Today I discovered that Noah has cut his sixth tooth, the other top middle tooth (his left one). So luckily he won't have a snaggle-tooth. He might have an ENORMOUS gap though, because the two teeth look really far apart right now.
I believe he is soon going to cut his top left tooth beside the middle teeth. That tooth is RIGHT there, and since he seems to be on a teething spurt, hopefully it will come out soon. He seems pretty miserable the past couple of days. It's hard to know for sure where the misery is coming from, though. There are so many possibilities at this age. Teething, overtiredness, frustration (because he keeps doing things he's not allowed to do), separation anxiety, hunger... it's really hard to tell what the culprit is.
My mom bought me some homeopathic teething drops, which I gave Noah 20 minutes before I nursed him (they're supposed to be given away from meals). I doubt I'll be able to tell if they're working or not. But he IS playing happily in his jumperoo right now. And that is a rare occurance these days.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Separation Anxiety
(Noah is about 8 1/2 months old)
I can't remember exactly when Noah's separation anxiety started. I think it was one of those things that gradually crept up on me. I do know it's been going on for at least a month.
It started out with some fussing if I put him in the playpen, or if he was on the floor and I walked into the kitchen.
It has progressed to full blown, red-faced screaming as he sadly jumps in the jolly jumper while I shower with the curtain open talking and singing to him as the puddle on my floor gets bigger and bigger. Lesson learned. Do not attempt a shower unless he's taking one of his half hour naps.
I can't do anything. I can't do chores. I can't make myself something to eat. I can't even stand up when we've been playing on the floor without him crying and trying to climb my legs. As soon as he senses I'm about to walk away - even if it's to somewhere nearby where he can still see me - he starts crying. And the shower thing: I was about 5 feet away from him, looking at him and talking to him, but he apparently knew that I was otherwise incapacitated and couldn't pick him up. Because normally he loves his jolly jumper.
I do all my housework while Justin is home so he can be with Noah. Justin isn't always enough for Noah, though. Sometimes he just needs his Mama. For example, after his last nap today he woke up crying, as he almost always does. Justin went and got him and he was okay (not great). But as soon as he saw me the big pouty lip came out and the eyes welled up and he reached for me.
Just now I went to the kitchen to check on dinner. We have an open concept house, so I'm still visible when I'm in the kitchen. Justin was with Noah in the living room, but Noah started whimpering and crawling after me. When I came back I sent his wheely giraffe toy rolling across the floor to him. He usually loves that thing, but he knocked it over, pushed it to the side, and crawled into my arms. "I don't want no stinkin' giraffe, I want my Mama!"
Last week sometime he woke up really early from a nap (after about 20 minutes of sleep, including the time he spent in my arms). I had just finished making a really nice lunch, and I was frustrated because so many of my meals have been interrupted by having to hold him because he's upset. So I got Noah from his crib and put him in his jumperoo. Clearly he could sense that I was frustrated, because he started wailing. Justin picked him up and tried to calm him down but the wails and crocodile tears continued until I took him in my arms. This was perhaps not an issue with separation anxiety, but instead an example of how intuitive Noah is, and how sometimes only Mommy will do. Even when it has nothing to do with boobs.
It's not ALWAYS like this though. I'd say 30% of the time he's happy enough without me right next to him. But 70% is a lot of the time. I can hardly go to the bathroom. Noah has to come with me and sit on the floor playing with something.
The playpen? Forget it. Not unless I want an automatic meltdown.
It's hard to be a SAHM in a remote little town where there's nothing to do and nowhere to go and be totally glued to your kid for his every waking minute. And my husband is gone A LOT.
I'm not going to lie. About 20% of this post is flat-out complaining. Being a SAHM is not always easy. I'm not going to say that I'd rather be a working mom - I wouldn't. But it's not easy to be alone all day everyday with a cranky baby who needs to be right next to you every second, especially when you don't get to see your husband - or any other adult - much (or at all) several days in a row (like last week) and the previously-mentioned baby barely naps.
The other 80% of me feels very tolerant of this behaviour. It makes me feel loved, and important. Noah obviously knows that I am his most important caregiver. I nurse him all day, I put him to sleep every single time he sleeps, I bathe him every single time he has a bath. Noah knows that without me, he'd be screwed. He loves me. In a funny way, I feel that the separation anxiety means that he appreciates me.
