Keeping in Teutsch

 John Hayden turned a year old today! Here's his monthly update:

--He weighs about the same as he did last month (23-24 lbs.). I'm not quite sure exactly how long he is, as it's hard to get him to stay still long enough to measure him.
--John Hayden is a rock star at eating, and I NEVER thought I'd be saying that when we was refusing baby food just a few short months ago! He's completely off the bottle, formula, and baby food. I've got him on soy milk to see if it helps with his congestion. He seems a little better, but I'm giving it a few weeks before I decide whether it will be a permanent thing or not. He loves to eat and has a great appetite!
--He's still in size 4 diapers, 12-18 month pajamas, and 12 and 18 month clothing.
--He's still a great sleeper and we've even got him napping in his crib! We really owe it to daycare, though, for making that happen. He was moved up to the one year old room last week and they don't have cribs. They take their naps on a mat on the floor (although someone has to sit beside him and pat him on the back/bottom until he goes to sleep). Anyway, because of that, it's been easier to get him to nap in his crib. My baby is growing up! (There are also no high chairs in his room. They feed them at a little table and he also does "art time" and we get a coloring sheet sent home every day with scribbles on it. All this growing up makes me sad!)
--John Hayden is officially walking now. He took his first step the day he turned 11 months and has gotten better and better over the past month. He's still wobbly and still falls, but he pretty much walks everywhere now. He also finally cut that 8th tooth and is now working on his one year molars (I saw at least one peeking through on top, not sure about the others.) John Hayden also mimics our words a lot, saying "no, no," "unh, unh," "stop," and "uh, oh." And he calls Juliette "jet" or "yet." He loves going outside and sliding, and I'd love to report that he has stopped trying to get into everything he shouldn't, but that's just wishful thinking!
--We celebrated his birthday tonight by taking him to Chuck E Cheese's for the first time. He loved the little toddler rides and wasn't scared of Chuck E (unlike his sister). We also got a cookie cake, so he got to have a tiny piece after he ate some pizza. We're having his birthday party this Saturday at my parents' house, so you can check back next week for pictures from it.

He crawled over into the toy box in the living room.

Trying to ride the school bus.

His first trip to the Pumpkin Patch. He LOVED the pumpkins and didn't want to leave.

His first Halloween. He didn't get to go trick-or-treating because it was raining too bad! :( He was R2D2 from Star Wars and Juliette was C3PO.

Cuddling with Lambchop while sleeping.

 John Hayden was 11 months old on Saturday (we were out of town and I'm just now finding the time to write this). Here's his monthly update:

--He weighs around 23-24 pounds. Maybe I've just gotten use to carrying him around, but he doesn't seem so heavy to me now and I really think he's starting to thin out.
--He's still eating his baby food good and still getting 24 oz. of formula a day, and he even eats some table food too, especially bread. I've started letting him have baby Goldfish as well and he loves those. I've got to admit, I'm not really looking forward to this next month...to transitioning him completely to a sippy cup (which he dislikes, by the way) as well as to table food. It stresses me some days...mostly because I don't ever feel like he is eating enough, but I somewhat remember the little bird-like appetite that Juliette had at this age and I know he'll survive! Tonight he ate what we had for dinner (plus almost half a banana) so I feel good about the transition, but tomorrow night will probably be a different story. Haha!
--He's still in size 4 diapers, and completely in 12-18 month pajamas now (he outgrew the 9-12 month ones). He's still in 12 and 18 month clothing as well...12 month pants and 18 month onesies and shirts. I guess that means he's short legged.
--He's still sleeping great at night, still hit and miss at daycare with his naps, and still napping at home in the swing. I HAVE to get him out of that swing this month! Not looking forward to that either!
--John Hayden is into EVERYthing! He will wear you out just keeping him out of stuff. He can stand alone in the middle of the floor really good now and can even get up to standing by himself (without pulling up on something). He is trying so hard to walk...even taking a few steps before falling. We were at my parents on Sunday and they said he took three little steps, but I wasn't in there to see it, so it doesn't count as his first steps! Haha! He won't practice walking to you...will just sit down if you try to get him to. Instead, you have to just watch him really closely while he's playing and then he'll start trying to do it or, if all else fails, bribe him with snacks. I'm almost certain he'll be walking by his first birthday! He can now clap and wave (although it's easier to get him to clap for you than to wave) and he says what sounds like "bye-bye" as well and sometimes it sounds like he says "sister." He likes to play a little rough and he thinks it's hilarious to knock stacked up things down. He also thinks pretty much anything Juliette does is funny.
He's still working on cutting that 8th tooth (he's got four on top and three on the bottom) and his favorite toys are the small balls that go with other toys and the Little People bus.

His new "Born on the Bayou" shirt. (He really was!)

