Tonight was a really big night for my Meo! Robbie and I were reading him bed time stories, and after a while he laid on his bed (still a toddler mattress on the floor) and said "Mama milk" like he usually does. So Robbie said, "goodnight" and turned off the light as he left and I laid down beside Meo and nursed him for a minute or so. Since I don't have very much milk left, and he knows I don't like it when he pacifies anymore, he stopped once the milk was gone and rolled onto his back and said, "milk all done, go sleep". Now usually I just lay down beside him and either hug him, pat his back/hair, sing to him, and/or just be present until he falls asleep. Sometimes I have Robbie come in to take over if I am too uncomfortable to lay on the floor anymore. But tonight, after he said "milk all done, go sleep" he added "mama, go take shower". Now, please note that I had told Robbie that I was planning on taking a shower after I nursed him, and apparently he had been listening. Or maybe I just smell bad and he wanted me out. So I asked him if he wanted to go to sleep all by himself and he insisted on "mama, go take shower". Meo has NEVER gone to sleep without one of us laying by his side. But I decided to see what would happen. So I told him I loved him, to have sweet dreams, to close his eyes and go to sleep and to say "Dada" if he needed help to sleep (Robbie was in our room listening on the monitor). I helped him situate on his pillow, and he demonstrated how well he could close his eyes by squeezing them really tightly closed, then I said goodnight and quietly left the room. When I went into our room, Robbie was baffled as to what I was doing out so soon. He listened on the monitor while I took a shower, and after I got out he shocked me by saying Meo didn't make a peep the whole time. I was so curious, I simply had to go in and check on him, and there he was, laying in the exact spot I left him sound asleep. We were/are amazed. I really didn't think he was going to be able to fall asleep on his own. But here we are, at age 24 months with a big boy who fell peacefully asleep in his own bed for the very first time. It's hard to believe that really just happened.
And I just have to add that over the past two years, we've gone to Meo needing to be attached to my breast all night long in our bed, to sometimes me being able to sneak away for an hour or so to do my own thing at night, to spending the first hour or two in his own bed before he woke up and we brought him to us (around 10 months), to him not waking up from his bed until 5-7 and then coming to our room (23 months), to me not needing to nurse him to sleep this past month, to his big breakthrough tonight. We didn't have to do any sleep training, and sometimes we were worried that I would still be nursing him all night in our bed when he was seven years old, but here we are. And he did it all on his own time in his own way with all the love and support we could give him. I'm so proud of him, and feel so relieved that we never had to go through a period that made him or us uncomfortable or scared; that our inclination towards attachment parenting has successfully led us to where we wanted to be no sooner than we were ready to be there. So if you are at the beginning of this journey, and are worried about ever reaching the destination without having to do some kind of training, take comfort that IT WILL happen naturally and you don't have to feel guilty about giving your little one time to get there.
Biophilliac Mommy: the journey of a nature lover from pregnancy into motherhood and beyond.
Showing posts with label Sleeping: baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sleeping: baby. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Thursday, April 19, 2012
8 Months (Part 2)
8 Month Changes (reflections over the past 8 months)
On the 7th (of April), our little creature turned 8 months old! Looking back, its incredible how much our life with him has already changed. Parenthood has been a whirlwind of learning, mutating routines and wonderful adventures so far. I want to use the remainder of this post to share where he is developmentally right now and what our normal day to day looks like now that he is 8 months old, and how different that is from when he was much younger.
Developmental Milestones
Right now, little Meo is on the verge of crawling. This is the main reason I am writing this post now, because I think soon (once he is on the move), our day to day routine is going to drastically change. Right now, he is an expert sitter, and has been for a while. For the last couple of weeks, he has been working on getting onto all fours from a seated position. He will reach as far as he can than rock back and forth trying to hoist his butt into the air. Since he likes to sit with the soles of his feet touching, it's been tricky for him to figure out how to turn them around so that he can stabilize on both knees. Most of the time he is able to get one knee down and the other foot will be planted on the ground with his knee up and out to the side. In the last two days, he has had two successful attempts however, and he posed solidly on all fours for half a minute or so before slopping on his belly. Usually he just ends up on his belly though. From there he goes back and forth between pushing his torso up really high with his arms (upward facing dog) and getting on his toes and pushing his butt up (the beginnings of downward facing dog...more like a bendy plank pose). He seems to prefer to be on his belly or sitting (or standing against something holding himself up), and usually when I put him on his back he immediately tries to roll over, which makes diaper changes quite interesting. Lets just say that there is usually lots of screaming involved (on his part) and I usually give in and end up changing him while he is on his belly which is quite difficult. He is really good at rolling multiple times to get places, especially while on our bed. He also is able to spin around and pivot while on his belly, and somehow is able to scoot from place to place on his belly to a small degree. This boy really wants to move! It's only a matter of time before he'll get his wish.
Verbally, he is as chatty as ever. His favorite things to say right now are "Da da", "Dog" (sounds more like "Doug" still), and "Cat" (sounds more like a whispery "Tat", although he's said a couple of good "cat"s too). He makes lots of other sounds too, but those are the words he is consistently able to utter. Our other exciting verbal news is he started signing "more" for the first time, in the correct context, and fairly consistently. It is so incredible to see him doing this. I am so proud of him! I am excited that we are starting to have this new way of communicating.
