Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Zavier at Nine Months!

Still zooming around. He can crawl pretty fast now and really knows when he shouldn't be headed somewhere bc he speeds up! He pulls himself up on everything and has even taken a couple steps on several occasions. He pushes the lion and shopping cart around with confidence so we're sure walking is just around the corner. We can wait though! He loves opening cabinets and drawers he should be opening and gives the biggest smile when I say "Zavier! You aren't allowed in there!" I talk to him the same way I talk to Scarlett, even though he cannot understand the way she can. I just don't want her to feel like I only talk to her like that and that I'm fair between the two of them. Back to Zavier, he definitely knows his name and he's very aware of sounds, especially when he's nursing bc he gets quite distracted.

He eats well. He still nurses about every three hours day (and night) and eats three meals a day. He loves smoothies or anything with a straw. He enjoys the mesh net when we have the proper fruit to put in it. I can tell he's going to have a hollow leg though bc he would probably eat more than I give him. We're working on finger foods and he does well with puffs and yogurt bites. The other day we had small bites of meatball as well as avocado so he can practice chewing. It definitely will take more practice but he's doing well so far! He's also working on picking up the foods either with his whole hand or his pinchers. He mostly does whole hand at this point.

He takes two-three naps a day. One around 9am and one around 1pm. Sometimes random naps happen at 11am after Stroller Strides and that throws off the afternoon. If we're home for both naps they've started getting longer. Afternoon naps are definitely longer than in the past. Usually an hour, sometimes more. He puts himself to sleep at night around 7pm with some gentle rocking and then a lay down. Barely any fussing unless he's a bit overtired. He still wakes up multiple times a night for comfort. I am currently okay with this though I often struggle with the thought that he should be sleeping thru the night and how I can help him do that. It's not that much of an inconvenience that I can't handle it and I know he will grow out of it and eventually sleep thru on his own so I don't mind being his comfort right now. Teething pain definitely impacts his sleep. Even when we give him a bit of Tylenol, he still wakes frequently. Bc he doesn't take a paci, I am one of his main comforts (his thumb is the other but he doesn't suck all that hard on it) so I'm not interested in removing myself as the comfort at this time.

Now he seems to be getting this whole walking thing. He's taken multiple steps on a number of occasions which is very exciting. Practice makes perfect!

I have to note in here that Scarlett is working on her potty training and she is doing very well! After a tough start bc of a public toilet being a little too loud, she seems interested in going on the potty. Mostly at home and public places, not at other peoples houses quite yet but it's early. We will be headed to the beach soon (June 21) so we will see how that goes. Hopefully traveling with the potty will make things easier. She will hopefully get used to seeing it and then go whenever/wherever. She did not respond well to the reward tactic, so what i do is after we finish the mission, I make sure she looks at me and then I praise her. I can tell she feels proud in those moments and that I'm really making her feel good. (Obv by I, I mean we, as in me and Alex but it's easier to type I).

Back to Zavier. Since his 9 month appt he's amped up the verbal skills. Lots more talking is going on and it's very cute. His first official word is Dada and he's also said dad-dy. so that's exciting! He has become quite fond of Alex and it's so adorable watching his excitement when Alex gets home from work or really just walks up to him.

Just said Mama too.

Zavier at Eight Months!

He crawls around like a pro. He pulls up on everything within reach as well which is neat but can also be dangerous. He requires lots more supervision then before and what I mean is I can't stand in the kitchen while he pulls up on the window seat area without getting nervous and staying nearby.

He has been teething hard this month and this has affected his sleeping. I have yet to sleep train him bc of this. When he teethes, his nose runs which makes him congested which affects his sleep. He wakes up more, itches at his nose and has a hard time getting back to sleep.

Other than activity and sleep, he eats solids twice a day but hasn't graduated to anything thicker than a good purée and we're working on puffs. He does enjoy the mesh net tho and I can't wait for some nice ripe cantaloupe to have for him to suck on!

He knows what he wants. When he wants out of his chair or when he drops something that he still wanted he lets us know! He wants the iPad when Scarlett has it and really likes being near her.

He smiles a ton. He's very loving. A little sweetheart in so many ways. He cries very little which is really nice too!

Zavier at Seven Months!

Weight: 21 lbs

Zavier has started crawling backwards at the beginning of this month. He is fully crawling now at the end. He also started some separation anxiety.

4/9/14 - Zavier's first hair cut! We trimmed his bangs while he was in the highchair. It wasn't easy and he looked so much older directly afterward.

