The progression of a crawler

Let’s start by looking at what Miles thought of crawling 5 days ago. He mostly would get to all fours and then start crying for someone to come pick him up. At this point, he also tried some baby yoga with an attempt at a downward dog.

And then 3 days ago, he decided that it might not be so bad to actually move forward. But not too far. He was super slow and stopped as soon as he reached his objective.

And since then, has gotten a little braver and a little faster. So far he has made it to the dog dishes in the kitchen, to the shoe basket by the front door, to the cable box and dvd player in the entertainment center, and in his baskets on the bookshelf.

I’m excited that he is crawling but also dreading it just a tiny bit. How am I supposed to shower now? I can’t just put him down on the floor and expect him to be there when I get out 10 minutes later. How am I supposed to sit in one spot while he is playing? I’m pretty sure this means I will be spending less time on the computer during the day and more time following him around.

But I’m really glad that he is happier. He was getting so frustrated with wanting to get to things but not being able to get there. He spent a lot of time screaming at me to come get him.

And somehow in the last few days, my baby has turned into a boy.

Why today is a great day

Of course, as a single woman, I hated this day. I know,  I could have looked at it as a day to celebrate love in general, but I was bitter. And bitter young women don’t celebrate love. I did, however, celebrate ice cream. Shout out to Kate and The Purple Turtle!

But since meeting Chris, I have been able to have a Valentine for 6 years in a row. We used to make a really big deal about it. You know, before life started. We used to get really great gifts and go eat at really great restaurants. It was nice. But because we were pregnant last year, busy, and trying to save money for the baby, we had homemade fondue and marinated flank steak at home. And we didn’t really miss anything.

This year, having a child has really rocked our world. Yes, we could get someone to watch Miles so that we could go to a nice dinner, and we could buy really great gifts. But let’s be honest, we’re poor. Or, more accurately, we have far less money than ever before.

But what makes this year a truly great Valentine’s Day is that I have two Valentines.

Chris said goodbye to me very early this morning, so I spent the majority of the day with my mini-Valentine. After his morning nap, we were able to go for a really nice walk with the dog at the park. It was so nice out that I was able to wear shorts and a T-shirt. As it turns out, I am pretty pale after a long, cold couple of months.

After his afternoon nap, I pulled out the camera to get some pictures of him in his Beatles: All You Need is Love shirt. As soon as I pulled out the camera, he gave me this face:

 

And then this one:

And then he enjoyed some dried Apricots:

When Chris got home, we ran to the grocery store to pick up some steak (yes, we only eat it on holidays, or when my parents buy it for us) and other goodies. This is where Chris volunteered to go get me some flowers, but I explained that, although flowers are great, it doesn’t really mean as much when I’m standing right there while they are being purchased. So I told him that what I really wanted was a People magazine and a Diet Dr. Pepper. I’m a simple girl.

And after a short walk around the block as a family, I got a couple of great shots with my little man, including this one of him doing his new favorite thing—clapping.

And yes, that is a brownie mix in the background. It is a holiday, after all.

Sleep

I really can’t complain too much about being a sleepless mom. Miles takes really great naps twice a day, and if I’m feeling tired, I take a nap, too. I do this even if I’m not truly tired because I know that when I have my next baby, there will be a little toddler to look after instead of taking a nap. And at night, when Miles does wake up to eat, it only takes about 10 minutes from the time I hear him wake-up to the time I am back in bed. But it would be nice to lay down at night knowing that I won’t have to get up until the morning.

And so I was looking forward to his 9-month check-up on Wednesday, and not just because he wasn’t getting any shots this time. Just a little prick to draw some blood. And because Miles is now eating solids really well on top of the breast milk 6 times a day (still twice a night!), he managed to gain about three pounds since his weight check in December!

This was what I was waiting for. I knew that by about 9 months, most babies are sleeping through the night and that it’s okay to stop nursing them if they haven’t gotten there yet. Of course I didn’t want to stop feeding him if the doctor was still worried about his weight gain. So after she gave me the green light, I felt such a huge elation. And then I just happened to mention that I think I produce a lot more milk at night. Ooops.

“Well,” she said, “some babies still need to eat at about 4 or 5 in the morning.”

So close!

But that meant that I wouldn’t be feeding him if he woke up before then. Just letting him cry. Or going in there to comfort him if I felt like he would calm down without nursing.

Miles has been fairly inconsistent with his night feedings. He has slept through the night a handful of times. Then he went back to waking up three times. Then once. Then twice. I never know when I go to sleep at night how long I have until he will wake up.

But after the appointment, Chris and I decided that if Miles woke up before 4 am, we would just let him cry himself back to sleep. The same way we let him cry when we were trying to help him learn how to fall asleep for nap times. I really dreaded this when we went to bed that night. I was pretty sure that I would have to go in there to hold him because I HATE to listen to him upset, especially if I could be sleeping. Selfish, I know.

But Miles decided that he would go ahead and sleep until 4.

And then the last night he decided that he would sleep until 5:30. And then slept in until 8 am after that!

Of course, because I am putting this out there in the universe, he will wake up five times tonight. And Chris is going back to working nights tonight. Yea!

Miles: 9 months

No, he is not crawling. In fact, until about a week ago that he didn’t seem all that interested in crawling at all. He was perfectly content to sit on the ground or lay on his back playing with toys. But then he started to notice that there were other toys that were just out of reach that were, in fact, cooler than the one in his hand. But rather than moving his way to the toy, he would cry for me to give it to him.

And then he REALLY started rolling around. Yes, he has been able to roll for a while, but this past week has been totally different. Let’s just say that I vacuum a lot more now because he ends up in every corner of the room. Oh, and I also vacuum just in case someone decides that they want to come look at our house. Never going to happen.

In attempts to crawl, he will get up on his hands and knees, but then takes a nosedive to the ground. Luckily, most times it doesn’t end in a crying session. But sometimes it does.

In the past month we also added a high chair. We had been feeding him in his Bumbo chair sitting on the counter, but he started to get too wriggly. So now he gets strapped in. This picture was while Chris was feeding him some Butternut squash. Those pesky hands are always rubbing food everywhere.

Like I mentioned yesterday, Miles has had a cold/cough for over a week now; I am hoping this is why he is acting more fussy, but I’m starting to think that he is just more clingy. I get emails from a website every week to let me know what my baby should be going, and they seem to be saying that this is the time when my baby might be feeling a bit of separation anxiety. The problem is that Miles is never separated from me. He just wants to be held. Don’t get me wrong—I LOVE to snuggle my baby on the couch for 30 minutes before naptime—it’s just that occasionally there are other things I need to be doing.

But I would do anything for this face:

Even if it means getting less done. You know what they say, less is more.