Puffs

Elliott enjoyed some sweet potato puffs for dinner tonight!  First non-liquefied food!  He appeared to like the puffs, and had a good time smacking the tray until they all stuck to his hands.  Yet, he never associated picking up the puffs with moving them to his mouth for consumption.  Maybe next time.

Rice Cereal

Elliott tried his first rice cereal today!  Jonah helped mix it in his milk and spoon feed the first bite while Daddy took photos.  Elliott wasn't nearly as interested as the rest of us.  He barely registered the spoon or the food on it entering his mouth.  I think he was busy trying to see what all the commotion was about.

Jonah on Yogurt

Mommy likes to take short cuts and save leftover yogurt in a small clear container clearly designed for baby food.  Next thing you know it will be those giant tubs.  Would she serve her favorite wine in a SnoCone?  Of course not!  So how can I be expected to enjoy such a delicacy so improperly presented?

I refused to eat a bite until Mommy had located a proper dish (the disposable kind with pictures of fruit on it), thoroughly washed and disinfected it, and sealed the top with the foil lid (for safety).  That is how yogurt is supposed to be served.  And I ate it all up!

The Mother of Sore Bottoms!

While I was making dinner Jonah started fussing more and more until he was uncontrollably crying.  Oddly, he screamed even harder when I picked him up to console his tortured little soul.  Sitting at the table seemed to make him even worse, and he refused to eat.  (This is very alarming!)  I suspected some sort of stomach upset and made him sit through dinner before we went up for bath... and found a huge rash in his diaper area.  It was so bad he couldn't even sit in the tub without howling!  I felt so terrible, particularly in the knowledge that picking him up under the bum and sitting him on my lap were causing him pain.

After a little research and a visit to his pediatrician, we finally concluded that the diaper rash was caused by the grapes and raisins we had for snack earlier in the day.  The acidic foods caused a chemical burn on his sensitive little tush.  It's happened before once or twice on rare occasion, though usually smaller and less severe.  I'm so relieved to know the cause so I can help prevent future outbreaks of such a terrible rash.

Jonah on Extreme Temperatures

Mommy doesn't always check the temperature of meals like a proper michelin chef should.  Food should be served warm at most, but tepid is perfectly acceptable.  When I show her a spoonful that is on the verge of sublimating before my eyes, she gives it a little blow.  (Daddy says the air flow helps speed the heat transfer.)  Well, her lungs are no match for such extreme temperatures, and she stops after a paltry breath.  I finally gave up holding out my spoon for intervention and learned to blow on my own food.  And I can keep it up until the morsel reaches its ideal room temperature.  But I still alert the chef, "hot hot hot!" so she can think about what she's done.

This evening the bath plunged to an arctic freeze a mere minutes into my hour-long nightly ritual.  Mommy turned on the tap to warm it up, but the stream was scalding hot!  Playing under the cascade meant risk of fourth degree burns.  Well, I knew how to fix this!  I blew on the running water under it cooled down.

Food allergy?

I think Jonah might be allergic to spaghetti sauce.  After I gave him some, his face was all red!

Happy New Year! (and pizza-making)

Jonah helped me make a pizza for lunch.  We set it down on a low stool so he could reach the pie and help spread out the sauce (okay, I did most of that), sprinkle the parmesan (again, I was in control) and then came the mozzarella.  I showed him how to reach into the bag, pull out a handful of shredded cheese, and sprinkle it over the pizza.  So he reached in, grabbed a big handful, and stuffed it right in his mouth!  Wow, kids really do watch and learn!  (I do this almost any time I'm opening shredded cheese.)

Jonah did a very nice job placing veggies and meatballs onto the pizza (though he took another bite of cheese right off the pie) and then sat in front of the oven pointing and watching it "cook cook cook"!  Yummy!

Thanksgiving!

Jonah had a very good Thanksgiving.  He enjoyed eating a huge plate of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce and passed on the desserts!  Jonah and Declan spent a lot of time hanging upside down from a parent or aunt/uncle.  They would look at each other from mid-air and think it the funniest thing!  Jonah also spent a lot of time playing toys with Pop-pop while Mommy enjoyed a relaxing visit.

