Crawling!

While I’m happy Toby has met another milestone, I have to be honest in saying I already miss my non-mobile baby.  I’m not ready for this.  He figured out how to army crawl in like two days.  At least he’s not fast…yet.  Why do I have a feeling he’ll be pulling himself up to stand next week?!

We need to baby proof ASAP (I feel like I said this a month ago).  I started with his room today and made sure plug protectors are in and that things on the bottom level of his changing station are safe.  But there’s still a lot to do – attach furniture to walls, clean up the guest bedroom side, and oh yeah BUY BABY GATES!  Yikes.  I completely understand why people like the open concept in houses so much.  I was constantly having to peek my head around the kitchen into the living room every five seconds this morning while I was trying to make myself some oatmeal and coffee.

Other milestone he has met is he figured out how to pull himself up from laying on his belly to the sitting position.  Freaked us out on Sunday when we put him down for a nap laying down and then turned on the monitor to see he was sitting up in his crib.  At least the crib was easy to lower a level.  This is actually a convenient development for us so now he can decide on his own if he wants to sit or lay on his belly.

Where did this snuggly little newborn go?!

 

Weekly Menu

Sweet Potato Corn Cakes w/Garlic Dipping Sauce (didn’t get to make last week)

Breakfast for Dinner: Bacon Egg Cups & Fruit Salad

Grilled Cheeseburger Wraps

Glazed Pork & Carrots (Slow Cooker)

Chicken-Apple Salad on Sandwich Thins

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

365 Project: Week 2 January

• 1/8: Happy :)
• 1/9: Pretty rings
• 1/10: Swinging!
• 1/11: We are in serious trouble if something ever happens to this spoon

• 1/12: Cuddly kitties
• 1/13: Serious face

• 1/14: Close Up

Weekly Menu

 

Chicken Caesar Salad

Spicy Bean Burritos

Sundried Tomato Chicken & Bacon Quesadillas

BLT Ranch Pizza

Olive Garden Inspired Minestrone Soup

Sweet Potato Corn Cakes w/Garlic Dipping Sauce

 

 

 

 

 

The First Six Months

Toby will turn one year old in five months now…eeek!  At least it means I can start party planning in the early spring, right? ;)

Here’s some comparison pictures of his first six months:

I love the lion pictures the most – look at how tiny it appears in the 1 month photo!!!  I can’t get over how tiny he was.  And he’s still not a very chunky baby so I couldn’t imagine if he was even bigger than what he is now.  The early months are such a blur and I’m a little sad about it.  I’m glad I have these pictures and videos I’ve taken but I wish I could just remember more!  Sometimes I wonder why I spend so much time blogging but I have to remind myself that I will appreciate these recaps later on.

365 Project: Week 1 January

Well I meant to be better about posting these updates on a regular basis but I’m slacking a little.  Here are pictures from week 1 of my 365 Photo a Day project!

Jan 1st – 7th

• 1. Playing on New Year’s Day
• 2. Trying yogurt for the first time – made a few faces at first but ended up liking it
• 3. Nom nom nom yummy Sophie.  Some days he loves her and some days he’s not a fan
• 4. My Ellie bean.  Getting in some cuddles while she can.

• 5. At an after holidays ugly sweater party (Toby’s wasn’t technically ugly, just holiday themed).
• 6. Morning cuddles and kisses.
• 7. All dressed and ready to go grocery shopping (exciting!)

Toby: 7 Months!

Another FUN month!  It really does get better every month, I swear!  Best thing about this month is how independent he is getting but he’s still non-mobile – I’m soaking it up while I can.  He loves playing on the floor and will keep himself entertained for awhile so I can cook, clean, and actually eat breakfast and lunch at normal times.  Since he can sit well unassisted, he’s been able to try out more stuff. He’s sat in a restaurant high chair and in the front of shopping carts, so going out and doing errands has gotten a bit easier. He also is able to swing at the park now! So cute.

