Words!

Here’s an incomplete list of Cai’s utterances:

achoo, alien, all done, all gone, baa, baby, bag, bagel, ball, banana, bat, bath, bawk bawk (chicken), bean, bed, beep, bell, berry, big, blanket, block, blue, bonk, boo!, book, boots, bounce, bowl, box, bread, bubble, burger, bus, butter, bye bye, candy cane, car, cat, catch, ceiling, cereal, cheerios, cheese, chicken, choo choo, clap, collapse, color, cook, cool, corn, cough cough, cow, crash, crawl, crayon, cup, dada, dance, dark, dog, done, dot, down, drop, duck, eat, eggy, eye, fan, fart, fast, fishy, flip, frog, funny, gah (Granddad), gamma (Gramma), get out (of here), gone, goo (Goose), green, hat, home, honey, in, juice, ketchup, kick, kiss, kitty, knee, la la (singing), light, mama, meat, meow, miss, moo, moon, more, na na (nurse), nap, neck, necklace, neigh, no, nose, off, oh no, okay, on, one, orange, out, pajama, pancake, pants, pasta, peachy, peas, pee, peek, penguin, penis, pig pig, pillow, pink, pizza, please, plum, poke, poop, pop, popcorn, pot, potato, pouch, present, puff, pumpkin, purple, push push, quack quack, rain(ing), raisin, read, red, ring, rip, rock, roll, run, sandwich, Santa, sausage, seat, shake, shirt, shoe, shovel, sink, sir, siren, sit, sleep, slime, slow, small, smoke, snack, snow, snowflake, soap, sock, spin, splash, stairs, star, stir, sun, swim, swim, syrup, table, tap, tea, teeth, Thomas, three, throw, toast, toot, tractor, trash, treat, tree, truck, tummy, tv, tweet tweet, two, uh oh, uncle, up, vroom, wall, want, wash, water, whack, whoa, woga (yogurt), woof (also pant), yeah, yellow, yes, yum (mm), zigzag

We’re not planning on keeping the source spreadsheet up to date, but this is a snapshot of what he sounds like today. Have we mentioned he never stops talking?

And because it was straightforward, here’s a bonus histogram:

Pop pop pop

Barenaked Ladies has a children’s album called Snacktime, and on this album is a song called “Popcorn.” The song ends with a eruption of the word pop with dramatic flair. Cai listened very intently to this song when I first played it in the car, and since. In the last week or so, he’s been saying bababa when the song came on.

Except when we were singing it today at home he was actually saying “pop pop pop.” :0 What?? He doesn’t know what the word means, but sure as heck knows what to do with it!

So that’s “meow” and “pop” and maybe dada.

Weird baby.

He knows a ton of words though, jump and clap and lick and bite, sit, stand, shake, splash, kick, up, down, nurse, hungry… I’m sure I’m forgetting some.

My kid is so awesome. :3

He sits! He eats!

23 and 24?!

The holidays don’t make it easy to blog. It feels like every evening after he goes to bed, we’re working on gifts, sending out Christmas cards, shopping on Amazon. Things are progressing. The baby definitely knows three words. I ask him to give me kisses and if he feels like it, he will. He also recognizes “boingy” for bouncing, and will raise his arms or head for up.

I mean, he’s always been a person, and one with opinions, but it’s super exciting to see him express them. He’ll reach his arms out if he wants to go to A or back to me.

A is currently making him applesauce, because in a few days we’re going to start offering real food. :0

He’s up to 17 lb 5 oz as of Tuesday, so definitely not gaining as fast. Perhaps because he can’t stop bouncing.

21 and 22

Man, I’m a slacker.

Thanksgiving kind of threw me for a loop. We’ve had two weighings since I last posted, and he is now a solid 17 pounds even. Tuesday he played with his feet unprompted. Yesterday he discovered his thumb. Today he discovered his junk. We had been letting him sleep unswaddled and then we all had crappy sleep. Now we are back to swaddling him and our sleep is half crappy, half okay.

Thanksgiving was good. He was pretty chill, even though it was a really long drive to A’s parents’ house and back. He did not nap, which was rough on all of us. He did laugh like a loon though.

He’s laughing a lot more now, which is awesome. Last night he thought that “quick” and “quack” (two words in one of his books) were the most hilarious things he had ever heard. “Baby slobber” also makes him laugh.