Sleeping and Eating
Mattimeo has always been a good sleeper and a great eater. I remember those first couple months when "he's eating again?!" was something regularly said to me. He nursed constantly. He would nurse for 45 minutes, take a 20 minute break and then start in on the next side. Sometimes he would fall asleep instead, and nap for hour or two at a time. I was pretty much glued to the recliner in the nursery with Meo on my Boppy pillow for those two months. I loved it though; I got so much reading in and lots of rest. Back then he would stay up until 1:30-11:30 at night. Then we were still trying to get him to sleep in the cosleeper, and would lay him down in it once he fell asleep. Once he woke up after 10-15 minutes, we would try again, but he would just keep waking up. Eventually we stopped trying every night and only tried a couple times a week. Soon, the cosleeper became a diaper holder, cat bed, and night stand. Eventually we just folded it away, dropped our mattress on the ground and gave into the fact that we were bedsharing now. Around perhaps 4 months old, he stopped napping all the time (although he still liked to eat a bunch) and only napped 3 or 4 times a day, still either on my lap or in bed with me. He also started going to bed earlier, usually around 8 or 9. The most wonderful thing about having him share a bed with us (besides not having to get up in the middle of the night to feed him, I basically nurse in a half-doze now), was that he slept in until like 9 or 10! I always feel well rested.
After Meo turned 6 months old, he started napping just twice a day, once around 10 or 11, then again around 2 or 3. That is still his tendency at 8 months. Now he has his morning nap on his little nest on the floor (we put his crib mattress on the floor with a soft carpet beside it), where I nurse him to sleep and roll away. There we will only sleep for about 30-45 minutes. Sometimes I have to nurse him back to sleep when he wakes up, but about 75% of the time he can put himself back to sleep. For our afternoon nap, I still sleep with him in our bed. That way he will sleep a good 2-3 hours, and I get some much needed rest and a chance to read my books. Eventually when he gets better at sleeping by himself in the morning I will switch over to having him nap in his bed during the afternoon too, but for now its more important to me that he get as much rest as he needs so he can develop healthily. At night now he goes to bed between 7-8. Sometimes I will stay in bed and read or watch a movie, but often times I will roll out of the bed so I can play a board game with Robbie. Meo is getting really good at falling back asleep on his own, but I still usually have to nurse him back to sleep once or twice before I go to bed myself. Until about last week he was sleeping in until 9-9:30, but all of a sudden now at 8 months he wants to wake up between 7:30 and 8. Usually I am ready to get up at that time too, so it's working out fine for us so far.
As for sleep routines, I inadvertently created a pretty cool one for his morning nap. After we eat breakfast, I change wash him up, change his diaper and change him out of his pajamas into an outfit. Then I turn on some relaxing, wordless music, turn of the lights and lay him in his little bed and tuck his blanket around his torso under his arms. Then I scoot in beside him and side nurse him to sleep while reading him some poetry. We have several books of poetry including Emily Dickinson, Lord Byron, Robert and Elizabeth Barret Browning, Shel Silverstein, etc. Poetry is almost musical and I think he helps lull him to sleep while exposing him to some beautiful language. I have always wanted to read more poetry, and this has provided me with a great opportunity to read and study lots of poetry of which I am grateful for. I am excited for when we get a house and I can unpack my library so I can start reading Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Robbie and I used to read that book under the shade of a tree by a river when we were in college and I will love to be able to take it back out and share it with sweet Meo.
At night time we have a tradition of bath, massage, naked time (depending on how tired he is), pajamas, then bed. After dinner, Robbie always gives Mattimeo his bath while I clean up the dinner mess. This is one of Robbie and Mattimeo's favorite times of the day; Meo loves bath time. Meo always stands up against the bath tub to watch the water fill up, then strips down and goes into his nice warm tub. They alternate which bath toys they use to keep things interesting; some days they play with stacking cups and other days with squishy sea animals. It's music to my ears to hear my boys giggling and splashing in the bath tub! After his bath, I usually give Meo a massage with coconut oil and organic lavender oil (to induce sleepiness). Sometimes this is a long, calm affair, other times he is not interested and we have a short massage. It is a nice time for us to gaze at each other, to help him learn about his body, and to help him feel nice and relaxed. I wish someone gave me a massage every night! Next, if he still seems active and awake, we let him sit around naked and play with his toys. I think it is good for his skin to air out, plus it aids in his movement being unhindered by clothing and a bulky diaper. Also, he is really cute naked! Then it's pajama time (usually full of screaming unfortunately; he hates getting dressed), then off to bed where I snuggle in next to him and nurse him to sleep.
Eating has obviously changed a great deal since he was born. For nearly the first 6 months, he was exclusively nursing. Now he still nurses, but he also eats 2 or 3 meals of solid food a day. Right now his favorites are finger foods like bananas, sweet potatoes (sliced into manageable sticks and baked with olive oil and rosemary), sliced mango, watermelon, steamed carrots and broccoli sticks, and wedges of pears, apples and plums. For a while he was doing really well with foods like oatmeal, applesauce, quinoa, goat-milk yogurt, etc., but ever since he had his fever, he hasn't really enjoyed spoon-fed foods, so though I keep offering him mushy foods as options, I give him a lot of finger foods too. This month I have introduced him to some dairy like cottage cheese and cow's milk yogurt. He really likes yogurt mixed with apple sauce.
