Elliott is discovering that life can truly be a challenge.
P.S. I also just wanted to take the opportunity to mention that as of this weekend, we are official done with bottles at our house :) Such a milestone!
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Priorities
We all have priorities in life. Sometimes our priorities are clear, easy to define and easy to fulfill. Other times, we are torn between two equally appealing options...
Elliott is discovering that life can truly be a challenge.
P.S. I also just wanted to take the opportunity to mention that as of this weekend, we are official done with bottles at our house :) Such a milestone!
Elliott is discovering that life can truly be a challenge.
P.S. I also just wanted to take the opportunity to mention that as of this weekend, we are official done with bottles at our house :) Such a milestone!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The End of Nursing
This post is eligible for the February Birthday Comment Contest.
Well people, it is official, the bewbs have been put away and Elliott is officially 'on his own'. The mantra in the U.S. these days is that nursing should continue until at least one year of age. Well that's fine and dandy, but we don't always get to choose when to end it. In this case, Elliott and I were on a natural weening process from about 9 months. From about that time, my milk supply was on a fairly stair-stepped decrease until just before his birthday when he was only nursing once a day right before bed. At that point he was getting probably no more than an ounce or two each setting and after awhile, I started to feel it was just time. And apparently it was. The first day we skipped that last session, Elliott didn't seem to notice anything different. (I do think it was helpful to have such a strong nighttime routine in which everything else played out as usual that night.) So for the last 2-3 weeks, my body has been mine again.
Pumping at the office gave me some insight on what my body was doing on its own. I didn't start making any personal changes until after my milk supply started changing on its own. I would have been happy to nurse until a year (heck, except for washing out my pumping parts every night - hated it - I found nursing so convenient and easy), so I feel reasonably confident it was just Nature's timing. Besides Elliott has always been a food-baby, not a milk-baby. He showed interest in our food way before they start mentioning the behavior in the baby books. As soon as he was able to start eating well, he never looked back.
Anyway, another family blog I follow posted an interesting recap to her lactation experience and I thought I would do one of my own:
1. A very conservative estimate has me producing approximately 7,530 ounces of milk...or more dramatically, I think, 58.83 GALLONS!
2. Ms. Rightie was the clear winner in production, responsible for 2/3rds of all milk produced.
3. Approximately 352 at-work pumping sessions totaling 88 hours of pumping time. (This doesn't include any at-home pumping sessions, which happened periodically.)
4. Approximately 96 at-work lunches missed...which might account for the fact that no one invites me to lunch anymore.
5. Biggest loss: 15 ounces (it still hurts), and most of my frozen reserve when I first went back to work. I didn't realize you had to use frozen milk so quickly, so I thought I would help my mother-in-law out and thaw the days worth for her. Well, he didn't drink more than I think 4 ounces my first day back...so by the next day we had to throw the rest away...at least that's what I thought at the time. I would have worked it out differently with what I know now, but there was a lot of uncertainty in the pumping/bottle feeding department at the time.
6. Second biggest loss: 4 ounces...but this one also hurt because by that time, I was only pumping 4 ounces a day...which was also all the b-milk he was getting each day, so we lost a whole day's effort. (Although I do think Brad was more crushed than I was since he's the one who spilled the bottle.)
So there you go! A year of lactating wrapped up in a nut shell. And in case you are wondering: Yes, I am intentionally avoiding the b-word. Turns out, a lot of the parental control settings will pick up that word, even if its used in 'b-feeding', and block our blog. So a couple of our friends couldn't view the blog until I removed all occurrences of the word.
Well people, it is official, the bewbs have been put away and Elliott is officially 'on his own'. The mantra in the U.S. these days is that nursing should continue until at least one year of age. Well that's fine and dandy, but we don't always get to choose when to end it. In this case, Elliott and I were on a natural weening process from about 9 months. From about that time, my milk supply was on a fairly stair-stepped decrease until just before his birthday when he was only nursing once a day right before bed. At that point he was getting probably no more than an ounce or two each setting and after awhile, I started to feel it was just time. And apparently it was. The first day we skipped that last session, Elliott didn't seem to notice anything different. (I do think it was helpful to have such a strong nighttime routine in which everything else played out as usual that night.) So for the last 2-3 weeks, my body has been mine again.
Pumping at the office gave me some insight on what my body was doing on its own. I didn't start making any personal changes until after my milk supply started changing on its own. I would have been happy to nurse until a year (heck, except for washing out my pumping parts every night - hated it - I found nursing so convenient and easy), so I feel reasonably confident it was just Nature's timing. Besides Elliott has always been a food-baby, not a milk-baby. He showed interest in our food way before they start mentioning the behavior in the baby books. As soon as he was able to start eating well, he never looked back.
Anyway, another family blog I follow posted an interesting recap to her lactation experience and I thought I would do one of my own:
1. A very conservative estimate has me producing approximately 7,530 ounces of milk...or more dramatically, I think, 58.83 GALLONS!
2. Ms. Rightie was the clear winner in production, responsible for 2/3rds of all milk produced.
3. Approximately 352 at-work pumping sessions totaling 88 hours of pumping time. (This doesn't include any at-home pumping sessions, which happened periodically.)
4. Approximately 96 at-work lunches missed...which might account for the fact that no one invites me to lunch anymore.
5. Biggest loss: 15 ounces (it still hurts), and most of my frozen reserve when I first went back to work. I didn't realize you had to use frozen milk so quickly, so I thought I would help my mother-in-law out and thaw the days worth for her. Well, he didn't drink more than I think 4 ounces my first day back...so by the next day we had to throw the rest away...at least that's what I thought at the time. I would have worked it out differently with what I know now, but there was a lot of uncertainty in the pumping/bottle feeding department at the time.
6. Second biggest loss: 4 ounces...but this one also hurt because by that time, I was only pumping 4 ounces a day...which was also all the b-milk he was getting each day, so we lost a whole day's effort. (Although I do think Brad was more crushed than I was since he's the one who spilled the bottle.)
So there you go! A year of lactating wrapped up in a nut shell. And in case you are wondering: Yes, I am intentionally avoiding the b-word. Turns out, a lot of the parental control settings will pick up that word, even if its used in 'b-feeding', and block our blog. So a couple of our friends couldn't view the blog until I removed all occurrences of the word.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Weight
This post is eligible for the February Birthday Comment Contest.
Elliott went in for his 12 month well-baby checkup on Feb 11th. The doctor seemed happy with his development, however Elliott weighed in at only 18lbs 6.5oz. This puts him at below the 5th percentile for his age and means that he has only gained 4.5 ounces since December 22nd, his last weight follow up. I was expecting him to weigh closer to 19.5 lbs given his change from November to December. We went over what we are feeding him and the doctor basically feels everything's in order, we just need to do more. We are going to make an effort to get in more snacks and more fat and protein. We feel that his activity level is what is burning all his calories. I mean, the kid is moving all day long. In fact, if we let him, he would play non-stop all day. We will be taking him back in a month, again, to see how he's doing. However, like last time, the doctor isn't all that worried, he just wants to monitor things.
I have been told I weighed in low as a baby as well, so neither Brad or I are super concerned, but it is annoying. We feel like we are feeding him to his appetite and honestly its hard to get in more food during the day, but we are making an effort. The good thing is that he really likes to eat. We are in the process of introducing cheese and yogurt, so hopefully he will decide he likes them (right now the jury's still out). They will be a great source of fat and protein, plus what doesn't taste good with cheese?
P.S. this also means, he has to stay facing backward in this car seat a bit longer, since the law requires him to be 1 year AND 20 pounds in order to sit forward. Oh well, at least he doesn't know what he's missing ;)
Elliott went in for his 12 month well-baby checkup on Feb 11th. The doctor seemed happy with his development, however Elliott weighed in at only 18lbs 6.5oz. This puts him at below the 5th percentile for his age and means that he has only gained 4.5 ounces since December 22nd, his last weight follow up. I was expecting him to weigh closer to 19.5 lbs given his change from November to December. We went over what we are feeding him and the doctor basically feels everything's in order, we just need to do more. We are going to make an effort to get in more snacks and more fat and protein. We feel that his activity level is what is burning all his calories. I mean, the kid is moving all day long. In fact, if we let him, he would play non-stop all day. We will be taking him back in a month, again, to see how he's doing. However, like last time, the doctor isn't all that worried, he just wants to monitor things.
