Walking with the Cooks: Happy 8 months, Josiah!

This month has been full of adventure for our J-man. He has started crawling, is eating a variety of purees, and having fun playing with Sarah. We're 2/3 of the way to one year- hard to believe!

Weight: on 12/10 he was 23 lbs 10 oz with a diaper and onesie on
Length: ?
Head: ?
Diaper: size 4 and cloth
Clothing: 12 and 18 month, Shoe: size 4

Likes: being on the floor, kisses, eating, playing with the window shade over his changing table (we have to pull it up for every diaper change), sitting up, trying to eat a sippy cup, playing with Sarah's toys, chewing on cords and shoe strings (he has an eagle eye for both of these when he hits the floor crawling)

Dislikes: the jumper (his first true love leaves him pretty dissatisfied these days), teething, peas

Schedule: Here is what we aim for. This month we haven't gotten anywhere close, it seems, but it helps to have a goal. I really do believe that regularity is best for Josiah and our family, but we try to be flexible and take what we can get on the challenging days. He took lots of short naps this month and subsequently went back to five feedings a day a few times each week. This also means that his third nap is a necessity (at least to try for).

7 am: Wake and nurse/cereal

7-8 am: Wake time
8-11am: Nap
11am: Wake and nurse/vegetable
11-12 pm: Wake time
12-3 pm: Nap
3 pm: Wake and nurse/cereal and vegetable
3-4:30 pm: Wake time
4:30-6 pm: Nap
6-7 pm: Wake time
7 pm: Nurse and down for bed

Sleeping: Still not Josiah's strongest area through any given day, but I think he probably is improving. Over the last few days he has taken decent 2nd and 3rd naps. We are considering going ahead with his big move upstairs so that he will be less affected by the garage door, back door, and laundry. As it is, we are on pins and needles as Dave is leaving for work, because more often than not Josiah wakes up as Dave is backing out of the driveway. We'll see what the next month holds!

Eating: Little man loves his meal times and has only found one nemesis when it comes to eating . . . peas. He is still nursing well 4-5 times a day and we are continuing to build a deep milk reserve in the freezer. Praise the Lord! After his first three meals of the day we feed him solids (which, of course, are pretty soupy, and more accurately still liquids). So far he has had, as purees, and in this order: rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado, squash, and peas. We generally steam, puree, and freeze the veggies in ice cube trays. At meal time I simply microwave a couple of cubes, thin and cool with some milk from the fridge, and he is ready to go. Since Christmas he has been loving some puffs. It didn't take him long to perfect his fine motor skills when a little snack was on the line!

Moving: We officially have a sitter and a crawler. He is pretty stable now sitting up and enjoys it as a rest after a good bout of activity. We have been somewhat intentional in talking to his pediatrician about ways we can help him develop the core strength and muscle tone that were part of Sarah's barrier for walking. Her advice was to have him do as much tummy time as possible and to do lots of reaching from the sitting position. We are thankful that he loved tummy time and it is good to see him reaching now! You can find a video of him crawling here. That really took us a bit by surprise, as he went from scooting to crawling overnight.

Talking: I haven't seen much verbal change this month, just the same sweet laughs, grunts, and buzzing.

Teething: He has his bottom two teeth fully in now and is definitely working on another in some form or fashion. Right now he has a drool rash on his bottom lip, the likes of which I have never seen. Paired with some pain and fussiness, I am confident I can blame teething. Once this week I found him awake from his nap happily gnawing on one of the vertical slats of his crib.

Fun facts:

- We have started correcting him over putting his hands in the heating system (can't burn him, but generally not a good practice) and "motor boating" when he gets full while we are feeding him.
- He and Sarah can really play together a little now that he is crawling. She is very sweet to intentionally play with him :)
- He had a mean spot of eczema on his little bum that is healing nicely.
- He has taken a couple of big boy baths in the big boy tub with Sarah. My parents gave him one on 12/26 and I bathed them together on 1/1.
- Josiah is already the proud owner of a convertable carseat. He's growing so fast!
- Especially at night, he often sleeps on his side . . . and never where we put him down.
- He likes to strike a pose while playing that we like to call "beach babe." Even Sarah calls him on it. See pictures below.

Next appointment: Monday, February 4, 2013, 10:20am