Nolan: ten months old
Only two months until we celebrate Nolan's first birthday and I'm doing a double-take at these words as I'm typing them because it's just so hard to comprehend how fast the time is flying by.
I'm unsure as to how big Nolan is but his well-visit is on Thursday so I'll come back and update this post with a link to that post later. He seems to have put on a little bit of weight and maybe an inch in height but nothing noticeable as his size 9 month clothing still fits perfectly, he's still comfortably wearing a size 3 Pampers Swaddlers diaper, and is comfortable in his infant car seat. On occasion we have set him in his new Bumbleride Flyer stroller like a big boy, without the car seat, and he really loves it; he loves to either face me or face the world and because the back sets him straight up, he's really comfortable and supported. It's just SO much easier to plop his car seat into the stroller and go so, I'm not doing it often.
However, he is growing leaps and bounds in every other developmental department!
Nolan is solidly on three meals a day, eating 6-8 ounces at each meal and snacks on about 1/4 cup puffs and Mum-Mums rice husks in the middle of the afternoon (after his second nap, before dinner). He's still eating 90% purees and butternut squash, pears, sweet potatoes, lentils, roasted apples with blueberries, prunes, and oatmeal are his clear favorites. He suddenly won't eat apricots, peaches, peas, green beans, vegetable blends, pasta blends, corn and chicken blends, all of which he seemed to enjoy the previous month, and he still refuses to eat bananas. On a positive note, he has successfully eaten some table food the past week! I gave him steamed peas, boiled whole grain pasta, and steamed green beans and after a few minutes of trying to get use to the texture and how to mash the food with his gums in order to swallow it, he started gobbling it up. Yea! He also has started to whine, pucker up his lips and shiver while gritting his mouth shut, and slap food away when he's full. He has a very quiet whine when he's really hungry and I'm not getting to him fast enough.
We are still both enjoying breastfeeding and I'm nursing Nolan about every four to five hours, only about three times per day. I nurse first thing in the morning, between his first and second nap, and before bedtime.
Nolan is incredibly consistent and predictable these days and we are loving this phase of raising a child! He is going down for the night drowsy but awake around 6:45pm every night and sleeps through the night right at 12 hours. After being awake for two hours in the morning, he's ready for his morning nap, which typically lasts 1-1.5 hours. He's then awake for three hours and is ready for his afternoon nap, which typically lasts 1-2 hours. Then, his longest period of awake time is the four hours between his afternoon nap and bedtime. Nap times, once we had established a routine and he was sleep-trained to go down awake and put himself to sleep, back around 7 months of age, are a breeze and either David or I can put him down for his nap. We always change his diaper, sing his special song (he immediately lays his head down on our shoulders once we start singing), whisper that we love him and lay him in his mini crib, which is still in our room. He some times roots around, plays with his Rhino, jumps up and down in his crib, but always settles himself down and falls asleep without crying. He sleeps mostly on his tummy with his legs drawn up under him and his butt in the air (so cute!) but has fallen asleep in some precarious positions like this one:
A typical day for Nolan:
6:45am - Wake up. David gets him up, changed, and brings him down for breakfast
7:00am - I nurse Nolan upon him waking up
8:00am - While I drive Emily to school, David gives Nolan a 7oz breakfast of oatmeal with roasted apples
9-10:30am - Nap
11:30am - I nurse Nolan then, we head out for errands, play dates, activities or to Edison to volunteer in Emily's classroom
12:30pm - Lunch: 7-8oz vegetable and 2-3oz fruit
1:30-3:00pm - Nap
3:30pm - Some times I nurse Nolan and other times he just gets a Puffs snack and then, we head out for errands, play dates, activities, a walk to the park, or we just play here at home
5:00pm - Dinner: 7-8oz protein/vegetables/fruit
5:30pm - Bath, PJs, lotion massage
6:00pm - I nurse Nolan before bed
6:45pm - Bedtime
Nolan is lightning fast while crawling, uh... racing around the living room after Emily, the cat, and his favorite toys! He also started cruising along the couch and our new activity table last week! Standing up to get at things he's not supposed to have is a favorite past time so, we've had to do a bit of baby-proofing to keep him safe and keep our stuff in tact. :) We play in the living room 99% of the time and Nolan isn't allowed in Emily's room, which she really appreciates. He absolutely loves bouncy balls, all the music and sounds his new little play kitchen make, and he still enjoys a few minutes here and there in his jumper and exersaucer. We've found him examining and biting a pacifier, quietly enjoying it for 15 minutes at a time as well!
