Category: M

Terribly, terribly late, since he turns 11 months in just 4 days and then 1 year old (!!!?!?!??!?) a month after that, but here is Morrison’s 10 month update post. It’ll be short and sweet since the next one is coming so soon (hopefully!).

Life is very much the same as it was in his 9 month post, so I’ll just let you reread that one for a minute if you need to. The big change is this almost walking thing, as he took a full handful of steps toward me just this morning.

He is still eating like a man; napping like a champ in the afternoons and usually mornings, too; adoring playing with and slobbering all over his big sisters, as much as they run screaming from the baby drool; still realizing that sleeping all night is wonderful; and simply loving life in general. He really is a happy little boy and loves to shout to let everyone know.

Posterity stats – size 3 diapers, size 4 overnights (although those have been leaking for about a week solid now so I think we’re moving up to size 5 overnights already), size 12 or 12-18 month clothes. I just switched out all his clothes to bring up the 12-18 month stuff for the rest of this cold season and this summer from his big cousin, and there are some absolutely adorable outfits in there! I’m very excited for him to get to wear all of them now, which he definitely will since he needs a full wardrobe change practically every day after getting his lunch all over himself.

Now the monthly Goonie brigade – Della, Lana, Morrison. And Lana’s 10 month post for comparison (Lana’s monthly posts also contain links back to Della’s monthly update posts if you really want to dig through these kids’ histories).

Morrison turned 7 months old on New Year’s Eve. I can’t believe we’ve already celebrated a whole new year with him!

This month has seen some pretty major developments so far. In the week after he turned 7 months old, he took his first crawling “steps,” even though he doesn’t really crawl yet at all. He just gets up on all fours, rocks back and forth, and kind of scoots/hops his little knees forward. That’s how it starts, though!

That same week he also learned how to sit up. This was great, because I’d recently been wondering why he wasn’t sitting yet. I’m pretty sure both girls sat on their own well before 7 months, but every time I set him down in a sitting position he would just fold over on himself and splay out on his tummy. (i actually just read back in Lana’s 7 month post and she was not sitting by then, so maybe Della was) But right after he started doing his crawling scoots, he figured out how to put one of his legs out to the side and push himself back into a full sitting position. I was so proud of him! You could tell he was proud of himself, too, because sitting is now his favorite position. He sits on a blanket on top of the playmats in the living room and flaps his arms around and plays with his toys for hours (yes really, hours).

He is an excellent eater. Since he’s been eating so well with solids and taking formula, my milk supply is all but gone. I do still try to nurse him for the very first feeding of the morning, but I have a feeling he’s only getting a dribble by now. So if he gets a very small first feeding, he gets a 6-8 oz. bottle of formula mid-morning, eats solids at lunch (usually a delectable puree of oatmeal and bananas) with water afterward, another 6-8 oz. bottle of formula mid-afternoon after his nap, solids at dinner (another delicious puree of sweet potatoes, peas, avocados, or a combination of whichever of those we happen to have) with water afterward, and then finally another 6-8 oz. bottle of formula at bedtime. He also started eating baby puffs at 6 months, and he’s become much better at actually getting those into his mouth. We usually give him some in the highchair in the mornings while the girls are eating breakfast, and he normally gets a handful before or after lunch and dinner, too, while I get things ready or cleaned up.

His naps are still pretty solid. His morning nap ranges anywhere from half an hour to an hour and a half, simply depending on the day and whether we walk to school or not and how he’s slept the night before. His afternoon nap is still good, too, lasting 2-3 hours while Lana naps (thank you!!). He has started needing a little evening nap after dinner again much of the time, but it’s only about half an hour at most.

Now I know I’ve painted a pretty good picture of Morrison’s life at 7 months here, but please don’t be fooled. It’s not all sunshine and roses. But why? you may ask. He’s so cute! Yeah, well don’t let that pretty little face pull the wool over your eyes. This kid

does

not

fucking

sleep!

Sorry for the language (hi, Mom and Grandma!), but it’s warranted here. This kid is an absolute nightmare overnight. He’s like a Gremlin – when the clock strikes midnight all hell breaks loose (it’s actually more like 11:30 for him, but whatever). More often than not, he spends at least 1 hour and up to about 4 hours fussing, crying, screaming, and robbing me of any hope for sleep and sanity. I have no idea what the reason is either. Right now he’s teething (oh yeah, his front 2 teeth have broken through in the past few days and the couple on either side of those are bulging, too, getting ready to poke down), so I’m sure that’s causing some discomfort, but even infant’s ibuprofen doesn’t seem to help in those heinous overnight stretches.