Independent Play Time
I remember the days when my little Meo NEVER wanted to be put down. The second his back touched the ground, he would start crying and I would immediately pick him up. Those days, the only time I was able to have my hands free was if I wore him, let him take a nap in his swing (while I showered and no one was home), or when I gave him his independent time occasionally in his crib with his mobile on. He loves mobiles. Those first few months, I would only be able to put him down for 5-15 minutes at a time under his mobile before he would want to be picked up again, but that was always enough time for me to quickly make myself some breakfast or lunch before I scooped him up to nurse again while I enjoyed my meal. I would also have him do some "tummy time" everyday, which sometimes was under a minute and other times was more like 5-10. I never forced him to do it longer than he wanted to. Sometimes he enjoyed tummy time when he was in his play gym. Eventually he started not to mind being left alone to play for short periods of time. I would let him lay in his play gym on the floor where he cooed and reached for his toys. Once he began to be able to roll he tolerated being on his own longer. Then came along his ability to sit unsupported, and our world drastically changed. I now often sit him on a blanket with a variety of toys around him while I cook and clean and he will be perfectly content. I also sometimes let him play in his little area of our room after his morning nap while I finish whatever I was working on during that period. It's not that I don't still think its important for him to be with me a lot of the time; I still either wear him or hold him when I do most things around the house, and we have lots of time where we play, read, interact, etc. But I think having some independent play time is so important. It allows him to play, explore, and learn unhindered by my direction and insight. Everyday he grows, and it is amazing to me to see how this time he spends by himself morphs. He is figuring things out, like how to move around, how to use his toys differently, how to make new sounds with his mouth. He babbles to his toys as he moves them from one side to the other and passes them back and forth between hands. He tries to climb into things, and I can see him setting goals and trying to reach them. It's really cool. But once he started whimpering or saying "Ma ma ma" and looking over to me on the other side of the room with his arms outstretched, I am there for him. I want that time to be a comfortable and enjoyable time for him, not one he begins to dread as the time Mom will ignore me. Sometimes he will be quite content for up to an hour. It's nice to have that time for myself to catch up on things. Sometimes its only 10 minutes, and that's just fine too.
At 8 months old, his current favorite toys are his Green Sprouts stacking cups, his Under the Nile organic fruit and vegetable crates, his little Playskool wheely animals, and his balls.
Walks
Not much has changed with this activity besides how I carry Meo. We still go for walks every single day; it keeps me sane. It is great exercise, it's nice for both of us to get some fresh air and a change of scenery. Plus I hope that by making exercise a regular part of our lives, that Meo will learn healthy habits. I a I still always wear Meo. It used to be that we always used the Moby wrap and he would be tucked inside so his head was supported. As he became more aware of his surroundings and stronger, he went through a period of time when he only wanted to be facing outwards in either the Moby wrap or the Baby Bjorn. Then, over the winter starting around 5 or 6 months (I think because it was colder and he wanted to hide his face from the sharp, winter breeze) he didn't mind facing in again. I was happy about this because I think there is a risk of over stimulation when he is forced to face outwards for long periods of time and babies have a tendency to shut down. When he faces in towards me, he can still see almost everything that is going on, but can also burrow/snuggle in when he needs to feel more secure. I would then where him in the ERGObaby and the Moby wrap (I think the Moby was more comfortable and easy for me to get on for front facing).
Now, since he was about 7 months old), I have been exclusively been wearing him on my back in the ERGObaby. This is wonderful. Now that he is about 20 pounds, I don't notice the weight nearly as much when he is on my back. It is so much better for my posture, more comfortable, makes it easier for me to do things without a cumbersome bundle on my belly, and I think it's easier to put him on! Our Seedlings Class teacher at Birth Roots taught us a very easy way of putting babies on our backs with the ErgoBaby by ourselves, and I have since mastered it. Meo is very happy on my back too. He can see everything that is going on, he can snuggle against my back to go to sleep if he wants, and he seems more comfortable. The only time I wear him on my front is if I need to nurse him and I am in a public place where there really isn't a good spot for me to sit down. Besides that, he is always on my back.
Walking (and eating really healthy, unprocessed, balanced foods) has helped me to lose lots of my pregnancy weight. I can fit into almost all my pre-pregnancy clothes now and I have lost about 30 pounds. I am in a comfortable weight range now, but ideally I would still like to drop another 5-10 pounds to be leaner before summer. Walking for about an hour a day seems to be working. Now that its warmer, I might start running 2-3 times a week too.
Yoga
Ever since Meo was 2 weeks old, I have been doing at least a little bit of yoga everyday. Some days its just one or two poses, other days its over an hour. I pay attention to what he needs and feels like doing. These days he doesn't really like it when I lay him on his back. He tends to immediately flip over. So I don't get to spend a lot of time doing a lot of the poses we used to do on his back. Instead, this 8-month old baby tends to prefer more active poses. Ones that involve moving around and singing. So while I do try to get him to have some calm and relaxing yoga time, he very much prefers to be a bit more lively now. Most of the time we actually do yoga together, where I either incorporate him into some of my poses. Or he watches me and plays with my yoga props (belt, blocks, etc.) while I do yoga and I intermittently stop to do some baby yoga with him.
Reading
We read at least one book to Meo everyday, usually several (besides the poetry at nap time). He loves being read to; it's really awesome. Usually he lays down on his back next to one of us and we hold the book out in front of us. I try to use different voices for characters and point out things in pictures to him. I occasionally ask him to point at things for me, and I think its amazing that he actually can do it a lot of the time. We don't usually read sitting up because that tend to lead to Meo trying to eat the book. Some of his favorite books right now are (the ones he gets so excited for he kicks out his little legs and arms when he sees them) Goodnight Moon, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Baby Bear's Books, In My Tree (and the other books in this series), and Ten Little Ladybugs.
Music Time
This is a special time that we try to have at least a few times a week. Everyday we at least sing and listen to music. But a few times a week we have all out music sessions. Robbie knows how to play the trombone, and I play the clarinet and a bit of penny whistle. So sometimes we will play jazz for him. If its just me, I play a lot of Disney melodies for him on my clarinet. We also have a floor tom, some rattles/shakers, and a harmonica that we like to play with as well. Sometimes Meo will shake his rattle or bang the drum, but right now he is more into listening. We at least always put lots of music makers in front of him so he can join in if he feels the urge. He loves music, whether it be listening to us play instruments, sing, or dance around to our favorite songs. Music also helps him to relax in the car. As music lovers, Robbie and I are both very excited that Meo has already show so much fondness for music.
