began to sing along, "Tinkle tinkle, star." It was the first time we'd ever heard him sing, and it was so cute!
Then, Sunday night, he brought new meaning to tinkle tinkle. Lately he's been saying "peepee" and "poopoo" a lot, and takes great interest in watching us use the potty (to be the parent of a toddler is to have no toilet privacy). So I bought him a little training potty and that night we let him try it out. The plan was just to "offer" it, giving him a chance to see and sit on it but not pressuring. At first he needed help to position himself properly on the seat but within a few minutes he was confidently sitting on the seat positioned properly behind the splash guard. Then, as we were applauding that achievement, we heard the telltale sign that he was actually using the potty. Needless to say, that got even more cheers. He was so proud of himself, clapping his hands, smiling, and saying "yaaaay!" Tinkle tinkle little star, indeed.
With that, potty training has officially commenced in our house! As I was shopping for the potty I thought, "wow are we really here already?" Yes, yes we are. Wow, my baby is already potty training.
Today we offered the potty morning and night. He sat on it both times but didn't produce. No worries, right now it's just about acclimating him and giving him the option. Given that he will only be staying with Grandma during the day for a little longer, we aren't going to bother trying to integrate potty training into his day there. But, once he starts school, his school will help with potty training, so I expect him to make great strides then. Hopefully, getting used to the idea at home will help him respond better to it at school.
The other day Daniel fell asleep on the way home from Grandma's house. I realized he had been quiet for awhile and then heard gentle snoring coming from the back seat. I drove around a few extra minutes to give him more sleep time and expected him to wake once we pulled into the garage. But he was still sound asleep, snoozing away, despite my efforts to wake him. So instead, I pulled out my phone and recorded him for awhile. As you can see, even after I woke him up he still tried to go back to sleep. Tired boy!
Daniel never fails to amaze me. He's been a talker for months but the last few weeks have been a vocabulary explosion. Literally, he's got several new words every day, too many to keep track of. He hears us say a word and then he says it too. And he's not just saying them, he understands what they mean. Words that I don't even specifically remember teaching him, he knows and uses correctly. A few of his recent ones are: shoe, sock, shirt, pants, diaper, zip (pronounced "zeep" like a Frenchman!), watch, milk, fork (pronounced like...well, it needs an R-rating), outside, I gotcha ("Igocka"), apples, and airplane. And, finally, he says his own name, though it comes out more like "Naniel" than Daniel.
To be around him is to be treated to an almost constant narration of what he sees. When he sees something he doesn't know the name for, he'll ask by pointing and saying "umma, umma, umma." Actually, that's a phrase he uses a lot to get our attention.
He's learned a few cute tricks too. We'll ask him, "what does the lion say?" and he'll reply "roar." "What does the little piggy say?" "Wee, wee, wee" (all the way home). And when we say, "how big is Daniel?" he says "sooo big" holding his hands wide.
Another cute thing he does is try to jump. I'll stand in front of him and jump up and down. He watches trying to figure out how I manage to get both feet off the ground and tries to do it himself but he ends up just getting up on his tiptoes and dancing around in something of a moonwalk. Then I'll hop from leg to leg and he can copy me on that. I know it's just a matter of time till he figures out the 2-footed jumping. If there's a way to teach it though, I haven't found it.
In other news, we've decided on a preschool for Daniel. After looking at 3, we've settled on Apostles Day School in Coppell, where our friends' two kids go. It wasn't the most conveniently located option, but we loved the warm nurturing feel of it. It's a Montessori school so the kids learn through self-paced "works" as well as group activities. It's located at an Episcopal church too, so the kids get weekly chapel time, which we like. He'll start this summer and I know he's going to love it. He enjoys his days with Grandma but I think he'll really enjoy and benefit from the added stimulation of the classroom and regular interaction with other kids. He really enjoys his playdates with his little buddies and it'll be fun to see him make new friends.
This is our favorite age so far with Daniel-he's so interactive, his personality becoming more developed, and every day we get to watch him learn new things. Of course, every age has been our favorite, and I can't wait to see what's in store over the next few months. Every day with our little boy is a blessing. We're so lucky!
Driving!
He climbed right from Daddy's arms onto the fridge!
So here we are, now 4 months away from Daniel's 2nd birthday. With every passing month he seems to transition more and more from a baby to a little boy. His latest trick? As I discovered today, he can climb onto the table. Time was not so long ago I could set him down on the floor, leave the room, and he'd still be in the same spot when I returned. Now, apparently he's likely to be up on the dining room table. As is often the case with such things, even as I'm telling him "no" and setting him back on the floor, I'm struggling to hide the laugh. Life with a young toddler is never dull!
