It’s been a BUSY month for Mr. Kye!!!
Crib: One afternoon Zach and I were eating lunch or something and we heard Kye bust out laughing on the monitor. We had to go in there to see what he was cracking up about when he should have been sleeping and we found him standing up in his crib! It was so funny! He was so proud of himself! Of course, we decided right then that it was time to put the crib lower! I love it lower and think the crib actually looks prettier this way!
Fast Crawling: Kye is no longer scooting around he is full fledged crawling! Here’s a video of my little speed demon in action!
Panting: I didn’t take a video of Kye doing his famous panting sound because he does it in every video. If you didn’t know any better you’d think the kid suffered from severe asthma haha! It’s just something he’s does and actually he’s pretty much always done. It’s just his thing. When he gets excited he pants haha I wonder if it’s from living with two dogs his whole life?
Pack and Play: He’s been doing wonderful with independent playtime now! It’s surprising because I thought it would get harder once he was mobile, but instead he enjoys this time even more! Instead of having independent playtime twice a day for 20-30 min each time, he now has it once a day for 40 min. I know that sounds like a long time but he could probably go even longer. He just has a great time playing with his toys in an area that is HIS. Here is a video of him being so proud standing up in his pack and play. Also he’s started giving kisses through the mesh. Of course he kissed me right away and Daddy wanted some kisses too!
Bed Time Reading: For awhile we cut out reading to Kye before bed because he was so into reading on his own that it was pointless to try, especially as a relaxing activity! He seems to be out of his “reading” stage so we started it up again. Now his big thing is turning the pages and pointing to things while you read. I enjoy it so much! He’s so involved with the reading and he’s so cuddly and sweet. Life is just getting better 🙂
Slide: We took Kye to the park recently and let him go down the slide! Of course I was scared but we did it anyways and I held on to him almost half way down it and Zach caught him pretty quickly but he liked it! Super cute 🙂
Diaper Changing: OMG it’s AWFUL! He screams and squirms and it’s miserable! I don’t get why he has this issue with getting his diaper changed, but I hope it’s just a phase. We give him a toy and sing to him during it but he will still be bad. I think it’s because there is a light switch right next to him and he wants to play with that the whole time. Whatever it is, I always dread when it comes time to change him!
Mirror: Kye is now very fascinated with mirrors. He loves to laugh, kiss, and smile at himself. My bedroom mirror is a favorite because it’s full length. He will kiss on it so much that it’s COVERED in slime! It’s a great thing to keep him occupied while I get ready 🙂 Here is a video of Kye giving the mirror kisses!
Standing on Own: It was only for about 5 seconds or less but Kye has stood on his own (without support) twice! He did it once with me a couple weeks ago. He was holding on to his laugh and learn table and then he let go and just stood there all by himself not touching anything! He did it again tonight with Zach! He isn’t cruising yet though so I don’t see walking in our near future yet.
Shopping: With the holiday season upon us I’ve had to run a LOT more errands. Before our average day was spent at home together never getting dressed, but now we are go go go. It’s good to keep him busy in the afternoons as he’s up at 3:30 and doesn’t go to bed until 7:00 so you can only play so long with toys haha. He’s done really well with it and plays happily in his stroller. I did let him out in the dressing room at New York and Company and it was so cute. He crawled around and played at the mirror the whole time and I was able to try on clothes without him fussing…such a great shopping partner!
“No Sir”: This is said very often in our household and it’s understood by our little boy! I think it isn’t just the words but also the tone I use when I say them. I took Levi to dog obedience classes (a lot of good that did us) and learned how dogs respond more to tone than anything else. So I use my stern tone with Kye when he is heading towards trouble and he really responds well to it. He knows what “no sir” means and I’d say he stops doing whatever it is we’re “no sir-ing” about probably 80% of the time. I still use the stick but it’s much less often this month than last month as he’s really learning his boundaries and what he is allowed to do! People who don’t think discipline works are NUTS!
Big Kid Car Seat: Kye is so big now that it was time to say goodbye to the infant car seat and hello to the big kid one. He’s still rear facing which is annoying but it’s the safest thing so we’re doing it as long as he’s small enough to be that way! We got Alpha Omega Elite seats as they were ranked second in safety under Britax (and I’m not spending $300 on a car seat sorry!). Plus they actually go up to a higher weight than the Britax so they were cheaper and will last longer. It was a PAIN to install but so far Kye seems to like it just fine!
(first time in the big car seat!)
(a little nap before church!)
