9 Months (Already)

ERP is 9 months old.  Hard to believe.  And I will fully admit I have already been thinking about his birthday plans.  His birthday is on a Friday, so his party will be a Saturday. Right now I am tossing around doing either a Circus or Hungry Caterpillar theme. He is growing like a weed lately, and I'll see just how big he is when we go for his well baby visit next week.

Sleep has been all over the place.  He went from waking three times a night to two times, then he started sleeping through the night.  I mean, really, REALLY sleeping all night - 10 to 11 hour stretches. Then a pesky thing happened, he got a TOOTH!  Beating his brothers by three to four months in the "get some teeth department". But the tooth coming through caused a rough night or two. Followed by his need to learn to crawl, at one in the morning.  I kid you not, Husband and I sat in the living room coaching his crawling in the wee-hours of the day.  He has been a master of the backward crawl for months now, and just that night went forward a little. He can also get himself into a seated position and can pull himself up in his crib.  I foresee him crawling him full time by next month and pulling up on everything.

Food is his best friend.  He still nurses a ton, and takes bottle from daddy when I am at work, but he is now eating two meals most days.  Some days just one, and some days (if he's backed up) we skip solids. Baby lead weaning (feeding table food, not purees) has been much more successful and easy with ERP (opposed to TT).  In fact, as I write this he is sitting in his high chair chowing on big old hunks of watermelon. We tried a lot of new foods this month.  Peanut butter, steak, strawberries, kiwi to name a few.  In typical ERP fashion he has loved them all.

He has started saying "dadadadada" and "heeeyyyy".  Adorably cute.

Still wearing a lot of 3-6 month clothes and some 6-9 month ones.  He has me wondering if he'll fit lion costume that his brothers also wore for their first Halloween's.

Things from this month I don't want to forget:
~ how his hair is just starting to curl on the bottom in the back
~ how he makes his grunting sounds when he wants something
~ the way he swivels his hips from side to side when getting a diaper change
            I would love to get video of this, it is so funny, but he only does it naked but
~ how he likes to be laid on his left side when put to sleep
~ how he lays in bed when he's done sleeping and babbles away and flings his stuffed sheep around
~ how he hated, I mean HATED, the spray park we went to
           Oh did he cry and cry, it was terrible
~ how he hated going to the beach, again HATED
~ but he loved the mirror and the dance bar at the children's museum
~ how he learned to roll the ball and how excited it makes him
~ how he learned to bang things together, using my hands to make a clapping sound
~ watching him play peek-a-boo with his brothers
~ how RR will gladly watch him, get him, or hold him any time
~ how he loves being carried, he was born to be worn
~ how when he's nursing with TT he tries to hold his hand (then TT gets mad because he's touching him)
~ how he loves playing "On the Farm" with TT (the Little People Farm)
~ he finally enjoyed going for a walk in the stroller
~ how soft and warm he feels snuggled in the crock of my arm as we lay in bed after his last morning nursing session
~ how happy is, almost all the time

8 Months

This year is ticking along really quickly, and ERP turned 8 months old last week.  I've already started thinking about his first birthday.  Gasp!!  I can't get over how much he's grown.  We're still nursing, and we're still working on sleeping better.  ERP is sitting like a pro, and is getting very close to being mobile. Just before he turned 8 months old we added in a second meal of solids per day, but then he started getting constipated so we backed off.

ERP is still my little peanut.  He's wearing a 3-6 month cloth size typically. He just started wearing a size 3 disposable diaper.  And I may finally have to move the straps on his car-seat up. Speaking of diapers, this month ERP had a terrible diaper rash. More terrible than any rash his brothers ever had. So he spent a good week without diapers, except when he was sleeping or we were out.  (Yes, our floors and all his seats were covered in doggie-wee-wee-pads... it was a great look NOT!)  Now that was fun. I think the cause was a funk in our cloth diapers, so those went out to be professionally sanitized, after a failed attempt at home to do so.  Who knew these services even existed?

So... what I want to remember from this month:

~ I really noticed that ERP has a sacral dimple
~ How he rubs his head and pulls his hair when we are nursing and he's sleepy
~ That is finally likes bathes
~ How much he still hates showers - he cries just hearing them
~ Actually he cries anytime anyone else cries
~ And he cries over loud noises
~ How he learned to splash in the bathtub
~ If he is in the kitchen while we are making dinner, he needs to be eating otherwise he screams
~ Those 2 weeks of wonderful sleep where he was only getting up twice to nurse
~ How excited he is to see me when I get in from the office
~ The day we went to playgroup and he stood there shaking a toy and yelling his head off
~ The night he pulled himself up to his knees in his crib
~ Playing "ball" with Teddy
~ His hair finally growing in on the bald spot on the back of his head
~ The first time he had broccoli - he LOVES it
~ He mastered using a straw cup
~ He had his first shopping trip where he sat in the carriage - he started out well, then ended the trip laying on his back and hanging his feet out of the cart... we're back to babywearing while shopping
~ He started sleeping unswaddled, and became a side and back sleeper


And now what you've been waiting for...

