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I'm noticing a pattern as of late and that is that I am not keeping up with the blog like I was a few months ago. I guess life's just continuing to get busier and busier. Anyways, I'm going to try to catch up a little and post some of our favorite photos that depict what's been going on this month. Here they are . . .
Things he's doing:- Pulling up on anything that will allow him to do so. Up and down, up and down. Especially likes pulling the dishtowel from the oven door. (I'll have to photograph that one).
-Will walk completely around the ottoman, along the couch, in between the two (back and forth) and likes to stand and play with his toy. If it isn't wedged up against something, it will slide out from under him. Fisher price should consider better grippy feet!
- Is in to everything and has the scratches scrapes and bruises to prove it. He scratched under each eye with his fingernails (that he will not let me clip unless he's asleep). He got a good bruise under his chin that I have no idea what happened. I'm assuming that one came from pulling up at daycare. He continues to get eaten up with mosquitoes. He burned his finger on the bottom oven drawer this week. I'm hoping it won't leave a scar. The drawer and handle don't get hot, but apparently there's strip just above that does get hot. Yep, he found it. Darn.
- Loves the dryer and dishwasher. 
- He prefers to walk with you rather than crawl, but atleast he can crawl and has been quite efficient with it.
- He loves snacks! Sweet potato, peach/mango and banana puffs and strawberry yogurt snacks (his favorite).
- He's eating more solids and is getting better with mashing it up with his gums. He has 8 teeth now. (4 top and 4 bottom).
- He finally likes peas! He just ate both baby food ones and real ones tonight.
-He has toy boxes/baskets in every room almost. He's to the point of pulling them over and dumping everything out. It's fun to see what it is he goes for once his choices are all laid out in front of him; In this particular case, to see what it is he's digging for.
- Obviously he still enjoys his toys, however, he seems to prefer bowls, wooden spoons, pans, the bathroom scale, air vents, toilet paper and anything that is NOT a toy.
-Loves sitting outside in his little rocking chair that his daddy so lovingly painted for him.
- Still loves it outside and it will always calm him if he's upset. He'll head straight for it, if he sees it opening.
- He's been having a tough time going down at night. Since the last post he's going down a LOT better. Not a peep the past few nights. It started working after only 2 nights! Amazing how quickly he picked up on it.
-He's starting to wake up between 1:30 a 3:30. He's starting to go back to sleep after a few minutes, but we're still learning how to deal with that one. He's also starting to wake up at 5:30 instead of his normal 6:00-6:30. This photo was from an early wake-up.
- He's starting to make lots of sweet noises. It's like he's wanting to talk, but doesn't really know what to say. Gibberish I guess.
- He still loves his books (favorites are the same as last post).
- Enjoys his glow worm and it's only given to him when he's tired or on the changing table. It calms him and it almost always guarantees a smile. It's very intriguing to him.- He's been enjoying his vintage lamp that Aunt Shannon bought him while I was pregnant with him. You wind the little carousel that's in the center and it spins and plays a tune.
- Loves the little wind-up chick next to the lamp. We wind it up and it waddles in circles.
The boy's 10 months old today! I mentioned this earlier in the week, that he would be 10 months on Sunday, but once today hit, it totally escaped me! Jeff told me this afternoon and it shocked me how quickly this week went! Once I realized today was the day, I had to take a few pictures. These were the best of the bunch.
Serif enjoys Helmut most of the time. He also loves the outdoors. He will crawl to the back door, pull up and stand gazing out the back. This time he got to welcome Helmut back to the door. He was so funny. He kept banging the glass with his hands with an occasional squawk of excitement. A little while later we packed him up in the stroller and went for a stroll. It was SO nice out today. There was even a little coolness in the air tonight that I almost grabbed a light sweater. It makes us look forward to fall.
We've discovered that a lot of month 9 has been fussy. We're not sure all the reasons, but it's been a little tough. He was actually in a great mood today and the fussiness was minimal. Perhaps this is a forward look for month 10 . . . hopefully.
This is what we've been dealing with every night for the past week. I called the doctor today to find out why we're having such a hard time with Serif going to bed lately. About a week ago (really bad the past few days) Serif will be asleep when I go to put him in his bed. As soon as he hits the mattress, or even just before then, his eyes immediately open and he starts screaming. I don't mean whining or whimpering, he literally screams . . . like super mad! We're fine with letting him cry it out if that's what he needs to do, but we also don't want to just leave him if he needs reassurance and comforting. I've read that babies at this age realize they aren't attached to their parents and that they are their own being. This scares them and they don't understand that when you leave you're coming back. That being said, we couldn't take the uncertainty anymore and so we called the doctor to find out the best way to deal with this and what exactly is going on. As soon as I started to explain the situation, the nurse says, 'Ahh, 9 months right? It's a classic case of Separation Anxiety'. Boy, that was easy but what do we do? She said it's fine to let him cry. She suggested maybe checking on him after 15-20 minutes. If he's still upset, we can go in and check on him, but don't talk to him, just make sure he's okay. Hopefully after several nights of routine, he'll get the idea of 'it's bedtime' and time to lay down and go to sleep. We'll see. I do know that I can't hold him all night (he's fine as long as I'm holding him) and he's not going to bed with us. He's always gone down pretty well by himself and just needs to relearn that he can do it on his own without our help.
