This pretty much sums it up

This was posted by a couple of people I know on my facebook feed today - and it really resonated with me.  Colin is still not an "easy" baby... he still screams for no reason, he's fussy, and an early riser (okay, I guess that's not actually something to make him difficult, just a sad turn of events for the last risers we are).  He still wakes up multiple times in a night, and there are times where he is inconsolable.  There were times where I would sit and cry because there was no way to make him stop crying, although I don't think I was ever in my underwear.  

I remember making it to a nursing moms group during my maternity leave, and Colin freaked out and I was embarrassed and felt like I was doing something wrong and I couldn't understand why he was always crying and I panicked.  That was when a lovely woman brought out the exercise ball and had me sit on it and within minutes he was out.  So began my journey of strengthening my core while calming my baby.  

The ball has long since lost its effectiveness, but I remember how grateful I was for trick.  I remember being terrified to leave the house in case he had a melt down, and being worried about finding a place in a corner where I would be able to nurse him without any prying eyes or judgement.  

Colin may not be easy, but he's easier - and at almost a year in, it's amazing how far we've come.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-tate/the-day-someone-threw-me-a-rope_b_4756681.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000037

Scissor kick crawl

It's all the rage.

He may not be moving very quickly, but he is on the move.  Cords, electronics, and fireplaces beware!

Julia sent us this video a few weeks ago.. Silly boy

(This was taken a few weeks ago, so he's moving a little quicker now... but not by that much)

Monday

It's one of those underwear inside out kind of days. #facepalm #enjoythelaugh. (Apologies for carrying over hashtags to the blog but it seems appropriate).

Hope you are all having a better Monday than I did.

In = Out

9 whole months!  And by the time we actually took pictures (think the day before he was 10-months....oops!) he was definitely longer out than he was in.  

I can't believe he's already 9 months.  He's getting more and more fun everyday and as our friend so kindly put it when we were over at his new house "wow, he's vocal".  Yes, we have the LOUD baby.  Sorry about that... I didn't realize that not all babies yelled (not screaming/crying/tantrums - literally just yelling to hear his own voice 90% of the time).  We are so lucky.

What's new in the Colin universe?  He is going on 8 teeth.  We seem to turn around and he's getting more, just as we think the teething phase is passing.  He reeeeaaachs for things.  He doesn't crawl.  He just leans forward as far as he can, puts his hands down, scoots his legs a little bit closer (while they are almost in Indian Style in front of him) and gets what he wants and proceeds to sit back down.  He has no interest in a full on crawling.  It's driving me bonkers.  I just wish he would do it already, especially since we have the doctor's appointment follow up tomorrow so it would be exciting to report back that he's crawling, and doing all the things he wants him to be doing.  You put him on his belly though, and it's like a collar on a cat - he feels he has been completely immobilized and that his limbs no longer work.  We are still practicing and working on it.

He's really into John right now too, which is fun to see and definitely fun for John.  I thought I might miss being his go-to, but it's actually kind of nice and gives my arms a bit of a break.  And I'm sure that he'll keep going back and forth, so I'm okay with the shift ---- for a while.  

Foods are still good.  We are incredibly lazy so getting food for him and having him try things is NOT our forte.  We are such late risers in the morning that it's hard to wake up in time to get him to eat before we leave for work - and we eat after he goes to bed since we only get about 1 hr before he's tired and we have to start reading stories and putting on pajamas.  So that's something we are going to work on so that he actually gets some food in the diet and not just milk.  But honestly, for 6 months he was solely reliant on milk, it's TOUGH to change our thinking to incorporate other food.  It's so much easier to not think about it.  

I guess that's about it.  I feel like I should write more about other things too -- but right now, at least for his first year of life, I think he's probably the most exciting thing I have going on.

Parenting 101..

Probably says somewhere "do not leave your child in pee clothes"... but that class doesn't cover the instance where at 4am you realize your kid has peed through his pj's and you realize this once you lay him back down and he's already rolled over and fallen back asleep.  

So when faced with, (1) wake him back up to change his clothes, or (2) allow him to stay sleeping for the next 2 hours...... I chose the latter.

Parenting 101.. Fail.

Just thought we all needed a pick-me-up for a Monday morning.  

They are 2 peas in a pod in the morning.  Happy 10 months!!

