Sprout's Christmas

Happy New Year, one and all!

The Sproutling is now nine months old and has been out longer than he was in. He's growing up so fast and getting better at things each day - it seems like just yesterday he was tiny little helpless creature, but now he's a real little person!

The last two months has seen a big change around here. Not long after posting at the start of November, Sprout learned to crawl properly and shortly afterwards to pull himself up to standing. Thus began the Big Babyproofing of 2011.

The weeks around Christmas was a whirlwind of family activities and parties of every type. Meeting so many new faces was rather overwhelming for the little guy, and for a few weeks there his sleep routine was rather disrupted by late nights and unusual activities. I am very relived that he seems to be settling back into sleeping through most nights - I would rather not be up all night once I'm working again.

Sproutling now has a list of things he likes to play with if they are not locked down. If the wooden door on the TV cabinet is not closed, he will head straight for the stereo inside it. He also loves, in no particular order: The TV remotes, iPhones, paper (especially advertising junk mail), cat toys, opening drawers in the kitchen, standing up at the screen door and banging and/or licking it, and climbing the stairs (a gate came out pretty fast) - in fact pretty much anything that isn't actually one of his toys. He also loves to play at the cat door, although he hasn't quite worked out how to get through it yet.

Watch out, Bluey!

One of our cats runs away if he comes near her, but our ginger one is very patient with the fur-pulling and tail-munching. I am trying to teach Sprout to play gently with him but he just doesn't understand just yet. Poor Bluey.

On the language front we are now hearing all sorts of different sounds, but no real words yet. At home, he keeps up a pretty much constant stream of babble. He can be quite shy around other people.

Sproutling will eat pretty much anything we give him these days, although I don't trust him with a bowl and spoon just yet. Finger foods are the way to go, with fruit and chicken being firm favourites. I'm still mostly breastfeeding him and will try to pump some milk when I go back to work so that we can keep that going as long as possible.

The next month will be an interesting one as I am about to go back to work five days a week. Mr Ang is still on holidays for a couple of weeks but once he starts classes again, the Sproutling will be looked after by his Nanna on two days.  The third day will (hopefully) be at childcare. We're still trying to organise this, but if all else fails we have back ups.

Please, wish us luck on the next phase of the journey!

Feverish

Enjoying the beach

The seven month mark has come and gone and I've been a little slack with the updates again... oops!

We've been cruising along over the last few weeks - nothing new or out of the ordinary. Sproutling's still growing quickly. He has outgrown all his size "00" clothes and even the "0" ones are starting to be too short. They were supposed to last for another five months! He's going to be a tall one, that's for sure.

Sproutling has been munching on whatever food we're eating, including some interesting things like beef curry and fish (but no chips!). I haven't yet found anything that he hasn't enjoyed eating, but there's plenty of time for him to develop fussy tastes. He's a big fan of watermelon and mango, making a contented "mmm-mmmm" sound while devouring it.

Feverish
Things started to heat up again, so to speak, over this weekend. The Sproutling had a fever and a bit of a snuffle on Saturday evening, but when we try to give him childrens' paracetamol he just projectile vomits it back up again. He went to sleep eventually but had a very restless night.  In the morning I went out and got some strawberry-flavoured Nurofen (ibuprofen) which went down much more easily, and the poor little munchkin was feeling better in no time.

I had been telling people he had a cold, since he was quite snuffly and sneezy. I didn't think to check his mouth until someone suggested that it could be a tooth coming through, as apparently that can often cause fevers and cold-like symptoms. Sure enough, one of his bottom front teeth is starting to make a break for it! No wonder the poor little mite has been so grumpy the last few days!

On The Move!
Besides being a little out-of-sorts with teething, Sprout has discovered how to propel himself around the floor. He has been getting up on his hands and knees for a couple of weeks now, rocking back and forth before flopping down again, but this last few days he's actually managed to inch-worm his way over to toys that were out of reach, and attempt to throw himself off the couch if he's sitting with someone. He'll also launch himself towards the TV remotes if he can see them - I guess those male habits start early, eh?

