8mths - William; no don't eat the cord

Dear William

The fun and games began this month as you began to crawl (3 days after I put the gate up). To start with you found it a little over rated and didn’t move all that much. But by the end of the month, keeping you in one spot became a difficult task as you also learnt how to get onto all fours from the seating position. As we begin to baby proof the house Eddie kept his eyes on you and ears open. Early in the month Eddie didn’t know about the crawling and how interesting he was to a little baby boy; you took off at top speed when you saw him and before Eddie knew it you had his tail. Oh how your Dad and I laughed. Apart from Eddie; cords, feet and shoes are your fetish and it doesn’t take long for you to make a bee line for them every time.


Dad was on babysitting duty again early in the month while I went to dinner to celebrate a friend’s birthday and once again you refused to drink your milk or go to bed when your suppose to. I came home about 1am and was advised that you had crashed at 11:40pm. At some stage we do hope that this improves (maybe I just need to go out more so Dad has more practise).

Self settling or is it called controlled crying, either way we had to put this into force this month. While you managed one night to settle yourself without me having to get up to you, I’ve never managed to enforce it to get you to go to sleep. I had tried a number of times but there had always a reason for you crying; wind or dirty nappy normally. However after a couple of days were you would only sleep in my arms, I had to introduce some tough love. I tried to introduce it on a day that your Dad was home but he couldn’t cope with your cry, so I tried again the following day. First time you cried for 50mins and since then normally up to about 30mins at the most if your over tried. Your Dad still can’t handle it but he now doesn’t ask me is it time to give in.

The waving and high fiving came to a stop as quickly as it came (lasted about 2 weeks), as well as mum when you cry. They have been replaced with aba (apparently Arabic for Dad) and very recently dada (on the way home from Sarah’s Christening), your lovely babble makes us smile and very happy. And now that your saying dada it gives your Dad an extra little bounce in his step. You have also put a few different sounds together which makes it sound like your saying birthday and hello.

You started swimming classes this month. While this is your special time with Dad I had to take you the first time as we were flooded the night before, and your Dad had to stay behind to keep cleaning. You seemed to enjoy yourself for most of it and it appeared that the kick board was your favourite. You also had your first injury; you grazed your toe on the edge of the pool.

You haven’t been eating as well this month as the last few, but you haven’t been feeling over well the last few weeks. A couple of weeks ago you picked up a tummy bug or something as your bottom was red raw for two days and dirty nappies kept going from soft to firm for about a week. You then followed this up with a cold. This month your new foods included
• Banana Pudding
• Custard
• Roast Lunch (I gave you a little of my Sunday lunch with your Grandparents)
• Stew
• Plum

Below are some things we got up to this month.
• 7mths – started crawling.
• 32 weeks – turned your car seat around.
• 33 weeks – you settled yourself for the first time.
• 34 weeks – attended our first mum and bubs movie session, you started swimming classes, you had your first modelling job featured on a web site and you started getting down from a sitting position.


Happy 8mth Birthday sweetie

7mths - Mummmmmmm mmm mummmmmmm.

Dear William

While the focus this month was Christmas and the New Year you still stole the spotlight. Even our ecard had you plastered all over it.

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Christmas day at Gran and Grandpa’s (your Dad’s parents) was all about how well you could sit as you had just mastered it 2 days prior. Boxing day at Nan and Pa’s (my parents) was all about you blowing raspberries, a new trick that you all of a sudden learnt and insisted on doing while I was feeding you. Oh how everyone thought it was funny (they weren’t the ones being covered in food), a few days later I managed to stop you doing this by gently squeezing your noise when you did it at meal times. In the New Year we caught up with Simon (Dad’s old work mate, who’s now living in England), while I was feeding you dinner, your dad and Simon were talking however you decided that Simon wasn’t taking enough notice of you and started yelling. You stopped as soon as he showed you some attention.

For Christmas we brought a new camera mainly as the old one was slow and every time I took a photo you had stopped smiling or looked away etc. Not only is the new camera faster but the photo quality is soooo much better. So much so I couldn’t wait to set up a little photo shoot session. So a few days after we returned from Nan and Pa’s, before I packed away the Christmas tree etc, we had a little play. These photos are some of my new favourites.

In the first week of the New Year I had a little time out and your father had some quality time with you. My first outing was with Auntie Lucy at a day spa for a little TLC while you started at Gran and Grandpa’s with Dad. You were a good little boy and showed your grandparents your winning smile all morning and early afternoon. My second outing was with your grandparents to see Mary Poppins. Oh it was such a lovely theatre show, so much joy and colour it made you want to sing (actually I did quietly a few times). Dad looked after you at home this time, it was always going to be a little harder as you were suppose to have a sleep a feed of milk and dinner before I returned. Dad hasn’t managed to get you to sleep when your suppose to and you haven’t taken the bottle from anyone since about 4mths. Needles to say I returned to you having your early afternoon nap at 4pm (40mins instead of 1.5-2hrs) and your 3pm milk replaced with a meal. However your Dad did manage to get you back on track by giving you dinner at 5pm, I returned at about 6 for milk, bath and bed. Your Dad was glad to have me home.

