8 Months Old!

In just 4 short months, Cael will be celebrating his first birthday. You have no idea how upset that makes me. This means that he is now 8 months old. The last 8 months have flown by - or at least it feels like they did. I feel like I have so much to write about regarding Cael, that I'm going to break everything down into groups.

Mobility 
Cael is becoming much faster at crawling. And he's realized that by crawling, he can go where he wants, when he wants. For instance, if I walk into another room, or across the room, he figured out that he can follow me if he crawls. Of course, lately, he'll cry while crawling because I'm not holding him, and he's desperate for me to pick him up.

He can also easily pull himself up on anything and everything - couches, toys, chairs, and even his Pack n' Play. He's still pulling himself up by pushing off both feet at the same time - as opposed to putting one foot forward and pushing up with that foot. He'll roll his ankles inward at the same time in order to stand. It looks very uncomfortable, actually, and I'm surprised he is able to do it that way. He's been standing up like that for weeks now, so I attribute it to his ankles not being quite strong enough to support the weight of him standing.

He has started doing one new thing, though. He can now put himself into a sitting position. Whether he's crawling or laying on his belly, he's able to get himself sitting up. So now, I consider him very mobile. I figured it was only a matter of time before he started doing this. His balance is MUCH better. He's less wobbly while sitting, and also less wobbly while standing. In addition, because his balance is better, he can also bend over while standing. He's figured out how to get from a standing position, down to the floor. He usually bends over and reaches for the floor while holding onto whatever, and then he lets go and lands on his butt. He's become very good at doing this, and I'm less nervous watching him do it. I barely flinch when I see him doing it.

Food/Eating

Cael has figured out how to "chew" his food. He's not doing much chewing, since he has only 2 teeth, and they're not even fully out yet, but he's got the motions down. If he gets a puff, cheerio or chunks of food, he'll gum/chew it, and move it all around his mouth. It makes me feel a little better about him eating chunkier foods, because he knows he has to move it around his mouth, and chew it before he tries to swallow it.

This past week, we tried giving Cael pieces of chicken. I cut them up small, a little smaller than pea-sized, and put them on his tray. He's now fully capable of feeding himself, so anything we put on his tray in front of him is game. If it's something he really enjoys, like puffs, he'll ravenously grab them and shove them in his mouth. There's no doubt he's got that motor skill down!

So as of now, the list of food that Cael has had includes: peas, carrots, sweet potato, potato, zucchini, pear, apple, mango, avocado, butternut squash, plums, prunes (HATED), bananas, watermelon, puffs, cheerios, chicken, asparagus (only small pieces), cous-cous, pasta, yogurt, and egg yolk. There's still so much more that I want to try. I have broccoli already made, and I have a cantaloupe that I'm waiting to get ripe. I also can't wait to try beans and spinach.

Sleep

I think we've finally figured out a sleep schedule that works for Cael. He's been consistently going to bed around 8pm, and waking between 4:30am-5am to eat. During the day, he'll take 2 naps, and we're still following the 2-3-4 nap schedule. It's been working wonderfully, and I look forward to his nap times during the day so I can get things done, shower, and/or have "me time". It's also nice having him in bed kind of early, because then Matt and I have time with each other. His bed time used to be 9pm, and then we'd have only a half hour together to converse, watch tv, etc. It's much better with Cael having an earlier bed time.

Personality
I think he's going to be a goofy kid. He's very into everything around him, and any noise, flash of light or movement distracts him, and he has to investigate it. Especially while nursing. I've taken to nursing at night in the bedroom as to limit the distractions. He screeches with excitement while he's playing, and has started actually playing with his toys. He enjoys pushing his trucks around, and banging everything to make noise. Then he'll look up at you with this smile, where his lower lip is sucked in, and give a little giggle. He'll suck on his pacifier backwards, and crawl around with it like that as if it's normal. I'm really enjoying seeing his personality starting to come out.

Marching For Babies At 34 Weeks Old!!

First time we did
a "faux hawk"!

