You’re almost a year old! Not a little baby anymore, but not quite a toddler yet.
Every new month is full of new milestones, and this month was no exception. You really got the hang of pulling yourself up onto the furniture, and you became quite the speedy crawler, so Mommy and Daddy bought baby gates to keep you corralled in the living room.
It’s like something clicked in your brain this month, and everything started making sense.
First, you became a champion sitter overnight.
Then, you figured out crawling.
Then, you pulled yourself to standing for the first time.
Not only that, but you finally started cutting teeth! One of your bottom teeth has made it through the gums, but isn’t all the way out yet, and one of your top teeth has just finished breaking through. You’ll be getting another top tooth soon — before long, you’ll look even less like a little baby and more like a little boy.
You’re still not so into solid food, but you do like your purees. We introduced you to peaches this month, and you’re a big fan! You’re not quite ready for finger foods or things that need any chewing; they get onto your tongue before you chew/gum them properly, and you gag on them. Someday soon, though.
You’ve started showing a preference for things being a certain way; you fuss when we take a toy away from you, or when you hold your arms up and we don’t pick you up, or when a routine doesn’t go exactly the way you expect it to (like getting fetched from your crib or the swing as soon as you see Mommy or Daddy, or not getting fed as soon as you see your bottle).
We did some fun things this month! We spent an afternoon walking around Bowling Green (where Mommy and Daddy went to college, and where we lived when we first got married), and we took you to the Waterville Community Garage Sale (but we only saled for an hour because it was so hot outside), and we took you to the park for the first time, and we all drove up to Michigan for a Fourth of July BBQ with friends.
You’re growing up so fast! Slow down, won’t you, please?
This was the month of being social with friends and family!
Grammy came to visit in May, for the first time since you were just two weeks old. She showed up before Mommy got home from work, and Daddy said that you were excited to hear her voice — until you realized that she wasn’t me! Then you got confused and freaked out for a minute, but were plenty happy by the time Mommy got home.
We went out and had plenty of fun times — at the zoo, at the park, and at restaurants — but Mommy should really write more about that some other time, in detail, with lots of pictures.
Mommy and Daddy took you up to Michigan to meet our friend Jason and his fiancee Colette. They live in New York City, but were visiting Jason’s family in Michigan over Memorial Day weekend, so we made sure to get together, since they hadn’t met you yet, and we hadn’t met Colette. We all had lunch at the Cracker Barrel, and had fun catching up about everything from babies to Japan trips to jobs to restaurants in NYC. It was a good time!
That same weekend, Mommy and Daddy went on their second-ever date night without Connor! You fell asleep for Missy at 8:00pm, which is really early, so she got to hang out and read books until Mommy and Daddy got home at 10:30pm. For the two hours you were awake, though, you loved hanging out with Missy as much as last time. And Mommy and Daddy enjoyed getting to go out for sushi and then watch The Avengers.
Mommy and Daddy also took you to your first Old West End Festival this month. Actually, Mommy and Daddy only really go to the garage sales, not the festival itself, so you got to go garage saleing for the first time, too. You got to meet our friend Traeonna, who hadn’t seen you since you’d been born, so that was fun for everyone. She’s a redhead, too, so Mommy asked her some stupid questions like, “Do you think he’ll stay a redhead?!” Since, you know, all redheaded people are experts in genetics. Mommy’s silly.
You love being in your stroller and seeing the world around you… but, as usual, you eventually fell asleep.
After your stroller nap, we hung out on a bench outside the Art Museum, where you got to crawl and stand on grass for the first time. You always love being outside, but you especially loved being on the grass.
After dinner that evening, we all went to The Sheets’ house for a Baby S’mores Party! You and Daddy had gotten to have a Baby Taco Party with Mark and Harper at San Marco’s earlier this month, so we continued the baby party theme. All the babies and all the grown-ups (and even the doggie) had a good time!
Other stuff that happened this month…
Mommy had her first Mother’s Day! You and Daddy got Mommy a gift certificate to a local spa. Mommy’s planning to get her nails done and her feet all sparkly soon.
We’re introducing you to new foods slowly but surely. Tilapia and sweet potatoes, plus some organic pre-packaged foods like cherry/apple and broccoli/apple purees. You seem to like them, for the most part.
Still no teeth, and you’re still not crawling yet. You love to stand up while holding on to Mommy or Daddy’s fingers, though, and you roll around like crazy, and you rock back and forth on all fours. The doctor says we shouldn’t worry about the crawling unless you haven’t started moving around on your own somehow by 10½ months, and that we shouldn’t worry about the lack of teeth until you’re a year and a half old. So, plenty of time for both. No worries!