Fussy Eating: Kye has always been an easier eater, eating whatever we put in front of him. Well those days are behind us! He’s not picky but he lets you know that he doesn’t like something. We have a LOT of whining to deal with the meals that he has to eat peas. It’s a little odd to me because I love green veges and ate a ton of them while I was pregnant yet he prefers the orange and yellow veges. I don’t give in though. He eats what we serve. I will fill the spoon with peas and do a little dip in the fruit if I have to followed by an all-pea bite to trick him and it usually works. He will let you know he doesn’t like something or that he’s full by pushing away the spoon. I don’t really like that as his signal because a lot of the time whatever is on the spoon ends up on the high chair tray but what can I do? I try to sign with him but he doesn’t seem to be picking it up haha! I think “all done” is kind of a hard sign seeing as he can’t wave bye-bye yet and it looks similar to that. I don’t get mad at him for pushing the spoon because I know he’s just trying to communicate with me and hey, it’s better than raspberries! Here’s the fussy boy!
Peek-a-boo: Kye loves it! He will cover his face with something and quickly move it off because he wants to hear the “peek-a-boo!” Zach’s family doesn’t say peek-a-boo they say “pee-pie” I’ve NEVER heard that before and think it’s hilarious every time they say it. I still go with peek-a-boo here and it’s a common game now. It’s so precious to me. He loves doing it to himself but doesn’t get it as much when I do it to me!
Tooth: Yay for the first tooth! It took it’s time but it’s here and it’s BIG! I’m so glad, I told Kye when he was teething that the first tooth is 100% MINE and I will never forget that! My son’s bottom right front tooth belongs to me 🙂 While teething was awful we did have our sweet moments. I will never forget how upset I was and when Kye was playing with his table toy and he turned and gave me a kiss on the mouth. It was so precious and just what I needed! Now that the tooth is here we brush his teeth every night in the tub. I sometimes do it after breakfast too when I remember! He LOVES getting his tooth brushed because the paste tastes so good 🙂 I’m ready for him to have a big boy tooth brush though b/c that little tooth can hurt!
Camera Smiling: Kye is learning what the camera is and he’ll give me this ultra cheesy smile haha! He doesn’t do it every time but I love it when he does!
Doors: My child LOVES opening and closing things, especially doors. If I’m in a different room or walk out of his room he’ll shut the door on me haha! Good thing he can’t lock it yet huh? He loved this little toy that Mom has at her house and it used to be at Nana’s. He would just sit and open and close the doors over and over and over!
Independent Feeding: This month Kye has really wanted to be in control of his eating. I think with the introduction of formula and him drinking a bottle twice a day he’s just ready to be doing it himself. I really want to push the sippy but it’s been tough since he’s still also drinking from the breast. He will sometimes hold his bottle but he’s just not good at tipping it up yet, we’re still working on it!
Nursing: Is still going well, but I can tell that it’s time to be ending it. The other night he was sitting up in my lap during nursing time and he grabbed my breast and pulled it to his mouth. That was the moment I knew he is old enough to be getting his milk from something other than me! He is still really sweet while nursing though and has started to play with my hair which is precious. Also since we’ve introduced formula he’s really cut back on his spitting up. I wonder if he did it so much because of my breast milk somehow? Strange but I’m just glad he does it a lot less!
Hair: YES!!! Kye has enough hair now that people don’t say he’s bald!!! The other day when we met Santa at the jewelers (post to come!) the owner took a picture of him for the store and described him in her notes so she’d remember which picture was his and she wrote “blond hair.” Yay yay yay! I’m so glad and I can’t wait until he has an entire head full of it! I’m just glad it can finally make a little mohawk 🙂
Sleeping through the night: Kye has been technically sleeping through the night since he was 8 weeks old (thanks Babywise!) but now he’s an amazing sleeper! One night while Zach was gone I decided to put him in the middle of the crib instead of at the head of the crib and wow it’s made a big difference! Before he was needing one of us (Zach when he’s home…awesome husband!) to get up at some point in the night and move him because he’d get stuck in the corner. Now that he starts in the middle he seems to stay there better and now he’ll sleep all the way through without us EVER having to get up! I think it helps that he can get the paci on his own too 🙂 It’s great and we’re having to wake HIM up a lot of mornings now! Yay!
Sittin’ Funny: I read an article about this before my child actually did it but in case someone is reading this and thinks their baby sits funny it’s normal! Sitting like this is actually more comfortable for their joints. I did read that as they get older I need to fix him and have him sit “correctly” as sitting this way long term can cause hip issues. But it’s fine for now and he doesn’t do it all the time either!
Words: Kye has only mastered “dada” but he often makes sounds that sound like real words and I believe that babies know what they are trying to say and think they are saying it correctly, we just don’t understand them. So when he sounds like he’s saying “hey” to me all the time I kinda think he might be! He also has looked at Sadie and said what sounded just like “Sadie.” He’s also petted the dogs and said “a dog a dog a dog” over and over. He does not say “dada” yet and mean “dada.” In fact, I sometimes think he might mean “mama” because he’ll say it when he’s upset or frustrated. Either that or he’s mad at me and wants his daddy instead haha! Here’s two bad quality videos (video 1 and video 2) but they capture him saying “hey” which I love and they capture how he cracks up whenever he sees the dogs. It makes him the happiest I ever see him!
