He has also outgrown his bouncy seat that I usually put him in while I shower. He used to just sit back, hang out and I could take a nice long shower. Now, hes sitting up and trying to fall out of the seat. He is grabbing everything in sight and I am afraid that one day he will lean too far forward, causing him to flip both him and the seat.
Favorite toys: Currently he has a couple of favorite toys. Usually he likes anything that makes noise or plays music. He loves his fisher price puppy and his leap frog play center. I dont have the legs of the play center on the toy as of yet so he just leans over it and either hits the drum or presses all the buttons.
Crawling: He's not crawling yet but he is rocking. He will sit and rock back and forth. He also is on his tummy now all the time, especially in his crib, which has made nap time difficult. He still enjoys grabbing your hand and pulling up, so that he is standing. However, once he gets to that position, hes not quite sure what do.
Sleep: Going to sleep at night has been better. Either I am nursing him to sleep or he is going on his own (if his music box is on). Currently his music box is out of batteries and so most of the time I have been nursing him to sleep. As far as staying asleep... he is still up. But I will cross that bridge in the summer when I have full control over his naps.
Solids: We are officially on 3 meals a day! He had eggs (yokes) over the weekend and he loved them. I am waiting to give him egg whites until after I talk to his pediatrician. There have been lots of allergy studies recently and many are now saying that parents don't have to wait until he is one to try high allergy foods. I have been giving him baby oatmeal for breakfast as well, usually mixed with watered down pears or baby apple juice (if he is constipated). For lunch he usually gets a fruit and for dinner, I am giving him the jar dinners. My reasoning for the jar dinners was to see the consistency and different flavors that they blend together. He hasn't had too many spices but once I start making his dinners, I plan to add spices. I do add cinnamon to his morning oatmeal and he loves it. So far the only food hes not loving right now are peas and blueberries.
Dairy-Free : I am no longer dairy free!!! Over the last week I have slowly incorporated dairy back into my diet. He hasn't had a reaction (though a bit more gassy) and so by 9 months I plan to be 100% un-dairy-free. It feels great to be able to eat cheese, yogurt, waffles and butter again. I will talk to his pediatrician next week to find out when I can start feeding him yogurt and cheese.
Breastfeeding: I have been trying to cut the nursing sessions shorter at night by using the pantley pull-off. I have discussed this before but this is where you unlatch them after they are flutter sucking. If they route again for the nipple, you give it back to them but count to 10 and try again. Usually it takes 3-4 tries before he gives up and stays unlatched. Some nights however, it doesn't work and I have gone as far as trying to switch out my nipple of a paci. He will spit out the paci and dive for my chest. As I stated previously, I am going to adjust nights once I have full control of his daytime napping schedule.
Cloth Diapers: Diapering has been going well except for nighttime. He still soaks through his diapers at night (even with the hemp soaker). I have thought about adding more soakers but then they are so bulky, it leaves gaps on his legs. I am thinking of doing disposable at night, just until he starts sleeping more (and eating less) at night.
Work: Work has been going well and we are officially on Spring Break. However, we just got 3 inches of snow, its cold and there is not a flower in sight. It really does not feel one bit like Spring. Yesterday I held a papermaking class for my students, and the ones that showed up loved it. There are officially 6 more weeks of labs left and the end of the semester cant come any faster!