I have been told I weighed in low as a baby as well, so neither Brad or I are super concerned, but it is annoying. We feel like we are feeding him to his appetite and honestly its hard to get in more food during the day, but we are making an effort. The good thing is that he really likes to eat. We are in the process of introducing cheese and yogurt, so hopefully he will decide he likes them (right now the jury's still out). They will be a great source of fat and protein, plus what doesn't taste good with cheese?
P.S. this also means, he has to stay facing backward in this car seat a bit longer, since the law requires him to be 1 year AND 20 pounds in order to sit forward. Oh well, at least he doesn't know what he's missing ;)
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Elliott's Birthday
This post is eligible for the February Birthday Comment Contest.
We had a small party in honor of Elliott's first birthday on Saturday. In addition to my parents and us, Brad's parents flew into town to help us celebrate and our friends drove down from L.A. I would say overall Elliott had a good time despite a few more 'sensitive' moments (he is going through a loud noise = scary phase), so its good it was a relatively small party.
Elliott seemed intrigued by his presents...but didn't end up opening them. (Can I tell you how wrong it feels to open someone else's birthday presents? Hopefully I won't have to do that again!)
Fortunately he seemed to enjoy his gifts. He got big-boy presents (for the bath tub as well as new bowls and spoons), some new books, lots of clothes and some great toys.
Lucy seemed to have a great time as well :) Unfortunately, crap-tastic camera struck again and I didn't get any non-washed out, non-blurry photos. But trust me, she was as cute as ever :)
see my tooth nubbins!
Elliott got dressed up in his big-boy clothes, did lots of cruising and even managed a couple steps here and there.
And later that night, Brad and I took a moment to celebrate his birthday at his actual birth time. Fortunately its easy to remember!
Its hard to believe its been a year and yet I can hardly remember life without Elliott. He has brought our lives more joy than I could have ever imagined. He is an amazing boy and I'm looking forward to all the changes the next year(s) will bring!
We had a small party in honor of Elliott's first birthday on Saturday. In addition to my parents and us, Brad's parents flew into town to help us celebrate and our friends drove down from L.A. I would say overall Elliott had a good time despite a few more 'sensitive' moments (he is going through a loud noise = scary phase), so its good it was a relatively small party.
Elliott seemed intrigued by his presents...but didn't end up opening them. (Can I tell you how wrong it feels to open someone else's birthday presents? Hopefully I won't have to do that again!)
Fortunately he seemed to enjoy his gifts. He got big-boy presents (for the bath tub as well as new bowls and spoons), some new books, lots of clothes and some great toys.
Lucy seemed to have a great time as well :) Unfortunately, crap-tastic camera struck again and I didn't get any non-washed out, non-blurry photos. But trust me, she was as cute as ever :)
see my tooth nubbins!Elliott got dressed up in his big-boy clothes, did lots of cruising and even managed a couple steps here and there.
And later that night, Brad and I took a moment to celebrate his birthday at his actual birth time. Fortunately its easy to remember!
Its hard to believe its been a year and yet I can hardly remember life without Elliott. He has brought our lives more joy than I could have ever imagined. He is an amazing boy and I'm looking forward to all the changes the next year(s) will bring!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Happy Birthday Elliott!
This post is eligible for the February Birthday Comment Contest.
I thought it might be fun to celebrate Elliott's first birthday here on the blog with a little look back...Each photo was taken as close to his "month birthday" as possible given what I had available in my library.
His "Birth" Day:
Month 1:
Month 2:
Month 3:
Month 4:
Month 5:
Month 6:
Month 7:
Month 8:
Month 9:
Month 10:
Month 11:
Month 12:
We are celebrating Elliott's birthday in "real life" with a small party and lots of grandparents! I'm sure there will be a few photos to share. ;)
I thought it might be fun to celebrate Elliott's first birthday here on the blog with a little look back...Each photo was taken as close to his "month birthday" as possible given what I had available in my library.
His "Birth" Day:
Month 1:
Month 2:
Month 3:
Month 4:
Month 5:
Month 6:
Month 7:
Month 8:
Month 9:
Month 10:
Month 11:
Month 12:
We are celebrating Elliott's birthday in "real life" with a small party and lots of grandparents! I'm sure there will be a few photos to share. ;)
Friday, February 5, 2010
1 Year
This post is eligible for the February Birthday Comment Contest.
As we wrap up the end of Elliott's first year, I once again marvel at (relatively) little time it took for Elliott to transition from a helpless newborn to a little person. He has gained weight, gotten taller, grown hair, growth teeth, learned to manipulate the world around him physically (and mentally!), and, frankly, turned into a pretty awesome kid. So at his one year mark, here are a few of the latest milestones:
1. Over the last month, there has been a remarkable transformation in the language department. Elliott has started to mimic English and has even parroted "Its dirty" (about the trash can), and "Delicious" (in response to Auntie Meagan). He also (on his own) chastised Jenny for barking by saying "eh, eh, Nennie" very sternly to mimic what we usually tell her: "Hey, Hey, Jenny!!". He has also repeated a couple of signs on his own, but he doesn't do this often...although who's to say I'm just not understanding the signs he is making! I have no idea at what point you say: 'ok, that was his first word,' because I don't really feel like he is 'talking' yet. But maybe?
2. Walking is so close we can taste it. His confidence level has drastically improved and he even walked four steps down the hall last week. He is usually only taking a couple steps between things, but he seems a lot more sure on his feet and walking with purpose (rather than walking solely when distracted). Apparently I started walking on my first birthday, so who knows, maybe he'll be a repeater!
3. As for sleeping, he is pretty consistently going 12+ hours straight at night. Occasionally he still wakes up in the early morning hours and has trouble getting himself back to sleep on his own (which I blame entirely on the fact that we all still sleep in the same room). Because, except during times of teething, he can get himself back to sleep without fail if we haven't gone to bed yet.
4. He is quickly making up ground for his slow start in the solid foods department. He still has trouble knowing what to do with non-dissolveable or non-smooshable foods (like ground turkey), but thanks to baby puffs, he can now handle chunky foods like a champ. In addition to most kinds of grains, he has eaten (and enjoyed!): peas, apricots, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, potatoes, all manners of squash, green beans, mangoes, bananas, onions, garbanzo beans, prunes, blueberries, corn, turkey, chicken and beef. There has to be a point when you can stop introducing new foods every 3 days, because honestly as he gets closer and closer to eating 'real people-food' that becomes almost impossible. So, I plan to ask the doctor next week about that and see if Elliott can get a pass on that rule and generally eat what is available...except maybe being careful when introducing the 'known allergen' foods.
5. He is also almost completely weened (from me at least). I'm planning a separate post about this topic, but the gist is that he nurses now pretty much only once a day before bed (and probably doesn't get more than about an ounce, because I'm certainly not storing anything anymore). And really, I don't think he'd miss it much if we stopped that as well. He is a food-baby, not a milk-baby. He still gets a bottle of formula before meals (which because of his previous issues of low weight, we don't plan to stop until we get doctor's okay), but its only 4 ounces; 12 total each day. He's never been a 24 ounce a day baby and when we started supplementing my milk with formula, he never seemed to want any more than 4 ounces a sitting, so we never pushed the issue.
6. As he has been since (literally) the day he was born, he continues to be truly fascinated by the world around him. He loves investigating EVERYTHING. He knows immediately if there is something new in the room and usually makes a beeline to check it out. Sometimes its almost as if Elliott is a big cat stalking his prey the way he will circle around the coffee table looking at the (usually forbidden) item, just looking for the perfect angle and perfect moment to strike.
7. Elliott also (finally) started waving this month. :) This delights me to no end. I've even caught him practicing by himself or just watching his hand open and close. If we clapped more (we don't generally, so its been really hard to remember to teach him that), he would probably be doing that now as well.
Well, that's all I can think of at the moment...but, Elliott continues to amaze us every day and we certainly can't wait to see what the next (many) year(s) will bring!
As we wrap up the end of Elliott's first year, I once again marvel at (relatively) little time it took for Elliott to transition from a helpless newborn to a little person. He has gained weight, gotten taller, grown hair, growth teeth, learned to manipulate the world around him physically (and mentally!), and, frankly, turned into a pretty awesome kid. So at his one year mark, here are a few of the latest milestones:
1. Over the last month, there has been a remarkable transformation in the language department. Elliott has started to mimic English and has even parroted "Its dirty" (about the trash can), and "Delicious" (in response to Auntie Meagan). He also (on his own) chastised Jenny for barking by saying "eh, eh, Nennie" very sternly to mimic what we usually tell her: "Hey, Hey, Jenny!!". He has also repeated a couple of signs on his own, but he doesn't do this often...although who's to say I'm just not understanding the signs he is making! I have no idea at what point you say: 'ok, that was his first word,' because I don't really feel like he is 'talking' yet. But maybe?