On the 7th (of April), our little creature turned 8 months old! Looking back, its incredible how much our life with him has already changed. Parenthood has been a whirlwind of learning, mutating routines and wonderful adventures so far. I want to use the remainder of this post to share where he is developmentally right now and what our normal day to day looks like now that he is 8 months old, and how different that is from when he was much younger.
Developmental Milestones
Right now, little Meo is on the verge of crawling. This is the main reason I am writing this post now, because I think soon (once he is on the move), our day to day routine is going to drastically change. Right now, he is an expert sitter, and has been for a while. For the last couple of weeks, he has been working on getting onto all fours from a seated position. He will reach as far as he can than rock back and forth trying to hoist his butt into the air. Since he likes to sit with the soles of his feet touching, it's been tricky for him to figure out how to turn them around so that he can stabilize on both knees. Most of the time he is able to get one knee down and the other foot will be planted on the ground with his knee up and out to the side. In the last two days, he has had two successful attempts however, and he posed solidly on all fours for half a minute or so before slopping on his belly. Usually he just ends up on his belly though. From there he goes back and forth between pushing his torso up really high with his arms (upward facing dog) and getting on his toes and pushing his butt up (the beginnings of downward facing dog...more like a bendy plank pose). He seems to prefer to be on his belly or sitting (or standing against something holding himself up), and usually when I put him on his back he immediately tries to roll over, which makes diaper changes quite interesting. Lets just say that there is usually lots of screaming involved (on his part) and I usually give in and end up changing him while he is on his belly which is quite difficult. He is really good at rolling multiple times to get places, especially while on our bed. He also is able to spin around and pivot while on his belly, and somehow is able to scoot from place to place on his belly to a small degree. This boy really wants to move! It's only a matter of time before he'll get his wish.
 |
| Learning to crawl (8 months) |
 |
| So close to crawling! (8 months) |
Verbally, he is as chatty as ever. His favorite things to say right now are "Da da", "Dog" (sounds more like "Doug" still), and "Cat" (sounds more like a whispery "Tat", although he's said a couple of good "cat"s too). He makes lots of other sounds too, but those are the words he is consistently able to utter. Our other exciting verbal news is he started signing "more" for the first time, in the correct context, and fairly consistently. It is so incredible to see him doing this. I am so proud of him! I am excited that we are starting to have this new way of communicating.
Sleeping and Eating
Mattimeo has always been a good sleeper and a great eater. I remember those first couple months when "he's eating again?!" was something regularly said to me. He nursed constantly. He would nurse for 45 minutes, take a 20 minute break and then start in on the next side. Sometimes he would fall asleep instead, and nap for hour or two at a time. I was pretty much glued to the recliner in the nursery with Meo on my Boppy pillow for those two months. I loved it though; I got so much reading in and lots of rest. Back then he would stay up until 1:30-11:30 at night. Then we were still trying to get him to sleep in the cosleeper, and would lay him down in it once he fell asleep. Once he woke up after 10-15 minutes, we would try again, but he would just keep waking up. Eventually we stopped trying every night and only tried a couple times a week. Soon, the cosleeper became a diaper holder, cat bed, and night stand. Eventually we just folded it away, dropped our mattress on the ground and gave into the fact that we were bedsharing now. Around perhaps 4 months old, he stopped napping all the time (although he still liked to eat a bunch) and only napped 3 or 4 times a day, still either on my lap or in bed with me. He also started going to bed earlier, usually around 8 or 9. The most wonderful thing about having him share a bed with us (besides not having to get up in the middle of the night to feed him, I basically nurse in a half-doze now), was that he slept in until like 9 or 10! I always feel well rested.
 |
| Sleeping Meo |
After Meo turned 6 months old, he started napping just twice a day, once around 10 or 11, then again around 2 or 3. That is still his tendency at 8 months. Now he has his morning nap on his little nest on the floor (we put his crib mattress on the floor with a soft carpet beside it), where I nurse him to sleep and roll away. There we will only sleep for about 30-45 minutes. Sometimes I have to nurse him back to sleep when he wakes up, but about 75% of the time he can put himself back to sleep. For our afternoon nap, I still sleep with him in our bed. That way he will sleep a good 2-3 hours, and I get some much needed rest and a chance to read my books. Eventually when he gets better at sleeping by himself in the morning I will switch over to having him nap in his bed during the afternoon too, but for now its more important to me that he get as much rest as he needs so he can develop healthily. At night now he goes to bed between 7-8. Sometimes I will stay in bed and read or watch a movie, but often times I will roll out of the bed so I can play a board game with Robbie. Meo is getting really good at falling back asleep on his own, but I still usually have to nurse him back to sleep once or twice before I go to bed myself. Until about last week he was sleeping in until 9-9:30, but all of a sudden now at 8 months he wants to wake up between 7:30 and 8. Usually I am ready to get up at that time too, so it's working out fine for us so far.
