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.