Tonight was night one. He screamed for 15 minutes when Jeff went in to check on him. He was standing at the end of the crib crying. Jeff laid him down and kept his hand on his back (partly to keep him down and partly to comfort him). Within minutes he was asleep. Every time Jeff would raise his hand from him he would start to cry. After several times of this, Jeff left the room and shut the door. Serif cried briefly but then calmed down and fell asleep. May I add that I was in the living room praying that God would just give Serif a big squeeze and let him know it's okay to fall asleep.
Just when you think you've got things down, things change. The nurse laughed a little today and said, 'Wait till he's 2!'. Good grief.
Serif started his second session of swim lessons today. After a 2 week break of not getting in a pool, we weren't real sure how today would go. He did great and acted like he wasn't away for even a day. The water was cold today and it didn't bother him at all. To our biggest surprise, the instructor used Serif to show the other parents and babies what to do. Yay Serif! We certainly didn't see that coming.
The little boy next to us was having a hard time coming to grips with it all and his mom kept bringing him to Serif so he could see a smiling face. It was a great idea and it did help him, atleast temporarily. Better than what we could say for Serif in his first few classes. I did encourage her with telling about Serif's first session. He continues to amaze us with each lesson. We're so glad he's enjoying it and doing so well with everything.
The photo was on the trip back home. Swimming wears him out.
I was trying to get ready for work this morning and this is what I find. Sweet little Serif.
Isn't he looking so grown up?
Today was Serif's 9 month well visit to Dr. Ladd. Things went really well, but Serif had a hard time clearing his tears from the 2 shots and finger prick. I guess the main thing that would clear him up for a minute was the shiny silver band-aid the nurse put on his finger. He did really like that.
According to the doctor, Serif's developing very well. His weight and height are starting to level out and the crazy growth spurts are starting to slow down. He's been able to wear his summer clothes really well without requiring a second wardrobe, which has been nice. Here's the stats:
Weight: 22lbs 13 oz (60th percentile)
Height: 28 inches (50th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17-1/2 inches (25th percentile)
The finger prick today was to check his iron level. Since it checked out nicely, the doctor said that we can take him off of vitamins! He would be fine to continue to take them if we want, but it's not necessary and whatever his body doesn't use, will . . . well just come out and not be absorbed. He also okayed him to start on milk if we choose. Since his iron level was okay, he said 2% or whole milk would be fine for him and he's okaying it since neither of us have had family history of food allergies. Water and juice are fine too, but juice should be limited. All foods are fine except honey, shellfish and nuts. He also said to be careful with 'choke-able's' such as steak or gummy bears. He shouldn't have that stuff quite yet. He should continue eating more than 3 times a day (typical at this age is 4-6 times a day). He said it should stay that way for a while yet.
We're going to finish out this round of Singulair that we have for him. He's got another week or so left in the pantry. We'll see how he does without it and see if he can stop the medication. If things flare up again, it may give us a better idea of what is causing his cough and labored breathing and may even look at other medication options if that's what we need to do. We should know more in September of how that's panning out.
Here are a few more photos from the morning.
This was right when we sat him up from his shots and finger pricking.
He was NOT happy! It just broke his heart that the nurse did this to him. 
Playing with the band-aid and watching it sparkle!
Serif's 1st sticker.
More tears in the car as we leave.
Such a sad face. He was so tired and worn out.
Today we hosted a Retirement party for my Dad (Serif's Granddaddy). I was amazed at how well the turn out was and how excited everyone was to come out to Nashville and help celebrate this special occasion. Most people drove 40 minutes or more just to be there and it really meant a lot to me and my Dad. Thanks to all who came out and celebrated with us!!!
Serif was a bit under the weather for the occasion. He started running a fever Friday night and by this morning it was up to 101.4. He stayed pretty fussy all morning. You could see it in his eyes that he just didn't feel well. Jeff stayed in Serif's room with him during the majority of the party. He finally fell asleep (after hours of fighting it) and he slept for a good hour or so. He finally got to come and see everyone before they all left. We had to get atleast one photo of him with Granddaddy!