In other news, he's becoming increasingly vocal and seems to learn a new word every other day or so. Recent additions to the list are "please," "home," and "bath," though his favorites are "mama," "dada," "up," and "no." He can say his grandparents' names too, somewhat: Grandma is "Damma," Mimi is "Mimi," or sometimes "Mimimi," and Grandpa is "Baba." He also has a lot of "gibberish" words which might make sense to him but don't yet to us. Perhaps he's just trying out different combinations of sounds. In any event, it's pretty entertaining.
No new developments on the sleep front. He'll skip his nap sometimes or go through a few nights in a row of waking up, but overall he's a great sleeper. He's a good eater too, though with occasional picky/light eating phases. He's getting increasingly proficient with a fork and spoon, though tonight's adventures in eating rice were quite messy because he insisted on feeding himself. But, I'm happy that he seems to like healthy foods and wants independence. As far as clothes go, he's still in 18 month clothes. They aren't getting small on him yet but they aren't big anymore. I bet we get another month or so out of them then it's on to 2T.
A few weekends ago we went to the Houston area for my grandmother's memorial service. I booked us at a suite hotel and definitely think that concept would serve us well on future trips. It was nice to have some room to spread out and be able to put him to bed (in the pack n play we brought) in the bedroom, then shut the doors and stay up and visit in the living area. Before bed though, we went out to eat at the BJ's brewpub nearby. Funny, Kevin's and my first date was at a BJ's, now we see it and think "oh, good kid-friendly place." And it was-lots of families, and noisy enough that the occasional cry wouldn't be disruptive. I was a little nervous about it as we don't generally take Daniel out to dinner, we'd been on the road all afternoon, and it was his bedtime, but he rose to the challenge and for the most part did quite well. We did get some funny pictures of him next to the empty glasses from the beer sampler Kevin and I shared.
On that trip, we also discovered a new trick of his:
One big change in the works is that we're planning to start him in preschool a few days a week after his 2nd birthday. We haven't chosen the school yet but we've got it narrowed down to our top 2 choices. I think either would be a good option for him, we just need to discuss the differences and decide which is the best fit for us. The plan is to start him off with 3 days a week of school and 2 days at Grandma's, then eventually go to 5 days of school. He loves his time with Grandma, and she loves it, but he's also enjoying interactions with other kids now too and I think would enjoy the different stimulation and structure that a classroom provides. So, by the next time I post we'll probably have a decision on that front.
Daniel is 18 months old now. Hard to believe my baby is a year and a half old already. We had his checkup a few weeks ago and he's growing, weighing in at 22.4lb and measuring 32in tall. He's holding steady around the 40th percentile for height and inched up from 5th to 8th weight percentile. The pediatrician was pleased with his growth and developmental progress, so everything is looking good. That height, incidentally, makes him just tall enough to reach things on the counter and the table. Which I learned the hard way by leaving a nearly full Dr. Pepper on the edge of the table. Messy lesson learned.
Since my last update on him we've reached one bittersweet milestone. Sometime in late December/early January Daniel nursed for the last time. He had dropped to just the night feeding awhile back and had gotten to where he seemed like he could take it or leave it, so I stopped offering and he didn't ask for it. I'll miss that special bond with him, but we were both ready to stop. I would have been willing to go longer had he wanted to, but I'm proud that we made it 17 months.
Otherwise no real news to report on the sleep or food fronts. He's still a good eater and a pretty reliable sleeper at night and most days at naptime.
As far as development goes, he's working at walking up and down the stairs. He needs a hand or railing to hold but is getting pretty good at it. And as we discovered when we put Christmas decorations up in the attic, he can also climb a ladder!
Bathtime continues to be a favorite time of day. Daniel likes to try to pull the faucets on and off and gets very upset when I tell him no. He also enjoys sticking his face into the running cold water or drinking from it.
Last week our friend Nicole and our 22 month old godson came over for playtime and dinner. We've always hoped the boys will grow up to be friends and it was really fun to watch them play together. Nicole and I prepared dinner in the kitchen, uninterrupted, for 20 minutes while the boys happily chased each other around. Then, while we were eating, Nicole mentioned how Alejandro doesn't like his bath, so we thought bath with his buddy might make it more fun. We set the boys in the tub and sure enough, they had a great time. And, as captured on video, Alejandro decided to be helpful.