Furthermore, I am fairly certain this is not "put on." He is literally feeling anxiety. That's not fun! I had bad separation anxiety when I was about 4 years old, and I remember it very vividly. I remember being terrified when I didn't know where my mom or an adult was. One time I ran to my neighbours house panicked because I couldn't find my mom. It turned out she was just upstairs blowdrying her hair, but I was crying and yelling for her and she couldn't hear me so I was convinced she had left the house without me.
Another time we were being babysat by this woman and she left the house and went to the neighbours for some reason. I was so scared that there was no grown up around so I ran outside and went down the driveway to find her. She ended up getting me in so much trouble and I had to sit in a chair facing the corner. Needless to say, she never babysat us again. It still makes me feel anxious inside when I think about it! I remember how scared I was running down the driveway to find a grownup and then I got in trouble for it.
So I try not to get annoyed at Noah's separation anxiety, even though it's crippling my life. Because it's obviously very real to him, and I don't want to cause him extra anxiety by acting frustrated or ignoring his cries. Hopefully he will get past this sooner rather than later. In the meantime, any coping suggestions are more than welcome!
I can't remember exactly when Noah's separation anxiety started. I think it was one of those things that gradually crept up on me. I do know it's been going on for at least a month.
It started out with some fussing if I put him in the playpen, or if he was on the floor and I walked into the kitchen.
It has progressed to full blown, red-faced screaming as he sadly jumps in the jolly jumper while I shower with the curtain open talking and singing to him as the puddle on my floor gets bigger and bigger. Lesson learned. Do not attempt a shower unless he's taking one of his half hour naps.
I can't do anything. I can't do chores. I can't make myself something to eat. I can't even stand up when we've been playing on the floor without him crying and trying to climb my legs. As soon as he senses I'm about to walk away - even if it's to somewhere nearby where he can still see me - he starts crying. And the shower thing: I was about 5 feet away from him, looking at him and talking to him, but he apparently knew that I was otherwise incapacitated and couldn't pick him up. Because normally he loves his jolly jumper.
I do all my housework while Justin is home so he can be with Noah. Justin isn't always enough for Noah, though. Sometimes he just needs his Mama. For example, after his last nap today he woke up crying, as he almost always does. Justin went and got him and he was okay (not great). But as soon as he saw me the big pouty lip came out and the eyes welled up and he reached for me.
Just now I went to the kitchen to check on dinner. We have an open concept house, so I'm still visible when I'm in the kitchen. Justin was with Noah in the living room, but Noah started whimpering and crawling after me. When I came back I sent his wheely giraffe toy rolling across the floor to him. He usually loves that thing, but he knocked it over, pushed it to the side, and crawled into my arms. "I don't want no stinkin' giraffe, I want my Mama!"
Last week sometime he woke up really early from a nap (after about 20 minutes of sleep, including the time he spent in my arms). I had just finished making a really nice lunch, and I was frustrated because so many of my meals have been interrupted by having to hold him because he's upset. So I got Noah from his crib and put him in his jumperoo. Clearly he could sense that I was frustrated, because he started wailing. Justin picked him up and tried to calm him down but the wails and crocodile tears continued until I took him in my arms. This was perhaps not an issue with separation anxiety, but instead an example of how intuitive Noah is, and how sometimes only Mommy will do. Even when it has nothing to do with boobs.
It's not ALWAYS like this though. I'd say 30% of the time he's happy enough without me right next to him. But 70% is a lot of the time. I can hardly go to the bathroom. Noah has to come with me and sit on the floor playing with something.
The playpen? Forget it. Not unless I want an automatic meltdown.
It's hard to be a SAHM in a remote little town where there's nothing to do and nowhere to go and be totally glued to your kid for his every waking minute. And my husband is gone A LOT.
I'm not going to lie. About 20% of this post is flat-out complaining. Being a SAHM is not always easy. I'm not going to say that I'd rather be a working mom - I wouldn't. But it's not easy to be alone all day everyday with a cranky baby who needs to be right next to you every second, especially when you don't get to see your husband - or any other adult - much (or at all) several days in a row (like last week) and the previously-mentioned baby barely naps.
