Oh yes, Peg's comment on my last post reminded me of a few other things that I want to remember about Josh at 11 months.
Josh is GENERALLY a very happy baby. People comment about it all the time. He has ZERO stranger anxiety and will usually rally to be super happy when we're in new settings. When we're out and about, he gets to hang out in his favorite place (on a hip!), observe the world, and charm people with his sweet smile. At home, he's quick to express his displeasure - probably because I'm quick to set him down and turn my attention to something else!
Scott says Josh definitely has a "mommy-preference," but I see the way Josh's eyes light up when he hears dad's voice after work and the way he giggles like crazy when they wrestle or play guitar after dinner.
Josh slept through the night for the first time over the weekend. And he did it twice! Not a pattern, but certainly a hope for the future.
I made a (possibly half hearted) attempt to wean Josh before our vacation, but failed miserably. Josh has never taken kindly to the bottle (they just use a sippy cup at school), but he did fine with formula while we were gone. Now Josh nurses about 4 times a day, and we also give him a sippy cup with formula (extra calories!) at meals. I'm thankful that we perservered through MANY nursing issues last winter and that my pump got me through a week in Mexico, so that Josh can nurse through the first year and then wean when he and I are ready.*
We don't know what Josh weighs... and I don't care. He's somewhere between 16 and 18 pounds. He still wears 6 month sizes. He probably won't be on the growth chart at his 1 year check up. But he's happy and he's meeting other developmental milestones, so we're not concerned. Yes, we still try to feed him high calorie foods, but our strategy wouldn't be any different if we knew he was in the 5th, 3rd, or -5th percentile, so what's the point in watching the scale?
*A news report last week showed that Oregon has the highest breastfeeding rates of any state in the nation. 60% of a babies nursing at 6 months and 40% still breastfeeding at 1 year. Both are higher than the CDC goals of 50% at 6 months and 25% at a year. Whoohoo!
Monday, October 04, 2010
11 Months and counting
While we we enjoying our week away, Josh passed the 11 month mark. The last month has (AGAIN) been a month of change for Baby J. And for the 3rd month in a row, Josh's month milestone coincided with a nasty illness. (Not a fun way to finish his days with Nana and Papa.) Thankfully, he's healthy and happy now. Here's a quick look at the last month.
In September, Josh went from angry, frustrated army crawler...
...to confident crawler and sneaky wall walker...
This new movement has opened a new world for Josh. He has started finding all sorts of new nooks and crannies in our house. He seems to really be embracing his new independence... unless mom is in the room. If I'm in eyesight, Josh wants to be on my hip or is using my legs to pull himself into the action. I'm now cooking while wiggling my legs away from his gripping hands and if Josh isn't on my hip, this is the view at my feet...
Josh still loves balls, watching the animals, giggling with Owen, testing new sounds with his voice
He's also found a new love this month... mallets! Anything hammer or stick shaped quickly becomes a prized possession. He spent a whole week carrying around a kitchen spatula and loves holding spoons, banging drumsticks, etc. Josh has even mastered the art of crawling while carrying a tubular object, as he's demonstrating with his new Mexican maraca shakers.
It looks like we are still a ways away from some of the other milestones like walking, forming real words, signing, and, of course, a haircut. But Josh does have four teeth and has transitioned fully to table foods.
The 11 month milestone also means we are just weeks away from a first birthday. We can't wait to celebrate our first year with Baby J!
In September, Josh went from angry, frustrated army crawler...
...to confident crawler and sneaky wall walker...
This new movement has opened a new world for Josh. He has started finding all sorts of new nooks and crannies in our house. He seems to really be embracing his new independence... unless mom is in the room. If I'm in eyesight, Josh wants to be on my hip or is using my legs to pull himself into the action. I'm now cooking while wiggling my legs away from his gripping hands and if Josh isn't on my hip, this is the view at my feet...
Josh still loves balls, watching the animals, giggling with Owen, testing new sounds with his voiceHe's also found a new love this month... mallets! Anything hammer or stick shaped quickly becomes a prized possession. He spent a whole week carrying around a kitchen spatula and loves holding spoons, banging drumsticks, etc. Josh has even mastered the art of crawling while carrying a tubular object, as he's demonstrating with his new Mexican maraca shakers.
