Truly cruisin'

James has been moving along furniture for a couple of weeks now (and I have tons of video to post of it but am seriously behind on posting). Yet he hadn't mastered his ability to get around an outside right angle. Earlier this week he did it on the music table Alison let us borrow which is short and has softly rounded corners. Yesterday he did it around the coffee table.
James is now officially cruising!

Camping- Part two (back from July)

The first night at Hurricane campground I wasn't sure what to dress James in since it was quite warm still- somewhere in the mid- to upper 70s when he went to bed. I had asked the campground host how cold it had been getting at night and she said down into the upper 50s...which made me hesitate when dressing him. But since it was warm I put on his normal long-sleeved pajamas and cotton sleepsack (what he normally wears to bed at home when we keep the house at 78). However, by the time Tim and I went to bed it was getting noticeably cooler and we wondered if he would be warm enough. But you know what they say 'NEVER wake a sleeping baby', so we went to bed and hoped for the best. When 3:30 am rolled around I felt Tim prodding me and he asked if I thought we should check on James because it had become COLD. Tim and I were under a down comforter (yes, we were definitely not roughing it on our queen blow-up mattress and comfy linens) and I was just warm enough. Just then James woke up crying and since I knew it wasn't because he was hungry I assumed it was because he was too cold to stay asleep- so into our bed he came and snuggled and nursed to clam him down and because he was definitely not going to just lie by me without that benefit (sigh, this is why I could never sleep with a baby).

The next night as I was getting him ready for bed I laid him on our air bed and gave him his liquid vitamin. Big mistake. He had eaten a huge dinner- chicken & stars, yogurt and pureed fruit. When he swallows the vitamin is sometimes causes him to gag a bit and this time the gagging turned into his first real vomiting episode. Poor little guy had it even coming out his nose. It pretty much looked like his entire dinner. So first I cleaned him up and then I cleaned up the duvet (as far as vomit goes this one wasn't so bad- that particular combination of foods smelled EXACTLY like Kraft macaroni and cheese- which was fortuitous as that was the smell we slept under for the next 3 nights instead of bile). Thinking his stomach was empty I offered him a bottle of formula but he refused it. So I assumed he must have some food still in there.
I then put two pairs of socks, two pajama tops, one pajama pants and one fleece pants, and his sleep sack on. Of course he was sweating profusely with all these layers on but I knew it was going to get cold again so I finished nursing him and put him to bed. Took him a while to get to sleep- most likely because he was too hot. By the time Tim and I went to bed it was getting a bit chilly so I snuck into James' PeaPod and slipped a zip-up hoodie on him as well to keep his head warm.
This time he slept till about 4:15 and woke up- I knew he wasn't cold but was most likely hungry since his dinner had all come out. So again into the bed with us he came.
The last two nights he did great-sleeping on his own until 6am. It was wonderful pulling him into bed with us to snuggle first thing in the morning.

The other thing I loved was having our beach tent (a BugHut) which is basically all mesh set up as his play area. It allowed us to see him and him us while he played and we got things done. We set it up first thing out of the car so that he could safely play while we finished setting up camp and then he was in it the following days while we cooked meals. I'd highly recommend families with small kids having one of these as a portable playroom while camping.

The only equipment that I brought to make camping with a baby easier that DIDN'T work was his red clip-on highchair. I had thought it would be perfect to attach to a picnic table and it would if the picnic table had been normal but the one at the campsite had a 5 INCH THICK top. Thankfully I had also put in the Snazzy baby seat and that worked perfectly on the camping chair for meal times.

When we got the tent set up and the air mattress ready for bed I let James loose in the tent to explore. He LOVED crawling up onto the mattress.

Sweet baby James is 9 months old today

James is now 23 lbs 6 oz. (90%), 30.75 inches (93%) and his head is 19 inches (93%). So he is finally slowing down on the weight gain and my back is very thankful for this.

This is the first time James stood up in his crib and he is thrilled.

Having a ladder in the bedroom is a great distraction for a baby while you get ready in the morning!

So far James has eaten:
eggs scrambled with scallions, cheddar and black pepper in browned butter; black bean and beef chili with rice (too spicy); Irish oatmeal; Mango sorbet; guacamole; refried beans; and of course, hummus. He is eating more finger foods including: strawberry, cereal-fruit bars, toast with peanut butter, toast with melted cheese, peaches, plums, blueberries, and nectarines.

Finally finished painting my mom's highchair. Much easier to feed James face on rather than from the side.

He has learned to cruise along furniture and pull up on anything and everything stable. After learning how to stand up on a wall or other straight incline (like the fridge) he discovered in our bathroom that he can now explore the toilet paper roll!

Before James could really crawl he would just sit happily in the bathroom while we'd shower and play with his toys, then as soon as he could crawl he'd be up against the glass trying to get in with us. One day I put him on the bathroom floor without realizing the doors were open and he made a dash.

He has practiced the "ssschhhhhzzzz" sound which is very cute except when he does it with food in his mouth and then I become very messy. This morning he dropped something and said "uh, oh!" but then growled right afterward so I don't know if it was intentional or just a fluke.

Diaper changing has become quite the challenge and battle of wills between him and I- with me winning 9 times out of 10. I think he just wants to explore all the things on the changing table behind his head but it sure does make changing a diaper go from a quick 30 second task to a 2 minute ordeal. It doesn't help that I changed him to those cloth diapers last month as they take a bit longer than a disposable to get on properly.

The first picture was taken when James was 3 weeks old and wearing a small, the second was taken around 7 and half months and wearing a large.