The other 80% of me feels very tolerant of this behaviour. It makes me feel loved, and important. Noah obviously knows that I am his most important caregiver. I nurse him all day, I put him to sleep every single time he sleeps, I bathe him every single time he has a bath. Noah knows that without me, he'd be screwed. He loves me. In a funny way, I feel that the separation anxiety means that he appreciates me.
Furthermore, I am fairly certain this is not "put on." He is literally feeling anxiety. That's not fun! I had bad separation anxiety when I was about 4 years old, and I remember it very vividly. I remember being terrified when I didn't know where my mom or an adult was. One time I ran to my neighbours house panicked because I couldn't find my mom. It turned out she was just upstairs blowdrying her hair, but I was crying and yelling for her and she couldn't hear me so I was convinced she had left the house without me.
Another time we were being babysat by this woman and she left the house and went to the neighbours for some reason. I was so scared that there was no grown up around so I ran outside and went down the driveway to find her. She ended up getting me in so much trouble and I had to sit in a chair facing the corner. Needless to say, she never babysat us again. It still makes me feel anxious inside when I think about it! I remember how scared I was running down the driveway to find a grownup and then I got in trouble for it.
So I try not to get annoyed at Noah's separation anxiety, even though it's crippling my life. Because it's obviously very real to him, and I don't want to cause him extra anxiety by acting frustrated or ignoring his cries. Hopefully he will get past this sooner rather than later. In the meantime, any coping suggestions are more than welcome!
Baby Proof
As anybody with a mobile baby knows, baby proofing is an ongoing process. You don't get it all done at once. Or, you don't if you have a fairly large 6 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. We started 3 months ago when Noah perfected his army crawl. And we're still going.
Yesterday we baby proofed our downstairs. Our main floor is mostly baby proofed, but there's no TV except in our bedroom. Now that high school basketball season is upon us, I'm spending many long days alone at home with Noah (this is a post on it's own). When my husband leaves before (or just after) Noah wakes up in the morning and gets home after Noah goes to bed (or just shows up for 30 to 60 minutes sometime in there), I need to be able to watch some TV or something some of the time that Noah is playing. We live in a tiny farm town 25 minutes from the real town (we're looking to move back, but that is ALSO another post of it's own), so it's not like Noah and I have anywhere to GO unless we want to make a full day of it and use my parents' house as a home base for feedings and naps (seriously, running to the mall turns into a 6 hour long affair). Furthermore, I can't clean my house or anything, because Noah has such bad separation anxiety (also another post on it's own). So we need somewhere else in my house that we can go besides the main floor.
Despite the fact that Noah has been on the go since 5 1/2 months, our downstairs was NOT baby proofed. There were visible cords everywhere that he was always yanking at. There were deathtrap coffee tables that he could maim himself on. Whenever we were down there I was constantly pulling him away from things, so he was getting frustrated and I was getting frustrated. Needless to say, we didn't spend much time down there.
After yesterday, it's about 90% baby proofed. We put a walk through gate up at the bottom of the stairs, since Noah is a stair climber. We got rid of the dangerous coffee tables; they have found homes in our various extra bedrooms. We put outlet covers in the empty sockets, and moved furniture around so that all but one of the plugs with cords coming out of it are covered.
We have three problems remaining.
One is the outlet that has this tall lamp plugged into it. I don't know how to cover the lamp and the outlet. We put a couch in front of the other lamp and outlet, but the location of this lamp doesn't really allow that to happen. And it really is the best location for the lamp, lighting-wise. So far Noah hasn't gone to play with it. We'll see.
Another problem is that we have a low entertainment unit, so Noah can pull himself up and reach and touch the TV. The big, expensive, 50 inch LCD TV. Not something you want a baby pawing at. We need to find something that lifts the TV up higher so Noah can't grab at the screen. Or we need a new entertainment unit. But getting one tall enough and safe enough would be really expensive.
Finally, we need to install cabinet locks on the entertainment unit doors. Noah opens them and pulls out all the wires and chews on them. Not good. We have the locks, but we have to screw them in the doors, so it'll take awhile to do it.
