9 Big Months!

This is the busy season edition of Nathan's 9 month post.  Maybe sometime later I can come back and add some more color, but for now you are going to have to be happy with a bullet list of my sweet angel's accomplishments between 6 months and 9+ months.  At his well check with Dr. Haney he was 29.13" long (78%), 20 lbs 2 oz (43%) and head circumference of 17.72" (40.5%). Still my long baby but starting to even out a little.

• Learned to sit (i.e. balance) unassisted (around 6 1/2 or 7 months was pretty stable on his own)
• Started finally getting the hang of baby food (7 months...he's consistenty a late bloomer in the food category)
• Learned to get himself into a sitting position (8 months)
• Started the "wounded soldier" version of the "army crawl" (imagine those war movies where that last wounded soldier is on the battlefield dragging his way to the enemy with one arm and one leg) (almost 8 months)
• Graduated to 3 "meals" of baby food a day @ 4 oz each (9 months)
• Learned to do the conventional crawl (January 12th - 9 months) - yes this is a new developement and it has REALLY broadened his horizens.  The good thing is that it has made him a tiny bit less clingy since he knows he can get to us quickly if he wants to.
• Learned "gimme 5" right around the New Year, although it was more like "gimme 15"!
• Started saying "dada" on January 8th (but doesn't mean it yet).  Still no "mama" but "baba" is very popular and apparently can mean anything from, "Come HERE Biggles!" to "Hmm, I'd rather tell you about my day than swallow this food."
• He's about to graduate to size 4 diapers
• Eats four 6 oz bottles a day (if we're lucky) to complement his baby food
• Still does not sleep all the way through the night.  Usually we have one waking where the binky saves the day (or night, as it were) but sometimes he actually gets up for a middle of the night snack.  It is pretty hit or miss.
• Is still (barely) fitting in his 9 month sleepers, although I really think it is just because they have stretched.  He wears almost exclusively size 12 month clothes now (and has since before Christmas)
• We just started more solid type foods and he is not really picking it up too quickly.  So far he has tried the Gerber Graduates Puffs (sweet potato flavor) and banana.  Today (1/17) Jimmy had some moderate success with 3 puffs (i.e. no choking or gagging noises during "chewing")
• Cut his first tooth sometime in mid-December (accompanied by an ear infection...not fun times)
• Cut his second tooth in early January.  The top ones are now looking like they'll make an appearance any time now.
• Has had 3 ear infections since October and is on his way to a fourth if we're unlucky.
• Started trying to pull himself up just before Christmas.  Santa brought him an activity table and between that and the ottoman he has really gotten quick at it!  Now, when he wakes up in the middle of the night, if I'm not fast enough to get the binky to him he is standing up holding onto the crib railings when I get in there.  Luckily we had already lowered the crib after he learned to get himself into a sitting position on his own.
• Has has lately started to try and get in a standing position from the middle of the floor.  He is no where near able to do it, but he's starting to figure out the mechanics!
• He is more clearly recognizing some words.  I think he knows: Mommy, Daddy, cat, book and no (although the jury is still out on that last one).  If we ask, "Where is Mommy or Daddy?" he'll look to where we are, and if we say, "Do you want to read a book?" he'll look at the bookcase where his books are and start to get excited.  My baby loves to read and snuggle!
• He's still an early to bed baby.  We start the bedtime process around 7:00p and he goes to sleep anywhere from 7:30 to 8:00 depending on whether he gets a bath or not.
• Speaking of bathtime...it is impossible to bathe him laying down.  When he is sitting up he wants to lean forward to play with the running water or the drain.  He won't let you stand him up to wash his bottom half.  So we have the slippery baby wrestling match several times a week where we figure he is cleaner than before the bath by the virtue of him getting wet and some soap bubbles make it into the water around him!  Our saving grace is that he doesn't mind water in his face, so you can wash his hair while he is sitting up and douse him to rinse and he just continues playing as if nothing were happening.
• Still a terrible and inconsistent napper at school.  He naps anywhere from 1 to 3 times a day at school, from 5 to 30 minutes each.  At home, we have the bad habit of holding him while he sleeps and so (shockingly) he sleeps for at least an hour for his 3 naps at home.  I can always find a reason to justify holding him while he sleeps, but the biggest one is that I really don't get to see him that much during the week, especially these days.  Oh well, I'm pretty certain he won't be scarred for life because his mommy held him while he slept.  If we put him in his crib to nap he'll usually stay down for 20 minutes to an hour.
• Likes to wave his arms in the air, sometimes in a dramatic "why me??" fashion.  Also has this funny way of turning his head to look at things sometimes.  I tried to capture it on camera with limited success...see below.





