Angell Trails: January 2014

Little Man, you are 7 months old! We are now closer to counting down to your first birthday, then counting up from zero.

I remember between 3 and 4 months, it seemed like you grew by leaps and bounds, and I suddenly realized you were no longer a newborn. Well, it happened again this last month. If being a newborn was stage 1 of babyhood, and 3-4 months entered us into stage 2 of babyhood, then we are now in stage 3. How do I have a baby who, if I turn my back for a second, is no longer in the exact place I left him and somehow found the TV remote?! You are still all baby but you are now such an active, curious guy who loves to play and laugh. It was a big month for you and the baby that emerged is so different than the baby we had at the beginning of the month.

Here's a recap:

Likes:

Solid food! (apples, sweet potatoes, avocados)
Apple juice - you just get a little each day to help keep you regular :)
Sleeping on your tummy (by the end of the month)
Your paci (as a soother and as a toy)
Patting everything - you flatten your hand and will smack things over and over again
Playing with your toys - you really play with them now and you like to explore how one toy can interact with another one.
Being gently "tossed" in the air
Banging your paci against your crib if you can't sleep. You also like to bang two pacifiers together like cymbals.
Any toy that spins - you love doing the spinning motion with your hands and usually test anything new to see if it will spin.
Blowing raspberries - you do this especially if you want to get our attention. Momma will blow them on your cheek and then you'll blow them on Momma's cheek.

Dislikes:

Pears! -- the only food so far you don't like happens to be the sweetest food you've tried. You will eat them if I mix them with another food like sweet potatoes or apples.
When someone takes something you want
Being held by anyone besides Momma or Daddy - after a month of being more comfortable with "strangers" your stranger anxiety came back with a vengeance this past month.
Cold, dry weather - your skin can't handle it!

Milestones:

Your first Christmas - we traveled to MN and you got to spend it with Grandma and Grandpa Pegelow, Auntie Kim, Auntie Heather, Uncle Paul and Lily. Momma and Daddy got you Puppy McLovey, "Peek-a-Who" and a winter hat.
Your night sleep went from very challenging to excellent this month (more on this later), and for the first time we are all getting more than an hour or two of consecutive sleep. Yea! You are also going down for bed without crying!
You transitioned to sleeping in your crib in your own room at night now
You also transitioned out of your Magic Merlin Sleepsuit. You now sleep in pajamas and a Halo Sleepsack.
Towards the end of the month, you learned to sleep on your tummy. This was a steep learning curve for you because it was difficult for you to place your head down while you were on your tummy. However, after about a week, we no longer had to flip you back over to your back for you to sleep. Now you practice setting your head down throughout the day. You have also really started moving around in your sleep. We started finding you with your head pointed towards the opposite direction that we originally placed you.
You learned how to put your paci back in your mouth at night ALL BY YOURSELF!
Speaking of your paci - it stays in your crib after you wake up in the morning or after a nap. After you have been held for a couple of minutes, we point down at your crib and remind you where it goes, then we "help" you take it out of your mouth and drop it back into your bed. After it falls, Momma or Daddy get excited and cheer for you. Now that we've done it consistently for a while, you get a big smile on your face once it falls b/c you know Momma and Daddy are about to cheer for you!
For the first time this month, you started giving us sleepy cues. You now rub your eyes and yawn, which although are obvious signs of sleepiness. For some reason you never did either of these before, so we had to watch the clock carefully for nap time. Now we can also watch you to tell if you are tired.
You started eating solids! We have been slowly introducing foods all month and you love it. You were definitely ready for this step.
You also learned to drink from a sippy cup, not the fancy beginners' sippy cup Momma bought you, but one that Grandma Pegelow bought for Lily. You liked it b/c it was for toddlers, so the juice came out faster.
You laugh at silly faces now, not just funny sounds we make.
Your memory is definitely increasing. For example, if I take something and hide it, you will look around and try to find it even if I give you another toy and try to distract you.
You got your first cold.
You had your first sick doctors appointment because of your cold, a rash (eczema), and an infected finger. You had to take your first antibiotic for your finger.
You coordinate both hands to accomplish a task. If something is too heavy for one hand, the other hand comes over to assist. You can also pass an object from one hand to the other.
You have started reaching your arms out if you want us to pick you up. So sweet!
You aren't crawling yet, but you can easily turn your self around in circles.
Daddy traveled to NYC so Grandma Pegelow came to visit.
Aunt Lia, Uncle Randolph and Orla came for a quick visit (just a few hours) as they were passing by Upland.