He prefers to sit instead of being on his belly right now so he hasn’t made much progress with crawling.  He has started to rock back and forth on his knees but it only lasts for a minute or two before his arms give out and he starts fussing.  He has slowly managed to creep forward a few inches but that’s only happened in the past day, and it’s more of a weird army crawl on his tummy.

I have also noticed how happy he is now – he smiles and laughs out loud all the time and you don’t have to work hard to get him to do either.  I remember throwing one of his soft blocks up in the air and he burst out giggling like I showed him the coolest thing ever.  He’s still very serious, especially when focusing on playing with a toy, but he’s definitely more smiley these days.

Something else that has really changed this month is his schedule.  He pretty much put himself on a schedule once he started waking up consistently at 6:45ish.  He is good with eating every four hours now and can stay awake for 2-3 hours at a time so we are following a 2-3-4 schedule (first nap 2 hours after he wakes, second nap 3 hours after he wakes from first nap, then sleep 4 hours after he wakes from 2nd nap).  It’s nice knowing how our day will typically go ahead of time so I can squeeze in some errands or park time in between naps. 

Things we have to look forward to for next month…yoga and swim classes!  Yes, we will be busy, busy, busy but it’s all good.  He is moving up to the Tots class for yoga since he’s almost crawling so I’m curious to see if there will be any other babies his age or if they’ll be older since this class goes up to 24 months.  And swimming starts in February – Hubby will be doing that class with him.  It’ll be fun to see how Toby likes being in the water.

Weight: Guessing around 16 and 1/2 pounds?  Was 15.9 at the doctor’s on New Year’s Eve.

Height: Has to be at least 27 inches.

Medical Issues: Skin is finally clearing up!  A combination of hydrocortisone cream, Vaseline and eczema lotion finally helped.  Now we just keep up with applying regular Aveeno baby lotion in the AM and PM but other than that he’s good!  Haven’t had to use an eczema bath packet in awhile.  Trying to be careful with his eyelids and make sure they’re not too dry – on New Year’s Eve, his eyes were swollen when he woke up and he kept them closed during a diaper change which was really weird.  He was okay after that, but then started crying while he was playing and was shutting his eyes again, so I called the doctor and they recommended he come in.  He didn’t have pink eye or any other kind of infection so she thinks it was his eczema flaring up…which basically means a little Vaseline goes on his eyelids. 

Sleep:  Can’t complain in this department.  He sleeps from 7:45PM until about 6:45AM.  Straight through!  Wooo!  He very rarely wakes up and requires one of us to go in and soothe him.  I can only think of a couple times it’s happened in the past month and both times were before 10pm so I was still up.  Sometimes he will randomly wake up at 5:30am but he plays quietly in his crib and talks to himself and then usually falls back asleep.  Naps are good, as well – taking one in the morning at 9am and one in the afternoon at 1:30pm.  I would say 75% of the time he naps for 90 minutes at a time, but sometimes he does wake up after 45 minutes and won’t fall back asleep.  I’ve noticed if he takes a long morning nap he doesn’t always take a long afternoon nap.  Also, if I sing the ABC’s to him while putting him in his sleep sack, he won’t fuss as much. 

Clothes/Diapers: I thought he’d be in 6 month stuff for awhile but so many 9 month and 6-12 month outfits fit already and they are not that baggy!  All 6 month pants and one piece jumpsuits were retired.  Can still fit in 6 month onesies though the arms are a bit short.  He’s in size 2 for diapers but oh man are they tight.  Thankfully we only have 20 left to go and then we can move on up to 3’s.  He’s also been leaking the overnight diapers this past week so we’ll probably have to move up to 4’s in those.  I’ve tried doubling up diapers overnight and he still pees through them!

