9 months 1 week: Teeth, and Ear Infection

I don't know if I mentioned it but Boo is on helmet #2.  Now that he is older, stronger and mobile, he is aware of it and takes it off when he is overheating, hungry, frustrated, etc.  Does the helmet help?  Who knows.  Certainly not in the ways we hoped it would with the asymmetry and ear alignment.  He ends this "treatment" in December, so basically, he gets the helmet off as his Christmas present.  Seriously.  It's his last day in it.

And I guess as OUR Christmas present, we get our sweet little helmet-free boy back.  He has been in it since he was 5 months old.  Do you think in 100 years people will look back and laugh at the fact that we used these helmets?  That it was totally ridiculous?

So let's see, what's new:

• Lots of talking, primarily da-da-da and gug-gug-gug but nothing even close to ma-ma-ma
• Standing up in the crib to turn on his mobile for amusement
• TWO bottom teeth
• Eating purees proficiently, and eating solids at school (e.g., pancakes and sausage, hamburger, turkey and cheese, pita, yogurt, banana, cereal, blueberries)
• Couch surfing rather proficiently
• Noticing when we aren't in the room at home, but he couldn't care less at school
• Mommy preference when ill; found that out this week with his first real fever (104.1 peak) and ear infection
• Leaning out some, but still has chins.  I really thought he was going to be wearing 4's, but he is still in 3's.  Now I have a stack of diapers in the den that won't be used for a while.
• Transitioning to 18 month clothes.  The tops fit well.  The bottoms are way too long, so he is still in 12 month pants.  Chuck showed up one day with a HUGE bag of clothes; at least eleven outfits he bought for Boo!  Uncle Chuck is very kind.

We had our first "major" social family outing last weekend at a local family friendly winery.  A friend and I created a work Facebook group for colleagues who have an infant, particularly because 2015 was the Year of the Babies.  I am so not kidding.  So, we had seven babies present!  And, one of the mommies coordinated an order for custom onesies with the company logo, so we took a picture with all of us.  It was fun, but man, it was blustery.  If it wasn't so windy, it would have been an ideal October day.  Brr!

Also, it was Grant's birthday last weekend so I invited good friends of his who just moved back here from NYC and Aunt Corey and we went to Top Golf and stayed and played and ate and drank for five hours.  FIVE.  It was awesome and I think Grant really enjoyed his birthday this year.

I did too.  You know what I did NOT enjoy?  The Corelle dishes I got him for his birthday.  He has been wanting them for a long time and I've been saying no-no-no because it marks the end of any stylized dinnerware that is clearly NOT Corelle.  I don't know; I guess it's because I grew up with Corelle and it just seems...old?

Who am I kidding.  We have a minivan.  We are in our mid-thirties.  I have three gray hairs.  We were the oldest couple at the winery and possibly the oldest couple in our Facebook group.

You know what's not cool?  I found out a friend of mine had some eggs frozen at 35, then several rounds of IVF for baby #1 and baby #2 two years later, because you know, tick-tock and all.  Why the heck didn't I freeze my eggs when I was young and eggy in my early 20s?  Oh, because I thought I would be married and settled and so forth much younger.

And, Boo is up from his nap and crying.  Gotta go.

Life As I Know It

I kind of forgot about this blog in the flurry of well, life.  It takes every ounce of energy and a ridiculous amount of focus to be functional when checking out isn't an option while in the depths of postpartum depression.  Things are better in general now, I think, thanks to a combination of meds and behavioral therapy.  Even with help, it is still hard.  I feel sorry for mommas who put their heads down and just push through.

I should mention that Boo is 8.5 months old.  MONTHS, people!

He has personality now, and is very responsive.  It's a very fun time and I'm enjoying it.  He's eating solids, albeit in mostly puree form.  I plan on introducing "real" solids soon, like, little pieces of carrot, banana, overcooked pasta and whatever else I can think of that Boo will be able to pick up and eat without choking.  I was late in introducing solids and bigger solids, so he is behind.  Other babies in his class are feeding themselves.

And, other stuff has changed on the other end thanks to the introduction of solids.  The first time we saw it, I took a picture and sent it to my sister asking, "Is this...normal?  Should I be concerned?"

First time parents.  Tsk, tsk.

He crawls and pulls himself up proficiently.  He will crawl straight to me when he sees me.  He will flip out when I'm out of sight.  Before, he didn't care.  He babbles and prefers "ga" and "da".  He doesn't really make sounds that require lips to be pressed together.  No "ma", "pa", "ba".  It is odd though, because when he first started talking, he started with "wa-wa-wa-wa-wa" which doesn't require your tongue to move the way saying "ga" or "da" do.

He claps his hands but not in the way you're thinking.  It's more like banging them together instead of an expression of delight.

He will be walking very soon.

He is a giant baby, but starting to look like a little boy especially when he passes developmental milestones.  I know he was a teeny tiny impossibly small human being months ago, but I can hardly imagine it.  I have to look at pictures.  And looking at those pictures is a huge emotional trigger making those moments, good and bad, feel like the present.  It hurts.  My therapist said that I am traumatized, and I think she is right.  I enjoy my baby, but I am racked with guilt because thinking back causes sadness.

Things are easier because we all definitely have a routine.  Sure, it drifts here and there when it comes to start and end times, but the order of operations is set.  And, it's the same thing.  Every.  Single. Day.  This is how 8 months passes like it's nothing even though some days and weeks were excruciatingly long.  When things get easier, it seems like you'd have more time, but without fail, there's always something else to fill that time slot.

The only time you will see me sitting on the weekends is when I'm eating, feeding Boo, folding laundry, or driving.  I am not even kidding.

It's almost 9:30pm, which means it is bedtime.  I'm not kidding about that either.  Until next time...