11 months under my belt.

As I quickly approach the one year mark with Joseph/Joe/JoJo (I still have no idea what I’m going to call the kid), I honestly can’t believe how quickly the year has flown.  I know I keep saying that, but it seriously blows my mind, man.  I mean, one minute I’m in the hospital having my baby, the next minute I’m freaking the heck out because his one year birthday is right around the corner, and I’ve done nothing – NOTHING – to prepare.  And I’m not just saying that.  I’ve really done nothing.  Who wants to help me put together a party.  I will pay you. 

…with beer.

God, help me. 

First, pictures.  Now that I have a new camera battery charger, I didn’t have to use my phone to take crappy shots.  I could use my nice camera to take crappy shots.  Photographer I am not.


If you’ll notice, the photos that are blog-worthy are fewer and fewer each month.  That’s because this kid refuses to sit still for longer than 20 seconds.  As you can tell in the last shot, he’s already totally over it and ready to move on in life.  Photos with Anna?  Heck no.  He’s not havin’ it.  Oh well, I tried.

The majority of his photos look like this:
 
Here’s a monthly comparison (click to see it enlarged):
 
Temperament:

Impatient is the word of the month.  Joe wants what he wants when he wants it, and if he doesn’t get it, your ear drums will pay dearly.  He’s still a very sweet little boy, and he still gets lots of compliments from daycare and other people who watch him, but Lord have mercy the kid has melt-downs of epic proportions if he doesn’t get what he wants (usually food, sometimes attention).  I think he’s really coming into his own these days and understanding his wants and needs.  And while I welcome this assertiveness as I know it means he’s blossoming into a toddler, I do have to say that I admit the more passive days of old. 

Feeding:
Bottomless pit = Joe (my husband and my son).  There are no foods that he turns away from at this point.  Green beans?  Yes.  Peas?  Yum.  Squash, carrots, chicken and rice?  Heck yes!  He’s not quite eating table food yet although I do think he’s ready.  I’ve been giving him yogurt melts and puffs, and he’s mastered the fine art of eating those, so I do think he’s ready to move on to more substantial foods now.  I do have some concerns about his lack of weight gain and small size (more on that later) considering he eats so much yet never gets any bigger. 

Per his pediatrician’s recommendation, today I started mixing his formula with whole milk.  I’m hoping that 1) he will tolerate it well and 2) it will help him put some much needed chub on those bones.

Sleeping:
Sleeping goes well most nights. After the sleep training technique was used, he manages to stay asleep most nights all through the night.  If he wakes up and cries, I just let him cry it out for a few minutes, and he usually puts himself back to sleep.  I try to not give him a bottle in the middle of the night, but there have been a few nights here and there where he refuses to fall back asleep, and to save my sanity, I give in and give him a bottle.  We do what we have to do in the midst of sleep deprivation.

Milestones:
He’s still not walking yet, but he’s standing for longer periods of time on his own.  He will let me lead him around, and he will move his feet to walk, so I know it’s only a matter of time. 

He’s had a bit of a verbal explosion over the past month, so I’m wondering if he’s going to be a verbal child.  Here’s what he can say so far (and attribute it correctly):
- Mama
- Dada
- Ann (for Anna)
- Ca (for cat)
- Baba (bottle)
- Uh (for uh oh)

He understands certain phrases like “go ni-night” or “look at the birds” (and I point to his mobile) or “did you go poo poo?” – I say that one a lot. 

Health:
There’s always drama on this front.  It seems like my poor boy is always sick with something.  This month?  Skin lesions. Or the correct medical term is nummular eczema.  After the first lesion popped out, I was convinced he had ring-worm.  Once the lesions started popping up in different areas, I knew we were dealing with something entirely different, so I took him in to the pediatrician for a look-see.  So, he has skin allergies to something – food, environment, stress, who knows?  Needle, meet haystack.  After a horrific blood draw at the doctor, hopefully we will have some answers.  They’re going to run an allergy panel on him, check to see if he has gluten allergies or whatever else may cause the eczema.  Good times.

For now, I have to put some cream on the lesions twice/day, use fragrance free detergents, don’t try anything new food-wise, and hope and pray to baby Jesus that the environmental allergens aren’t coming from my precious cats.  That was the pediatrician’s first question – do you have any cats?  She also said that based on his swollen eyes that it’s probably for sure an allergy.  We just have to figure out from what. 

I was also concerned about Joe’s small size, so I brought it up.  When they weighed him there, he’d only gained 1 ounce since his NINE MONTH visit.  ONE OUNCE!  Granted, he’s had some really awful stomach viruses (Oh yeah, I haven’t mentioned that yet), so she said that could be a set-back for him, but he’s in the 5th percentile with weight now, and it’s definitely worrisome.  Hopefully the tests will come back with something conclusive.  I don’t know.  We shall see.

Size:
As mentioned above, my kid is small.  He’s much smaller that most of the infants in his class.  And now that it’s confirmed he’s in the 5th percentile for weight, I don’t imagine he’ll be growing out of his 9 months – 12 months clothes anytime soon.  Still in size 3 diapers.  Size 3 – 4 shoes. 

Activities:
My mom and sister came over a few weekends ago and brought the kiddos with them.  It’s always totally crazy and chaotic in my house with four kids, but we have such a great time.  Anna and my nephew Jackson had a picnic in the back yard.  Please excuse the powder puff outfit Jackson had on.  He obviously dressed himself.  Future blackmail photos?!

 
And of course the “twins” (Joe and my niece Jocelyn) were having crib wars. 
(And before you call CPS on me, yes, that outlet has been covered – I’d just taken off the bumper earlier that day.)
Joe obviously doesn’t like being woken up.  Poor kid.

’Til next month.  Or in Natalie time, two months from now.