8 Months Development & Milestones

8 Months & Counting...

I think this has been one of the most significant months so far for mental development in terms of Asher starting to understand the things going on around him and what we are saying to him. His personality continues to emerge and his mind grows by the hour - or by the minute! He is having more and more "attached" moments. He is still a genuinely happy baby, eager to learn, generous with laughs, and sweet to the core. He's developed a crooked little smile, ripe with mischief. 

8 Month Milestones

• Still "dragging" himself along the floor, but now with Nascar speed!
• Can sit up on his own (and does so in his crib in protest of sleep)
• Can pick up and feed himself little snack puffs
• Responds to (and sometimes listens to) "no"
• Asher certainly has his preferences now and makes them known, i.e. favorite books and toys
• Likes to "share" his binky with both me and John. He'll take it out and offer it to us. We politely decline the sweet gesture but applaud his willingness to share!
• Mimics sounds
• Uses his fat little pointer finger all day long!

Fun Times

Asher loves to chase the vacuum if he is on the floor. He's fast enough to catch it, too! He's very good at spotting any missed specks on the tile and likes to announce when he's found one by pointing to it with his chubby little finger and yelling, "ugghhhhh ugghhhhh!". Thanks for lookin' out, little guy!

BABY SIGNING UPDATE

Asher still doesn't consistently use sign language, but I know he is absorbing it and understands much of what I sign to him. He even is on the lookout for new signs - i.e. I showed him a lion on his pajamas by pointing to the lion and saying "lion". He looked at me, then the lion, then to my hands waiting to see the sign, which to his disappointment, I didn't know! 

We've introduced lots of new signs throughout the past few weeks including "diaper change", "share", "brush teeth", "light", "airplane", "car", "bus", "duck" or "bird", "outside", "shoes", "socks", "friend", "hungry" and several more. Asher now signs "ball" when prompted for a game of rolling his ball around. We just work them into our everyday interaction with him.  I'm trying my best to stay consistent, which has been the hardest part of the baby sign language process.  I need to work on my sign language vocabulary so that I can show him new signs when he seems interested to learn them, such as the situation with the lion! 

TEETHING

We have 6 teeth! Six! Can you believe how quickly these little buggers just pop out of nowhere? The two top/front teeth are slowly making their way down and 3 front/bottom teeth are almost completely up with 1 more trailing behind. No more gummy smiles around here! We teefin!

Bros.

PLAY & SUCH

It's pretty much official now that our house is a baby house. By that I mean that the furniture is not aesthetically positioned anymore so that we could contain Asher in a specific area and allow for more space to play, the rug that I hated is now back because it's soft and bigger for more play area, no matter how often I pick up, it seems to remain a constant mess, we've added another baby gate to the picture... the perfectionist inside is a little unsettled but, hey, what are you going to do? I just keep reminding myself that what is important right now is not a perfectly coordinated living room or lack of clutter on our counters. What's important is our baby, our family, and our sanity, even if that means a messy house from time to time. Or all the time. 

SLEEP

I dream of the nights when Asher would sleep from 8pm-8am without so much as a peep from his cozy little bassinet, then I am awoken by the cries from his crib at 12am, 4am, 6am or 8am reminding me that those days indeed are gone. 

Even with the multiple wakings a night, we had a nice bedtime routine going on for awhile, but then Asher got sick from a brief stint with daycare and a sniffly little 10-month old named Andrew, and now our bedtime routine has been disrupted, smashed, broken, and crushed to smithereens. 

I'm not bitter about it at all, though. 

As always, we will get through!

8 Down, 4 To Go...

We had no idea 8 months ago just what we were in for. We didn't know that this warm little swaddled bundle would soon shift and consume our entire lives, our decisions, our thoughts, our plans, and our photo libraries. But it happened and we are (tickled blue?) to be immersed in this new world.

I guess this is when we start planning the first b-day bash, huh? Oh, goodness. Pinterest, here I come!

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7 Months Development & Milestones

Happy 7 Months, Baby Asher! - 9.9.2013

WOW. I can't believe how much change and progress occurs in the 6th month of age. These things happen so quickly. And the physical growth! I swear that after each nap, Asher is noticeably bigger and has more hair. He has so much hair now that I have to brush it and.. eh hem... gel it... in the mornings. :) His personality continues to build and we see more moods than ever. Sometimes he's calm and patient and others he is wild and active, kicking those legs 100 mph. He absolutely LOVES the pugs, Suki and Sumo. If he hears their little feet go tap-tap-tap outside of his nursery door while he's relaxing with a bottle, he stops eating immediately and pulls up toward the door trying to see which doggy has come to pay a visit. This is awfully cute, but it also can be quite a distraction when we are trying to wind down at bedtime. 

As with every other monthly update, the interactivity just builds and builds. Asher will give me a "kiss" if I ask for one, he snuggles, he laughs, he gives you a perplexed look if you do or say something strange. Every day I am just amazed at the constant leaps being made in what seems like the shortest amounts of time.

MILESTONES @ 7 Months Old

• Saying "Mama" & "Dada"
• Sounding out multiple new sounds and consonants
• I'm pretty sure he's trying to say "doggy", "baby", "baba", and "milk"
• Sitting with ease, catching self when loses balance for "graceful" falls
• Scooting/Rolling across floor
• Working on getting on all fours with tummy off ground
• "Walks" if I support him and hold his arms :)
• Responds to his name
• Imitates sounds and actions
• Self-entertains for short periods of time
• FIRST TOOTH - Can feel the sharp tip coming through.