His first Saints shirt.

Getting into the trash can and a picture that shows him standing up by himself in the middle of the floor.

Looking like a little man with his tie.

 John Hayden was 10 months old yesterday. (He wouldn't sit still for a picture unless I gave him the camera case, so this was the best picture I could get.) Here's his monthly update:

--He weighs around 23 lbs., so he hasn't really gained much recently.
--He's still eating his baby food good and still getting 24 oz. of formula a day. He likes his Cheerios and banana puffs, and will eat some table food, but eats his baby food better than it.
--His diaper and clothing sizes haven't changed: size 4 diapers, as well as 9-12 month pajamas (although I put him in 12-18 month ones as well even though they are a little big) and 12 and 18 month clothes, although his 18 month stuff fits a little better.
--He's still sleeping great and finally is taking some naps at daycare, but it's still a little hit and miss with that. Some days he'll take a good nap there and other days not. He naps great at home...in the swing (although we don't turn it on). He won't nap in his crib and considering he's not far from a year old, we need to work on getting him out of the swing for naps.
--John Hayden has gotten fast crawling on his knees, pulls up on everything, gets into everything, and can be quite destructive. He's cruising a lot and has even started letting go and standing alone for a few seconds. And in just the past few days he's gotten more control while he is standing alone and instead of falling down, he will squat down. He can also walk with his walking toy. He definitely says "ma-ma" now along with "da-da" and "ba-ba," but doesn't say it as much as he says "da-da." Oh, and he shakes his head no, but he's been doing that for a couple of months now. He has almost got the waving and clapping down, but not quite there yet. He's got 7 teeth now, and one more he is cutting. He's super happy and laughs a lot, and he's still great to take out to restaurants (which is shocking considering he won't sit still any where else...even in the bathtub).Oh, and the other day he was peeking underneath the bathroom door and banging on it, wanting Matt to come out. I thought it was pretty cute...and funny!

Walking behind his toy.

He loves mirrors. (We were in a shoe store.)

 John Hayden is 9 months old today. (He looks SO much older in the picture above, but this was the best picture I could get of him since he doesn't like to sit still and pose for pictures! I don't think he actually looks quite like that normally.) Here's his monthly update:

--He weighs 22.5 lbs. and is almost 29 in. long. That's in the 90th percentile for weight and the 75th for height.
--John Hayden finally eats baby food now! Woohoo! In an effort to avoid another trip to therapy, earlier this month, I decided to decrease the amount of formula he was getting in a day to see if his adversion to baby food was actually an "I'm full on formula and don't want anything else" problem. And it was! (Or my experiment just happened to coincide with him deciding he liked food.) Now he gets 6 oz. of formula in the morning, and 6 oz. at bed time, but only 4 oz. other times during the day (typically 3 times) for a total of 24 oz., which is the minimum babies need at this age. Mid-morning he eats oatmeal mixed with fruit, at lunch he eats a fruit, and at dinner he eats a vegetable. Although a lot of babies will eat more than one container of baby food at a sitting, that is all he wants and the doctor said that was completely fine. (Oh, and those are Stage 2 containers.) He will also eat baby puffs now as well as Cheerios (he loves those and he can feed them to himself now), so now we have a way to keep him happy when we go out to eat (although, he's been a great baby to take out to eat so far!). We've all been praying for him to eat like he's supposed to...so glad for answered prayers.
--He is still in size 4 diapers, as well as 9-12 month pajamas (although I put him in 12-18 month ones as well even though they are a little big) and 12 and 18 month clothes. Size wise, he hasn't really grown much at all in the last month.
--And, another answered prayer: Baby is sleeping good now!! (And just my luck he'll start waking up again since I'm bragging on him.) Anyway, though, this entire month has been bliss between him finally eating baby food and sleeping through the night without waking! And, right now, he still takes two naps a day (usually 1 1/2-2 hrs each time) but we've started him back in daycare, so that might change. He went for a half day last Friday and didn't want to go down for a morning nap, and yesterday he sleep for less than an hour in the morning. Hopefully, the newness of being back in daycare will wear off quickly and he'll get back to a good nap schedule as he was quite fussy yesterday evening when I got home.
--John Hayden can crawl traditionally now, although he still army crawls as well, but he's definitely getting faster on his knees. It's funny because he slaps the floor with his hands (not graceful at all) when he's crawling, so you can hear him coming if you are in another room. He also has gotten really good at pulling up to standing, even pulling up on some of his bigger toys, and he's cruising on the furniture a little bit as well. I'm positive he'll be walking before his first birthday! Aside from "da-da," he definitely says "ba-ba" and he knows what it means. He'll start crying if you say something about a "ba-ba" and don't produce said ba-ba for him, so I have to say "bottle" or spell it. Sometimes we kinda hear "ma-ma" thrown in there, but he pretty much just calls everyone "da-da." He knows that "sister" means Juliette and has been pointing her out in pictures this week since she has been gone to North Louisiana visiting our parents. And, he's pretty good at mimicing the sounds of certain words we say, almost to the point that it sounds like he is repeating the exact word, but we know that is probably not true. We like to think he is, though! He's still practicing waving. I thought for sure he would have that down by now, but I guess he's been too busy working on those gross motor skills instead of his fine ones. Oh, and he gives kisses now...wet, slobbery, open-mouthed kisses on the cheek! And on command as well. It's the best, but he's very selective as to who he gives them to (mostly gives them to Juliette and me). He's also cutting his top middle four teeth (all at once!), and although I still have to wrestle him to keep him on his bottom in the bathtub, he's gotten better about not hanging off the side of the changing table (only doing that every few days now instead of every.single.time!). He's starting to climb (into and onto things) and he's into EVERYTHING. We put up the pack-n-play in the living room (although we have absolutely no room for it) just so we could corral him some and catch our breath every so often. He went to the beach for the first time this past month (and sampled some sand) and he got his first haircut (we hated to get it cut, but it was just too long; I still comb it over to the side because he looks too much like a little boy and not a baby when you comb it down). He's definitely keeping us on our toes, but it's such fun...and he's such a happy, smiley baby (except when it's a stranger--then he gives the "stranger danger" stare).