The above photo is Serif, me, my Dad (Granddaddy) and my sister Gerrie. Brother where were you in this one? We got a lot of photos of the party, but they didn't all turn out that well. I'm the amateur with Jeff's camera and mine died on me after the first 4 photos were taken. Many of the photos blurred, but I'll still post them to snapfish and email them out so everyone can view all the fun. Thanks again to everyone that came and Happy Retirement Dad!!!! We love you!!!
This is what Jeff said as I heard footsteps through the living room and the back door close. I had just gotten home from work a few minutes earlier and was putting away my bags and picking up the kitchen. A couple minutes later, I decide to walk around the counter to play with Serif. As I face the living room I see Serif standing at the ottoman, just as you see in the above photo. I think to myself, 'Why in the world would Jeff leave him standing up by himself like this?'. I got a little upset about it as I tried to figure it out, but of course had to grab the camera and take pictures since he was doing so well at it. Up to this point we would always stand right beside him when he wanted to stand like this. (He isn't too gracious with his falls and tends to stiffen up like a can of starch on a freshly ironed shirt.) As I made my way to the couch, continuing to take photos of course, Jeff comes in the back door and says, 'Look at you! Are you standing up buddy?'. I ask him, 'Did you leave him like this?'. With a puzzled look on his face, he says to me, 'No.' I look at him as my eyes get big and say, 'Oh my gosh he just pulled up and did this on his own and we missed it!'.
All of this newness at once, can I stand it?P.S. Serif is always wanting the controller. It's the one 'toy' he never gets to play with, but always wants. I guess that gave him extra boost to get up there.
Serif turned 9 months on Thursday. Lately, our routine has been that I will take Serif to daycare in the mornings and Jeff will pick him up. I've been really busy at work again lately and have been working some over-time hours to meet some deadlines. Friday was the normal routine as Jeff picked up the boy. I received a call about 30 minutes or so later and could hear Serif in the background fussing . . . not happy. Jeff didn't know what was going on and he noticed a bottle was missing from his diaper bag. (They usually put his empty bottles in the diaper bag as soon as they're finished with them.) He asked if I would call daycare to confirm that he had taken his last bottle for the day because he couldn't quite figure out what all this fuss was about. I called and they had put the bottle in the wrong bag and Serif had eaten fine . . . that was not the problem. About 45 minutes later, I get another call from Jeff. He says, 'Guess what your son just did?' I said, 'What?' He says, 'He just crawled! He took 6 little 'crawls/steps' straight towards Helmut.' Hahaha - of course he would chase the dog right off the bat! YAY he's finally done it! All weekend he has been crawling like mad. If you're not in the same room with him you can tell his crawling because you hear a 'hu-uh-hu-uh-hu-uh' as his excitement climbs and confidence builds. He can't crawl without making that noise and it's so funny!
Sorry to keep this from you for almost a week now. I've wanted to keep the posts in order, but it's getting hard as of late. The above photo was taken today (almost a week later). I'll have to post the video from Saturday when I get more time. So come back later.
Things he's doing:
-Will walk completely around the ottoman, along the couch, in between the two (back and forth) and likes to stand and play with his toy. If it isn't wedged up against something, it will slide out from under him. Fisher price should consider better grippy feet!
- Is in to everything and has the scratches scrapes and bruises to prove it. He scratched under each eye with his fingernails (that he will not let me clip unless he's asleep). He got a good bruise under his chin that I have no idea what happened. I'm assuming that one came from pulling up at daycare. He continues to get eaten up with mosquitoes. He burned his finger on the bottom oven drawer this week. I'm hoping it won't leave a scar. The drawer and handle don't get hot, but apparently there's strip just above that does get hot. Yep, he found it. Darn.
- Loves the dryer and dishwasher. 
- He prefers to walk with you rather than crawl, but atleast he can crawl and has been quite efficient with it.
- He loves snacks! Sweet potato, peach/mango and banana puffs and strawberry yogurt snacks (his favorite). 
- Obviously he still enjoys his toys, however, he seems to prefer bowls, wooden spoons, pans, the bathroom scale, air vents, toilet paper and anything that is NOT a toy.
-Loves sitting outside in his little rocking chair that his daddy so lovingly painted for him.
- Still loves it outside and it will always calm him if he's upset. He'll head straight for it, if he sees it opening.
- He's been having a tough time going down at night. Since the last post he's going down a LOT better. Not a peep the past few nights. It started working after only 2 nights! Amazing how quickly he picked up on it. 
- He's starting to make lots of sweet noises. It's like he's wanting to talk, but doesn't really know what to say. Gibberish I guess. 
- Loves the little wind-up chick next to the lamp. We wind it up and it waddles in circles. 
