10 months

I've been bad about keeping this blog updated. Sorry! But I'll share some cute pictures and joyful facts about a sweet boy to make up for this blunder.

I recently put away his activity mat and his exersaucer for good. That was hard to do. I have loved seeing him grow and change, but it's been so hard to realize he isn't my tiny baby any more.

This boy weighed 9.4 kg or 20 lbs, 6 oz at his doctor's appointment in late March. He has a big head; he's only in the 50% for weight, but 98% in head circumference. He's 75 cm tall. (So about time for a new carseat. We got this three-in-one type that looks like a miniature throne and costs an arm and a leg.)

This kid is pretty content. Although he doesn't necessarily like to be left alone, so now that he crawls, he crawls after me. So cute! He started crawling at 9 1/2 month. It was kind of weak sauce though with a bum scoot and a crawl combination, but now he's got crawling down. He has also been cruising. He can pull himself up well, and had been doing that for a couple of months and he likes following me around the kitchen now. 

The hard part about him crawling is when he crawls away midway through a diaper change. Fortunately, I had the foresight to put a blanket down so when he has a dirty bum, I don't have to worry about the carpet.

He's started saying "mama" and "dada" among his other key phrases like "aboo" or "ahgah". He's also started clicking his tongue a lot and laughing. His giggles have been music to my ears. We just laugh and laugh sometimes.

He has four teeth now, but he should have a couple more up on top shortly. 

He likes to play with books and turn the pages. He's been after my books lately, too. Although, we have to keep an eye on this paper eater...

He has soft little curls on the back of his head that I love. He's so cute!        

The things he'll eat! He sat right down on the playground and started eating wood bark. Onion peels, food he threw off his trayonto the floor, his daddy's shoe are thinges he put in his mouth.  So gross! You'd think we didn't feed him!

Anyway, here are pictures of my cutie pie. I love him so much.

           

Co-sleeping: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Yes, Tycho co-sleeps. This was never our intention. We got a bassinet and a crib, and he doesn't use either of them for sleeping. Sigh. I did want to, but long story short, I didn't know how to swaddle or the purpose, Tycho scared me by sleeping on his side, and I was paranoid even though his bassinet was right next to the bed. And I was going to transition sooner, but I was still so tired from multiple night feedings. Get out of bed? Ugh. I had to do that last night and it was the worst. I still nurse Tycho about two to three times a night (he's ten months old). He eats when he needs to.

But I just wanted to give some advice and share my experience with co-sleeping.  First of all, I would like to say that I followed certain rules for co-sleeping to reduce certain risks. I don't smoke or drink, so there's the high risks removed from co-sleeping. I also made sure Tycho was away from pillows, our bed didn't slouch where he and I slept, so okay there. He could kick off the sheet--the only blanket I really had close to him, so no issues.

The good: initially I could only do a cross-cradle position for nursing so I would get out of bed with Tycho to sit in the rocking chair. Let's just say, angels must have been present because I did fall asleep with Tycho on my lap a few times... so dangerous! I was eager to learn how to lay down and nurse him. So I did when he was about four months old. It took time, and we were proficient when he was five or six months old. Huzzah! Once we got that down, I could nurse in bed easy peasy. I loved it. Because before I would probably get out of bed like 4 times at least. Ick.
We both roll over and return back into a deeper slumber most of the time now.
Also, when he's sick, I can help Tycho much more when he's sleeping next to me. He tends to wake up more often when he's teething or sick, so I can usually just stay in bed and comfort him. I'm lazy? Or just desperate for sleep?

The bad:  have you ever slept in one or two positions? Your body aches so much. I would go to bed with Tycho, and take Greg's side of the bed so I could sleep on the other side of Tycho. Bliss guys. I also slept with a pillow in between my legs so my lower leg wouldn't get so much pressure and so I could nurse easier. But it was so hard! Not sleeping on my left side was the worst. Now Tycho is older and we have a king-sized bed, I sleep on my left side but not as much as I would like...
The other hard part is making sure Greg gets adequate sleep. Tycho sleeps like a baby, and he's noisy and climbs on Greg when he wakes up. When we had a queen-sized bed, one of us (me) was always on the edge of the bed, bit a larger bed has made it easier to sleep.

The ugly: spitting up or peeing in bed. Need I say more?

If I had to do this over again, I would probably co-sleep still. Or just put Tycho in the bassinet at his bed time and then bring him to bed later when he gets up. But having a baby and getting up at night is something that go together usually, right? Oh well. We're pretty happy now.          

Thoughts on baby-led weaning

I love doing baby-led weaning so much that I wanted to share some experiences and thoughts. Go read "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook" for additional help and information.

I always wanted to wait until my baby was six months old to start eating foods. I felt that this was the best thing for him to do since you don't need to start solids sooner. Although, it was hard to not try to get him to eat something because breastfeeding around the clock at 5 months does get a bit tiring! But I persevered because I felt like he wasn't ready.

Anyway, we initially started by letting him chew on carrot sticks or apple slices first since he was teething around that time anyway.  I don't think he really swallowed anything, but it gave him experience chewing. I think though the key is to give your baby something they can hold onto while eating. So slices of fruit and vegetables were easy to give him (although he now doesn't care for raw carrot sticks... they were so easy!)

