9 months old

I am so slow at adding these monthly updates.  At least I am getting it done before he is 10 months old!  Life just seems to be so busy that I don't ever have time to sit at the computer.  Life is good though!!

Here is the latest on Monkey....

This kid loves his baths.  With his siblings or by himself, it doesn't matter.  He will sit and splash in the water and have a great time.  He has been to a swimming pool only once, but he loved that too.  Just smiles and giggles the whole time.  We signed up for a mom and baby swim class for June, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to low enrollment.  I will try again in the Fall when the kids are back in school.

 

 

He has started eating more solid foods, but it is still a slow go.  He loves Cheerios and has developed a very nice pincer grasp (even when on mat leave, it is hard to put away my therapist brain!).  He will also eat bananas, watermelon, cantelope and cucumber...but not much else.  We just keep trying!

 



 

People tell me everyday how much he looks like his big brother.  I don't think so at all, but I always smile and nod anyway.  I think he looks like his Daddy, but I don't have any baby pictures of Johnny to prove it.  Next time we visit Port Alberni, I am going to see if we can get some from his parents to compare.

 

 

He loves his puppy (who is 10 years old already!).  Jackpot tolerates him, but would probably be happier if he was just left alone.  Interesting though.... Jackpot has started sleeping outside of the baby's room at night now instead of his dog bed.  Maybe he does like him afterall?  We are so glad that he is a gentle dog.



 

 

Micah seems to have a fascination with shoes.  He is often found escaping to the front or back entrance to play with (or suck on) the shoes that have been left lying around.   

 

 

Micah has had a rough few weeks, but is finally starting to get healthy.  He had a nasty eye infection from being scratched by another baby and had a long bout of diarrhea.  Both have finally cleared up and he is happy once again.  His sleep is improving too.  He will sleep in 4 hour periods now, which is so much more manageable than his previous schedule of waking up every 2 hours.  We are moving in the right direction!

 



 

8 and a half months old

Life has just gotten busier!  Micah is now a crawling machine and loves to explore the house.  He has discovered the "Tupperware drawer", as well as all the bookshelves in the house.  It is so fun to watch him discover new things.

 

Micah crawls with his right foot up and his left knee down.  It is not a very efficient way to crawl, but he has figured out that it works for him.

 



He has also discovered how to get up onto his feet, although he is not yet moving around this way.

 

His current sounds are "ba", "f", "da" and he loves to make the kissing sound. 

 

 

He still does not like the highchair (too restricting), but he is starting to take a few solid foods.  So far he has eaten MumMum cookies, rice puffs, banana chunks and cut-up grapes.  I attempted to give him avocado too, but he spit that out right away.  He still has only 6 teeth.

 

Micah's sleeping pattern is now worse than when he was a newborn.  I have been up every hour for the past few nights.  He shares a room with Shaylah, so I jump up and get him the moment he makes a noise so that he doesn't wake his sister up.  It has created a child that does not know how to soothe himself back to sleep when he wakes up at night.  It is so ridiculous right now.  Sleep training worked the first time (for a little while!), so I just have to get up the energy to do it again.  He is such a joyful baby during the day though, so I guess I can't complain too much about the nights.

 

 

He is currently wearing size 12-18 month clothes and size three diapers.  I have just had to put all my favorite little Robeez shoes away and bring out the bigger sizes (so sad!).



 





Spring Break

 

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of the kids from Spring Break!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The actual birthday!

Shaylah's birthday was highly anticipated by her.  Johnny took the day off work and Grammy and Grampy came over to visit from Port Alberni.  Shaylah was able to choose whatever she wanted to do.  She chose swimming!  Grammy doesn't swim, so she was able to look after the baby while the rest of us enjoyed the new aquatic centre in West Vancouver.  It has a fun lazy river, a big waterslide, diving boards and nice warm water.  It was great to be able to enjoy that with her while not having to worry about the baby (thanks Grammy!).

 

Happy Birthday to my Big Girl! 

 

Shaylah is so full of joy and loves so many things about life.  She is an avid reader, with her current favorite books being the Ramona and Beezus series by Beverly Cleary.  She loves her baby brother more than anything in this world, but she is quick to tell me that she loves God more.  :)  She is often heard saying "He's the best baby in the world" or "He's the cutest baby ever".  She wavers between wanting to be a Rock Star or a Doctor when she grows up.  She enjoys playing soccer and t-ball and she has just recently started taking piano lessons again (I started her too soon the first time!).  She is currently wearing size 10 clothes and size 3 shoes and weighs around 65 pounds.  She is definitely the tallest in her class, despite being in a grade 1/2 split. 

 

For her birthday, Shaylah recieved her first professional pedicure.  What a fun mommy/daughter time we had.  This should be mandatory for all girls and their moms!

 

 

She also got her first set of hair curlers.  I used to wear these all the time when I was little to have perfect ringlets the next day.  This sure brought back memories for me!

 



 

 

I love this girl!! 



Sweet seven birthday party

(My first attempt at cake pops)

 

 

Shaylah turned seven years old a couple of weeks ago.  She sure seems old to me these days.  She decided to have her party at 4Cats again this year, but this time we had a paint splatter party.  So fun!  We had to really expand her friend pool this year, since most of her good friends were away for Spring Break.  Next year we will do it a week early!

