Toby: 9 Months!

Toby turned 9 months old on the 16th!  We are a little late with the update due to waiting for his stats at the doctor yesterday and also trying to finish up a photo shoot this AM.  Toby is apparently too busy to lie on his back for three seconds.  I finally caved in and gave him my phone to play with and turned on his favorite song (“Home” by Phillip Phillips) so he would relax.

I’m in serious denial that my little newborn is going to be a year old in just three months.  Time is flying by way too fast.  I guess the upside is that now I can officially start party planning, right? :) 

We realized this past month how spoiled we were with Toby being an “easy” baby.  We never had to do real sleep training when he was younger as he usually soothed himself to sleep within five minutes.  He would only cry when he was hungry or overtired.  He’s pretty good with entertaining himself.  He’s never been an overly needy kid.  Well…the past couple weeks have been hard.  I’m assuming it’s a combination of a growth spurt and separation anxiety, along with some teething thrown in.  He’s been shy in some social situations and has also been throwing tantrums when he doesn’t get something he wants.  There have been a lot of tears, especially with being put down for naps and night time sleep. 

I get that his brain is probably going a million miles a minute with all the new stuff he’s learning and being able to explore more freely on his own, so that is going to make it difficult to relax enough to fall asleep.  I get it.  But oh my gosh I never knew how loud he could scream until this past month.  Luckily I think things are looking better.  We started a new routine where we put him in the crib sitting down and don’t force him to lay down as we zip up his sleep sack.  We give him the Nuby teething ring, say “Good-night” or “Have a good nap” and then walk out of the room.  He fusses for a minute or two when he realizes we have left but it’s not half as bad as the screaming fits he was doing a couple weeks ago when we laid him down.  He sometimes plays in the crib for five to ten minutes but then usually lays himself down with no crying.  He leaned right over and laid himself to sleep on his belly last night after literally 45 seconds. 

Along with being mobile and getting into everything, I also see that he’s learning some pretty neat things – like using a toothbrush!  Every night after he finishes his bottle, I bring him into the bathroom.  I’ll take out his brush, let him grab it, and watch as he opens his mouth and starts “brushing”.  He knows how to move the brush back and forth.  It’s pretty adorable, especially since he’s trying to smile with his mouth wide open the whole time.  I let him brush for a minute or so and then I’ll finish up so we make sure the teeth actually get somewhat clean.  Speaking of teeth, his doctor said four top ones are about to pop through any day now.  Please send good thoughts our way!!!

Weight: 19.4 pounds (43rd percentile)

Height: 28 inches long (38th percentile).  He has finally slowed down with growing so long!  And put on a good amount of weight since his 6 month check-up when he was in the 12th percentile.

Medical Issues: UGH eczema.  His face has flared up a few times which resulted in two sick visits at the doctor’s in a 10 day span.  We are now using a special lotion that’s not prescription but only available behind the pharmacy counter.  So far it’s helping.  The rest of his body is pretty good except for a few patches but it’s always his face that’s gets irritated lately.  His doctor is hopeful that he’ll grow out of it since we don’t have a big family history of it.

Sleep: Yikes.  This was a rough month, let’s just leave it at that.  There was one week where he woke up several times during the night.  The time change affected his schedule, but I think we are back to somewhat normal.  In the crib by 8pm and sleeping straight through until 6:45amish.  Napping once in the AM for 90 minutes, usually from 9am-10:30am, and then again in the afternoon for 90 minutes, usually from 2pm-3:30pm.  We now let him sleep with a Nuby teething ring so he can use it when he wakes up instead of sucking on his hands.  We’ve tried putting a small taggie blanket and a small lion stuffed animal in there with him, but he could care less about either.  Definitely no lovey that he’s attached to yet.

Clothes/Diapers: Wearing 6-9 months, 6-12 months and a few 6 month onesies still fit surprisingly which has worked out well so we didn’t have to buy more long sleeve ones to get through the colder months.  Retiring some of the PJ’s this week, though, as his legs have gotten really long.  We went to Carter’s to pick up some 12 month PJ’s last week and I was very sad to have to go to the big boy’s section to buy them.  No more “little layette” stuff.  Wearing 3’s in diapers for day, 4’s for overnights.

Diet: Eating a 6-7 oz bottle every four hours during the day (four bottles total).  Has 3oz oatmeal or yogurt an hour after his first bottle along with a small rice cake.  Eating puffs as a snack for lunch with 20z of a fruit puree.  And then has 4oz of meat or veggie puree for dinner.  He’s slowly starting to eat more at each meal.  We started him on stage 3 purees this past week and we’re now experimenting with finger foods.  He’s definitely not into the textures, though.  He’s has some little pieces of banana, peaches, and avocado and wasn’t a fan.  Not a lot of new foods this past month other than trying puffs and mini rice cakes.  LOVES puffs.  They’re pretty tasty, I have to admit.  And the perfect distraction for when we go out to eat.

Baby Love Gear: Board books.  Socks with the non-skid grippies on the bottom.  His play table, walker, blocks, and teethers.

Milestones/Firsts:  Started cruising around his play table and on one side of the coffee table during the second week of March.  Started saying some “da-da” noises but not consistent with it yet. Started climbing up stairs in early March (with some assistance right behind him, of course).  Started picking up puffs on his own and bringing them successfully to his mouth in early March.

Likes: Reading!  Obsessed with stories.  He knows when you are done reading a page and that it’s time to turn, which he enjoys doing on his own.  He also loves when we get down on his level and crawl around the living room with him.  We chase each other around the coffee table and play “Peekaboo”.  Loves hiding behind the living room curtains and playing “Peekaboo”.  Basically loves “Peekaboo”!

Dislikes: Being put in the car seat.  We switched over to the convertible seat and he still hates being put in it.  Once he’s buckled in, he’s fine but the minute of screaming gets to me every time.  Also not a fan of when we leave the living room and shut the gate so he can’t get out as he wants to follow us.  I may consider moving the gate to just block off the stairs once the kitchen is re-done.

Things I don’t want to forget: How he will play with a toy for a minute, then come over to my lap, climb on top of my legs, burrow his head into my shoulder and then climb off to go play again.  How he thinks it’s funny when I say “pee-eww stinky feet” after I sniff his toes.  They really do smell sometimes.  How he gets so excited for puffs – sometimes I think he would bit my fingers off if I didn’t get the puffs into his mouth fast enough.  How he smiles every time he hears “Home” play on TV (it’s like HGTV’s theme song now).  How when I gave him a bath a few nights ago, I used the crab bath to squirt water at him and he burst out laughing.  And continued to laugh up a storm as I squirted him ten more times.  Guess the swim lessons are working with getting him more comfortable!