We're still enjoying our music lessons and now that the weather has warmed up we're going to start swimming lessons this week - something I'm really excited about since he loves splashing around in the bath. We also love going to our mothers' group meetings on Wednesdays and hanging out with the other mums and bubs!

There's only a couple of months left until I start work again now so I'm trying to enjoy this fun time as much as I can.

Halfling

The Sproutling is six months old now, which makes him a halfling. Here's the latest on what we've been up to.

Developments
Sprout's personality is starting to show through a little more now - he can be quite animated and noisy at home, but he's quiet and shy around people he doesn't know. Sometimes though, if they smile at him first he turns on the charm and goes into full-on cute mode.

He's just learned to sit on his own in the last week or so. It was quite amazing - one day he'd just fall straight over again, the next he would sit for about 10 seconds, and now he is able to sit for quite a long time without any support from me. Of course, every now and then he'll faceplant into whatever surface is nearby but I guess that's all part of learning to balance.

He still isn't rolling around much yet. In fact after a few times in his cot, I haven't seen him do it again for weeks. I guess he'll start doing it again when he's ready. He seems more interested in playing with his feet and sucking on his own toes. Still no sign of teeth.

Travel things
Thanks for all the suggestions after my previous post about strollers! We ended up just going with the cheap option of a Babylove Snap n Go umbrella stroller. We'll upgrade later if we think we need to but so far it's been just fine for pushing around the shops and around the block a few times.

Now that Sprout is 9.5 kg we've certainly outgrown the capsule! We've replaced it with a pre-loved Safe-n-Sound forward-facing seat, also replacing the mouldy old cover with a soft new one. Sprout seems to really enjoy facing forwards so that he can see me driving and look out the window a bit more.

Foooood
About halfway through the month I couldn't stand the waiting any more and started giving him some baby rice with expressed breast milk. At first most of it ended up spat out again but he's learning quickly and now spoon-feeding is pretty easy. We haven't done a whole lot of spoon-feeding though since I'm trying out the baby-led weaning approach and just handing him bits of fruit and veges to munch on, which he is absolutely loving. We've tried a wide variety of fruits now but his favourite seems to be strawberries. Unfortunately we're just about to go out of strawberry season so he'll have to find a new favourite, but mangoes and stone fruit are about to start so there's plenty more to try! As you can see from the picture, watermelon seems to be a strong contender.

That's pretty much all there is to tell about Sprout's world at the moment! There's still lots of growing and learning to be done, but it's completely amazing how far he has come in just six months. I am so proud of my little Sproutling!

Eat All The Things

Another month gone... how the time flies!

Sproutling is five months old now and, while he hasn't learned any new skills in particular since the last update, he's getting better at those he already has.  He's more and more observant every day and his favourite thing is to grab all the things and put them in his mouth. Nom!

He seems much more interested in what we're eating lately, so I've been letting him nibble on fruit that I've been eating such as apple, pear, watermelon and strawberries. Today we even tried a bit of mango - the first in the season around here! I'm not planning on officially giving him solid foods to eat for a few more weeks, but I thought it would be good to let him try a few different tastes. By the way he grabs my hand to try to shove that strawberry in, I'd say he's just about ready already.

The last week or so has been a research time. We have been hiring a "travel system" Babylove car capsule and pram set from Hire for Baby for the last 5 months and it's almost time for it to go back. We acquired a car seat from a family member before Sprout was born so we've got that part covered, but we need to get a replacement pram or stroller in the next couple of weeks. Incidentally the Babylove travel system has been brilliant - I'll be sad to see it go.

There are so many strollers to choose from, and none fit our requirements perfectly. The "umbrella" type strollers look so lightweight and manoeuvrable, but they have very little space for nappy bags or shopping. On the other end of the spectrum, some of the big prams are just enormous! It's turning out to be a tough compromise - I have a feeling that we're going to end up with a big pram for full day trips and a small umbrella stroller for crowded places and around the shops.

If any of you lovely readers have any suggestions for a brand of pram or stroller you loved, please let me know! The Sprout will give a special Grin Of Cuteness to get you to spill the beans!