Today, at 34 weeks old, Cael, my sister and I, along with some Sweet Peas, walked in the March for Babies/March of Dimes walk. We walked in memory of Baby Dylan, who passed away in October 2011 (a baby Sweet Pea). But we also walked in memory of Baby Z, Baby E, and for all babies everywhere. Both my youngest brother and sister were 6 weeks early, and as you may know, I went into premature labor with Cael at 30&5 weeks pregnant. I was fortunate in that the medication and bed rest worked for me, and Cael made it all the way to one day past his due date. But there are several others who aren't as fortunate, and they may be born extremely premature with complications, or be born sleeping. It really was such a moving and incredible experience, to see all the walkers there for the same common interest - raising money to help save the lives of babies. They did a moment of silence for us to reflect on those babies who were no longer with us, and I became extremely emotional and teared up. I held Cael close to me and snuggled him as I thought about Dylan, E and Z, and every other baby who is no longer with us. I'm resisting the urge to cry right now as I think back on it.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, with not one cloud in the sky. I think the news called for rain earlier in the week, so we were lucky it was so beautiful. The perfect day for a 3.5 mile walk. It was nice that our group was able to stay together, too. The last walk I did, which was for breast cancer, was very crowded, and I felt like we were all sardines. Plus, it was easy to get separated from who you were walking with, and difficult to stay next to them. This walk was much different. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to walking again next month back in PA.

Cael hasn't really been doing anything new, but I'm not really surprised. If he started walking only weeks after starting to pull himself up, I think I would shit myself. He's still crawling all over the place, and pulling himself up on anything and everything he can. But my favorite is when he crawls over to where I'm standing, and starts pulling himself up on my pants. He looks up at me with this gummy grin, like "I got you, mommy. Now pick me up!" He hasn't figured out how to clap his hands together yet, but he is banging things a lot more. I think he likes the noise he makes, even though he flinches his eyes with each bang.

And speaking of gummy grin, Cael now has "two toofs", as I say it! It's his second bottom middle tooth, on his right. I saw the white spot under his gums on Sunday, the day before we left for Long Island. I figured it would be a few days before it would break through. However, on Monday evening, while sitting on my moms couch, I felt his gums, and there it was. It had broke through! I can't believe my baby has 2 teeth. And yes, he was screaming in this picture, because he hates when you look in his mouth. The picture to the left was taken on Wednesday, and it has since come up even more.

Nomming on some watermelon

We've introduced a few new foods to Cael recently. Yesterday I gave him some watermelon in his mesh teether, and he loved it. He's also had oatmeal, zucchini, sweet potatoes, and stole an all-natural pomegranate fruit bar right out of my hands! I was watching my mom knead dough to make bread, and I had him on my left hip holding him. I had the fruit bar in my other hand. Well, I guess I was so encompassed in what my mom was doing, because all of a sudden we realized Cael was sucking on something. He had the fruit bar in both hands, and was sucking on the bar and wrapper! It took me a second, but when we finally realized what he was eating, and that I didn't know he took it out of my hands, we busted out laughing. But not only was he making slurping noises, he was going "mmmmm" as well. So he was thoroughly enjoying it. Because it was all natural, I decided to let him have it. I was letting him take little bites of it (it's a mushy-esque bar), and also taking small pieces and giving it to him off my finger. I'm really happy I was doing this, though, because my finger came out of his mouth with a huge glop of fruit bar! It had all collected and stuck together on the roof of his mouth! I got so nervous after that, because I thought it was a huge choking risk. It was one big mush ball on the roof of his mouth. I thought he was swallowing it, and doing a good job with it, but instead it was sticking to the roof of his mouth. He was probably wondering where it all went! Haha. You live and you learn, I guess.

Cael has become quite the picky eater! He gags on almost everything now (meal-wise), and I feel he's been eating less at meals than he used to. He hated the zucchini, and gagged on that almost to the point of making himself throw up. He hated regular potatoes, prunes, and he even gagged on plums I made a few days ago. I don't know what has changed. I figured it was a texture issue, but he'll eat puffs and sweet foods without a problem. I will admit that the zucchini had a bitter after taste because I steamed and pureed it with the skin on. I've read that the skin of squash has a lot of vitamins in it, so I decided to leave it on. But it did cause the puree to taste bitter. I have to figure out a way to mask that flavor, because I'm thinking that is why he was gagging.