Your favorite toy right now seems to be the Totoro rattle that Erika got you for your baby shower. Mommy and Daddy like to give it to you while we’re changing your diaper, since another of your favorite things is to roll over while you’re on the changing table, so we need to distract you from doing that.
You love to meet new people, and everyone always comments about how happy and talkative you are. You’re not saying any real words yet, but you love to babble and smile and giggle. We have the feeling you’re going to be quite the talker once you have some words…
You’re such a cutie, and we love you so much, little dude.
It’s been a month of firsts — but, then, at your age, every month is a month of firsts, I guess!
You took your first shopping trip at the mall! Fake Aunt Sheryl was pretty much Mommy’s personal shopper for an afternoon. All three of us hit up several stores at one of the local outdoor malls. You were pretty chill for most of it, until you got bored and hungry. After we fed you, though, you took a short nap in your stroller while Sheryl and Mommy hung out at Starbucks.
You got to meet your Auntie Amy for the first time! Amy hadn’t come to visit since your baby shower (one week before you were born), so it was super fun to introduce you. She’s used to being a baby roadie for her friends with babies, so it was fun to go out to lunch with both you and with her, and have her playing the part I usually play when you and Daddy and I go out.
You took your first ride in a shopping cart! Mommy and Daddy and Auntie Amy went shopping at Big Lots while Amy was visiting, and you got to ride in the cart, since you’re getting to be a big boy. You loved it, mostly, but you did get bored for a while, so Mommy carried you on her hip. You loved looking around the store, though, and not being stuck in your carseat. You also are a big fan of the wind and the outside in general, so you enjoyed the cart ride to and from the store.
You also spent your first evening with a babysitter! Mommy and Daddy spent a long time figuring out who to watch you, and we weren’t sure who would be the best choice. We had several options in mind, but then Uncle Mark said that his sister Missy would love to watch you. Perfect! The two of you got to meet each other a few days before Mommy and Daddy went out, and you got along smashingly. When that Saturday evening finally came and Mommy and Daddy went out for grown-up time to celebrate Mommy’s 36th birthday, you and Missy had a great time. Mommy and Daddy thought for sure that you’d be tired and cranky and upset when we got home, but you were sitting in the chair with Missy, reading a book, looking a little tired but not cranky yet. You seemed surprised to see us! Mommy and Daddy are hoping to go out once a month, so you’ll get to see Missy again.
You ate in your high chair for the first time! Mommy bought you a Fisher-Price Space Saver High Chair
You have quite a few new tricks, too: you’re rolling around like crazy, for one. Even though you’ve only tried the military-style belly crawl once, you’re plenty mobile. We really can’t leave you alone on the floor like we used to — you might end up with your head stuck sideways under the couch!
You’ve also started copying Mommy and Daddy when we stick out our tongue at you or make raspberry noises or cluck our tongue. Just the other day, you figured how to clap your hands, and now you love to copy us when we do that, too. That’s an improvement on you smacking your one hand onto your head!
Your clear plastic beach ball is one of your favorite things to play with, since it’s just the right size for you to hold with both hands, and you can wiggle it around to move the little yellow ball inside. You’re also a big fan of your bunny head and your catbus — the catbus lives in the diaper bag to keep you occupied while we’re out to eat or chilling at Starbucks.
You’re becoming a little 19.2-pound person with a personality and likes and dislikes.
It’s kind of cool.
Every day, it seems, my little baby boy gets bigger. Learns something new. Outgrows something else from his babyhood, whether it’s the shirt he wore to Thanksgiving or something as basic as breastfeeding.
Mommy’s milk supply had been dropping for a while, ever since we had to start supplementing with formula at four months, but the final straw coincided with a week of training in Ann Arbor. Mommy wasn’t able to take her proper morning and afternoon pump breaks for four days straight, and things were never the same after that. Mommy used to pump about three ounces every time; this month, it dropped down to just one ounce, and then even less.
A couple of weeks ago, you started crying for a bottle after nursing in the mornings before Mommy went to work, and that (combined with the half-ounce pumping sessions) was when Mommy knew it was time to finish weaning you from the breast. You weaned yourself, really — if nothing comes out, you’re not going to stick around just for the comfort-suck. You want food, and if Mommy’s boob won’t provide it, you know the bottle will.
Mommy had planned to pump in the evenings before bed, to get you a full four-ounce bottle to eat one last time, but I think we’re done. Maybe you can eat the last couple of ounces as a snack, or mixed in with some solid food. The nursing bras are already in a bag to be donated to Goodwill, and there’s something wrong with the AC adapter on the breast pump, anyway. It’s just so sad to bid this part of our relationship goodbye.