Jonah was a good little trooper for our second stop to visit Daddy's family.  He was tired, but had gotten a short nap in the car and stayed up and (relatively) un-fussy.  He loved playing with the doggies, especially Gus.  He chased Gus around and petted his soft fur.  Jonah brought some books, tools and blocks to play with and help fix the house.  Brian (I should note here that he is an adult family friend!) played blocks with Jonah and showed him "how it was done" by stuffing all the shapes quickly into the sorter, each with a loud bang!  Jonah didn't like being beat at his own game and looked upset when Brian neared him the rest of the night.  Fortunately, dragging his tape measure and being chased by the doggy was more fun anyway.

Spoon Feeding

We retired Jonah's pureed baby food after what seemed like a week, when he decided he only wanted finger foods he could feed himself.  Well, now that Jonah is mastering use of his spoon, I pulled some leftovers from the cabinet and let him go to town while I made lunch.  He is so proud when he manages to maneuver a large bite into his mouth.  He did so well that by the time lunch was ready, his bowl was nearly empty!

Food for Mommy

I was snacking on a blueberry muffin with Jonah in my lap and he reached for a piece of muffin.  He had just finished his dinner, but it's not unusual for him to continue to nibble when he finds something appetizing.  To my surprise, he didn't eat the muffin, but instead held it up to feed Mommy!  After I accepted his offering, he thought it was so great that he kept stuffing my mouth with more and more muffin before I could finish the previous bite!  Now I know how a baby feels, trying to keep up.

Uh-Oh!

Jonah has really mastered the use of the phrase "Uh-Oh!"  I hear it all the time, when he drops something or falls.  Jonah likes it so much, he will keep repeating it over and over after such incident.  This is absolutely adorable, but it makes me far more conscious of how often I use the phrase myself.  Especially with Jonah around, I say "Uh-Oh" or "Oh No" far more often than I'd like to admit!  I have to wonder if Jonah has internalized it to the point that it is also a reflex for him, rather than a thought-out response to the situation.

Here's a favorite example:  This evening, Jonah finished his dinner and started playing with his food.  He knows he isn't supposed to do this.  He was clapping his hands, full of food, and some of dinner flew off over the side of the tray.  He looked down at his mess and says, "Uh-Oh."  Yes, my dear, Daddy was none too happy!

12 Month Update

Gross Motor:  Jonah is now an independent walker and can get himself up and around just about anywhere.  He can stoop to pick up toys and then continue on his merry way.  He still falls down frequently, mostly because he likes to lean on people and objects and misjudges the stability or support,  He also prefers to be carried or hold a hand outside where the ground is uneven.  He can climb a full flight of stairs either crawling or holding a gown-up's hands.  He tries to go down, too, but refuses to go backward.

Growth:  30in, 21lb 8oz., size 12mo. shirts, but we prefer 9mo. pants so he can walk without tripping! sz 3.5 shoe, 8 teeth

Fine Motor:  He can doodle a bit with crayons, though he isn't interested for long.  He has mastered all the pull tabs in his books and can open 3/4 of the characters on his Sesame Street toy.  Sometimes he even gets a block into his shape-sorter correctly!

Communication:  Jonah hasn't been interested in adding to his baby signs, but is showing interest in trying to repeat sounds and words.  He says mamama and dadada regularly, and with greater discrimination than before.

Food:  Jonah is practicing using a spoon and can scoop into a bowl of applesauce or yogurt and bring it to his mouth with moderate success!  He takes bottles or sippy cups on his own without assistance.  Jonah breastfeeds first thing when he awakes and before bed, but we have transitioned him to whole milk during the day.  He took it well, though I've found that he will drink a whole 7oz bottle if it is warm, but spits and dribbles through only an ounce if served cold.

Sleep:  Jonah is still a great sleeper, about 11 hours straight 8pm-7am.  He has transitioned down to one nap, which is 12:3-2:30 in his new school schedule, so he often comes home exhausted and sleeps a bit longer at night.

