Tyler: Week 33

February 2-February 8, 2011 (32w-32w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He loves practicing his new skills on our bed.  He climbs on a pillow, stands up and falls backwards.  He repeats this over and over.  I welcome it as I'm ready for him to learn how to fall properly and stop hitting his poor little noggin.

• He grabs our pant leg to pull himself up.  Thankfully I'm comfortable around his babysitter since he pulled my pants down the other day right in front of her.

• He's now standing in his crib and this is pretty much all he wants to do.  He hasn't quite learned how to sit back down so we have to go lay him down once he tires.

• He also stands in his playzone.  It's so funny to see him peeking over looking at us.

• He's crawling better this week.  One night I was brushing my teeth while Tyler was sitting in bed with Kerry.  Tyler started fussing for me so Kerry put him on the floor.  He crawled all the way to me while crying and was all grins when he got to me.  It melted my heart!

• He can now get to a sitting position on his own.

• This is a strange one, but he loves mommy and daddy's chubby bellies.  He sticks his open mouth on them, bobs up and down while making funny noises.  It makes us laugh hysterically.

• He's taken his laugh to a whole new level.  He started belly laughing.  He laughs so hard he can barely catch his breath.  We laugh so hard we cry.  I'll have to try and get this on video.

• He's starting to clap.

• His tooth is coming in more and is now visible.  He bites his spoon when we feed him and occasionally bites my nipple.  Still no fever or drooling, but he is fussy and temporarily not sleeping more than 2 hrs at a time.

• He's partially potty trained.  He'll poop/pee on his potty (if he has to go) when I give him the opportunity.  He's obviously unable to tell me he has to go, so I have to read his cues.  Pooping is easy as he grunts.  There have been times where he looks right at me, makes a non-pushing grunting noise and poops as soon as I put him on his potty.  It really seems like he's telling me he has to go.  Other times he'll grunt and I just have to get him to his potty before he goes in his diaper.  Peeing is harder as there really isn't any cues, I just had to learn when he's likely to go, like upon wakeup and after nursing.  Just like daddy, he enjoys a good book while taking care of business!

Sleep:

I've received a few emails inquiring how nap/bed time is going so I thought I would post an update.

The days of baby being able to sleep in any light/sound condition is long gone.  A couple of months ago he decided he could no longer get to sleep unless we put him in his crib where it was dark and free of our noise.  After playing he gets fussy/restless and we learned that meant tired.  We put his sleep sack on, carry him to his bedroom, turn on his white noise and play 10m of night time music from Scout the dog and then lay him in his crib.  Many times he'll go right out, other times he'll fuss for a few mins and then go out.  He's so good about taking a nap when he's truly tired that when he occasionally screams/protests, I trust that he's just not ready to nap.  So I bring him down to play a little longer and try again in a little bit.  This has worked well.

We still don't really go by a schedule, though we do pretty much follow the eat-activity-sleep pattern.  We're very laid back about it, if he's tired, we put him down, if not, we let him play.  It works for us and Tyler is gradually developing a loose schedule on his own.  He takes 45m - 1.5h naps during the day and sleeps 3-5 hrs at a time at night.  He still nurses 2-3 times at night and I'm extremely tired, but he's worth it and it's crucial for my supply.  He nurses and goes right back to sleep without a peep.  

Everything seems to be falling into place as we go.  For instance, what used to be a nap at 6 or 7pm, he turned into bedtime and surprised us by sleeping until 1 or 2.  Week by week, he's sleeping longer stretches.  Many times I wake him to nurse (so I don't explode or mess with my supply) when he doesn't wake on his own.  Nursing is much easier on an exhausted mom in the middle of the night than pumping.  So he may very well be willing to sleep through the night, but I guess I haven't given the him the chance to find out.

A few of you have asked where he sleeps now.  For the most part, his crib with a video monitor next to me.  A couple of times a week, I'll bring him to our bed after a nursing session because we miss having him next to us.  He has no problem going back to his crib the next night, so it doesn't seem to set him back any.  Recently we've preferred him in his crib (never thought I would say that) because he gets up much earlier than us and crawls all over us and it's just not safe.  I end up being a human lanyard hanging onto his ankle to make sure he doesn't go over the edge.

He has set his own schedule to about 3 naps a day, goes to bed between 6p and 8p and wakes around 6:30a or so.  Many times he plays happily in his crib until we come get him, unless he's hungry, then he stands and yells for us.

Aysha:  I have no way to contact you, so to answer your question about what kind of crib toys we have... we have the Sassy crib mirror and the Lamaze crib gallery.  He really likes the crib gallery.  He pretty much ignores the mirror, but I'm sure it would have been a total hit back when he was obsessed with mirrors.  For safety, I had to attach them to the back wall of his crib to prevent him from eventually using them to stand on and risk him going over the rail.  I also have the Leap Frog Scout the dog in there, I play the 10m of nighttime music every time I put him down and that works really well.