Getting into the DVDs.

Getting his hair cut.

He loves water!

With Juliette at the beach in Galveston.

Eating sand.

Checking out the water with my dad (PawPaw) at the beach in Galveston.

He climbed into our super classy, makeshift toy box.

In the ocean with Daddy.

Feeding himself Cheerios in my office.

John Hayden was 8 months old on Saturday (we were out of town, so just now getting to write this). Here's his monthly update:

--He weighs around 22 lbs. I can feel it in my shoulders...haha!
--He still eats 6-7 ounces every 3ish hours. Still doesn't like baby food, table food, any food. I don't know what to do with this kid...hope he finds his appetite for solids soon or the doctor will send us for an evaluation with a therapist at 9 months to make sure it's not sensory issues or something like that.
--He is still in size 4 diapers, but the other weekend, literally overnight, he completely outgrew his remaining 9 month and 9-12 month clothes and we had to go on a shopping spree. I bought a combination of 12 month and 18 month stuff and everything fits much better now. (The outfit above is a little big, but Daddy dressed him!) He can still wear the 9-12 month zip-up pajamas from The Children's Place (I love those things...the designs are SO cute), but that is the only thing in that size.
--Sleep sucks...as usual. (Sorry for the "language," but that's how we all feel about it.) Juliette has started praying for John Hayden to sleep good at night. I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry about that! He goes to sleep fine...he just wakes up most nights around 10 or 11 and it's extremely hard to get him back to sleep in his crib. Most nights he ends up in bed with me, where he then proceeds to wake up at the crack of dawn (around 5) and wants to get up for the day. Some days I get lucky and he sleeps until 6. And some very rare days, he'll sleep all night in his crib with hardly a peep and not wake up until after I've gotten out of the shower. Insanity is often described as doing the same thing over and over and hoping for different results. That definition perfectly describes our efforts at sleep training. (Before anyone offers advice: we've tried it all. He's one stubborn kid and we can only do cry-it-out [or more like fuss-it-out for him since he's not straight up crying] for about 10 minutes before we risk waking Juliette since they share a room.) He was taking naps good, but as of today, he can shimmy himself out of the swing--where he's been taking most naps--and Matt found him on the floor beside it twice when he should have been sleeping. (The swing is a low one that is almost on the ground, so he basically just crawled out of it...can't fall, thankfully!) You know it's getting frustrating when your husband starts Googling sleep training ideas and reading the baby books. (He NEVER did that with Juliette.) Until John Hayden decides to sleep better, I just have to remind myself often "this too shall pass." One day. Probably not any time soon, but one day.
--John Hayden has gotten super fast with his army crawls and is now venturing to all rooms in the apartment (which really doesn't take much effort on his part since the place is so small). Last week he started taking a few traditional crawls very slowly, but he hasn't gotten good enough to crawl across the room or very quickly, so he just does a few and then plops down on his belly and takes off in an army crawl (he's super fast like that) . Matt swears he said "ba-ba" for his bottle the other day, but I'm not convinced it was in reference to it and haven't heard him say it. He is trying to pull up ALL the time now, but he isn't strong enough yet to get on his feet. He can pull up to his knees, though. Since he can sit up good now, we're not using the baby sling seat for baths and he loves getting to play in the water. He got to go swimming for the first time this month and loved that as well. And, I've noticed him practicing waving a couple of times, but I can't get him to do it in response to my waving. I imagine he'll be developing more of those fine motor skills in the next month or so. He's a busy body and some nights I'm sweating by the time I've given him a bath (that involves sitting him back down on his bottom every few seconds while trying to bathe him) and then literally wrestled him to get his diaper and pajamas on. So far, he has done great at restaurants sitting in a highchair, although he prefers to turn himself practically all the way around and people watch instead of looking at us. He might not be a good sleeper, but he is definitely a happy, giggly baby (and that helps ease the frustrations with his sleeping habits!).

