Baby's 1st Christmas

Merry Christmas, everyone!


Also, Happy Holidays (that's just for those of you who get upset over something as ridiculous as someone saying Happy Holidays)! ;)


Punky's Christmas was full of family, toys and exhausted screaming from a baby who just didn't want to sleep. I knew it would be a bit crazy trying to visit both families in one day. Austin assured me it would go just perfectly and Punkin would nap just fine. Of course, that didn't happen. You just can never tell with babies. We tried to put him down after he opened his presents at the in-laws. That didn't go over so well. He screamed until my Mommy pity caused me to cave and I brought him out of the pack n play torture chamber and in with the rest of the family while we ate. He was much happier.


I knew he'd be asleep in the 7 minutes it takes to get to my parents from Austin's parents, so I sat in the back of the car with him to make sure he'd stay awake until we got there. As soon as I walked into the room upstairs where my Mom has his crib he started crying. As soon as I laid him down he was asleep. Thank goodness. He slept for a good hour and a half, so he was ready for present opening. And it's a good thing because my 4 year old nephew was going to lose it if we didn't open presents soon!


He got so many toys from the grandparents and great grandparents! They were all very generous with him and we are very grateful. My living room looks like a daycare with all the new toys he has! I went ahead and took down the Christmas tree last night because it was taking up too much room.


Austin got me some charms for my Mommy charm bracelet. He had one specially made for me that says Punky's name with his birthstone on it. My parents and grandparents gave me money to put toward my CLC (Certified Lactation Consultant) training program. Which brings me to my next bit of exciting news!


I got about half of what I need for the program (it ain't cheap!). But, I have renewed hope that I can make it happen! I was sure that I wouldn't be able to sign up since it's at the end of January and my paychecks were severely cut last month. We didn't have any money to spare. My bonus, which was going to go towards this program, ended up going towards paying bills. But now I might be able to make it happen! I called today and there's no deadline for registration as long as they're not filled up. They had 20 registrants when I called and the max is 65 so here's hoping they'll have room for me when I come up with the money.


I'm so excited! I've talked to my boss and he said it was fine for me to take the week off I would need. This is such a great stepping stone to becoming board certified, and it'll really help me see what I'll be getting into with being a Lactation Consultant. Big things are happening in 2011!


Back to Punky, because I know he's the really interesting one. He seems so close to walking, but for now he's content just standing by himself. I keep willing him in my mind just to take that one step, but nothing so far. He got two toys for Christmas that he's supposed to push around so I'm thinking that will help with his walking. I have no idea why I'm so eager for this. He gotten so fast at crawling he's practically zooming all over the house.


I've taught him how to give lovin'. I'll saying "Give Mama lovin" and he'll snuggle his head in my face. Every once in awhile he'll even give me a kiss, which is the best lovin! He's learned to share whatever he's chewing on. So if he's chewing on a book (which he does A LOT) he'll look at me and put the book to my mouth so I can have a taste too. So sweet of him. He's eating more and more finger foods, his favorite being grilled cheese at the moment. I'm still making most of his food, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how I should serve them. I feel like he shouldn't be getting purees anymore, but he also won't eat meat unless it's ground up in his food. It's still a learning process.


Nursing is going well, and even thought I love it, I'm going to be so glad when I can stop pumping at work in 2 months. I'm going to start weaning him to whole cow's milk at 11 months, but I think I want to still nurse him in the mornings and at bedtime. I guess it'll depend on how my supply holds up.


So that was really long and kudos if you made it through. Here are the obligatory adorable pictures of my baby.

Mommy Cooking Fail

Punky is 9 months old!

He had his 9 month wellness check last Friday and he's 20.11 lbs and 27 inches long. He's in the 50th percentile for weight, which surprised the doctor. She was sure it would've been more because he looks so fat. He was only in the 5th percentile for height. I guess it's to be expected since I'm only 5'1 and Austin is 5'4. The doctor said it's fine now, but if that percentile drops any we'll need to be concerned. I'm thinking he's just inherited the shortness from both sides. Lucky kid.

They checked his iron stores and they were right on target. I was really looking forward to seeing how his iron levels are because I hear so much about how when you're breastfeeding you need to supplement with iron. My lactation consultant told me this isn't really the case, and breastfed babies are fine without iron up to a year and at that point they should be getting regular meals which should mean their iron stores are fine if they're getting a balanced diet. Guess she was right!

He has 6 teeth now, with which he likes to bite everything he possibly can. He went through a period of about a week where he was constantly biting me when I was nursing him. It got to the point to where I was scared to even nurse him because I didn't want to get bit. It hurts! Luckily that phase passed and he's back to nursing happily and distractedly (seriously...any little noise distracts this kid). I love nursing, but I'm looking forward to when I don't have to pump at work anymore. It's become a chore and it stresses me out trying to make sure I have enough for bottles for the next day. My entire freezer stash is completely gone.

In baby food news, Punkin hates my cooking. He'll still eat the purees I made, but if I try to get any kind of creative he's done. I made this meal of chicken with peas and carrots and little stars pasta with some cheese. It was good...for real, I tasted it. He wanted nothing to do with it. It kind of hurt my feelings a little just because I was so excited to give it to him. I guess it was a texture thing. I gave him a jar of Earth's Best Organic Stage 3 baby food to see how he would handle the chunkiness and he ate it up no problems. So yeah...it's just me. He's still getting home made organic baby food, but for dinner I'll give him some of the Earth's Best with some kind of meat just so he's getting more iron in his diet.

I've also started giving him more finger foods. For breakfast the other day I gave him some scrambled egg yolk and blueberries with a piece of toast. He loves feeding himself! He really loved the toast. He had to make sure he ate every little piece of it before he ate the rest of his eggs and blueberries.

Punky enjoying his breakfast