Thus far the dreaded terrible twos haven't shown themselves. Daniel does cry when he doesn't get his way, but can generally be calmed pretty quickly. He can get pretty fixated on what he wants though and isn't easily distracted. Case in point: lately his favorite thing to do is play in the front seat of the (parked) car. He likes to sit behind the wheel and can turn the hazards on and off. He loves doing this and doesn't seem to tire of it. This is cute. It also means that every time we're going or arriving somewhere he runs to the driver side door and looks at me expectantly, then cries if he can't play or, if he can, when he has to get out. It's made for some frustration for both of us, but not too bad really. We'll see what the next months bring, but thus far he's still a pretty easy kid.
And that pretty much wraps up what's new with Daniel these days. I feel like every month I could say this, but this really is my favorite stage so far. He's more interactive than ever, and now at night when I take him to his crib he puts his head on my shoulder and gives me a big hug. What a sweet reward to get every night!
This post is a few weeks a month late, as seems to be par for the course for me these days. What an eventful few weeks it's been too: first birthday, first birthday party, first cold, and a few new achievements to boot. When I started writing this it was a 12 month update...I guess now we can call it the 13 month update!
Rolling over the odometer Hard as it is for me to believe, Daniel is now a year old. On the one hand it's hard to believe he's already been with us a full year, but at the same time, it feels like another lifetime ago that he wasn't here. It's been the most challenging and rewarding year of my life (and, I suppose, Daniel's too ;)).
Here's his 12 month picture.
That will be his last monthly picture with the infant carseat, as we've now graduated to the convertible seats in both cars. Althought the seat is rated up to 30lb, it is only rated up to 30in, so even though he hasn't even hit 20 lb yet he's already maxing out the height.
Party time! Kevin and I decided to celebrate his actual birthday by taking off from work to spend the day together as a family. I think we'll make July 21st an official family holiday and spend it together each year. In later years we'll go to waterparks or movies together, and vacations, and maybe when he's all grown up and out of the house he'll look forward to meeting up with Mom and Dad for a birthday lunch. But this year we weren't quite as ambitious. We stayed at home, relaxed, and played. It was nice to get some "just the three of us" time in before the weekend, when the birthday celebration went into high gear.
Kevin works at Microsoft and we're friends with many of his coworkers and their families. We decided to combine party-planning forces with another couple, Charlotte and Alden, whose son Justin turned 3 the week after Daniel's birthday. We did a joint birthday party at the Coppell Aquatic Center and it was great. We had close to 50 guests, including many of our friends and their little ones.
Here's Daniel in his birthday shirt. You can't see the back but it has "Williamson" and then the number 1 like it's a jersey.
Here are some pictures of the kiddos playing at the pool:
And here are birthday boys Justin and Daniel blowing out the candles on their cakes:
And here's Daniel digging into his cupcake with no restraint. You think he liked it?
12-month checkup
Daniel had his 12-month checkup a few weeks ago and everything looked great. He's still small and skinny, weighing in at only 18lb 4oz and standing 29.5" tall. The weight in particular is on the lower end of normal, but we and the pediatrician are not concerned about that. One, both Kevin and I were skinny kids, so odds are he will be too, and two, he's healthy and eats well.
An unhappy milestone It was bound to happen sooner or later. About a week after his birthday and the checkup, he got his first cold. Fortunately it was fairly mild but it was hard to see him in pain. He had a runny then stuffy nose and a few days of mid-grade fever, which translated to a few days of crankiness. His appetite was off but he slept really well, which helped him feel better. It was nice to see him get better and our usual boisterous happy little boy return!
Eating Some big changes this month. We've got him taking at least one cow's milk bottle during the day now and will transition to both daytime bottles being cow's milk in the next week or two. And now that his daytime milk is cow's milk, we're working on transitioning to taking those bottle feedings by straw cup. I didn't want to do that with breast milk because I didn't want to risk wasting any of that milk, but if he spills or wastes a cup of cow's milk, it's easy to get more. No particular target date on when we want to make the full switch from bottles to cups, but I thought now was a good time to start trying. He takes his straw cup well and can drink from it without assistance, so it might be an easy transition for him.