Cael has been having some major constipation issues for the past week. Minutes before we got in the car on Monday morning to leave for LI, Cael had a blow-out. That was the first time in a while that his poop wasn't hard enough to plop in the toilet. It was a mess! I had to clean the diaper off in the bath tub, and then clean the tub out - that's how bad it was. But then after that, he didn't go again until Saturday morning (yesterday)! That's 5 days! He was straining to poop, though, every day, and nothing would come out. I feel like I tried EVERYTHING! Prunes and prune juice (both of which he hated), strait pear juice, sugar water, rectal thermometer and rectal stimulation with a Q-Tip, and finally a Fleet infant suppository. I feel like I pulled out all the stops, and I was waiting for an epic poop to happen. But it didn't. Especially after the suppository, which usually always works within an hour. He didn't have any type of bowel movement until Saturday morning, and even then, it wasn't 5 days worth, and was still firm. I never thought I would ask for a blow-out, but I was hoping it would be - for Cael's sake. He was growing increasingly uncomfortable, and straining more and more to go. He'd even turn red in the face while pushing. I feel so bad for my little man, but I guess he takes after his Mommy. According to my mom, Cael is me all over again with this issue. When I was his age and up to about 4 years old, I had the same problems, and would need more assistance than a suppository to go to the bathroom. Embarrassing for me to share that? Eh, not really - it happens to the best of us. Since yesterday morning, he's gone a few more times, but it's still firm, and not very much. I just have to keep doing what I'm doing to help him as much as I can.

I did feel bad after inserting the suppository though. He screamed for about a half hour afterwards, and would want me to only hold him. He kept arching his back, sticking his butt out and straining. I thought it was just working. But then I read the label. It says "may cause rectal discomfort or a burning sensation." WHAT?! My poor little man! That's probably why he was screaming. It was probably really hurting him, and knowing that just kills me. Maybe if it had worked with the hour like it was supposed to, I wouldn't feel as bad. But it didn't. I haven't used them since, and I'll only use them as a last resort. I'm also going to try and give him more water, but out of a cup so he drinks it. I did this last night, out of a little cup, and he actually enjoyed drinking it. I was surprised.

Ah, the joys of parenthood! :) But I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.

32 Weeks Old!

Cael has finally learned how to blow raspberries. It's the cutest thing ever! I'm sure when he actually starts spitting, I'll become frustrated, but for now it's cute. :)

Cael has his weight check appointment on Thursday. I'm kind of anxious about his weight. I haven't been thinking about it much lately, but now that I know it's this coming week, I'm getting anxious. And with Cael moving around A LOT more, I'm afraid he's not gaining at this moment, or losing weight, from being so active. My fingers are crossed that he's gaining well. When I picked him up today, he felt lighter than usual. I hope it's just in my mind. I think I'll weigh him on the Wii tomorrow, just to get an idea.

Not only is Cael crawling and easily pulling himself to a standing position, but now he's what you consider "cruising"! I always thought cruising was crawling really fast, but it actually means moving around/walking while holding onto furniture/toys/etc. He just started doing this today, and I was surprised when he transferred from his new toy table, to the couch. I got it on video too (of course).

In this past week, we've given bananas and avocado to Cael. He had mixed feelings about the bananas. The first 2 days, he loved it. The last 2 days, he hated it, and even gagged on it. I tried giving him bigger pieces, even though I mushed it up. He started coughing on it, and after 3 pieces, which I thought he was swallowing, he coughed, gagged, and then threw up. I don't know if he was choking on it, or just gagging because he didn't like it, but it scared the hell out of me. After that, I really mushed it up good, and fed it to him off a spoon.

Yesterday was the first day of avocado. I gave him 2 slices, because after the first slice, he still seemed like he was hungry. He took the first slice without batting an eyelash. He even cried for me. But when I started giving him the second slice (from the same avocado, mind you), he started gagging, coughing and spitting it out. I guess he was so hungry the first time, that he was just swallowing it. But by the second slice, he was actually tasting it, and I guess he didn't like it. I tasted it before I even gave it to him, and after dwelling on it, I figured out what I thought it tasted like - pistachio. Tonight, though, he didn't have any problems taking it. He wanted more, and didn't gag/choke this time. So who knows!

