Elliott: Nine Months

Elliott is nine months old! His personality gets more and more goofy by the day. He has the silliest facial expressions, and you can tell he does certain things just to make us laugh. So much personality for such a little guy! He brings us so much joy every single day, and we can't help but notice how he lights up each room he enters. Our prayers for him are often centred around the joy he brings to us and others and how it brings glory to God each day! His favourite thing to say is still "dadadada" but we think he might be starting to associate it with Chris. He has said "mumum" a few times and only when he is sad and whiney, so I am beginning to wonder if he actually does associate that one! Elliott smiles and laughs more than ever - he loves to be tickled and has a deep belly laugh when he's really loving it.

Eating: More than a month ago Elliott started refusing solids. One day he was eating them and the next he was downright refusing them and only wanted breastmilk. We tried everything to get him to eat. Making it warmer, colder, adding different flavours and textures. Trying baby led weaning (giving him large chunks to feed himself) Nothing worked and it was stressful for both of us. We eased off and tried every fews days-ish (sometimes going a week without offering) and finally, just a few days ago he took a spoonful of applesauce like he's been doing it all along! I'm so excited to get back on the food train- especially now that he is 9 months old and I have another 14 foods to add to our repertoire (remember from my last update, we're following a list from our Naturopath) 

Sleeping (Night Time): So thankful to report that his sleep has finally gotten better again. That was a loooong sleep regression that was hard on all of us! He still goes to bed at 9 and he is back to waking once or twice to nurse and going back to sleep relatively well. Once in a while he'll have a bad night, but don't we all? He's been sleeping in until 8-8:30 for quite a while now which has been so lovely! As much as I've been enjoying it I think I need to start putting him to bed earlier and getting him up earlier soon so he's used to it for April when I open my Dayhome. I think we'll start attempting that in the new year!

Sleeping (Nap Time):  Two naps a day - the first around 10:30-11 and he'll sleep at least an hour, sometimes two. The second nap is usually around 3-4 and he'll sleep between 1-2 hours. Usually between the two naps he sleeps 3 hours, so if it's an hour in the morning it will be two in the afternoon and vice versa.

Play: He loves to pull his toys out of his basket. His favourites are his red and orange O-Balls (still), his red car, yellow car, crinkly book, and his R2-D2 bath toy which never stays in the bath because he always brings it out.

No more jumper- there were a few times that we put him in there and he whined, and we have been sick of it taking up so much room in the living room anyways- so the Christmas tree moved in and it got shipped out to the garage. Secretly I can't wait for Christmas to be over to see how much room we have in our living room!

Movin' Around: New category in honour of his new ability - the bum scoot! He started doing this almost right after my last update, so he's pretty good at it. He isn't crawling yet, but he will worm his way backwards pretty quickly when he's on his tummy. Just a couple days ago he learned to sit back up from a laying down position, and in the last day or two he has been trying sooo hard to pull himself up on the couch. He's able to get up to his knees, but not much further. Time to move the crib down!

Highlights/Lowlights: Obviously a huge highlight is the bum scooting! So cute to watch him try to get around!

Still only has 6 teeth. I consider this a highlight because it means we haven't been dealing with a teething baby for over a month. Aaaahh...

Thankfully Elliott has gotten used to the convertible car seat and no longer screams each time we put him in. Also, I am still able to transition him from sleeping in the seat to inside in his crib without waking him (even with taking of his jacket and boots!) It makes me feel like a rockstar every time!

He has rediscovered his love for clapping and does it all the time. He claps if he sees other people doing it (even on the TV!), or if we say "Yaaayy!" It's completely adorable!




Likes:

• Being tickled 
• Scootin' around!
• Opening drawers in the living room
• Bathtime (as always!)
• Staring out the front window at all the cars driving past
• My phone or the TV remote - two things I never let him touch, so naturally they are his favourite things ever!
• Drinking from a straw cup (and then spitting out all the water)
• Making his "Donald Duck" sound
• Sitting in his high chair

Dislikes:

• Being told not to open drawers
• Being moved away from something he wants (a cord, a drawer etc)
• Not being allowed to play with our phones/TV remote
• Peas (still)

And now, pictures!
(sorry for not having the time to format them better this month. I blame Christmas!)

Just A Little Self Care

When I begin to feel overwhelmed there are a few things that happen. First, I stop making dinner. Chris usually picks up the slack, but sometimes it just means we eat out more. Next I stop cleaning each day. This one is unfortunate because then the chores pile up and add to the overwhelmed feelings. I also tend to stop leaving the house and seeing people, which once again is unfortunate because I am an extrovert and actually feel energized when I am around friends.

Another thing I stop doing is writing. You may have noticed? Sorry guys. I think what I have realized is that I see writing as a little bit frivolous. There are usually more important things I should be doing and if I'm not doing them I probably shouldn't be writing either. It's kind of like when you're home sick from school and you know you probably shouldn't go out for ice cream with your friends before your parents come home. If I have time to write a blog then I should probably go clean the bathrooms, ya know?

I took a nice long shower tonight, and when I was clean but not ready for the hot water to end I sat down and turned it into a bath. As I sat there I thought of how my heart no longer yearns for silence or soothing music, but instead it's filled to the brim when I hear my sweet husband babbling along with our chatterbox baby. I sat there until the water grew cold and I soaked in the peace of the not-so-quiet moment.

Once dry, instead of quickly combing my hair, I took my time. I put on nice smelling lotion and I got out some nail polish for my toes. I have no idea when the last time was that I painted my toenails, but I did tonight because it felt even more indulgent that writing. And then I sat down with a glass of chocolate milk and wrote this as Chris played with and bathed Elliott.

It was nothing huge. No big revelations tonight about what I've been doing wrong and how all of a sudden now I get it- just a little bit of self care.

Oh, and I think I already know what I'm going to make for dinner tomorrow.




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~M