As far as solid foods go he's still the enthusiastic, voracious eater he's been. Everyone who sees him eat is amazed at how much food such a little boy can put away! And we're glad to see that he enjoys a lot of foods you don't typically think of as baby food: mushrooms (he's a big fan of sauteed shiitakes), kale, and fish to name a few. Maybe a picky phase will come later, but for now he loves his veggies! A typical dinner involves us feeding him meat and veggies off our plates plus some fresh fruit and sliced cheese or plain Greek yogurt.
Sleeping Not much to report this month. He's still doing well with a one hour "rest time" in his crib in the morning, when he usually just talks to himself, and a 2-3 hour afternoon nap at around 12:30. He's generally asleep by 8 or so and sleeps till 7 in the morning, though lately he's been waking up at night more, perhaps because of a diaper rash that's been hanging around.
New tricks Daniel has a few new tricks in his bag this month. One thing he likes to do is wiggle his hand over his open mouth while he's babbling to make an underwater effect. I'm pretty sure discovered it by accident but now he does it on purpose. On a related note, he's started making an "oh" noise which is pretty cute.
It's not new, but he's gotten more consistent about giving us kisses on the cheek and about shaking his head when we say "shake, shake, shake!" He looks like he's saying no, but he's really just playing a game. And when he's standing up holding onto something and we say "bouncy bouncy," he'll bounce his booty up and down. Which I haven't adequately captured on video yet but must for posterity.
His biggest new accomplishment this month is learning to crawl down the stairs. He's been going up them for months but now has learned how to get back down. He's got a very deliberate process we taught him-turn sideways, slide front leg down, then back leg, then front arm, then back arm. Here he is in action:
He has also learned how to close (but not open) doors but gets frustrated when the baby gates on the stairs don't close like he thinks they should. Here he is playing with the gate and just playing in general by the top of the stairs:
The latest, hot-off-the-presses development? Just yesterday Kevin saw him stand without support for the first time. He's done it several times now for several seconds at a time. Are first steps just around the corner? We shall see...
A few developments we're less fond of
Daniel is really an easy, happy, agreeable baby, but he has picked up a few less desirable habits of late. One, he likes to throw his food on the floor while he's eating. Two, when he's nursing he likes to announce that he's done on that side with a playful bite. And three, he has recently learned to headbutt Mommy and Daddy. Of course, the problem with any of these things is that the first time it happens it's kind of funny (well, not the biting part, but the big smile on his face when he does it) so it's hard not to laugh, then he feels encouraged. Headbutts, dropped food, playful bites and all though, we love our little boy so much and feel so very blessed that he's ours.
It's hard to believe, but in less than 30 days my little baby will celebrate his first birthday. He's beginning to look less like a baby and more like a toddler, especially in pictures. Here's his 11 month picture. It was with our video camera, so the quality's not the best, but you can see how big he's getting:
For comparison, here's his 1-month picture:
Compare where his head and feet are in the two pictures! He looked so little in that carseat as a newborn, now less than a year later he's just about outgrown it. In fact, in my car I've already been using the convertible seat for a month or so. But Kevin prefers the infant seat, so we'll keep using that in his car for as long as we can.
New developments
A few weeks ago we got him the Fisher-Price Stride-to-Ride Dino push toy. He seemed hesitant about it at first but recently learned how to stand up and walk while pushing it. He's got a similar push toy he plays with during the day at Grandma's.
Here he is pushing his dino:
This is obviously an encouraging step on the road to walking but it's hard to predict when he'll take those first independent steps. Could be tomorrow, could be another week, could be another month. I'm still predicting that he'll be walking by his birthday but we'll see.
He still babbles a lot and has been making the "mama" noise more. I still don't think he's referring to me when he says it but it's music to my ears nevertheless. The first word might be coming soon, it'll be fun to see what he has to say.
Eating
Daniel's appetite for solid food has really increased a lot in the past few weeks. He seems to enjoy just about everything, even foods you wouldn't consider "baby foods" like fish, kale, and shiitake mushrooms. Blueberries and "orange stuff" like sweet potatoes and carrots are probably the favorites, and Puffs snacks are a big hit in our house too. These days we generally eat meals together as a family. Daniel either gets bite-sized pieces of what we're eating or some variation on it. It's great that he can self-feed now so we can all eat at the same time instead of having to eat in shifts with one of us eating while the other feeds Daniel. It's a little messy, but he does a pretty good job.