Edit:

On the topic of sleep, the last 2 nights have been incredible! He slept from 8 pm to 6am, through the night, without waking up! This is HUGE. It felt so good to get 7-8 consecutive hours of sleep myself. But the best part?? He'd wake up at 5:45-6am to eat, I'd bring him in bed to feed him, and we'd fall back to sleep. Until 9 am! Of course, it messed up his naps for the rest of the day, but it felt good to finally get some sleep! My guess is that it's a fluke, and I don't expect it to continue (although, it would be nice!). I guess we will see!

We Have A Crawler!

Yesterday, Cael started crawling on all fours. I can't believe it, because we thought he'd never crawl. He can easily push himself up onto all fours, and has for weeks, but all he ever did was rock back and forth. We honestly thought he'd be walking/cruising before crawling. But he surprised us. There's no going back from here. He's only going to get better and faster at crawling. We definitely need to baby-proof now (I know I've been saying it for a while now).

7 Months Old!!

Another month has come and gone. :::Sigh::: He's growing right before my very eyes. Yesterday, my Little Man turned 7 months old. Currently, he's not crawling yet. He's trying so hard, but he hasn't been able to figure out how to move forward rhythmically. He may move his hand forward once, and then lose balance and flop forward, but I don't consider that crawling. His cousin, who is 6 weeks older than Cael, can now crawl laps around him. It's the cutest thing!

One thing that Cael has mastered, is pulling himself to a standing position. Since we don't have much living room furniture for him to do this, he does it easily in his crib. I watch him do it all the time on the video monitor. First, he was able to only pull himself onto his knees. But within less than 4 days, he mastered pulling up to his feet. Within 2 days, we had to lower the crib mattress down 2 notches. First we lowered it down one, because he was starting to grab onto the crib rail, but was stayed on his knees. Then a day later is when he figured out how to pull up to his feet. At that point, if he were to lean forward, he'd flip right over the rail. So I was very sad when I had to lower the mattress yet another notch. Now all he does is pull himself to the standing position, and bounce his legs and butt around. It's so cute. He may very well start standing/walking before he figures out how to crawl.

We also started string beans yesterday. He seemed to like them, as he didn't make any faces, and gladly ate them. So far, we haven't found anything that he doesn't like. He made some faces with the carrots the first few days, but it was his first solid food (besides cereal), so that could have been why.

He's also babbling a ton more! It's so adorable. However, he mostly babbles when he has the pacifier in his mouth. You can tell by the sounds that he's starting to figure out he can move his tongue around to make different noises and sounds.

Another thing that Cael is doing more of is lifting his arms up to be picked up or held. He's been doing it for about 2 weeks now, but it wasn't as frequently as it is now. Especially when he's in the walker, and starting to fuss and cry, he'll lift his arms up to me. Although I don't want him to grow up (I'm starting to think that I have a mental issue by constantly saying that), I love that he recognizes me, and wants me to pick him up.

As I previously posted, Cael's sleep continues to regress. Last night was one of the worst nights we had in about 3 weeks (since changing his sleep schedule). He was up every 2.5-3 hours, screaming. And not just screaming. SCREAMING bloody murder. He was first up for the night at 10:45 pm, right when we were just falling asleep for bed (well, I was anyway). After screaming for about 30 minutes, Matt suggested bringing him into bed, and feeding him. Well, I ended up feeding him every time he woke up, which I haven't done in about 3 weeks. I hope he doesn't get used to it. I just wish that his sleep would go back to when we first changed his naps. He was sleeping in 8 hour stretches then. If only.

30 Weeks Old!

Cael turned 30 weeks old today. That is right around the time in my pregnancy that I was put on bed rest, and taken out of work. That was exactly 9 months ago. Completely unreal to me.

He is getting closer and closer to crawling each day. Just today, he started lifting his hands/arms, and moving them slightly forward. He definitely had a forward motion on the floor today, and was able to move towards a toy I had in front of him.

We even had to lower the crib mattress down a notch on Friday, because he pulled himself up onto his knees right in front of me. It made me incredibly nervous (I get these visions of him pulling himself up to a standing position, and hoisting himself over the railing of the crib, and landing on the floor head first), so I took him right out of the crib, and lowered it within 10 minutes of him doing that. I did get the whole thing on video, too.