You are still such a cuddle bug

This month had some big challenges and big triumphs, particularly around sleep. Both naps and night time sleep were very inconsistent and often difficult, but you overcame it all and are now sleeping better than ever. You had a lot of changes take place all at once - learning to roll in your sleep (which at first woke you up every time), learning to sleep on your tummy, sleeping without a sleepsuit to constrain you, sleeping in your crib at night, and sleeping in your own room. That's a lot all at once, Little Man! We had a couple weeks where you would cry about every 1 to 2 hours and wouldn't go back to sleep unless we held you. (One night we spent 3-4 hours trying to get you to go back to sleep in your own bed, just like we did every night when you were a newborn.) However, you quickly adjusted to all the new things that were thrown your way and it's been wonderful for your sleep. You sleep SO much better in your own room, and I think you like being able to move around your crib and sleep on your tummy. These things allow you to put your paci in your mouth (you used to cry every time you needed it). By the time we got to the end of the month, you started going to sleep without crying and staying asleep until you wanted to eat FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. We didn't have to go in your room several times throughout the evening to soothe you like we always have before. We are so proud of you, because sleep has never been easy for you.

Your schedule was all over the place as well. It got a little rocky around the middle of the month when we were dealing with the sleep issues. You took good naps in MN at Grandma and Grandpa's house (we were SO proud of you) but when we came back, you started getting very upset at nap time. I think it was just a reaction to all the changes plus separation anxiety. You ended the month well, though. Once the good night sleep kicked in, you started sleeping until 8 some mornings. You do 2.5-3 hours of activity and take a morning and afternoon nap that last from 1-1.5 hours each. You go to bed between 6 and 7. You still eat in the night but usually just between 9-10 and 12-2.

I didn't realize until we were in MN with lots of friends and family that you had such strong separation anxiety. This is a common age for that to kick in but I think it's also part of your personality since you've had waves of this since you were 7 weeks old. You just like to take everything in and make sure you're comfortable in a situation before you can relax. And as mentioned before, you are a MOMMA'S BOY :). You didn't let very many people hold you, EXCEPT your Auntie Kim. You went to her immediately and even fell asleep in her arms one of the first days we were there. I think you sensed some similarities between her and Momma :).

So relaxed with your Auntie Kim :)

You love solids and were SO ready for them. We gave them to you a few days after you turned 6 months. We were expecting funny faces and food all over the place with very little actually ending up in your belly. Instead you opened your mouth and helped guide the spoon and swallowed it all. It was a huge success. You wanted to keep the spoon in your mouth to make sure you got everything. I had to gently pry it away from you to show you that you got another bite. And this repeated over and over and over. We have started to teach you the American Sign Language signs for "more," "eat," "nurse," and "all done". You are simultaneously trying to teach us that banging your hand on your highchair and grunting also means "more." You do get excited, though, when you see the signs for "nurse" and "eat".

Your first time eating solids

What a good little eater!

One other things to note about this month is that you are really starting to look like your Daddy. You looked like him as a fresh newbie but for most of your life you have looked just like Momma when she was a baby. By the end of the month, we started getting comments about how you were looking like Daddy now. It's so fun seeing you grow and change.

Wearing the hat that Daddy wore constantly as a little boy

Despite some of the challenges that came this month, I hope you can tell how much growth emerged from them. It was a month that reminded us how quickly you are learning and growing. We are excited to witness how fun the world is becoming to you.

We feel like we are the luckiest parents to have a little guy like you - you are sweet, you are clever, you are smart, you are gentle, you are curious, you are serious, you are determined, you are loving and you have the best sense of humor. It's incredible for us to see your personality emerging and the wonderful traits God has given you. We are so proud of you - what a month!