7 Months

I feel like ever since ERP hit the 6 month mark we've been rolling down hill... getting closer and closer to 1 year.

So ERP turns 7 months today!!  And what an eventful month between 6 months and 7 months for the kiddo.  He has really mastered sitting on his own, and loves to stands.  Stands holding on to anything and everything.  Food is his new best friend.  He loves to eat all types of foods.

We had his baptism, and he cried.  But you see ERP is a sympathy crier; if someone around him cries, he feels the need to as well.  Which is super extra double annoying at home since TT is a crier in general.  And RR has the tendency to over react.  But there was a wee tiny baby also being baptized and he was crying, really crying, so ERP felt the need to do the same.  Once that baby left the church ERP stopped crying.  He's a sensitive fellow.

We had his belated 6 month check-up and he was 15 lbs. 1 ounce - in a wet diaper and with a full belly.  He is a little peanut.  He is by far my smallest little guy.

The last day of being 6 months ended with a bang.  Literally.  RR was in charge of him while Husband and I made dinner.  RR left ERP on the couch to get a pacifier and ERP went tumbling off.  He caught an ear pretty good and it's all banged up, but he's OK - once he started nursing he was fine.  RR on the other hand, he took it pretty bad.  I don't think he'll make that mistake again.

ERP is stilling rocking the size 2 diapers when he wears disposables.  He's barely in a size 6 month clothing.  And I think we might finally be moving the straps up on his carseat in the next week or so.

Things from this month I don't want to forget about:
~ The first time he ate watermelon - boy did it make he excited
~ His first ice cream cone
~ His laugh and smile when you toss him about your head
~ Snuggling on the bed, with him tucked in the crook of my arm watching TV - this is him being the ultimate pocket baby
~ How when he gets excited he kicks both of his legs at the same time - they go all the way up and all the way down
~ He moves his arms the same way when excited
~ The way his hair sticks up when he gets food in it and how it stays that way, no matter how much you clean it
~ The way he looked on his baptism, all in white with his special sweater on
~ The way he rolls around on the floor - eager to chew on some plastic Thomas train track

Feeding Baby

It's that time again - time to start feeding another little person "real" food.  ERP is nearly 7 months now and is eating all sorts of food.  Like his brother TT before him, we are mostly following the food method of baby-led-weaning.  Which in a nut shell is letting baby fed themselves age and stage appropriate foods.

I like it because it gives me a chance to actually eat my dinner at the same time - it's great we get to eat as a family.

Yup; you really start getting lazy with baby #3 on this whole parenting thing.

Sure it makes a mess, but exploring new food textures is a great learning tool; plus yogurt is a great skin and hair treatment.

This time around however we are skipping grains until ERP is at least 12 months old.  New research shows that the gut does not develop the proper enzymes to digest grains until 12 or so months. Grains before 12 months is linked with higher rates of allergies, eczema and "chicken skin" (which both older boys have).

Foods that ERP has had and has loved
Cantaloupe (thick slice)
Watermelon (again a nice thick slice)
Pickles (not chip style)
Peas (smashed)
Apple (peeled)
Sweet potato (smashed)
Potatoes (smashed)
Yogurt (all types)
Ice cream
Celery (frozen, great for teething)
Peach (peeled)
Banana
Shredded chicken
Hamburger
Sour cream
Guacamole
Red cabbage

Foods that ERP as not loved
Egg yoke
ok... make that food with no s....

Pass the Peas Please

I'm a big believer on offering kids things to eat that they don't normally eat, especially at dinner time.  If we are eating foods I know the boys will turn down they are still offered.  I heard something somewhere at sometime that said you have to try a new food some twenty times before you decide you like it... and I have stuck to that approach.

Time and time again I would serve TT peas.

Time and time again he would not eat peas.

If I served him peas and carrots mixed together, he would eat the carrots while removing the peas and crushing them into the table top.

Sometimes he would freak out and refuse to eat if the peas where on his plate.

Tonight I decided not to offer him peas.  He had plenty of other colorful food on his plate.

As dinner went on and RR was eating his peas TT asked for peas.  He scoped some out of the serving bowl and put them on his plate.  And sure enough he started eating them.

Then all of a sudden he couldn't get enough peas.  He was going insane eating them.  We let him eat them right out of the serving dish because he was just going to town eating peas.  He was totally in love with peas and both Husband and I watched in awe (and then took pictures).

Maybe it was reverse psychology - OK, I'll eat them since you didn't offer them to me.

Maybe it was because he was eating them heated up (I don't normally warm his veggies).

