9 month appt

The stats.

9/30 - He was born and was 21 inches tall and 8 lbs 7 oz
10/11 - He was 11 days old and was 21 inches tall and 8 lbs 9 oz
10/24 - He was 3 and 3/7 wks old and was 21 3/4 inches tall and 9 lbs 9 oz
12/1 - He is 2 months old and 24 inches tall and 11 lbs 10 oz

1/20 - He is 3 1/2 months old and 25 3/4 inches tall and 14 lbs 8 oz

3/30 - He is 6 months old and 27 inches tall and 17 lbs 4 oz

6/28 - He is a lil under 9 months old and 28 3/4 inches tall and 20 lbs 12 oz.

 

Nathaniel had his routine 9 month checkup yesterday. This one was so much better because there weren't any shots - YAY! Although they prick his finger to check for anemia and then proceed to squeeze blood out of it for a bit. He didn't cry so while it seemed uncomfortable he must have not thought it was so bad. Everything seemed pretty much on track. One of the things we will be doing is adding more food to his diet. Pretty much everything goes now except for the big no no's (honey, fish, egg whites, salt, peanut butter etc.). Also, we don't usually practice walking or put him near things to pull up on so we might start doing a little more of that so he starts to have an interest in that stuff (we just thought that - the Dr. didn't mention anything). We did get a call later in the day about his anemia test results. He is a tiny bit anemic so they suggested we use a daily vitamin that has iron in it. Nothing too big, but he will be retested at 12 months. I'm going to try and add a few natural iron rich veggies to his diet too. Maybe secretly pureeing a spinach leaf here or there in something else and trying some beans as finger foods. Overall though the doctor said he looks great and healthy. Always, good news. Oh yeah, we asked about his teeth (since he doesn't have any yet) and she looked in there and didn't notice anything odd so he just might get teeth a bit late.

 

Since I mentioned food above I figured I'd give an update on how that is going. Fruits are still his favorite. He loves pretty much any fruit we've tried (apples, pears, mangos, peaches, blueberries, melons, etc.). He likes yogurt. I bought vanilla flavored baby yogurt and it was a big winner. Oatmeal goes down pretty easy too. Veggies are a different story. Green beans and carrots are still big losers. We even tried pieces of green bean to see if we allowed him to feed himself it would make it better - it was a big NO. Sweet potatoes and any type of squash (acorn, spaghetti, butternut) are his favorites. He gave super stink face to mashed potatoes, tofu :( and still doesn't like avocado. Finger foods are like a roller coaster ... sometimes he does ok and sometimes not so much. He eats cheerios, puffs, bananas and honeydew pieces great. If you give him noodles or cheese he just puts them in his mouth and holds them there. He never chews or swallows and they end up coming back out, but mostly he just holds them there forever. crazy kid. He is doing great picking up stuff and getting it in there so it is just the chewing and swallowing :)

 

On a side note... Kevin said we have a 'Baby Roomba' since as he crawls around he just sweeps everything up onto his clothes (funny, but not funny). I'll pick him up and there is probably 1000 dog hairs on him. Even after I just vacuumed. I think because we have had record setting temperatures the dogs are losing all of their hair! haha. The occasional floor lick catches me by surprise too. I'm getting better about my cringe facial expression I make, but it will take time.

 

My sis is coming out in a few days! I can't wait to spend some more time with her. She hasn't been to Nashville since right after my c-section so this trip should be much more fun. (well hopefully, since it just has to be more fun than sitting around watching tv as I whined and wore the same nightgown for a week straight ;) while trying to figure out what to do with a 1 wk old baby - the best comfort though was having her there and I'm still so thankful)

 

Cheers to a healthy and happy little boy! Next appt is Oct 1st (I figured we'd schedule it after his bday since he has to get more shots and that is a lame bday present)

Buggy Big Boy

Ok, so I call a shopping cart a buggy.  I've called it a buggy all my life.  I'm pretty sure my mom calls it a buggy and maybe my dad... hhhmmm I can't remember exactly, but someone somewhere calls it that for sure since that is all I know.