But as one phase ends, another begins: you’re getting used to eating purees and mushy foods for dinner. Sometimes Mommy is lazy and doesn’t feed you your solid dinner, but she’s getting better with it. And so are you! You’re learning how to eat the food off of the spoon without Mommy having to cajole you into opening your mouth, then pretty much wiping the food off onto your palate. No, now you open your mouth like a little baby bird, and sometimes you even close your mouth a little too soon, because you’re so excited to get the food in.
This month, you’ve tried green beans, peas, bananas, sweet potatoes, and avocado. You’re never a fan of the veggies right off the bat, but everything is good when it’s mixed with just a little fruit. Mommy’s still making all your food herself, milling it with the food mill (or, with the banana and avocado, mooshing it with a fork).
We’ve got some acorn and butternut squash hanging out at home, so you might get to try those soon. And chicken! Mommy and Daddy rarely cook meat at home anymore, so we bought some frozen chicken tenders especially for you, although you’re supposed to try a few more fruits and vegetables before we introduce meat.
Between the formula and the solid foods, you’re gaining plenty of weight. At seven months, you weigh 18 pounds even! You’re wearing sleepers in size 9 months, and are quickly outgrowing all your six-month clothes. We’re pulling out all the clothes we’ve been saving for when you get bigger, just to be sure we don’t miss out on the narrow window when you can wear them.
Mommy and Daddy bought you a Jumperoo, and you love it. It’s nice to let you occupy yourself for a few minutes — sometimes for up to an hour! — so we can get some grown-up things done, like cleaning the house. Now, when Mommy stands you up on her lap, you like to jump instead of just standing there.
You’re also much more likely to just chill out in your Pack-N-Play for more than five minutes before you get fussy. Now that you can grab stuff that’s around you, and now that you can roll around a bit, you can keep yourself busy for a good fifteen or twenty minutes in the playpen if we need to leave you there.
You’re getting to be a mobile little guy! You roll from your back to your tummy every time we put you on the floor (or in your crib), and you’ve only just figured out how to roll from your tummy onto your back. You used to be super upset about waking up on your belly in the middle of the night, but you don’t seem to mind as much now. In fact, Mommy finds you sleeping on your tummy most of the time now — either that, or on your left side, facing your crib mirror.
Your bedtime routine looks a little something like this:
5:45pm – Daddy leaves for work. Mommy feeds Mei Kitty.
6:00pm – Mommy puts you on the floor and makes herself dinner during the local news.
6:30pm – Mommy puts you in your Bumbo on the floor and feeds you dinner during the national news.
7:00pm – Chill/play time. Jumperoo or floor time.
7:30pm – Mommy will read you a book and give you one last bottle.
8:00pm – Time to rock Connor until he falls asleep. Sometimes Mommy watches a TV show while she rocks you.
9:00pm – Time to put Connor into his crib for the night.
We still don’t bathe you very often — about once a week, usually on Fridays — but when we do, you’ve been tolerating it a lot better than you used to. You’re usually pretty keen on it until the water starts to get chilly, and then you get upset.
Sometimes you’ll wake up in the middle of the night, especially when Daddy comes home early from work. Mommy needs to make sure you’re fed and changed before she leaves for work in the morning, or you’ll wake Daddy bright and early as soon as Mommy shuts the door behind her. As long as you take a nice, long morning nap, Daddy doesn’t mind too much. If you don’t, though, Daddy goes crazy from sleep deprivation, and that’s not good for anybody. Especially Daddy.
You’ve discovered your feet: they’re fun to grab and fun to gnaw on. In fact, you have a tendency to lean all the way forward and grab them when we’re trying to get you to sit up on your own.
Just in the past week or so, you’ve started mimicking Mommy and Daddy’s noises, which is super cute. One of us will cluck our tongue at you, or blow a raspberry, and you’ll try to do it back. You can usually do it pretty well. If we make a letter noise, though, like da-da-da or ba-ba-ba, you stare at our mouth. Sometimes you’ll try to make the sound back at us, but usually you just laugh at the funny sound.
Sadly, you got to go to your second funeral this month. Your Great-Aunt Elaine passed away after several years with dementia. She hadn’t been well enough to come to holidays in Cleveland for some time, and you never got to meet her. I guess the positive side is that you got to be the happy, smiling baby at the funeral, which always helps people to remember that life goes on.
As always, there’s so much more I could tell you about this month: you laugh when I sing and sign the ABCs to you, and you love being outside in the sunshine and the breeze, and you’re getting better about going to sleep at night, and you still have a big gummy toothless grin.
You’re growing so fast, and learning so much, that I’m afraid all this will slip by before I know it.