I've been wanting to babyproof the downstairs for a long time now, but the way my husband is I actually have to say "We are doing this now. Let's go." Saying "We should go babyproof the downstairs" is apparently just a suggestion intended to be ignored. About 10 times. And I couldn't do it myself because a lot of the furniture that needed rearranging was WAY too heavy.
So now our upstairs and our downstairs family rooms are baby proofed. So Noah and I have more than one big play room to spend our time in, which helps with the stir-craziness.
A baby proofed house is not nearly as pretty. Our house used to be so immaculate. We had the right furniture, the right accents, the right decorations, the right arrangements. Now everything is shoved to the side or put away to accommodate our little Monkey.
I'm not complaining. I love having the "problem" of our house being less attractive than it used to be because we're blessed to have a baby. In fact, I think it's ridiculous that some people inwardly judge me for accommodating Noah in all areas of my house. So many people think you shouldn't have to adjust your entire lifestyle to fit your child.
However, I don't think our once immaculate, tastefully decorated house will show as nicely as it would have 9 months ago!
Yesterday we baby proofed our downstairs. Our main floor is mostly baby proofed, but there's no TV except in our bedroom. Now that high school basketball season is upon us, I'm spending many long days alone at home with Noah (this is a post on it's own). When my husband leaves before (or just after) Noah wakes up in the morning and gets home after Noah goes to bed (or just shows up for 30 to 60 minutes sometime in there), I need to be able to watch some TV or something some of the time that Noah is playing. We live in a tiny farm town 25 minutes from the real town (we're looking to move back, but that is ALSO another post of it's own), so it's not like Noah and I have anywhere to GO unless we want to make a full day of it and use my parents' house as a home base for feedings and naps (seriously, running to the mall turns into a 6 hour long affair). Furthermore, I can't clean my house or anything, because Noah has such bad separation anxiety (also another post on it's own). So we need somewhere else in my house that we can go besides the main floor.
Despite the fact that Noah has been on the go since 5 1/2 months, our downstairs was NOT baby proofed. There were visible cords everywhere that he was always yanking at. There were deathtrap coffee tables that he could maim himself on. Whenever we were down there I was constantly pulling him away from things, so he was getting frustrated and I was getting frustrated. Needless to say, we didn't spend much time down there.
After yesterday, it's about 90% baby proofed. We put a walk through gate up at the bottom of the stairs, since Noah is a stair climber. We got rid of the dangerous coffee tables; they have found homes in our various extra bedrooms. We put outlet covers in the empty sockets, and moved furniture around so that all but one of the plugs with cords coming out of it are covered.
We have three problems remaining.
One is the outlet that has this tall lamp plugged into it. I don't know how to cover the lamp and the outlet. We put a couch in front of the other lamp and outlet, but the location of this lamp doesn't really allow that to happen. And it really is the best location for the lamp, lighting-wise. So far Noah hasn't gone to play with it. We'll see.
Another problem is that we have a low entertainment unit, so Noah can pull himself up and reach and touch the TV. The big, expensive, 50 inch LCD TV. Not something you want a baby pawing at. We need to find something that lifts the TV up higher so Noah can't grab at the screen. Or we need a new entertainment unit. But getting one tall enough and safe enough would be really expensive.
Finally, we need to install cabinet locks on the entertainment unit doors. Noah opens them and pulls out all the wires and chews on them. Not good. We have the locks, but we have to screw them in the doors, so it'll take awhile to do it.
I've been wanting to babyproof the downstairs for a long time now, but the way my husband is I actually have to say "We are doing this now. Let's go." Saying "We should go babyproof the downstairs" is apparently just a suggestion intended to be ignored. About 10 times. And I couldn't do it myself because a lot of the furniture that needed rearranging was WAY too heavy.
So now our upstairs and our downstairs family rooms are baby proofed. So Noah and I have more than one big play room to spend our time in, which helps with the stir-craziness.
A baby proofed house is not nearly as pretty. Our house used to be so immaculate. We had the right furniture, the right accents, the right decorations, the right arrangements. Now everything is shoved to the side or put away to accommodate our little Monkey.