Nathaniel had his first taste of sitting up high in a buggy this past Sunday.  I have just been putting him in his stroller and only buying what groceries would fit in the stroller basket.  He has probably been ready for this new adventure for awhile, but I hadn't bought a cart cover.  Yes, I am one of those people who is afraid of the germs on the buggy.  I always use those free wipes they offer in the store.  I have seen Nate pretty much lick everything and I just couldn't handle watching him lick the handle... not after reading articles about kids getting ringworm from a cart.  Yep, you read that right RINGWORM.  Ok, ok I know the odds of him actually contracting ringworm from a cart are statistically low, but the fact that there is a statistic for that is enough for me.


I read a little bit on different covers and looked around at a few stores.  This one fits the bigger carts so I decided to go with it - Floppy Seat.  It isn't compact, but I just throw it in my car.

Nathaniel wasn't sure what to think at first as captured in the picture below.  By the end he was looking around, leaning back and enjoying himself.  These pictures are at Costco. 

On a side note we got to meet Harper while we were at Costco on Saturday (we went to Costco twice this weekend since we forgot to buy something).  Harper is the daughter of one of Kevin's coworkers (Allison).  Harper was so pretty and super happy!  She was clapping her hands and smiling at Nate.  Nate just kind of stared at her (Once again this is a subject for another blog - I need to get this boy around more people his own age since I think he just can't believe his eyes when there is another baby around)

The Airport

Before Nathaniel: 2 carry on pieces of luggage and a large purse.
After Nathaniel: 3 checked pieces of luggage, a diaper bag, a purse, a camera bag, a carseat, a stroller, a stroller bag and a carseat bag... oh and Nathaniel

Needless to say, I was more anxious than usual for this flight. Will he cry for 3.5 hrs? Will I? Will Kevin and I yell at each other out of frustration 100 times? Would we put Nate through the security machine in a bucket by accident? Will I have to change a poopy diaper midflight in a tiny bathroom with a squiggly kid? Do I have enough toys, food, burp rags, diapers etc to make through the airport part of this trip? Will we sit next to grumpy mcgee on the plane and I'll feel nervous the whole time? How am I going to sit with a baby on my lap for 3.5 hrs. (Nathaniel hasn't sit still for more than 5 minutes on any given day) How many foreign (and domestic) germs will he pick up at the airport GERMS GERMS GERMS? How are we possibly going to carry all of this stuff through the airport and not hurt ourselves (or someone else)? I guess that is where being a young whipper snapper might help. Will I want to kill Kevin every other 5 minutes? I bring this up twice because I think it is super easy to get mad at your partner when things get awkward and uncomfortable. What if they lose our luggage do I have enough back up to keep the baby from a complete meltdown for a few hours? After all of this anxiety we should just wait to travel on an airplane until he is in high school :o)

Our first strategic move was to buy tickets that had us departing about when Nate has his last bottle of the day and then goes to sleep. We were hopeful that the bottle sucking would help with his ears and that the sound of the plane would put him to sleep the whole time. The downside of this strategy is that you don't get into Phoenix until 11:30pm, but we figured once we got on the road he'd fall to sleep again (hopefully anyway). This plan of course depended on the airline being on time. If the plane started running late Plan B would have to happen (BTW, there was NO Plan B). We also bought Nonstop - a connection wasn't even an option I considered.

So, it was A-day (airport day). After a night of packing, what felt like pretty much EVERYTHING in our house, we loaded ourselves into the car. Our first obstacle was getting us and all of our crap actually up to the check in counter. We decided to pull up to the curbside check in and see if Kevin could run out and check us in so we could leave our suitcases. If this works it would definitely make it easier to get from the economy lot to the airport. Success. He just had to run back to the car and get my license and I had to wave to the guy and we were checked in. There was one add'l step. We had to show them Nathaniel's birth certificate so that he could have a lap seat ticket with me.

