October 11
Stephen has started laughing while tilting his head back for effect. It’s rather amusing. He also now has started laughing with his nose. He kind of scrunches it up and then breathes in and out of his nose. We wondered if he’d start doing that since we both know children who do it.
He also really loves his tongue right now. He seems to have it out ½ the time when he’s playing. His poor little chin is getting red and pimpley. I try to keep it dry but it doesn’t last long—his tongue is right back out and he’s making noises and spitting again. :(
October 9
Stephen slapped the top of my hand two times with his hand so I did the same to him. He pulled his hand out and did it again. So did I. Then he slapped it just once and I followed suit. It was fun little game.
October 7
Today he started tilting his head to the side to look at us and smile. He does it a ton—it’s so cute!
October 6
So the whole barricading him in the family room with boxes thing has become an arms race. As soon as we figure out a new configuration to keep him safe in just a few days he’s figured a way out of it. We are going to have to start stacking 2 boxes high now because Stephen has figured out how to get on top of the boxes as well as on top of all of his books! It freaks me out because he could take a head first dive onto the tile (which he did once but fortunately had enough sense to use his arms and hands to break his fall).
October 3
Stephen now uses the toy bin to stand up and then he tips the toy bin over to get all of his toys out. So much for letting him have only a few toys out at a time.
September 28
Stephen LOVES books! This kid really enjoys being read to. He has sat on my lap and looked at books with me since he was about one month old. When he was really little like that it wouldn’t last very long but as he got older he would sit for longer. Now he looks at books by himself but loves it most when we read to him. He smiles when we read to him and sometimes cries if we stop too soon. There are certain books that he really likes. Dr. Suess seems to be his favorite—I think it’s the very obvious rhythm. His favorite right now is the ABC book by Suess “Big A, little A. What begins with A? Aunt Annie’s alligator. A . . .a . . .A.” I’ve now memorized the entire thing, of course. If he’s whining at all I can start reciting it and he quiets right down—course he likes it better if he’s looking at the pictures when he hears it ;)
September 26
So usually eating time is a big, huge mess. It starts with the first bite when he grabs the spoon and fights me for it all the time forgetting to swallow so it starts pouring out of his mouth. I started using a second spoon because he could really only remember to hold on to one at a time. So I start with the next spoon and try to get it in his mouth while he is shoving the other spoon in. If we are lucky I get cereal in his mouth and he may just swallow—but usually most of it spills out. His hands, face, clothing, hair, etc. are covered in whatever he is eating be it cereal, peas or carrots. Well for some reason he just up and stopped. I mean I went to give him his first bite and he didn’t take the spoon he just ate. I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. I thought it was a fluke but nope, he has been eating like a big boy for a couple days now. Meal time ain’t so bad ;)
September 25
Today he stood on his tippy toes to get some paper out of a box. We put a book on top of the paper so he couldn’t get at anything and he found a way to dig deep and lift the book! Then he got frustrated and started whining. That’s been his usual routine now for sometime.
September 22
Wow, what a big developmental day!!!! Stephen has been rocking and getting up on his knees and maybe even doing it once but that’s been it. He goes back to scooting. Well today he crawled across the room! Then if that weren’t enough, he pulled himself up on the boxes again and then began cruising from box to box. He does really well. He even got to the point where he only had to hold on with one hand and still keep balanced. Then he stood at a box and started pushing it and using it as a walker. Holy Cow—he’s only 7months!!!! And to top it off, I was giving him kisses on either cheek over and over and when I was done he gave me the classic baby-open-mouth-kiss on my cheek a couple of times. So cute!
Stephen’s a big boy now, he is in his very own crib!
September 19
Stephen is drinking out of a cup! He’s doing pretty well. Sure he’s always wet down his front but he is still getting some down his throat ;)
September 18
Today he pulled himself up on his bed enough that his head and arms were over the top. Guess we really HAVE to get a crib now.
September 16
Today he pushed himself into a sitting position from a scooting position. Course when he did it he hit his head—he’ll get better at it ;)
September 15
We have him all boxed in and he pushes the boxes occasionally with his hand or head. Sometimes he reaches up and pulls stuff off of the boxes. Well today he pulled himself up on the box to a semi standing position! Wow!