I'm ready to go jogging, Mommy!

 



I'm a big standing up boy!

 



"How do I get out from under here?"

 



These next 2 were taken while I was working upstairs this past weekend.  All of a sudden I see a little head bob up and start laughing!







Head turning!  Ignore the Thanksgiving bib...this was really just the other day!



Oh What a Year (2011)!

I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on the things that happened this year that didn't get captured in this little history catcher I've created.  This year was full of some very sad and very happy memories.  To help my faulty memory along I'll try to step along the months in order.

January
As with most January's of my working life this last one was a bit of a blur.  I was focused on making it through my client's 10-K filing while simultaneously not going into pre-term labor.  Sometime during January I actually did end up going to the hospital for observation for a few hours for some contractions, but Nathan wasn't really serious about making an appearance, so life and work went on as usual.  I had my first baby shower hosted by my sweet girlfriends at the church here in Katy and it was beautiful and Nathan received bunches of wonderful gifts.

February
This was a transition month for me, and not an easy one.  My client filed their 10-K in mid-February after which I started working exclusively from home to transition my other client to the new managers who would be taking over while I was on maternity leave.  Sometime mid-month Lori's teacher friends also held a "new grandma" shower for her where Nathan was again showered with many sweet gifts. I was supposed to attend but was informed by my doctor that I shouldn't travel.  The aforementioned trip to the hospital in January may have had something to do with that recommendation. Then, on February 25th my Papa passed away at the age of 90 (just a few weeks short of his 91st birthday).  His body had been getting very tired for the last few years and it was time for him to leave us.  I was 34 weeks pregnant and my doctor advised that I should not travel down for the funeral, and that was heartbreaking.  I almost went anyway, but the grief or something else caused me to start cramping and that pretty much decided things.  As much as I wanted to be with my family to say goodbye to Papa I really didn't want to have Nathan 6 weeks early in South Texas. 

March
Drumming fingers were all the rage at my house.  I impatiently counted down the days until I went on maternity leave while also expecting that Nathan would come at any time!  I was just so sure that he would come early.  On March 2nd Nathan's friend Rylan was born and I just couldn't wait to meet my sweet boy for the first time.  My days were spent reading baby books, watching game shows, napping and getting Nathan's stuff ready.  Oh, how I miss those naps!

April
Finally!  I thought this month would never come!  My precious angel was born and life as we know it changed completely.  Apart from that big event, I don't really remember much that happened for the next couple of months, but I'm pretty sure I captured the high points in some of my past posts about Nathan.

July
Yeah, I wasn't kidding when I said I don't remember what happened for a few months.  I remember July because it was the first time I left Nathan for more than an hour at a time.  I was still breast feeding and my little angel was refusing to take a bottle of anything, including breast milk.  But my sweet friend Amy was marrying the love of her life and I had been looking forward to going since she set the date!  So Grammy came to town so Jimmy and I could go and enjoy an evening at the wedding.  To our credit I think we did not check our phones during the actual ceremony, but I probably looked at mine every 5 minutes or so at the reception.  We left before the real party got started, unfortunately, but I knew Nathan hadn't eaten since the last time I fed him and I wanted to be home by the time he woke up for the first time that night, which usually fell anytime between 10pm and midnight.  It was still nice to get out of the house for a date and see a beautiful bride get made fun of at the alter by the person who has, among other things, promised to cherish her forever.

