13 months old!

Well, it's only 15 days late, but I thought I should probably write this post before he turns 14 months old.  LOL.

Let's see -- where to start...

Eating
What doesn't he eat?  He wants everything and anything.  He even wants to feed himself, which is very very messy and frustrating sometimes, but it's so cute.  He's weaned, too, mostly just in the last week or so.  I just stopped offering it and he didn't seem to care at all.

Boy in Motion
He's not walking yet, and not even standing on his own, but boy, does he get around.  He cruises on everything, and he crawls super fast.  He'll "walk" if someone is holding his hands, but he shows NO interest at all in walking.

Talking
He loves to babble.  He says, "Nana", "Papa", "Apple", "Water", and "Night Night".  He has other ways of making himself heard, too, mainly screaming!!!  Yes, if he doesn't get his way, he just screeches.  We're trying to nip that in the bud by also helping him with the words that seem to fail him. :)

Sleeping
The past week or so, he has basically slept through the night.  He still wakes up, and cries out, but he usually goes right back to sleep.  I've had to get up a couple nights and rock him back to sleep.  I hope this is a new direction!

Ian turns 1!

I really can't believe I am typing a blog entry for Ian's first birthday already!

This year has seemed very long but when I think about it, it also seems to have gone by so quickly.  I don't remember much about him being a little baby.  It seems like he's always been this little boy just playing with Lucy.

ALL CLEAN AND GETTING READY FOR BED!

He had his one year old check up yesterday, and here are his stats:

Weight: 21 lbs., 1 oz.

Height:  29"

Head Circumference:  18 1/2"

Eating:

We've come a long way, baby!  I really started to notice it when we were at a friend's mountain cabin a few weekends ago.  When I tried to feed him baby food, he would push it away, but when we fed him table food, he would eagerly accept it.  I had bought him some Baby Mum Mum crackers a few days before to try it out, and I really think that helped him a lot.  They dissolve so quickly that he can get the feeling of biting something but then it turns into a thick mush that he can just swallow.  So from then on it's been no turning back!  He still eats baby food occasionally, because it takes me 20 seconds to heat it, rather than 10 minutes to fix him something, so it's easier when I'm in a hurry!   But mostly he just eats what we are eating in an appropriate form.  He eats bananas, baby food, avocado, pasta, veggies, breads, oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies, pancakes, muffins, anything!  I love it.  We had his iron re-tested at his one year appt. and it was still a little low, like it was at his 9 month appt., but she said just to keep trying to feed him iron-rich foods and it should go up.  I think just eating table food will help, since most of what we eat for dinner is veggies.  He still nurses 3-4 times a day.  I thought I was going to stop nursing him as soon as he turned 1 because we were having HORRIBLE issues with his teeth biting me.  SO painful.  But for some reason, he just stopped so it hasn't been painful lately.  He's been a little under the weather this week so I am nursing him a little more than I might just to give him an extra immune boost.  I don't have any specific plans to stop.  I'm sure the more and more food he eats, the less he will want to nurse, and that's okay with me.  I'm ready to stop whenever he is! :)  Speaking of teeth, I know he has six, and I can see one more on the bottom coming in and the pediatrician said she saw one more on the top, too.  So there may be more and more teeth coming in even this week.

Motion:

He is still crawling and cruises the furniture like a speed racer, but he doesn't even try to stand up by himself and he does NOT like it when we try to "help" him walk.  He's not showing any interest in walking by himself.  He loves to walk with a toy walker -- he does that a lot during the day!  I'm not worried.  I know he will get it.  He's just getting into waving, too, and he LOVES to wave at Wesley when he leaves for work and when he comes home.  It's the cutest little wave.  He loves to try to climb, especially into the bathtub when I start running the water for their nightly bath.  He loves to stand up in the bathtub, too (not allowed!) and he loves to try to climb on things to reach other things.  Yikes!