Diet: Gets four 7oz bottles a day at 7AM, 11AM, 3PM and 7:15PM.  We made it 6.5 months with breastfeeding (was down to one nursing session in the AM and pumping once a night and then I officially stopped).  Also eating solids twice a day – has oatmeal or yogurt in the morning at 8:15AM.  Then has a fruit or veggie or meat puree for dinner at 5PM.  Usually eating about 3-4oz for each meal.  New foods he has tried this past month include peas, pineapple (with pear), prunes, mashed potatoes, turkey (puree with sweet potatoes), blueberry yogurt, pumpkin with cinnamon, chicken (puree with apples).  He’s loved everything except for mashed potatoes.  Hated them – did some serious sour faces and then ending up crying after the third day of trying.  Maybe that means he won’t be a fan of french fries? ;) 

Baby Gear Love: Rings toy, blocks, teethers.  High chair is being used multiple times a day now and I’m glad we got a space saver one.

Milestones/Firsts: Sat in a restaurant high chair right before Christmas.  Starting sitting in shopping carts in late December.  Started practicing using a sippy cup on 12/23.  Starting saying “K” sounds in early January (like “kite” or “kiss).  Started to get up on his knees and rock back and forth but hasn’t really moved forward yet.  Stopped using a pacifier in early January (basically weaned himself as he was never hooked on them).

Likes: Playing “Peekaboo” when you drape a burp cloth over his face.  He will take it off fast and then look at you all surprised.  Still loves looking at board books, jumping, helping you clap your hands (he grabs onto each hand while you clap but doesn’t clap on his own yet) and sitting on the floor playing. 

Dislikes: When a garbage plastic liner is opened very fast – hates the noise and will start crying.  Will only want to be on his belly for a short time before fussing.  We are trying to see if he’ll start crawling but he’s more interested in sitting at this point.

Things I don’t want to forget:  How sometimes he sits on the floor and flaps his arms really fast like a little bird.  How he’s been a little shy once in a while and will rest his head against my shoulder and try to hide.  How much he giggled when he was swinging in a park swing for the first time.  How ticklish he is!  And how he will smile really big when he sees one of the kitties walk by.  I can tell they’re going to be in trouble once he’s officially on the move.

So hard doing these photoshoots on my own…he almost rolled forward off the chair twice.  At least the above pic shows his teeth!

It cracks me up seeing him sit in this little Adirondack chair! 

What We’ve Been Up to Lately

Recent videos from the past month!

First, Toby started to scoot backwards right before he turned 6 months old:

And in the past week he’s progressed to getting up on his knees and rocking – hasn’t moved forward at all, though:

We went to the park a few days ago and he sat in a swing for the first time!  He loved it, was giggling the entire time.

And of course lots of laughing and tickling have occurred!

4th, 5th, & 6th Month Favorites

Haven’t done one of these in awhile!  With his 7th month birthday right around the corner (ahhh!), I figured it was time again to compile a list of things we use quite frequently.  Here’s a few of Toby’s favorite things and some other items that have made life easier in the past few months:

OXO Tot Baby Blocks Freezer Storage Containers – we have a set of 2oz and 4oz ones and I’ll probably be ordering another set of 2oz ones soon.  I like the little ones as they have measurements on the sides so you know exactly how much your baby is eating.  I haven’t had to transport food in them yet, but the lids seem pretty leak-proof.

Sassy Baby’s First Books – I bought these as a Christmas gift and wish I had gotten these for him much sooner. He loves chewing on them and they keep him busy during diaper changes or if I need to take a quick shower.

Fisher Price’s Baby’s First Blocks – these are the cutest little blocks. Very easy for him to grab and he loves banging them together. I also like how I can load other toys in the box and bring them from room to room for easy transportation and clean-up.

Fisher Price’s Rock a Stack – such a classic toy. Loves banging the rings against the floor to make noise and watching me stack them on the post.

A&D ointment and Vaseline – this stuff works so fast on raw dry skin. Toby gets a layer of Vaseline on his cheeks, chin, and back of his scalp every night. He’s only had diaper rashes a couple times, but A&D ointment has cleared it up in a day.

Fisher-Price Space Saver High Chair – we rarely use all six of our kitchen chairs at once so it was a good decision to buy a space saver high chair. Easy to travel with as it only takes two straps to buckle it in to a regular chair.