August
This month I went back to work after being at home for almost 4 whole months with Nathan.  Not fun.  My hubby also turned 30 and, because I am a terrible wife, I don't actually remember what we did to celebrate his birthday.  I tend to take a pretty casual approach to my own birthday and so don't get very worked up about others. I know that I didn't get him a present directly, but instead approved the purchase of his Garmin running watch that he wanted.  I also didn't get him a card and am moderately sure we didn't even go to dinner or cook a special meal or anything.  Wife fail!  Maybe I can make it up on his 31st birthday.  Nobody cares about 30 anyway, right??? 

September and October were rinse and repeat.  Me trying to figure out how to balance work and home, Nathan doing a great job of adjusting to daycare and Jimmy doing a great job of being a daddy.

November
Besides Thanksgiving, the biggest thing that happened this month was that Jimmy and I decided I would go on a flexible work arrangement (FWA) via a reduced schedule starting March 1, 2012.  I still haven't filed the official paperwork at the office, but my schedule already reflects the change, so I'm pretty confident it will get approved with no problem.  We are hoping that changing my schedule so I work hours that are more in line with a normal person that will make it easier for me to get the balance I want so desperately.  I still have to make it through "busy season" this January and February, but after that hopefully things will get better from a work perspective.

December
Ah, the last month of the year.  It got here before even knew what was happening.  Many times I wondered where 2011 went, then I looked at the pictures of my son and remembered!  I turned 30 this month and my sweet husband did a better job of taking care of me than I did of him.  Both Nathan and Jimmy got me birthday cards and Nathan "gave" me mine himself (he was holding it and looking very proud of himself...so precious)!  My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year and, despite having entirely too much work to do, I left on time so that Nathan's 'Aunt' Misty could come over to babysit while Jimmy and I went out to dinner.  We went to El Rioja, a little Spanish tapas place in West Houston, and had a wonderful meal and some much needed time together.  The weekend after, Kelley came up to watch Nathan while Jimmy and I went to my engagement team's Saturday evening Christmas party. During the day Kelley and I went to the nail place near the house that I like where they mistook her for my daughter.  Yes, you read that right...my DAUGHTER!  She is only 3 1/2 years younger than me and I don't look that old!!!  My feelings were clearly hurt and, instead of apologizing to me they tell her, "Oh, you look very young!"  I shouldn't have left a tip.

December has given me a much needed vacation and time to spend with Nathan and Jimmy before busy season starts on January 3rd.  Mom came up to visit this weekend so Jimmy and I could have a new year's date and we went to dinner and a movie (Babin's and the new Sherlock Holmes movie).  I'm so thankful to the friends who offer to keep Nathan, even when we don't take them up on it, and to the family who comes to help so regularly.

Resolutions
And that brings me to the obligatory new year's resolutions.  I could pretend that I am going to update the blog sometime soon, but with work starting back with a vengeance on Tuesday I know that's not happening.  For that matter, don't expect to see anything until late February.  I don't always make new year's resolutions, but I thought if I made some this year and actually put them in writing I might actually have a better chance at keeping them:

1. Read my Bible and pray more regularly.  I pray almost every day, but do a very poor job of reading my Bible.  There is no excuse to not pray every day, multiple times per day, and the same goes for reading the good Book. 
2. Figure out how to be a great mom and just a good auditor (instead of a great mom and a great auditor...it can't be done).  The FWA is intended to help with this one.
3. Devote more attention to my marriage.  It turns out that you can't have a baby, go back to work, devote all your waking energy to those two things and sleep the rest of the time (or at least try to) and expect your marriage to be hunky-dory. Thankfully no irreparable damage has been done, but things can and will be better!

I think that's enough for this year.  Good night and sweet dreams!  Oh, and happy new year!