 |
| Sleeping during our afternoon nap |
 |
| It's always nice to wake up to see Pi! |
As for sleep routines, I inadvertently created a pretty cool one for his morning nap. After we eat breakfast, I change wash him up, change his diaper and change him out of his pajamas into an outfit. Then I turn on some relaxing, wordless music, turn of the lights and lay him in his little bed and tuck his blanket around his torso under his arms. Then I scoot in beside him and side nurse him to sleep while reading him some poetry. We have several books of poetry including Emily Dickinson, Lord Byron, Robert and Elizabeth Barret Browning, Shel Silverstein, etc. Poetry is almost musical and I think he helps lull him to sleep while exposing him to some beautiful language. I have always wanted to read more poetry, and this has provided me with a great opportunity to read and study lots of poetry of which I am grateful for. I am excited for when we get a house and I can unpack my library so I can start reading Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Robbie and I used to read that book under the shade of a tree by a river when we were in college and I will love to be able to take it back out and share it with sweet Meo.
 |
| Nursing to sleep |
 |
| Nurse |
At night time we have a tradition of bath, massage, naked time (depending on how tired he is), pajamas, then bed. After dinner, Robbie always gives Mattimeo his bath while I clean up the dinner mess. This is one of Robbie and Mattimeo's favorite times of the day; Meo loves bath time. Meo always stands up against the bath tub to watch the water fill up, then strips down and goes into his nice warm tub. They alternate which bath toys they use to keep things interesting; some days they play with stacking cups and other days with squishy sea animals. It's music to my ears to hear my boys giggling and splashing in the bath tub! After his bath, I usually give Meo a massage with coconut oil and organic lavender oil (to induce sleepiness). Sometimes this is a long, calm affair, other times he is not interested and we have a short massage. It is a nice time for us to gaze at each other, to help him learn about his body, and to help him feel nice and relaxed. I wish someone gave me a massage every night! Next, if he still seems active and awake, we let him sit around naked and play with his toys. I think it is good for his skin to air out, plus it aids in his movement being unhindered by clothing and a bulky diaper. Also, he is really cute naked! Then it's pajama time (usually full of screaming unfortunately; he hates getting dressed), then off to bed where I snuggle in next to him and nurse him to sleep.
Eating has obviously changed a great deal since he was born. For nearly the first 6 months, he was exclusively nursing. Now he still nurses, but he also eats 2 or 3 meals of solid food a day. Right now his favorites are finger foods like bananas, sweet potatoes (sliced into manageable sticks and baked with olive oil and rosemary), sliced mango, watermelon, steamed carrots and broccoli sticks, and wedges of pears, apples and plums. For a while he was doing really well with foods like oatmeal, applesauce, quinoa, goat-milk yogurt, etc., but ever since he had his fever, he hasn't really enjoyed spoon-fed foods, so though I keep offering him mushy foods as options, I give him a lot of finger foods too. This month I have introduced him to some dairy like cottage cheese and cow's milk yogurt. He really likes yogurt mixed with apple sauce.
 |
| Roasted Beets and Carrots with Rosemary |
 |
| Beets were fun to clean! |
 |
| Cottage cheese, strawberries, peaches and pears |
 |
| Brown rice pasta in fun shapes, gluten free sweet potato puffs and snap peas |
Independent Play Time
I remember the days when my little Meo NEVER wanted to be put down. The second his back touched the ground, he would start crying and I would immediately pick him up. Those days, the only time I was able to have my hands free was if I wore him, let him take a nap in his swing (while I showered and no one was home), or when I gave him his independent time occasionally in his crib with his mobile on. He loves mobiles. Those first few months, I would only be able to put him down for 5-15 minutes at a time under his mobile before he would want to be picked up again, but that was always enough time for me to quickly make myself some breakfast or lunch before I scooped him up to nurse again while I enjoyed my meal. I would also have him do some "tummy time" everyday, which sometimes was under a minute and other times was more like 5-10. I never forced him to do it longer than he wanted to. Sometimes he enjoyed tummy time when he was in his play gym. Eventually he started not to mind being left alone to play for short periods of time. I would let him lay in his play gym on the floor where he cooed and reached for his toys. Once he began to be able to roll he tolerated being on his own longer. Then came along his ability to sit unsupported, and our world drastically changed. I now often sit him on a blanket with a variety of toys around him while I cook and clean and he will be perfectly content. I also sometimes let him play in his little area of our room after his morning nap while I finish whatever I was working on during that period. It's not that I don't still think its important for him to be with me a lot of the time; I still either wear him or hold him when I do most things around the house, and we have lots of time where we play, read, interact, etc. But I think having some independent play time is so important. It allows him to play, explore, and learn unhindered by my direction and insight. Everyday he grows, and it is amazing to me to see how this time he spends by himself morphs. He is figuring things out, like how to move around, how to use his toys differently, how to make new sounds with his mouth. He babbles to his toys as he moves them from one side to the other and passes them back and forth between hands. He tries to climb into things, and I can see him setting goals and trying to reach them. It's really cool. But once he started whimpering or saying "Ma ma ma" and looking over to me on the other side of the room with his arms outstretched, I am there for him. I want that time to be a comfortable and enjoyable time for him, not one he begins to dread as the time Mom will ignore me. Sometimes he will be quite content for up to an hour. It's nice to have that time for myself to catch up on things. Sometimes its only 10 minutes, and that's just fine too.
 |
| Searching through his basket for some toys |
At 8 months old, his current favorite toys are his Green Sprouts stacking cups, his Under the Nile organic fruit and vegetable crates, his little Playskool wheely animals, and his balls.