Maybe it was because his brother was eating them, and he thinks his brother is the cat's pajamas.

No matter what is was I'll take it... eating peas at dinner with no fighting... priceless.

Silent Saturday

Can you tell he tried to drink his yogurt?

Silent Saturday (The Cherrios Crowd)

Eating Cherrios like a big guy.  Bowl, spoon and milk.  Yum!!!

Pickles and Thomas

I was making dinner the other night and I asked TT if wanted a pickle while I cooked.  So he went into the living room and came back in carry his Thomas the Train chair into the kitchen and sat down to watch me cook and eat pickles.  Apparently he knew exactly what he wanted, thank you very much.

Dipping

The baby has entered the world of dipping sauces.

Any time he sees one of us using any sort of condiment he needs to get in on the action, it's to the point where he expects something to dip his food into.

Husband prefers to give him ketchup for dipping, because well that's what Husband prefers.

I on the other hand prefer to give him just about anything but ketchup to dip.  I've come to realize I think ketchup is for french fries and french fries alone.

Earlier this week when we went out to celebrate the Big Boy's last day of school, the baby got chicken tenders and orange slices.  So I got him some honey mustard to dip with.  Everything got dipped in honey mustard that evening.  The chicken, the pickles (ehn, but OK I suppose) and the oranges (ewwww in my book).

Husband prefers ketchup on his hot dog, I'm a mustard, onion and relish kinda gal.  So the baby gets all of those to dip and play with.  Just like his big brother, who likes his hot dogs with the works.

Ranch dressing seems to be great with just about everything; and blue cheese is great for dipping celery in.  There's a reason they serve it with your wings you know; the shape is perfect for holding the blue cheese chunks in.  Salsa and hummus are also great on everything, but the blueberry syrup we only pull out of breakfast food.

Some times he does great with dipping, so nice and neat and purposeful.  Other times he dips with his fingers on one hand  and eats the food with the other.  Just like how sometimes he eats with one hand and holds his fork in the other.

I love this age, watching him grow and learn and develop his own little foodie-personality.  With any luck he'll still like experimenting with food flavors at  3, 13 and 33.

He loves food.

YUM!!!  Corn on the cob.

Avacado.

Licking onion dip off the spoon.

15 Months

Today Monkey turns 15 months old.

Tomorrow we'll find out just how big he is at his well-baby visit.  But I can tell you that he solidly fits into 18 month clothing and some 2T stuff.

Yesterday his 2nd tooth poked through.  So he got his first tooth the day before he turned 13 months and his 2nd tooth the day before he turned 15 months.  I hope we're not still waiting on tooth #3 when he's 17 months.

He is not walking independently yet, but he loves zipping around the house in the walker that the people at Early Intervention dropped off.  We've even moved some things around to give him more room to explore.  I must say we are in trouble when he starts walking on his own, because he's so tall he can get to the top of the tables easily.

Monkey loves to play - by himself, with his big brother and with us.  Everything flat becomes a phone to him, he loves pretending to talk on the phone.  And he loves books; having them read to him or "reading" them himself.

We have yet to cut his hair and he has a HUGE mop of blonde hair, complete with soft baby curls.

We are still breastfeeding and finding table foods he does NOT like have proven to be a challenge.  The only time he really refuses a food is when he's not feeling well or teething (more so than normal).

It seems like he is constantly teething, something is always in his mouth. He likes to crawl around with his big brother's Scooby Doo figures hanging out of his mouth.  Apparently Shaggy's head is good to chew on.

In the carrier at church showing off his blond locks while chewing on Shaggy.

He is stingy with talking.  He babbles a storm and has a few words and phrases, but doesn't often chose to use them.

Sleeping is becoming much better at night, knock on wood, and he's typically down from 7pm to 6:30am with a nursing session around 10pm.

Still he's one of the happiest little guys around.

Happy Mother's Day

Yum?

Apparently both of my boys have tastes all their own.  Last night while having dinner they both dined on some odd combinations.

Monkey had toasted potato bread with butter and salsa.  Yes, salsa on his toast.

And if you think that is kind of nasty, I hope you're not eating when you read Turkey's combination.

Cantaloupe dipped in French Onion chip dip.  Eeeewwwww!!!!

Milk & Cookies

Friday evening I got home from work and let out a deep sigh welcoming the weekend.  Dinner plans that evening we're easy; tuna melts and soup and after some thought we decided to make it even easier with just the sandwiches and some fruit.

Since dinner didn't really need my attention right away, and there was no homework or next day's activities to attend to I decided I relax on the couch and watch some TV with Husband.  Usually when I get home I nurse Monkey in his room, and then come down and make dinner; instead I nursed him while relaxing and watching TV.  It was a nice change of pass; but he didn't seem to like the change and didn't nurse very well.  I was frustrated, because the girls were rather full after a long day; so I decided to have an Oreo (peanut-butter Oreo to be exact) to drown my sorrows... :-)

That's when I had the great idea of offering Monkey an Oreo; after all what's cuter than your baby while a chocolate grin.