Fun:  Jonah has upgraded from Peek-A-Boo to playing Hide-and-Seek with Daddy.  Jonah hides and than runs around the house looking for Daddy.  If it takes more than 30 seconds to find him, Jonah gets distracted by something and the game ends.  He also enjoys being attacked by Daddy's "tickle missiles" and counter-attacking by running at Daddy or Mommy's legs until we fall down.  Then he will throw himself over our chest while laughing and yelling his battle cry "aaaa!" He also enjoys any book with moving parts (flaps are good, pull tabs better).  He loves getting on and off his Little People ride-on bus and playing the accompanying music.  He can't really push it with his feet (which barely touch the ground) but is excited to be pushed around the house and crash into things.  Jonah loves to go outside and will swing for a little while, but then wants to pick a brown-eyed susan and carry it around with him.

School:  Jonah transitioned from infants to the toddler room at school.  This was supposed to take a week or two of slowly-lengthening visits, but I think he enjoyed the toddler rooms so much, he stayed full time by the second day.  He now has a set schedule of snacks and naps, which allow the teachers to plan activities and outdoor play.  I think the change will be very good for Jonah, who was bored with all the babies!

First 100% Whole Milk

Jonah Eats a Banana

Jonah and Daddy were out at the grocery store after school/work.  Jonah was a little hungry and flashed his "I'm hungry" signal by flapping his lip.  Signal received, so Daddy contemplated how to get him something to snack on - maybe a free cheese sample from the Deli?  In the meantime, he gave Jonah a banana to hold and play with.

Well wouldn't you know, Jonah played with the peel until he opened the end and started eating the banana!  With a little help from Daddy (so he wouldn't eat the peel) he downed the entire thing.  So much for all of Mommy's peeling and chopping of bite-sized pieces... Jonah can take care of it himself!  I am told they paid for the banana at checkout, but I can only imagine what the onlookers were thinking.

10 Months

Jonah is making huge strides, figuratively and literally speaking.  He will stand and reach up with both hands for fingers to help him walk, and then run through the house as fast as he can manage.  He always goes in a straight line, then stops and turns on a dime with military precision, sometimes doing an about face.  He gets nervous when only holding one hand and inevitably down he goes.

Jonah is making many heterosyllabic sounds.  We are working on signs, and so far he's mimicked "more", which is a favorite, since it is so easy to do and has immediate reward.  "All done" and "hungry" are much more advanced.  We're not pushing so hard on this (nor am I consistent in teaching) so I'm not sure if it will take off.

Jonah loves to be the center of attention.  He will clap his hands, make silly grins, or anything that gets him attention and smiles.  He is a little shy on entering a new place or with new people, but he seems to warm up pretty quickly and gets into his groove of doing his own thing.

Jonah is very interested in checking everything out and figuring out how it works.  He is very persistent with a new toy, to see what every button, knob or spinner does.  He is especially interested in knobs, like those on the cabinets, drawers, etc. He will spin and play with the knob with little interest in actually opening the door or drawer.

Jonah will eat anything except baby food.  If it is pureed and spoon-fed, forget it.  If we eat it, and he can feed himself, he's game.  So that there would be food for Mommy, today we ordered him his first kids' meal!  He got his very own plate of penne and two big meatballs.  Jonah eats so much at meals that his milk intake is down to 4oz. bottles twice during the day between breastfeeding in the morning and at bedtime.

9 Months!

Wow.  Time does go quickly!  Here is what Jonah is doing now:

School:  Jonah still goes to daycare 3 times a week, for a long 8:15 to 5:45, around Daddy's work day.  He seems to like school while he's there, but has had a touch of separation anxiety.  As soon as his feet touch the floor - before Daddy even lets go - Jonah will start crying!  This week, Jonah has had his first two "incident reports" which the teachers fill out for accidents.  The first was for a black-and-blue on his cheek... which has been there over a week (cause unknown).  The second was for a cut lip.  Poor baby!

Breastfeeding:  We breastfeed 5-6 times a day, 10 mins. each side.  Jonah gets a little distracted if the TV is on, Mommy is using the iPad, or other people are in the room.  In "public" situations, he doesn't like the cover much and usually pulls it aside so he can get air, view what's going on around him, and flash everyone.  I am committed to breastfeeding until 1yr, but I really hate pumping, especially at work (awkward) and at night (I'd rather go to bed).  And it's tough to pump 3-8oz. bottles during the day.  He sometimes still takes a third at school, so I make sure to pack one just in case.  So I recently started cheating and supplementing Jonah's bottles, 6oz. breastmilk and 2oz. formula.