He has learned an unfortunate new trick in the past few days though. The other night I was feeding him by myself and I put some cut-up pears and cauliflower on his tray, then went back to cutting up more. I looked up and saw that most of the pieces I'd put on his tray were gone so I thought, "wow, he's really eating well!" Then I happened to catch him dropping a piece on the floor and looked down to see a pile of dropped pieces on the floor! He started to do it again so I gave him a stern face and said "no,no!" He looked me in the eye, smiled, and proceeded to drop it anyway. Really, defiance already? I thought I had a little more time before we got there...
In other dining news, he's still as enthusiastic a nurser as he's ever been. In fact, when we sit down on the couch to nurse he'll sometimes crawl over and try to start before I even get settled! He drinks all the milk I send for him during the day and apparently wants more sometimes.
I set out with the goal of breastfeeding for at least a year and we're definitely on track to make it. I don't plan to pump much past the 12 month mark, assuming Daniel takes to cow's milk, but I'll continue to nurse him morning and night and on weekends for as long as he wants to. Maybe the day will come that I'm ready for that chapter in our relationship to close, but right now I still enjoy it and cherish those moments with him. I'm certainly doing it for him, but I get as much out of it as he does.
Sleeping
Not a ton to report here. He still sleeps well at night and naps quite well in the morning but less reliably in the afternoon. Any given day he's fine with just the one nap, but
missing the PM nap on a regular basis makes him cranky and overtired in the evening. So, to try to preserve that nap, we're trying the "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" approach of limiting the length of the morning nap and moving his bedtime earlier at night. So far we've had mixed results, but one day he slept 11.5 hours at night, napped 90 minutes in the morning, and napped 2+ hours in the afternoon. Then again, today he wouldn't nap in the morning but took a 3 hour afternoon nap. Maybe we're moving toward just a mid-day nap. I guess we'll know more in a few weeks once we see what's working and what's not.
Coming attractions
This next month will be a big one for us. First, we have our first vacation as a family of 3, a 4-day trip to South Padre Island with our good friends Marko and Nicole and their son Alejandro. Padre was an annual trip for my family when I was growing up and I hope it'll become a tradition for us too. It's the comfort food of vacations. It's not exotic and it won't likely be the trip of a lifetime, but it's as relaxing and comfortable as eating ice cream straight from the tub while lying on the couch in sweats. There's no ambitious agenda of sights to see or things to do, which makes it perfect with babies. We'll just get up, eat in the condo, go down to the water, nap, go out for lunch, then repeat in the afternoon. In the evenings after the boys fall asleep the adults can enjoy sitting out on the balcony looking out at the waves, refreshing drink in hand. It'll be a great trip and I've been looking forward to taking Daniel since before he was even born.
Then, in a few weeks we'll celebrate his first birthday with a swim party for his little friends. We're hosting a joint birthday party along with our friends Charlotte and Alden, whose son Justin turns 3 a week after Daniel turns 1. We have a lot of mutual friends, so we thought, why not combine forces to host one big party? It should be a great time and we're looking forward to it. We'll also have a small dinner party that night so Daniel can celebrate his birthday with his grandparents, godparents, and aunt and uncle.
We have two big milestones just around the corner, walking and first words. Wonder if either one will come this month?
As Daniel's first birthday draws closer and closer, I can't believe my baby is growing so quickly. It's amazing to think that 10 months ago he was a newborn, unable to even support his own head, and now he's crawling, standing, cruising, and feeding himself. It is truly amazing how much a baby develops in his first year of life. I already catch myself wanting to say "when he was a baby" even though he won't outgrow that label for awhile.
No huge milestones this month, but he did have his first plane trip (and first trip out of state) when we went to Tennessee to visit my brother. More on that later, once I get pictures from my mom's camera in a few weeks. For now, I'll just say that he handled the flights pretty well and generally had a pretty good trip.
News This month brought his 5th tooth, on the top to the right, with the 6th (top to the left) on the way. He has become more proficient at crawling and now has added the hand-opposite knee "cross crawl" to his repertoire in addition to his "butterfly stroke" scoot. He is also pretty adept at cruising along the hearth, coffee table, crib rail, or bathtub. He hasn't made any efforts to take a step yet but he is certainly mobile.
And he can really scamper up the stairs now! Here's a video:
He is still a pretty vocal little guy too. He likes to babble ("dadada" is still a favorite) and has just started making a grunting noise and saying "brrr"...basically a raspberry without the tongue action and its accompanying slobber. And he has learned to shake his head in response to us doing it or saying "shake, shake, shake." He smiles while he does it, so he looks happily disagreeable! He has also taken up picking his nose...sigh.