Walks
Not much has changed with this activity besides how I carry Meo. We still go for walks every single day; it keeps me sane. It is great exercise, it's nice for both of us to get some fresh air and a change of scenery. Plus I hope that by making exercise a regular part of our lives, that Meo will learn healthy habits. I a I still always wear Meo. It used to be that we always used the Moby wrap and he would be tucked inside so his head was supported. As he became more aware of his surroundings and stronger, he went through a period of time when he only wanted to be facing outwards in either the Moby wrap or the Baby Bjorn. Then, over the winter starting around 5 or 6 months (I think because it was colder and he wanted to hide his face from the sharp, winter breeze) he didn't mind facing in again. I was happy about this because I think there is a risk of over stimulation when he is forced to face outwards for long periods of time and babies have a tendency to shut down. When he faces in towards me, he can still see almost everything that is going on, but can also burrow/snuggle in when he needs to feel more secure. I would then where him in the ERGObaby and the Moby wrap (I think the Moby was more comfortable and easy for me to get on for front facing).
Now, since he was about 7 months old), I have been exclusively been wearing him on my back in the ERGObaby. This is wonderful. Now that he is about 20 pounds, I don't notice the weight nearly as much when he is on my back. It is so much better for my posture, more comfortable, makes it easier for me to do things without a cumbersome bundle on my belly, and I think it's easier to put him on! Our Seedlings Class teacher at Birth Roots taught us a very easy way of putting babies on our backs with the ErgoBaby by ourselves, and I have since mastered it. Meo is very happy on my back too. He can see everything that is going on, he can snuggle against my back to go to sleep if he wants, and he seems more comfortable. The only time I wear him on my front is if I need to nurse him and I am in a public place where there really isn't a good spot for me to sit down. Besides that, he is always on my back.
 |
| Walking (8 months) |
 |
| Visiting Theta on our walk |
Walking (and eating really healthy, unprocessed, balanced foods) has helped me to lose lots of my pregnancy weight. I can fit into almost all my pre-pregnancy clothes now and I have lost about 30 pounds. I am in a comfortable weight range now, but ideally I would still like to drop another 5-10 pounds to be leaner before summer. Walking for about an hour a day seems to be working. Now that its warmer, I might start running 2-3 times a week too.
Yoga
Ever since Meo was 2 weeks old, I have been doing at least a little bit of yoga everyday. Some days its just one or two poses, other days its over an hour. I pay attention to what he needs and feels like doing. These days he doesn't really like it when I lay him on his back. He tends to immediately flip over. So I don't get to spend a lot of time doing a lot of the poses we used to do on his back. Instead, this 8-month old baby tends to prefer more active poses. Ones that involve moving around and singing. So while I do try to get him to have some calm and relaxing yoga time, he very much prefers to be a bit more lively now. Most of the time we actually do yoga together, where I either incorporate him into some of my poses. Or he watches me and plays with my yoga props (belt, blocks, etc.) while I do yoga and I intermittently stop to do some baby yoga with him.
 |
| Robbie and Meo at Itsy Bitsy Yoga (8 months) |
Reading
We read at least one book to Meo everyday, usually several (besides the poetry at nap time). He loves being read to; it's really awesome. Usually he lays down on his back next to one of us and we hold the book out in front of us. I try to use different voices for characters and point out things in pictures to him. I occasionally ask him to point at things for me, and I think its amazing that he actually can do it a lot of the time. We don't usually read sitting up because that tend to lead to Meo trying to eat the book. Some of his favorite books right now are (the ones he gets so excited for he kicks out his little legs and arms when he sees them) Goodnight Moon, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Baby Bear's Books, In My Tree (and the other books in this series), and Ten Little Ladybugs.
 |
| Robbie has this one memorized, so they read in a silly way |
Music Time
This is a special time that we try to have at least a few times a week. Everyday we at least sing and listen to music. But a few times a week we have all out music sessions. Robbie knows how to play the trombone, and I play the clarinet and a bit of penny whistle. So sometimes we will play jazz for him. If its just me, I play a lot of Disney melodies for him on my clarinet. We also have a floor tom, some rattles/shakers, and a harmonica that we like to play with as well. Sometimes Meo will shake his rattle or bang the drum, but right now he is more into listening. We at least always put lots of music makers in front of him so he can join in if he feels the urge. He loves music, whether it be listening to us play instruments, sing, or dance around to our favorite songs. Music also helps him to relax in the car. As music lovers, Robbie and I are both very excited that Meo has already show so much fondness for music.
 | ||
| Playing with a harmonica, penny whistle and egg shaker during music time |
 |
| Watching Daddy play trombone |
 |
| Watching Mommy play clarinet |
 |
| Oooh, Clarinet! |
 |
| Daddy and Meo |
 |
| Family music time! |
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Happy Half Birthday Mattimeo!
 |
| 6 Months Old Today! |
Today is an exciting day for several reasons. The biggest reason is that our little Mattimeo turned 6 months today! I can't believe it's been half a year already. Yet, we have been making sure to enjoy each precious moment we have with him. At 6 months he is enjoying experimenting with solid foods, sitting up without support, prefers tummy time to lying on his back, can put his foot in his mouth (and does so often when he has his diapers changed), saying "ba ba ba", "mmmm ma ma MAMA", "pa pa pa", "boi boi boi", "fa fa fa" and other such sounds. He loves jumping in his jumperoo and looks a bit like a ballerina when he jumps because he does so quite gracefully. He enjoys peekaboo and being tickled with kisses on his neck and belly. He discovered his hands and can often be seen holding a hand in front of his face turning it about studying it. He also holds his toys up and studies them now too. He enjoys doing Yoga with Mommy, especially when she does poses that involve lifting him above her head or bending over him making funny faces while he lays an the ground. He loves books. Sometimes he will be happy reading six books one right after the other. He loves it when I pretend to eat his hands or feet. He is awesome in the car now and usually takes a nap and hardly ever cries anymore (thank goodness). He is fascinated with animals. Every time he sees one of our cats, or my parents dogs, or the birds Robbie's parents keep he watches them intently, reaches out to them, and sometimes giggles. He could watch our pets all day. He loves music. His favorite seems to be Disney music, but we enjoy listening to a variety of genres together including (but not limited to) classical, indie dance, Celtic, African drumming and rock. He loves being sung to and will usually reward the singer with a smile. He also enjoys listening to Mommy play the clarinet and penny whistle. Meo loves going for walks and will quietly take in the world as we stroll along. He loves bath time with Daddy and massage time with Mommy. He is a joy every day and this has been the happiest 6 months of my life.
