Sean William- 9 months old!

Our sweet bundle of joy is blossoming into a moving, cruising little boy!! Sean is getting to be so big now- at his 9 month well visit today, he weighed 21 lbs 14 oz (essentially 22 lbs) and is 28.5 inches long, which is 70% for weight and 55% for height. He can crawl, pull himself to stand, and cruise along just about every surface in our house! No signs of real walking yet, although he enjoys his push toy and letting go of surfaces for a few moments so he is only supported by his feet. One thing he cannot do, which baffles me, is sit. He can sit fine if I put him there, but when he crawls and cruises, he never sits down- he always moves to a kneeling position, and enjoys playing on his knees. No concerns though, I just find it interesting.

Sean loves table food!! He has 6 teeth now, so it's no surprise. We still use some Gerber pureed foods as a back up- for when he drops most of his food on the floor, or is not satiated from the foods I've given him for a meal, or when we are on the go. But for the most part he would much rather eat Cheerios, spaghetti, fresh bananas and pears, shredded chicken and beef, steamed broccoli, carrots, green beans, etc. He still loves yogurt (especially blueberry), but it seems to give him a rash on his butt when I give it to him every day, so I have been trying to cut back on the quantity of that. The other day we shared a lunch of spaghetti-o's, a grilled cheese sandwich, and sliced pear : ) It is so much more fun to give him what I am eating, rather than feeding him runny pureed foods! I am excited for after he turns a year, then I can introduce him to seafood, eggs, peanut butter, etc.

So far, Sean has showed to be very ritualistic- he wakes up between 7-8am almost every day. He gets three 8oz. bottles a day, with his solid feeding about an hour afterward. He naps twice a day now, usually 1.5 to 3 hours each time. He is tired by 7pm and is usually bathed and in bed by 7:30pm. Most nights he sleeps straight through, but occasionally (maybe twice a week?) he wakes up in the middle of the night, needing reassurance that we are still here- I usually just go in, pick him up and give him a hug and a kiss and his paci, and he is back asleep in minutes.

Sean has really taken a liking to other babies, and older kids too. He is fascinated by what others can do, and I catch him imitating them as soon as he can. His buddy Luke (10 months old) crawls like a monkey (on his hands and feet, rather than his hands and knees) and whenever they play together, Sean will try to crawl on his hands and feet! Also, he got to play with a fried of ours' 3 year old son Erik, and while they were playing I saw Sean trying to push up to stand in the middle of the floor LOL! He is not physically ready for it, as he gets stuck once his feet are on the floor, and he can't figure out how to push his hands off the floor. But it is so much fun to watch him imitate other kids.

Sean says "Mama" and "Mum" (mostly when he is tired, sad, or hurt) and "Dada" and "Dad" (all the time, LOL) and "Hey" and "Yey." He is starting to wave bye-bye but not often, and after our nighttime bath, I always wave hi to him in the mirror, and recently he starting waving back! He also has lots of baby babbles, some that sound like sentences!! This last week he has a phrase that sounds just like "I did it!" and he often raises his fist in the air when he says it LOL.

Our family is really looking forward to our first family trip on an airplane- we will be flying to Tucson, AZ to see Grandma and Grandpa Reed the day after Thanksgiving, and then we will be flying to Portland, OR to see Grandma and Grandpa Brayman for Christmas. I am crossing my fingers Sean does as well with these trips as he did when we went to Austin, TX for Labor Day weekend. It's also exciting to think about celebrating our first Thanksgiving and Christmas with our precious son, especially because we get to do so with family : )

Here are a few pictures of Sean from over the last few months. Enjoy!!

Lots of teeth now!!

Hanging out with Daddy

such a heartbreaker!

Bath time!!!

Daddy's bandana

Halloween jammies

Hanging out with Luke

Hanging out with Brooke, Madison and Luke, painting pumpkins

Sean was Tigger for Halloween : )

My little Bulldog, being silly with me in the mornings

Lots of changes!

I was just reading my update for Sean at 6 months, and I am amazed at how much he has changed over only a month and a half! First, he went from army crawling at 7 months to full on crawling just this last week. He is still a little wobbly with it, but has gained a lot of confidence over the last few weeks, so it's neat to see him experiment with what his body can do. He also like to pull himself up, mostly to his knees, but what he really likes is to stand up. If it were up to him, he would be standing all the time! But he is still working on balance and control, so he ends up bumping his head a lot : ( I feel like I should be wrapping him in bubble wrap and duct tape to keep him safe, LOL!

