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!
Monday, November 29, 2010
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.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Attempting a Swaddle-Free Night
(Noah is 8 months and 2 days old)
Swaddle-free naptimes seem to be going as well as can be expected for Noah. I've been starting to feel guilty for having him all wrapped up while he migrates around his crib at night, sometimes getting himself in less than desirable positions that seem hard to get out of with no arms. He really really loves to sleep on his stomach, and every single time he has an hour long nap it's been because he moved to his stomach at some point. He sleeps on his stomach even though he's swaddled, which makes me feel bad for him.
I've been so hesitant to take him out of the swaddle at night because he's been sleeping so well. When he wakes up during the night he'll usually just lie there awake and then eventually fall back asleep. After he nurses he is almost always awake, so I just lay him in his crib (swaddled) and he eventually drifts off to sleep. I am extremely worried that since he's not swaddled, he won't just lie there, he'll stand up. He's in a sleep sack, but he stands up no problem in his sleep sack.
I don't want to have to do CIO again, but I know my son and I know that's the best way to "teach" him not to do ridiculous things like that that interfere with his sleep. I'm thinking that just reswaddling him won't be the best solution to the standing up problem, because I obviously can't swaddle him forever. So AT SOME POINT he will have to learn to not stand up in his crib as soon as he wakes up when he's not swaddled.
Maybe I'm borrowing trouble. He could be totally fine tonight. Besides the freezing cold hands he gets when his arms are free all night long. Anybody have any tips for that? His hands are like little icicles when he's not swaddled at night!!
Sidenote: Justin just told me that they discovered a planet out in space (not our solar system) that is bigger than Jupiter. I said "So what?" He said Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system. And again, I said, "So what?" He told me that you can fit 1320 Earths in Jupiter, that's how big it is. And they found another planet out there that's bigger than that.
My swaddling "issues" suddenly seem very small.
lol
Swaddle-free naptimes seem to be going as well as can be expected for Noah. I've been starting to feel guilty for having him all wrapped up while he migrates around his crib at night, sometimes getting himself in less than desirable positions that seem hard to get out of with no arms. He really really loves to sleep on his stomach, and every single time he has an hour long nap it's been because he moved to his stomach at some point. He sleeps on his stomach even though he's swaddled, which makes me feel bad for him.
I've been so hesitant to take him out of the swaddle at night because he's been sleeping so well. When he wakes up during the night he'll usually just lie there awake and then eventually fall back asleep. After he nurses he is almost always awake, so I just lay him in his crib (swaddled) and he eventually drifts off to sleep. I am extremely worried that since he's not swaddled, he won't just lie there, he'll stand up. He's in a sleep sack, but he stands up no problem in his sleep sack.
I don't want to have to do CIO again, but I know my son and I know that's the best way to "teach" him not to do ridiculous things like that that interfere with his sleep. I'm thinking that just reswaddling him won't be the best solution to the standing up problem, because I obviously can't swaddle him forever. So AT SOME POINT he will have to learn to not stand up in his crib as soon as he wakes up when he's not swaddled.
Maybe I'm borrowing trouble. He could be totally fine tonight. Besides the freezing cold hands he gets when his arms are free all night long. Anybody have any tips for that? His hands are like little icicles when he's not swaddled at night!!
Sidenote: Justin just told me that they discovered a planet out in space (not our solar system) that is bigger than Jupiter. I said "So what?" He said Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system. And again, I said, "So what?" He told me that you can fit 1320 Earths in Jupiter, that's how big it is. And they found another planet out there that's bigger than that.
My swaddling "issues" suddenly seem very small.
lol
Thursday, November 18, 2010
8 Months Old!
I can't even believe my baby is 8 months old. He's been outside of me for as long as I knew he was inside of me (I found out I was pregnant on July 19th and he was born on March 18th - his EDD was March 29). Where oh where has the time gone??
Here's what Noah is up to at 8 months old:
-He weighs 18lbs 12oz (less than 50th percentile)
-He is 29.5 inches (about 95th percentile)
-He is 10th percentile for weight for height... just a little stringbean.
-He wears 12 month and 18 month clothing.
-He wears size 3 diapers (most Pampers BabyDry).
-He has 4 teeth, three from when he was 5 months old and one he just got in the past week. I think he may be working on his top-right-middle tooth, too. We'll see!
-He is still exclusively breastfed (except for solids at dinner; he still has never had a bottle), and he is getting to be a very cuddly nurser again.
-He eats about 4oz of solids before bedtime, but during the rest of the day it's just breastfeeding. He has finally ingested a small amount of liquid (1/3 pear juice, 2/3 water) from a "sippy cup" (a silicone spout sort of thing, not a true sippy cup). He's usually not that into it, though.