In preparation for crawling, we decided to do some rearranging. Since it has proven impossible to get Meo to take naps in his crib, I've decided to try an alternative way to get him to nap in his own bed; we put his mattress right on the ground. This way I can nurse him right on his bed and roll away leaving him to nap independently. We are hoping that we can transition to having him nap there and still sleep with us at night so he at least gets used to sleeping on his own sometimes. His mattress is very low to the ground and we put a soft rug beside it so that if he does roll off he won't hurt himself (plus I stay in the same room while he naps). For a while, I didn't want to take the crib apart because it is a beautiful crib and my parents spent a lot of money on it for us. But eventually I gave in to my intuition and knew that it was more important to make an area that suited his sleeping needs; how were we to know that he wouldn't be the crib type? Anyhow, the crib is a convertible crib, so once he is big enough we will be able to put his bed back on a frame and have a beautiful toddler bed. Having the bed on the floor comes from a montessori philosphy. Montessori is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological development. I first learned about it from reading a blog post where I saw the following picture of a montessori room:
 |
| Montessori style room from Sew Liberated |
Robbie and I have been working hard at rearranging the room, and so far this is what we have come up with for his sleeping/play area:
 |
| Meo's new sleep/play area |
Not visible in the picture are also shelves low to the ground where we keep more of his toys and board books so that when he crawls he will be able to reach them.
So far Meo is a champ at napping in his little bed! We were washing our sheets last night when Meo was ready for bed so I gave his little bed a test run. He ended up sleeping in it for a couple hours all by himself until we accidentally made a loud noise and startled him to waking.
 |
| Napping in his bed for the first time |
 |
| Soft, cuddly angel |
Last night, after he woke from his nap we brought him into our bed and I tried something new. Instead of nursing him to sleep, I decided to try singing (because he was trying to chew on my nipple!). Amazingly, it worked! I fell into a deep sleep with his arms wrapped around my middle while I sang "La La Loo" from Lady and the Tramp.
Today he took his naps in his little bed and did a great job. He didn't sleep as long as he would have if I had been in the bed with him, but he still did a great job and woke up happy. I am pleased with the new setup!
 |
| Taking a nap in his little bed all by himself (6 months) |
 |
| The sleep sheep helps drown out any annoying little noises I think |
He also loves playing on his soft rug. We actually let him feel all the rugs in target and this is the one he liked best.
 |
| Playing with his toys |
 |
| Watching Grandma talk on the phone |
Cheers to an amazing 6 months and hopes of an amazing future *clink*.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
New Years 2012
Jasmin and I don't get out much. I mean, we use to go out and explore the world and bask in it's riches. Since we've created our own tiny human however we mostly stay home and monitor the periodic bodily functions of, preform routine maintenance on, and make cooing noises at a tiny us. Surprisingly that last sentence sums up the most fulfilling experience in my life, but I digress. New Years eve offered Jasmin and I a unique and socially acceptable opportunity to cut loose. This posed some challenges we hadn't overcome before, but we were ready to face.
The big challenge was whether to bring him or not. Our hosts for the evening graciously lent us a room in their apartment so we could stay the night and not have to worry about traveling after midnight, or even the possibility of not getting him to sleep. Right now Meo is so dependent on his mom to nurse him to sleep that we're pretty sure we couldn't leave him with someone. We were between leaving very early from the party or staying all night. If we stayed all night we might be lucky and get him to sleep in his swing after a meal, or run the risk of Jasmin having to try to get him to sleep in the room next to a noisy party. If we left early we would be guaranteed to get him to have a good night sleep, but we would miss out of being with friends. After much debate we decided to stay, which turned out really well. Meo enjoyed seeing people and being held and we got to enjoy games, good food and friends. Meo didn't want to sleep in his swing, but Jasmin and I danced with him like old times until he went to sleep with his Mom at around 11:30. As the ball dropped I slipped into their quiet room to wish them a happy new year and give each of them a kiss.
The next challenge was traveling with everything we would need for 2 days and a night. We've never really spent a night away from home with him before. Since we didn't think we were being challenged enough we decided to make the next day "Date Day." Jasmin's mom offered to watch Meo on New Years Day so we could go get lunch togerther and watch a movie by ourselves, which is another thing we haven't done since he was born. So as we left the house on New Years Eve my mom joked that we should have rented a UHaul for all the stuff we were bringing, our tiny car was pretty stuffed. We ended up bringing everything we needed, and then some, but it was a hurdle crossed with much effort.