Talking:

He can say Momma, Dada, Nina/Nana (?), night-night, uh-oh, and tonight in the bath he said "Bubble" (seriously!) and then I was taking him to change a poopy diaper after I had already gotten his pajamas on, and I said, "You have some poopoo in your diaper!" and it sounded like he tried to say poopoo and diaper.  We kept trying to get him to say diaper and he sounds like he is trying so hard.  He says a lot of other random things, too, but those are the clearest.

Sleeping:

Nothing new to report.  Still naps twice a day, or once a day if we happen to be out and about during what would normally be his morning nap.  He takes good, long naps (praise the Lord!) and he sleeps very well at night, only waking up once still.  With Lucy, we had to eventually let her cry a little bit before she learned to sleep through the night, but that's next to impossible with Ian because Lucy sleeps in the next room, so if Ian were to cry at all, it would wake her up, and then we'd have two awake kids on our hands.  So because it's not interfering with me too much, I just get up and feed him once a night and he goes right back to sleep.  The other night he slept through the night but that is an exception, not the rule.

What a joy it is to be Ian's mommy!  I am constantly amazed at how smart he is, at his little personality, at the things he knows that I KNOW I did not teach him (both good and bad!), and at how much he takes in.  I was thinking the other day about how when Lucy was 1, she had all age-appropriate toys and she barely watched any TV or videos, and she went to age-appropriate play outings, etc.  Now Ian gets the benefit of having toys that are for older kids, so he gets to figure them out.  He gets to watch Elmo's World while we're eating breakfast because Lucy is watching it.  He gets to go to storytime for 2 year olds at the library because I take Lucy there.  So he is getting the benefit of learning for older kids and it shows! He already knows so many songs and hand motions and signs ... it's crazy.  I love watching him grow, and I am really savoring each day with him.

Ian, we love you so much, and we are so happy you are our son.  It only gets better from here!

Ian's first birthday party!

I know his birthday isn't until 11/13, but we had his party today to celebrate with family.  I went back and forth about having a big first birthday party with all of our friends and family but our condo isn't big enough for all those people, and I didn't want to pay to have it at an outside place, so we decided just to limit it to family.  We are lucky that most of our family lives in the Atlanta area now and those that don't were able to come up!

He LOVED his cake (Who wouldn't?!) and he got some awesome clothes and books and toys from his grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.

Here's some pictures that my mom took -- aren't they great?!  But of course, the subject was pretty darn cute.

Opening his present from us ... Mega Bloks! :)

Digging in to his cake -- no problems there!

My handsome boy!  Oh, I love him!

Enjoying his new books from Uncle Luke, Aunt Kayla, Olivia, Noah, Kate, and Micah

A candle on a tiny sliver of cake (I know, I know, this overcautious mom ruined all the fun of having a huge piece of cake to ram into your mouth!)

Enjoying his family!

Eleven months old!

My boy's getting older!

This is the last month birthday before I have to say I have a one year old and a two year old.  (It sounds crazy when you put it that way!  Only until March, when Lucy turns 3.)

Eating:
Nothing different, except that he eats a lot MORE now.  He still nurses in the morning, at lunch, after nap, and before bed, and once during the night.  He eats a big container of baby food at each meal and sometimes yogurt, too.  We've started to give him bits of whatever we're eating, too, and he seems to like that as long as it's something very mushy (banana, tofu, rice, quinoa, pasta, etc.)  I know he'll get up to eating more textured foods and I hope it's sooner rather than later but I'm not going to push him.  He definitely likes baby food fruits more than veggies, but I don't blame him, because have you tasted baby food peas lately?  NASTY.

He has six teeth (that I know of) ... two on the bottom and four on the top.  I have a feeling he's in the process right now of getting some, but I can't feel them yet so I don't know where they will pop through.

Sleeping:
The same!  I have been trying to be home in the mornings when he needs to take a nap because if he doesn't, then he takes one long midday nap but then is way too tired before bed.  It's best when he can take his mid-late morning nap and then an afternoon nap ... best for him and better for Mommy!  He still wakes up once a night, but honestly it is not something I am bothered by at all.  Of course I will be ecstatic once he's really consistently sleeping through the night, but getting up once a night to feed him really quick and put him back to bed is fine with me.