9 month check up = 6 weeks of anxiety

UPDATE:  We knew that John also has a big head, which sort of lessened the worry - but it turns out that as a baby, they were concerned about the size of his head too... and tested him for hydrocephalus.  He has clearly turned out just fine.  So hopefully all this will yield the same results.  

Had Colin's 9 month check up today.  I went this one alone, thinking "oh hey, all the other ones have been crazy straight forward and not a big deal... questions, poking, prodding, a couple of shots.. and we're out".  I should have known better!  Today was the day they did the blood test for hemoglobin and lead.  That meant a finger prick and a LOT of blood.  Then two shots in his poor little leg!  Poor Colin was screaming, I felt so terrible for him.

Now, I get to freak out for the next 6 weeks while we wait to go back to get his head remeasured.  I don't know if it's been abundantly clear, but my son has a HUGE head.  It has always been huge, and our last appointment prompted a triple check to make sure it was actually measured correctly.  Today, only twice - but then a comment of, "hmmm... well, I think it's better to check his head again in 6 weeks instead of waiting for his 1 year.  If it's still growing we might need to do an ultrasound."  Absolutely NOT the time to go to an appointment by myself.

About to be the longest 6 weeks of my life.

And not to mention that he only grew 0.25" in the last 3 months.. and dropped down to the 37th percentile in height.... But hey, at least his weight is still right on his own little curve and on track to maintain his 18th-20th percentile.  

Who knew a little 17lb 12oz baby boy could instill so much anxiety....

Latest stats on this handsome devil: 28" long, 17lb 12oz

Tomorrow is 9 months - so let's catch up on 8

I realize that I begin almost every post at this point with "holy balls the time is going by so fast I can't keep up".... but honestly, holy balls the time is going by so fast I can't keep up!!!  Tomorrow is Colin's 9 month appointment.  How is it possible?  He's essentially been "out" as long as he was "in"!  

I guess quite a few things have happened in the last month.  Let's get the rundown... This will be a ridiculous photo dump.  Sorry kids.

Colin said "dada" - although he doesn't necessarily do it on a regular basis, he can do it.

He dressed up like an elf.

Decorated his very first Christmas tree... no good pictures... there's always next year?

Colin had his first Thanksgiving - and he looooved the food.  He had a particular soft spot for green beans and mashed potatoes.  

 Met Santa!  (I know him!)\

Went to his first concert (the DePaul Community Chorus - Christmas at DePaul) and slept through the entire thing --- until the woman started singing.  He really likes it when ladies sing.

Had his first snow day!

 And is slowly working on getting in his 4th tooth.  I'm looking forward to that tooth just getting in already because Colin teething is a drain on all of us.

Oh and of course - he just generally gets cuter and cuter.  Sure, you might say I'm a bit biased, but I think there is some truth there.  

Chillin' on the couch at IKEA.  What a cool looking kid.

And that's our 8 month wrap up.  We have Christmas coming up in month 9, which comes with our first airplane ride with a baby.  We are about to be "those people" on an airplane.  I'm super nervous about it, but hopefully we'll be okay.  We are flying on a Saturday and on Christmas Day, so hopefully we can avoid most of the crazy travelers and everyone will be exceptionally nice to us.  Luckily it's only about 1.25 hours gate to gate, so we at least won't have to deal with it for very long.  

Otherwise, everything is pretty status quo.  I'm on "house arrest" because I sprained my foot stepping off a curb.  Let me just send a word of warning - texting and walking is not a good idea.  I'm just happy that Colin didn't get hurt since I was carrying him - but luckily I was carrying him in his infant seat so he didn't really fall.  I would have felt so terrible.

He's still not crawling, not that I'm complaining.  It is a lot easier to watch a baby that is in the same spot you left him.  He loves to sit, he loves to stand, but he does not like to lay on his belly.  So I'm not entirely sure how to entice him to crawl quite yet.  He did finally start to understand that he can roll for things, and he stretches out for things like it's his job when he's sitting.  I think we are close, but we've been saying that for about a month now, so who really knows.  

The weather has turned and it is officially winter outside.  It's crazy cold out, and makes it really hard to leave the house.  We still have months of this, so hopefully we get acclimated quick, otherwise it's going to be a long season indeed.