2. Walking is so close we can taste it. His confidence level has drastically improved and he even walked four steps down the hall last week. He is usually only taking a couple steps between things, but he seems a lot more sure on his feet and walking with purpose (rather than walking solely when distracted). Apparently I started walking on my first birthday, so who knows, maybe he'll be a repeater!
3. As for sleeping, he is pretty consistently going 12+ hours straight at night. Occasionally he still wakes up in the early morning hours and has trouble getting himself back to sleep on his own (which I blame entirely on the fact that we all still sleep in the same room). Because, except during times of teething, he can get himself back to sleep without fail if we haven't gone to bed yet.
4. He is quickly making up ground for his slow start in the solid foods department. He still has trouble knowing what to do with non-dissolveable or non-smooshable foods (like ground turkey), but thanks to baby puffs, he can now handle chunky foods like a champ. In addition to most kinds of grains, he has eaten (and enjoyed!): peas, apricots, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, potatoes, all manners of squash, green beans, mangoes, bananas, onions, garbanzo beans, prunes, blueberries, corn, turkey, chicken and beef. There has to be a point when you can stop introducing new foods every 3 days, because honestly as he gets closer and closer to eating 'real people-food' that becomes almost impossible. So, I plan to ask the doctor next week about that and see if Elliott can get a pass on that rule and generally eat what is available...except maybe being careful when introducing the 'known allergen' foods.
5. He is also almost completely weened (from me at least). I'm planning a separate post about this topic, but the gist is that he nurses now pretty much only once a day before bed (and probably doesn't get more than about an ounce, because I'm certainly not storing anything anymore). And really, I don't think he'd miss it much if we stopped that as well. He is a food-baby, not a milk-baby. He still gets a bottle of formula before meals (which because of his previous issues of low weight, we don't plan to stop until we get doctor's okay), but its only 4 ounces; 12 total each day. He's never been a 24 ounce a day baby and when we started supplementing my milk with formula, he never seemed to want any more than 4 ounces a sitting, so we never pushed the issue.
6. As he has been since (literally) the day he was born, he continues to be truly fascinated by the world around him. He loves investigating EVERYTHING. He knows immediately if there is something new in the room and usually makes a beeline to check it out. Sometimes its almost as if Elliott is a big cat stalking his prey the way he will circle around the coffee table looking at the (usually forbidden) item, just looking for the perfect angle and perfect moment to strike.
7. Elliott also (finally) started waving this month. :) This delights me to no end. I've even caught him practicing by himself or just watching his hand open and close. If we clapped more (we don't generally, so its been really hard to remember to teach him that), he would probably be doing that now as well.
Well, that's all I can think of at the moment...but, Elliott continues to amaze us every day and we certainly can't wait to see what the next (many) year(s) will bring!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Elliott's First Hair Cut
Elliott underwent an official right of passage this last weekend...his first hair cut. After seeing this picture taken at grandma's funeral, I knew it was time.
As you can see in the video below, to compensate for all of his movement, the hair dresser worked very quickly...which means with our "awesome" camera, all the still photos came out blurry.
...but, I think some came out even better for their blurriness.
Elliott discovered My Little Ponies don't taste so good...
"Oh my gosh, what did you do to my hair!"
This might be why the hair stylist said Elliott looked like Macaulay Culkin,
which was news to us.
Brad made me put this one in *eyeroll*
New Do
He did awesome, despite the fact the kid behind him was screaming bloody murder the whole time we were there. Overall a pretty good experience...but both Brad and I agreed something in the 'qi' department was way off about the salon. It specialized in kids hair cuts, which meant it was crazy busy and noisy and chaotic, but that wasn't it and we still haven't put our fingers on it. Anyway, given how well it went, next time we will probably just see if someone at our regular hair salons is up for cutting baby hair...although, they probably won't have the cool highchair salon chair Elliott say in this time around.
As you can see in the video below, to compensate for all of his movement, the hair dresser worked very quickly...which means with our "awesome" camera, all the still photos came out blurry.
...but, I think some came out even better for their blurriness.
Elliott discovered My Little Ponies don't taste so good...when they've been sanitized for his protection.
"Oh my gosh, what did you do to my hair!"
This might be why the hair stylist said Elliott looked like Macaulay Culkin, which was news to us.
Brad made me put this one in *eyeroll*
New DoHe did awesome, despite the fact the kid behind him was screaming bloody murder the whole time we were there. Overall a pretty good experience...but both Brad and I agreed something in the 'qi' department was way off about the salon. It specialized in kids hair cuts, which meant it was crazy busy and noisy and chaotic, but that wasn't it and we still haven't put our fingers on it. Anyway, given how well it went, next time we will probably just see if someone at our regular hair salons is up for cutting baby hair...although, they probably won't have the cool highchair salon chair Elliott say in this time around.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Sleeping through the night
Well, its been more than a week, so I think it may be safe to say that we are all finally sleeping through the night. Elliott's been sleeping through the night for a while...given that he goes to bed at 7:00pm. However, given our 'grown up' bedtimes, this hasn't been the case for mom and dad. Elliott was still waking up usually between 3 to 5 in the morning to eat, which given what it was like earlier and that I feed him in bed half a sleep, it wasn't that big of a deal. But it meant I was rarely getting more than 5 hours of continuous sleep. However, ever since Elliott's first night staying at my aunt's house last week in Salt Lake, he's been sleeping straight through from 7:00pm to 8:00am or even later. In the last week, there has only been one time he woke up to eat, otherwise, its been solid sleep for mom and dad...now if I could just get myself to go to bed earlier, I might just be well rested one of these days!!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Month 11
So many new things this month! I really thought it would just be more of the same, but it feels like Elliott is more a toddler every day. I don't even think of him as a baby any more.
He is so close to walking now. He has been making some tentative steps usually between objects that are close together and sometimes he even walks across his crib. He is getting the hang of walking by pushing things around on the floor, including an upturned side table at my parents' house and his push-firetruck. He is standing more and more on his own, but it still seems like he doesn't think he can do it yet...which he can! Another interesting 'standing' activity that is new this month is dancing and jumping while standing. He will be holding onto something, but when he is excited, he will either dance or jump in place. Elliott thoroughly entertained us at Christmas with his new dancing moves.
He is talking more and more as well. There is almost always a constant stream of 'words' coming out of his mouth, especially while he is playing. My favorite by far is his latest: 'go go go go go'. It cracks me up every time and I'm still shocked I was actually able to capture him doing it on video.
He's also been experimenting with his voice more. We keep saying that we are living with a Gremlin. He lowers his voice and says 'gyam gyam gyam gyam' or just makes the most annoying sound in the world...which is a pretty funny turn of events considering how he wasn't a big fan of that particular noise earlier in life. (Can you tell he loves 'g' sounds?)
He is so close to walking now. He has been making some tentative steps usually between objects that are close together and sometimes he even walks across his crib. He is getting the hang of walking by pushing things around on the floor, including an upturned side table at my parents' house and his push-firetruck. He is standing more and more on his own, but it still seems like he doesn't think he can do it yet...which he can! Another interesting 'standing' activity that is new this month is dancing and jumping while standing. He will be holding onto something, but when he is excited, he will either dance or jump in place. Elliott thoroughly entertained us at Christmas with his new dancing moves.
He is talking more and more as well. There is almost always a constant stream of 'words' coming out of his mouth, especially while he is playing. My favorite by far is his latest: 'go go go go go'. It cracks me up every time and I'm still shocked I was actually able to capture him doing it on video.
He's also been experimenting with his voice more. We keep saying that we are living with a Gremlin. He lowers his voice and says 'gyam gyam gyam gyam' or just makes the most annoying sound in the world...which is a pretty funny turn of events considering how he wasn't a big fan of that particular noise earlier in life. (Can you tell he loves 'g' sounds?)
He has also trading in the glow in the dark dog bone for anything with wheels. He loves to tip over his push-firetruck and play with the wheels. He inspects them very carefully and is trying to figure them out. He's also discovered the wheels on the bottom of the crib and under the bed. Anything with wheels gets a good looking over, including the parked stroller above. He is also playing with us more. He likes to be chased and he loves it when you let him crawl across the bed to almost the edge and then pull him back by his legs. This causes fits of giggles and squeals.