 

 

Each girl got to take home their own personal splatter creation and then they created one large one as a group.  We took a portion of this canvas (it was huge!) and had it stretched and coated as a painting for Shaylah's bedroom.  I love it!  I think I will use this idea for Ashlyn and Caelan's birthday in the summer....only we will do it in our own backyard.  :)

 

We always do a "no presents" party for the kids.  I want their birthdays to be about celebrating with their friends, rather than getting gifts.  I also know that we are all invited to a million birthday parties each year and the gift giving adds up!  Shaylah is always fine with it because she gets lots of presents from her extended family and she knows that she already has a lot of stuff.  Unfortunately this year, everyone gave her clothes!  She was so disappointed and it kind of made me giggle.  Each time she opened something, I could see her disappointment.  She never said anything to the giver, but as soon as they left she cried and cried.  Poor girl.  It's not like she doesn't have enough toys, she was just excited about getting some new ones!  



 

7 months

Well, actually he's almost 8 months already, but Shaylah's birthday, Spring break and an Easter long weekend have kept me from posting.  We are now back into our little routine and it feels good.

Micah is becoming such a little boy with his own distinct personality.  I love watching it unfold.  He is at the stage where he is very curious about the world around him.  He is constantly grabbing at everything, putting things in his mouth and starting to move around.  He isn't crawling yet, but he loves to move into a 3 point kneeling position (both hands and one knee) while reaching for his toys.  He can also turn in circles while sitting on his bum.  He loves to move from sitting down onto his belly, but once he is there he doesn't know what to do.  He never rolls onto his back (even though he knows how to), he just cries for me to help him back up!

Here is a list of his likes:
- balls
- baths
- being tickled
- his crib aquarium
- his dragonfly blanket
- sitting with his toys
- sweet potatoes and carrots

His dislikes:
- sitting in the highchair (he cries the moment he realizes that is where he is going)
- standing in the exersaucer (he'll tolerate for a couple of minutes, but that is all)
- peas
- getting dressed for bedtime

Micah slept well for a few nights following his sleep training, but then teething started all over again.  His sleep pattern is nowhere near as bad as before, but he is only sleeping in 4-6 hours chunks of time now.  On the bright side, he now has 4 new teeth to proudly display (for a total of six)!  I think we may some time before the next set starts to poke through his poor little gums.  He naps really well now, sleeping most days from 10-12 in the morning and then again while I am making dinner.  He often falls asleep for a few minutes at around 2:30 too, but I have to wake him up everyday to go and pick up his brother and sisters from school.

Micah's 7 month weigh-in had him at 17 pounds, 8.5 ounces, with a length of 73cm and a head cicumference of 44cm.  He is currently wearing size 12 months and size 3 diapers.

 

Micah "made strange" for the first time with Great Gran (my mom's mom).  He took a few minutes to warm up to her on our last visit, but soon realized that she was wonderful and safe.  We all love Great Gran so much.  She makes the most wonderful tea parties for us everytime we visit and she always has stories and memories of my mom that she likes to share.  I like to go over on Pro-D days so that all of the kids can spend time with this amazing woman.

 



I know that Micah will be on the move soon and that my quiet days at home with him are quickly going to be a memory.  I am loving each stage and really trying to remember each moment.

Sleep Training

Things have finally turned around for us, I am so happy to say.  I started "sleep training" last Thursday and I am so glad I did.  This little guy was eating every 2 hours at night and I was exhausted.  I could handle the physical feelings of being tired, but I did not like the fact that I was impatient and yelling at the other kids due to my fatigue.  Not a good place to be.  Anyway, I decided to take action!  After reading through all of the various sleep training methods, I picked one that was middle of the road.  I was not comfortable with letting Micah cry for hours on end while he figured out how to sooth himself (not what I was aiming for!)....besides I would probably be crying right along beside him.  :)

Night one:  We let Shaylah sleep in our room so that Micah would not disturb her.  His crib is in her room and my goal has always been that they would sleep together for the first year (at least).  I made the decision that I would not feed Micah between the hours of 11pm and 5am.  When he cried, I went to him and picked him up, soothed him until he calmed down, put him back down in his bed and turned his crib aquarium on.  He did cry when i put him back down, but this only lasted a minute or two once i left his room.  This happened about every 15-30 minutes the first night, but it was so worth it.

Night two:  I repeated the same process, but this time I only had to go to him every hour or two...not so different from what we were already doing, only this time I was not feeding him overnight.  The benefit was that he started eating during the day!  I was having so much trouble trying to get solids into him because he was not hungry.  He was getting all the nutrients he needed by nursing overnight.  The little stinker!!

Nights three, four and five:  I got up only once or twice.

Last night:  I put him to bed at 8:00pm and got up to feed him at 5:00am.  No crying overnight.  I did hear him wake up twice, but he put himself back to sleep so nicely all by himself.  He is eating 2-3 tablespoons of food three times at day and we are all happier.

I will let Shaylah sleep with us until the weekend just to make sure he is in a good pattern, but I think they will finally be able to share a room.  No more closet for Micah.  :)

Sleep training worked....and I never had to let him "cry it out".  So happy!

Side note:  My other 3 all slept through the night from an early age so I never had to deal with sleep training.  Even as a fourth time mother, I am still dealing with new issues.