Nolan has three teeth now and his fourth tooth is just below the surface! He has the top center right tooth in addition to his bottom center two teeth. We've had to give him extra cuddles, a little Motrin, and some teething gel around the clock the past three days.
And his hair is even longer than it was last month and is completely out of control! He has a serious cow-lick and because of his course, thick hair, it makes his hair stick straight out. It's beyond precious, I just can't cut it, and have decided to just let it grow out a bit to see how it will lie as he gets older.
Nolan is very ticklish and loves when you chase after him to tickle him. When he's crawling away from you and you grab his ankles and pull him backwards so he's sliding on his belly he really gets worked up into full blown laughter.
No one gets Nolan's attention quite like Emily, though he seems to be quite the little ladies man, flashing smiles and leaning his head to one side in the presence of women. He laughs at literally everything Emily says and does, follows her around, looks for her when he hears her voice, and seems to laugh at every little noise she makes. They play so well together; she gets toys for him, helps him up when he falls down, calls him over to toys and actually plays with him and cheers him on when he figures something out. It's so very sweet!
Nolan continues to exhibit the characteristics of a very cool, calm, collective personality. He's very quiet, observant, easy to please, plays very well independently, and doesn't fuss about being in the carseat or stroller no matter how long. He's very sweet and snuggly around family but has shown some stranger anxiety this month; his bottom lip curls out and down and he cries big crocodile tears. He seems to be very empathetic as well, crying in reply to hearing Emily cry after hurting herself one afternoon and when another infant was crying in a store. Nolan is very gentle and I'm really going to miss him as an infant!
I'm unsure as to how big Nolan is but his well-visit is on Thursday so I'll come back and update this post with a link to that post later. He seems to have put on a little bit of weight and maybe an inch in height but nothing noticeable as his size 9 month clothing still fits perfectly, he's still comfortably wearing a size 3 Pampers Swaddlers diaper, and is comfortable in his infant car seat. On occasion we have set him in his new Bumbleride Flyer stroller like a big boy, without the car seat, and he really loves it; he loves to either face me or face the world and because the back sets him straight up, he's really comfortable and supported. It's just SO much easier to plop his car seat into the stroller and go so, I'm not doing it often.
However, he is growing leaps and bounds in every other developmental department!
Nolan is solidly on three meals a day, eating 6-8 ounces at each meal and snacks on about 1/4 cup puffs and Mum-Mums rice husks in the middle of the afternoon (after his second nap, before dinner). He's still eating 90% purees and butternut squash, pears, sweet potatoes, lentils, roasted apples with blueberries, prunes, and oatmeal are his clear favorites. He suddenly won't eat apricots, peaches, peas, green beans, vegetable blends, pasta blends, corn and chicken blends, all of which he seemed to enjoy the previous month, and he still refuses to eat bananas. On a positive note, he has successfully eaten some table food the past week! I gave him steamed peas, boiled whole grain pasta, and steamed green beans and after a few minutes of trying to get use to the texture and how to mash the food with his gums in order to swallow it, he started gobbling it up. Yea! He also has started to whine, pucker up his lips and shiver while gritting his mouth shut, and slap food away when he's full. He has a very quiet whine when he's really hungry and I'm not getting to him fast enough.
We are still both enjoying breastfeeding and I'm nursing Nolan about every four to five hours, only about three times per day. I nurse first thing in the morning, between his first and second nap, and before bedtime.