Sleeping No big changes here. Still falls asleep unassisted most of the time and sleeps straight through from 7:30-8pm until 6-6:30am. The other morning he slept till 8, so I got to sleep 9 straight hours for the first time in ages. That was a nice treat!
He still seems to do well with 2 naps a day, but will sometimes refuse to take one of his naps. We've adjusted the times forward a bit so he generally goes down for his morning nap by about 9:15, up by 11:30, then down for the afternoon around 2, up by 4:30. He doesn't sleep the full time each nap, but most days he will go down for 2 naps. We're having some success with moving his morning nap up to preserve the afternoon one, but it seems fairly certain that when he moves to a single daily nap, it's the afternoon nap that will go. Which will make it hard to go to church for awhile but should otherwise work well for us.
Eating He still nurses first thing in the morning and last thing before bed, and takes 2 6oz bottles during the day when I'm gone or nurses twice more on weekends. He eats 3 solid meals a day and while he was doing well with homemade purees or Plum brand organic blends, he has recently made it clear he wants to feed himself. The past 2 nights we've cut up chicken and dried apricots and given him that plus some cooked brown rice and he has happily fed himself, and done a pretty good job of it. He's still a pretty eager diner and likes most everything he tries.
He'd be a bit embarrassed that I'm sharing this (but hey, what are moms for if not to embarrass our offspring?), but he was having trouble for awhile with constipation. He'd strain to have a BM and tense up and cry like it was really painful. We tried a few things but juice and a water-Karo syrup mix seem to be doing the trick for now. It was no fun seeing him in pain :(
Pictures Every month(ish), we've taken a picture of him in his infant carseat to track how big he's getting. This month we got the standard picture plus a variation on it showing off his new skill:
In this case procrasting a few days 2 weeks on the monthly update paid off, as I now have several more updates to share. Every Monday when I take Daniel to my mother in law's house she swears he's changed over the weekend. Usually I just think, well, that's just grandma talking, but in this case she would actually be right. He really did change a lot over just a few days!
New developments About a week ago Daniel learned how to pull up to kneeling and standing. He showed this new trick off for the first time last Saturday afternoon when I went in to get him from his nap (which he didn't take, having decided to spend that time making noise instead). For awhile when he'd see me come in he'd crawl over to the side and reach through the slats to grab me, but this time he crawled over, kneeled, put his hands on the top rail, and pulled up to standing. We both laughed, and he was especially pleased with himself. Then I thought, time to take down the mobile and lower the crib mattress!
Also, we can now crawl up the stairs. When we first tried a few weeks ago he needed a little help but has steadily improved, and now he can climb the full staircase unassisted (albeit heavily supervised). Which means it's time for Kevin to install the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs!
And, we have 2 new teeth. The 2 top middle teeth both cut through last weekend. And as I'll mention below, we have some new developments in dining.
In other news, he's become quite a bit more vocal and can make the ba, da, la, ma, na, and ya sounds as well as a high-pitched gurgle and a lower growl. He can also make a clicking noise and loves to blow raspberries, even if-especially if-he has food in his mouth. Cute as it is, we've decided it's probably best not to encourage it! He isn't trying to say any specific words yet but he has a lot to communicate!
We also got Daniel his convertible car seats once we finally saw them on sale. We installed the one for my car but will see how we like it before we commit to it for sure. It's definitely in our future, but Daniel is still well within the weight limits for his infant seat so we can keep him in that for several more months. But we don't really use his old seat as a carrier anymore anyway, and never really did, and we're wondering if he may be more comfortable in the convertible as it gets hotter. He's only ridden in it once so far so we'll have to report back next month once we've used it more.
9 month checkup This month we had our first checkup with a pediatrician closer to the house and overall we were satisfied. We liked the previous doctor, but we didn't love the long waits that were a feature of every visit so we decided to try another option. I liked that the office had separate sick and well waiting areas and we were taken back within 5 minutes of our appointment time and saw the doctor within about 15-20 minutes. Overall we liked the doctor...she wasn't enthusiastic about our choice to delay some vaccines (example: not giving Hep B at birth because D had no risk factors for it) but she seems willing to respect our decision. We'll see how the next appointment goes.
Daniel weighed in at 17lb 1oz, so he had only gained an ounce from last month, but he grew a whole inch and a half to measure in at 28in. He's definitely on the lighter end of the weight percentile chart but the doctor wasn't concerned. He is eating well and the picture of health, and when your parents were long skinny kids...odds are you'll be a long skinny kid.