His sleeping is still pretty terrible. I'm not really sure what to do about it at this point. He goes to sleep just fine, he just likes to wake up a lot and play me like a dang fiddle. I know he doesn't need to eat at night but I feed him bc it comforts him. He's been sick on and off and when he's not sick he seems to be teething. He naps for about 30 mins three times a day. Sometimes he surprises me and sleeps for an hour or longer. This is rare.

Despite the sleep issues, he's such a fun little guy! It's easy to make him smile and laugh and he has a tickle spot on his ribs. He crawls around so confidently now and when he wants something, he goes and gets it. He wants to pull up on everything which requires lots of supervision. It's all exciting, just moving really fast! He likes to drink water from Scarlett's cups, which means he does a good job sucking from a straw.

Scarlett has started to interact with him a lot more with kisses and playing. She will help me with him at times by repeating things I say like "keep your eyes open, Zavier" and she gives him kisses. She doesn't enjoy his mobility as much tho bc now he tries to take toys she's playing with. I do think it's helping her learn to share though and also teaches her she can't just take a toy from someone.

It's hard to believe he just turned 8 months. It's hard not to think about Scarlett when she was 8 months. I do my best not to compare them but it's nice to reminisce about her milestones. Pretty soon he will be walking and then talking and time will continue to fly so I will continue to live in and enjoy the moment!

Zavier at Six Months!

Eats
Zaviers first food was oatmeal followed by sweet potatoes and prunes. He was definitely ready to start eating bc he opens his mouth so well each time! I say "ahhh" and he opens! He still nurses every three hours or so.

Sleeps
He hasn't slept well really since before he had croup. Teething seems to give him a runny nose which messes with his breathing and all goes to heck after that. Also, hi my name is Michelle and i am Zavier's human pacifier. So there's that too. I'm not tired despite how often I am awake at night so I'm not messing with it anytime soon. He goes back to sleep pretty easily after nursing (in the cases where he can breathe while nursing of course, darn runny nose!)

Activities
This month Zavier has mastered sitting up unassisted. I still put the boppy behind him in case he leans back but he does a very good job sitting.

Basically this is a fail on my part as I didn't realize I didn't write a lot for 6 months. He's an awesome little man though!

Zavier at Five Months!

Another month with stats! I'm surprising myself! (also, five months is in January 2014)

Weighs 20 lbs
Length 27 3/4"

Eats
He still eats a lot. Every three hours on average. Sometimes more than three sometimes less. I feed him whenever he wants so I don't really keep close track. Only close enough track that when the dr asks I can say the average. He's become very distracted though so our sessions can last anywhere from 5 mins to 30 mins. He's packing on the pounds that's for sure. Good thing he's long too or else he'd be a real chubb-a-lubb. He likes watching us eat so I'm sure if I introduced some cereal to him he would go for it but I really want to wait until 5 or 5.5 months. We'll see what happens.

Sleeps
This month was really wonky bc he had a stuffy nose a lot. So that interrupted his sleep a lot. Then he had croup which definitely made sleep difficult for a couple of nights. But we're over that now and one night he slept for a nice 6 hour stretch! So that was lovely. His average is 3 hour stretches at night and 20-40 min naps during the day. He takes a nap about every three hours. His average is three for everything it seems.

Activity
He loves his bouncer and has mastered rolling and all that. He's now into grabbing his legs and feet while laying down. He's so intentional with his grabs in general. He appears to know what he wants and he grabs for it. He really loves holding hands with us too. So he's really handsy. We have been practicing sitting alone and he does okay with the boppy behind him. He definitely wants to lean forward a lot so hopefully he gets the concept of keeping his hands out in front of himself. He also inch worms across the floor. I feel like between now and actual crawling so much is happening with him!

This month he's replaced the pacifier with his thumb. This is fine with us now after some initial worry about it. After our research we determined its fine for him to do and that most kids wean themselves from it by age 2. This has actually been helpful with self-soothing, especially at night.

Let's talk about croup. First, Scarlett was not sick at all as a baby. She's only recently had a cold with an accompanying cough. It was only a matter of time after all the sickness in November and December and I'm just glad she didn't have the stomach bug that was circulating. Zavier got a stuffy nose when Scarlett had one and we thought that was that. But Alex had the flu and some other people we know had the flu around the holidays. Zavier started on Friday with some super long naps. He usually falls asleep in the car but these naps extended for hours which wasn't like him at all. The same thing occurred Saturday, long naps. Sunday morning he had a fever and was coughing a little but we just thought it was draining mucus, as that's how Scarlett's cold was ending. So we treated his fever all day/night which didn't subside at all. He slept terribly that night. He was up about every hour or so and his cough was getting worse. By the morning it was definitely sounding like a bark and his breathing in between coughs didn't sound the best. So when the dr opened I called immediately and they had an appt for him an hour later. He got an oral steroid and more Tylenol. She said it would get worse before it got better. I never really thought the steroid helped. But it only got better from then on so that was a relief. We did a lot of steams in the bathroom at Scarlett's nap time and when she went to bed at night. In between that we sat in front of the humidifier. Day two he was still lethargic but his fever had broken. By day three he was feeling better, smiling more and wanting to bounce and play. He still had a cough for the next several days and definitely mucus that needed draining but just to be over the fever and coughing was a huge relief. I honestly don't know how parents with sick children deal with it all the time. It's so sad.