Lucy didn't sleep through the night until she was over a year old, but I was pregnant with Ian and I was getting desperate for her to sleep through the night because I was pregnant and tired and envisioning a life with two kids that woke up at all hours of the night.  Plus Lucy was not the type of baby that you just fed and put back in the bed.  She had to be rocked fully back to sleep and then you had to carefully put her down and try to sneak away before she woke up.  Plus she was still waking up multiple times a night (3-5 times).  Ian has really been such a great sleeper -- I know to be thankful!  I always put him in his bed fully awake and it is never a problem.

Movement:
His primary mode of transportation is still crawling, but he definitely loves to stand and cruise at any opportunity.  He can stand on his own for just a few seconds, but I have a feeling that probably by a year old or maybe a few months after he might get this walking thing down.

Talking:
His favorite words right now are "Dada" and "Nana" which we thought referred to his Nana, but now I think we are certain it applies to our dog, Nina.  :)  (sorry, Mom!)  He loves to point at Nina and say "Nana".  He says "Mama" very clearly when he is upset, but otherwise it's "Dada" or "Nana".  He always says, "Uh-oh" and in the right context.  If he drops something or if Lucy drops something or knocks something over, he says "Uh-oh."  I think it's adorable!  He says lots of other babbling type stuff.

Personality:
What can I say?  I am in love with him!  He is sweet, observant, funny, snuggly, busy, smart, and my buddy!  He loves his sister, and he loves his Mommy, and he's now started to actively want to be held by his Daddy when he can.  He still likes to be with me the most, but he's getting independent and wanting to get down and explore things when we go places.  He is always surprising me with what he knows and what he's connected in his mind.  When I see him, my heart melts!  I look forward to celebrating his one year birthday in a month, and I literally still feel like it was yesterday that they pulled him up out of the water and put him on my chest and it was like my heart had burst with happiness and love.  My perfect little boy.

Ten months old!

I can't believe it, but he's ten months old!

Eating:
He's still nursing ... when he wakes up, around lunchtime, late afternoon, and then again before bed, and then usually once during the night.  He also eats a little jar of baby food and maybe a half-carton of baby yogurt at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He isn't a fan of very thick or textured food still, but we keep offering it and I know he'll get it eventually.

Sleeping:
He takes two naps (if all goes as planned)... once around midmorning and then again around 2.  He goes to bed anytime between 7-8, and gets up around 7am, and he still wakes up once a night.

Playing:
He crawls very fast, and can pull up on anything and he is just starting to cruise from one place to another, like the coffee table to the couch, etc.  He loves to be with Lucy and I wherever we are.  In fact, he can be happy as a clam one minute and if we leave the room to get something he will start crying.  He doesn't really put things in his mouth like Lucy did.  He just loves to play with whatever Lucy is playing with, too.  We have fun just sitting in their rooms, playing with their toys.  He loves Lucy and she makes him laugh!  I posted this video above so you can see what a typical interaction between them is like.  It's all fun until somebody gets hurt!!!

Talking:
He says "mama" and "baba" and a string of other unintelligible sounds.  "Mama" is definitely the clearest thing he says.

Personality:
He has very distinct personality traits.  He is a mama's boy!  As long as he's with me, he's happy.  He's starting to reach out and want to go to Wesley, though, even if I'm holding him.  He does NOT like being left with other people, unless it's like my mom here at our house or something.  He's either super happy and bubbly or being very shy and clingy.  You never know what you'll get, although the shy and clingy side tends to be more dominant if he's tired or hungry.

It's amazing that even at 10 months old he seems like such a baby still!  We started trying to have another baby when Lucy was 10 months old, and I can't even imagine doing that with Ian still being so young!!!  Crazy how the second child will do that to you.

We love him and I can't believe his first birthday will be here in only two months.

More teeth

For a while, Ian just had the two bottom teeth.  Then we noticed that he was showing little nubs up top, too, and this week they broke through, along with another tooth up top to the right of these teeth, and I can tell the tooth to the left of these teeth is very close to breaking through also.  That means he would have six teeth soon!  I can't believe it.  Lucy didn't have that many teeth for a while, I think.  I say the sooner the better -- let's get it over with!  haha.