Eating He nurses first thing in the morning and right before bed and takes 2 bottles and 3 solid meals every day and is a healthy eater. I've heard that some babies start to lose interest in nursing around this age but D is as enthusiastic as ever. In fact, now sometimes when I'm arranging the nursing pillow he gets impatient and crawls over and tries to latch on!
Daniel is enjoying a nice variety of foods and seems to like thicker textures. I still make foods for him, but we're also really liking the Plum brand baby foods. I like that they use organic foods, whole grains, and go beyond the basics to include things like quinoa, lentils, spinach, and pumpkin. Daniel seems to like just about everything he tries. He can self-feed himself puffs (like Cheerios) and grabs the spoon away to feed himself. While he's a bit messy with it, he does generally hit the target pretty well.
He is also drinking fairly well from a sippy cup. We tried some with a spout but he seems to prefer a straw instead. He can pick up his cup, bring it to his mouth, drink from it, and put it down, all unassisted.
Sleeping The good news is he still sleeps quite well at night, going down by 7:30 or so and sleeping till 6 or so. The less-good news is, he isn't consistently getting 2 naps a day anymore, but he gets cranky when he misses one so it seems clear that he still needs 2. We had been doing well putting him down from 9:45-12 and then again from around 2:30-4:30, but lately he hasn't been sleeping in the afternoon. We're thinking we'll try to nudge his morning nap up closer to 9 and get him up by 11 or so, then try to get him down for the afternoon by 1:30-2. Hope it helps...it might just be that he's resisting naps right now so he can practice his new tricks and he'll go back to his old patterns soon enough, but we'll see if adjusting forward a bit helps.
Pictures A few weekends ago we had some pictures taken in the bluebonnets. Daniel was more interested in taking in the scenery than smiling, but I think the photographer still got several good shots. Here are a few:
Well I started this post shortly after Daniel turned 8 months old, then with the busy-ness of the last few weeks I look up and here we are halfway through the month. So, it's a bit dated now, but here we go!
First, his official monthly picture:
Developments The biggest news this month is that Daniel is gettiing better and better at crawling. Initially it's been more of an army-crawl or, as my parents described it, like doing the butterfly swim stroke on the floor. He's still not really pushing off with his knees yet but he can move pretty well with his current technique. It doesn't seem like that long ago that we were celebrating when he could scoot a few inches to grab a toy, now he is traveling the full length of the floor, and quickly!
In other news, he seems to be working on his third and fourth teeth, the top two middle ones. One night a few weeks ago, for the first time in a long time, he woke up crying at night and had to be soothed back to sleep, and a few other evenings he had a harder time getting down. The teeth still haven't pushed through but I can definitely feel the bumps under his gums.
He is also learning to say ma-ma. I know he's not actually saying the word "mama" yet but I still love to hear him make the sounds in his sweet little voice. It still amazes me that 8 months ago he was this little newborn who couldn't even hold up his own head and now he's crawlling, saying mama and...kissing the dishwasher?
Yes, kissing the dishwasher. In recent weeks he has learned how to give kisses (sloppy but so sweet) and become more interactive with his reflection in the mirror. These two developments, along with crawling and saying mama, are all on display in this video, in which he spies his reflection in the stainless steel dishwasher door and decides to show some affection:
Sleeping Not much to report here. Still sleeping well at night and napping reasonably well by day. We've moved away from our previous routine of putting him down for a nap within 2 hours of waking and now he "sleeps by the clock." Up 6:30-7:30, down for his first nap by 9:30-10, wake him up by 12 if he is still napping, back down againi by 2:30-3, and down for the night by 7:30-8. It works out to 14-15 hours of sleep per day, which seems to be good for him. He goes down easily nearly every time if we abide by that schedule and he seems alert and playful during the day.
Eating We've had some big changes on the food front. At his last checkup he had dropped down to about the 10th percentile in weight so the doctor said it was time to bump up his solid food offerings (which we had planned to do anyway but hadn't gotten around to setting up his high chair at Grandma's). So we've gone from one solid meal a day to three.
For now we are viewing the solid food as a supplement to, rather than substitute for, the breastmilk he still gets four times a day. So a typical day's food for him now involves nursing when he wakes up, breakfast of cereal and fruit (or sometimes avocado), a bottle before his first nap, a solid lunch of veggies and sometimes shredded chicken, a bottle before his second nap, a solid dinner, and nursing before bed. He's eating everything we put in front of him pretty well but we're trying to keep the milk intake up and have introduced a sippy cup of water too to fight the constipation issues he's been having.
