We had plans to go to Vashon for Christmas so we decided to do our own little Christmas at home on Christmas Eve so we didn't have to take all of our presents with us. We only really bought Tom one present since he has so many toys already. He loves the little activity table we bought him. And of course he loved playing with all the wrapping and especially the bows and ribbons.
We went to the Roberts Christmas Eve Dinner and had a great time seeing everyone. Then we went over to my parents house on Vashon to stay the night. Christmas morning we opened presents with my family. He loved playing around with his cousin Lena and loved all his new toys.
Tom even got to try some Christmas dinner. I blended his roast potatoes and asparagus together. He sort of liked it once I put some bananas in there. Next year he will get to try the real deal.
Thomas had his 9 month checkup today. The doctor said all is looking good. Here are his stats. His weight didn't go up as much, but they said that is normal when babies start to become more active. He is still pretty high on the weight percentile though.
Date
Weight
Length
Head Circumfrance
Birth
8 lbs. 11 oz.
19.7"
14"
2 Wks
9 lbs. 5 oz.
69th percentile
22"
91st percentile
15.25"
85th percentile
2 Month
12 lbs. 14.8 oz.
61st percentile
23.5"
68th percentile
16"
87th percentile
4 Month
16 lbs. 15.6 oz.
85th percentile
26.5"
92nd percentile
16.75"
55th percentile
6 Month
19 lbs. 15.8 oz.
86th percentile
29"
99th percentile
17.5"
70th percentile
9 Month
21 lbs. 9.6 oz.
68th percentile
30"
94th percentile
18"
63.5th percentile
Tom no gets to become a meat eater. I don't think Dean's ribs will be the first thing he will try like Eric wanted, but he will get some eventually.
He has had a lot of firsts this month. He had his first Thanksgiving.
He ate his first fresh fruit in one of those little mesh pops. He loved pineapple and cantaloupe, but he wasn't too sure about watermelon. It is really nice because I he can eat while I do the dishes or something in the kitchen. His first two teeth finally popped through on the bottom and I think the top two are just starting to pop through because he is getting all fussy and snotty again. He saw his first snow on the ground. He still hasn't seen it falling yet so I am not sure he knows what it was really.
He saw Santa for the first time. We went to the Santa in Wenatchee. When we went out to do a little day after Thanksgiving shopping at the mall we noticed there was a Santa and no line at all. So we went back the next day and got a picture. We wish that they had waited a second till we could get him to smile, but at least he didn't cry.
Sort of helped pick out his first Christmas Tree. We went to our favorite Christmas Tree farm near out house and Tom got to look at a bunch of trees. Then we went in and looked at all the pretty ornaments. But Eric decided he didn't want to cut down a tree this year so we bought a little tree in a pot. It is small but cute. And Tom loves it. The nice thing is that I didn't have to spend a lot of time decorating this year.
Tom had been trying to say Da Da. I can see him make the movements with his mouth after I say it but nothing comes out. Then he gives up and then says Ma Ma. He has figured out how to click his tongue. I think he is also sort of figuring out or at least attempting how to say all done in sign because we do that at the end of every meal.
He has become a lot more interactive while playing. He can roll a ball around. He also shakes his little noise makers to music. He also loves the tickle monster. He can clap his hands.
Tom is still working on crawling. He can hold up his stomach for a little while now, but he still hasn't figured out how to move forward. He can crawl backwards but that only makes him more frustrated because he is moving in the opposite direction from his goal. I guess he will figure it out eventually.
Tom has also abandoned his jumper. He no longer likes being confined. His favorite thing now is walking. He still needs lots of help, so you have to hold him with two hands, but he absolutely loves it. He will pull up on your hands to stand up and then off he goes. He even sort of runs. Eric and I both have a sore back from bending over so much, but he is so demanding that he wants to walk more that it is hard to get him to focus on anything else. I guess before you know it he will be walking on his own.
We are now trying to get play area ready for him that is baby proofed. We are getting rid of our pool table, and Tony is taking the Foosball table, and that is going to be Tom's play area. We have lots of work to do still before he really gets moving around, but he is doing pretty good sitting on his little play mats and playing with his toys. Or at least until he wants to start walking again.
Eric, Tom & I went to Leavenworth to visit the Selig's for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, all of us picked up the sniffles the day before, and then Tom picked Thanksgiving day to start teething. But other than that we had a great time.
We were hoping that Tom would get to see snow for the first time. There was no snow falling, but we got out at the top of Snoqualmie to let him look for a couple minute. I don't know if he realized there was snow, but he seemed happy to get a break from his car seat.
Tom also got to see the wild turkeys that hang around Jim & Lynn's neighborhood. And Tom had fun watching Kit & April's daughter Lanaia run around and looking forward to the day when he can play with her.
It has been another eventful month for little Tom.