Copying his mama he pulled the top off and licked out the icing, and then ate the cookie halves.  After his second cookie he was looking a little parched so Husband suggested I offer him some milk; what goes better with cookies he asked.

So I offered to nurse him again.  And you know what?  He was thirsty this time.

Homemade Hummus

Making homemade hummus for Monkey (and myself) is something I've wanted to do for a while, and today I finally took the 5 minutes to do it.

Wish I had done it sooner, it's so yummy.

When I posted about wanting to do this earlier, Jess commented with a recipe of hers; but I went with my own because: 1) it had less steps and 2) I had everything in the house.  The recipes are very similar, and hummus really sees like one of those things you can personalize to your taste.

For my recipe:
1 16oz can of chick peas, half the liquid reserved
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 lemon juice

In a food processor blend the liquid and the garlic, then process the chick peas, salt, and lemon juice till smooth.

Super simple and super yum!!!

Oh and super inexpensive: $0.79 for the chick peas, 3 for $1 for lemons and $0.99 for a whole head of garlic.  Way less money than buying a tub of the stuff.

At 11 Months

At 11 months Monkey...

is one of the happiest babies around.

loves playing, and especially loves standing to play.

is just learning how to crawl... sometimes he goes off to the side, and sometimes he tries to crab-walk.

loves eating... and I mean this.  
He gets so excited over food he shakes with job.

eats everything.  We've yet to find a food he doesn't like.

eats mostly table food.  


we've loved doing Baby Lead Weaning.

is still nursing, at least 6 times a day.

is mostly sleeping through the night (knock on wood).

adores playing with others and helping clean-up.

dislikes riding in the car, still.  I swear we have the only child the refuses to sleep in the car.

babbles constantly, and has learned how to shriek really loud thanks to big brother.  

can be a real cling-on sometimes... thank goodness for baby-wearing.  
We love our Beco.

still has no teeth.

gives kisses, waves hi and bye, gives high 5 (when he wants) and signs "more" and "all-done".  

loves mimicking people and playing peek a boo.

is all all around happy baby.

His 2012 goals (if it's possible for a baby to have them) are to learn to crawl, learn to walk and get some teeth.

Rice

Husband loves rice.

Turkey hates rice (unless it's fried rice from a Chinese restaurant).

Monkey will eat anything you let him.

Me, I'll eat it... but it's not a "must have" for me.

A few months ago I had gotten a recipe from a co-worker for a super easy rice and bean dish.  It had corn in it as well, which I figured was a plus since Husband and Turkey both like corn.

I've been meaning to make this recipe for months now.

Well I finally made it last week.  I had high hopes for this recipe as it was good for you, and only cost about $3 to make.  It was fast and easy to make.  I was excited.  I couldn't wait to serve it.  It smelled so good.

Turkey loved it.  Husband, not so much.  Go figure.

(I thought it was good, and well Monkey eats everything.)

Husband made some suggestions for next time I make it... and I think it will work out just right next time and EVERYONE will love it.

In case you're wondering...
Cook 1 package of yellow rice according to directions, expect use olive oil instead of butter.  Once boiling and 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans.  Once the rice is done add 1 can of corn, 2 teaspoons of lime juice and 1 teaspoon of coriander.

Cinnamon Buns

A few months (OK, more like 6 months ago) my aunt gave me a bread maker.  I was all excited for this gift.  I left it out on the counter for a week, then it got stashed into the bottom of my pantry with the rest of my small kitchen appliances.

Then right before Christmas I had the most brilliant idea:  I was going to make homemade cinnamon rolls.  (I think the Man Vs. Food episode with the bun the size of his head got me.)  Normally for holidays we do Pillsbury cinnamon buns as a treat.

So I search and searched and found this recipe for the buns.

After the presents were opened, but before Turkey and I left for church I set about making the dough (which in my maker has a 1:15 minute cycle).  When I got home I rolled out the dough, added the topping, rolled, cut, baked and made the icing.

Before baking.

The icing itself was addicting.  I am lucky, oh who am I kidding my family is lucky, there was icing left to frost them with when I was done sampling.

After baking... I never claimed to be a professional.  

Upon eating these Husband claimed only my homemade cinnamon rolls were to be eaten in our house going forward.  I took that as a compliment.

These are not a diet food.

I was amazed by how easy these were to make.  Honestly, I must have spent a total of 15 minutes actively making these.  Since making the rolls we've tried white bread (not so good) and french bread (super yummy with homemade soup)... and I foresee many other breads in our future.

Monkey enjoying a roll on Christmas morning.