For a few days whenever the backed up feeling hit he'd stop crawling, stick his butt in the air, cry, and look up with this "help me!" look on his face. At first we thought it was a bad reaction to his first experience with yogurt (and since I haven't reintroduced it yet I still can't rule that out), but he seems to be feeling better now. He's already doing pretty well with a sippy cup with a straw and can pick it up, hold it, and put it in his mouth to drink without assistance (though not consistently). He can use the spout sippies too but needs a little help tilting it back far enough. We haven't introduced any other liquids yet and I'm in no great hurry, but once he becomes better with the cup we'll start transitioning his milk from bottles to cups.
I've been trying to make most of his food for him (in addition to the milk, of course). It's not that I don't trust the jarred foods, but it's nice to know I'm feeding him something made with love, and know exactly what's in it. So far I've successfully pureed sweet potatoes, apples, blueberries, green beans, avocado, peas, parsnips, and chicken, and I've started a frozen stockpile of these. So Daniel continues to take over the freezer, between that, his milk, and his teethers.
Caregivers This month Kevin's mom, who normally watches Daniel during the day, was out of town for a week. Then, Kevin left for a two week business trip to Bangalore, India the following weekend so my mom came back to help me out that week. This week I'm solo parenting and dropping Daniel off at MIL's again during the day, but for two straight weeks Daniel and my mom, his "Mimi," had the opportunity to bond during the day. As I expected, Mom was wonderful with him. One of the benefits of being a working mom is that it creates space for Daniel to form a close relationship with my MIL, so it was nice for him and my mother to get some special one-on-one time too. Daniel's lucky to have two grandmothers (and grandfathers) who love him so much and are so good with him.
He adjusted pretty easily to being at home during the day and being with my mom instead of MIL. He and Mimi will have the opportunity to bond again in a few weeks when MIL travels again.
While Kevin is away, Daniel and I have been able to talk to him on Skype almost every day, and we can see each other on video. It's cute to see Daniel break into a big smile when he hears and sees Daddy! And Kevin recorded himself reading a book called Guess How Much I Miss You that I read to Daniel every day so he can hear Kevin's voice. I'm managing well enough going solo (though I was 15 minutes late to work today after Daniel needed more attention than usual this morning) but I know it's hard for Kevin to be so far away for so long. Saturday afternoon can't come quickly enough for any of us!
Hard as it is to believe, Daniel is already 7 months old! As I think back on the past month or so, I realize we've had several big changes.
First, here's his 7 month "birthday" picture:
Eating We introduced Daniel to solids around his 6-month birthday and have been gradually expanding the offerings. So far sweet potatoes, bananas, and multigrain cereals have gone over well. He was initially less enthused about zucchini squash but seemed to like it better as the week went on and as I mixed it with not just breastmilk but also a little cereal. I think going forward with new veggies I'll start out just mixing it about 50/50 with milk and cereal and gradually decrease the cereal portion as he gets used to the veggie. When we first started solids Daniel needed a little help getting the hang of how to use a spoon but now he eagerly leans forward with his mouth open to take it.
Breastmilk is still the majority of his diet, as it should be for a 7 month old, but over the next month I think we'll try to work up to 2 solid feedings a day. So far solids are just a supplement to milk feedings not a replacement for them, but as the year goes on solids will become a bigger part of his diet. In the meantime he's still nursing like a champ and taking two 7oz bottles during the day.
Sleeping Not much change on this front. He still sleeps wonderfully through the night almost every night and naps pretty well most days. His wakeful interval has been about 2 hours since his newborn days but now sometimes seems to be able to go a little longer to 2 1/2-3 hours at a time. We're still on a 2 nap a day schedule though and hopefully will be for a few more months at least.
Skills and developments As the last post mentioned, Daniel now has his second tooth. I can't tell yet where the third one will come through so I don't think it's imminent but you never know.
The biggest news on the skill front is that Daniel is beginning to crawl. Last Monday he got up on his hands and knees for the first time. Tuesday he learned how to rock back and forth. Friday he was on the bath mat before his bath and while trying to move forward, he scooted himself backwards off the mat, out the bathroom doors and into the bedroom. And Sunday night...well, he did this:
Yes, we have a crawler now! Excited and a little nervous to see what lies in store this week as he gets better at it. One thing's for sure, we need to babyproof ASAP!