Just today he waved to me while in his highchair and I thought he was finally waving- as in "Hi!" or "Bye!" which we have been practicing for over a month now and he hadn't really done it yet. But then I realized that he was most likely doing a one-handed "All Done" in sign language. FINALLY. This is going to be great because he also started blowing out his food when he doesn't want to eat anymore- so I can now encourage him even more to use the sign instead of the messy raspberries.
This month he hasn't gotten anymore teeth- thank goodness.

Those Mongolian birthmarks are still holding fast.

He is still taking his two naps a day and more often than not he is taking at least one of those long and has a higher ratio of days when both naps are an hour and a half.
His nursing had gone down to a steady 4- first thing in the morning, before each nap and just before bed. But just a few days ago I dropped the evening nursing in favor of a bottle as I get to go on a 3 night girls weekend at the end of August and I am trying to transition James to a bottle so that Tim can feed him while I am gone. I'm not giving up nursing completely- just that evening one- and will have to pump while I am gone. But I can't wait to go! I'm sure I will miss James and him me, but it will be very refreshing to sleep as much as I want, chat with adults and know that Tim and James are getting some wonderful time together.

It was a busy month with a trip to North Carolina, a sleepover with Elsa, outings to the zoo, botanical gardens, and the pool. Playing in the fountain at the Botanical Gardens.

He is starting to point to facial features on me and Tim- especially the eyes and nose. He has also begun to give me what I think are supposed to be kisses but end up with my cheek covered in slimy drool- but as there is no biting involved I can only surmise that he is kissing me. His biting has begun to abate- thank goodness! But I have noticed that when he gets overly tired and frustrated that he will lunge at the item closest to him and attack it with those 6 sharp teeth.
Overall, James continues to be a very happy and flexible baby. His own mind and decisions are definitely starting to become apparent- when we take away something he was interested in (but isn't all that safe), or when I swipe my finger through his mouth for the 20th time that day to figure out what he put in this time, or when he is done eating peas. It can be frustrating for both him and me but I love that he is thinking about things and making choices for himself. I think he'll be stubborn like his daddy and me.

ahh, they don't know I got the remote!

Good Morning!

No more mobile

James learned to stand up in his crib last week.

Then he discovered he could turn around.

And reach for those animals that have been taunting him for the past 8 months.

Those little fingers with their strong grip made contact.

Wouldn't let go.

And he was pleased.

Happy.

Gleeful.

Thrilled!

Ecstatic!

First family camping trip- Part 1: Uncle Matt's

James got to eat at his great-grandmother's kitchen table which my brother now uses.

James sitting with Uncle Matt wearing one of Matt's jumpers that my mother saved for the past 36 years for just this sort of occasion.

When contemplating what to do for a vacation this summer we realized it was the first one where we were a family rather than a couple and taking James into account made a huge difference in the options available to us. We finally decided that camping could be a wonderful family vacation- one that both of us did with our families when we were little. After discussing the many places we could go we settled on Hurricane Campground in Jefferson National Forest just across the border of NC into VA. Since the campground is first come first served we decded to prevail upon my brother, Matt, in Blowing Rock, NC for the first two nights (July 3rd and 4th) thinking that the holiday weekend probably had the campground filled to the max.
While at Matt's we discovered that James can accidentally end up UNDER the blowup mattress pad of his PeaPod. This was quite a shock to us- me in particular. I had put him to bed awake like normal and he went to sleep without much fuss, but later in the evening Blowing Rock celebrated the 4th with early fireworks (on Saturday night) and the huge booms kept waking James. Tim and I were watching a movie and heard James wake up several times fussing and one time REALLY screeching/crying but they were all for such short bursts that I didn't go in. Once we finally went to bed in the dark as to not wake up James (we were all sleeping in Matt's spare room) I asked Tim to just peek into James' tent while I shined the flashlight to make sure he was okay. Tim looked....and looked...and then said 'what's this?' pointing to the mattress pad that was elevated. I looked in horror to see that James was UNDER the mattress. My stomach sank and I felt like I was going to puke. Thankfully Tim kept his cool- quickly unzipping the PeaPod and lifting the mattress to see James curled up under it. I was shining the flashlight at him and it washed out his skintone so I in my panicked mind thought he was looking pale from not breathing, Tim lifted him out and back on top of the mattress- and in that my mind everything was going in slow motion- but James didn't stir even with the flashlight beaming him and even being moved. Ack. But a second later James made some sort of sound and the tears started streaming for me. I got into bed and just said over and over through tears of relief- 'Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you....' to God for protecting my precious babe. Poor little guy must have been scared being trapped under the mattress and that was why he had screeched. Next time I won't assume it is the fireworks!

You can see all the temptations on the left side-not many stayed on the shelf once James was done exploring.

James enjoyed pulling all of Matt's meticulously arranged DVDs and video games off the lower shelves (and I think put tooth marks into one before I could get it away from him). And he could get to all these treasures more quickly than I would have guessed because he also decided to start actually crawling. The first night when I blew up our queen air mattress James looked at it and without a moments hesitation climbed up on it and CRAWLED on hands and knees in a sprint to the outlet on the far wall behind the pillows. That was the beginning of a very fast moving James.
We stayed Saturday and Sunday nights with Matt (both evenings having dinner at Matt's Outback and having some specialty dishes he created and which we thoroughly enjoyed and shared with James - crab, lobster, scallops, etc) and headed out Monday morning to Hurricane Campground- less than a two hour drive north.