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Monday, June 11, 2012

7 Months Going on 2 Years. Or So it Seems.

Our little cutie pie is now 7 months old! The past month has been one of big changes for Harrison.  Just when we think this little guy is going to slow down a little he takes off again.

Harrison now has 6 teeth.  Yes, 6.  Its ridiculous really. After suffering through the first two bottom teeth, he really has become quite a champ and pushing those little buggers through, with only a night here and there of waking up.  While its something out of the ordinary for Harrison to wake up in the middle of the night, these once-in-a-while midnight snuggle sessions do tug on my heart strings.  Daniel and I joke about how we got jipped out of a baby.  Harrison was sleeping through the night at about 3 weeks and never required much in the way of coddling as a newborn.  Last week, as I was laying with him in bed at 2:00 in the morning, giving him a small bottle to help calm him back to sleep, I couldn't help but feel like I may have missed out on something.  As long as my little man continues to be a snuggler in his toddler years, I think I can look past it.



Speaking of snuggling, holy cow is Harrison a "lap" baby.  I love that he has become a snuggle baby, often crawling up into your lap for hugs.  He has also learned how to give kisses (aka open mouth drool sucks to the cheek or chin). Since he was about 3 months old, we have tried to find a happy medium in the amount of time we will provide active stimulation with time to encourage individual play.  Harrison is just like I was as a baby, wanting attention all the time and sometimes relying on others to entertain him.  While this is wonderful at times, I do eventually get to that point of "Okay Harrison, time to play with your toys and let Mommy clear her mind for a minute."  It is a very challenging task to balance wanting to spoil and smother your baby yet allow room for personal growth.   




Another area of development is his new ability to stand.  It took Harrison quite awhile to put the pieces together when it came to crawling, but standing up was 1-2-3 and by the end of the day it was done.  Yet another moment of  "Yay! Look at him go!"  mixed with "Oh crap."  Harrison now pulls himself up on EVERYTHING.  Couches, TV stands, his crib, and toys (especially toys that are low to the ground and not suitable for standing support....) We experienced his first moment of not being able to lower himself back down once pulling himself up in bed.  Mommy still feels horrible about letting him "cry it out" for 5 minutes before realizing he was stuck standing up in his crib.  I'm quickly discovering that I will most likely feel guilty about something or other until he moves out....or possibly longer :)  Thankfully, he did teach himself how to lower himself down from a standing position quickly.  We've had a couple of "booms", but thankfully none that weren't made better by a hug, a kiss, and a snuggle. It is amazing to me how little ones learn how to do the most amazing things without any direction at all.  It is incredible how strong a baby's instinct is when it comes to learning movements.  I never once showed him how to do any of this (more because I was hoping to keep him still and in one spot for a little longer!) yet he just "figured it out". 



Now that he's mastered pulling himself up and standing, he is beginning to show signs of walking.  Every day he is getting more and more steady on his feet and will occasionally let go of what he's holding on to.  Brave little boy.  We've started playing a little game with him as well, where we will put an object (most commonly a TV remote) on the furthest cushion of the couch and watch as he side-steps his way down to the other end.


Harrison's diet has expanded quite a bit in the last month as well.  We successfully made it through all of the veggies, fruits and grains with no allergies!  Most recently, we've introduce Yo Baby yogurt into his diet.  He loves it.  It is the one thing that he will eat to the bottom of the container and want more.  We tried the grain "puffs" as a way to encourage his pincer grasp development, but he found those to be a little difficult to eat.  It may be the neurotic mother in me speaking, but they didnt quite dissolve fast enough in his mouth for my comfort.  I'm not ready to tackle the fear of him choking quite yet.  An awesome alternative we've tried is the yogurt melts.  He is still figuring out how to "let go" of the food once he has it in his mouth, but he'll get there!


During the days that I am home with Harrison, we have tried our hardest to get out and about.  We have been trying very hard these days to stay away from Target, and expand our adventures ;)  Most recently we have taken MANY walks around Central Park and trips to the library.  I wish I would have known earlier on about the baby play area they have at the library.  That would have saved many boring days! 



Harrison went swimming for the first time this past weekend, and he LOVED it.  Like always, the child had no fear and I felt like my heart was in my throat the whole time. There was only one incident of "face in the water" but like usual I reacted more strongly than he did :)  Since we started giving baths with him sitting up in the tub, I've been trying to "not prevent" water from getting in his eyes.  Mind you, I don't purposefully dump water on his head, but if it runs down his face I try to let him get used to it.  Apparently its paid off, he spent most of Saturday splashing himself in the face.



Yet another month has flown by and Harrison continues to amaze us.  I'm anxious to watch his vocabulary continue to grow (we've gotten "da-da" but no "ma-ma" yet...)  and hope that his physical development will slow down just a touch!