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.

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.

Happy Half-Birthday, Cael! And more...

As a fellow Sweet Pea pointed out, I didn't updated my blog when Cael turned 6 months old (which was also when he turned 26 weeks old). It also just so happens that on Sunday, Cael and I went back down to Long Island to see my mom. This time though, we're staying home most of the time, and I don't plan on visiting a whole lot of people, if any. Last month when Cael and I were down, we spent a lot of time out visiting friends and family, which I like to do. But I also didn't spend a lot of time with my mom either, so that is what this visit is mostly for.

It was Matt's idea for me to go again this month. He suggested it on Saturday, not in a mean way. Cael had a few rough days, and was always screaming. Matt has sensitive ears, and hears high-pitched loud noises at work, so it's hard for him to come home to a screaming baby. I get it; so he was like, "So uh, when did your mom want you to visit again?!" I asked jokingly if he was trying to get rid of me. It's all good - I like visiting my mom because I get help during the day, and it's not so lonely. Plus she gets to spend a lot of time with Cael, which she loves because she doesn't get to see him everyday.

Ok, so since I haven't written in about a week, I'll lump everything into this one post. Here goes!

Happy 6 Months!

Half a year old already! I swear I have no idea where the time is going. He's developing and doing new things at the speed of light, it seems. As usual, he loves his rice cereal. He's getting 4 tbsp now, which is a serving size. He feels heavier, so I hope it's helping him gain weight. We go back to the doctor in 1 week for his 6 month visit, shots and weight check. They'll also check his ears to make sure the antibiotic is working. He doesn't cry in pain anymore, and it's been days since he's needed Tylenol, so I'm hopeful.

In addition to being able to sit unassisted for long periods of time now, he is also able to get up onto his knees more frequently, and is starting to rock back and forth; and he can now also pull himself to a standing position and stand there with assistance. All he needs to do that, is you to hold his hands, and pull back slightly. He'll do the rest of pulling himself up. So basically, if he's laying on his back, and you let him take hold of your hands and pull up slightly, he won't want to just pull up to a sitting position; he goes right up onto his feet and into a standing position. He's much less wobbly while standing now, too.

So with all this, he can can: 1) sit unassisted, 2) get onto his knees, and 3) stand assisted. It may be me and being biased, but that seems to be an awful lot for a 6 month to be doing. And he's been sitting since just around 5 months old. Oh yea, and he moves all.over.the.floor when he's on his belly.

The playmat is basically useless because he only stays on it for a few seconds. He's very mobile. And with my moms help, he was able to "walk" (take uneven steps) towards me just by (again) holding his hands and providing some support. He did the rest. I'm going to have my hands full, that is for damn sure!

He also loves going for walks in the stroller. I just have to say, that I love love LOVE my Baby Jogger City Mini stroller. I am beyond happy with it. It's so light-weight, easy to fold up and so very easy to maneuver. After pushing the BJCM around for a while, it makes the Snap n' Go stroller frame feel impossible to maneuver. It's been really nice outside yesterday and today, so my mom and I had Cael outside in the stroller, walking around. Both times, he fell asleep. I guess the fresh air really does knock kids and babies out. Works for me. And when I stop pushing the stroller, he starts fussing. So add that to the list of things Cael likes: walks outside. It's going to be so much fun when the weather turns nice for spring and summer. We'll be outside a lot.

On another note, there are no signs of any teeth yet. Not even any visible under his gums. I (and my nipples) are very thankful for that! He can wait until he's 10 months old for his teeth to pop through for all I care. BUT, we do have hair growth!! Since being at my mom's house on Sunday, he's had a noticeable hair growth spurt. It's really coming in now, and I love it. It's light brown, oh-so soft, and definitely more visible in pictures. I texted Matt today that he's finally growing hair, and he said that he was able to tell from the pictures I've been posting on Facebook. I'm so happy he won't be bald until 2 years old, like I was.

First Trip To The Aquarium

I've been wanting to take Cael to the aquarium for about a month now. I wanted to the last time we were down on LI, but I didn't think he'd be intothat muchsince he wasn't as interactive or interested in the world around him, like he is now. I'm glad I waited, because he really seemed to enjoy himself. I know he won't remember it when he's older, but it was something fun and different for him.

Cael and I went with my mom and sister on Tuesday. It was nice, because it was a weekday, so there was barely anyone there. They just opened a new butterfly and bird exhibit, so we were really excited about that. Cael seemed to love the butterflies. They were flying all around, and he was constantly looking around at them in the air. It was so cool to see his interest in them. He liked the birds too. They were really colorful, and flying around as well. As long as you were over 5 years old, you can hold them. So the 3 of us held some birds - conures mostly. Two lovebirds and a parakeet landed on my mom's shoulder all their own. It was a really awesome, well-done exhibit.

He also seemed to like the big fish tanks with the colorful fish swimming around. He would stare at them all moving around, and seemed to be in awe. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself, especially being pushed around in the stroller. He didn't cry or fuss, so I was extremely proud of him. I fed him right before we left to go to the aquarium, and didn't have to feed him again until right before we were leaving the aquarium. So he went 4 hours between eating. He was so good. He did take a nap somewhere between the fish tanks and the outside exhibits, which was fine with me. It was a lot for him to take in, so I would have been surprised if he didn't nap while there.

The shark looks like it wants to eat Cael!

6 Month Photoshoot

This will be just a montage of photos from the 6 month pictures I took of Cael. Once again, we didn't want to pay to have them done professionally (although I wanted to), so I took and edited them all myself (again). I'm happy with how they came out. The first two pictures are comparison shots. I loved this particular outfit on Cael in a newborn size, and was sad when he grew out of it. Well, luckily, I found it again in a 6-9 month size, and decided I would compare the size from when he was a newborn, to his current size. I can't believe the changes in his face, and how much he's grown. It's hard for me to believe he fit into that tiny outfit!

And now for a TON of 6 month pictures! I couldn't just pick a few :)