Ok, A-day continues (Oh actually this brings back memories.... I forgot there was an A-day at the University of Arizona... I think I made it to the final group of gals to be the freshman A-day queen, but didn't win... I was so young) Ok, back to the new A-day. We were headed to the economy lot. We got all of our stuff out, didn't forget Nathaniel and managed to get it all on the shuttle without to much of a hassle. Basically I took Nate in his carseat while Kevin loaded everything. We decided to feed him his bottle before we went through security just in case it took awhile since it was close to his eating time anyway. We were calm and collected. Nate however was very distracted by the people and only ate so so. Off we went to the dreaded security line. We must have had 10 buckets, plus the carseat and stroller. We actually went through pretty well and somewhat quickly. It was a little funny to watch Kevin move in super speed getting everything folded and up on the belt. I had Nate and just watched.  The only debacle was his favorite chew toy, the giraffe, fell to the floor and then was just put willy nilly on the belt Yucko!

Next, we headed to eat and feed Nate solids.  I went to buy us sandwiches while Kevin entertained the now pretty hyper boy.  Upon my return I noticed all of his toys on the dirty airport table.  Kevin said it is fine. I said, that is why I bought disposable eating mats.  I guess he survived ….. barely ;)

We then headed to the crowded gate area for some more waiting and entertaining of the little guy.  We found out that the flight was full so we wouldn’t be able to use the carseat in an extra seat for Nate L We proceeded to get gate check tags for the stroller and carseat.  Now we were carrying everything, no more strolling stuff around because the stroller and carseat were in bags.  We didn’t want to be rushed shoving stuff into the bags as we boarded so we did it a little early.  One of us would just walk around with Nate while the other sat with ALL of our stuff.

Nathaniel met someone as we were waiting. It was this cute little 9 month old baby that kept reaching over the seat to grab his hand.  I didn’t even notice them there at first.  So the two babies just stared at each other for a bit.  It was cute.  Nathaniel doesn’t see too many kids (that is a subject for another blog) so it was good for him. 

Now it is time to board.  We get on.  We spend about a minute deciding on window/middle or aisle/middle.  We decided on window/middle seat so that if Nate sleeps and the person sitting in our row needed to use the restroom he wouldn’t be woken up.  We figured we’d rather bother them then us be bothered.  We were off, I made the bottle and then we sat on the runway a bit… a bit longer… eckk … he is getting hungry, but I wanted him to drink on the ascent.  Finally, in the air and we gave him his bottle.  He sucked it down, his ears didn’t seem to hurt.  I put on his special vest we bought him.  It is a vest that attaches him to you in case there are turbulence.  He fell asleep.  He pretty much slept the whole time until the descent into Phoenix.  YAY.  A VERY low stress flight YAY.

Now, getting to the rental car with all of our stuff at 11:30pm would hopefully go smooth.  We managed to get to the shuttle bus somehow… dragging 3 suitcases along with everything else.  We got a luggage cart at the car rental place, which made it a bit easier.  I sat there with Nate for what felt like forever while Kevin got the car.  We got our car, put in the carseat and off we went. 

Next up, a 4 hour drive to Bullhead City, AZ.  Nathaniel fell asleep pretty much as soon as we were on the road YAY.  Besides my splitting headache, hunger and sleepiness we made it.  Kevin did most of the driving.  We figured it was easier just to get there rather than unpack somewhere for a few hours then reload and drive in the morning.  Plus, we got more time with my mom in the morning.  It helps that both Kevin and I are night owls. 

Well, that is our A-Day #1.  If you found it a bit boring …. I’m GLAD… that means nothing to crazy happened!!

A-Day #2 went pretty much the same… except that Phoenix Sky Harbor airport is so much bigger so it took a little extra patience and lugging around stuff.  We did manage to get an extra seat on the plane ride home.  This luxury came with a bit of last minute excitement as our plane kept waiting for late passengers from other flights.  We saw all the extra seats being taken.  We were afraid they'd ask us to put him on our lap because they ran out of extra seats.  They kept delaying and more people kept getting on... we were like shut that door.  No more people :) Finally, they shut the door - this meant Nate got to sit in his carseat for sure.  It felt so much safer and we had a little bit more room.  Once again he drank his bottle on the ascent and fell asleep pretty much the whole time. 

