Tuesday 26 January 2016

Seven Months

George is 7 months old today!










On the way to George's first day at nursery

Home from nursery and very clingy--he had a great day, though!













He's had his first bump on his head--a little bruise above his left eye. He was sitting up so well and then suddenly pitched forward and hit his forehead on the chest of drawers. So sad, but he doesn't seem bothered and I know it's the first of many as he gets more mobile...

He still loves being read to and he's really starting to grab the books off of us

I've read the US version of 'Dig, Dig, Digging' many times with Pudd & Charlie, so I thought it was funny to see this UK edition's use of "Lorries"!

I know I say it every month, but seriously...it's going so fast! George is sitting up, babbling at us, eating solids, playing with toys--he's not a helpless, squishy little newborn anymore! His latest trick is scooting backwards on his tummy. He gets frustrated because he pushes himself further & further away from his toys and can't figure out why.

George is loving his solid foods and we've introduced a few more this month.



He has porridge for breakfast every morning and fruit/veg purees for lunch and dinner. Today he had asparagus-rice puree for lunch and sweet potato-zucchini puree for dinner, with kiwi for dessert (it was a bit too tart for him--next time we'll mix it with banana!). Introducing solids hasn't reduced his breastfeeding, thankfully--he's still nursing every couple of hours when we're home together, and he takes three 4-oz bottles of breastmilk at daycare.

Sleep is still an issue. This month we moved him to his room at night and donated his Moses basket and stand. I miss the ease of co-sleeping--when he'd cry, I would just pull him into bed with me and nurse him while half-awake. Now, I have to get up and go in his room and it takes a long time to settle him back to sleep in the crib afterwards. I used to get woken up at 1 am and 5 am, and lately it's been hourly. I've been given a lot of advice & been reading up on it, but the main conclusion I've drawn is that some techniques work for some babies some of the time...And I try to remember that "this too shall pass." He won't need to be nursed & rocked to sleep when he's a teenager.

Daycare is going well so far, two weeks in. They've been giving him some interesting new foods to try and he's eating them all--weetabix for breakfast, pureed pasta bake for tea, etc. He also got to play in the sandbox yesterday and loved it--and I love that my little apartment-dweller can spend some time playing outside (and that he can do messy stuff when somebody else is cleaning him up)!

Monday 11 January 2016

Six Months

George meeting Santa at Macy's in Minneapolis
Santa spent time talking to George, even though he can't ask for presents just yet

He jingled the bells on his coat for George, too--so cute!
Aunt Tissa & Uncle Tim gave George this adorable Santa coat--it was very soft & cuddly!

George carried on with his solid food with Gerber (we don't have it in the UK!) and tried peas for the first time (he wasn't a fan)


For his first Christmas, he wasn't quite big enough to open presents on his own--I held him while Richard opened presents in front of him so he could see them. He got so many lovely things: board books, crinkly books, teethers, toys and clothes. We used our Target gift cards to get him some more clothes, too--he's wearing 6-9 month size now!

It's so fun to see George with our family--he loves them and gave everybody big smiles!

He was fascinated by William's glasses and loved it when William would sing to him


He's a huge fan of Grandma--he always gives her a big grin and loves being rocked & sung to by her!

Richard was glad to get to spend lots of quality time off work with George

 It was a nice break for me to have a few extra people around to cuddle him, but it was still good to get my little buddy back

I enjoyed getting my fix of Mexican food, too!
George loves the Miffy rattle our friend Carly gave him (she's from the Netherlands, just like Miffy), so on our flight connection we got him this cute musical Miffy toy at Schiphol Airport--it plays "Top of the World"







These monthly pics are getting more difficult to take, the more mobile he gets!







The past six months have gone so fast! I can't believe how big & developed George is getting--he's sitting up so well and really playing with his toys, he loves food and is very smiley with everybody he meets. He's outgrown his 3-6 month size clothes now and we've started putting him to sleep in his own room. So far it's been going pretty well. Since we've been back, he's had 2 settling-in visits at his nursery and next Monday, he has his first full day there (and I have my first day of tutorial meetings with my students!). His nursery is right around the corner from where we live and he really seems to like the staff & other babies. Even leaving him for just 2 hours on the 'trial run' felt weird, but I'm sure it'll be good for him to socialize and it'll be good for me to get back to teaching & writing again. Wish us both luck!

Sixth month firsts
First cold (just before our trip to the States...he was still a champ on the flights, though!)
First movie date for Mommy & Daddy (Star Wars 7 and Taco Bell!)
First candlelight Christmas service (I had to take him out to the hall once, but he soon fell asleep and wound up snoring during the final prayers and 'Silent Night')
First Christmas!
First snowfall (on Boxing Day, his half-birthday!)