Sean also really is enjoying the various table foods we have tried over the last month. He really likes yogurt, sliced bananas, toast and Eggo waffles, and Cheerios. He liked canned green beans for a few days, now he makes faces at me when I give it to him. But when I mixed them with canned peas and carrots, he picked out the green beans to eat and wouldn't touch the peas and carrots! Which is funny, because he loved the pureed peas and carrots. I had to start introducing the more solid foods because he would mostly spit the pureed foods out and was starting to lose interest. Now I can still get him to eat it a little, but I have to add the baby oatmeal to them to thicken it up.

He is generally sleeping pretty well at night- the last week or so, he has been sleeping 11 hour stretches- usually from 8pm-7am. Occasionally he will wake around 4 or 5, and up until recently I have been feeding him then. But we are in the process of dropping that early morning feeding, since he is sleeping through it more often than he is waking for it anyways.

3 weeks ago, Mike's brother Brent came over from Austin to visit for the weekend. That was lots of fun : ) And then last week, we drove over to Austin as a family. It was Sean's first trip away from home, and he rocked it!! He slept and napped really well in his pack n' play at Gma's house, and had a lot of fun playing and meeting new people. I got to see two of my old friends from high school, Erin and Analee, who are both living in Austin as well. The weather there is awesome- it's amazing how much of a difference the climate can be only 6 hours away. It was very sunny and warm, and not too humid : )

I have been watching my friend Bec's baby Holden during the week, since she had to go back to work. Holden is about 3 months old, and he is a very sweet little baby. Sean is adjusting to sharing his mommy attention, but he is doing surprisingly well, probably because he is still so little. If we did this when he was 2, I'm sure it would be a different story ; ) I am still sceduled to go back to work at AT&T in March, but am unsure how long I will really want to continue working there. The job is great in the sense that it pays decent, and has incredible benefits. But I was never really happy there, and am having a hard time picturing working there full time again, while saying goodbye to my baby in daycare. If I really loved the job, I think it would be a much easier thing for me to do. But I still have a few more months to think about it, so I am trying not to stress too much.

Mike is continuing to work in the shop with Ranger (formerly Tiburon), and has also picked up some jobs driving the crew van. He has pretty much decided to not go offshore anymore, which was a difficult but important decision we had to make. Unfortunately our budget has been non-existent as a result, but we are making ends meet as best we can until we can find a permanent solution for Mike's job. We are tossing around several ideas, none of which have really come to a head yet. Ideally he will be able to take on the salary position in the office that he was originally offered 5 months ago. But we are tired of waiting around for this to happen, so it's forcing us to take a look at other options. We will be sure to keep everyone posted once we know what we will be doing.

Sean doesn't have another pediatrician appointment until November- right before my 27th birthday. Crazy!! So I won't have any height/weight updates for you until then. But I have been trying to take lots of pictures and movies of our little man so you can all keep up with him that way! Here are some pictures from over the last month.

He is so handsome : )

enjoying some time at the park

pureed some mixed veggies for him to try.... it got a little messy : O

trying to get into trouble....

Hanging out with Daddy at Gma's house

Song for a Fifth Child

I've read this poem by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton several times since having a baby, but sometimes I need to re-read it to remind myself of what's really important. Thought I would post it for all of you to enjoy as well.

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing and butter the bread,

Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

A Child's Environment....

Here is another excerpt from Michael Olaf's The Joyful Child: Montessori from Birth to Three....

General Environment Principles
Here are some things to keep in mind when organizing a child's environment.

(1) Participation in Family Life: Even from the very first days invite the child into the life of the family. In each room—the bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, front hall, and so forth have a mobile for the infant, or a basket or shelves for the young child, to store the few carefully chosen belongings, and a special mat or rug for him to "work" on developing abilities.

(2) Independence: The child's message to us at any age is "Help me to do it myself." Supporting this need shows respect for and faith in the child. Think carefully about family activities in all areas of the home, and arrange each space to support independence. A twin mattress for the child's bed; clothing cubby, coat tree, or low clothing rod or hook wherever the child dresses or undresses (front hall, bathroom, bedroom, etc.); a stool or bench for removing shoes and boots; inviting shelves for books, dishes, toys.

(3) Belongings: This brings up a very important point. It is too much for anyone to care for or enjoy belongings when there are too many out at one time. In preparing the home environment for a child, have a place to keep clothing, toys, and books that are not being used. Rotate these when you see the child tiring of what is out on the shelf, in the book display, or toy basket. Have just a few pieces of clothing available to the child to choose what to wear each day, just a few toys that are enjoyed, and only a few favorite or new books to look at.