It looks like we are still a ways away from some of the other milestones like walking, forming real words, signing, and, of course, a haircut. But Josh does have four teeth and has transitioned fully to table foods.
The 11 month milestone also means we are just weeks away from a first birthday. We can't wait to celebrate our first year with Baby J!
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Oh-oh Mexico!
We celebrated our TENTH anniversary with a kidfree week in Zihuatenejo Mexico. The blog has certainly suffered during the lead-up and aftermath of our trip, but I wanted to get our pictures our pictures posted.
Highlights:
Open air resort.
Ropes course and zip line tour.
Watching the fishing boats each morning.
Swim-up bar.
Ordering lunch from the beach.
Sleeping all.night.long.
Sleeping in every single morning.
Walking around the bay to Playa Las Gatas and enjoying drinks and lunch in an idyllic setting.
Seeing baby sea turtles right prior to their release into the ocean (Scott even held one!).
Walking barefoot down the beach to find breakfast and dinner.
Meeting some new and entertaining friends.
Time to talk, reflect, read, and dream.
Sleeping to the rhythm of the ocean.
Absolutely no schedule, no decisions, and no demands. We got up when we wanted to, had coffee on the patio, walked down the beach for breakfast when the mood struck us, and then made the excruciating decision: sit on the beach or sit by the pool? We also had to decide where to eat dinner each night, but even that got taken care of a few times, as we made friends with some other vacationers and just tagged along with their dinner plans. =)
Lowlights:
Our luggage arriving in Mexico 48 hours after we did.
Offseason vacation in the rainy season = 2 days of downpour!
Dozens and dozens of mosquito bites.
MAJOR construction in the resort next to ours (but we were able to move to a quieter room with an AMAZING view on day 3).
Another highlight is that traveling with just the two of use meant that none of the lowlights put even one smidgen of a damper on our trip. No luggage, loud noise, and mosquitoes just aren't that big of a deal without the kids around.
Overall, it was EXACTLY the vacation we needed. We are so grateful to both sets of grandparents for watching the boys, including dealing with Josh's sleepless nights, reluctance to take a bottle, and a nasty fever. Both grandmas also graciously accepted my barrage of emails with information and last minute instructions in the weeks before we left. We didn't feel sad missing the boys until we touched back down at Seatac, and that's a wonderful gift to be able to confidently get away and find some rejuvenating joy, strength, and rest for what lies ahead in the next ten years!
First room with view of the construction:
View from our second room and our morning coffee spot:
The private beach for the resort:
Lunch delivered to our chairs on the beach:
Chillin
The walk into town:
Breakfast on the beach:
Zip line/ropes course tour:
Baby Sea Turtles that hatch at the resort:
Highlights:
Open air resort.
Ropes course and zip line tour.
Watching the fishing boats each morning.
Swim-up bar.
Ordering lunch from the beach.
Sleeping all.night.long.
Sleeping in every single morning.
Walking around the bay to Playa Las Gatas and enjoying drinks and lunch in an idyllic setting.
Seeing baby sea turtles right prior to their release into the ocean (Scott even held one!).
Walking barefoot down the beach to find breakfast and dinner.
Meeting some new and entertaining friends.
Time to talk, reflect, read, and dream.
Sleeping to the rhythm of the ocean.
Absolutely no schedule, no decisions, and no demands. We got up when we wanted to, had coffee on the patio, walked down the beach for breakfast when the mood struck us, and then made the excruciating decision: sit on the beach or sit by the pool? We also had to decide where to eat dinner each night, but even that got taken care of a few times, as we made friends with some other vacationers and just tagged along with their dinner plans. =)
Lowlights:
Our luggage arriving in Mexico 48 hours after we did.
Offseason vacation in the rainy season = 2 days of downpour!
Dozens and dozens of mosquito bites.
MAJOR construction in the resort next to ours (but we were able to move to a quieter room with an AMAZING view on day 3).
Another highlight is that traveling with just the two of use meant that none of the lowlights put even one smidgen of a damper on our trip. No luggage, loud noise, and mosquitoes just aren't that big of a deal without the kids around.