I’m trying to think of other things we did (we did go see our first movie today, which he was great through), but last night was one of the bad nights and he was ready to play at 7 AM, after having been up at 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, and 6:15. Zzzz…

Pics to follow.

15 weeks

We are definitely out of the fourth trimester, and it is pretty great.

Accomplishments this week have included learning to squeal, learning about volume, and walking, with a great deal of help for balance. He totally gets the concept. He also really laughed for the first time this weekend while A was around (that was nice), very differently from the happy noises he would (and still does) make.

We’ve been camped out at my mom’s house this week because we are getting our kitchen redone. Cai wasn’t a big fan at first, because change is hard, but he’s actually adapted pretty well. The first time I tried to convince him to nap in the spare room my mom set up for us was a disaster. The curtains were different, there was different furniture, it smelled different… he knew something was up. But he’s gotten better about it, and has been a lot less frantic. My mom’s cats are a bit more confused than he is now.

Today he sucked on his peacock to go to sleep in the car. It was awesome. He still hates the car seat, and Franz, the peacock, is pretty much the only toy he is interested in. I do have to sing to him often loudly, in order to keep him from crying. Favorites are currently Jingle Bells and Silent Night, though he listened pretty happily to Jesus Christ, Superstar today.

Birth announcements finally went out last Friday. I had forgotten that Monday was a holiday, so everyone got them on Tuesday. We still have some leftovers, so let me know if you’d like one. 🙂

I’ll attach pictures in the next post!

Oh yeah, almost forgot – he’s up to 14 pounds, 11 ounces, up six ounces from last week. Only a pound and an ounce until he doubles his birth weight! It’s so good not to be terrified of the scale anymore.

14 weeks

The kid is still gaining weight. He was up seven ounces, despite the fact I felt like he hasn’t eaten anything all week. I guess he did!

He’s learned this week to gargle, like he’s rolling his Rs in French. He isn’t squealing, like some of the other babies his age, but he’s forming definite syllables and baby words. I got a very distinctive “gaga” and of course “ahgoo” out of him today. He’s very chatty.

This past week he’s also decided he loves being sung to. Favorites include “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” and “Jingle Bells.” We jingle his bell toy with that one.

I’ve started pumping every night after he goes to bed. I’ve gotten myself a nice little freezer stash, and have started freezing milk to donate to the New England Human Milk Bank. I’m gonna help little preemie babies. 🙂

Picture time.

13 weeks, or three months

He’s up to 13.9 pounds, or 13 pounds, 14.4 ounces. I knew he’d eaten less this week!

I can update more later, but I mostly just wanted an excuse to post this picture.

12 weeks

A big baby!

The grumpiness has abated a bit. Not sure if we were going through a Wonder Week, a growth spurt, or both, but we had a rough couple of days. His sleep has gotten a little worse, too, which I’m not as into as you might think.

He was up to 13 pounds, 9.5 ounces on Tuesday, A good weight! He’s a great little eater now. It makes me stupidly happy.

There is another mom at my mom’s group who has a son with a tongue tie, but she didn’t get it snipped until he was 7 weeks old. She’s still stressing and supplementing and generally unhappy, feeling like she can’t produce enough milk for him. I completely know how she feels. I’m so glad she got his tongue fixed though, and I hope he learns how to use it soon.

Someone in a group I’m in online linked this first year milestones chart. I thought it was pretty neat and specific. Cai’s all over the board though. The ones he’s attained are not crossed out.

The First Month:

• Can lift head momentarily
• Turns head from side to side when lying on back
• Hands stay clenched
• Strong grasp reflex present
• Looks and follows object moving in front of them in range of 45 degrees
• Sees black and white patterns
• Quiets when a voice is heard
• Cries to express displeasure
• Makes throaty sounds
• Looks intently at parents when they talk to him/her

The Second Month:

• Lifts head almost 45 degrees when lying on stomach
• Head bobs forward when held in sitting position
• Grasp reflex decreases
• Follows dangling objects with eyes
• Visually searches for sounds
• Makes noises other than crying
• Cries become distinctive (wet, hungry, etc.)
• Vocalizes to familiar voices
• Social smile demonstrated in response to various stimuli

The Third Month:

• Begins to bear partial weight on both legs when held in a standing position
• Able to hold head up when sitting but still bobs forward
• When lying on stomach can raise head and shoulders between 45 and 90 degrees
• Bears weight on forearms
• Grasp reflex absent
• Holds objects but does not reach for them
• Clutches own hands and pulls at blankets and clothes
• Follows objects 180 degrees
• Locates sound by turning head and looking in the same direction
• Squeals, coos, babbles, and chuckles
• “Talks” when spoken to
• Recognizes faces, voices, and objects
• Smiles when he/she sees familiar people, and engages in play with them
• Shows awareness to strange situations

The Fourth Month:

• Drooling begins
• Good head control
• Sits with support
• Bears some weight on legs when held upright
• Raises head and chest off surface to a 90 degree angle
• Rolls from back to side
• Explores and plays with hands
• Tries to reach for objects but overshoots
• Grasps objects with both hands
• Eye-hand coordination begins
• Makes consonant sounds
• Laughs
• Enjoys being rocked, bounced or swung

The Fifth Month:

• Signs of teething begin
• Holds head up when sitting
• Rolls from stomach to back
• When lying on back puts feet to mouth
• Voluntarily grasps and holds objects
• Plays with toes
• Takes objects directly to mouth
• Watches objects that are dropped
• Says “ah-goo” or similar vowel-consonant combinations
• Smiles at mirror image
• Gets upset if you take a toy away
• Can tell family and strangers apart
• Begins to discover parts of his/her body

The Sixth Month:

• Chewing and biting occur
• When on stomach can lift chest and part of stomach off the surface bearing weight on hands
• Lifts head when pulled to a sitting position
• Rolls from back to stomach
• Bears majority of weight when being held in a standing position
• Grasps and controls small objects
• Holds bottle
• Grabs feet and pulls to mouth
• Adjusts body to see an object
• Turns head from side to side and then looks up or down
• Prefers more complex visual stimuli
• Says one syllable sounds like “ma”, “mu”, “da”, and “di”
• Recognizes parents [Pretty sure he recognizes us now]

So he clearly needs more tummy time, but is definitely up to par in other areas. He’s apparently a great talker too. I didn’t realize “ah-goo” was advanced, but he says that frequently.

Picture time.

Staring at the bug.

 

Horror.

 

Snoozing sausage.

11 weeks

I keep updating weight, because that was such a struggle early on, but I almost feel like I don’t have to at this point. He was up to 14 13 pounds, 1 ounce, and after his feeding was exactly 6 kg, which amused me.

We are settling into something like a routine. We are figuring each other out. Naps have been the big thing this week. Someone small is very interested in ALL THE THINGS so it can be very hard to get him to sleep, despite exhaustion. Of course, once he hits a certain point, he is inconsolable and overwhelmed, making it that much harder to go to sleep. I’ve found a lot of success side-lying nursing with him (though he often requires nipple in mouth or boob smushed up next to him to remain sleeping) or walking around with him in the carrier. like all the books say, it’s pretty much the most important to try and get him to nap at the first sign of a yawn or an eye-rub.

The last two night he has slept 8 hours in a row. Eight! No waking up! Of course, it’s 8:30 to 4:30, but still. He nurses at 4:30, usually just one side, and then passes back out, Then I go down and pump the other side to build up my freezer stash, wake up entirely, and grumpily try to go back to sleep. He then gets up somewhere between 6 and 7, nurses again, and may or may not go back to sleep for another hour or two. That’s usually when I actually do fall back asleep, which is really nice. Then we’re up for the day, though he likes to take a nap about an hour after waking up. I too like to nap after waking up, so I fully condone this behavior,

I could do this sleep schedule for basically ever, so I’m really not looking for to the fourth month sleep regression. Or any of the other ones. He’s a very high needs baby, interaction-wise, really need to be talked to and held and played with, and likes to play with toys and generally be stimulated constantly (until it’s too much, ohhh boy), but he’s been so easy otherwise that I really can’t complain. If I need him to nap, I can take him to the mall, put him in the front pack, and walk around. He’ll look at things excitedly until he suddenly passes out. He’s easy in the restaurants we’ve been to, either sleeping or looking around until he decides he’s hungry – an easy fix.

He also grins all the time now. SO CUTE.

He has been learning about fingers and touch this week. He’s been sucking individual fingers and examining his hands while in the car seat. He’s also been feeling things, like plastic toys, his clothes, my clothes, skin. It’s so great watching him figure stuff out.

Have some pictures of this ridiculously cute child.

A big stretch.

 

Awesome mobile.

Hanging out in his new crib (I should add A put together his bureau and crib last weekend so it almost looks like we actually have a nursery).

 

Cute baby.