-Most solids still constipate him. So far the only safe foods are pears, prunes, peaches, and butternut squash. Peas, carrots, rice cereal, bananas, apples, apples and apricots, sweet potato, and sweet potato and turkey all constipate him. It's very frustrating, because it takes forever to unplug him again, and it makes it very difficult to introduce new foods. I think the fact that we keep having to switch back to strictly pears and prunes is starting to make him a bit pickier. He was at a point where he loved everything we offered him, but I don't know anymore.
-We just started Oat cereal in hopes that it won't constipate him.
-He's going to sleep at night usually between 7 and 7:30.
-He sleeps amazingly well at night after a very short bout with CIO. He pretty much sleeps 10 to 11 hours straight (with an outside range of 9.5 to 11.5), nurses, and then usually goes back to bed, depending on how long that stretch was (if it was 11.5 hours, he usually won't fall asleep again). He is usually awake when I put him back in his crib, but that seems to be the only time during the day and night that I can lay him down in his crib, walk away, and he'll often drift off to sleep, even if it's 45 minutes later.
-Bedtime routine is boob, solids, bath, boob, bed. He falls asleep nursing nearly every night.
-He has 2 or 3 naps a day.
-His normal awake time is about 2.5 hours. Sometimes as short as an hour and 15 minutes, and often he has a stretch of 3 hours or more in the evening.
-His naps are still crappy most of the time. In an entire week he maybe has 2 or 3 naps that are about an hour long. The rest are all 30-40 minutes.
-He's still rocked to sleep with a soother for all his naps. I've tried letting him CIO for naps, but the crying is usually much worse than it was at nighttime when we used CIO, so I don't feel he's ready to go to sleep independently for all his naps.
-He is still swaddled at nighttime, but we recently have stopped swaddling for naps. I think it's going okay.
-He sleeps on his tummy even when he's swaddled. I thought this was just the worst thing until I remembered that when I used to sleep on my tummy (before being pregnant and nursing... I haven't slept on my tummy in a very very long time) I would always sleep with my arms straight down at my sides. So it's not like it's uncomfortable.
-Everytime we go to get him out of his crib he's standing up waiting for us. It's one of those things I always dreamed of about being a mom:)
-He crawls on his hands and knees exclusively. He started doing this right at 7 months, and had ditched army crawling completely by 7.5 months. The only time he'll army crawl is if he's trying to get under something that's too low to crawl under.
-He pulls up to standing using everything (even just a flat wall) and can sit down again on his own. His crib is on the 2nd lowest setting. He no longer needs someone to sit behind him when he's standing in case he falls, because he pretty much never falls. He doesn't even lean on the things that are supporting him. He just needs a hand on something to steady himself.
-He can just sit there in a squatting position, not holding on to anything.
-He can stand on his own - without holding on to anything - for a few seconds at a time. His record is about 5 seconds. This is by no means something he has mastered, though.
-He is understanding object permanence and looks for dropped objects.
-He has seperation anxiety and stranger anxiety. Fun fun!:)
-If he wants to be picked up and you are across the room, he will whine and crawl over to you and use your legs to stand up until you pick him up.
-He gives me lots of kisses everyday. He's started to "talk" while he does it, I think because when I kiss him I often am going "Muah, muah muah, muah." He's started to open his mouth, plant it on me, and go "Ahhhhhh." He doesn't kiss anybody else, usually, but yesterday he gave his friend Aubrey (3 weeks older) a kiss on the cheek, "Ahhh" and everything..
-He likes to sit in the bumbo on the kitchen counter while I cook.
-He babbles lots and sometimes purposefully imitates the sounds we make ("bat"). His most common sound is "Dada."
-He laughs his head off when Justin turns the ring stacker upside down, spins it like a top, and says "BING!"
-He doesn't get his soother much during the day, so he's falling out of love with it. When he does get it during the day, he plays with it more than he sucks on it.
-He still does the head-tilt thing, but it's becoming less frequent than it was a month ago.
-He loves our cats, but they do not love him. It makes me not love them.
There it is! Happy 8 months, my sweet little Noah! The past 8 months have been the best and happiest 8 months of my life.
Here's what Noah is up to at 8 months old:
-He weighs 18lbs 12oz (less than 50th percentile)
-He is 29.5 inches (about 95th percentile)
-He is 10th percentile for weight for height... just a little stringbean.
-He wears 12 month and 18 month clothing.
-He wears size 3 diapers (most Pampers BabyDry).