Blocked Ducts:

Kerry was just saying how nice it's been for me to not have any blocked ducts in a long time.  Exactly 2 hrs later I developed a painful one that took up half of my left boob... talking about jinxing me!  In a 24hr period, I nursed 7 times and pumped 9 times to get it to break through.  To this day, Lefty is only producing half of what Righty does, so appears there's been some damage that hopefully is temporary.

I wanted to share this because I found a solution to this issue and hope it helps someone else out.  The answer was at my finger tips all along.  It was in my book, chapter 18, the only chapter I hadn't read!

I've always noticed a little white blister on my nipple during a blocked duct.  I've always thought it was just nipple trauma from trying to unblock the duct.  Then I read that this is what they call a bleb in chapter 18.  It's like a blocked nipple pore.  The suggestion was to sterilize a needle or tweezers in boiling water and then gently open the blister.  I did as instructed, pumped and wala, it was cleared!  I got another blocked duct the next day and this solution resolved it right away.  Gosh, why didn't I read chapter 18!

This week in photos:

Loves standing

This is Tyler's new teething toy.
Kerry said; now that is what you call nipple confusion!

Grammy got Tyler a Little Tikes 3in1 Trike, it's a big hit!

Tyler's new Leap Frog Leaptop

I thought maybe he would leave mine alone if he had his own, that was wishful thinking!

He loves to play his Leap Frog drum.
Daddy has been teaching him how to play drums.

Granmomma feeding Tyler

He loves using his jumperoo pole to stand up.

Tyler checking out his new duck tub.

"Ah, this is the life!"

Tyler: Week 32

January 26-February 1, 2011 (31w-31w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He's falling a lot from trying to pull himself up on everything.  We've had to resort to rocking him to sleep to keep him from hurting himself in his crib.

• He grabs onto Kerry's leg hair and tries to pull himself up.  Kerry yells in pain.  I can't help but get a big kick out of it.  

• He can now sit unassisted.  He loves sitting on his feet.

• He started crawling!!!

Video:  Tyler's 1st time crawling

• Dressing this kiddo is a challenge to say to least.  All he wants to do is flip over and crawl away.  Regular clothing (separate top and bottom) have become a must.  The less snaps and zippers the better.

• We had to put a bed rail on our bed to protect him when he sleeps with us.  He wakes up and  climbs all over us.

• He loves clasping his hands together.

• He had his first bath in the real tub.

• He's cutting his first tooth on the bottom!  He's more fussy and not sleeping as well, but no fever or drooling.  He bit my nipple once with that new tooth and it wasn't too pleasant.

• His hair is growing in fast, but still a long ways to go.  There's actually enough hair now to stick up and have bed head.  Doesn't he look like a cabbage patch doll in this pic?

• I got him his own straw sippy cup so he would leave my water bottle alone.  I really thought he would just chew on it, but the little guy knows how to drink from it like a pro!

• He's obsessed with necklaces, clothes hangers, cords (electrical cords, tubing on my breast pump) and anything electronic.

• We're experiencing a new kind of diaper leak.  Up until now, if we had any leaks, it was always out the top of the diaper.  Now it's out the legs from being more physically active.  Cloth diapers with leg gussets are a favorite now.

• Fully clothed, he weighs about 18 lbs.

Solids:

We introduced avocado straight out of the skin and he loved it!  I kept having to get up and slice more because he just couldn't get enough of it.  Makes for a very fast and easy feeding session as there's not much prep.  I think I fed him too much though, I swear he was broader, chubbier and heavier due to the high fat content.  By the end of the week he was pooping guacamole.

We introduced peaches and it was a no go, but it was out of a jar, so will try again with fresh fruit.

I bought some store baby food just for the jars for food storage.  I didn't want to waste the food, so I went ahead and attempted to give it to him.  He wanted nothing to do with that processed jar food.  I then made him some homemade mixed green beans/carrots/butternut squash and he went nuts over it.  I tasted the jar food and I'd have to agree, it's pretty nasty.

Kerry hadn't changed a diaper in awhile so he got quite the surprise when he pulled the diaper off and a ball of poo rolled off, hit the floor and made a thud noise.  He then completely caught me off guard with what he said next; "Ya know, with the way you feed him, I bet there's more nutrition in his poop than in that McDonald's burger I just ate".  LOL

This week in photos:

This is Tyler's deep concentration look

Gum brushing time

I love watching him sleep!

Happy baby

This week in video:

Video:  Tyler Push Ups

(Tyler says "All Right!" at the end!)

Tyler: Week 31 (7 Months Old)

January 19-January 25, 2011 (30w-30w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• We had to remove the bassinet from his pack-n-play and drop his crib down a level as he started attempting to pull himself up.  Later that night I saw him standing in his crib on the monitor for the first time.  He then fell back and hit his head.  Thank God we lowered it just in time or he would have gone over and that would not have been a pretty fall.  He kept trying to stand, kept falling and wouldn't give up.  It was heart wrenching hearing a thump followed by a cry.

