baby rowan: 9 months

mr. baby is 9 months! he's as many months out as he was in (gave or take some weeks, i guess). he's 18lb8oz (10-25%) and 28 1/2" (55%), so shorter and heavier than finn at this age which makes him look a lot bigger in pictures. a lot changed for him this past month and it's happening so quickly! the biggest milestone has been crawling. i mentioned it in the last update and since he first started, he's turned into an expert! so quick to the cords, the tiny flecks of paper, rogue lego parts, and the dogs' food and water. but also quick to his toys, to his mama, to chase his brother.

he can now pull up on everything, so he entertains himself at his music table and busy box, jumps in his crib (now much lower), and attempts to scandalize me while i'm in pajama pants. he loves to get out of the house and experience busy places - he's so much happier when he's not inside our house! he's great at restaurants right now, loves going to the Y drop off center, and enjoys playtime with finn's friends.

he spends most of his time chewing on various objects, crying to be held, or eating. ro loves to eat! he's been branching out and pretty much eats everything but honey. i smash or blend up whatever we're having for dinner - spicy, flavorful foods, meats and sauces and soups - he eats it all. he still eats a lot of pureed veggies for lunch as well as plain and baby yogurt. i've been offering a lot of small bits of food like beans, cheese, bread, frozen fruits, bananas rolled in crumbs, and eggs. he still likes yogurt melts and freeze dried fruit bits, but he is pretty much over puffs and cheerios for the moment.

 

just this weekend (at 9 months and a week or so) he finally cut his first tooth. his poor gums have been swollen and red for weeks. he's been drooly, easily upset, fighting sleep, and pink cheeked, so we've been on tooth watch for what seems like months. the first was his lower right front tooth. the next looks to be the lower left and he's got the upper right front tooth just behind. i imagine by the end of the week all three will be showing. never again will i see him with no teeth! no more gummy baby smiles - which is great since he needs teeth, but sad for me because i just love toothless baby mouths.

we're currently working on sleep. as i've mentioned rowan is not a good sleeper. he struggles to settle himself (as in, he has never settled himself) and does not sleep for long periods - not naps, not at night. i have been increasingly frustrated over this as the lack of sleep affects my days, my mental clarity, my patience...just about everything that keeps me sane and healthy comes from getting sleep. so at our last pedi appointment 4 days ago, she saw how worn out i seem and suggested that i either continue down the path we are on, picking and choosing techniques to try and find something that works for all of us, or we could CIO. i'm going to jot down our experience in another post. it's not for everyone (we did it ever so briefly with finn, too), but neither is feeding a baby every hour an a half all night every night for 9 months, so... i can report that after 3 nights rowan slept straight through the night, 8:30 pm to 7 am without uttering a single cry. i'm hoping that the trend continues and that night wakings become infrequent. we'll all be so much happier!

baby rowan: 6 months

i don't know how i got here. how he got here. 6 months?! my SECOND child is six months old, halfway to a year? i'm so glad and so fortunate to watch him grow but man, slow.your.roll.

rowan at 6 months is like a whole new world. for one, he sits up. since being upright and facing forward to see everything is his favorite, this allows him to see what's going on and he is much happier. when he is happy, he is such a little ball of sunshine. he is starting to play by himself, holding toys and babbling and he really enjoys the jumperoo. everything he touches goes into his mouth and his chewing and drooling leads me to believe he might be teething, but no real signs of anything coming through yet.

we started solid foods and he seems to be getting the hang of it pretty quick. his first food was sweet potato and he's since had apple/pear/cinnamon sauce, avocado, peas, and banana. the only thing he pretty much refused was banana (?). i made all of finn's food and i'll do the same for rowan because i enjoy it. last time i was very strict about introducing foods one at a time but i've already mixed foods and overlapped new foods on a single day. on his third day of trying food he ate the sweet potato dish from thanksgiving (a puree with orange, sweet potato, spices and probably butter) like he'd been downing adult food his whole life.

sleep has been good and bad. naps have greatly improved and he now sleeps 1-2 hours at a time at least once a day and it starting to get a schedule of day time sleep. unfortunately, his night time is consistent...in that he wakes up every night at least 4 times. he goes to bed at about 8:45 and sleeps for about 3 hours. that's his long stretch. he's up every 1.5-2 hours until morning and he nurses every time. i guess the best thing about that is that he goes back to sleep each time and stays asleep. still, finley slept ALL night and i am not used to being this tired. (so. tired.) he's crying a lot less now, though, and i think better naps has helped his overall mood.

at his 6 month well baby we found out he has a double ear infection. i'm not surprised since i've been very sick for over three weeks and passed the cold portion of it over to him. i went in to make sure he was fine, got the all clear/viral, and 2 weeks later - ear infections! he was pretty miserable for a few days with sad, tired eyes and i felt so bad! we also got his stats. 17lb 2oz, 27" which is the same height as finn at this age but two pounds heavier! and as you can see they look almost nothing alike so while brothers, i imagine they will be very different boys.

still allergic

i may have mentioned a long time ago that finn had a pretty severe reaction to mustard around 14 months. his face was covered in hives and his eyes started to swell. we took him to get tested and while his blood test came back negative, the allergist warned that he may have been too young to get good test results on this sort of allergy. a few weeks later he touched a chicken salad with mustard in it...just one finger...and then he touched his face. within a minute he had a red, splotchy hive in the shape of his finger.

since then we have avoided any sort of mustard. it's a pretty easy allergy to deal with because there isn't a lot of hidden mustard. we avoid lots of pot luck style salads at gatherings and skip using it in family recipes (much to our dismay - we love mustard!!). we have epi pens and benadryl and aside from the few times we've administered benadryl, we haven't had any scares. in fact, we even thought he probably had outgrown it by now.

