Bath Time!

The Kid loves bath time. His favorite part is The Pig. The Pig was a gift from Auntie J.B., my twin.

We literally have to put a towel on the floor when The Kid gets a bath. This is a poor attempt at capturing what I look like after enduring The Kid's splashes:Speaking of bath time, The Boy succumbed to advertising ploys and bought Old Spice body wash. Seriously. We were in WalMart and I was buying shampoo when The Boy said, "Oh! I'm going to get some Old Spice body wash!" Now he smells like Game Day...every day! And do you know what? I sure bet he could bake me a gourmet cake in the kitchen he built me with his bare hands. He smells that good.

The Kid's New Thing:

Rolling over while on my lap.


Yep.


Fun.

Funnies

Here's a good shot of The Kid's Hobo Tooth, taken just this afternoon. It gets bigger every day. And the other top tooth just refuses to come in.
The other morning, The Kid was laying in his crib making a kissing sound when I went to get him up. After I got him dressed, I caught it on video. Crazy Kid!

Bless you!

And then this afternoon he was doing it again. Gosh, this Kid just never stops entertaining me.


I think he likes the feel of his Hobo Tooth on his tongue. Who ever knew that teeth could be so fun?

Three More Things:

1) My 9-month-old still wears 0-3 month clothing.
2) The Doc ok'd The Kid to stop needing fortified milk! Yay! Now he really is like a normal baby! Mostly.
3) Thank you all SO MUCH for your comments about my pumping dilemma. You all really were so helpful. I've decided not to make a concrete decision until The OT comes and evaluates the problem. After all, there may be an easier solution.

And actually, The Kid has started nursing again (but he's still not super good at it--I still have to top him off with a bottle and I still have to pump afterward). I'm pretty sure that reflux was the problem. We took him off of Prevacid and it made his throat so sore that it took a few weeks to heal even after we put him back on the medicine! Poor baby. I wouldn't want to eat, either.

But the good news is...this morning, for only the second time EVER, The Kid was able to nurse enough that he didn't need any more from the bottle! Hooray! Keep it up, Kid!

I have a 9-month-old!

Yep, The Kid is one month older!

At 9 months, The Kid:

• Weighs exactly 12 lbs 15.5 oz (with a dry diaper on)! That's in the 10th percentile, and 10 lbs 8.5 oz bigger than his birth weight.
  
• Measures 25.25 inches! Also in the 10th percentile, that's 11.25 inches longer than his birth length.
• Has a head circumference in the 50th percentile.
• Has three teeth! Two on the bottom, and one big one on the top left. We call that one his "hobo tooth."
• Is proficient at rolling from his back to his tummy in both directions (but not yet from his tummy to his back).
• Sleeps on his tummy at night and for naps.

This is how I found him on two separate mornings. Funny kid.

• Can sit unassisted (!) for a few minutes at a time if he is in the grass and for a good 10-20 seconds if on a thick blanket. The PT says that head control and the ability to sit up are the two biggest predicting factors in whether or not a child will be able to walk some day. That's a big deal for a baby with brain bleeds!
• Has eaten (and loves) biter biscuits, saltine crackers, and graham crackers. And today he ate one cheerio. I couldn't tell if he loved it or not.
• Is still wearing size 1 diapers. I look forward to switching to size 2 some time in the next month.
• Consumes about 20 oz of milk each day from the bottle and mixed in his cereal.
• Eats an average of 1.5 jars of fruits/veggies (with about 3 tbs. of rice cereal mixed in) every afternoon.
• Eats an average of 6 tbs. of oatmeal cereal every evening.
• Loves, LoVeS, LOVES his dog, Meggie! He stares at her, reaches for her, and loves to run his fingers through her hair. Although, sometimes he loves to grab a clump of hair. Meggie is such a good sport.
• ALWAYS wants to grab his Mommy's hair to hold in his hand while he sucks his thumb. It's adorable. I'm just glad I have long hair, or it would hurt more.

Then

Now

Then
Now

Wow, it's been a big month for my little guy! Lots of exciting things have happened! Next up: crawling. Ugh.

Calling All Mothers!

I need your help. What (would/did) you do (if/when) you were in my situation?

The Kid is weaning himself. In a perfect world (wait...I thought this WAS a perfect world?? Whoa...what's going on?!) this wouldn't have started happening for at LEAST another few months. His adjusted age is only 6 months. However, it's happening. He only nurses first thing in the morning.

I realize that 9 months is still pretty good for supplying my baby with breast milk, so if it turns out that I have no control of the situation, I will try my best to not feel guilty.

But the thing is: I have worked SO STINKIN' HARD to not only keep my milk supply by pumping my life away, but also to teach The Kid HOW to nurse. That was a lot of work. It's been a huge commitment, and I just feel like after all of that work, I can't give up now!

And besides that, I have really come to love holding him close and snuggling him and providing for him in a way that no one else can. And believe me, that was important when perfect strangers took care of him on a daily basis for so, so long and I was only allowed to hold him once or twice a day.

Here are my options: I can let this happen. I can stop pumping, let him nurse as often as he will, and let it end. A little bit of freedom and a little bit of sadness. OR: I can rent a hospital pump, increase my milk supply as much as possible, and get The OT's help in attempting to get The Kid to nurse more. This may not work, but it could. Is it worth it to try?

Here is how I need your help: What would YOU do? How did YOU cope with weaning your child(ren)?

Thanks, Friends.

Correction:

Welcome to our TWO little guests!

The Kid also has a tooth on the TOP, directly above the one on the bottom! It was just discovered a few minutes after posting about the first one.

Wow, he is just growing up so fast! At this rate, he'll have a mouth FULL of teeth by tomorrow morning!

A Little Welcome to our Little Guest!

I say "guest" because it'll only stick around for five years or so....

The Kid is now hosting tooth numero uno in his little baby mouth!

It came in just this morning. I could tell in the last two or so days that it was on its way; and tooth numero dos isn't far behind!

Soon to come: Big toothy grin pictures!