I'm not complaining. I love having the "problem" of our house being less attractive than it used to be because we're blessed to have a baby. In fact, I think it's ridiculous that some people inwardly judge me for accommodating Noah in all areas of my house. So many people think you shouldn't have to adjust your entire lifestyle to fit your child.
However, I don't think our once immaculate, tastefully decorated house will show as nicely as it would have 9 months ago!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Tooth #5 and Sleep
Not that the two are related.
I forgot to mention that Noah was, in fact, getting his top right middle tooth. Back in my 8 month post I said that I thought he was getting it, and I didn't follow up. He did get it right at the 8 month mark, so he now has 5 teeth.
I'm hoping his top LEFT middle tooth won't be far behind. Two top teeth would look very cute. One top snaggle tooth... not as cute. lol :)
I have to say, Noah often seems to be large unaffected when he's actually cutting teeth. Maybe he's just used to it because he's gotten so many teeth, but I don't necessarily notice a huge increase in gnawing or crankiness - definitely not and increase in night wakings (incidentally, research shows that frequent night wakings are almost never caused by teething, but by other issues that just happen to coincide with teething... whether or not parents agree with that is a different story).
Speaking of night wakings, can I just say how glad I am that we (well, I) used CIO to teach Noah that he can fall asleep again on his own? Last night before I went to sleep I went in his room, like I do every night. Sometimes I fix his sleep positon because he moves all over the place and I don't like going to bed when his face is buried in the corner of his crib. I've never actually seen him do anything in his sleep other than roll over or kind of shift his body a bit, so I never knew how exactly it was that he would migrate all over his crib. I mean, the child is an acrobat and can do everything but walk, run, and jump without assistance. But I just always wondered how he would move around SO much if he was sleeping.
So I was in there, staring at him. He was lying on his tummy, like always, and I was considering dragging him down to the bottom of the crib again because I was envisioning him burying his face in the corner of the crib within the hour. He seemed restless, though, so I was hesitating. Suddenly he SAT UP. I dropped to the ground so he wouldn't see me (thank goodness for bumper pads - which are breathable, by the way). I peeked a few times and he was just sitting up, looking around, not making a peep. Then he just slumped forward and went back to sleep. Folded in half.
I'm so glad to know that if I hadn't done what I did (by letting him CIO to discover that he doesn't always need me to help him fall back asleep) I would still be putting him back to sleep a million times a night. It just reinforces that it was the right thing for us to do. Not that the sleeping through the night thing hasn't been reinforcing it. But it was nice to see Noah sit up, be awake, not make a sound, and just fall back asleep again. On his own.
I forgot to mention that Noah was, in fact, getting his top right middle tooth. Back in my 8 month post I said that I thought he was getting it, and I didn't follow up. He did get it right at the 8 month mark, so he now has 5 teeth.
I'm hoping his top LEFT middle tooth won't be far behind. Two top teeth would look very cute. One top snaggle tooth... not as cute. lol :)
I have to say, Noah often seems to be large unaffected when he's actually cutting teeth. Maybe he's just used to it because he's gotten so many teeth, but I don't necessarily notice a huge increase in gnawing or crankiness - definitely not and increase in night wakings (incidentally, research shows that frequent night wakings are almost never caused by teething, but by other issues that just happen to coincide with teething... whether or not parents agree with that is a different story).
Speaking of night wakings, can I just say how glad I am that we (well, I) used CIO to teach Noah that he can fall asleep again on his own? Last night before I went to sleep I went in his room, like I do every night. Sometimes I fix his sleep positon because he moves all over the place and I don't like going to bed when his face is buried in the corner of his crib. I've never actually seen him do anything in his sleep other than roll over or kind of shift his body a bit, so I never knew how exactly it was that he would migrate all over his crib. I mean, the child is an acrobat and can do everything but walk, run, and jump without assistance. But I just always wondered how he would move around SO much if he was sleeping.
So I was in there, staring at him. He was lying on his tummy, like always, and I was considering dragging him down to the bottom of the crib again because I was envisioning him burying his face in the corner of the crib within the hour. He seemed restless, though, so I was hesitating. Suddenly he SAT UP. I dropped to the ground so he wouldn't see me (thank goodness for bumper pads - which are breathable, by the way). I peeked a few times and he was just sitting up, looking around, not making a peep. Then he just slumped forward and went back to sleep. Folded in half.