(4) Putting Away & The Sense of Order: "Discipline" comes from the same word as "disciple" and our children become disciplined only by imitating us; just as we teach manners such as saying "thank you" by modeling this for our children instead of reminding, we can teach them to put away their books and toys only by gracefully and cheerfully doing it over and over in their presence.

People are always amazed at how neat and beautiful a good Montessori class appears. This is not because the teacher is imposing her own order on the child, but because she is satisfying the strong sense of order of the child.

Half a year later, continued....

OK, I promised an update after our well-baby check up and family photos, so here it is!! Sean is now 18 lbs. 15 oz. (75%) and 27.5 inches long (80%). Dr. Bailey has no concerns about him whatsoever- he says if my kid wants to continue eating 7-8 oz of solids plus 4-6 oz of formula at each meal then keep doing what we are doing LOL!! I was worried I was overfeeding him, haha! But this kid sure knows how to put some food away, so I guess it's a good thing.

His third tooth has started to show since the 29th, so unfortunately we have had a few rough nights over the last few days. He is usually very good about putting himself to sleep, especially at nighttime. But for the last few weeks he has been waking at odd hours (there is no real pattern to it, sometimes it's as early as 11:30pm, other nights it's at 1 or 2 am) and having a hard time going back to sleep. He still goes to bed about 8pm after our daily walk and bath time, and he is taking 2-4 naps a day. Usually it's 2 or 3 naps, 1.5-2.5 hours long each, but on days where he wakes up super early and doesn't nap longer than 1 hour at a time, he can take as many as 4 naps in one day. This is pretty rare though.

He loves the exersaucer still, and sometimes he enjoys his swing, but not as much for napping in anymore. I usually put him in it around 5 pm when he is starting to get grumpy but it's too late in the day for him to really nap before bedtime. It's nice because it mellows him out a little. We have pretty much retired the vibrating bouncer chair, and the bumbo. But they are nice to have because Sean has so many of his other baby friends who are right behind him, so they can use those things when they come over to our house! His favorite thing to do right now is rolling around on the living room floor, and practicing his "push ups." He really, really wants to be mobile, but can't quite figure out how to put it all together quite yet. He loves to hold his own bottle now, he really doesn't want me helping him anymore LOL. And I can tell that he understands a few of the signs we have been using with him, but doesn't show any interest in mimicking them yet. For example, when he is grumpy right after he wakes from a nap, I'll ask him if he wants some milk, and use the sign. He stops fussing right away, looks at my hands signing, and then looks into the kitchen, like "what are you waiting for?" It's pretty neat. The idea of "more" is a little more complex so I don't think he understands that one yet. And I am almost positive his first sign will be "dog" because he just loves watching our dogs so much!

Playing with his favorite dog Jax

Doing pushups- he wants to crawl so bad!!

Momma gave him some freedom and let him play with breakfast : )

Sean's hair is getting longer... so we tried to do a mohawk at bath time : )

Sleeping like an angel at nap time...

He loves to hold the bottle by himself now

Big boy : D

These are Sean's official 6 Month photos at Sears, and we got a few family shots as well...

Montessori before the age of 2....

As many of you know, I taught Montessori preschool (ages 2.5-6) in Washington for about 5 years before moving to Louisiana. Long story short, I have not officially gotten back into it since moving here, but the thought crosses my mind every day. Working with children is definitely my "calling" and I guess I thought that since Montessori only goes so far in infancy that I would look into returning to that line of work once Sean was old enough to go to school for it.

Well this website The Joyful Child has proved me wrong. It is all about Montessori in infants and toddlers, and has a lot of very interesting concepts. I plan on researching this more, and implementing what I can into our house as Sean is growing up.

Today I wanted to re-post one part of an article I found particularly interesting. Enjoy : )

The Child's Research
Some people call the search for limits "testing," but there is negative connotation to this word. When a child is trying to learn the rules and procedures of the society in which she lives this is a very positive undertaking. It is actually important research.

A good example is the question "What is the meaning of the word 'No'?" I remember an incident in our home between a good friend and her two-year-old daughter, Julia. The two-year-old had climbed up on the piano bench and was reaching for a bust of Mozart kept on the piano. As she reached toward it she looked expectantly at her mother, obviously for some kind of a response. The mother said "No, don't touch it." Julia stopped, lowered her hand and then reached toward it again. The mother said "No" again, a little louder. Again the daughter reached and looked at her mother. This happened several times with no resolution.

