Nine months!

Happy 9 months to Ethan! It's gone so fast!

This has been a month of milestones!!

- Talking - 'dadadadadadadada' - only 'mama's I hear are when he's raging mad. Typical.

- Teeth - finally got 2 teeth poking out. Still doesn't want anyone to see them, but I've felt them there fo sho.

- Crawling!!! He took his first 'steps' at Gymboree last week and is getting more and more confidence every day. Sometimes he takes a break from crawling and opts for scootching instead. Either way, the proud smiles and laughs when he's independent are delightful.

It's amazing how hard it is to change the kiddo's clothes now - he sets a challenge for himself to move as much as possible on his little changing table - roll over immediately, grab the elephant stuffed animal, kick the Goodnight Moon framed print, roll back over once Mom flips you to get that diaper on, all fours ready to crawl right over the edge - and we'll sit down on the floor to get that shirt over your head...

Fun with baby-led weaning

After many suggestions from friends and family as well as some extensive Google research, we decided to give baby-led weaning a try. Basically, starting around 6 months, or when your child can sit up on his own and has an interest in food, you introduce solid foods to him in finger-food size. At the start, you soften hard foods (like carrots or apples) so he can chew them into bite-size bits without the benefit of teeth for mastication.

Babies don't get spoon-fed purees. The food is placed in front of them and they pick up what they want to eat and feed themselves.

Admittedly, we haven't followed the system perfectly. E didn't seem that interested in picking up food around 6 months but was happy to open his mouth for us to feed him, baby bird-style. And we spoon-fed him applesauce before he was ready to hold a spoon himself. Generally, though, we've been giving him a huge variety of solid foods for more than 2 months now, and he greedily grabs at just about anything we place in front of him.

This also means that if we leave leftovers on a counter and he is placed beside them, he will dive into the styrofoam box for its contents - he had a delicious BBQ sandwich a couple of weeks ago.

He now refuses to eat from our hands - we have to give food to him and he will find a way to maneuver it (at least part of it) into his mouth.

Favorites so far:

- Graham crackers

- Goldfish

- Dried mango

- Edamame

- Dehydrated mango

- Baked or mashed potato

- Peanut butter and jelly

- PIZZA!!

- Pad thai

- BBQ

- Brownies

It's great to just cool a bit of whatever we're eating and place it in front of him. He's also just about figured out how to use a sippy cup, so he can drink water after a particularly salty meal.

Here's some pictures of mealtime with Ethan. Most of these photos were taken just before bathtime with Ethan - this is a delightfully messy process!

Bread

Beurre blanc

 

Avocado?

Pizza

Bacon

Mmmmm, bacon...

Birthday cake

2/3-year-old

Since he's still technically 8 months old today, I'd better get this post up before the big 9-month birthday on Tuesday!

8 months has come and gone. At 8 months, E was so, so close to crawling, sitting up on his own, talking, and getting teeth (spoiler alert: in one short month, he's doing it all!). He loves to stand and will lean against any object - coffee table, ottoman, human, bouncer - on his own. His balance is getting better every day - he stands by himself if you support his hips.

For 4 months he's been drooling so much we just knew he had to be teething. But still, at 8 months, no teeth. Just a lot of messy collars and bibs and parents' shirts.

Baby-led weaning has been quite an adventure. E will grab anything nearby and stick it in his mouth. When the anything is edible, he will often chew and swallow it. He does love to hoard food in his cheeks, while continuing to shovel more in. Usually a bath follows dinner, thanks to the astonishing messes meal-times can create when baby boy is in charge. He no longer likes food to be placed in his mouth - he has to take it in his hand and find a way to eat it himself. I love this autonomous little guy!

One of these days I may write a post just on baby-led weaning. It's really been an awesome experience and we haven't bought a single jar of baby food. We're not pureeing anything either, just making sure it's soft enough for him to chew and swallow.

The kid loves balls. One of his favorite toys is the beach ball he got from his weekly Gymboree class - we play 'baby soccer' most weeks and he gets sort of maniacal during the game, bouncing and laughing and sometimes swinging his head back and forth happily. Same thing happens when we play ball with him at home. He's pretty darn good at passing the ball to us, considering he's not even crawling yet.

And his second love is string/cord/rope. We give him toys with strings attached and he ignores the toy part completely. We have to hide the power cords and chargers, because he makes a beeline for them.

Although he's not quite crawling yet, he's definitely mobile. He rolls his way across the room, occasionally switching it up and pivoting 180-360 degrees to get to his destination.

Oh, and of course he's still smiling, laughing, and generally entertaining us 24-7. He's truly the happiest baby I've ever seen. He certainly has his moments of frustration, but 99% of the time Ethan is just joyful and lights up any room. We are so blessed with this delightful kiddo - it definitely makes us want to have another (coming August 2013)!

Road trip!

Catching up on more than a month of Ethan's life in pictures...

Last month, after the holiday rush, we finally had a chance to visit our dear friends Courtney and Peter, Camden, and their newest addition Graham, in Austin. It was such a wonderful weekend - awesome city, delicious food, lots of outdoor time, and lots of relaxation with lovely people.

hiking is exhausting!!