KidCo Go Pod Portable Activity Seat – I think I’ve posted something about the Go Pod before, but needed to include it again on this list just because of how much we use it. Easy to set up, take down, and doesn’t weigh a lot so we set this up in the kitchen, living room, outside the bathroom door, and bring when we’re traveling. Definitely a top 10 item I would recommend registering for.

Bright Stars Lots of Links – we use links to attach toys to his stroller, car seat, or high chair and he also will use them as teethers.

Halo Sleepsacks – we were gifted a small sized sleepsack so we used it after Toby weaned from the swaddle. We liked them so much that I went out and bought more, but in the medium size so we now have two microfleece ones for chillier nights and two cotton ones. They are fairly long so I think he’ll be using the mediums until the end of spring hopefully. I have found they go on sale BOGO at Babies R Us or sometimes you can find them at Home Goods for $9.99.

Aveeno Eczema Therapy Moisturizing Cream – I bought this for my hands and then decided to use some on Toby when his skin started to flare up with the weather change.  Same exact ingredients as in the Baby Eczema Therapy Cream but it’s less expensive and you get more…go figure.  Anyways it’s a creamy lotion that soaks in fast and really does help both of us.

Fisher-Price Jumperoo – Animal Krackers – we set this up when Toby was about 3.5 months and he would check out the toys on it but didn’t start jumping until he was about 5 months old.  Now he goes nuts in it – it will keep him entertained for a good half hour which is nice if I need to do some cooking or cleaning.  And the music isn’t that annoying ;)

Things that didn’t really work for us?  We had a baby seat similar to a Bumbo and ended up returning it.  I sat him in it once and he looked SO uncomfortable, and he’s not a chunky baby!  He also isn’t a huge fan of Sophie (teething giraffe).  He will chew on her once in a while but he’s not attached to her like some other kids I’ve heard are.  Other than that we’ve been pretty lucky with the majority of the stuff we registered for or bought ourselves – everything has been put to good use!

Day in the Life (6.5 months)

Monday, 1/7/13

5:04AM – I wake up to hearing Toby stirring on the video monitor.  He is moving around but not fussing.  I try to fall back asleep as I don’t go in there now unless he’s truly crying.  He’s been sleeping since about 7:45pm (no wake-ups).

6:52AM – He must have fallen back asleep as I wake up again to hearing him whining.  I go into his room, say “Good Morning”, take him out of his sleep sack and do a diaper change.  Then he nurses for about 20 minutes, I burp him and we hang out in the glider for a little.  Maggie  comes in to see what we’re doing.

7:30AM– We go downstairs so I can eat breakfast and turn the Keurig on.  Toby sits very well on his own now so I feel comfortable leaving him on his mat in the living room while I microwave my oatmeal and make coffee.  I come back into the living room to watch him play while I eat.  After I finish, I sit on the floor with him and we play with blocks and rattles, I help him use his sippy cup to drink some water, and we also play with some wooden car toys. 

8:05AM – He starts to get fussy so he’s probably hungry.  First we do another diaper change (he’s pretty on schedule with pooping in the AM before 8:30).  Then I bring him into the kitchen, strap him in the high chair and prepare breakfast.  He will get 2oz of oatmeal and 2oz of applesauce this morning.  He eats all the oatmeal and about half of the applesauce before he starts to get uninterested and make the sour face (that means he’s full).

8:30AM – I clean him up and give him a few toys to play with while still in the high chair so I can empty the dishwasher and wash some stuff in the sink.  The cats have been jumping on the counter all morning so I know they smell something in there they want.  After about 15 minutes, he starts to get fussy so I bring him upstairs to wind down before putting him down for a nap.  We read a couple stories using the Boppy to prop up the books.

8:55AM – I turn on the white noise machine, put him in his sleep sack and sing the ABC’s to him.  I head to our room to grab the monitor and my laptop and head upstairs to the loft.  Toby falls asleep in about 5 minutes.  I log into work to check emails and Skype with co-workers.