And then yesterday, he had woken up from a nap, and I was watching him on the video monitor. He, again, managed to pull himself up onto his knees using the crib railing. Shortly after he pulled himself up, he lost his balance and slammed his head into the rail. It made a loud :bonk: noise on the crib He immediately started crying, and I ran in to pick him up. He had a red mark on his forehead for a few hours. I guess you can consider it his first boo-boo.

We also introduce butternut squash on Friday. It took a little longer to prepare than I thought it would (I've never prepared it before, so I didn't know what to expect), but it came out really, really good. I try everything first, before I give it to Cael. He LOVED the butternut squash just as much as he did the plums. He kept opening his mouth for more, and very little came out of his mouth. He immediately started crying when there was no more left. That's how much he loved it.

Today, Cael had more to eat (solids) than he normally does during the day. Bowling is over for Matt, so we was home for dinner. We ate upstairs with his family. They were having chicken, and had steamed carrots as a side. I mashed up a carrot for Cael this time, and gave him some of that. We also tried a little bit of grilled chicken, with some mild spices on it. We held it for him, and he mostly gummed and sucked on it. He LOVED that, too. He was using his one little bottom tooth to try and scrape some chicken off, and he got very little of it. It was so exciting to see him try it. Our Baby Brezza says you can introduce chicken, turkey and tofu at 6-8 months, and wholesomebabyfood.com says 7 months+. Cael is almost 7 months, and he wasn't getting that much, so we figured it was ok to try. He then also had his butternut squash a little after that, and then a homemade teething biscuit. He had it made today, food-wise!

28 Weeks Old!! We Have A TOOTH! For Real This Time..

For real this time! I can't believe it. My little man has a little tooth coming through. I noticed it for the first time today, and Cael turned 28 weeks old today (or, this month, he's 6 months and 2 weeks old). You can see it under the gums, it looks like a clearish white area. And then when I rub my finger along his gums, you can definitely feel it! I always told Cael that he can wait until he's 9 months old to cut a tooth, but 6 months works too. There are moms I know that have had babies cut a tooth at 3 or 4 months old. So I'm happy Cael's body waited until 6.5 months. My nipples are still terrified, but I've heard that if he has a good latch, then it's unlikely he'll bite me.

Cael is almost to the point of crawling. He easily gets onto his hands and knees, and now has rocking forward and back completely accomplished. Matt said this morning that he actually tried to crawl forward in the crib. But his sleep sack tripped him, and he face planted into the mattress. But he said that he could definitely see the bulge of his knee coming forward through the sleep sack. He's getting so close! Matt was afraid to tell me because he didn't want me to get upset that I missed it. But I told him that I didn't mind, that at least one of us saw it first. I see a lot of Cael's first through the day, so I'm happy he got to see something.

We also have recently tried to get Cael to drink some water from a cup with a straw. However, he can't quite grasp the idea of sucking from a straw, which is skinnier than a nipple. I've heard that going to a sippy cup first can interfere with speech and oral development, so I wanted to skip it. But it seems like it would be a while before he'd figure out the straw, so I went and got a sippy cup. But it's not like the old-school sippy cups. It has a silicone sippy area, instead of a hard mouth piece (if that makes sense). He actually figured out how to get some water out of it yesterday, but I needed to tip it up for him. He still needs to figure that part out.

Some of Cael's likes:

• Carrots (the first 2 days he hated them, but now he doesn't make any faces when he eats them)
• The Fresh Beat Band on Nick Jr. Whenever one of their songs comes on the tv, his eyes become immediately locked on the tv.
• Yo Gabba Gabba. Nick Jr changed the format of their channel for the worse, so Yo Gabba Gabba is only on at midnight - real good for pre-schoolers and younger children, because they're up at that time to watch tv.
• Being outside! The weather has been beu-ti-full the last 5 days, so we've been outside everyday so far. He loves walks in the stroller. He also likes to take naps in the stroller.
• Playnest. Still a favorite like of his.
• Sleeping on his belly.

Some of Cael's dislikes:

• Sitting still! This kid needs to constantly.move.around. He can't do the same thing, or stay in the same place for more than 10 minutes.
• Being changed and dressed after his bath. He always seems to cry, scream and wiggle.