I'm so glad to know that if I hadn't done what I did (by letting him CIO to discover that he doesn't always need me to help him fall back asleep) I would still be putting him back to sleep a million times a night. It just reinforces that it was the right thing for us to do. Not that the sleeping through the night thing hasn't been reinforcing it. But it was nice to see Noah sit up, be awake, not make a sound, and just fall back asleep again. On his own.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
I'll Take More, Please
Yesterday I was going through the check out at Wal.mart. Noah was sitting in the front of the cart leaning over and pressing the buttons on the ATM swiper machine. The cashier, a teenage girl, said "They always find the buttons right away." I laughed and "Yep, and they always know what's electronic and what's not and they go right for it."
She asked "Is he your first?" and I said "Yes." She then said, "And your last???" in such a tone of voice as if she thought she knew that was just what I was thinking to myself. As if having Noah as my first child would deter me from wanting anymore children.
I very quickly corrected her: "Nooo!! Definitely not! He's wonderful!! I couldn't ask for a better baby!"
It really made me realize how many people are out there that complain about their children and make comments like that (like "if Suzy was our first child, she would have been our last!!" etc). Too many people just don't appreciate what a blessing children are, and how incredibly lucky they are to have them.
This complaining about children is apparently so common that this teenager would assume that a young mother with a curious (and adorable) baby would want him to be her last baby!
I made sure she knew that he is awesome and I feel I am incredibly lucky to have him as my child. I should only be so lucky as to have another one like him. And another one. And heck, I wouldn't mind at all if God threw in a fourth as a surprise tag-along miracle. Four was our original goal.
She asked "Is he your first?" and I said "Yes." She then said, "And your last???" in such a tone of voice as if she thought she knew that was just what I was thinking to myself. As if having Noah as my first child would deter me from wanting anymore children.
I very quickly corrected her: "Nooo!! Definitely not! He's wonderful!! I couldn't ask for a better baby!"
It really made me realize how many people are out there that complain about their children and make comments like that (like "if Suzy was our first child, she would have been our last!!" etc). Too many people just don't appreciate what a blessing children are, and how incredibly lucky they are to have them.
This complaining about children is apparently so common that this teenager would assume that a young mother with a curious (and adorable) baby would want him to be her last baby!
I made sure she knew that he is awesome and I feel I am incredibly lucky to have him as my child. I should only be so lucky as to have another one like him. And another one. And heck, I wouldn't mind at all if God threw in a fourth as a surprise tag-along miracle. Four was our original goal.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Stair Climber
Noah is 8 months and 6 days old
Today while we were visiting my parents, Noah climbed up the stairs. It was his first attempt at stair climbing EVER and he figured it out in about 5 seconds.
I cannot believe this little rascal!
Today while we were visiting my parents, Noah climbed up the stairs. It was his first attempt at stair climbing EVER and he figured it out in about 5 seconds.
I cannot believe this little rascal!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
They Grow Up So Fast
Noah is doing all these things that it doesn't look like he should be doing. He's tall (but skinny) for 8 months, but he still looks too small to be doing all the crazy stuff he does. For example:
-He's a speed crawler and just takes off on his own out of the living room down the hallway and goes into bedrooms and closets and bathrooms on his own.
-He is always pulling up to stand using anything he can.
-He'll pull up on the couch, turn his body, reach his hand over, grab the coffee table, and cruise over to the coffee table. He also has an extremely long reach to grab anything on top of said coffee table.
-He'll stand up by using just the wall as support - nothing to actually grab onto. Then he'll just turn around and keep one hand on the wall and check out what's going on around him.
-He crawls over to the windows and pulls himself up so he can stand there watching the world go by.
-If I'm on the couch and he's really hungry he'll pull up to stand and then list his legs and actually try and climb UP the couch. All while whining. It's hilarious.
-He'll pull up to stand just using one hand on one leg of the jumperoo. Then he just hangs out there.
-He can balance himself when he's just sitting in a squat, ass to ankles.