9:30AM - I log out of work, head back downstairs to our room and spend some time paying bills online, checking out blogs, and watching the local news.  After about 20 minutes, I take a shower, get dressed, brush teeth, apply make-up and fix hair.  Toby is still napping so I go downstairs to make a couple bottles.

10:30AM – Toby is up!  It’s so nice when he sleeps longer than an hour in the mornings (he’s not consistent with it yet).  He’s not fussing but I head into his room to get him dressed for the day.  We head back downstairs and I warm a bottle up.  He takes about 15 minutes to finish it (7 oz).

11:10AM – We get ready to leave for a grocery shopping trip.  I usually go on Sundays but didn’t get the chance to go yesterday.  I plop him in the shopping cart cover once we get to the store and he’s pretty content with just watching everything around him.  He loved when I showed him a couple limes.  Received four comments on how cute he is.

12:30PM – Back home - groceries and Toby are unloaded.  I sit him down on a blanket right outside the kitchen with a few toys so I can watch him while I make a quick lunch for myself.  We then head upstairs to play and read a couple stories before he takes a nap.

1:15PM – I put him down for a nap.  He takes about 10 minutes to wind down before he falls asleep.  I pick up some clutter in our bathroom and bedroom and then use my laptop for a bit.

2:20PM – Toby is up…grrr for no 90 minute nap.  I wait 5 minutes but he’s definitely up and fussing so I go in to get him.  Hubby gets home at this point and comes upstairs to see what we’re doing.  Hubby takes Toby and I go downstairs to make a green smoothie for me and warm up a bottle for Toby (7oz).  Hubby sits down in the living room to feed Toby and I then head back upstairs to the loft to log into work. 

5:30PM – I am done with work for the day so I come back downstairs.  Toby has played, used his jumper, and ate while I was working.  He is on day three of trying mashed potatoes with a little unsalted butter and he HATES them.  First solid food he’s really disliked.  Hubby gave him yogurt (about 2oz) since he didn’t eat the potatoes.  Guess we’ll try a new veggie tomorrow.  I start to make dinner which is Sloppy Joe Cups tonight.

6:20PM – Hubby and I eat dinner in the living room while Toby plays on the floor.  Normally we eat at the dining room table but Toby had enough of being in the high chair or sitting in the Go Pod.  After dinner, I clean up the kitchen while Toby plays with Hubby.

7:00PM – Hubby takes Toby upstairs to get ready for a bath.  I make his last bottle of the night (7oz).  I come upstairs to straighten his room and put clothes away while bath time is being finished.  Hubby brings Toby into his room and lays him on the changing table to get him into a nighttime diaper, apply lotion, and dress him in PJ’s.  I take over and feed him the bottle, apply Vaseline on his cheeks when he’s done, and then sing the ABC’s to him while I dress him in the sleep sack.  He is crying already so I try to calm him down a little by patting his head.  He turns onto his belly so I rub his back.  After a minute, I head quietly out of the room and head downstairs.

7:40PM – He cries for about 5 minutes before falling asleep.  Hubby and I watch TV and do stuff on our laptops. 

9:15PM – Hubby heads upstairs to go to bed since he has to wake up at 4AM for work.  Tonight I stay downstairs for awhile longer but sometimes I’ll go up to bed early.  I watch TV, clean up a little downstairs, and then finally pump for 15 minutes.

10:30PM – I go upstairs to bed.

This is a typical day for the most part.  Obviously it can change based on his naps – sometimes he will wake up after 45 minutes and not fall back asleep.  If that happens, Hubby will take him out in the afternoons and then he’ll take a cat nap in the car in the late afternoon.  But he has definitely become more consistent over the past month taking longer naps which has been really nice.

I usually try to get out of the house with him a couple times a week and do errands.  If we don’t end up going out, it just means more playtime in the middle of the day.  Hubby takes him out a lot in the afternoons when they’re together. 

Curious to see how this will change in the next few months!