I was trying to think about what I’d do differently to make the trip smoother next time.  We could probably buy a smaller stroller (the $20 umbrella kind) I could leave a few bibs, outfits etc behind to free up some space.  I’d combine my purse and diaper bag (or maybe bring a small roller suitcase/backpack to hold that stuff instead).  I would STILL bring the disposable bibs, placemats, changing table pad and Clorox wipes since they really helped at the airport.  I’d probably spend the $4 immediately on the luggage cart.  Overall, I think it went about as well as possible (mostly due to Nate being a happy boy) and (Kevin lugging more than he probably should have with his bad back). 

It went so well (stressful, but well) maybe I’ll try it myself next time if Kevin has to work, but with considerably less stuff of course ;) 

I wonder if Kevin would describe this whole thing differently hhhhmmm???

Nathaniel on the Plane

A Few Things I Didn't Know I'd Say or Do

- "Let me take that booger"
- Be able to change a baby as he lays on his stomach. (That silly boy rolls over the minute you lay him down and squiggles and squirms) Diaper and outfit changing has become quite the test in patience
- "What was his poop like?"
- Laugh as Nathaniel thinks the door stopper is the most exciting thing EVER. boing boing boing. He loves that spring.
- Learn that even the smallest particle on the floor is a new discovery so I have to clean areas I didn't even know existed (well sort of)
- That I'd repeat Kona or Mocha's name repeatedly and in a weird voice so that they keep wagging their tails. Nate LOVES watching those tails and tries to grab them.
- That I'd kiss anyone's feet so much. Baby feet are soo cute. I figure I have limited time until they become dirty ;)
- Learn to watch TV through babbling and not really care
- "Is that honeydew in his hair?"
- "Oh no, we forgot the giraffe, turn around" This is important because the giraffe is his favorite chew toy.
- "Does the pooh bear thingy say the bath is the right temp?"
- Sing every song I know (or don't know with made up words) to keep Nathaniel occupied while I'm in the shower, or car, or anywhere else requiring it
- Cheer loudly just for someone to put something in their mouth by themselves... haha ...he is doing well with his yogurt melts (and has eaten honeydew and banana pieces)  :)
- Freak out more now when I drive (or Kevin drives) since I have extra special cargo!
- Know and can sing songs like 'hot diggity dog' or the beginning of baby einstein
- Have an opinion on Elmo's voice - SUPER annoying btw
- Put a sign on the door that says 'Don't knock or ring bell' just leave whatever you have... haha... Kona barks loud so it isn't worth it to have anyone disturb the nap!
- Go to the mall and not go into ANY woman's clothing stores
- Put serious effort into experimenting with the best way to mix formula and water
- Get spit on repeatedly during lunch and sort of chuckle because that is the messiest raspberry making face I've ever seen.
- Learn that I don't have the shortest attention span of anyone I know (Nate does)
- That I'd have to carry a baby around superman style - you know like he is flying (he will wiggle endlessly until you do this so I just give in)
- "Does this smell?" "Does this?" "Does this feel wet to you"

- Learn to maneuver a stroller through doors that don't open automatically. Some doors are quite challenging.

 

This was just a quick list off the top of my head... more lists to come

 

Nate Note: Nathaniel is officially doing the army man crawl.  Somewhere in Arizona he managed to become quite skilled at roaming around the floor. He no longer rolls to his destination but crawls there army man style.  He does get up on all fours and rocks back and forth so a true crawl will probably be coming soon.  I have mixed feelings because while I'm happy for his progress I'm already having to chase him around more.  I can already imagine what my days are going to be like.....  I will be chasing Nate and Mocha around like a crazy woman.  I better go buy a baby fence (jail) Wish me luck!