but last week we were out for sushi and finn had some spicy california rolls. i noticed his lips swelling a bit and his cheeks and chin had hives. i did a make-shift allergy test by putting wasabi paste on one cheek and the spicy sauce on the other. sure enough, the spicy sauce caused a reaction. i could only assume there was some sort of mustard in it as everything else in the roll he'd had before without issue. the reaction went away but i made him another appointment to be rechecked.

today he had the back skin test and sure enough, he reacted to the mustard sample. the hive wasn't as big as the control positive, but it measured large enough to be a legit allergy. people have a hard time believing a mustard allergy and now i can tell them for sure that he is currently allergic via a skin test. we'll follow up with a blood test this week and go from there. he'll be rechecked yearly and the dr. thinks he may still out grow it.

for now, we'll hold the mustard and continue informing people that yes, he does have this allergy. yes, it is real. it surprises me how many people act like i'm making it up!

a new chapter

yesterday was my last nursing session with finley. i am both excited to move forward as a free woman and sad to close this chapter of our lives. i decided in the very beginning that my goal was to nurse for at least a year and to see how we felt then. i was so lucky to have had help from family (namely mr. h3b) and lots of support from my friends and other mothers. through tough times and relatively easy ones i forged ahead and finn and i shared a pretty great nursing relationship.

he was never a clingy nurser. he never once search for my chest as an older baby and never used nursing as a pacifier. he ate and he was finished. i struggled with low supply as he got older and nursed less often, but i kept going and i made it to my goal of one year. at that point i was nursing at morning and night only. he was drinking whole cow's milk from a sippy during the day but we shared those peaceful moments while he nursed as the sun came up and just before he closed his eyes to sleep. i dropped the morning session last week and he didn't seem to mind. so tonight mr. h3b put him to bed without me. i didn't rock him and nurse him as we read bed times stories. and i won't anymore.

it is sad that i will never nurse him again and that our bond will only be a memory for me. along with all of the other things that he (or we) have outgrown, i can add this to the list. as it grows, so does he. and i am proud that his growth from 0-6 months was solely due to my breast milk. and i am proud that i nursed in public, pumped on 7 hour car rides, and remained committed to my goal. i would not have been a failure had i not nursed for a year, but i am proud that i was able to.

and now i am 100% me again, for myself, except now i have a toddler. nursing didn't really restrain me (i indulged in alcohol safely), i ate what i wanted (onions and spicy foods never bothered him), and in these last few months, i hardly even thought of myself as a nursing mother. but now i am just me. i won't be wearing breast pads, fold down bras, or obscene tank tops (have you seen the target ones?). i am not pregnant. i am not nursing. i am just me and no one is using my body for their nutrition any longer.

i hope these final days of weaning continue to go smoothly and that i remember both the hardships and the tender moments. and i hope to do it again someday (but not with finley).

firsts

finn's been experiencing some fun "firsts" lately. a big one is his first time swinging! the boy loves to swing :) he gripped on tight and spent 15 minutes taking it all in.

a few more? he sat in the front of the grocery cart! he looked so tiny in the store, while he watched everyone smile and coo at his happy face. 

he had his first taste of mangoes and will be trying quinoa, broccoli, and potatoes in the next few days. new food is nothing new to him, but he seems to enjoy the variety of flavors.

but the biggest first from this sweet boy? his first "word"! i've got video proof, too :) he said mama!

homemade baby food

i decided to make finley's food before he was even born. it was (and is) important to me to feed him good food, mostly organic, and to save money where possible. organic jarred food is expensive, not so much that i wouldn't do it, but i've been saving a ton making my own and i enjoy doing it. i make purees for finn, but plan to continue making baby friendly versions of adult food, incorporating herbs and spices and textures through a variety of ethnic fare. here's one way to make baby food:

i took a few pictures (at night) of my latest puree, made from the last few in a box of organic dried apricots. i decided to add a bit of vanilla bean, since he's only had cinnamon so far.

my supplies include (not just for this, but for most every puree):
pot+lid
metal steamer basket
stick blender
bpa free plastic or glass storage containers (i use tommee tippee food pots and beaba portions)

1. add about 1 inch of water to the pot and bring to a boil.
2. drop apricots into water.
3. slice a portion of a vanilla bean and remove meat from pod.
4. cover and simmer on low for 8-10 minutes, until apricots are soft.

5. remove apricots from liquid (reserve) and place in bowl to puree.
6. use stick blender to puree, adding cooking liquid until desired consistency.
7. allow to cool before serving.
(store covered in fridge for 3 days or freezer for 3 months)

i love serving food to finley that i would eat myself. the colors of homemade food are vibrant and the flavors are true to the actual food. aside from plain green bean puree, he has eaten every bite of everything i've given him.

at 7.5 months finn has had: avocado (raw), applesauce, banana (raw), sweet potato, peas, green beans, squash, pears, apricots, cauliflower, peaches, zuchini, rice, and oatmeal. aside from cooking by steaming, boiling, or baking, everything has been pureed and stored the same way. we give him the same new food for 3 days in a row and then mix and match at meals once he's tried everything.

if you're interested in making your own food, here are some resources: i use this cookbook and love how it's laid out, easy to follow by age and lots of good tips. i love smitten kitchen baby and wholesome baby food. while i haven't priced much out, i do try to buy whatever is on sale to save more than i'd pay on jarred food (unless you buy in bulk or something). i typically get 5-8 servings out of one batch (i don't have the storage for larger), which is just enough for the 3 day trial plus a variety of foods frozen for whenever i need them.

if you have more questions, let me know. if you have your own methods, share!