September 6
He has mastered object permanence! He had shown signs earlier but it is definitely for real now. It has to do with the air-conditioning micro-ducting vents. He loves them. I mean LOVES them. He can put the vent cover off of a few of them and he gets more air that way. Anyway, we put up a box barricade to keep him from going down the stairs and hitting his head on the tile again. We have blocked off one of his favorite vents this way. Well he scoots over there and is constantly trying to figure out how to move the boxes to get the vent. Then he looks to his right and sees the other vent in the corner and realizes that’s much easier and takes off. He also sees the same vent covers in our bedroom and knows exactly what it is and stars at them in the kitchen while we are eating. If he’s looking at something and I want his attention I hide the thing he’s looking at and instead of looking at me he just looks where the object has gone hoping I’ll bring it back.
Oh and the other love of his life are black cords. Cords of all types and thicknesses—he thinks they are the greatest thing ever and we can’t seem to keep him away from our computer cords—try as we may.
He’s become rather clingy lately. He wines a lot and climbs into my lap. He also seems to choose me over Dan often. I think we are getting a little separation anxiety. We’re going to have to work on this one!
September 5
We added peas after a taste test Dan and I did last night. Gerber peas taste like baby food and Earth’s Best taste like peas—go figure. We also added bananas. I think he hated bananas more than the peas. He made funny faces with both but the grimace was worse with the bananas.
September 2
Started today with vegetables! He had green beans for the first time. He made lots of faces but he ate about 8 bites so I guess we are on our way.
September 1
This week has been amazing—he has figured out forward scooting and is getting very good at it. He’s scooting onto the tile and is minutes away from the stairs—we’re actually going to have to do something about it now. In addition, he has also figured out that he loves the air-conditioning vents. Weird.
August 24
Well he’s figured out how to go forward but he forgets so he just stays in place a lot and get very frustrated.
August 20
Today we gave him solids! I mixed up the rice cereal (probably just a tablespoon worth) and warmed it a bit and put him in his bumbo at the table with a new white bib. I wondered how he would take it all. We started and he did pretty well, by the end of it he was a pro! Opening his mouth and clamping down on the spoon and even swallowing! Very little got spit out. He grabbed the spoon, of course, and put it in his mouth and tried to eat more off of it. He smiled the whole time so I think he likes it. Yeah!!! He ate it all so I think we’ll try the same amount tomorrow with a little extra.
Stephen is just figuring out that scooting backwards isn’t what he wants to do so he’s pretty frustrated but figuring out how to lunge forward. Looks like he’ll be crawling or at least scooting forward soon!
August 19
Stephen has officially rolled over from back to front! Yeah! It took him a little while longer than it should have just because we never let him lay on his back because of the reflux. He seems to not be spitting up as much as he used to and I have been feeding him differently which has helped too.
August 10
Today when scooting backwards he got up on all fours as usual but this time he added he feet and forced himself forward!
August 3
OK he’s been doing a ton of stuff and I keep forgetting to type all. We all went down to the Pediatrician’s office. Stephen now weighs 18lbs 6 oz.! Dr. Mumford told us to throw away the feeding spreadsheet ;) So he’s in the 75th percentile in weight and the 50th in everything else. He’s also doing super well in his development. The doctor was very pleased and said he is a super happy and healthy baby boy. Yea!
August 5
Stephen’s not feeling so hot today. Well, to be honest, that is the problem, he is hot. He has a slight temperature and just isn’t himself. He was still smiley but was more tired and less energetic. It was extra hard on him because we went to Paul and Stephanie’s wedding at the SLC temple and then their reception in
His new thing is to suck on his bottom lip and make noises and drool when he does it. I think it’s hilarious. He also sticks his tongue out more. He especially sticks his tongue out when he is done eating—it’s his new way of telling me. It’s so nice not to have to be so stressed about his eating—I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders—all of a sudden it’s not so hard to be a mom. Of course that may all change when we try to introduce solids.