This month also brought him more experiences as a 'big boy' not only is he eating way more foods than before (everything 3 days he is trying something new), but he is riding in shopping carts and sitting in highchairs at restaurants - which he loves!
He just finished watching a plane fly across the sky in this photo.
I also made an unexpected discovery while at the pet store the other day...Elliott LOVES fish. It was one of those days that didn't really have an agenda and I wasn't ready to head home yet, so I thought - hey, I'll walk him past the fish. He was so amazed! He watched them swim and looked at all the different kinds. The hardest part was keeping him from climbing out of the cart so he could see them better!
In other random news for this month Elliott officially turned into a thumb sucker. He had sucked his thumb occationally in the past, but never with any intent. More like - oh this is my thumb, what does it taste like? Now it is frequent and with purpose often after he eats while he is waiting to get down or before sleeping. I have mixed feelings about this, but I'm not concerned about a childhood-long habit at the moment, so really there is nothing to worry about. In fact, it is really quite cute :)
Elliott also had his first cold. He's almost finished with it and it has not been pleasant. During the day its fine, but the running nose at night and while he is trying to sleep has not been fine. We've had several really bad nights where nothing we do can calm him down...which is not like him at all. We finally realized that he didn't really need anything, he just wanted to be comforted. I found just holding him on my chest while laying in bed did the trick and before you knew it, he was asleep. Now that he has been feeling better, night time is pretty much back to normal - thank goodness!
Obviously next month's wrap up will be a big one and I am still in shock that he will be a year old already. But then I look back at his photos from less than 6 months ago and it is amazing to see how much he has changed!
This month also brought him more experiences as a 'big boy' not only is he eating way more foods than before (everything 3 days he is trying something new), but he is riding in shopping carts and sitting in highchairs at restaurants - which he loves!
He just finished watching a plane fly across the sky in this photo.I also made an unexpected discovery while at the pet store the other day...Elliott LOVES fish. It was one of those days that didn't really have an agenda and I wasn't ready to head home yet, so I thought - hey, I'll walk him past the fish. He was so amazed! He watched them swim and looked at all the different kinds. The hardest part was keeping him from climbing out of the cart so he could see them better!
In other random news for this month Elliott officially turned into a thumb sucker. He had sucked his thumb occationally in the past, but never with any intent. More like - oh this is my thumb, what does it taste like? Now it is frequent and with purpose often after he eats while he is waiting to get down or before sleeping. I have mixed feelings about this, but I'm not concerned about a childhood-long habit at the moment, so really there is nothing to worry about. In fact, it is really quite cute :)
Elliott also had his first cold. He's almost finished with it and it has not been pleasant. During the day its fine, but the running nose at night and while he is trying to sleep has not been fine. We've had several really bad nights where nothing we do can calm him down...which is not like him at all. We finally realized that he didn't really need anything, he just wanted to be comforted. I found just holding him on my chest while laying in bed did the trick and before you knew it, he was asleep. Now that he has been feeling better, night time is pretty much back to normal - thank goodness!
Obviously next month's wrap up will be a big one and I am still in shock that he will be a year old already. But then I look back at his photos from less than 6 months ago and it is amazing to see how much he has changed!
Friday, December 11, 2009
10 down, 2 to go!
I thought I'd simply share a few of the 'new' things that Elliott has been doing this month.
1. He started sharing. There are a few favorite toys that he'll carry around and after a while, he'll hold it out for you to have...but he wants it right back. ;)
2. Speaking of favorite toys - right now it has to be, hands down, Jenny's glow in the dark dog bone. (I washed it...not that it still doesn't end up in the dogs mouth now and then, but at least it doesn't 'look' dirty.) He will crawl that bone all over the house. Sometimes you can even hear him coming as the bone squeaks with each stride.
3. He has also learned how to turn the pages in his books. If he's not already ready for it, if I ask him "will you turn the page?", 9 times out of 10, he will. I do have to get the page ready first...or else he just closes the book.
4. He went from two teeth with nothing else in site, to cutting all four top teeth at once. They are all in various stages of immersion, but the only way he will let you see them is if you hold him upside down.
5. He is perfecting his standing. Mostly this happens when he is doing something else and not thinking about what his body is doing. This is leading us to believe that he could probably walk now too, but he just doesn't know he can or thought to try.
6. He is "talking" a lot. He carries on conversations with us, with himself, and with his toys. He's even started saying certain "phrases" in common situations. He says something that kind of sounds like "i gots, i gots" when he's roaming the house and finds a toy. He stands up, pats the toy with one hand and says "i gots, i gots", which is a pretty funny coincidence if you ask me.
7. He thinks shaking our hair is really funny right now...especially while we are saying 'gesundheit'.
8. He apparently likes getting mucky:
Just before I took this photo he was wringing his hands together
like he was conceiving a diabolical plan
1. He started sharing. There are a few favorite toys that he'll carry around and after a while, he'll hold it out for you to have...but he wants it right back. ;)
2. Speaking of favorite toys - right now it has to be, hands down, Jenny's glow in the dark dog bone. (I washed it...not that it still doesn't end up in the dogs mouth now and then, but at least it doesn't 'look' dirty.) He will crawl that bone all over the house. Sometimes you can even hear him coming as the bone squeaks with each stride.
3. He has also learned how to turn the pages in his books. If he's not already ready for it, if I ask him "will you turn the page?", 9 times out of 10, he will. I do have to get the page ready first...or else he just closes the book.
4. He went from two teeth with nothing else in site, to cutting all four top teeth at once. They are all in various stages of immersion, but the only way he will let you see them is if you hold him upside down.
5. He is perfecting his standing. Mostly this happens when he is doing something else and not thinking about what his body is doing. This is leading us to believe that he could probably walk now too, but he just doesn't know he can or thought to try.
6. He is "talking" a lot. He carries on conversations with us, with himself, and with his toys. He's even started saying certain "phrases" in common situations. He says something that kind of sounds like "i gots, i gots" when he's roaming the house and finds a toy. He stands up, pats the toy with one hand and says "i gots, i gots", which is a pretty funny coincidence if you ask me.
7. He thinks shaking our hair is really funny right now...especially while we are saying 'gesundheit'.
8. He apparently likes getting mucky:
Just before I took this photo he was wringing his hands together
like he was conceiving a diabolical plan
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thrive
We took Elliott back to the doctor the Tuesday before Thanksgiving for his 9 month checkup. We are perpetually behind by 2-3 weeks in his well-baby checkups because of the timing of his vaccines, which take precedence over actually being seen at his birthday times. Anyway, the nurse got him measured and no surprise to us he had grown a full two inches since the last appointment. We figured as much, as he is now in age appropriately sized clothing and seemed 'taller' to us. He is now 28 inches! Which means in a couple more, he will officially be done with the bucket car seat and into his convertible car seat (which also means mommy and daddy will be switching cars soon). He is in between the 25th and 50th percentiles which is up from where is has been in the past. His head circumference also measured in this range (although I forget the specific measurement at this point).
However, what we were not prepared for was his weight. At his six month check up, he weighed 16 lbs 2 oz. I put him on the scale and both Brad and I went 'huh', when it reported he now weighted only 17 lbs 6.2 oz three months later. The doctor explained that he was still okay because he had gained weight and that at this point kids are often settling into their growth rates. But this low weight put him in the 5th percentile for his age. At this range, he likes to monitor kids a little more closely to make sure they don't start declining. He wants to see Elliott back in a month to check on his weight, since a lot can happen in the three months before his next well-baby at the 1 year mark.
Elliott's vaccination band aid. "Thrive" is the tag line for Kaiser Permanente (his health care provider), but also very appropriate given the topics of this post.
While I was initially surprise at the low weight (I had been expecting more like 18.5 lbs), it makes sense. We've been so cautious about what he is eating because of his constipation issues, that he has basically been eating as much as he was when he was six months old. With the exception of more night feedings in recent weeks...again, which now make a lot of sense...he needed more calories and was trying to make up for those he wasn't getting during the day. Fortunately, we were able to talk to the doctor and he explained (something the nurses for some reason could never confirm for me over the phone) that constipation generally stems from two issues: fluids and fiber bulk. We were starting to get things under control because of the addition of more fluids, but now we needed to work on bulk.