He had his first Halloween and he also got to meet his cousin Ezra for the first time.
It is amazing how fast he is developing and changing. He is really falling into a routine now. He sleeps through the night pretty much every night. He eats three solid food meals a day and takes two naps a day. He is adjusting very well to being on a schedule.
He has been trying more foods. He is also getting used to the foods that he has already tried and really likes them. He tried out green beans this month and he is not a fan yet. We also started giving him little finger foods to try out. He was grabbing the spoon so much you couldn't feed him.
So the baby finger foods, which are little dissolving cereal, have been keeping his hands busy. He has gotten pretty good at getting them into his mouth. We are also seeing and feeling two little white teeth pop up on the bottom front of his mouth. So maybe after our next doctor's visit at 9 months he will be ready for little cut up mushy foods.
He is really starting to communicate now too. He finally said Ma Ma. I think he is also understanding a few of the signs we have been doing. When you either give him the sign for "bath" or if you say it he gets really excited. I think he is sort of starting to pick up on "no" but it is not very consistent. We are also working on gentle because he has really started pulling and grabbing. The cats are trying to be nice, but they have now been giving him more space because of all the grabbing and screeching with excitement.
He is moving around pretty quickly now by rolling and scooting, but he is still pretty frustrated with not being able to crawl yet.
He has spent a lot of time this month giggling and laughing. It is pretty cute. I have tried to capture it but every time I bring the camera out he just stares at the camera. I will have to do a sneak attack. Here is one of him looking through his family picture book.
Yesterday Tom said his first word. And it was Ma Ma
He has been saying Ma Ma for a while but I think it was just a sound coming out. It was usually when he was upset and screaming. But yesterday he seemed to be trying to just say the word. We would say it and he would repeat it. I would point at a picture of me and he would say it. He seemed very proud of himself. But I still wasn't convinced if he really knew what it meant.
Then today I dropped Tom off with my mom. I forgot to tell her about it in the morning. When I picked him up this afternoon I asked her if Tom showed her his new trick. She said " What, saying Ma Ma". And I said "How did you know?" She said "He was looking at pictures of you on the wall at my house and saying Ma Ma". So maybe he does know what he is saying. Either way it is enough to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
A friend of my both of my Grandmas who used to live on Vashon and now lives in Dayton Ohio, mailed my Grandma Clarice a photo of Grandma Puz that she found. It such a nice picture of when Grandma's garden was well looking so beautiful. It is Grandma exactly as I remember her.
Eric, Thomas and I also went to visit the Heritage Museum on Vashon a couple of weeks ago to see the Garden Club exhibit. Of course Grandma was in there as she had been a member since 1976.
I also thought that now that the frost has hit and all my plants are going to sleep for the winter that a garden tour might cheer up everyone. We didn't have much time to add stuff to the garden other than the vegetables and sunflowers this year. And of course all the maintenance. But are really starting to see plants fill in and enjoy the work that has been in previous years. I was so excited to see that my grandma's Naked Ladies came up and bloomed. That is what she told me the name was. I think because the stem is bare and has no leaves. Enjoy the tour!
Tom got to meet his cousin Ezra for the first time today. It was also Tom's first play time with another baby. We learned that Tom is a bit of toy stealer. He wanted to grab all the toys and not share. He also kept wanting to touch Ezra's face. So it is a bit of a learning process on the play time. Looking forward to the years ahead of seeing them grow up together. I was so thankful to have cousins my age growing up and I am so glad that Tom will have cousins his age as well. Congrats J.J. & Ashley on an adorable little boy.
We have been decorating the house for a while like always. He has gotten a kick out of looking at the lights and cobwebs. I went looking at Granny's for a Halloween costume for Tom. I found a bee costume and thought that would be perfect. My softball team went as bees last year so I had a bee costume. I also had the flower costume that I made last year to go with the bees.
We spent the weekend before Halloween over at Entiat celebrating Vansee & Eedee's birthdays and Halloween party. We also paid a visit to my softball team who was playing in a Halloween tournament in Chelan,
For Halloween night we stayed home and handed out candy. We had lots of trick-or-treaters, and everyone was excited to see Tom all dressed up. What a great Halloween.
This months has been packed full of changes and new adventures.
Tom got sick yet again this month. I am sort of tired of this routine. Although we are learning to manage it better. They think he keeps getting a stomach virus. So people quite passing on your virus to Tom. He has had his share for the first year. The most important thing you can do is wash your hands after you go to the bathroom. Thanks.
Tom has had a lot of fun exciting things happen this month. He has switched over to formula. I probably would have nursed him a little longer but with him being sick so much my production went down when he stopped eating and then it was slow to come back. So he was up a lot at night eating. We are now back to him sleeping 12 hours at night. Sometimes he will have a 3 AM bottle, but not every night. We had one weekend of fussy Tom because he missed Mom, but he started taking the bottle after that. The nice part is he is now taking the bottle a lot better and from pretty much anyone. It makes it a lot easier for me to get help. I has been a lot easier on my mom and Eric when they watch him.