Speaking of sickness though, I got a nose frida thing bc the bulb syringe is basically terrible at doing anything at all. And while he hates the nose frida and the saline drops in general, they both have been working really well through all of this.

We're so lucky to have such a happy little guy. He's such a pleasure to have around.

Zavier at Four Months!

Look who has stats this month!!

Weight- 18 lbs 7 oz
Length- 27.5"

Eats
He still eats every three-ish hours. He's a hungry little boy! And I'm sure this contributes to his weight above. But luckily he's proportionate and so he's not too chubby looking quite yet. He's a pretty distracted nurser other than in the middle of the night, luckily.

Sleeps
His napping is pretty sub-par. I tried crib training him a bit but he wouldn't sleep for long which meant his nights were worse. So I went back to holding him for 15-20 mins and then putting him down. Really it all depends on Scarlett. If she's in the mood to make trouble during his nap, and I have to get up and chase her around or remove her from certain areas it affects Zavier's nap. But I'm back to trying to crib train from the beginning and I'm hoping he gets used to it! :) He naps 4 times a day and goes to bed around 8pm waking about every three hours until he awakens around 7. He takes some of his best naps in his car seat when I go places like target or lunch with my mom. Something about Mimi always puts him to sleep and he stays asleep!

Activity
He has gotten a lot more active this month whether it's kicking his legs and scootching on the activity mat. He also rolled from his back to his belly! Now at the beginning of his fifth month, he's rolling all around. So now I can't leave him on the couch and have to strategically place him on the floor.

He's very easy to make smile and he started laughing this month. It can brighten any bad spot in a day and I just love it!

Other
I am the only one who can put him to bed at night. He allows Alex to do naps but he will cry his tiny head off at night. Sometimes he takes 10 minutes to go to sleep and sometimes it's an hour. I remember this phase with Scarlett and cannot wait until we're past it and falling asleep easier!

Zavier at Three Months!

Zavier at 3 Months

I don't know his stats!!! Look at his baby book ;)

Eats
He eats a lot. He can't last more than 3 hours during the day unless he's sleeping, which only happens if he's been riding in the car and gets nice and deep. I need to stay hydrated like nothing else to keep up with his appetite. One day of not drinking enough water and the following day feels empty. He's a growing boy! Can't wait for the sweet spot from 4-7 months when I can hopefully drop the rest of this baby weight and then some!

Sleeps
He still wakes about twice a night. Rarely it's three times but just as before he only spend about 10 minutes awake/eating/diaper change before going back to sleep. It's a smidge harder to get him back to sleep after the 4/4:30am feeding but he does go back to sleep. That's the time he joins us in bed so that I'm there to soothe him to sleep while half sleeping myself. I hope he stays immobile for a while so we can continue this safely or he can do better at sleeping from 4-7am.. Those are the only options. He does tend to fight his sleep a bit at times, mostly at night and he's very position specific. It's trying at times but I have to say I handle it better this time around than with Scarlett. I used to get pretty frustrated but now i just remind myself that, hello! he's a baby! this is what babies do.

Activities
He still talks and smiles lots. He started batting at and grabbing toys recently. He loves his hands and sucks on them lots. He loves laying on the activity mat kicking and punching around. His neck strength gets better each day, especially pulling him up by his arms, so that's good. We don't do too much tummy time but when we do he does a good job. He's been rolling over during tummy time since like 8 weeks from belly to his back. I think it's bc he would lean one way and the weight of his head would roll him over. I guess it counts if it's happened more than five times tho. Right? Right!

This little boy loves the bath. He kicks and splashes himself out of the little seat part so I have to hold him down most of the time to keep him safe. He could spend so much time splashing around and I'm sure he will have so much fun next summer with swimming and water table play! In the meantime, he'll continue loving his bath!

He loves watching Scarlett run around the room playing. She asked to hold him this month and has held his hands several times. She likes to lay on the activity mat with him and have him kick her. It's very heartwarming to watch them interact!

I thank goodness that Zavier is a nice laid back and relaxed baby. Sure he needs to be held for his naps but that won't last forever so I'm cherishing it while it does. He waits patiently for me when I need him to and he rarely cries. We love him so much!