Jenson update: 10 months old

This was a big month for Jenson.  He finally got his first two teeth, became mobile through by scooting around on his belly, crawling backwards, and constantly rolling back and forth, and says “dada” all of the time (and seems to know what it means).  It was a busy month with lots of visits with all of our family on many occasions.  He’s always very quiet when he’s around more than a few people, but he warms up after awhile.  He’s started to get a little stranger-danger sometimes and will cry if someone tries to talk to him when he’s not “ready”, but he warms up eventually.  He now sleeps on his side or tummy usually, and goes back and forth between sleeping well and not.  I’m trying to treasure every moment of his babyhood because it’s going SO fast.

Monthly Jenson update:  July 7 – August 6, 2014

• Age:  10 months old (posting late)
• Weight:  approx. probably 19-20 lbs
• Length:  27 or so inches
  
• Size:  He’s wearing 9 and 12 month clothing, size 3 diapers
• Diapers:  Cloth diapers, except at night.  Not much change here.  He’s gone back and forth with diaper rash, but I think it’s related to trying new foods
• Hair and Eyes: His hair is SO long…time for a cut because it hangs over his eyes and ears most of the time.  His eyes are more grayish blue now, and so big and bright.

• Teeth: His first bottom tooth came through on July 16 and he got his second bottom tooth on July 26.  He wasn’t terribly fussy, but just wasn’t his happy and smiley self, and was more clingy. He enjoyed frozen yogurt drops and cold fruit in the mesh feeder to make his gums feel better.  We just tried to give him lots of cold
  teething toys.  He can see little tooth buds in this picture.

• Sleeping: His sleeping went back and forth this month.  He slept through the night a few times and then his teeth came in and that was the end of it for another few weeks.  He would wake 1-2 times at night, usually just once, and then again between 6 – 7 a.m.  On workdays I nurse him in bed and we bring him downstairs to his sitter.  On weekends we bring him to our bed and we all sleep for another couple of hours.  He snuggles up in my armpit happily – it makes me happy too.  He naps twice a day for 45 minutes – 2.5 hours.  He seems to prefer sleeping on his side or stomach.  I always lay him on his back and eventually he rolls to the position he prefers.  It’s still scary to see him on his tummy, but I know he’s old enough to sleep safely like that.  Plus, we still wear his breathing monitor on him.  Someday he’s going to be the only 14 year old still wearing a Snuza, lol.

• Eating:  Jenson is so distracted when he’s nursing that it’s like a wrestling match unless he’s really tired or really hungry.  I’ve resorted to nursing him laying on the bed 90% of the time.  He can take his breaks and roll around and then come back.  It’s not convenient, but it’s what works for us.  I just try to see it as extra time I get to relax with him.  Nursing in public is pretty much out of the question, so if I think he’s going to need to eat, I just bring a bottle.  Towards the end of this month, we switched him to eating 3 meals a day.  He was eating enough at each meal that it just made sense.  With it being harder to give him a bottle (see distractions), adding in breakfast just made sense.  He usually has eggs or oatmeal mixed with fruit for breakfast, which he loves. For the rest of his meals, he mostly just eats small pieces of whatever we are eating.  He doesn’t really refuse anything at this point, but some of his favorites are guacamole, all fruits, beans, meat, and carrots.  He loved a breakfast hash that I made with shredded potatoes, eggs, and ground sausage too.  He absolutely loves frozen yogurt bites – just dollops of frozen yogurt (sometimes mixed with fruit).  He’s mastered his pincher grasp, so he can get everything to his mouth on his own.  When he’s done with his meal (and gets really fussy) and we are trying to get him cleaned up before taking him out of his chair, a few of these buys us some time.  He still takes 4-5 bottles while I’m at work, but we’ve started reducing them from 4 oz – 3.5 oz because he wasn’t finishing them easily now that he’s eating breakfast and lunch.

• Movement:  Once he mastered rolling back to front, he started rolling back and forth constantly.  He didn’t usually use rolling to get anywhere, but would just happily go back and forth.  He started scooting around on his stomach too – it wasn’t even obvious – he’d just end up facing a different direction suddenly.  He’d turn like that when he was sitting too.  He started “crawling” backwards by the end of July too and could get places by sitting and then going to his hands and knees, and then sitting up again in a different spot.  He would often go to his hands and knees from sitting, but he’d keep his “safety foot” in place in front of his other knee so he could easily go back to sitting.  He just wasn’t ready to take the plunge.  We really thought he may just skip traditional crawling (but has since started crawling for real).
  He also started sitting up in his crib when he woke up and scooting backwards.  I woke up one morning to him making noise and when I looked at the monitor, he was just sitting in his crib looking at the camera.  He eventually crawled backwards and got his legs stuck out of the crib rails so I had to rescue him.  We had to lower the crib mattress too because he was trying to pull himself up.

He’s gotten much stronger at standing up against things and can hold himself there pretty well.  He’s also very into throwing things and has started playing much more purposely with his toys.

• Words & Sounds:
  Lots and lots of Dadada this month, both in relation to Lo and randomly.  Right around the end of the month he started making mmmm noises and possibly a few mummums (by now it’s definitely mama).  He also started saying Boof as “B-ff”. He loves babbling and cracks up when you imitate a noise he makes.  He’ll go back and forth like that.
• Milestones:
  – Sits up from laying
  – Crawls backwards
  – First tooth (bottom right) on July 16 and second bottom tooth on July 26
  – Met a few more family members who live out of state
  – Daddy’s first night away (for an annual camping/race at Mid-Ohio)
  – Discovered the weekly/monthly sticker that I put on his onesie for his pics and tries to take it off constantly during our photo shoots

– After work “family time” on our bed – he just rolls around and plays and nurses.

– Likes playing with blocks, rings, and balls
– Loves his security blanket
– Taking books off the shelf

– His “toothbrush”

– Rocking and playing in the exersaucer
– Playing outside on a blanket
– Watching Boof and trying to get her toys
– Watching and playing with Braxton
– His haystack.  He loves this haystack block and we aren’t sure why.  There used to be two, but we can’t find the other

• Dislikes:
  – Getting his hair washed and rinsed – he tries to climb out of the tub
  – Getting stuck on his stomach when he’s sleeping.  Even though he can roll, he seems to get stuck or forgets when he’s sleeping.  He’s not really awake, but just fussing.