Eating:  Jonah will eat anything we put on his tray that he can pick up and feed himself.  And he eats a lot!  (Grandmama was quite surprised!)  I often make myself a regular sized plate for dinner, and a good third of it is cut up for Jonah's tray!  Granted, a third of that ends up in his lap or on the floor.  We hardly try to spoon feed him, unless it is a few bites of potato between his finger foods.  A typical day includes: 6:30 breastfeed, 7:30 Cheerios and fruit, 9:30 fruit/puffs snack, 10:30 8oz. bottle, 1:00 lunch (leftovers), 3:30 8oz. bottle, 6:30 dinner, 7:30 breastfeed.

Sleeping:  Jonah is still a great sleeper!  He goes down for bed around 7:30-8:00 and wakes up between 6:00-6:30.  He has been up for a midnight snack, but only 3 times in the last month.  Naps are getting a little bit better, too.  He likes a morning nap 9:00-11:00 and a shorter and less predictable nap sometime in the afternoon.

Gross Motor:  Jonah has found cruising (with the help of an assistant's hands) the preferable method of moving over army crawling.  He has gotten very good at directing his steps and often has a very clear idea of where he wants to go.  He did 3 laps around the house with Daddy today and even broke into a run.  He can pull up to standing on almost anything and loves the independence and new vantage point.

Fine Motor:  Jonah loves to point, either to indicate in which direction to carry him or at things of interest, which we identify for him.  He also points at people, which usually elicits an "ET" touch of the fingertips in lieu of high fives.

Talking:  Jonah doesn't "talk" often, but he makes a good variety of sounds when he does.  No words yet, but I am starting to wonder if he is trying to associate sounds with objects, including "ma" for Mommy and "ba" for ball.

Activities:  Jonah loves anything with water best of all.  We got him a water table for the porch (which I hope to fill with other fun things, once he stops putting everything in his mouth!) and a splash pool for the yard.  He also loves spinning the letters or beads on his Zany Zoo.  The talking farm magnets are also becoming a favorite.  Jonah is starting to use toys as "tools", for example, banging his friend's xylophone toy with another toy to make a louder noise.

Diapers:  We are still using cloth at home, but sposies at school.  My favorites are the Swaddlebees OS AIO, followed by BG and WolbyBug pockets.  Dirty diapers are getting much grosser with all the solid food Jonah eats now!   I gave up on disposible liners after a bad brand experience (the diapers are useless with an impermeable layer on top!) We're doing the dunk and swish, until I stop being too lazy to install the diaper sprayer.  ;-)

Baths:  Jonah still loves the water!  He lays on his tummy and splashes both hands, getting water in his face until his eyes turn red, but it doesn't seem to bother him.  He also does "bobs" where he very rapidly raises and lowers his head.  Sometimes his face dips into the water, but he comes up smiling!  Now that he can pull up, Jonah has also found a fun game of getting up on his knees and falling forward with a big splash, like a big kid would jump into a pool, over and over and over.

Reading:  Jonah isn't too interested in any books that are not interactive.  He has definite favorites and will flip through a stack to pick out the book he wants.  Every book must have flaps, things to feel, mirrors, pop-ups, etc.  He will flip through the pages very quickly looking for an activity and throw the book aside if it doesn't interest him.  Favorites include "Pop Up Peek-a-Boo", "Feely Bugs" and "Who Lives Here?".

Social:  Jonah has enjoyed meeting new friends at school, and took great interest in the new babies.  He seems interested in new people and will wave, but then bury his face in shyness.  At playgroup, I think he's had enough of being picked on and is stealing toys from the other kids!

Teasing Mommy

At dinner, Jonah made a "joke" by teasing Mommy.  He held out a piece of noodle for Mommy.  Usually I lean over to pretend to nibble it and we both laugh.  But this time, just as I leaned over to nibble at it, he pulled it away with a big laugh!  He did this a couple times, enjoying his joke.