(I then went back to traditional feeding techniques by giving him plain yogurt to help his gut gain good bacteria a few times. Something my Turkish neighbor did with her daughter which made sense to me. Although, I tried to get him to feed himself with the spoon for the most part.)

Gagging is normal, although scary, and much different than choking. Tycho never choked--he gagged. That was the hardest part about starting this process because he would gag at every meal. Tycho got the eating and chewing down within a couple of months. He eats well for the most part now. A baby's gag reflux is a lot closer to the front of the mouth so they can't swallow anything too large--helpful to know, but still disconcerting to hear a baby gag!       

Some first foods Tycho liked trying: 

Bananas: at first in a large piece (1/2 banana), and then it has been fun for him to pick up smaller slices. 

Potatoes/sweet potato. This kid is in love with potatoes. Must have relatives from  Idaho. ;) I cook the potatoes I stew or give it took him roasted usually. Loves it.

Cucumbers. I don't know what it is about cucumbers, but this kid loves them so much. Maybe I'm baffled because I didn't like them until I was older.  

Meatballs: a new shape and texture. So fun when dipped in tomato sauce! He was about seven months or more when I introduced meatballs.  

Cheese: I introduced this around nine months, but Tycho loves it. I give him little pieces of cheddar cheese or melted cheese on bread. But only a little bit because this kid is gassy!
Bread and pancakes. He likes these foods quite a bit, so I go through the little bit of work to make thee from scratch. Gives me peace of mind.  

Thoughts:  

Avocado was hard for Tycho since it's so squishy. Spreading it on toast or just mashing it so they can spread it all around later was easier than slices.

Tycho gets bored with eating the same things over and over again, so I try to switch it up. Eggs for breakfast one day, pancakes another. 

 Regular oatmeal is easy to make and cheaper than the baby stuff, too. I make oatmeal for Tycho and he likes trying to stick it in his mouth with his fingers or I just load up a spoon and Tycho attempts to put that in his mouth. I flavor the oatmeal with unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon (yum!), a bit of butter, and a pinch of salt. Sometimes we switch it up and add pureed pear to oatmeal. 

Solids for baby led weaning don't have to be solid per say. You can dip toast in applesauce, for instance, or even in a stew so the baby will get the flavor of stew without the mess of a liquid.

Rice is annoying. I find it every where after meals with rice, but it gives him some practice at picing up small things, so I give him some.  

I try to keep things healthy for Tycho. Although, one thing I wish we had delayed introducing is cheerios. My son loves cheerios.    

Anyway, pictures of baby being grown up, eating food.

okay... pretty much six months. I felt pressured and I thought I could compromise with something he really couldn't eat.

Six months old trying to eat yogurt!

We had meatballs and pasta for dinner. Happy boy giving smiles to daddy.

Pancake, I believe, with banana slices for breakfast.  

Apple, peas, pasta with chicken parmigiana. Good stuff.  

A few things about me

Initially, I wanted to share this at or around my birthday, but I kind of forgot and stopped blogging for a while. I got interested in reading instead.

I skip to the end of books quite often even though it drives Greg crazy. (I'm so glad I did that in the last book of the sword of truth series. Goodkind...you are just as wordy than Ayn Rand.) But as a fellow skipper said, you can focus on the journey once you know the end.

I wanted to be a soprano when I first joined choir. I was so disappointed in learning that I'm an alto.  Prima donna...yes, I know. Don't worry, I'm fine with my voice now and with being an alto.

I don't enjoy telling people where I'm from or telling them my family story 'cause it's too complicated and I like details. In short: divorced parents, military, lots of step-siblings, and I lived all over the U.S.

I love rolling down hills. I haven't done it in a while on account of pregnancy/taking care of a baby and not finding a decent hill without goose poop.

I don't know what to consider myself: night owl or early bird, but something in between fits me best, I believe. Okay I feel more accomplished when I can get stuff done in the morning.

I love lifting weights 'cause bench pressing makes you feel super powerful even when you are just bench pressing the bar. While not lifting weights, I enjoy walking and dancing--zumba.

I wanted to do choreography for a while. I blame N'Sync. Also, I am not the greatest coordinated dancer.

I've always wanted to learn how to weld. I think one of the things that made me most depressed about moving to North Carolina was learning that they didn't have a welding class at my new high school, and by the time I got to my third high school, I ended up taking classes that I was comfortable with except for AP-Stats which was the biggest mistake ever.

I loved wearing overalls all the time, and now I love wearing skirts all the time except in Canadian winters.

I know crocs are the ugliest shoes out there, but I love how comfortable they are.

I dislike the story "The Hunger Games" more "Twilight".  

If there is anything I'd like to change about myself it would be to not quit and/or lash out so readily when I get discouraged and frustrated with a project, etc. I think I've noticed that I just give up because I want to be perfect, and I think I need to be perfect immediately or else. I think my new goal is to be patient with myself.

I love organizing. I considered becoming a professional organizer until I saw the show Hoarders: buried alive. Some of house scared me too much. I think I'll just stick to organizing my house really well.

I have a love/hate relationship with video games. My problem falls under the desire to not look like a n00b next to my husband, who has been playing video games since he was about 4 years old.