Overall, it was EXACTLY the vacation we needed. We are so grateful to both sets of grandparents for watching the boys, including dealing with Josh's sleepless nights, reluctance to take a bottle, and a nasty fever. Both grandmas also graciously accepted my barrage of emails with information and last minute instructions in the weeks before we left. We didn't feel sad missing the boys until we touched back down at Seatac, and that's a wonderful gift to be able to confidently get away and find some rejuvenating joy, strength, and rest for what lies ahead in the next ten years!
First room with view of the construction:
View from our second room and our morning coffee spot:
The private beach for the resort:
Lunch delivered to our chairs on the beach:
Chillin
The walk into town:
Breakfast on the beach:
Zip line/ropes course tour:
Baby Sea Turtles that hatch at the resort:
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
UPs and DOWNs
The theme around our house for the last week has been UP and DOWN.
Teeth – Josh’s two front teeth on the top are coming DOWN and going back UP. It won’t be long now until he has four chompers.
In a related matter, our mealtime dynamic is changing. Josh wants to feed himself – picking UP foods from the tray, dropping them DOWN on the floor (Hudson is LOVING this stage); batting DOWN our hands when we try to spoon in the yogurt or puree. I need a cheat sheet of nutritious, high calorie foods that are soft and can be diced into small pieces. I sense lots of hearty, veggie rich soups over the next few months!
Standing – Josh is UP and DOWN and UP and DOWN. He can now pull himself up to standing with any surface – even the wall – and is starting to pick-up cruising speed. We need to teach him to get back DOWN when he pulls UP in his crib. The bumps and bruises are also coming at a faster pace. The other night when he tried to pull UP in the bath, slipped, and crashed his head DOWN on the side of the tub. He split his eyelid open and, let me tell you, blood around the eye socket is terribly frightening! I’m surprised he doesn’t have a major black eye from that one.
Potty training – What a rousing success! I am so proud of Owen. He has really claimed the process as his own, We spent the weekend watching pants and underwear going DOWN and UP; stickers going UP on the fridge; jelly beans coming DOWN from the cupboard. Owen hasn’t had an accident since Saturday and is even wearing his underwear at school and during naptime!
I know we now have several weeks of vigilance – identifying a bathroom when we go out and about, carrying extra clothes everywhere, etc. We’ll also have to tackle nighttime, but what a change to know we’ll just be using one diaper at night instead of changing them all day long. Whoohoo!
And yes... I need to UPload some more pictures, but this will have to do for tonight.
Teeth – Josh’s two front teeth on the top are coming DOWN and going back UP. It won’t be long now until he has four chompers.
In a related matter, our mealtime dynamic is changing. Josh wants to feed himself – picking UP foods from the tray, dropping them DOWN on the floor (Hudson is LOVING this stage); batting DOWN our hands when we try to spoon in the yogurt or puree. I need a cheat sheet of nutritious, high calorie foods that are soft and can be diced into small pieces. I sense lots of hearty, veggie rich soups over the next few months!
Standing – Josh is UP and DOWN and UP and DOWN. He can now pull himself up to standing with any surface – even the wall – and is starting to pick-up cruising speed. We need to teach him to get back DOWN when he pulls UP in his crib. The bumps and bruises are also coming at a faster pace. The other night when he tried to pull UP in the bath, slipped, and crashed his head DOWN on the side of the tub. He split his eyelid open and, let me tell you, blood around the eye socket is terribly frightening! I’m surprised he doesn’t have a major black eye from that one.
Potty training – What a rousing success! I am so proud of Owen. He has really claimed the process as his own, We spent the weekend watching pants and underwear going DOWN and UP; stickers going UP on the fridge; jelly beans coming DOWN from the cupboard. Owen hasn’t had an accident since Saturday and is even wearing his underwear at school and during naptime!
I know we now have several weeks of vigilance – identifying a bathroom when we go out and about, carrying extra clothes everywhere, etc. We’ll also have to tackle nighttime, but what a change to know we’ll just be using one diaper at night instead of changing them all day long. Whoohoo!
And yes... I need to UPload some more pictures, but this will have to do for tonight.
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