Happy 10 month birthday!

What a month for his physical development. Just last month he was only able to stand stationary for a few seconds at a time. A couple of weeks later, he began walking around while holding on to the furniture. And by his 10 month birthday, he's walking around great. In fact, he's completely given up crawling. He has gotten so mobile that we've had to put up the "baby jail".

Connor is also better at eating solids. Usually in a day he'll eat three 3-oz servings of chicken or beef congee, and any combination of two of the following: egg yolk, banana, mango, or avocado.  We also regularly try to feed him sweet potato or apple sauce, but he doesn't like them much. We've reduced his milk intake from seven 5-oz bottles per day to five or six.

Connor doesn't talk much. His verbal communication usually consists of a series of ultra high pitched squeals. And when he does babble, he says "da da da da" when he's happy and "ma ma ma ma" when he's mad, uncomfortable, or he wants something. We don't think his "da" and "ma" are in any way referring to his parents.











Ryan and Connor playing a hybrid game of peekaboo and hide & seek…

Happy 9 month birthday!

At Connor's 9 month pediatrician appointment, his stats were:
20 lb. 10 oz (70th percentile)
28.5" tall (70th percentile)
17.5" head circumference (45th percentile)

He still wakes up once in the night for a bottle, but otherwise, he's a really good sleeper. He's able to push into a standing position without needing to hang onto furniture. He still refuses to eat any solid foods. We've had most success with congee with puréed chicken, but even then, he'll only eat 5 or 6 small bites. He doesn't mind being held upright so that he can look around, but he absolutely hates being cradled in our arms. Ryan loved being cradled and rocked to sleep, but Connor would much prefer just to lay in his bed.

Happy 8 month birthday!

At 8 months old, Connor weighs 20.0 lbs - the same weight as Ryan at this age. He is becoming increasingly difficult to photograph as he won't sit still, and is very angry at us for even trying to make him sit still. One of Connor's favorite activities is chasing Ryan around the apartment. It's like hybrid game of tag, peek-a-boo, and hide-and-seek.

He still isn't eating any substantial amount of solid foods. It's Brooke and my fault for not being more consistent in giving him solids. We hope to make a lot of progress before his next monthly birthday.








Connor still only has two teeth. The same bottom front teeth he had on his 7 month birthday…




I think Connor keeps a mental checklist of ways to terrorize the apartment. And if we give him enough time, he'll work through the entire list…
#1 Scatter Legos across the floor,
#2 Pull all his clothes out of the drawers,
#3 Pull all books off the bookshelves,
#4 Tear down the blinds.


This is a long video about nothing. It just shows Connor moving around and exploring. (Sorry for the ads. YouTube flagged this video because of copyrighted music in the background)…


Connor discovers Elmo…

Happy 7 month birthday!

Sometime prior to Connor's 7 month birthday his hair became too goofy to let go. Everywhere we went, the first comment from strangers was always "Wow! look at those cheeks!" followed immediately by "and that hair!" It took some time to convince Brooke, but I finally got her to let me give Connor a buzz cut with the #2 clippers.

Despite the fact that Connor now has his two bottom teeth, he has yet to take a liking to any solid food. So far we have tried egg yolk, banana, avocado and sweet potato. The first and only time we gave him avocado, he had "digestive issues" for the next two days, which may or may not have been related to the avocado, but we are not interested in trying again.

Connor's pediatrician does however suspect a dairy allergy and recommended Brooke stop eating dairy. Since Brooke went dairy-free, a number of Connor's symptoms have improved: - nasal congestion from birth has completely cleared - constipation - he went from pooping once per week to now once per day - less fussiness while sleeping

Poor Brooke needs to give up dairy until she's done nursing. And by proxy, the rest of the family is suffering too. I can't remember ever going this long without any pizza.













Connor is getting increasingly uncooperative during our photo shoots. He won't smile. He's either tearing at the label on his shirt or he's trying to jump off the chair…



Here's are some videos of Connor a day or two before his 7 month birthday…

Happy 6 month birthday!

At Connor's 6 month pediatrician appointment, his stats were:
19 lb. 4 oz (80th percentile)
27.5" tall (78th percentile)
16.75" head circumference (25th percentile)












Here's a video of Connor eating his first solid food - hard boiled egg yolk mixed with breast milk. We'll continue to introduce one new food each week. Next up….BANANAS!

Happy 5 month birthday

Connor has grown a lot physically and developmentally in the past month.

• He's up to 17.5 lbs. 
• He's become very social.   He makes continuous eye contact, babbles whenever we talk to him, is constantly laughing, loves peekaboo, and follows us (especially Ryan) around with his eyes.
• He's teething
• He stares and is always grabbing at our food.  We'll definitely start solid foods with the next few weeks.
• He's now mobile!  He can get around by (very slowly) military crawling or doing a series of rolls.
• He grasps objects and can passes it from hand to hand
• He usually sleeps through the night (9pm - 5am)
• He has moved out of the Co-sleeper (basinet) and into Ryan's old crib.  Ryan now has a whole twin-sized bunk bed to himself.

Babbling...


Giggling...


Military crawling...

Happy 4 month birthday

At Connor's 4 month pediatrician appointment, his stats were:
15 lb. 14 oz. (55th percentile)
26.0" tall (80th percentile)
16.1" head circumference (45th percentile)

For the most part, Connor's routine hasn't changed in the past month. He eats 5 oz every 3 hours, poops once every 5 days, sleeps 5 hours continuously at night, and naps 3 to 4 times per day.

He is smiling and laughing more, and he's more aware of his surroundings. This increased awareness is often a bad thing because now he cries whenever we're out of sight.

Happy 3 Month Birthday!

At Connor's 3 month birthday, he weighed 14 lb. 4 oz. (70th percentile). He's eating approximately 5 oz every 3 hours...and it's all going to his thighs. Seriously, he's getting a bit chunky.








Here's a video of Connor a week prior to his 3 month birthday. He hasn't improved greatly at tummy time, but he doesn't protest as much. He has also discovered his hands. This means he's able to grab objects, but it also means he's able to suck on his fingers non-stop…