Someone told me that a child moves from 'baby' to 'toddler' when they start walking. If that is true, I think I can now say that I have a toddler! Cooper has started walking!
We are very excited and a bit relieved. Jason is relieved because he started walking before he turned one (he is 11 months)... his reasoning? 'We told him he had to walk by 1 so he wouldn't be behind other kids, so it's good that he listened.' My relief? He will not need to be carried quite so much!
I bought him a pair of shoes to celebrate his achievement. Figured that with the cold weather and him wanting to walk around, shoes are now a must. I spent $55 on one tiny little pair! I think they are good ones though... they haven't bothered him or affected his walking at all.
Cooper has also suddenly connected the waving action with saying goodbye, again to our delight :) So cute to see him communicating in this way.
Just lately his vocabulary has reduced to pretty much nothing but 'da da da da'. It seems that he was simply concentrating too hard on learning to walk to put any effort into words. Today he suddenly re-introduced the consonants 'n', 'm' and 'b' back into his 'vocab'. I'm very happy to be hearing 'mumum' again after so long of nothing but 'dad' :D
Sunday, 27 May 2012
Friday, 11 May 2012
10.5 months and counting
Wow, my little bubby is turning into a little boy!! He'll be one next month!
I'm still loving watching his growth and development. He is getting so clever! Walking along the furniture so very well now and standing unassisted for very short periods. On Sunday he stood while drinking from his sippy cup, then took a couple steps forward before falling - we were very impressed with his balance! On Tuesday, he took 3 or 4 steps from the couch to me to get a balloon I was holding up! Jase was in the kitchen, unfortunately, and he hasn't tried again since.
I am amazed by his dexterity and general 'cleverness'. Like watching him grab the string of his helium balloon and put one hand over the other to tug the balloon down to his eye level, as quick as a wink. He's done lots of other clever things too, which I've thought at the time - ooo, I should blog that! but have of course forgotten by now :(
Cooper is initiating games now, which is just so much fun. His favourite game is peek-a-boo. It is SO darn cute to see him standing in his little onsie PJs, peeking around the corner announcing 'Ah DARE!' (Ah, there he is!)
If I'm holding him but focussing on something else, he sometimes leans over, tipping his head to the side and staring closely into my face, then giggling when I laugh.
When music starts, he gets his little groove on - bobbing and head-nodding away. Quite a little dancer (in my opinion!) He enjoys Rhyme Time at the library and when we sing to him.
He loves books... they are probably his favourite toy, much to my delight. I've had to administer a fair bit of sticky tape to many of his board books, but because of his enthusiastic reading and trying to close them backwards, not from throwing or other 'un-book-loving' behaviour, so I don't mind.
He still loves to be out and about among people. He is such a show-off, it is almost embarrassing... certainly an attention seeker! I had to take him out to creche at on Sunday, in spite of my pre-birth hopes that my kids will learn to sit relatively quietly with me in church. He was so chatty and playful that not only were the people around us all turning to look, wave, make faces and giggle, but I could hear someone on the other side of the church sniggering at Cooper's boistrous 'DA DA DAD'.
I always struggle with knowing what is appropriate... I know in my head that not everyone is as smitten with my little one as I am, so don't want to let him intrude on their peace, but at the same time, lots of people do enjoy interacting with him, and I just think he is so fabulous that I don't want to deprive them, lol. And I don't want to squash his enthusiasm, joy and love of people, but at the same time want him to learn to be appropriate. And I don't know how much you can 'train' babies and at what age... So wish I knew all the answers!
He is understanding many more words, but still not saying much. Well, I mean, he 'talks' a lot, but not actual words so much. He definitely understands 'bathies time' and gets so excited when we say it! It's great to be able to give him instructions, like "Go play with your ball" while I'm in the shower, and for him to actually understand enough to stop sooking and go and get his ball.
He is getting good at giving cuddles - I love it when he wraps his arms around me, snuggles in and holds on tight. He isn't so good at giving kisses (they are SOO slobbery and usually involve biting), so I kiss him as much as I can to teach him how! ;)
I adore my cute, smiley little boy! xx
I'm still loving watching his growth and development. He is getting so clever! Walking along the furniture so very well now and standing unassisted for very short periods. On Sunday he stood while drinking from his sippy cup, then took a couple steps forward before falling - we were very impressed with his balance! On Tuesday, he took 3 or 4 steps from the couch to me to get a balloon I was holding up! Jase was in the kitchen, unfortunately, and he hasn't tried again since.
I am amazed by his dexterity and general 'cleverness'. Like watching him grab the string of his helium balloon and put one hand over the other to tug the balloon down to his eye level, as quick as a wink. He's done lots of other clever things too, which I've thought at the time - ooo, I should blog that! but have of course forgotten by now :(
Cooper is initiating games now, which is just so much fun. His favourite game is peek-a-boo. It is SO darn cute to see him standing in his little onsie PJs, peeking around the corner announcing 'Ah DARE!' (Ah, there he is!)
If I'm holding him but focussing on something else, he sometimes leans over, tipping his head to the side and staring closely into my face, then giggling when I laugh.
When music starts, he gets his little groove on - bobbing and head-nodding away. Quite a little dancer (in my opinion!) He enjoys Rhyme Time at the library and when we sing to him.
He loves books... they are probably his favourite toy, much to my delight. I've had to administer a fair bit of sticky tape to many of his board books, but because of his enthusiastic reading and trying to close them backwards, not from throwing or other 'un-book-loving' behaviour, so I don't mind.