Nolan is incredibly consistent and predictable these days and we are loving this phase of raising a child! He is going down for the night drowsy but awake around 6:45pm every night and sleeps through the night right at 12 hours. After being awake for two hours in the morning, he's ready for his morning nap, which typically lasts 1-1.5 hours. He's then awake for three hours and is ready for his afternoon nap, which typically lasts 1-2 hours. Then, his longest period of awake time is the four hours between his afternoon nap and bedtime. Nap times, once we had established a routine and he was sleep-trained to go down awake and put himself to sleep, back around 7 months of age, are a breeze and either David or I can put him down for his nap. We always change his diaper, sing his special song (he immediately lays his head down on our shoulders once we start singing), whisper that we love him and lay him in his mini crib, which is still in our room. He some times roots around, plays with his Rhino, jumps up and down in his crib, but always settles himself down and falls asleep without crying. He sleeps mostly on his tummy with his legs drawn up under him and his butt in the air (so cute!) but has fallen asleep in some precarious positions like this one:
A typical day for Nolan:
6:45am - Wake up. David gets him up, changed, and brings him down for breakfast
7:00am - I nurse Nolan upon him waking up
8:00am - While I drive Emily to school, David gives Nolan a 7oz breakfast of oatmeal with roasted apples
9-10:30am - Nap
11:30am - I nurse Nolan then, we head out for errands, play dates, activities or to Edison to volunteer in Emily's classroom
12:30pm - Lunch: 7-8oz vegetable and 2-3oz fruit
1:30-3:00pm - Nap
3:30pm - Some times I nurse Nolan and other times he just gets a Puffs snack and then, we head out for errands, play dates, activities, a walk to the park, or we just play here at home
5:00pm - Dinner: 7-8oz protein/vegetables/fruit
5:30pm - Bath, PJs, lotion massage
6:00pm - I nurse Nolan before bed
6:45pm - Bedtime
Nolan is lightning fast while crawling, uh... racing around the living room after Emily, the cat, and his favorite toys! He also started cruising along the couch and our new activity table last week! Standing up to get at things he's not supposed to have is a favorite past time so, we've had to do a bit of baby-proofing to keep him safe and keep our stuff in tact. :) We play in the living room 99% of the time and Nolan isn't allowed in Emily's room, which she really appreciates. He absolutely loves bouncy balls, all the music and sounds his new little play kitchen make, and he still enjoys a few minutes here and there in his jumper and exersaucer. We've found him examining and biting a pacifier, quietly enjoying it for 15 minutes at a time as well!
Bath time is still one of Nolan's favorite times of every day. He loves to slap at the water with his hands, crawl around to get to a cup, foam letter, or a non-squirting toy, and we both enjoy his lotion massage afterward when it's quiet and he's calm. I have to watch him like a hawk, even more than normal, as he's started to pull up to standing on the side of the tub. Ack!
Nolan has three teeth now and his fourth tooth is just below the surface! He has the top center right tooth in addition to his bottom center two teeth. We've had to give him extra cuddles, a little Motrin, and some teething gel around the clock the past three days.
And his hair is even longer than it was last month and is completely out of control! He has a serious cow-lick and because of his course, thick hair, it makes his hair stick straight out. It's beyond precious, I just can't cut it, and have decided to just let it grow out a bit to see how it will lie as he gets older.
Nolan is very ticklish and loves when you chase after him to tickle him. When he's crawling away from you and you grab his ankles and pull him backwards so he's sliding on his belly he really gets worked up into full blown laughter.
No one gets Nolan's attention quite like Emily, though he seems to be quite the little ladies man, flashing smiles and leaning his head to one side in the presence of women. He laughs at literally everything Emily says and does, follows her around, looks for her when he hears her voice, and seems to laugh at every little noise she makes. They play so well together; she gets toys for him, helps him up when he falls down, calls him over to toys and actually plays with him and cheers him on when he figures something out. It's so very sweet!
Nolan continues to exhibit the characteristics of a very cool, calm, collective personality. He's very quiet, observant, easy to please, plays very well independently, and doesn't fuss about being in the carseat or stroller no matter how long. He's very sweet and snuggly around family but has shown some stranger anxiety this month; his bottom lip curls out and down and he cries big crocodile tears. He seems to be very empathetic as well, crying in reply to hearing Emily cry after hurting herself one afternoon and when another infant was crying in a store. Nolan is very gentle and I'm really going to miss him as an infant!
You're into a great schedule with him! When did he switch to two naps? I'm trying to think ahead for Henry and can't remember when Celia went from three to two... His blond hair is so cute, I don't blame you for not cutting it. Henry's starting to get a tiny little cowlick too as his hair grows in :). What a sweet little guy he is.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah!
ReplyDeleteNolan dropped his third nap between 7-8months old, which led his second nap of the day to slowly begin to length. At first, it was only 30-45minutes! Once I figured out that he was ready for a 2-3-4 hours awake, literally the day he turned 9 months old, between bedtime/naps, his AM nap became 1.5hrs long and his PM nap became 1.5-2hrs long. :)