-About a week ago he was playing with Justin on the floor. He was standing up, squatting down, stand up, squatting down while they were playing. He was sitting in a squat, and then just pushed up with his legs and stood up without holding on to anything. He just stood up! On his own! He put his hand on Justin's leg to steady himself once he got up there, but it was crazy!
-He doesn't even need anyone spotting him as he travels throughout the house, even though we have all hardwood and ceramic floors. I mean, we need to make sure he doesn't get into anything dangerous, but he almost never falls down.
All these things are things he's been doing since no later than 7 1/2 months old. He just seems too young and small to be doing all this! I can't believe how fast he's growing up. It's so much fun, though.
I hardly ever post pictures, but I'm going to bombard you now! Here are some from when he was 7 months old.
-He's a speed crawler and just takes off on his own out of the living room down the hallway and goes into bedrooms and closets and bathrooms on his own.
-He is always pulling up to stand using anything he can.
-He'll pull up on the couch, turn his body, reach his hand over, grab the coffee table, and cruise over to the coffee table. He also has an extremely long reach to grab anything on top of said coffee table.
-He'll stand up by using just the wall as support - nothing to actually grab onto. Then he'll just turn around and keep one hand on the wall and check out what's going on around him.
-He crawls over to the windows and pulls himself up so he can stand there watching the world go by.
-If I'm on the couch and he's really hungry he'll pull up to stand and then list his legs and actually try and climb UP the couch. All while whining. It's hilarious.
-He'll pull up to stand just using one hand on one leg of the jumperoo. Then he just hangs out there.
-He can balance himself when he's just sitting in a squat, ass to ankles.
-About a week ago he was playing with Justin on the floor. He was standing up, squatting down, stand up, squatting down while they were playing. He was sitting in a squat, and then just pushed up with his legs and stood up without holding on to anything. He just stood up! On his own! He put his hand on Justin's leg to steady himself once he got up there, but it was crazy!
-He doesn't even need anyone spotting him as he travels throughout the house, even though we have all hardwood and ceramic floors. I mean, we need to make sure he doesn't get into anything dangerous, but he almost never falls down.
All these things are things he's been doing since no later than 7 1/2 months old. He just seems too young and small to be doing all this! I can't believe how fast he's growing up. It's so much fun, though.
I hardly ever post pictures, but I'm going to bombard you now! Here are some from when he was 7 months old.
Climbing under the coffee table:
Crawling on the table at Josiah's baptism:
Everytime I put him in the pack 'n play he refuses to "play." He just wants to get out:
This is how we find our monkey after every nap (and now in the mornings). Look at that mischevious face!:
Little stinker:
Playing:
Whaaat?:
What a flirt:
Happy kid:
Checking out the world:
"Oh, hey Mom":
"I need a new bib, this one's wet":
Here, he's 8 months old:
Trying to escape from jail:
This is a terribly framed picture that Justin took, but his face is cute and it demonstrates his squat... although he's hanging on to something here:
If it sounds like I'm bragging about my child, I absolutely am! I think Noah's the bomb.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Puffs
I gave Noah sweet potato flavoured Puffs today. It was his first finger food. He really liked them, but the poor kid couldn't figure out how to get them into his mouth! He would get one in his fist and then bring his fist to his open mouth and try and try to eat the puff that was clenched tightly in his fist. He would look so confused by the whole thing. His hand would be covered in slobber, and he just couldn't figure out that he needed to open his hand to get the puff in his mouth!
I don't know what I was expecting? A perfect pincer grasp from an 8 month old boy who has never been allowed to handle tiny objects? lol
We'll work on it. Behind Daddy's back, because he doesn't want him to eat Puffs. But it really is the perfect (ie. non-messy) way to teach him how to feed himself and develop fine motor skills. And they have vitamins in them:)
I don't know what I was expecting? A perfect pincer grasp from an 8 month old boy who has never been allowed to handle tiny objects? lol
We'll work on it. Behind Daddy's back, because he doesn't want him to eat Puffs. But it really is the perfect (ie. non-messy) way to teach him how to feed himself and develop fine motor skills. And they have vitamins in them:)
I May Have Spoken Too Soon
I may have spoken too soon. Last night Noah woke up and cried for a couple of minutes at 8:30pm, and cried off and on for about 10 minutes at 10:40pm. Then he suddenly woke up screaming at 5:10am. That one caught me off guard, and because of the time I got him up and fed him. He was very very sleepy after that, but not fully asleep. I put him in his crib and went back to bed myself. I left the monitor off because he needed to stay in bed until at least 7am anyway, and I CAN hear him from my room when he gets loud, even though the doors are closed and we both have loud fans on.