Tom is also now on fruits and vegetables. He has been eating rice cereal for a while now so we knew he would be fine with the actual process of eating. He is already kind of doing a chewing motion and trying to hold the spoon.
We knew he was really wanted to move on to more exciting stuff than rice cereal because he would get fussy when he saw and smelled whatever Eric and I were eating. So we were super excited to see what he liked. We have heard there is a theory that if you start with green foods first that they will like them better. So we picked from our baby bullet list of first foods and we picked zucchini. I have been making baby food from stuff in our garden for months now, so I just pulled some zucchini out of the freezer. We weren't sure what to expect since zucchini is one of those things some people really don't like but he loved it and had a smile on his face. After that we tried peas. I don't think he liked the texture so I added more water to turn it into a liquid then added rice cereal and he ate it with no problem. After that we tried squash which so far is his absolute favorite. Then we tried avocado. I don't think he like the texture either. Then he had bananas which he sort of liked. Funny thing about bananas is they turn purple 5 minutes after you blend them. Then he tried sweet potatoes which he liked almost as much as squash. The funniest thing so far had to be the latest one that we tried which is apples. I prepped a lot of apples and froze them thinking who doesn't like apples. Well so far Tom doesn't like apples. I tried them and they tasted great but the face Tom was giving me was like they were too tart. It was pretty funny. Maybe he will learn to like them. Or I will just have to mix a little in with other stuff. Can't wait to try more foods.
Tom has also tried to move around a lot more. He is officially sleeping on his stomach now. He turns himself over every night and he will only sleep on his stomach now. He is rolling around a lot.
He is attempting to crawl. It is pretty funny. He moves his legs back and forth really fast but does nothing with his upper half so he doesn't go anywhere.
He also tries to walk a little when standing, but he is not very good at it. He sits up pretty good on his on now only falling when trying to reach for something.
We are working on converting the pool table area into a play area for him so we don't have to baby proof the entire house yet but it is moving a little slowly.
We have had to retire a bunch of his stuff that he is too big for now since he is 21 pounds. Including his infant car seat, which was an expensive upgrade to the next size. And unfortunately the Johnny Jump Up that he loved so much. But his bottom was almost sagging to the ground. So he has moved exclusively to the free standing entertainment center and he has figured out how to jump pretty good in that. He is just getting so big.
Probably the most amazing thing that has happened this month in his development is his communication and knowledge. Eric has been out of town a lot for work lately. I was sitting on the couch with Tom on my lap and Eric had just got back after four days. He came in and said hi and Tom was so excited. Eric had to leave and go take a shower and Tom lost it. I didn't realize he knew that well who we were and was keeping tabs on our how often we were around. But we started to notice more amazing things as well. For instance he has been very interested in the cats lately, watching them walk across the room, or reaching out and wanting to pet them. So I noticed that when I ask him where the kitty is he looks around the room and looks at the kitty. I have seen him start to do that with some of the other things that we talk about all the time. It seems like he is really starting to understand some things that we are saying. It is too bad that he hasn't figured out how to communicate back yet and tell me what he wants instead of crying or fusing. I guess one thing at a time. He is making more funny noises as he tried out his voice though. It is very cute to listen to him babble.
Thomas had his 6 month checkup today. The doctor said all is looking good. Here are his stats. I think he probably would have weighed even more but he was sick last week and didn't hold down much of his food.
Date
Weight
Length
Head Circumfrance
Birth
8 lbs. 11 oz.
19.7"
14"
2 Wks
9 lbs. 5 oz.
69th percentile
22"
91st percentile
15.25"
85th percentile
2 Month
12 lbs. 14.8 oz.
61st percentile
23.5"
68th percentile
16"
87th percentile
4 Month
16 lbs. 15.6 oz.
85th percentile
26.5"
92nd percentile
16.75"
55th percentile
6 Month
19 lbs. 15.8 oz.
86th percentile
29"
99th percentile
17.5"
70th percentile
We got the green light to start fruits and veggies. We have also changed over to formula as we met our 6 month goal and Tom requires so much food it was tough for me to keep up with him. So it shall be interesting with an all new food program.
It has kind of been another up and down month. Summer has been super busy, work has been really busy for both Eric and I, and Tom is still not sleeping very well. So we have been pretty tired. Tom also got the sick again. We see our doctor next week so maybe she can clue us in to what is going on whether it is a virus or something else going on with him. His stomach has been a little backed up from the rice cereal so I am wondering if that is causing him to be sick. Or maybe it is teething. I don't think Eric believed me when I told him about the projectile vomiting when he was sick last month. But when I found him holding Tom and completely drenched in throw-up, he agreed it was just like the Exorcist. But enough of the bad.