New Years Day offered our last major challenge: things not going to plan. We watched the brilliant Tintin movie in 3D. Well, I watched it. Jasmin saw most of it but every 5 minutes she was checking her phone to see if everything was alright with Meo. He took a nap but right around the finale Meo had gotten really upset and wouldn't take his bottle. As the credits rolled we walked out at a brisk pace, happy that we could do this much alone together. We made it back and Meo was happy to have his mom and a warm meal. After a short time eating he went to sleep. Since we were there anyway we decided to get Chinese take out for our lunch together and we spent our date night in the warm comfort of family instead.
 |
| Ready to PARTY |
The big challenge was whether to bring him or not. Our hosts for the evening graciously lent us a room in their apartment so we could stay the night and not have to worry about traveling after midnight, or even the possibility of not getting him to sleep. Right now Meo is so dependent on his mom to nurse him to sleep that we're pretty sure we couldn't leave him with someone. We were between leaving very early from the party or staying all night. If we stayed all night we might be lucky and get him to sleep in his swing after a meal, or run the risk of Jasmin having to try to get him to sleep in the room next to a noisy party. If we left early we would be guaranteed to get him to have a good night sleep, but we would miss out of being with friends. After much debate we decided to stay, which turned out really well. Meo enjoyed seeing people and being held and we got to enjoy games, good food and friends. Meo didn't want to sleep in his swing, but Jasmin and I danced with him like old times until he went to sleep with his Mom at around 11:30. As the ball dropped I slipped into their quiet room to wish them a happy new year and give each of them a kiss.
 |
| Meo looks like a wine drinker. |
 |
| 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - HAPPY NEW YEAR! |
The next challenge was traveling with everything we would need for 2 days and a night. We've never really spent a night away from home with him before. Since we didn't think we were being challenged enough we decided to make the next day "Date Day." Jasmin's mom offered to watch Meo on New Years Day so we could go get lunch togerther and watch a movie by ourselves, which is another thing we haven't done since he was born. So as we left the house on New Years Eve my mom joked that we should have rented a UHaul for all the stuff we were bringing, our tiny car was pretty stuffed. We ended up bringing everything we needed, and then some, but it was a hurdle crossed with much effort.
 |
| So exciting! |
New Years Day offered our last major challenge: things not going to plan. We watched the brilliant Tintin movie in 3D. Well, I watched it. Jasmin saw most of it but every 5 minutes she was checking her phone to see if everything was alright with Meo. He took a nap but right around the finale Meo had gotten really upset and wouldn't take his bottle. As the credits rolled we walked out at a brisk pace, happy that we could do this much alone together. We made it back and Meo was happy to have his mom and a warm meal. After a short time eating he went to sleep. Since we were there anyway we decided to get Chinese take out for our lunch together and we spent our date night in the warm comfort of family instead.
 |
| Rest after a long few days. |
Friday, December 30, 2011
24 Hours of Toe Touching Goodness
The past 24 hours have been great! We have done lots of both fun and relaxing stuff. Last night we went to visit my Step-Mom and saw my Aunt Louise and cousin Timmy who were spending the night. We had a delicious meal of homemade quiche, fresh fruits and veggies, and tiny toasts with delicious cheese spread. I even allowed myself to have a few sips of wine, which immediately warmed all my insides upon ingestion. After dinner we watched Lady and the Tramp, which my parents had gotten Meo for Christmas but had never seen. Sue LOVES dogs, so I knew she would adore this movie. I am really glad we got to watch it all together. One of their dogs, Harley, was very interested in all the barking and howling going on in the movie, so he watched it too. He was so cute! What a lovely way to spend an evening: snuggled up with family, eating ice cream, with a babe nursing and sleeping at my breast, a bunch of cute dogs and a heart-warming movie!
Today was just as lovely. Robbie decided to work from home because his throat was a bit scratchy. Even though he is busy working while he is home, I still enjoy his presence in the house. Also, my Mom came over to visit. We decided it would be good practice for her and Meo if she tried giving him a bottle and putting him down for a nap. She did great! Meo still didn't really like to have his bottle, but he at least drank some of it (1.5 ounces out of 2 ounces). Then she got him to fall asleep on her lap while she rocked in the rocking chair and he slept for a good hour and 45 minutes! We were so pleased. I was able to take a shower, pump some breast milk, have a snuggle session with my cat and brush his teeth, and do a WHOLE HOUR session of yoga while mom held him. I was in heaven! It's been so long since I've gotten to do that much yoga! How wonderful to stretch, to go upside down, to relax, to touch my toes! Afterwards, Mom, Meo and I took a fabulous walk in the snow. Meo loved watching the snow fall.
Speaking of toes, Mattimeo has found his! Just in the last 24 hours he has noticed his cute little feet and can't get enough (when he sitting at least). He likes to pull off his socks, and tonight he was attempting to eat his feet. What a cutie!
 |
| Aunt Louise and Meo |
 |
| Harley watching "Lady and the Tramp" |
Today was just as lovely. Robbie decided to work from home because his throat was a bit scratchy. Even though he is busy working while he is home, I still enjoy his presence in the house. Also, my Mom came over to visit. We decided it would be good practice for her and Meo if she tried giving him a bottle and putting him down for a nap. She did great! Meo still didn't really like to have his bottle, but he at least drank some of it (1.5 ounces out of 2 ounces). Then she got him to fall asleep on her lap while she rocked in the rocking chair and he slept for a good hour and 45 minutes! We were so pleased. I was able to take a shower, pump some breast milk, have a snuggle session with my cat and brush his teeth, and do a WHOLE HOUR session of yoga while mom held him. I was in heaven! It's been so long since I've gotten to do that much yoga! How wonderful to stretch, to go upside down, to relax, to touch my toes! Afterwards, Mom, Meo and I took a fabulous walk in the snow. Meo loved watching the snow fall.
 |
| My mom giving Meo a bottle |
 |
| Napping with Grammy |
 |
| A walk in the snow |
 |
| Snow falling on Meo |
Speaking of toes, Mattimeo has found his! Just in the last 24 hours he has noticed his cute little feet and can't get enough (when he sitting at least). He likes to pull off his socks, and tonight he was attempting to eat his feet. What a cutie!
 |
| Mattimeo found his feet (4 months old) |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)