For a long time I’ve been trying to get you to sleep unwrapped knowing that once you started rolling it was going to be more difficult and not overly safe. However I didn’t have much luck until the first week if the New Year. I managed to get you to fall asleep one afternoon unwrapped, the sleep was short lived but as the days followed I managed to get you to sleep more and more often without being wrapped. I found that the nights were easiest to start with and as you became comfortable with that, the days followed. I now only have to wrap your arms if your over tired and fighting sleep.

Your still eating well but it’s only fruit that you’re willing to eat without fuss. When it comes to vegetables and meat I need to sweeten the deal by making them nicer by mixing in fruit or juice. You will only eat watermelon if you can hold it and eating a banana now is far too messy as you get so excited that it’s flat and all over the place before it hits the mouth. I will have to get the little mesh bag/feeding thing out and see if this works better for you. You have gone off avocado for some reason but you have been very willing to try some new foods such as;
• Lamb Shank
• Salmon (with mango and cucumber salad)
• Sheppard’s pie (which was more like bubble and squeak pie)
• Sweet Potatoes
• Blue & black berries and , raspberries
• Passion fruit (with yogurt)
• Peach
• Chicken, basil and cheese (I gave you a little filling from my sandwich one day)
• Apricots
• Watermelon
• Pasta with tomato sauce (again a little bit of my lunch)
• Feta cheese
• Sausage
• Vegetable Risotto

Eatting Sausage

Enjoying Watermelon

A week after your 6mth health check (where you weighed 8.685kgs) I took you to see Dr Fan for a check up. Finally she said your liver is normal and no longer need blood tests. After she looked over you and made sure everything was as it should be she popped you on the scale. Much to my amazement (and hers’) you had put on over 400gms in a week bringing your weight up to just over 9kgs. She asked how often I was feeding you and after a quick discussion she said that when you wake in the middle of the night I’m not too feed you as it’s more of a habit than you actually being hungry. I tried that night but ended up feeding you, but like a light switch had just been turned on you started sleeping though the night again after not sleeping though the night for about a month. However due to Christmas and going up to Nan and Pa’s that only lasted a week. Once we returned and got you back into a routine you've slept though a few times but I’m still getting up to you more often than I would like (normally around 3am). Nevertheless it has some advantages as most times your now missing the 5-6am feed and going straight through to 7ish when I give you breakfast.

Your now rolling all over the place and doing 360’s on your tummy. While in the beginning (of rolling) you weren’t able to be left alone long, your now more than happy to play on your own as I get on and do other things around you. You sometimes attempt to crawl but get agitated that you can’t, so I give you a little help. While you’re still a little way off I have put the gate up in front of the stairs just encase you turn the crawling on like you turned sitting on (overnight).

Just like you turned sitting on you have also just turned waving, high fiving and saying Mum on. Mum started when you woke up after an afternoon sleep crying. You just had your 6mth immunisation needles so I was prepared for you to be upset, but wasn’t prepared for your cry to be full of Mummmmmmm mmm mummmmmmm. You followed up with Mum separate to a cry, funnily enough yesterday, the day you turned 7mth. Yesterday you also started waving and high fiving. While you wave around the right time that your suppose to wave, sometimes it’s a little early and other times it after the fact, but nevertheless it is cute. High fiving did occur once when I videotaped you sitting, however you have only managed to do it repeatedly yesterday.

I also managed to find a little time make a palm tree growth chart in keeping to the jungle theme. I love the idea so much I’m making a few extra (different designs) for your little friends. I'm also hoping that I might get some custom made orders.

Below are some things we got up to this month.
• 6mths – can’t stop rolling, started to raise your arms to be lifted, started to push your arms through your sleeves and have a habit of watching your hand open and close. You’ve also started to play with your penis at nappy change.
• 27 weeks – can sit for longer than a couple of minutes (timed twice at 2.5min and 6.5mins on the 23rd Dec), began to blow raspberries.
• 28 weeks – you start to put your feet in mouth and you found your squeaky voice.
• 30 weeks – sleeping unwrapped most of the time and you will now raise your arms over your head when I take off your tops
• 31 weeks – had your first ride in a shopping trolley sitting up, and we welcomed other little playmate into the world (Eli Benjamin' Jarred)

• 7mths – Started saying Mum, waving and high fiving. And saddly it was time to say goodbye to size 00. The bigger you get the harder it is to part with each size.