Fortunately, Elliott loves food, so in the last week and a half, he has thoroughly enjoyed his larger meal times. We've also decided to start giving Elliott some formula. My milk supply has slowly started to decrease over the last few months and I am now only pumping an average of about 8 ounces a day at work, which puts him about a bottle behind. So now, first thing in the morning Elliott's getting a bottle of formula. He is also getting cereal two times a day, at least 2 servings of fruits and vegetables, and a meat (so far just turkey). Once he gets the finger food thing down, he will start eating more snacks as well. We were also given the green light to start giving him more variety of foods. I just can't tell you how happy this makes me.
One other thing I thought I would mention about the food issue with Elliott, is that his low consumption makes since for an entirely different reason as well. For so many things, we have been relying on 'listening to the baby' for him to tell us what he needs. This has worked so well in other aspects of his life that we hadn't questioned it as it relates to food, yet in retrospect all the signs were there. Elliott doesn't tell us when he's hungry. He did when he was a new baby, so we assumed he still would, but not so much any more. If you let him, Elliott will just play all day. Its not until you put him in his highchair that he's like: 'oh yeah! I'm hungry! Give me food NOW!!' So we are realizing that we need to have Elliott on a true mealtime schedule or it is really easy for him to miss meals. And now that we've seen a potentially tangible reflection of that, its become something we have to put as a priority over other things during our day.
The other thing that we did while at the doctor's office is get Elliott vaccinated against the flu and H1N1. Part of me still doesn't understand what the big deal is about H1N1, but after a local story a couple weeks ago about an otherwise healthy 4 month old that died and was later found to have H1N1, we decided it was worth it. Plus, with Brad going to school and the number of people he is exposed to on campus, we didn't want to put Elliott at a higher risk for getting the flu anyway.
However, what we were not prepared for was his weight. At his six month check up, he weighed 16 lbs 2 oz. I put him on the scale and both Brad and I went 'huh', when it reported he now weighted only 17 lbs 6.2 oz three months later. The doctor explained that he was still okay because he had gained weight and that at this point kids are often settling into their growth rates. But this low weight put him in the 5th percentile for his age. At this range, he likes to monitor kids a little more closely to make sure they don't start declining. He wants to see Elliott back in a month to check on his weight, since a lot can happen in the three months before his next well-baby at the 1 year mark.
Elliott's vaccination band aid. "Thrive" is the tag line for Kaiser Permanente (his health care provider), but also very appropriate given the topics of this post. While I was initially surprise at the low weight (I had been expecting more like 18.5 lbs), it makes sense. We've been so cautious about what he is eating because of his constipation issues, that he has basically been eating as much as he was when he was six months old. With the exception of more night feedings in recent weeks...again, which now make a lot of sense...he needed more calories and was trying to make up for those he wasn't getting during the day. Fortunately, we were able to talk to the doctor and he explained (something the nurses for some reason could never confirm for me over the phone) that constipation generally stems from two issues: fluids and fiber bulk. We were starting to get things under control because of the addition of more fluids, but now we needed to work on bulk.
Fortunately, Elliott loves food, so in the last week and a half, he has thoroughly enjoyed his larger meal times. We've also decided to start giving Elliott some formula. My milk supply has slowly started to decrease over the last few months and I am now only pumping an average of about 8 ounces a day at work, which puts him about a bottle behind. So now, first thing in the morning Elliott's getting a bottle of formula. He is also getting cereal two times a day, at least 2 servings of fruits and vegetables, and a meat (so far just turkey). Once he gets the finger food thing down, he will start eating more snacks as well. We were also given the green light to start giving him more variety of foods. I just can't tell you how happy this makes me.
One other thing I thought I would mention about the food issue with Elliott, is that his low consumption makes since for an entirely different reason as well. For so many things, we have been relying on 'listening to the baby' for him to tell us what he needs. This has worked so well in other aspects of his life that we hadn't questioned it as it relates to food, yet in retrospect all the signs were there. Elliott doesn't tell us when he's hungry. He did when he was a new baby, so we assumed he still would, but not so much any more. If you let him, Elliott will just play all day. Its not until you put him in his highchair that he's like: 'oh yeah! I'm hungry! Give me food NOW!!' So we are realizing that we need to have Elliott on a true mealtime schedule or it is really easy for him to miss meals. And now that we've seen a potentially tangible reflection of that, its become something we have to put as a priority over other things during our day.
The other thing that we did while at the doctor's office is get Elliott vaccinated against the flu and H1N1. Part of me still doesn't understand what the big deal is about H1N1, but after a local story a couple weeks ago about an otherwise healthy 4 month old that died and was later found to have H1N1, we decided it was worth it. Plus, with Brad going to school and the number of people he is exposed to on campus, we didn't want to put Elliott at a higher risk for getting the flu anyway.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Poll: Rediculous or Redonkulous?
Brad and I have a differing of opinions on this one.
I personally think Elliott is redonkulously cute in his tigger sweatshirt (don't worry it wasn't a full suit). Brad does not agree. I keep telling Brad I have a very limited window in which I can get away with dressing him in stuff like this and you can't deny a Winnie the Pooh fan the chance to dress their son in a Tigger sweatshirt*, right?
So what says you? Rediculous or redonkulous?
*sweatshirt courtesy of a very timely gifted batch of 9-12 month hand-me-downs.
I personally think Elliott is redonkulously cute in his tigger sweatshirt (don't worry it wasn't a full suit). Brad does not agree. I keep telling Brad I have a very limited window in which I can get away with dressing him in stuff like this and you can't deny a Winnie the Pooh fan the chance to dress their son in a Tigger sweatshirt*, right?
So what says you? Rediculous or redonkulous?
*sweatshirt courtesy of a very timely gifted batch of 9-12 month hand-me-downs.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
This time last year...
The last week or so has been very reflective. Its strange to think about what was going on just a year ago. This time last year I was on my way to Mary Birch to get checked out after our unexpected ultrasound results. Little did we know that visit would park me in a hospital for 9 days and on bedrest for nearly 10 weeks.
When you go through something like that, you don't really have any other choice but to steel yourself and deal with it. That's not to say there weren't some hard days, but what does feeling sorry for yourself accomplish? In my experience, it generally just makes things worse, so its better to roll with the punches and make the best of the situation.
What I didn't expect was how traumatic looking back on it all would be. The scariest day, well night really, was the night I was admitted into the hospital. We obviously didn't know exactly what was going to happen, but they had made it seem like I was going to be monitored overnight and would be on bestrest the rest of the pregnancy. Since it was Thanksgiving weekend, there were a ton of people there (trying to deliver before the weekend...how that works, I have no idea ;) and no spare partner sleeping chairs. We thought that since I was just in for monitoring and Brad had no place to sleep, it would be fine if he slept at home. Unfortunately, it didn't really play out like we expected. I ended up undergoing a series of very scary tests, was given an IV for the first time (which almost put me over the edge), and had a very intensive ultrasound by the perinatologist. This was also when I realized I might not be going home anytime soon. I remember willing myself not to cry, wishing that Brad was with me, and feeling very, very alone.
I also look back on my bedrest with absolute amazement. I don't know how I did it. There was a point, I didn't leave the house for two weeks! And its not like I had full use of our house either. But except for a couple particularly hard days, there wasn't anything to do but make the best of it. When I think about the idea of laying down for 9+ weeks, I actually get a bit claustrophobic now. But I didn't feel that way at the time. I guess a lot of it was just being so thankful I was still pregnant. Plus, I had a very important job to do.
However, I would be remiss if I didn't fully acknowledge that it was only possible because of the help of others. We got through it because of so much thoughtfulness and downright elbow grease...after all it wasn't exactly like we were ready for a baby anytime soon...and our place was pretty much trashed.
So in honor of this Thanksgiving Holiday, we are saying 'thanks' to everyone who made that time bearable, passable, manageable, and tolerable. And 'thanks' to everyone who helped us this year as we brought Elliott home, became parents and began our life as a family. We couldn't have done this without you either!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
When you go through something like that, you don't really have any other choice but to steel yourself and deal with it. That's not to say there weren't some hard days, but what does feeling sorry for yourself accomplish? In my experience, it generally just makes things worse, so its better to roll with the punches and make the best of the situation.