As Jonah finishes eating, he becomes less concentrated about maneuvering food into his mouth and starts slapping the tray. He also does a very effective windshield wiper motion with both hands, so that the remaining food flies everywhere.  So I move the tray to the footrest to catch the spilled remnants wiped from Jonah's lap.  Well, Jonah got all excited to see a whole "new" batch of noodles and veggies appear on his tray.  He leaned all the way forward to reach down and start eating the discarded food!  He must have forgotten that he was already full.

8 months

So what is Jonah doing at 8 months?  A whole lot, and so proud of it!

Motor Skills:  Jonah claps, waves/high-fives socially, army crawls across the room, and has perfected his pincher-grasp.  His hand coordination is very deliberate in manipulating toys and food.

Social Skills:  Jonah is very friendly and will wave when someone smiles at him.  It's a cute wave with his fingers opening and closing, but in a wave progression, rather than all at once.  Then he buries his head in Mommy as if being shy.  He reaches up for Mommy or Daddy to pick him up.  He's very interested in other kids and babies and will watch or bat at them to play.

Sleep:  Still doing great (knock on wood!)  We had a short spell of midnight wakings (I think he was in a growth spurt), but that didn't last long.  Daddy's solution was to keep him up later, Mommy's was to feed him large quantities of Cheerios before bed.  Since we tried both, we may never know that it was really just something he had to work through while growing!  Now he's back to 8:00pm to 6:00am, give or take a half hour on each end.  Naps are still unpredictable, but usually about two for 30min each.  He's turned out to be a tummy sleeper and turns himself over as soon as he hits the mattress.

Food:  It wasn't long ago I was concerned that Jonah wasn't eating enough to provide him any nutrition.  Now, he will eat anything we put in front of him!  He loves table foods and feeding himself, so he tries almost anything we're having for dinner along with an ounce of pureed baby food and a couple handfuls of Cheerios or Puffs.  Plus 2oz of baby cereal in the morning and 5 7-8oz feedings a day.

Activities:  Jonah loves his bath all the more, now that he uses the big tub and can move around in it!  His favorite thing is to put his hands under the tap while the water is running.  Splashing himself and Mommy is a close second.  He seems to have grown out of Jumperoo, or at least lost interest in being stuck in one location when he could be patrolling.  He'd much rather check out new corners of the house and find trouble!  He loves standing whenever he can get someone to help him and is practicing moving his feet to walk where he wants to go.

Speech:  Jonah can make a variety of consonant sounds, but only when he wants to.  His vocabulary consists of: ba, da, ga, ma, pa, ah, and a very high-pitched squeak he is trying out for range.  Naturally, we assume any string of ma-ma-ma or da-da-da is meant for us.  ;-)

Finger Food

We gave Jonah a few Cheerios on his tray to see what would happen. There was quite a learning curve on both ends:

Jonah: slapping your already messy-with-carrots hands at the Cheerios will make them stick!
(It turned into a game of seeing how many O's he could grab at the same time.)
Mommy: give Jonah only a couple O's at a time
(Once Jonah could get all the Cheerios from the tray into his fists, the next stage of his game was to put them in his mouth, like he would any new object.)
Jonah: getting O's from a tightly-clenched fist into my mouth is tough... Try a pincher technique
(The first couple successes were particularly interesting to watch. Jonah would gum them with an exaggerated open-mouthed chew and puzzled expression.)

Over the course of a week, Jonah went from playing with his O's to very deliberatly and reliably feeding himself a couple dozen O's, one at a time, with a perfected pincher-grasp.

Feeding Bertha

I've decided that feeding Jonah is something like a carnival game.  Have you ever played the Big Bertha game at Chuck E Cheese where you throw plastic balls into a giant puppet mouth?  Like that.  Here are the rules:

1. You only have 2 minutes until the game ends.
2. Try to get as much food into the little mouth as you can.
3. The mouth will open and close at random.  The intervals of openness decrease as time is running out.
4. A penalty will be assessed if the mouth was open to babble, fuss or was otherwise not expecting input.
5. For an added challenge, small hands will swipe at the spoon to divert the food away.
6. The game may break down and end at any moment, in which case you lose all the food.
7. When you finish, instead of dispensing prize tickets, the mouth spits some of the food back on you.

In the end, you realize you would have gotten the same result from throwing pies at a clown's face...