• He started to reach for anything nearby that he can attempt to pull himself up on.  I'm finding this phase of parenthood a little stressful in the sense that your child turns kamikaze and is constantly hurting themselves.  They have NO sense of cause and effect.  Falling on their head doesn't seem to deter them from repeating it over and over again.

• He can now get out of his car seat.  He flips over and pushes himself right out.  We discovered this at a restaurant while the car seat was on a carrier stand over hard tile.  He was quick but Mama was even quicker.

• He had his first experience sitting in a highchair and eating at a restaurant.  It was a very new experience for me.  I became one of those hectic moms who was trying to eat, feed him, keep his hands out of our plates and keep him entertained.  I don't foresee a warm meal for some time to come, but I'm already used to eating cold food since Tyler always wakes up right as I'm about to eat.

• Our little Seven turned 7 months on Jan 23!

Solids:

I'm pretty much in learning mode.  I'm discovering Tyler's likes and dislikes, which seems to change daily.  I've found that consistency can make or break whether he likes a certain food.  Purees thinned with water/milk go over much better than thicker purees.  I've found that sticking with the same food several times in a row goes over much better than constantly changing what I offer him.  I've found that temp really matters, cold or room temp and we can forget it.  Everything gets warmed.  I've found that he will open his mouth when holding anything near it, so when checking for fullness, I have to hold the spoon further away and see if he still opens his mouth.

He taste tests his food.  On his first bite, he just barely opens his mouth and takes an itty bitty bite, wrinkles his forehead and ponders for a moment.  If he likes it, he opens wide and yells for more.  If he doesn't like it, he takes one more small bite and then turns his head.

Thumbs Up This Week:

Butternut squash

Carrots

Mixed green beans and butternut squash

Mixed green beans and carrots

Thumbs Down This Week:

Green beans

Apples

Bananas

Mixed apples and bananas

Pears

It seems our guy is strongly preferring veggies over fruit.  I'm hoping his love for veggies sticks with him.

We tried letting him feed himself.  We had to get him a training spoon because he shoves the regular baby spoon down his throat and gags.  The training spoon has a guard on it preventing it from going in too far.

This is Tyler after Mama feeds him:

This is Tyler after feeding himself (very little actually made it to his mouth):

It's hilarious when he decides he's done eating.  He rips his bib off and slams it down.

This week in photos:

Obsessed with that remote!

Playing guitar

This week in videos:

Video:  Ever witness a guy having fun changing a diaper?

Watch this and then you have.

Video:  Chomps and Giggles

Mama Update:

AF arriving brought along a few good things after all.  I instantly lost 4 lbs, which leaves 7 lbs to go to get back to my pre-pg weight.  My hair finally stopped falling out!  Must have been hormonal.

Lastly, I turned 38 this week.

Tyler: Week 30

January 12-January 18, 2011 (29w-29w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He loves his crib toys!  I just recently added these and wish I would have sooner.  He takes to naps so much better now because he'll play until he drifts off.  They don't seem to have the same impact upon wakeup, he wants boob immediately and could care less about the toys.

• He loves remotes so much that I bought him his very own fake remote.  It looks so real that my MIL tried to use it on the tv.  We keep it with our other remotes so we can hand him his when he's determined to get a hold of ours. 

• He finally jumped in his jumperoo.

Video:  Tyler jumping

• He's trying really hard to crawl.  He takes one step with his hand, loses his balance and slides to his tummy.  On a rare occasion, he manages to get a couple of steps in.

Video:  Tyler starting to crawl

• He loves playing airplane.

Video:  Airplane

• He loves his gums being brushed with his gum stimulator.

Video:  Daddy beatboxing on Tyler's gums

Solids:

This week he had carrots (loved), green beans (liked), mixed green beans/carrots (loved), pears (loved), butternut squash (loved!!!) and apples (dry heaved).

Video:  Tyler eating green beans

At Tyler's request, we've bumped up his servings from 1 to 2oz and also from once to twice a day.  He does not like cold or room temp food, so I warm everything up in a glass jar in the bottle warmer.

Like most babies, Tyler doesn't like his faced cleaned, but as long as we wash his tongue while washing his face, he loves it.

Video:  Washing Tyler's tongue

He's still not pooping as often as I'd like, but when he does, wowser!  It's very different from breastmilk poo.  Goodbye runny poo, hello turds!  It pretty much resembles what he ate and is very colorful.  He pooped carrots the other day and it stained his butt orange.  The smell, not so friendly.  I know, that was way more than you ever wanted to know.  It was just a shock for me as I've been so used to nothing but breastmilk poo for 6 months.

I've been making all of his baby food.  It's really easy thanks to the Beaba BabyCook.  It steams, purees, thaws and reheats all in one.  I haven't used it to thaw/reheat yet, but the steam/puree feature is great.  Highly recommended.

This is the first time I've cooked butternut squash.  It makes a great first food as it purees so buttery smooth.  It looks and kinda tastes like sweet potato.  It's Tyler's current favorite.