Nine months old!

Ian had his nine month check up today.  Here are his stats:

Weight:  19 lbs, 7 oz.
Height: 28 inches
Head Circumference:  18 inches

He's getting so big!  He is finally crawling around on his hands and knees instead of just army crawling around.  He's pulling up on everything, but not cruising yet.  He loves to play with Lucy, and he's been saying "Mama" and "Baba" a lot lately.  He has two more teeth coming in up top.  I mean, they are literally about to pop through.  He eats three baby food "meals" a day and still nurses every few hours (although that is mostly due to me, not to him crying for it...).

He's been waking up every night around 10:30pm and then again at like 6am.  I think it going to be time soon to try to help him sleep through the night... not sure how we'll do that but I think we will have to try soon.  I'm so tired!

I had to fill out a little questionnaire today at the doctor's office, and it was designed for a 10-month-old, and he basically has all the skills of a 10-month-old, except for his fine motor skills.  She said just to take out the questionnaire again at 10 months to see if he has those skills yet.  I know a lot of that comes from picking up small bites of food between their thumb and finger, and he's not yet eating bits of food.  He's still a puree man. :)

We love our boy!

Eight months old!

I just realized this morning that I let his eight-month birthday come and go without a little update for posterity.

He is definitely crawling everywhere now -- but only army style, not on his hands and knees.  He is really good at getting from laying down to sitting up by himself, and I've even caught him a few times pulling up to his knees while holding on to something.  We had to lower his crib about a week ago because we found him holding on to the side of the crib and pulling up.  He may army crawl forever -- we'll see!

He is eating baby food about twice a day now (if I remember to feed it to him).  So far he's had squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, rice cereal, peaches, and yogurt.  Sometimes I try to feed him more solid table food but I think for now he just enjoys mashing it between his fingers.

He's been waking up more at night (I say "more" -- usually it's just two times a night instead of his regular one time a night).  I think it may have something to do with his teeth, and the fact that he's been fighting a little summer cold complete with runny nose/congestion.

At this age Lucy was still waking up multiple times a night and needed to be rocked back to sleep and gingerly placed into her crib while you made a swift exit before she woke up.  Ian, on the other hand, I just put him to bed all the time awake and he falls asleep on his own.  He wakes up once a night usually, sometime between 1:30 and 5:00am, and then sleeps until about 7:30am.  I really don't mind.  I know he will eventually sleep through the night.  Knowing this is the last time I'll have to do this "getting up in the middle of the night" thing makes it much easier to handle.  I'm in no rush.

Happy eight months, baby boy!  We love you.  Can't wait to see how much you weigh and what you're doing at nine months old.

First word!

Not sure if I'm officially saying this is his first word, since he does babble a lot, but it definitely sounds distinctly like Ian started saying "Mama" in the past couple of days.  Wesley even said one time that I walked out of the room and Ian clearly said, "Mama".  haha.  Lucy said "Dada" first, so I am a little happy that my mama's boy Ian said "Mama" first.  :)

First teeth!

I was waiting to post this in hopes that I might get a picture of those suckers, but Ian will barely open his mouth to let me look at them so I doubt a picture is going to happen.

But I noticed Tuesday (July 3, 2012) that he had two tiny white teeth at the bottom -- his front two bottom teeth.  They are adorable, and sharp!  :)

Seven months old!

My happy boy is seven months old!  Nothing especially out of the ordinary to report.  He's not crawling yet, and not even eating one smidge of baby food.  But he sleeps great and he's always in a good mood unless he's tired or hungry, so I couldn't be happier!!!  He is such a delight and I love having him as my son.  Lucy loves him so much and her favorite thing to do is go with me to get him up from his naps and in the morning.  She loves to talk to him and about him constantly.  I can't wait to see them grow up together.  He had a few firsts lately ...

He went swimming for the first time on Friday (June 15th) -- he wasn't that impressed at first but I think it was because it was during his nap time so he was tired!

He went to his first Braves game today (June 17th) -- again, he wasn't that impressed but it was during his nap time.  (See a trend?)