Other developmental stuff: About a week ago he stood by himself holding on to the table. He’s been playing with his toes lately—especially when he has socks on. He loves sticking things in his mouth and his new thing is to really push hard when the thing is too big to go in. A few days ago I put him on my shoulders and walked into the bathroom so he could see himself. He looked at himself and smiled and then did something really odd he slowly looked down and to the side to see me. I looked up and had a hard time making eye contact because of positioning. Then he looked in the mirror again and smiled and then looked down at me, this time I made eye contact and smiled and he did too—I think that’s pretty amazing!
When we were at GWC a week ago Dan was watching Stephen and did something to make Stephen laugh and it made Dan laugh too. Well they had a laughing match for about 4 minutes until both of them were too tired. Dan said it was awesome.
It is such a joy to be with Stephen because he’s such a happy and smiley baby. He makes friends so easily. Whoever sits behind us in church gets a lot of smiles and always have to make comments about it. Wherever we take him—if people make eye contact and smile so does he. Some people he smiles at more than others but overall everyone seems to be drawn to him. I wonder if he is going to make friends this easily throughout his life.
When we were flying home from AZ we were sitting on the plane and I had him turned so he could see people coming on the plane. He liked doing that before when we flew out to AZ. Then when people look at him he can smile back at them. Anyway this time we sat in the Isle seat and someone sat in the window seat. But the plane was completely full so at some point a woman chose to sat in the middle. As soon as she sat down Stephen turned from his job standing and smiling and sat down and smiled at this woman trying to make eye contact with her. Well she was preoccupied and didn’t see him at first so he just kept looking and smiling at her. Finally she saw him but didn’t smile back. It was interesting to see his little mind work—he was pretty stumped. Well I decided that she was no fun so he turned back to his old job and entertained the other side of the plane for the entire ride.
Usually if he wants someone’s attention he smiles in their direction, if they don’t look at him and smile back he gets a little testy and starts to really get noisy trying to get their attention saying a really guttural “Ach!” This has gotten him in trouble. He and I went to lunch with Jodie and Maggie. Maggie was looking at him but not smiling. Stephen kept smiling and trying to talk with her, she wasn’t paying much attention so he did his loud “Ach!” and made her cry. She doesn’t do well with loud noises. L
He used to really laugh when I did fake sneezes but he’s kind of tired of them. So we started doing some other things that make him laugh. Like making the sound PPPPPPPP or PP PP with our lips and he thinks that’s pretty funny. Just today he started laughing when I made a dramatic breath in and then paused before achooing.
July 23
This morning when he was in his little swing and Grandpa Earl came over to see him he started arching his back to signal “get me out and hold me!” but Grandpa said, “oh look he’s stretching.” He’s been doing that arching thing more and more today. He’s finally figured out there is a way to signal people to pick him up.
July 17
He’s been really good with Cameron, laughing and smiling.
July 16
He loves jumping so we got him a jumping thing and he did OK I think he’s going to love it more and more if we keep using it. When you hold him on your lap he always springs up because he loves standing but now he bounces while he standing. He just loves jumping.
July 2007 (at mom and dad earl’s)
He has loved swimming! He kicks in the water and has such a great time. Sometimes when I hold him around the torso and lower him in the water a bit he kicks and moves his arms like he’s swimming. I feel like I could just let go and he’d take off J But most of time he just enjoys the water. When I give him a bath, he loves to kick and water goes everywhere! He started spitting and blowing bubbles and smacking his lips. So cute!
July 8
Mom asked me to help her with the table cloth and told me to go have Dad hold the baby. Stephen had just woken up and I took him into Grandpa and asked him to hold Stephen. As I handed Stephen over he turned into me and didn’t want to go to Grandpa. It was the first time I’d ever noticed him doing that. I just handed him over and he got used to it. But ever since then he definitely chooses whether or not he wants to go to someone or stay with mamma.
July 2007
He LOVES to play “where is Stephen?” I do the usual thing: cover his head with a cloth and he already starts smiling and when I pull off the cloth and say “There he is!” he gets super smiley. When I clap he always has to put his hands on the outside of mine and clap with me. He loves to hear “This is the way the Ladies ride” and will smile real big just hearing the words
June 17
Today he said his first word—it was extremely clear—Dan and I both looked at each other and wondered—“wow, did he really say that?!” After Dan and I finished speaking about something he turned and said, “Ha-Ha” J
June 13
We got him a play center (gym) and he was so cute with it today. He grabbed things and looked at his reflection in the little mirror. I took a bunch of pictures—way cute! Here’s a little not so cute thing he did today. I was giving him a bath and he wizzed in the water. Now this happens rather regularly so I just pick him up and empty the sink and start over again. Well today he did it 3 times!!!!!! I was beggining to get a little testy. If I wasn’t such a good mom I’d just make him soak in it!
