10 Months

Dear Rosebud,

You've reached the stage in life where you've been out of the womb longer than you were in, and I can't believe it was already a year ago that I was hugely pregnant in the heat of summer. This is the month you made the transition from the "easiest baby in the world," to...ummm...a girl with many opinions about life. You are not shy about letting us know if you're uncomfortable in a certain position (on your back when you'd rather be sitting, sitting when you'd rather stand, standing when you'd rather sit), and since you still can't get yourself to your desired location, you grunt about it until someone helps you out. You've also found that you can occasionally distract your brother from taking a toy out of your hands by screaming at the top of your lungs for help.

Here are some more highlights:

- You are (FINALLY) comfortably rolling all around, and Dad and I often find you upside-down or flipped on your stomach when you wake up in your crib. And I snapped a photo of the first time (to my knowledge) you fell asleep on your stomach. As a result of all this movement, Dad lowered your crib to a safer level and Mom cried just a tiny bit.

- You are becoming desperate to pull yourself up on things (the living room ottoman, your crib rail), but your upper body strength can't quite combat your lower body weight. But you keep trying!

- While you're not crawling at all, you do seem to throw yourself forward into Pigeon Pose to retrieve  runaway toys.

- You're more comfortable hanging out on your tummy than you have been in the past, but you're still not pushing up onto hands and knees. But you will stay there to examine a book or a very interesting toy. You are able to push your upper body off the ground, leading your Dad to believe you'll skip the army crawling stage. We'll see...

- Your most piercing scream was heard through the grocery store today (about thirty times), and you thought that was just hysterically funny.

- You have two favorite books (the ABC and Colors Baby books), and you use your new word every time you read them. We're still trying to figure out what that word means, but we're leaning toward "doggie." You also will put your mouth up to the page to "kiss" the picture of the baby.

- You love to make popping sounds with your mouth and encourage those around you to participate, too. For several weeks, I would stick out my tongue when you did that, and it was most fascinating to watch you to try to figure out how to imitate me. A few days ago, you figured it out, and now your little tongue spends half the day hanging out of your mouth.

- You notice every single dog that crosses your path and make sure that every one else notices the dog, too!

- You mastered your first sippy cup on the first try (fabulous Tommy Tippee cups that are bite-free! and come with lids!), though I'm still a little worried you might experience Death By Sippy Cup...you take in so much water at one time!

- Your brother and I took you to the pool for the first time and you love splashing around--and didn't even mind the uncomfortable pool floor on your little thighs.

- We also brought out the baby pool several times last month so you could shriek (at a pitch one would think only dogs could hear) and splash for an hour at a time. You are certainly the happiest when there's water involved.


Words/sounds (that have meaning):

Uh-nnnn = uh oh
Da-nggg = we're not sure what it means, but it definitely means something to YOU (doggie? baby? thank you?)


Thanks for keeping us on our toes! Now let's get moving!!!
Love,
Mom

Photos here: http://www.zangzing.com/hannahrae/10-months-mayjune-2012

8 Months

Dear MJ/"Sweet Baby",

This month marked the transition from baby to person, for me. You officially feel heavy and sturdy and pre-toddler like. You have adorable rolls on your thighs (which actually have TAN LINES in the skin folds--hilarious!) and a ticklish spare tire around your middle and back. And I love you just the way you are.  Some highlights...

- You love the sorting blocks. You love to dump them out and eat them and shake them and drum on the box. You never put them IN the box, of course. You also love the box of instruments. Today you played with the jingle bells for 25 minutes. I'm sure they're covered in slime, but who cares! It's fun!

- You've started to become slightly shy with strangers, but more in a flirtatious way than with trepidation. When strangers say hello (especially in the grocery store), you momentarily hide your face in your car seat or turn away. But you always come back with a smile. Always.

- Speaking of that smile, it will be a toothy grin before long. You've popped the first one through on the bottom left.

- And thank goodness for that tooth because solid food is your M.O. forever. You eat EVERYTHING that's remotely soft enough to stuff in your mouth, from breads to bits of chicken, fruits, cooked veggies, and even the tiniest taste of vanilla ice cream (MJ says, "yum, Grammie!"). Naughty. This confounds most people who hear of it. It's definitely out of the ordinary, but since the USA is one of the only countries that serves baby food purees in the first place, it's not that original. You were thoroughly unimpressed by the frozen (slightly thawed) blueberries, though. Too cold!

- When you're unclothed, you love to smack your chest, ala Tarzan. Cracks me up every time. (Your brother used to do that, too.)

- You're making a lot more noise this month: "Babababa" and "Brabrabra" (snort) and...wait for it..."Mamamama!" There are raspberries that soak your shirt, and funny noises you make when you're inhaling, and making a game of exhaling loudly. Also, fake coughing. Hilarious.

- We invented a little game on Easter/Passover where I lean into you and you ever so softly butt your head against mine. Then we both giggle. Rinse and repeat times infinity.

- When you're in my lap and facing away from me, you love to loll your head back and smile. And grab my nose. And whack pat my face.

- Anyone wearing a necklace or earrings? Look out, because Miss MJ wants to eat them.