Some pictures of this past month:

First trip to the library.

Juliette reading to John Hayden.

First Fourth of July.

With Matt's parents.

Four generations on Matt's side of the family.

John Hayden liked Zoe and kept trying to pet her, however, he didn't like for her to lick him and that was what she did when he got close, so it was a love/hate relationship. I made Zoe sit still to take this picture...she doesn't look very happy about that, but John Hayden looks excited because he thought he was going to be able to get a hold of her collar!

 John Hayden is 7 months old today. It seems like this past month literally flew by! Here's his monthly update:

--When I took him to the doctor a few weeks ago, he weighed 19 lbs. 3 oz. and was almost 28 inches long. He's around the 90th percentile for weight and between the 75th and 90th for height.
--We just recently moved him up to 7 oz. every 3ish hours. (If he would eat baby food like he's supposed to, I wouldn't have had to increase his ounces. He just really loves his bottle and could pass on the baby food!) He typically has 5 full bottles a day and a few ounces at bedtime. He's doing a little better with the baby food and actually ate half a container of carrots the other day, which surprised me. I gave him a sippy cup and he looked at me weird and then started chewing on the spout and has yet to figure out that he needs to suck on it, so I guess he won't be drinking from sippy cups anytime soon. Thankfully, we still have 5 whole months to get this eating and drinking thing down! Oh, and he started holding his bottle shortly after he turned 6 months old, so he can feed himself now, but I still try to hold him while he eats or at least for a few minutes.
--I moved him up to size 4 diapers for both daytime and nighttime. He has mostly outgrown all his 6 month stuff and is wearing almost all 9 month stuff, but can fit in some 12 month stuff as well. Some of the 9 month onesies don't have much growing room, so we'll probably be in 12 month onesies soon. He's still in 6-9 month pajamas but there is no growing room, so we'll be moving up to 9-12 months very soon.
--I'm almost afraid to type this for fear that he'll revert back, but he has been sleeping pretty good this past month. I moved his bedtime back a little (he was going to bed at 7 and now it's closer to 8) and started giving him a small bottle at bedtime and I think that has helped. Or maybe he's just finally settling down. He's been napping so much better for us as well. Up until recently, he had always been a cat napper, but he's started taking two naps a day now, usually 1 1/2 to 2 hours each. Sadly, he will no longer let me rock him to sleep unless it's nighttime, and sometimes he doesn't want me to then. And he could care less about a pacifier...won't take it at all. If you give it to him, he just chews on the edge of it and won't suck on it. That means I won't have to break him from it, but at the same time it's harder to soothe him when he's crying.
--This past month saw big changes for John Hayden, as he mastered sitting up unsupported, started army crawling, and cut two teeth (all of which happened within a week's time). He's all over the place now, trying to get into everything. His favorite spots in the living room to head for are the Internet router (because it has blinking lights) and the cord to the lamp and laptop. Also if Matt leaves his jump drive in the Xbox (which is on the floor), he will make a beeline for it as well. It's officially time to baby proof the house before he figures out how to crawl traditionally and can get places faster. He doesn't want to be held much anymore. He wants down or he wants you to walk around with him on your hip. He loves going outdoors and swinging. He hates being buckled into his carseat...he starts fussing as soon as you open the car door! (Once he's buckled, he calms down, though.) If we bring him into a restaurant in his carseat, he does pretty good. If we take him out and put him in a highchair, that's another story! I imagine we won't be eating out as much now since he's getting bigger (or at least until he is eating baby snack foods that I can use to keep him busy.) We've gotten really good at wrestling (literally) our little alligator for diaper changes and getting him dressed, since he refuses to stay on his back on the changing table. Half the time, he's hanging off of it, while we're holding a leg. I don't remember Juliette being quite as wild on the changing table...he's literally hanging off of it upside down and thinks it's fun...maybe that's just the difference between girls and boys. Most of the time we just end up dressing him on his belly.

Here are some pictures from this past month:

Being able to sit up unsupported means he gets to ride in the buggy at stores. He was so happy to be sitting in the buggy that the pictures I took were all fuzzy from him bouncing up and down!

Mother's Day 2013

The comparison picture from this past month (click to make larger):