I watched this communication, and the confusion on both sides, and offered the suggestion "I don't think she knows what 'No' means and is trying to find out".
The mother laughed and said "Of course." Then she went to Julia, said "No," gently, and, as she said it, picked Julia up and moved her across the room to a pile of building blocks. Both were completely satisfied.

In the first exchange perhaps the child thought "No" meant "I am waiting and looking and expect you to eventually pick up that statue. And I am getting mad at you."
In the second exchange the message was clear. "No" meant "stop doing what you are doing and move away to another part of the room or another activity," (and, thanks to the clear and gentle way of speaking, "I am not mad at you").

Children do not understand the language of reasoning until around age six. They need clear demonstrations along with words.
It is very helpful for parents to realize that their child is not trying to be bad, but she is being a normal, intelligent human being trying to find out how to behave. She is carrying out research.

Half a year later....

So it's been 6 months since our sweet baby boy came into this world. I have been driving myself crazy thinking about how quickly he is growing up. After sifting through other friends' Facebook pages and seeing their babies that were born the same time I was pregnant, seeing how small they were then and how big they are now, there is a bittersweet feeling I get, thinking about our baby Sean being there as well.

I will be posing again sometime in the beginning of August- we are getting family pictures done tomorrow, and Sean's 6 month well check with Dr. Bailey is on August 2nd, so I will be doing an update to include those things.

But for now, here is a little bit about life as it is for us these days.... Mike has been working offshore some, and in the shop some as well. He is waiting for a salary position to open up still, he would really prefer to be at home every night. But for now, since shop-rate doesn't pay the bills, he is still taking offshore jobs when they are available, and working in the shop in between. Sometimes I feel guilty for not working, because I could be bringing in a second income. But then Mike reminds me that me staying at home with Sean is an income in itself, considering we are saving that much on childcare. Plus we both like the idea of him being home with me, and socializing with our friends at this age, rather than being in daycare. As he gets older I plan to enroll him in other social environments like preschool so he can learn to be with groups of children his age. We would only put him in daycare right now in order for me to go back to work.... I have been daydreaming daily about starting my own business of in-home preschool. It's something I will probably not act on anytime soon, but it's a dream I have always had since first going to Montessori training, and I am hoping one day I will have the means to do so.

Sean has been developing faster than I can keep up with! He just recently started to show obvious signs of understanding familiar and unfamiliar people. He used to just smile at anybody, and not even notice much if my face was not in sight when we are out in public places. But lately I have noticed if we are grocery shopping, he needs to know I am close if my face is out of his view, and when new people come over to the house, he takes a minute or two to warm up to them, whereas he quickly lights up when he sees Mike, Katie, Josh, Dan, etc. He is VERY vocal now, trying out all kinds of new noises and sounds. But he seems to be super sensitive to loud noises himself- he almost always cries when someone sneezes or coughs loudly or starts getting too loud when they talk. He can sit up very well on his own now. He just needs to master the concept of "catching" himself when he flops sideways and backwards. I usually put the boppy behind him, or sit behind him, because when he is sick of sitting up he throws himself back to laying down, which can result in bumping his head if he's not on the bed LOL. No signs of crawling yet, but he is VERY mobile in his crib. He will roll back and forth over and over again, and use his feet to push off and move from one end of the crib to the other. He actually sleeps on his belly now- there is no stopping it!! But he is sleeping pretty well and naps and bedtime, and is not shy to "ask" when he needs something, so it works out well. He is also really coordinated with his hands now- he can find his paci in his crib and put it back into his mouth successfully, and easily moves objects from one hand to the other. We started signing a few words to him, hoping in the next few months he will be able to sign back. So far we have started teaching "more," "eat," "milk," "all done," and today I introduced "dog" because he is so enthralled with our dogs : ) I am trying to consistently sign each time I use the word. But it is tricky- words like "more" use two hands. And I usually use that while he is eating. Well, I can't put his bowl on his highchair because he will immediately grab it and flip it over! And when I set it on the table next to me while he eats and use both of my hands to sign, sometimes he is so impatient that extra millisecond it takes me to pick the spoon back up can be frustrating LOL But we just started this about a week ago, so there is a lot of time to work on it. I am hoping that it really benefits us all with communication- It will allow Sean to "talk" to us before he is ready to use words.

That's about all I have right now. I will post anything else I think of in about 2 weeks when I give the updated height and weight stats and post our family photos!