June 7
He has this little round rattle that he likes to play with. He had it in his right hand and he reached over with his left and grabbed the other side and ripped it right out of his right hand. So we have a little switch off!
June 4
He’s doing so much better on the higher dose of medication. The nurse called and gave me permission to go ahead and do it—we’ll see if this helps. Also, today when I lay Stephen down on a little incline to get his swaddle ready he rolled over. It happened twice! He can’t do it from a flat position but I’m sure it’s only a time thing ;)
June 2
I read a bunch of things online about reflux—there are a ton of forums of moms just like me. It’s so nice to know there are others who have dealt with the same problems and know how I’m feeling. It’s terrible seeing the little baby you love so dearly scream in pain. All those moms talked about the dose their kids were on—it is double what Stephen is on so I’ll call the pediatrician on Monday to see if we can up it.
June 1
This isn’t a good thing, but it’s best to record everything. Today Stephen’s reflux started acting up—really bad. He would scream after every feed. He doesn’t sleep well. It’s driving me absolutely batty. I think it’s his meds (can I tell you how annoying it is that I actually use this term—I never thought I’d be putting a child on a daily medication)—he needs to be on a higher dose.
May 28
We’ve been laying him on his tummy for his tummy time—he hates it. He cries the whole time, nearly. Today in the midst of his crying he was kicking with his feet and put one arm in front of the other and pushed and did a little scoot across his blanket! (update: today [may 29] I put him on the blanket that Damian made him for tummy time and he didn’t cry for a while. I think he really enjoyed looking at all the cowboy hats and books.
May 26
He has been pulling himself up trying to sit up. Today, I had him on my lap and I held his legs and let him try to pull himself up. I started him at about a 45 degree angle and he kind of hovered there and came up a bit and then dropped down to about an 80 degree angle and then came right up to a sitting position! He’s got the muscle.
May 25
We’ve been putting toys in his hands and he inadvertently brings them to his mouth sometimes hitting himself in the face. Today though, he saw the toy and reached for it, grabbed it and brought it to his mouth.
May 23
He acted ticklish today. I started tickling him and he held his breath until I was done and then smiled.
May 21
Stephen stared for a good 20 minutes at his mobile. I set it up using a box since we don’t have a crib. I’m glad I did—he really likes it.
May 19
Stephen laughed today. Not just a silly noise, no, it was a full on laugh—so cute! I was giving him raspberries on his tummy and then popping up and saying “hi” and he smiled and goo’d and then it built up so much he just had to laugh ;)
April 23
Stephen found his feet today. He was sitting on my tummy leaned up against my legs as I lay on the couch. And all of a sudden he looked down and studied with great intent . . . his feet! It kept him occupied for nearly 10 minutes.
I decided to start this Day to Day updated so I could remember all the developmental achievements and cute things that Stephen is going to do. I probably should have started it a little earlier since he’s 2.5 months nearly, but this whole nursing/feeding fiasco has kept me from doing little else. We’re going to start weaning him from the very little he gets from me and go on the formula entirely. It’s a sad thing for me to do, but I know it’s probably the best for him. The most we ever got from me was about 1.5 oz in each breast—but it was fluke more than anything since we never reached that point again. The whole thing with feeding every 2-3 hours, pumping and using a lact-aid, etc while sterilizing in the interim is making me a little crazy. But more than that, this has been emotionally draining. All these years I have dreamed about having a baby and getting to bond with that baby as I nursed them. I never thought I’d be shaking up formula in a bottle for my baby when I know mother’s milk is the best. I read this online and it totally helped me, “I’m not a bad mother because I feed my baby formula. I would be a bad mother if I knew he needed formula and I wouldn’t give it to him.” I know it’s a simple thing, but it really helped me deal with this ordeal.
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