Tom has had a lot of fun new developments this month. He really loves to interact with Eric and I and smiles and laughs at our little games and looks longingly for more.
He has also started to really love bath time. He will jump, splash and really loves staring in the bathroom mirror. I don't know if he knows who is in the mirror, but we look in all the mirrors as we go by and he is very interested.
He is really close to sitting up on his own. He is now into sit up toys and slides and spins them, or at least tries. His hand-eye coordination is getting really good while playing with his toys too.
He is such a strong baby that I think he is going to break his crib. I am sure a lot of people would be proud to hear that he is practicing wrestling moves already. But it is not the kind of wrestling you are thinking of.
Every day he does double leg smack downs in his crib. He smacks down so hard that I am a little worried he is going to break his crib. Then he scoots around in his crib and kicks the rails. He has even gotten his legs stuck between the rails because he tries to use them as leverage to turn over. He did manage to get himself on his stomach once, but I don't really count it as rolling over because I know he cheated by using his feet.
He has also started making a lot of new noises including what I call a girly screech when he is really mad. He also screams "ma-ma" when he is upset but it is hard to tell if he actually knows what he is saying or if it is just a noise that comes out. He has become very interested in looking at things though. He will get locked on an item and stare at it for a very long time. So we have started naming things for him to tell them what they are. We have even tried out a few very basic baby signs. Who knows if he has an idea what we are talking about.I say "no" and shake my head an he just laughs at me. Not exactly the reaction I was going for.
For my Mom's birthday present I got Mariner's tickets for the family to attend a Mariner's game together. It was lot's of fun. And best of all it was kids run around the bases day. Lena wanted to go so Tony, Thomas and I were walking her down there. Surprisingly they last me take Thomas around the bases as well.
We attended another great Zehnder Shoes event. Great food, great company and a whole lot of horse shoes. It was a little crazy to think that Eric made an announcement to the crowd at last year's Zehnder Shoes that I was pregnant. And here we were a year later with an almost 6 month old Tom. Boy does time fly.
I wasn't sure how the day was going to go for me since I had Tom with me, but everyone was really nice and kept an eye on him while I played. I only play horse shoes once a year so I figured that I would probably be our early, go take Tom to my mom's and put him to sleep, and then come back for Eric because he would probably still be playing. Well, it didn't really turn out that way. After a couple of rounds Eric had lost out and I won my first three matches. So I ran down to my mom's in between rounds and tried to get him to go to sleep. Of course he didn't. I felt bad just leaving him there, but I was not about to drop out. I told my mom I would probably be back soon because I will probably lose soon. Go figure I end up taking second place. There were a couple forfeits in there, so I was kind of lucky. But even without the forfeits I think I would have taken 6 or 7th place. So what I had thought would be an early night turned into a very late night. But at least I had bragging rights over Eric for once.
This month has been great and horrible. It has been horrible because Tom got sick for the first time. He had a fever of 102-104 for about 4 days. The doctors said it was probably just a virus that is going around. But it was not fun. Poor Tom was so hot, fussy and projectile vomiting. He was only sleeping in 1-2 hour increments. And after he was done being sick he was still having trouble sleeping and waking up every couple hours. Sometimes he would only sleep for a half hour. I don't know if it was all this heat we were having or what, but we slept in the basement to try to stay cool. It has been a couple of weeks now and he is getting closer to sleeping for 8 hours again.
It was also a great month though. Tom went to the beach for the first time, and he also tip toed around in the pool to survive this heat wave. He also went to Long Beach for the first time.
Tom has also advanced a lot this month. He is moving around on his play mat a lot. I really have to watch him now because he moves further and faster. Here is him running into the couch. You can now get him to giggle and funny faces and sounds. He is gripping his toys really well now. He grabs on to them and shakes them around. He has been really teething and chews on anything within his reach. He has been doing a lot of chewing on his hand and he is sort of figuring out sucking just on his thumb. He is loving music and gets really excited when he hears it. This is his favorite song right now. Thanks Mindy!
His biggest development this month was that he started eating some rice cereal. It has been a pretty slow process because he does not eat much unless daddy feeds it to him. He eats it great but I think it is boring to him. I think he sees and smells all the interesting food we are eating and wants that instead. Eric let him smell a container of chocolate someone had and apparently he went crazy just from the smell. As far as the vitamin drops the doctor told us we had to use he does not like it at all. I think we are going to have to wait until we can mix it in with something to mask the flavor because mixing it in with a little milk did not make him too happy either. I don't blame him. It smells awful. All feeding times have been challenging lately as he seems to get distracted by any noise or movement. Looking forward to next months exciting new developments.