What I didn't expect was how traumatic looking back on it all would be. The scariest day, well night really, was the night I was admitted into the hospital. We obviously didn't know exactly what was going to happen, but they had made it seem like I was going to be monitored overnight and would be on bestrest the rest of the pregnancy. Since it was Thanksgiving weekend, there were a ton of people there (trying to deliver before the weekend...how that works, I have no idea ;) and no spare partner sleeping chairs. We thought that since I was just in for monitoring and Brad had no place to sleep, it would be fine if he slept at home. Unfortunately, it didn't really play out like we expected. I ended up undergoing a series of very scary tests, was given an IV for the first time (which almost put me over the edge), and had a very intensive ultrasound by the perinatologist. This was also when I realized I might not be going home anytime soon. I remember willing myself not to cry, wishing that Brad was with me, and feeling very, very alone.
I also look back on my bedrest with absolute amazement. I don't know how I did it. There was a point, I didn't leave the house for two weeks! And its not like I had full use of our house either. But except for a couple particularly hard days, there wasn't anything to do but make the best of it. When I think about the idea of laying down for 9+ weeks, I actually get a bit claustrophobic now. But I didn't feel that way at the time. I guess a lot of it was just being so thankful I was still pregnant. Plus, I had a very important job to do.
However, I would be remiss if I didn't fully acknowledge that it was only possible because of the help of others. We got through it because of so much thoughtfulness and downright elbow grease...after all it wasn't exactly like we were ready for a baby anytime soon...and our place was pretty much trashed.
So in honor of this Thanksgiving Holiday, we are saying 'thanks' to everyone who made that time bearable, passable, manageable, and tolerable. And 'thanks' to everyone who helped us this year as we brought Elliott home, became parents and began our life as a family. We couldn't have done this without you either!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Overdue Randomness for a Thursday
1. I've had a few updates rambling around in my head for the last week or two. I need to get better at just sitting down and writing one or two line posts.
2. Elliott and I went resale shop trolling last week and we scored some great deals in the toy department. We were able to pick up a like-new standing play table for $25 (regularly $43) (see last week's Elliott photo) and a push and ride fire engine for $10 (regularly $35).
3. What we didn't have luck finding was fleece jammies. Apparently I should have been shopping for these over the summer when that was all there was.
4. I ended up finding one store that carried them, but the prices were so high ($5 for extremely worn and almost used up jammies), that we ended up buying a few new pairs at Target for $8/each.
5. Almost overnight, Elliott's gone from waking up three (!!!) times a night to once. Apparently I was right about him getting too cold in his regular cotton jammies.
6. He looks heartbreakingly cute in fleece jammies.
7. We discovered a new tooth the other night...but its not where you would expect it to be!
8. Instead of sprouting one of his two top front teeth, it looks like he's skipping to an eye tooth next door. That, or Elliott's going to have teeth like sloth. ;)
9. Elliott's saying 'dada' and 'mamamama' pretty regularly. He also says 'nennie' - often times when he hears Jenny barking in another room.
10. I don't really believe that we've heard his first word, but when he woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago, he said 'nennie' when he saw Jenny come out from under the covers. I said 'yes, that's Jenny'. Then he looked at me and said 'mamamama' and I said 'yes, I'm mama.' Coincidence? You decide ;)
2. Elliott and I went resale shop trolling last week and we scored some great deals in the toy department. We were able to pick up a like-new standing play table for $25 (regularly $43) (see last week's Elliott photo) and a push and ride fire engine for $10 (regularly $35).
3. What we didn't have luck finding was fleece jammies. Apparently I should have been shopping for these over the summer when that was all there was.
4. I ended up finding one store that carried them, but the prices were so high ($5 for extremely worn and almost used up jammies), that we ended up buying a few new pairs at Target for $8/each.
5. Almost overnight, Elliott's gone from waking up three (!!!) times a night to once. Apparently I was right about him getting too cold in his regular cotton jammies.
6. He looks heartbreakingly cute in fleece jammies.
7. We discovered a new tooth the other night...but its not where you would expect it to be!
8. Instead of sprouting one of his two top front teeth, it looks like he's skipping to an eye tooth next door. That, or Elliott's going to have teeth like sloth. ;)
9. Elliott's saying 'dada' and 'mamamama' pretty regularly. He also says 'nennie' - often times when he hears Jenny barking in another room.
10. I don't really believe that we've heard his first word, but when he woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago, he said 'nennie' when he saw Jenny come out from under the covers. I said 'yes, that's Jenny'. Then he looked at me and said 'mamamama' and I said 'yes, I'm mama.' Coincidence? You decide ;)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Urologist Update
We heard back from the Urologist yesterday regarding the results of Elliott's follow up ultrasound from last week. They had measured his kidney to see how it was doing and went looking for his undescended testicle (may he not kill me when he gets older for talking about this on the internet!). The doctor said his kidney is measuring 9 mm which is only marginally enlarged and within normal ranges. He suggested that he get a follow up ultrasound done in about 6 months to monitor how its doing.
As for the testicle, this is where we got a bit of a surprise. They couldn't find it. This means that they are going to schedule exploratory surgery probably/hopefully in January. The doctor will go looking for it in his lower abdomen laparoscopically. If its not there, they will go looking in his pelvis. Either way the outcome will be the same: if they find it, they will determine whether its worth saving or not. If it is, they will put it where it belongs. If not, it will be removed so as to eliminate an otherwise increased risk for testicular cancer. Ugh.
The doctor/surgeon is cool, though. He even offered to schedule an appointment with us a couple weeks before the surgery so that we can go over everything again and it will be fresh in our minds. Elliott's risk for complications from the surgery are about as low as they are ever going to be at this point, but I know it will take a lot of mental preparation for me to be able to see him go into surgery. (I felt like I was getting my heart cut out when they took him away for his circumcision.) Luckily it is an outpatient procedure, so hopefully recovery won't be too long and he won't be in too much pain.
As for the testicle, this is where we got a bit of a surprise. They couldn't find it. This means that they are going to schedule exploratory surgery probably/hopefully in January. The doctor will go looking for it in his lower abdomen laparoscopically. If its not there, they will go looking in his pelvis. Either way the outcome will be the same: if they find it, they will determine whether its worth saving or not. If it is, they will put it where it belongs. If not, it will be removed so as to eliminate an otherwise increased risk for testicular cancer. Ugh.
The doctor/surgeon is cool, though. He even offered to schedule an appointment with us a couple weeks before the surgery so that we can go over everything again and it will be fresh in our minds. Elliott's risk for complications from the surgery are about as low as they are ever going to be at this point, but I know it will take a lot of mental preparation for me to be able to see him go into surgery. (I felt like I was getting my heart cut out when they took him away for his circumcision.) Luckily it is an outpatient procedure, so hopefully recovery won't be too long and he won't be in too much pain.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Nine Months!
Here we are again! Only its nine months this time! Every day Elliott is more and more like a little boy to me than a baby. Part of me never really saw him as a baby, just a little person. But its even more pronounced now. He can do so many things and the way he relates to us has started to mature.
He has started to mimic our actions a bit. He loves to slap his open palm on things (almost as much as he likes giving everything a good scratch) and in playing with him the other day, we realized he can (more or less) mimic the number of times we bang on things in reply. We have also been trying to be more consistent about 'waving' goodbye and hello. And he seems to be watching what we are doing pretty intently. Occasionally, he's even raised his hand, but so far he hasn't made an official wave.
One of the more fun things he's been doing lately is laughing when we laugh. You know when you start laughing just because others are and you don't even really know what's funny? He's been doing that. Grandma Mary had me in a giggle fit the other night with her nearly old school rap rendition of the 'official' Name Game song lyrics. I was dying. And the next thing I knew, Elliott was laughing right along with me.
He's also really started getting into things. He will see something and need to have it. You move it, and he goes after it. My mom had some fun with that the other Saturday when she was helping us clean out our office. And if it is something he can play with, he's started getting pissed if you need to take it away for some reason...like my knitting bag below...which clearly isn't a toy, but was letting it slide a bit too long so I could get some more pictures...oh well, lesson learned!
Physically, his activity level is climbing exponentially. He loves pulling up on everything (which he can do very efficiently now using almost just his legs), standing at things and banging the tops of surfaces with those open palms I mentioned. The coffee table is awesome for this. He has also started climbing around things to get where he wants to go. Before I used to be able to put a chair in front of the dog bowls and that would deter him enough. Now he just climbs over whatever obstacle lies in his path...this even includes us.
He's also started the very cute habit of following us around the house. The other evening I was going from one room to the other and back again putting things away and he just kept crawling after me. It was a great game for me because he was focused on following me (not getting into something he shouldn't - we're still working on getting the house more baby-proofed) and used up a ton of energy. Although towards the end his little face flashed - not again! when it was clear he thought I needed to sit down.