Nappy Hunting

Just a quick note tonight to let you know that the Great Nappy Hunt has begun for September 2011.

Aussies and Kiwis, just visit the Diaper Decisions site and register to take part, then go hunting for the icons for chances to win loads of prizes.  There are also plenty of discounts from all the sponsors during September!

There's also a North American version of the hunt - the Great Diaper Hunt.

Happy hunting, and I promise there will be a Sproutling update post soon.

Milestone Watching

It's been nineteen weeks now since our little bundle of Sprout arrived. Each day brings new wonder, new discoveries and gradual improvements.

Chit-chat

The googling and gurgling has now developed into a range of sounds - it's fascinating listening to him trying out all the different sounds he can make. Last week his favourite new sound was an "rrr" sound, so he spent a few days saying "errrrr, errrrrrr!". There have been some giggles as well so I have spent more than a little while making silly faces and noises to try to get him to laugh!

Milestones
Watching for milestones is frustrating - Sprout might do something amazing by accident, such as when he first rolled from front to back and made me super excited, but then I've spent the next several weeks trying to encourage him to do it again.

Many websites such as babycenter.com have extensive lists of milestones that babies may or may not reach at certain times. I have to continually remind myself that the lists are only guidelines - that all babies develop at different rates.

Sproutling can now push himself up with his hands and his legs when on his tummy. Sometimes it looks like he is trying to swim, but he mostly just wiggles around in frustration. The milestone sites tell me this happens around the fourth month so he's on track with that one. But he also could be swatting and grabbing at toys, and he doesn't do that much at all. If I hold a toy out in front of him, sometimes he will reach out and grab it but most of the time he just stares intently at it. Of course, if something ends up in his hand it will thereafter end up in his mouth - he's got that milestone sorted out well and truly. I guess I just need to remind myself not to worry and let him take his own time to learn.

Sleep
I know I keep banging on about sleep but there's something about becoming a parent that makes you realise just how precious sleep is!  Sprout has been a champion night-sleeper for a while now, but it's starting to get a little harder to get him to sleep in the evening. For one thing, he's more easily distracted while feeding. It also seems to take him longer to get into a deep sleep, so as soon as I put him down in bed, he wakes up again. Usually he will resettle himself without me picking him up again. Last night was the first time we actually put him down and left the room while he was crying - I hated it, but he did put himself to sleep after about five minutes of crying.

I still count myself lucky - I know there are plenty of people out there who have trouble getting their bubs to sleep and wake up constantly all night.

So, all's well in Sproutling's world at the moment. I'm in no hurry for him to start with the teething or on solids or, in fact, any of that rolling around business! 

Catching Up

I thought I'd better post a proper update, since if Aunty Apple doesn't get her squees, there'll be trouble!

Sproutling is about fifteen weeks old now and still.. well, sprouting! He's rapidly outgrowing most of the clothes people gave us when he was born, so I find myself having to make sure he's worn something at least once before the opportunity is missed.

Some lucky parents will tell you that their little one slept right through the night from an early age. I haven't quite been that lucky since Sprout still likes to wake up at least once during the small hours, but he is very considerate in going to sleep quite reliably between 6:30 and 7:30 each night. I wake him up for a dream feed before I go to bed at 10 or 11, then he'll usually be out until at least 3. I am carefully storing up my sleep since I'm expecting things to be a little more wakeful as teeth start to appear.

Sprout started to sleep in his own room at about the three month mark. Since we have two cats, we're keeping doors closed and relying on a baby monitor. We also recently acquired an old screen door and attached it to his door frame so that we can leave the door open during the day. This allows a bit of air and sound flow while keeping the cats from hairing up the room.

In all other ways he's just a gorgeous little boy! He smiles and drools a lot and is pretty much the cutest baby in the world.  At least to his biased mum, anyway ;)

Incidentally, Sproutling is currently co-starring in an epic adventure in the making over at the Wow-blog D/E the Tank - go and check it out for many squeees!

Sproutling deals with a non-internet dragon