Sitting up!

So Ian has been sitting up for a while now, but he would still fall to the side if he rocked too far.  We noticed tonight that he can really officially sit up on his own ... he can balance himself and keep himself from falling over.  He still falls back if he gets too excited, but we're calling today the day that he can really sit up by himself.  Another milestone down...

Six months old!

Technically, he turned six months old on the 13th of May, but we just had his well check up so I thought I would post now.  

He is 18 lbs., 4 oz, and he's 27" long, with a 17 1/2" circumference head.

He is such a joy!!!  He is growing up so fast.  He tries to babble some, he's definitely getting his knees up and trying to scoot himself forward.  He isn't such a fan of baby food of any kind yet, although I keep trying just so he'll get used to it.  His schedule as of now goes something like this ... (with exceptions of course!)

8:30am -- wakes up and nurses.

9:00am - 10:00am -- we play around the house.

10:00am -- I feed him again before we go to the park.

10:00am - 11:30am -- we walk to the park, and he rides in my Beco carrier while I push Lucy in the stroller.  He usually falls asleep on the way to the park and stays asleep most of the time we're there. 

12:00pm -- He is awake but I usually keep him in the Beco until I get Lucy settled with lunch.

12:15pm -- He nurses again.

1:30 or 2:00pm -- He goes down for his nap.

5:00pm -- he wakes up from his nap.  (Yes, he regularly takes 2-4 hour naps in the afternoon.  I cannot even tell you how much that means to me, especially since Lucy was like a 45-minute max napper for at least a year and half.)

5:00pm -- he nurses.

5:30pm - 8:00pm -- He plays with his daddy or gets held or is in the exersaucer until bedtime, when I feed him and put him down.  He usually sleeps until about 4:00 or 5:00am, when he wakes up.  I nurse him, and change his diaper, and he goes back to sleep until about 8 or 8:30am.

He is so precious.  He brings such joy to my heart.  I love having him as my son!

Here's some pictures of him (and Lucy)!

Five months old!

Today Ian is officially five months old!!! I'll give more of a "personality/favorites" type update when he turns six months old, I think. I will just mention here that he is definitely going places ... he can turn over from front to back and vice versa and he can scoot by pulling up his knees and pushing himself around. I would be interested to see if by six months old he is a lot closer to crawling! He's got to keep up with his sister!

Four months old!

He is such a happy baby! He had his four month old visit and he was 16 lbs, 6 oz. He's quickly catching up to his sister.

Here you can see his new skill by 4 months, which is turning over from his back to his stomach. He does this constantly and now even sleeps on his stomach.

Three months old!

Look at this cutie!!! He is growing up so quickly right before my eyes.

Two months

Ian had his two month old appt. yesterday (January 17th)...

Here are the stats:

Weight: 13 lbs., 9 oz.

Height: 23 3/4 inches

Head Circumference: 15 3/4 inches

He is such a joy!!! Seriously, he never cries unless he is hungry or unless he's really tired and needs to go to sleep. Otherwise, he's just alert and happy and smiling and babbling. He has been such an easy baby to parent, which is a gift from God for this mama with two small children. I love him so much, and I eagerly anticipate him getting older and being able to interact more with us and with Lucy and seeing the two of them grow to love each other.

One month

Ian had his one month appointment on December 13.

Weight: 11 lbs., 3 oz.

Height: 22 inches

Head circumference: 15 1/4 inches

I can't remember any of Lucy's stats at the same age, but I know Ian definitely weighs more than she did at that point, and he is longer. So I can't wait to see how he will grow and look next to his "big" sister!

Why?

I'm starting this blog to keep up with Ian's growth and all the memories I want to write about. We started a blog for Lucy and it was primarily about her health and her craniosynostosis, but I've enjoyed reading back over all the entries to see how she's grown and the struggles and triumphs we encountered along the way.

Not to be left out as the proverbial second child, I thought we should have one for Ian, too.

Even if no one ever reads this, I know I will and I hope one day Ian can read it too and enjoy how his mom took the time to chronicle his life.