Elliott can also palm objects. He's taken to rolling Jenny's favorite ball around the floor and we noticed he could pick it up with an open palm. I then noticed him picking other things up that way, too. I have no idea if this is something all babies do, but we like to joke that he's going to be a basketball player...or a really great magician ;)
He still has just the two front bottom teeth and we honestly don't see any signs of any more any time soon. He's also back to eating more things than just pears. After the doctor's suggestion of increasing his liquid intake, his pooping issues have improved quite a bit. Certainly far from perfect, but at least he's no longer in pain while it happens. He's still on our self-imposed restricted diet of poop-friendly foods, but the peas and oat cereal have come back. We also keep a sippy cup of water within his arm's reach most of the day and he gets a small glass of diluted juice during bath time (I'm still trying to build up my tolerance to the idea of sticky babies and toddlers). We've also been signing to him consistently at meal times. He now clearly understands "do you want some more?" and can apply it to not only eating food, but also drinking more juice.
A couple weeks ago we also went through a major baby clothes reshuffle. He's now in 6-9 month, 9 month, and 6-12 month clothes. We packed up everything else. We also took stock of what we have and picked up a couple more pairs of pants and some long sleeve shirts to last him (theoretically) through the winter. This also marks more or less the last of the gift clothes. He has a couple 12 month outfits and a few toddler outfits to grow into, but that's it. So we are going to need to start frequenting the resale shops soon to get an early start on stocking up.
He also went on his first forward facing stroller ride last weekend. I could kick myself for not having done this before we went to the zoo a couple weeks ago. Not only was he facing the wrong way to easily look at the animals, but the height of his car seat bucket was right where the hand rails were mounted. Needless to say, we are looking forward to going back to the zoo soon!
He took to the stroller ride well, but did look rather stoned through most of it. But at least there was no screaming! One thing I didn't like about it, is the lack personal interaction. Before when he was facing us, we could always talk to him and interact with him. Now its even hard to tell if he's dosed off. The good thing is that Elliott's always been an observer and this gets him an unobstructed front row seat to the world.
So what stopped him in his tracks? A nasty bird feather. So gross.
He's building up his immune system, right?
He has started to mimic our actions a bit. He loves to slap his open palm on things (almost as much as he likes giving everything a good scratch) and in playing with him the other day, we realized he can (more or less) mimic the number of times we bang on things in reply. We have also been trying to be more consistent about 'waving' goodbye and hello. And he seems to be watching what we are doing pretty intently. Occasionally, he's even raised his hand, but so far he hasn't made an official wave.
One of the more fun things he's been doing lately is laughing when we laugh. You know when you start laughing just because others are and you don't even really know what's funny? He's been doing that. Grandma Mary had me in a giggle fit the other night with her nearly old school rap rendition of the 'official' Name Game song lyrics. I was dying. And the next thing I knew, Elliott was laughing right along with me.
He's also really started getting into things. He will see something and need to have it. You move it, and he goes after it. My mom had some fun with that the other Saturday when she was helping us clean out our office. And if it is something he can play with, he's started getting pissed if you need to take it away for some reason...like my knitting bag below...which clearly isn't a toy, but was letting it slide a bit too long so I could get some more pictures...oh well, lesson learned!
Physically, his activity level is climbing exponentially. He loves pulling up on everything (which he can do very efficiently now using almost just his legs), standing at things and banging the tops of surfaces with those open palms I mentioned. The coffee table is awesome for this. He has also started climbing around things to get where he wants to go. Before I used to be able to put a chair in front of the dog bowls and that would deter him enough. Now he just climbs over whatever obstacle lies in his path...this even includes us.
He's also started the very cute habit of following us around the house. The other evening I was going from one room to the other and back again putting things away and he just kept crawling after me. It was a great game for me because he was focused on following me (not getting into something he shouldn't - we're still working on getting the house more baby-proofed) and used up a ton of energy. Although towards the end his little face flashed - not again! when it was clear he thought I needed to sit down.
Elliott can also palm objects. He's taken to rolling Jenny's favorite ball around the floor and we noticed he could pick it up with an open palm. I then noticed him picking other things up that way, too. I have no idea if this is something all babies do, but we like to joke that he's going to be a basketball player...or a really great magician ;)
He still has just the two front bottom teeth and we honestly don't see any signs of any more any time soon. He's also back to eating more things than just pears. After the doctor's suggestion of increasing his liquid intake, his pooping issues have improved quite a bit. Certainly far from perfect, but at least he's no longer in pain while it happens. He's still on our self-imposed restricted diet of poop-friendly foods, but the peas and oat cereal have come back. We also keep a sippy cup of water within his arm's reach most of the day and he gets a small glass of diluted juice during bath time (I'm still trying to build up my tolerance to the idea of sticky babies and toddlers). We've also been signing to him consistently at meal times. He now clearly understands "do you want some more?" and can apply it to not only eating food, but also drinking more juice.
A couple weeks ago we also went through a major baby clothes reshuffle. He's now in 6-9 month, 9 month, and 6-12 month clothes. We packed up everything else. We also took stock of what we have and picked up a couple more pairs of pants and some long sleeve shirts to last him (theoretically) through the winter. This also marks more or less the last of the gift clothes. He has a couple 12 month outfits and a few toddler outfits to grow into, but that's it. So we are going to need to start frequenting the resale shops soon to get an early start on stocking up.
He also went on his first forward facing stroller ride last weekend. I could kick myself for not having done this before we went to the zoo a couple weeks ago. Not only was he facing the wrong way to easily look at the animals, but the height of his car seat bucket was right where the hand rails were mounted. Needless to say, we are looking forward to going back to the zoo soon!
He took to the stroller ride well, but did look rather stoned through most of it. But at least there was no screaming! One thing I didn't like about it, is the lack personal interaction. Before when he was facing us, we could always talk to him and interact with him. Now its even hard to tell if he's dosed off. The good thing is that Elliott's always been an observer and this gets him an unobstructed front row seat to the world.So what stopped him in his tracks? A nasty bird feather. So gross.
He's building up his immune system, right?
Finally, we are really feeling the pinch of a rapidly growing little boy in our present living arrangements. As it stands, he usually wakes up twice a night...once when I come to bed and once when Brad comes to bed. Who knows how long he would sleep if we weren't waking him up! We are as silent as possible but as soon as the door jam pops, he's awake. Clearly we are going to need to remedy this situation, but we also don't want to move to another rental if we don't have to. So we are saving like mad and hopefully buying will be an option for us in the relatively near future.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Happy Inside-Out Day Elliott!
Elliott has officially been with us on the 'outside' as long as he was with us on the 'inside'. A silly thing to commemorate really, but kinda fun, too! ;)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Suggestions?
Okay, we need some help on a couple things and I thought I would solicit some suggestions from people who may have dealt with similar issues.
First up: How do you take a shower when you are by yourself and your baby can't use a bouncy seat anymore? Elliott is *this* close to being done with the bouncy chair and except for Brad's suggestion of duck taping him to the wall, we are at a loss with how to deal with this scenario that will be upon us very soon.
Second: What do you do when your baby spends his bath time trying to stand up and leaning over the baby tub? He is no longer content playing with the ducky or the water cup, now he wants to see what's in the rest of the tub. For background, we've been using a plastic baby tub in our regular tub. I'd rather not have to bathe with him every night as a solution because I'm not as comfortable getting myself out of the tub while holding a wet Elliott. And there are nights I have to do this by myself. Would one of those tub chairs help? Do we just need more toys?
Any thoughts?
First up: How do you take a shower when you are by yourself and your baby can't use a bouncy seat anymore? Elliott is *this* close to being done with the bouncy chair and except for Brad's suggestion of duck taping him to the wall, we are at a loss with how to deal with this scenario that will be upon us very soon.
Second: What do you do when your baby spends his bath time trying to stand up and leaning over the baby tub? He is no longer content playing with the ducky or the water cup, now he wants to see what's in the rest of the tub. For background, we've been using a plastic baby tub in our regular tub. I'd rather not have to bathe with him every night as a solution because I'm not as comfortable getting myself out of the tub while holding a wet Elliott. And there are nights I have to do this by myself. Would one of those tub chairs help? Do we just need more toys?
Any thoughts?
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
8 months
So it seems like I just wrote one of these posts and here we are again. This month has been marked with a lot of changes. We now have a little person who moves around our house on his own and with his own agendas. Like a lot of homes, the dog bowls are serving as a constant form of entertainment. We finally got so tired of retrieving Elliott from the bowls, that we got one of those play yard divider things. We can snake it across the dining room and we don't even really have to block off the dogs bowls, the visible barrier is enough of a deterrent...for now.