-He has 4 teeth, three from when he was 5 months old and one he just got in the past week. I think he may be working on his top-right-middle tooth, too. We'll see!
-He is still exclusively breastfed (except for solids at dinner; he still has never had a bottle), and he is getting to be a very cuddly nurser again.
-He eats about 4oz of solids before bedtime, but during the rest of the day it's just breastfeeding. He has finally ingested a small amount of liquid (1/3 pear juice, 2/3 water) from a "sippy cup" (a silicone spout sort of thing, not a true sippy cup). He's usually not that into it, though.
-Most solids still constipate him. So far the only safe foods are pears, prunes, peaches, and butternut squash. Peas, carrots, rice cereal, bananas, apples, apples and apricots, sweet potato, and sweet potato and turkey all constipate him. It's very frustrating, because it takes forever to unplug him again, and it makes it very difficult to introduce new foods. I think the fact that we keep having to switch back to strictly pears and prunes is starting to make him a bit pickier. He was at a point where he loved everything we offered him, but I don't know anymore.
-We just started Oat cereal in hopes that it won't constipate him.
-He's going to sleep at night usually between 7 and 7:30.
-He sleeps amazingly well at night after a very short bout with CIO. He pretty much sleeps 10 to 11 hours straight (with an outside range of 9.5 to 11.5), nurses, and then usually goes back to bed, depending on how long that stretch was (if it was 11.5 hours, he usually won't fall asleep again). He is usually awake when I put him back in his crib, but that seems to be the only time during the day and night that I can lay him down in his crib, walk away, and he'll often drift off to sleep, even if it's 45 minutes later.
-Bedtime routine is boob, solids, bath, boob, bed. He falls asleep nursing nearly every night.
-He has 2 or 3 naps a day.
-His normal awake time is about 2.5 hours. Sometimes as short as an hour and 15 minutes, and often he has a stretch of 3 hours or more in the evening.
-His naps are still crappy most of the time. In an entire week he maybe has 2 or 3 naps that are about an hour long. The rest are all 30-40 minutes.
-He's still rocked to sleep with a soother for all his naps. I've tried letting him CIO for naps, but the crying is usually much worse than it was at nighttime when we used CIO, so I don't feel he's ready to go to sleep independently for all his naps.
-He is still swaddled at nighttime, but we recently have stopped swaddling for naps. I think it's going okay.
-He sleeps on his tummy even when he's swaddled. I thought this was just the worst thing until I remembered that when I used to sleep on my tummy (before being pregnant and nursing... I haven't slept on my tummy in a very very long time) I would always sleep with my arms straight down at my sides. So it's not like it's uncomfortable.
-Everytime we go to get him out of his crib he's standing up waiting for us. It's one of those things I always dreamed of about being a mom:)
-He crawls on his hands and knees exclusively. He started doing this right at 7 months, and had ditched army crawling completely by 7.5 months. The only time he'll army crawl is if he's trying to get under something that's too low to crawl under.
-He pulls up to standing using everything (even just a flat wall) and can sit down again on his own. His crib is on the 2nd lowest setting. He no longer needs someone to sit behind him when he's standing in case he falls, because he pretty much never falls. He doesn't even lean on the things that are supporting him. He just needs a hand on something to steady himself.
-He can just sit there in a squatting position, not holding on to anything.
-He can stand on his own - without holding on to anything - for a few seconds at a time. His record is about 5 seconds. This is by no means something he has mastered, though.
-He is understanding object permanence and looks for dropped objects.
-He has seperation anxiety and stranger anxiety. Fun fun!:)
-If he wants to be picked up and you are across the room, he will whine and crawl over to you and use your legs to stand up until you pick him up.
-He gives me lots of kisses everyday. He's started to "talk" while he does it, I think because when I kiss him I often am going "Muah, muah muah, muah." He's started to open his mouth, plant it on me, and go "Ahhhhhh." He doesn't kiss anybody else, usually, but yesterday he gave his friend Aubrey (3 weeks older) a kiss on the cheek, "Ahhh" and everything..
-He likes to sit in the bumbo on the kitchen counter while I cook.
-He babbles lots and sometimes purposefully imitates the sounds we make ("bat"). His most common sound is "Dada."
-He laughs his head off when Justin turns the ring stacker upside down, spins it like a top, and says "BING!"
-He doesn't get his soother much during the day, so he's falling out of love with it. When he does get it during the day, he plays with it more than he sucks on it.
-He still does the head-tilt thing, but it's becoming less frequent than it was a month ago.
-He loves our cats, but they do not love him. It makes me not love them.
There it is! Happy 8 months, my sweet little Noah! The past 8 months have been the best and happiest 8 months of my life.
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