He still loves to be out and about among people. He is such a show-off, it is almost embarrassing... certainly an attention seeker! I had to take him out to creche at on Sunday, in spite of my pre-birth hopes that my kids will learn to sit relatively quietly with me in church. He was so chatty and playful that not only were the people around us all turning to look, wave, make faces and giggle, but I could hear someone on the other side of the church sniggering at Cooper's boistrous 'DA DA DAD'.
I always struggle with knowing what is appropriate... I know in my head that not everyone is as smitten with my little one as I am, so don't want to let him intrude on their peace, but at the same time, lots of people do enjoy interacting with him, and I just think he is so fabulous that I don't want to deprive them, lol. And I don't want to squash his enthusiasm, joy and love of people, but at the same time want him to learn to be appropriate. And I don't know how much you can 'train' babies and at what age... So wish I knew all the answers!
He is understanding many more words, but still not saying much. Well, I mean, he 'talks' a lot, but not actual words so much. He definitely understands 'bathies time' and gets so excited when we say it! It's great to be able to give him instructions, like "Go play with your ball" while I'm in the shower, and for him to actually understand enough to stop sooking and go and get his ball.
He is getting good at giving cuddles - I love it when he wraps his arms around me, snuggles in and holds on tight. He isn't so good at giving kisses (they are SOO slobbery and usually involve biting), so I kiss him as much as I can to teach him how! ;)
I adore my cute, smiley little boy! xx
Home again, home again, jigetty jig
Work is over and I'm a stay-at-home mum again! Ok, so work was over 2 weeks ago, but it has taken me this long to get around to blogging... it's been a helluva fortnight!
I'm happy to report that by the end of the four week work stint, Cooper was finally getting used to me leaving him and settling down to the new routine. I was quite enjoying lots of aspects of the work and getting out on my own too, however still felt that 4 to 5 hours every day was too much for my liking.
I ended up doing an extra day, finishing at lunch time on the Thursday... and that's when the fun started! Gastro hit! Cooper started chucking at tea time, with me joining in during the night.
(Dare I admit here... at first I thought it was my poor handling of the chicken that had given my poor bub food poisoning! I was quite relieved when I found out my whole mother's group had it, yet have been making extra effort to not leave food out since.)
Having gastro SUCKS when you're a breast-feeding mum! Feeling like you've been hit by a truck, needing to grab a bucket in preparation every time you move, unable to keep even fluids down, yet still feeding your son (who can keep some breastmilk down, but not much else). Oh, and to thank me for my efforts, he would kick me in the tummy while I was feeding him - not helpful! I felt dehydrated for days afterwards.
Friday arvo was the worst - he was feeling a lot better and desperate to play outside, but I felt so crap every time I moved. And Cooper would not stay still and play - he insisted on crawling around the yard putting all sorts of inappropriate things in his mouth :( So thankful my mum was free and able to come take him to the park for me.
Coops followed up the gastro with diarrhea a few days later, then ear infection, then a cold, adding a fever a few days later. I've called Nurse On Call several times, visited a midwife, the local clinic doctor and my doctor. I feel like a totally paranoid mum every time I do, but I'm so stressed about my poor sick, sad bubba. I really hope this is the last and the 5 hr (yes, FIVE! and counting) sleep he's having today means the end of it. I'm really looking forward to not anxiously monitoring every snuffly breath and him being able to sleep in his own again (instead of ON one of us!).
I think Cooper is telling me I should go back to work and bring Nan and Ama back again. Heaven knows work is easier than this!!
I'm happy to report that by the end of the four week work stint, Cooper was finally getting used to me leaving him and settling down to the new routine. I was quite enjoying lots of aspects of the work and getting out on my own too, however still felt that 4 to 5 hours every day was too much for my liking.
I ended up doing an extra day, finishing at lunch time on the Thursday... and that's when the fun started! Gastro hit! Cooper started chucking at tea time, with me joining in during the night.
(Dare I admit here... at first I thought it was my poor handling of the chicken that had given my poor bub food poisoning! I was quite relieved when I found out my whole mother's group had it, yet have been making extra effort to not leave food out since.)
Having gastro SUCKS when you're a breast-feeding mum! Feeling like you've been hit by a truck, needing to grab a bucket in preparation every time you move, unable to keep even fluids down, yet still feeding your son (who can keep some breastmilk down, but not much else). Oh, and to thank me for my efforts, he would kick me in the tummy while I was feeding him - not helpful! I felt dehydrated for days afterwards.
Friday arvo was the worst - he was feeling a lot better and desperate to play outside, but I felt so crap every time I moved. And Cooper would not stay still and play - he insisted on crawling around the yard putting all sorts of inappropriate things in his mouth :( So thankful my mum was free and able to come take him to the park for me.
Coops followed up the gastro with diarrhea a few days later, then ear infection, then a cold, adding a fever a few days later. I've called Nurse On Call several times, visited a midwife, the local clinic doctor and my doctor. I feel like a totally paranoid mum every time I do, but I'm so stressed about my poor sick, sad bubba. I really hope this is the last and the 5 hr (yes, FIVE! and counting) sleep he's having today means the end of it. I'm really looking forward to not anxiously monitoring every snuffly breath and him being able to sleep in his own again (instead of ON one of us!).
I think Cooper is telling me I should go back to work and bring Nan and Ama back again. Heaven knows work is easier than this!!
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