In the span of the last two weeks, Elliott went from army crawling and sitting, to full crawling, to pulling himself up on his own, to sitting back down on his own, to starting to cruise, to starting to stand on his own. This last one was just tonight. It was brief, but he did it twice. I have a feeling he is going to be a prolific cruiser pretty soon. He currently tries to use just about everything to stand up on. Some things work better than others...the ground...not so much. But he is learning and getting more and more comfortable. We are also some of his favorite things to use as leverage and I do love it when he climbs on me.
The other thing that has developed and will surely make his grandpa John proud is his fascination with how things work. Before he used to play with the leg of the swing, now he plays with the metal button that holds the leg onto the base. The only part of the baby gate thing he is interested in (other than the fact he can use it to stand up) is the exposed connectors. If there is a screw or something holding anything together, that has his attention. He might not realize that these things are actually doing a job, but he notices they are different from the rest of the object for sure.
He has also been able to spend a lot of time with his grandparents, both in person and virtually. My mom has been coming down every Friday for the last month and my dad came down as well on the 2nd for his birthday. This has not only given my mom more Elliott time, but also given Brad a chance to get some homework done in the afternoon and evenings. After Elliott goes to bed, we've been working on finishing a quilt that my grandma started many years ago. You can read about what we are doing here on my craft blog. He has also been able to spend a lot of time virtually with Brad's parents via Skype. Elliott LOVES playing with grandma on the computer and he is definitely interacting with them. Whenever grandma Mary pops up on the screen, he gets a super big smile on his face...and possibly even more so when she sings him the name game song.
Now despite the fact that he has two lovely pearly whites and probably would normally be starting on finger foods right now, Elliott is severely behind in his progression into solid foods. He has been plagued with constipation. He is currently eating only things that are supposed to help in that department and he is still having problems. We think he may have inherited an underdeveloped digestive system from dear old dad (since he also had this problem at this age). If his current diet of peas, prunes and pears doesn't fix him up in another week or so, we are going to consult with his doctor about whether or not we should cut out solid foods all together until his digestive system can keep up. We just don't know what else to do. This has really been the first time that my mommy intuition has completely failed. So far everything my gut tells me to do has been wrong. But on the other hand, this issue doesn't seem to bother him on a daily basis (minus the occasional traumatic pooping episodes in which Brad has really earned his daddy badge), so I'm really at a loss.
Oh and speaking of doctors, we also finally got in to see the Urologist on Tuesday. The news was mixed, but nothing more than what we expected. His left kidney is still enlarged, but within normal range and most likely on a course to being 100% normal. His testicle, needs to come down or be removed, depending on its condition. Elliott will go back in November for another follow up ultrasound to check on the kidney, but more importantly, to give the doctor an idea of where his other testicle is and what condition it's in. If its underdeveloped, they will remove it since he will be at an elevated risk for testicular cancer if it stays in. The urologist couldn't actually find the testicle, but I'm pretty sure it was just hiding since neither of his pediatricians ever mentioned that it might not be there. But it looks like Elliott has some surgery in his future. Ugh.
I also wanted to keep track of a couple things for my own 'records'. Right now Elliott is going to bed around 7:15 to 7:30pm and generally sleeps until 8:00 or 8:30am. He's waking up usually once each night, but that wake up time is all across the map, from 11:00pm to 4:00am. Every night is different. His morning naps are spotty, but he usually take a really good afternoon nap during the week. The weekends are a different story, either because I'm home or because we are usually out a lot more, so we try and compensate with an earlier bed time.
Elliott still really likes it when we sing and he has even been 'singing along' a bit...kind of on par with how a dog sings along. And I did hear him singing 'eeeoooohhhh eeeeoooohhhhh eeeeooooohhhhh' the other day when he played Old MacDonald on the Einstein (contrary to my own preference for this song, we sing it to him alot). Don't know how much it was intentional, but it sure seemed like it was ;)
I love the sound of elation when he sees Jenny start to drink out of her water bowl
In the span of the last two weeks, Elliott went from army crawling and sitting, to full crawling, to pulling himself up on his own, to sitting back down on his own, to starting to cruise, to starting to stand on his own. This last one was just tonight. It was brief, but he did it twice. I have a feeling he is going to be a prolific cruiser pretty soon. He currently tries to use just about everything to stand up on. Some things work better than others...the ground...not so much. But he is learning and getting more and more comfortable. We are also some of his favorite things to use as leverage and I do love it when he climbs on me.
He is determined to stand up using our lamp, which can only end really, really badly for Elliott, the lamp or both. But for now he can't quite get up high enough to pull it over.
The other thing that has developed and will surely make his grandpa John proud is his fascination with how things work. Before he used to play with the leg of the swing, now he plays with the metal button that holds the leg onto the base. The only part of the baby gate thing he is interested in (other than the fact he can use it to stand up) is the exposed connectors. If there is a screw or something holding anything together, that has his attention. He might not realize that these things are actually doing a job, but he notices they are different from the rest of the object for sure.
I love this photo. I'm not sure who is having the most fun!
He has also been able to spend a lot of time with his grandparents, both in person and virtually. My mom has been coming down every Friday for the last month and my dad came down as well on the 2nd for his birthday. This has not only given my mom more Elliott time, but also given Brad a chance to get some homework done in the afternoon and evenings. After Elliott goes to bed, we've been working on finishing a quilt that my grandma started many years ago. You can read about what we are doing here on my craft blog. He has also been able to spend a lot of time virtually with Brad's parents via Skype. Elliott LOVES playing with grandma on the computer and he is definitely interacting with them. Whenever grandma Mary pops up on the screen, he gets a super big smile on his face...and possibly even more so when she sings him the name game song.
Now despite the fact that he has two lovely pearly whites and probably would normally be starting on finger foods right now, Elliott is severely behind in his progression into solid foods. He has been plagued with constipation. He is currently eating only things that are supposed to help in that department and he is still having problems. We think he may have inherited an underdeveloped digestive system from dear old dad (since he also had this problem at this age). If his current diet of peas, prunes and pears doesn't fix him up in another week or so, we are going to consult with his doctor about whether or not we should cut out solid foods all together until his digestive system can keep up. We just don't know what else to do. This has really been the first time that my mommy intuition has completely failed. So far everything my gut tells me to do has been wrong. But on the other hand, this issue doesn't seem to bother him on a daily basis (minus the occasional traumatic pooping episodes in which Brad has really earned his daddy badge), so I'm really at a loss.
Oh and speaking of doctors, we also finally got in to see the Urologist on Tuesday. The news was mixed, but nothing more than what we expected. His left kidney is still enlarged, but within normal range and most likely on a course to being 100% normal. His testicle, needs to come down or be removed, depending on its condition. Elliott will go back in November for another follow up ultrasound to check on the kidney, but more importantly, to give the doctor an idea of where his other testicle is and what condition it's in. If its underdeveloped, they will remove it since he will be at an elevated risk for testicular cancer if it stays in. The urologist couldn't actually find the testicle, but I'm pretty sure it was just hiding since neither of his pediatricians ever mentioned that it might not be there. But it looks like Elliott has some surgery in his future. Ugh.
I also wanted to keep track of a couple things for my own 'records'. Right now Elliott is going to bed around 7:15 to 7:30pm and generally sleeps until 8:00 or 8:30am. He's waking up usually once each night, but that wake up time is all across the map, from 11:00pm to 4:00am. Every night is different. His morning naps are spotty, but he usually take a really good afternoon nap during the week. The weekends are a different story, either because I'm home or because we are usually out a lot more, so we try and compensate with an earlier bed time.
Elliott still really likes it when we sing and he has even been 'singing along' a bit...kind of on par with how a dog sings along. And I did hear him singing 'eeeoooohhhh eeeeoooohhhhh eeeeooooohhhhh' the other day when he played Old MacDonald on the Einstein (contrary to my own preference for this song, we sing it to him alot). Don't know how much it was intentional, but it sure seemed like it was ;)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Crawling
Its not pretty...three to four strides then a full body lunge...but its happening. Luckily the fun he has crawling a bit then stopping to sitting up seems to be taking his full interest for now...we are hoping this trend continues for a bit longer. ;)
ETA: The proof...
ETA: The proof...
A couple times tonight he crawled 5-6 strides, but this was all we could get on video.
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