Gate: I personally don’t believe in changing my whole house in order to accommodate my baby. Yes, I did baby proof some drawers, cabinets, and outlets (well Zach did it) but my fire poker still sits by the fireplace. Marbles are still in a glass bowl in the foyer table. Zach and I invested in a really nice baby gate thing back when I was pregnant and I LOVE it. I have it set up around the opening to the hallway where Kye’s room, the bathroom, and the guest room are located so it gives him a pretty big area to safely crawl and play. It creates a boundary for him. Of course he still does go other places in the house but he never has, and will never have, free reign.
Sharing/Reaching: Kye now tries to share things with us which is sweet. He will hand you his toy but he’s not too good at letting you keep it for very long! He’s also started to reach up when it’s time to get out of things like independent playtime, high chair, car seat, etc. He reaches up those little arms for me and even, with the car seat, gets himself out and into my arms! He’s growing up huh?
No More Bumbo: The other day I was on the computer (surprised?) while Kye watched his movie (Your Baby Can Read, of course) sitting in his Bumbo as usual. Out of no where I heard a banging and I looked over and Kye was standing at the tv banging on the entertainment center. He can escape the Bumbo! I watched him do it once and I should video tape it…actually I will tomorrow and put a video here! I decided to use the swing chair for his tv seat because it buckles. It’s working great so far!
Hitting/Waving: Kye will move his arms up and down and it looks like he’s either waving to you or trying to beat you up haha! I’m going with it’s him waving so I try to hold his arm and do it up and down to say “bye-bye” to people. The great thing about it is that he can now hold toys and bang them haha. awesome! At least it makes sense when he’s playing with the hammer. Here’s a video of him in action!
Finger Foods: Kye has been eating finger foods for awhile now. I still don’t do them after every meal or anything but he really enjoys it and I’m trying to do it more often. He will eat and eat and eat with them though so it’s hard to know when to stop! In the past he’d only eat Cheerio-type finger foods (basically non-squishy stuff) with his hands and would want me to feed him other things (like beans and such). But now he’s picking up all food on his own! It’s especially funny when I take him places because he’ll scoop all the food off his place mat to his little catch tray (part of the place mat) and then eat it out of that! I really think he’s pretty much ready to just be eating finger foods. He’s ready, I’m not. Is that bad? I like baby food because I KNOW he’s getting what he needs and I KNOW it’s a balanced diet. I KNOW I’m in control!!! Feeding him regular food scares me because I don’t even know where to start. Do they make a Babywise book for this?!? Here’s a video of Kye eating Cheerios..he’s a little pro!
and eating his favorite food…watermelon!
Here is Kye’s current schedule as I want to be able to look back and remember this for the next one some day!
7:00-7:15ish: wake up, nurse, fruit mixed with oatmeal, followed by fresh food of some kind and water in sippy
awake time: either your baby can read or a walk with mommy
8:40-10:30ish: nap
11:00-11:30: formula, green vege, fruit, sometimes followed with finger foods
awake time: 40 min of independent playtime
12:40-3:30ish: nap
3:30-3:45: formula only
awake time: running errands or watching your baby can read
6:20: nurse, orange vege, fruit mixed with oatmeal
awake time: bath time, massage, family play time, story
7:10: bed
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I love the mohawk! Damian had one when he was born and everyone would ask if I cut it that way (like I'm going to give my 2 month old a mohawk on purpose!). You might be changing your mind about baby proofing when he gets more mobile. It is much easier to have everything safe and baby friendly and then you can relax. I would at least have a room (like your living room) that is comletely baby proofed and blocked off from everything else. It makes life much easier when when you can out him down to play and do what you need to do without having to worry about him getting hurt. You are going to drive yourself crazy if you are constantly having to keep your eyes on him, but maybe you will be lucky enough to have a well behaved child. Mine would of gotten into anything in sight, especially if he knew he wasn't suppose to!
We have the same car seat and it gets much easier when it is turned the other way. Clayton loves it and cannot get out of it like he can the one my mom has in GA. I love that plays with the mirror while you get dressed Clayton used to do that but now that he runs like a maniac and can break through childproof (every kind we have tried!) locks, I use my shower as Independent play time and at 19 months old he still sits in a play pen for 30 minutes without making a peep so hopefully kye will so the same thing! Oh and we figured out the terrible behavior thing…2 year molars! NOT FUN!!!