I didn't fall back asleep, and at one point (about 6:20am) I turned the monitor on to see what was going on. Noah was crying. I thought he'd just been having a hard time falling back asleep for the last hour, so I went in there to try and rock him to sleep, which didn't work. I put him back in his crib, because I wasn't going to rock him in the dark for half an hour, at which point he would probably eventually fall back asleep since he got less than 10 hours of sleep last night and had been up since 5:20am.
He started crying, of course. Then after about 5 minutes he stopped and was just sitting in bed playing. Eventually he folded himself in half and fell asleep. He was in a sitting position and just leaned forward and put his face on the mattress and fell asleep like that. That was about 6:50am. He slept like that until almost 8.
I was thinking we may need to start swaddling again, but honestly, we can't swaddle him forever. It has to stop at some point, and whenever we stop it we're probably going to have this issue of early wakeup times. He has to learn to sleep until a proper wakeup time.
I'm sure he'll get it eventually.
I didn't fall back asleep, and at one point (about 6:20am) I turned the monitor on to see what was going on. Noah was crying. I thought he'd just been having a hard time falling back asleep for the last hour, so I went in there to try and rock him to sleep, which didn't work. I put him back in his crib, because I wasn't going to rock him in the dark for half an hour, at which point he would probably eventually fall back asleep since he got less than 10 hours of sleep last night and had been up since 5:20am.
He started crying, of course. Then after about 5 minutes he stopped and was just sitting in bed playing. Eventually he folded himself in half and fell asleep. He was in a sitting position and just leaned forward and put his face on the mattress and fell asleep like that. That was about 6:50am. He slept like that until almost 8.
I was thinking we may need to start swaddling again, but honestly, we can't swaddle him forever. It has to stop at some point, and whenever we stop it we're probably going to have this issue of early wakeup times. He has to learn to sleep until a proper wakeup time.
I'm sure he'll get it eventually.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Swaddle-Free?
I think we may just be swaddle-free. Last night went well. Noah went to sleep between 7:15 and 7:30. I I didn't hear from him until 6:10, when I fed him. Like usual at that time, he was awake after nursing. I put him back in his crib and he stayed there pretty happily until 7:15, but he didn't fall back asleep. I don't know for sure if this is because he wasn't swaddled, because that does happen occasionally even when he IS swaddled. I guess we'll see what the pattern is over the next few days.
Tonight Noah did wake up after an hour of sleep and start crying. It only lasted a couple of minutes, tops, but now he is in the weirdest positon in his crib. He seems to always end up with his head pressed against the bars of the crib. Last night when I checked on him around 3am he had his head pushed up in the corner of the crib and his face was about 1cm from the bumpers. Thank goodness we have breathable bumper pads!
I think I may do the occasional swaddle, still. When we need him to nap in a pack 'n play it is extremely hard to get him in there when he is swaddled. I think it would be nearly impossible if he wasn't. And Christmas time is going to include several pack 'n play naps. So I may need to keep the swaddle in our reptoire until then.
Tonight Noah did wake up after an hour of sleep and start crying. It only lasted a couple of minutes, tops, but now he is in the weirdest positon in his crib. He seems to always end up with his head pressed against the bars of the crib. Last night when I checked on him around 3am he had his head pushed up in the corner of the crib and his face was about 1cm from the bumpers. Thank goodness we have breathable bumper pads!
I think I may do the occasional swaddle, still. When we need him to nap in a pack 'n play it is extremely hard to get him in there when he is swaddled. I think it would be nearly impossible if he wasn't. And Christmas time is going to include several pack 'n play naps. So I may need to keep the swaddle in our reptoire until then.
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