Camden is just the most adorable thing ever. Such a girly girl, in pink and sparkles and the occasional tiara, and so grown-up but still such a little huggable creature. Graham is just a little younger than E and so little and squishy. I had a blast carrying him around (yes, this may in part be because he's so much lighter than my heavyweight) and playing with him and Cam. I think Ethan may have a little crush on Ms Camden, which is just fine by me.

We miss our friends so much and can't wait till the next time we all get to see each other again!!

Huntsville State Park

A few weekends ago, the weather was finally warm enough to head outside for a hike. Yes, this was mid-January. I love Houston!

We packed some sandwiches and a ton of baby gear then drove E and the pups up to Huntsville State Park, only about 45 minutes north of The Woodlands, and spent a lovely afternoon hiking through the forest.

There was a perfect picnic log down by the water, where we lunched while the dogs raced around and swam in the lake. E enjoyed his pear, mom had PB&J, and dad ate a delicious liverwurst & mustard on pumpernickel - yum.

I had never before changed a baby on a log - not too bad.

Our big 7-month-old

Our little man is 7 months old (and one week - oops) and what a little man he is!

It's funny how rapidly they change, from squishy little critters to almost-crawlers with so much curiosity in those eyes. E is so curious these days - it's so fun to watch him intently study everything we pass, from the dogs to the light fixtures to some spot on the wall that I can't quite see. It can be a bit disconcerting when we're alone in the house and he focuses over my shoulder and smiles or laughs.

He started laughing a few months ago and hasn't stopped since. He has smiles for every stranger and often some belly laughs too. He will look at our golden retriever and guffaw. Some of his biggest laughs come when he is bouncing in his bouncer, when we lift him over our heads, and when we cover him with a sheet like the parachute at Gymboree.

He also started drooling a few months ago and hasn't stopped since, literally. We have been assuming for more than 2 months now that he's teething, but still not a tooth to be found. We keep a bib on him almost at all times, and it's always soaked when we check it.

He's enjoying eating with the family more and more these days. Some of his recent conquests have included peach cobbler, sliced roast beef, edamame with soy sauce, mashed potatoes, beurre blanc, and soft-serve ice cream. He's finally started picking up food we place in front of him and depositing it in his mouth. Meal times are definitely very messy adventures!

Although he hasn't quite started crawling yet, he's so, so, so close. He rolls from back to front, gets up on all fours, stretches forward, then cries petulantly. The funniest (and also saddest) is when he tries for a while then drops to the ground, head down, and seems to just give up. Poor baby! We know he'll figure it out soon.

This kid has the strongest legs I've ever seen on a baby. He stands as often as we help him, and he tries to take steps with our assistance. I can place him next to a table or his bouncer, and he'll lean on it all by himself. He hasn't started pulling himself up yet, but we're guessing that will be soon - who knows, he may skip crawling and go straight to cruising or walking.

Oh, and he's doing some babbling but mostly a lot of very loud noises. He loves to scream. Yay. He seems to have stopped with the delightful spit bubble sounds and moved on to throat-clearing sounds that make his mom run to check on him to make sure he's not choking - nope, just making gag noises while smiling happily.

Anything else??? Well, yes, I will acknowledge that he is quite possibly the most beautiful baby you ever did see. No, really. I don't know how we got so lucky.

Half birthday!

Wow!

Ethan is 6 months old today!

This dear boy has been such a delight in these 6 months - his papa and I are so very blessed.

Tonight, just like most nights, as he jumped in his bouncer he laughed and laughed and laughed. If I laughed he laughed harder. If his papa laughed he laughed harder. Oh, so much joy!

Last weekend on a visit with friends in Austin Ethan figured out how to roll from back to front. We think he was showing off for his pretty 2-year-old friend Camden.

Ethan is such a good sleeper. Once he's down, he's down. We find him in the exact same position in the morning as the evening before. Until this week, at least. This week, we've put him in the crib not quite asleep, and he developed a penchant for pivoting. Now, when we check on him, he has spun 180 degrees, and 5 minutes later he's back where he started. He also loves to thump his feet down on the crib mattress and really on any surface, bam, bam, bam! I'm always surprised he doesn't have bruises on his little heels!

He has really found his voice lately. He sings, he yells, he babbles, he shrieks! His favorite tonight was shrieking. Happy, smiley shrieking, of course, since he's happy all the time.

This kid has such strong legs. He wants to stand all the time - when he's lying down and you help him up he pulls up to a stand immediately.

When E does roll onto his tummy, he so wants to move. He can scootch backwards a bit and he can definitely spin. We think he'll be mobile in no time - we already have the baby gate at the ready!

Oh, and he puts everything in his mouth. Including his 6-month tie. We're taking advantage of this to gradually introduce foods. He's been pretty happy about anything we give him - avocado, carrot, broccoli, apple, and especially pear. I don't think he's swallowing a thing, but he's enjoying the flavors and textures. We try to sit at the dinner table every night, with E in the high chair, all of us dining together. E gets some toys (measuring cup, baby spoons, teething ring) and soft foods (like steamed baby carrots) in french fry-sized pieces. Sometimes he picks up the food himself, usually we hold it in front of him and let him gnaw. He's very entertaining.

We have had such a wonderful 6 months! Life is so different and so hectic and so terrific. I've been lousy about blogging (completely skipped his first Christmas!) but make no promises to get better. Who knows - maybe the next post will be at 7 months...

Happy half-birthday, little guy. You're the best.