Milestones

Much like the stereotypes of how pregnancy and childbirth would go, we learned that many moments in early childhood are not quite like you expect either. I saw all those calendars and baby books and assumed there would be a specific date, a time even, that I could note when Ian first rolled over, crawled, got his first tooth and took his first steps. But it's more complicated than that.

He did a lot of that rocking back and forth but not really crawling. Then he could barely drag himself across the floor for maybe a foot and only if there was something really important he needed to get to. And suddenly (but of course not on a day when we could note it) he went to full on crawling all over. He crawls like a champ now, legs and arms working in sync.

But the same is true for his first steps. Soon after crawling, he started pulling himself up on furniture. He could scoot along the sofa. Then he could transfer from one object to another. I know that happened the weekend we went to BlogHer (Aug 5th or so) but only because Helen and Megan mentioned that "transferring is an advanced skill". And then he started pushing his little cart around the house. Then he learned how to walk around his cart to get it unstuck from the furniture (advanced!). But none of that is walking.

So Sunday evening we were in the office thinking about bed time. But he saw the other baby in the mirror. So I set him on the ground and he stood there for a few seconds. And then with great effort he took a little side step. It was touch and go there for a bit. I tried to convince him to move forward but that wasn't happening. So he took two little scootches to the right two nights ago. And in the kitchen tonight he kinda shuffled for a second or two. But I wouldn't call that walking per se.

All this time he's not had a single tooth despite all the other babies getting them left and right. But just last week instead of smooth gums, we could feel the beginnings of two bottom teeth. So do you write it down then? Be cause you can't see anything. There's enough teeth there it hurts if he bites your finger. But his smile is still pretty gummy. So we'll say that first tooth is more like first teeth and they're solidly "in progress".

And then people keep asking if he's talking yet. He says "ma" and "da" but "da" could me anything from "that" or "Daddy" or "dog" or "hey" or "I just like making this noise". I don't call those words. Making noise, sure, but talking? Not really. Even when he shakes his head he doesn't understand that it means no; he just thinks it's fun and it makes us laugh.

So any second now Ian will be walking talking and chewing everything in sight. But for now, we're just taking it day by day.

Newsletter: Month 10

Dear Ian, Yesterday you turned 10 months old and it's been a month full of change. Despite the warnings of BabyCenter.com telling us that we should keep you to a set routine, we carted you all over the east coast to several conferences and visiting friends. You've been to Syracuse, Oswego, New York City!, Washington DC and Maryland.

You've been to Central Park to play in the fountains and swing on the swings. You've ridden in a yellow cab (with no car seat!), you've toured an upstate college, you've seen a movie that your father and I haven't even seen (Happy Feet) and didn't even ruin the ending for us. You've gone to the National Zoo twice and saw primates and reptiles and other cute babies. You saw your first baseball game at Nationals park and you've splashed in the rivers of Maryland.

You've also had little to no schedule during all of it and taken it all in stride. There was the night we went to the ball game you'd only had two 15 minute naps all day and didn't go to sleep until 10:30pm. There was the night I took you back to the parties at BlogHer and you did great until the dance music got a little too loud. And there was the day you flew home with just me and were a model baby in flight, impressing everyone around us.

But you also worried us a bit with your first stint of night terrors. For about two weeks you would scream about every hour on the hour and nothing would console you. After nine and a half months of blissful sleep, we were not used to this! But thankfully once we stopped traveling, "all that screaming stuff" as your Grandma said went away.

You sleep like a champ, but it kinda stinks that you're going to bed so early. Just today you fell asleep in the car on the way home at 7pm. Since you also fall asleep shortly after I come to nurse you at lunch we don't get to hang out as much. But I'm hoping it's just a phase and you'll stay up a little longer for us.

As of a few days ago, you are on the "toddler schedule" at day care. I was resistant to it at first, not wanting to rush you into something you weren't ready for, but you basically put yourself onto this schedule. All your friends are doing it so I'm sure you'd feel left out if you weren't sleeping when they slept and eating when they eat. So we're going with it. It just means I have to pack you a morning snack for 8:30 (what I would call breakfast), lunch for 11 and another snack for 2pm after your noon-2pm nap.

This also means we're not nursing as much. Just today you ignored both of your bottles at day care and only nursed when I show up at noon. It's a little bittersweet in that I am happy to not have to pump at work anymore, but I will miss our nursing sessions. I'll also miss the 600 extra calories worth of food I've been eating every day! I think we're at a phase now, though, that you've figured out you don't want a bottle anymore but you'll take a boob whenever you can. You nursed a lot this last weekend but didn't bother with any bottles today. That's something I can totally understand and we can work with that. Just today I nursed you while we wandered the aisles of the grocery store and we were both able to multi-task.

You're crawling everywhere with exceptional speed and you're pulling up on things and even able to take a few steps if holding on to something or someone. Everyone says you'll be walking before you're a year old and I tend to believe them. You still don't have a single tooth, but we're not letting that stop us from trying out every food we can find. Your appetite has grown as much as your body has and I'm going to have to start ordering you your own meals at dinner versus sharing mine because I'm losing a fair amount off my plate! This doesn't bode well for the teenage years.

You're still as happy as ever and have never met a stranger. You are an ambassador for babies all the world over and I'm happy to share you with others so they can experience how cool it is to hang out with you. You're getting bigger and bigger every day in so many ways and I have to steel myself for when I can't hog you all to myself.

But while we were at BlogHer this year, our friend Alana wrote us a poem. I asked her to write something about how you were the world's best baby and so exceptionally good in all the crazy places I'd taken you. She wrote:

9 month old SUPERSTAR you are the world's too soon but you are mine, all mine

Love, Mama

Newsletter: Month Nine

Dear Ian, Today you turn nine months old and frankly you've been in kind of a mood lately. Yesterday when I went to day care at lunch they told me you hadn't been yourself. They said, "He's been grouchy and frowning and just all around grumpy. Basically, he's been Not Ian!" And it's true, you were kind of a pill.

Don't get me wrong, you weren't flipping out or screaming or crying or even really doing any bad. You were just grumpy. I thought you had gotten over it when I came back today at lunch since we did some playing and some swinging and some throwing of blocks around the room. But when we came to pick you up after work you were curled up in your crib with tears in your eyes looking pretty miserable.

This is the beginning of many mysteries to come. Yesterday when we stopped by the hair salon, the other customers surmised you're teething (you still have yet to show a single tooth). Someone else thought it was because you wanted to eat food. Another person guessed you wanted to play with everyone else who was in our backyard last night. Rich wondered if you were sick.

But my theory is that you're at the developmental milestone to just be in a mood. Everyone is allowed to have a crappy day and I think you've just had a few of them lately. You've been growing by leaps and bounds, crawling all over and pulling yourself up. Learning how to use the remote control and trying to eat the dog food out of Mollie's bowl. It's a lot to handle for one person. So we're just riding it out right now.

You're getting used to the concept of solid food, thought my milk is still your primary food group. Just this evening you had some blueberry bagel, some chicken and some soup. It's amazing to watch you try out your pincer grasp working so hard to get those little puffs into your mouth. They're more exercise than they are nutrition.

I read today that this age is when you're supposed to want a routine and won't deal well with traveling. Good thing we're taking you to Oswego, New York City and DC all within a week for three separate conferences! Enh, we'll be alright. You've been better than the average baby all along and I don't think this will be any exception.

Love, Mama