We’ve tried seemingly everything. He doesn’t get fed overnight anymore; he doesn’t get changed overnight anymore; I try putting him in bed with me to sleep on my chest (sometimes that works, but he usually just farts around and cries or sneezes in my face); Ryan bounces/rocks him (i’m so mean i usually refuse to get him out of his crib); we’ve tried giving him water in a bottle; he always gets his pacifier when he starts getting fussy; he wears overnight diapers now so he doesn’t get soaked; we have both a warm mist humidifier and little space heater right by his bed; he has a little nightlight and music player hanging right next to his bed as well. I just don’t know. I really wish he would learn how to suck his thumb like Lana did so I can do away with the pacifier, but I can only stand so much screaming before that plug goes back in.

What I do know, though, is that he’s the worst sleeping baby I have ever encountered right now. Terrible. Miserable. Obnoxious. Whatever synonym for “bad” you want to throw in here works. He slept better as a newborn than he does now. I just keep telling myself that this will eventually pass, because otherwise I’m ready to flush him. Seriously. Or send him somewhere far away where a nice mom will do a much better job of soothing him and figuring out what he needs during those hours, because I sure as hell am out of ideas.

So there. On a whole, I guess I’d say 7 months is pretty good for this kid. Just don’t ask me between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., because then I might just tell you I have a baby boy for sale. (joking, of course. kind of)

Posterity stats this time since we don’t have his next well check until 9 months. He wears size 9 month clothes at the absolute smallest, and even most of those are starting to get small. A lot of 6-12 month outfits still fit well, though. He wears size 3 diapers and just started size 4s for overnights. (again in Lana’s 7 month post i saw she was only wearing size 2 diapers at this age. big kid)

Now for the monthly comparison. I’ve started thinking he resembles Della more, but they’re all still pretty much their own kid in the looks department. And for more reading, here is Lana’s 7 month post. Apparently she was a terrible sleeper at that point, too, but I don’t remember her nights being anything like Morrison’s are right now.

Half a year!

Morrison turned 6 months old a week ago today. Only 1 week late with the post – that’s got to be a record! We did have his well check last week, too, so here are the numbers:

• Height: 27.5″ (83%, 4 months was 97%)
• Weight: 18.0625 lbs. (60%, 4 months was 73%)
• Head: 44.5 cm (81%)
• BMI: 17 kg/m2 (40%)

There actually is not a ton different from his 5 month post. He’s still rolling all around; jumping like crazy in the jumperoo; eating his oatmeal, sweet potatoes, avocados, and bananas; not sleeping through the night; 2 teeth; and drooling all over the place.

His new favorite method of communication is grunting, which makes him sound like a tiny caveman. I have noticed some definite consonant sounds, though – m, n, and b.

He gives the best bear hugs, which usually result in him grabbing my hair by the handful. Thankfully I can uncoil his little fingers before it actually gets yanked out of my head. He also loves to be tickled under his arms, on his belly, and under his chin. There is something about baby laughter that is like angels singing.

He moves himself all around the play mats now, too, without crawling, so I think once the Christmas tree is down and there’s a little more space we’ll have to get the playpen out. Little stinker. He has also begun trying to sit himself up when you set him down. He has never successfully pulled himself all the way to sitting, but he’s certainly working those abs.

I just read back through Lana’s 6 month post, and these 2 descriptions are strikingly similar. Oh dear lord in heaven, help us if Morrison is going to be as big a personality as Lana. His overall demeanor seems much calmer than hers ever has been, but what I wrote about her at 6 months could almost be copied and pasted right in here today. Eesh.

I keep forgetting to include the posterity stats in Morrison’s updates – size 3 diapers and 6 month clothes at the absolute smallest (although 9 months have already started to fit much better than anything 6 month anymore). He naps in the morning for generally up to an hour just depending on if we’re walking to school or not, usually between 2-3 hours early- to mid-afternoon, and then he’s actually started putting a short evening nap back in sometimes. He still is ready for bed by about 7 at the latest, sometimes much earlier if he doesn’t take that evening cat nap, nurses 4 times a day throughout the morning and afternoon, eats solids at dinner, then has a 6 oz. bottle of formula at bedtime. I thought the bigger bottle of formula would help keep him full better during the night, but it still has had little effect on that nice long through-the-night stretch of sleep that we so desperately want. I don’t mind giving him that one bottle, though, because my milk supply is usually not enough for him to get full by that point in the day anyway.

So there he is, our half-year old. Cute, cute, cute!

As usual, the Goonies comparison. Della, Lana, Morrison; sorry it’s kind of a weird picture, but the Della and Lana side was a comparison I already had from Lana’s 6 month post, so those 2 were already put together. I love these kids!