My Lifesong: Samuel Davey

I just couldn't get myself to sit down and put this all together this month. I'll do better next time :)

Weight:

We went to the Dr. a few times this month for various things, so we got his weight a few times. On April 30 he weighed in at 22lb 7oz and at his 9 month appointment, he weighed 22lb 11oz (82%)

Height:

30 1/4in (96%)

49cm head (100%) (Yes, he IS my child)

Clothes:

He still squeezes into a few 9 month onesies but 12 month fit the best along with 18 month pants - though he wears 12 month pants as well. He really needs some clothes, especially some shorts (he doesn't own any yet) now that we're getting into the hot summer!

Sleep:

This month was pretty good in the sleep department. He had a few nights here and there where he had trouble going to sleep so he cried for a while and needed a little help getting to sleep, but it seemed to go in spurts.

He slept an average of 10 hours and 7 minutes each night during the last month. His longest was 13 hours and 18 minutes when he was sick with bronchiolitis and his shortest was 5 hours and 7 minutes - when he was in the beginning of that same sickness.

For many many months, Samuel has done really well at going to sleep on his own after he eats and I lay him down while he's drowsy. He will usually roll over onto his side or stomach and fall asleep pretty quickly. Any time he gets sick, though, that kind of goes away. There were quite a few nights this month where he didn't want to go to sleep for one reason or another - either separation anxiety or being overtired or some unknown baby reason. On nights like that, it can take up to an hour and a lot of back or head rubbing to get him to finally calm down and go to sleep. In the coming months, we need to really get consistent with his bedtime routine to make sure he gets even better at falling asleep on his own. This means I probably should stop feeding him last thing before I put him down. Part of me has been putting that off because I know it will be a rough transition to start off. In the end, though, I think we'll end up with a nighttime routine that's separation anxiety-proof! (I'm not sure if it will be sickness proof, though... We can only hope.) I'll let you know how that goes! :)

Naps haven't gotten any longer at daycare besides the one-off hour long naps, but I've stopped being concerned with that. I think he's getting enough sleep overall, so I'll just have to deal with the little bit of crabbiness that comes every so often when he didn't nap long enough at daycare...

Likes:

Samuel likes to eat! He eats some kind of "real people" food most days now and does really well with it. We still mix in a few purees or yogurts, but we're working towards all real food.

He also loves to be on the move. He has learned to pull himself up and he likes to stand next to the coffee table and the benches at daycare as well as his crib! He also figured out how to army crawl so he’s really all over the place now!

Samuel likes to wave at people and smile and laugh – he really is a happy boy! He loves to watch the dogs, too. He thinks they are pretty funny! And he LOVES to go after their toys and food bowls! He can spot those things from across the room and before you know it, he’s right there trying to grab them!! (Dog toys and any cord he can find are his jam)

Dislikes:

Samuel still really dislikes it when someone puts him down (when he doesn’t want to be put down). And if you put him down and then walk away – you’re in for having your ear drums rattled! He also doesn’t like it when I walk into a room and don’t go over to him and pick him up. How dare I?!?! He’s lucky that I love him and always want to be with him!! J

Samuel did not like when we gave him plain oatmeal this month. As soon as it went into his mouth, he’d spit it right out. After I added some of the juice from the pears he was eating into it, he did eat a little of it, though, so I think he just doesn’t like bland food. And I don’t blame him. I took a bite of his oatmeal when he wouldn’t eat it and eew!! He also didn’t like the cottage cheese we fed him (I don’t blame him there either) but Trent tried some of that after Samuel wouldn’t eat it and he said it tasted funny… so we’ll try those again in the future to see how they go! They say it can take up to 15 times for a baby to decide if they like something or not, so just cuz the first time didn't go well, doesn't mean I think he really dislikes something. I mean, who can dislike oatmeal?!?! (It's probably because I didn't load his up with sugar like I do mine!)

Other than those minor things, Samuel just doesn’t like to be tired or hungry… Tired Samuel is not much fun, so it’s good for everyone when he sleeps! J

Firsts/Milestones/Development:

I feel like this month was a big one for Samuel’s physical development. He has gotten really good at his army crawl as well as standing. He can pull himself up now in his crib and when he’s next to furniture like the coffee table and the little shelves/benches they have at daycare. He looks like a real kid when he does those things!

Here’s Samuel’s awesome army crawl. This was on May 10 – right about when it really clicked for him and he really started moving!

Samuel learned how to play peek-a-boo this month. It wasn’t even really something that we worked on, we had just done it a few times. (I think they do it at daycare quite a bit, though) This video is of him playing peek-a-boo in the car on the way home from Ankeny on Mother’s Day. He just randomly started hiding behind his blanket and it’s just the best thing ever!

On the 18th, Samuel rode his last day in his infant carrier car seat and, the next day, used his "big boy" car seat for the first time. It was definitely time for the transition and I really think he likes his new car seat (I like it too). He really is becoming a big boy!! Here's him on his first and last day in his infant carrier:

Here he is in his new car seat. He's not so happy because he had to wake up from his little nap he was taking on the way to daycare. :)

We, unfortunately, had a few more illnesses this month, including a few “first” illnesses. On April 30, we brought him in because he had scared us with some shallow and labored breathing the night before and it turned out he had bronchiolitis. There was nothing we could do for that other than just wait it out, but at least we knew what to watch for and that it wasn’t as bad as it could be. He also had another ear infection to add to the list during that visit which made it all worse for him, I’m sure!

We had a follow up appointment for his bronchiolitis later that week on the 4^th and his lungs were still affected by the bronchiolitis, but it wasn’t getting any worse, so we knew he was on the road to getting healthy again at that point.

We had his 9 month appointment on the 23^rd. It just so happened that he had had a fever the weekend prior to his appointment, but I thought it was just teeth or something since he was acting relatively normal (just slobbering a lot). During the day of his appointment, they called from daycare to ask if I had noticed that he had a rash (I hadn’t) and said he had one on his arms and legs. He was still acting fine, so I said we’d get it checked out at his appointment later that day. Within 30 seconds of the doctor walking into the exam room she could tell that he had Hand Foot and Mouth. There’s really nothing to be done about that either other than try to make sure it doesn’t spread, so we kept him home from daycare the next day and he was back to normal before long. His rash never really got as bad as I’ve seen other kids have it and other than having a fever for a day or two, he didn’t act like he had any problems, so I’d say we got pretty lucky with that one!

I got to celebrate my first official Mother's Day this month as well. It was pretty much another Sunday, but just with a sprinkle of glitter on it because I got to spend it with the thought that I am the luckiest mom in the world to have Samuel as my son! I still can't believe that I was blessed with such a perfect little boy!

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