- You're a solid sitter now, and would sit for days on end. You show absolutely no interest in moving around. In fact, when someone rolls you onto your stomach (because you refuse to roll there yourself), you simply continue rolling until you're back where you started. It's an endless game. No idea if you'll ever crawl, get to a sitting position or pull yourself up. BUT. You did stand alone today, while holding onto a bench. And you thought it was awesome.

- Two more stellar plane rides to/from Arizona. You amazed everyone around you with your excellent behavior, even if you only napped for 30 minutes each way. You also did a nice job adjusting to the time change (after that first 5 A.M. wakeup call--ouch) and to all the disruptions to your normal schedule. It was worth it to go swimming and to your first basketball game, among other things.

- SWIMMING. "Holy quacamole," as your brother would say (yes, with a "q"), do you love the water. You sat in the zero depth entry pool and splashed for hours. Literally. You also loved the baby float we bought you. (This one--SO superior to the plastic ones that get hot and stick to the skin. This has mesh layers so you can actually interact with the water. Sun shade, too (not pictured).)


My favorite part is how much love you have for those who love you. You're my precious lamb.

Love,
Mama

http://www.zangzing.com/hannahrae/easter8-months

6 Months

17 lbs 2 oz (75th)
26 1/4 inches (50-75th)
HC = 42 cm (50th)


Dear MJ/Lil Peanut,

Well, it would appear that the last month has disappeared without a whole lot going on. How can that be? You've had little changes here and there, but you've always been such an even keeled baby that you seem to just roll right from one phase to the next with little fuss.

Little changes:

You're eating "solids" once a day. As of this writing, we've tried sweet potato, banana, apple, pear (YUM!), peaches (YUCK!), and mango, with several other goodies waiting in the wings. (I was a Good Mother and bought a bunch of organic produce to make your baby food. Because I'm trying to win an award over here.) You seem to prefer rice cereal to oatmeal. Go figure.

Your movements are much more intentional than they were a month ago. Now when you grasp for something, you're almost always successful. And nine times out of ten it finds it's way to your mouth. Your very favorite thing to suck on is your big toe on your left foot; it's as though you count the seconds until someone will take off your pants and socks so you can get to work on that project. You love any toy with fringe or tags (finally, that Taggie Dog will get some love!), and spend more time examining the tag on your bouncy chair than the actual toys attached to it. Your current favorite use for your mouth is to blow raspberries. Which you do CONSTANTLY. Which is why the front of your shirt is always soaked. (Well, from that and the never ending stream of spit up. Yum.)

You've rolled from back to front exactly twice, and the first time I helped you heft your chunky thigh over. Since Tummy Time is your nemesis, it makes sense that you prefer to be on your back. More than five seconds on your stomach triggers a MAJOR spit up reaction. So gross. Really, though, you now prefer to sit up whenever possible. When you're in the bouncy chair, you try to pull yourself up a bunch. You are getting the hang of the Jumperoo, and bounce unintentionally, but I think you're going to start jumping very soon.

Your favorite comfort object is...well, anyone near you. You love to burrow into shoulders and chests (trying to nurse anything with skin); you love to touch our faces and grab our noses; you love to cuddle with your owl lovey and are often discovered asleep with it draped across your face--don't tell the Parenting Police. We're a heartbeat away from buying you a sleep mask. :) The comfort object we have eliminated is your pacifier. After too many sleepless nights where you lose it and aren't old enough to put it back in your mouth, we decided it would be better for you to learn to soothe yourself in other ways. And you are! Mostly, you stuff your owl-y in your mouth, which is endlessly amusing to me.

And speaking of sleep (boy, it seems like I spend an lot of time talking about sleep), we are currently sleep training. Again. We got a little soft there for a few weeks, so now we're using a modified Ferber method, which means we put you down drowsy but awake, and check on you after five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, but never removing you from the crib. It's working, so far. You sleep completely through the night very sporadically, but I'm not pushing it yet because...you're almost fully weaned. [sob--more on that later] You're napping 2-3 times per day, depending on whether or not we are home in the morning. And bed time is between 6-7pm.

The formula thing (yellow Enfamil, for my records) is going well. You seem to have the same amount of spit up with bottles as you did with breast milk, and we've discontinued your reflux medication. It just didn't seem to make a difference. You take between 24-28 oz of formula per day.

You are still the smiley-est baby I've ever known, and you're not stingy with smiles for strangers, either. It's so fun to watch you grow and learn and observe. The only member of our family that causes you to burst into giggles, without tickling, is your big brother, for whom your little world turns. It's the picture of precious.

Much love,
Mom


[A Note to my Future Self re: weaning--should it ever be relevant again.

Weaning is HARD. It's hard to let go of the intimacy you share with the baby; it's more inconvenient to go make a bottle and wait for it to heat (that's why you still nurse in the middle of the night, when necessary). But the hardest part are the darned wacky hormones that make it feel like there's an elephant of depression sitting on your chest. It's different from the fog that accompanies childbirth because the elation of having a brand new life isn't there anymore. The evenings seem to be harder, so try to get things done during the day so you can give yourself permission to wallow (or hide) in the evening. Go easy on yourself, Self. ]

Photos: http://gallery.me.com/hannahrae#100858




From Mimi