34 Weeks Old

This posting is about a week late...  Baby CP tries to stand just about anywhere so we have to watch him very vigilantly.  It's exhausting.  We now go to bed at around 9 or 10 (within less than an hour) after Baby CP goes to sleep.

Here is a photo of him from a playgroup a couple weekends ago.  He's sitting right in the middle focused on playing with something..I'm sure it's a germ-infested toy.

Here are is a photo and a video of Baby CP at his first swim class.  We'll be trying classes at the saline pool at the newly renovated YMCA in Chinatown next week.

Baby CP and his buddy Toby in the pool at Le Petite Baleen in San Bruno.

We have tried to give Baby CP apples a few times, but he never seems to like them much.  Whereas he will open his mouth really wide to eat oatmeal, you can barely get him to open his mouth at all when eating apples.  I cut some banana into tiny pieces and he seemed to enjoy "chewing" on that.  Tonight we went out to a restaurant for a birthday dinner.  Baby CP was really tired and he did not want to sit in the highchair at all.  The only way to distract him was to give him some of what the adults were eating, because he is just so interested in what we eat.  The only single food item I had were the french fries that came with my burger...I feel terrible about it, but I ripped a couple up into really small pieces and he gobbled them all up.  Then we gave him some water out of a cup and out of a straw (putting drops into his mouth) and he kept wanting to drink it, probably because the french fries had some salt, but maybe he also liked the idea of drinking what mommy was drinking.   I think he really enjoyed being included.  Mr. CP suggested that we find some kind of heathier and convenient snack that we can always just toss in the baby bag when we go out so we're not forced to give Baby CP unhealthy foods when we're out.  I'll have to look into it.

7 Months Old!

This past week, Baby CP reached the ripe old age of 7 months old.  At his checkup today, he weighed in at 19 lbs and measured 27.25 inches.  He's grown an inch since his last appointment, but apparently has lost a few ounces.  I don't think it's a big deal since he's so active these days and he seems to be eating a ton, but the doctor wants to reweigh him in a couple weeks.

Baby CP is becoming increasingly mobile these days.  He doesn't quite crawl properly, but he either inchworms or uses one leg to propel him.  It looks almost as if he wants to skip crawling and jump straight to walking, so the crawl looks somewhere in between the two.

The edge of Tooth #3 (top right) is erupting, so he's been chewing on things and drooling everywhere.

We've moved Baby CP into his own room.  He had been using the railing to help himself stand which was quite amazing, but then I got nervous that he might fall out somehow, so we dropped the crib mattress.

The last photo of Baby CP with his crib in our room.

His first night in his own room went really well.  He cries a little in his sleep sometimes, but settled back to sleep on his own.  He went 8 hours straight and then another 2 after eating.  Last night didn't go so well...he woke up super hyper at 3am and didn't go back to sleep until 4:30.  They say sometimes babies' brains become extra active when going through developmental changes and that it's a phase that passes.

We think Baby CP knows a few words now.  If I say milk in Chinese or show him the sign language sign for milk he will smile if he is hungry.  Sometimes at night if he's hungry, he informs me by climbing up my arm while I'm eating dinner so he can get a look at what the adults are eating.  He has such an intense interest in food.  This week we introduced roasted pumpkin puree and he has been eating baby oatmeal cereal.  Baby CP also loves his vitamin drops.  I think they taste disgusting, but they are a little sweet, so he will lie very still right before I drop them into his mouth.  Starting two days ago, if I say "droppies" he will smile, become calm and wait for them by licking his lips or opening his mouth.  How funny.

This weekend we're taking Baby CP to his first baby swim class.  It's a free trial class and it's nice to get them acquainted with the water at a young age.  We know he likes baths, so hopefully he adjusts well.  He also has a Mandarin playgroup to attend and a playdate with another big little guy.

30 Weeks Old - Happy New Year!

Baby CP is now over 30 weeks old.  He can sit up on his own now by moving from all fours to his side and then to sitting.

We have moved the bath location to the bathtub because Baby CP likes to splash the water and also for safety - he can get very squirmy.

Baby CP's weight and height remain steady a few ounces above 19 lbs and around 27 inches.  He has his next checkup in a couple weeks, so we'll see if he grows more before then.  He's so far eaten congee, oatmeal cereal, pureed pears, pureed apples and smashed bananas.  We didn't really stick to the 7 days between each new food program, but so far it doesn't seem like he has any allergies to what he's eaten.  For the rice and oatmeal, he lunges for the spoon so I think he likes eating.  I'm not sure if it's because he thinks it is fun or because he is hungry.  He had eaten bananas for a couple days and then didn't want them anymore.  Then when we tried apple sauce, he didn't seem to like it at all on the first day.  Today, I combined the two and added a tad of water and he ate it all up.  My guess is that you have to feed him solids during the day before he gets tired.  I think feeding him solids at night when he's fussier hasn't been as successful.

A couple weeks ago we abandoned the cry it out method.  Baby CP seemed to make progress, getting down to as little as 2 minutes of crying some nights before falling asleep on his own, but then there were other nights or naptimes where it would take 20 minutes.  After trying it for about 2-3 weeks, I felt that he was just falling asleep because he was tiring himself out and not because he had actually learned how to soothe himself.  Instead, I have started feeding him a bottle about half an hour to an hour before bedtime and I keep feeding him every so often until he seems about ready to sleep.  Then I carry him around for a couple minutes over my shoulder and he falls asleep pretty quickly.  For weekend naptimes, I pop him into the ergo and then transfer him into the crib a couple minutes after he falls asleep.  I do think cry it out did help him learn how to get through the transfer phase though so it probably wasn't a waste of time...before all of this sleep training, transferring Baby CP into his crib was always tricky and he probably woke up about 50-70% of the time.  This lead to him sleeping in our bed a night after his first night waking - I was just too tired to deal with transferring him into his crib.  The past week, however it's gotten much easier, he often opens his eyes when I'm putting him into his crib, but once he hits the mattress, more than 90% of the time, he just seems happy to go to sleep so I haven't had to put him in our bed.  I'm hoping he can keep this up. 

Today, Baby CP has been acting very strange.  He has been frantically trying to find things to chew on.  I assume he must be teething again...but this didn't happen last time.  Mr. CP caught him trying to climb into the laundry basket to find something to chew.  I gave him a pacifier the two times I put him in the ergo and he seemed to like chewing on it and it also helped him fall asleep within minutes.  It's the first time I've seen him take the pacifier in over 3 months.