Classic sleeping road trip photo

Loving Christmas presents

Watching boats on the Hume Weir

Happy 7mth Birthday, you light up my life more and more each day.

6mths - Loving the interaction

Dear William

This month has been full of learning for both of us.

You started solids this month and we haven’t looked back.
You enjoy food much like your father and Grandfather, and have only rejected a meal once. Which I think was due to the celery that was in it. Like most of us you love sweet foods and get very excited at any fruit that is offered. And over the month you have been more ready to hold your own fruit and suck away on it. Some of the foods which you have tried and loved are;
• Carrots
• Zucchini
• Cucumber
• Potatoes
• Pumpkin
• Avocado
• Yogurt
• Apple
• Pear
• Banana
• Strawberry
• Prunes (needed when you were constipated)
• Vitabrits

Not really sure about eatting apple this way

You have always been an easy boy to look after, you always drank well and when it was bed time you very rely gave me any issues. But after two weeks of having you fuss at the breast and cry when going to bed, I was a mess so the other mums at mothers group said to see a doctor. The original plan was to obtain a referral for sleep clinic, however after talking doctor a while he suggested to try some reflux medication. As soon as you started taking this medication out good little boy was returned to us. While it was a very hard and trying time for me, it has made me realise how lucky that you are such a relaxed and well behaved little baby boy.

For the first time your Dad looked after you while I went out. It was a very relaxing night out with other fist time mums for me. But I came home to a very tried and stressed Dad. You refused to go to bed and any milk that Dad tried to give you, and only passed out from sheer exhaustion about 20mins before I arrived home. The following night both of us went out and Nan and Pa looked after you. They had a very similar experience, and managed to get you to sleep in the pram after many works around the court. Some of the issue could have been that you had only just started on the reflux medication, but I think a lot of it might have been separation anxiety.

You started to roll this month. The first time was in front of your Pa and myself which was from your front to your back. Over the coming weeks you would roll from your back to your front but NEVER in front of me. It started me thinking that this could be a sign that you’re going to be very independent and prefer to keep things close to your chest. Oh I do hope I’m wrong, I hoping with all my might that you will always share things with me. I finally saw you roll from your back to your front on the 8th time and your Dad saw you roll on the 10th (4-10 rolls were on your 6mth birthday). While you have mastered the back to front roll you very rarely roll back to your back and call for me to give you a hand.

You have become more aware of your surrounds and turn around when you hear things (especially your Dad) walking up behind you, while I’m feeding you in the highchair. Or you will stop drinking to listen to your dad and I talk. But I would have to say the one thing that draws our attention the most is watching you watch Eddie the cat walk past you or when your both on the floor and checking each other out.

I’ve loved being your mum but have found that this month I’ve really started to enjoy it more. The interaction that we have together is now there in abundance and I can see you react to things I do and say. I get a lot of enjoyment from seeing you rub your little chubby hand over your head when you’re tired (which is a new thing) and I’m now enjoying breastfeeding more as you rest your hand on the top of my breast and sometimes squeeze it and each time I wonder if you do it to help the milk run faster or just because you like the feel. I love the way you rub your fingers over textures and smile or laugh when people talk to you.

Below are some things we got up to this month.
• 5mths – started solids (Pear and Banana Farex). Nan and Pa babysit you for the first time and you had your first bath with Priya.
• 23 weeks – begins to roll and become more aware of your surrounds
• 24 weeks – you begin to turn circles on your belly and watches/follows the cat. You also started to show signs of anger with your teeth moving. Jess took your photo for your first modelling gig and you had your first meet, great and photo with Santa

1st Modeling gig - Bubeewrap

• 25 weeks – you start to rub your hand over your right ear and began to roll from back to front. You enjoyed your first bath in your big boy bath. • 6mths – now rolling from back to front efficiently and you to raise your arms to be lifted from your car seat and pushing your arms through the sleeves of your clothes. Your now weighing in at 8.685kgs, you’re a solid little boy. You opened your first Christmas present with much joy and excitement.

A few more photos of some what you've been up to.

Sarah thinking that if you were awake that you might eat her

Enjoying chilling in the bouncer

Lazing in the window soaking up some rays of sun

Helping mum in the kitchen

This month your Gran and Grandpa emailed you a birthday message.
Congratulations on 8 turns William, and a happy six months, we are glad that you are well and eating your food, tell Mum she has done a very good job. We are looking forward to seeing on Christmas Day with Mum and Dad .
Much Love your Grandparents.

With every day you give me so much more love and joy, happy 6mth Birthday my little man.