Baby Mine: August 2013

Happy 7 Month Birthday, my sweet Chicken nugget!

Wow, what a month it has been. There were so many fun firsts this month. It kills me that each and every little milestone doesn’t get its own blog post, but (1) aint nobody got time for dat and (2) I’m pretty sure Bud and I are the only people who get excited about the little things (ok, probably our moms too).

The biggest of them all happened last Thursday (August 15^th) when I felt two tiny teeth popping through the bottom of my boy’s gums. My parents had picked Allyson up from the airport and were heading to my house. John and I were waiting outside because I was too excited to be indoors. While standing in the driveway, I put my finger in his mouth (how rude!) and could feel them. Crazy. I knew it was coming, but was still surprised when I could undeniably feel his first pearly whites. I adore his sweet gummy smile, but I guess I’ll like his smile with little baby teeth too. He’s been doing ok with the teething so far, but last night and this morning I gave him a little Motrin to help ease the discomfort. It seems to really work, plus it smells like Nerds (the candy, not the people).

The other major milestone that began this month was starting food. He’s still not crazy about anything we’ve given him, but is slowly warming up to it. So far he’s had brown rice cereal, sweet potato, apple, banana, pear, squash, and water…lots of water. That’s the only thing he really likes which is fitting considering water was the only real craving I had when pregnant with him. He doesn’t totally understand the sippy-cup (he turns them upside down and sucks the bottom), but is basically a prodigy with an adult glass. If I let him, he’d drink my entire glass of water as long as it was in a cold glass (maybe it just feels good on those sore gums).

Other fun firsts for the month include sitting in a shopping cart without his carseat, sitting in the tub without his baby bathing thingy (that’s technical term), and sitting in his stroller without the carseat. It’s amazing how many doors are opened once a baby can sit by himself. We’ve said goodbye to my bff the Rock N Play and John’s bff the swing. They served us well, but my little fatass has outgrown them. John is starting to scoot around – it’s not quite a crawl yet, but he can definitely move. He kind of plants his face into the carpet and then uses his thunder thighs to launch himself forward. It’s adorable and also terrifying…need to get on that baby proofing.

Trying so hard

All that aside, however, the absolute best part of this month is seeing John with Allyson. She hadn’t seen him since he was a lame 1 month old so it was so wonderful to reintroduce those two. I’m so happy that John has 3 amazing ladies to call Aunt. What a lucky boy.

Sleeping:

Great! We start his bath around 7:30ish. After getting him out of the bath, I usually feed and rock him for about 30 minutes and then he’s sound asleep for 10-12 hours. There are some nights that take a little longer to get him sleepy, but Bud usually jumps in on those nights to help out. Bud has a 4 song medley that does the trick every time. I usually leave before he starts Wilco’s My Darling because it still makes me cry. Can I blame that on postpartum hormones seven months later?

Napping is still hit or miss. On a good day, his napping routine is waking up around 7:00 am, play for a couple hours and then go back to sleep at 9:00 for 30-60 minutes. Then he’ll be up for a while in the middle of the day and want to nap again in the afternoon. The trick is, however, is that if he sleeps in the car, even for 5 minutes, he won’t nap in his crib at all. So annoying. 5 minutes is not enough sleep for a cranky baby.

Eating:

Nursing like a champ. It’s so, so, sooooo much easier now than it was those first few months. He eating 5-6 times a day and seems totally happy in between meals. It wasn’t that long ago he was eating 8-10 times a day and would still act starving in between meals. Then again, he doubled his birth-weight by 2 months so I guess I’ll give him a break. One fairly annoying habit that John developed this month is that he only wants to eat in his room and needs silence to do it. If Bud comes in the room he’ll freeze and look at me like “Holy shit, what’s that? Who’s here? Should I stop?” No, keep going. It’s just your dad.

He’s getting better about taking bottles. In fact, today I was out with Gina and Brian and I brought a bottle with me. He gladly chugged the whole thing….even held it by himself at times.

Today at the mall

Eating food is another story, but I’m not too worried about it. At this point, breastmilk should be 100% of his nutrition. The food is just for fun and getting him used to it. He’s getting better and I’m sure he’ll get there. Squash has been the stand out favorite food so far…weirdo child of mine. Squash?

Likes and Dislikes:

Scratching the couch – It’s so weird, but John started scratching the couch a few months ago and does it constantly. We joke that we need to get him a scratching post like a cat.

Drinking water – If he’s fussy, offering him a sip of water will calm him down 98% of the time

Playing with toys –some faves are stacking rings, stacking cups, various teethers, and soft books.

Eating books:

yum, yum, yum

Reading books – His favorites are Barney’s ABC, 123 and Elmo’s Lift & Learn. Every page has a lot going on so he’ll actually sit and look.

Still doesn’t like getting dressed after his bath. He’ll do ok for a couple nights and then scream the next time we do it. I think he’s just hungry, tired, and over life.

He doesn’t like getting dropped off at the YMCA (see below)

Size:

Short and stout sweet. At John’s 6 month doctor’s appointment he weighed 20 lbs and was 26 inches long which is still 85% for weight and 25% for height. His legs are deliciously and hilariously chunky.

He’s still wearing most of his 6 month sized cloths, but also fits 9 and 12 month outfits. He wears size 3 diapers, but they are getting tight. Who knows about these sizes. Allyson brought him an 18 month t-shirt and it fit him! WTF…how can the same child wear a 6 month onesie and an 18 month t-shirt???

Me:

Busy, but good. I’m working a lot lately because there’s so much going on at work. We have our first Walks on September 7^th and they are now 2 staff people down. They still haven’t hired a replacement for me and the Coordinator in Orlando unexpectedly quit this week. I’ve been trying to step in and help as much as I can, but I’ve honestly been stretched a little thin so I might have to scale back.

I’m frustrated with my weight-loss plateau and totally dumbfounded how I can weigh 3-5 lbs less than what I weighed pre-pregnancy and yet none of my clothes fit right. None. I’m to the point now that I can’t keep wearing my maternity clothes (it’s been 7 damn months), but I’m so uncomfortable in my regular clothes. Part of it is my ridiculous boobs, but most of it is just flab-city. I had great expectations of losing a ton of weight breastfeeding, but I think I’m one of those gals that won’t lose the weight I want to lose until I quit nursing.

That being said, I’m trying to get to the gym more often. On Tuesday I walked into the KidZone to drop off John and one of the caretakers came up to me and told me that John usually cries the whole time he’s there. Uhhhh, ok? She was asking me for advice on how to make him happier so her intentions were good, but all I heard was “John hates you because you drop him off here.” I rushed through my work-out that day and no, I haven’t gone back. I just feel bad for him and I feel bad for them having to deal with it, but I have to keep going. He’ll get more used to it, right?