BABY SIGNING UPDATE

Baby signing is starting to take shape. Before the past few weeks, Asher would sign intermittently and seemed to mix up his signs from time to time. The only real consistent one had been "dog". (LOL) Now, that's starting to clear up a bit. A few times he has signed "milk" when he wants milk - not only while he is drinking it. He signs "more" multiple times while eating to signal that he wants another bite. 

We haven't been focusing on teaching new signs yet. We are just trying to stay consistent with the ones we have already introduced and been exposing him to. 

Signs we've seen most often...

Dog

Milk

Up

More

Eat

Hurt

Banana

Mama?

TEETHING UPDATE

Oh, are we teething. Our saving grace, Hyland's Teething Tablets, unfortunately, I believe have caused a serious case of eczema. It's either the tablets or a different body wash we've been using. I've stopped both. I'm not good at slowly eliminating to figure out the real cause. I'm definitely leaning more toward the tablets, though. The eczema was accompanied by a severe case of diaper rash. It almost appears as though Asher's been exposed to dairy or soy again, but from my reading the lactose base in the tablets would not affect a dairy allergy... ugh this stuff gets more and more confusing every day. We will get through!

Anyway, that little tooth is making its way out and we've seen an increase in chewing, irritability, and difficulty going to bed and staying asleep. So far, the symptoms have been relatively mild, though, so fingers crossed that things don't get worse! The BabyGanics Teething Pods have been our new best friends.

SOLID FOODS / FEEDING SCHEDULE

Asher loves his solids. He won't even finish a bottle anymore in anticipation of a solid meal. This just makes every day all the more interesting around here in that he barely eats during the day and is up all hours of the night to fill his tummy with milk. We're back to two night wakings where he finishes off 6oz each. I can't complain too much since this is the only way he gets enough milk! 

I may have slipped up and given Asher some wheat a few weeks ago which I thought caused an eczema breakout, but with our current breakout and it's seeming connection to the teething tablets, I think I am in the clear. I'm pretty sure I had given him some tablets back then, too. Slap on the wrists rescinded. Phew.

PLAY, 7 MONTH BABY, PLAY!

I really want to be sure I encourage imaginative play as much as possible. I gave Asher a shoe box awhile back to put his blocks in, dump them out, put them back in...etc. to encourage his developing sense of spacial awareness and positioning. We flipped that box over a few days ago and with a few blocks and creativity made a makeshift car! :) I think he wondered why it didn't move. In all seriousness, I am looking around for a little ride-on toy for him but haven't found the perfect one just yet. It is amazing, though, how much more interested Asher is in water bottles, wooden spoons, and cardboard boxes then his is in most of the toys (some expensive!) that I have bought for him. Go figure.

We do a lot of peek-a-boo and "I'm gonna get you!" games. Asher loves to crawl around in the laundry when I am folding it. He loves to bang on his new drum but always within minutes is making it into a bucket for his toys. He also loves to dip his hands into a little bowl of water for some hand washing / sensory play.

All in all, 7 months is a fabulous baby age. Some things get harder, yes, but a lot of things get easier, too. I guess that goes for any stage. I love this little man more than anything. I don't know what we did so long without him here. :)

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Teething Update - Tooth Watch + Sign for "Hurt"

We are still on TOOTH WATCH only now it has been raised to "Severe". There are no teeth in sight yet, but there are lots of fun teething symptoms going on around here.

Reinventing these terms so commonly used by the national weather services, let's define "tooth watch" and "tooth warning":

Tooth Watch - An announcement that the eruption of a tooth and teething symptoms are possible.
Tooth Warning - A tooth or teething is imminent and expected, i.e. a tooth has been spotted

Any day now we'll be upgrading this "tooth watch" to a "tooth warning" when a little peak of white pops through those pink gums. That will not be a fun day! I wish I could fast forward a few weeks and bypass this horrible discomfort, but I know the relief would only be temporary as teething is not a short-term deal.

We are fortunate that Asher is easily distracted so the crankiness comes in short spurts. We've been surviving the extra painful moments with Hyland's Teething Tablets (in moderation, once per day if needed), frozen blueberries or peaches in our Nuby Nibbler, and cold teething rings.

1. Munchkin Teething Ring  2. Hyland's Teething Tablets  3. Nuby Nibbler with Frozen Blueberries/Peaches/Ice
4. Sophie the Giraffe 5. Lots of Hugs and Kisses! :(

{ Side note about the Nuby Nibbler - I like the one with the handle MUCH  better for handling purposes and because you can hook it to his pacifier clip so that it doesn't get thrown on the floor. A warning about using bananas in it, though - you will not be able to get the black gunk out of the net! Ick. }

Last night, Asher woke up around 10pm for a midnight snack, then was wide-eyed-and-bushy-tailed for about an hour and a half. I put him temporarily in his bassinet while I got ready for bed and he made sure to tell me that he was having some teething pain (although he was, surprisingly, tear-free). Check out his super impressive baby sign language for "hurt":

We actually have never practiced the baby sign for "hurt" with him, but he's only seen it on the Baby Signing Time DVD like a billion times, so I am not surprised he picked it up. Well... I kind of am, actually. There's no denying that this definitely looks like his mouth hurting is what he was trying to convey and he is having teething pain, so, it only makes sense. Smarty pants I tell ya. He's goin' places, this one!


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Happy Half Birthday - 6 Months of Fun!

6 Month Update - Development & Milestones

I've said it and I will say it again, I can't believe it has been 6 months already since our sweet baby was born. 1/2 of a year! It went by so, so fast.

Asher is so much more lively and interactive now than ever before. He is happy all day and lets us know with a huge, as John would say, "Kool-Aid grin" that stretched from ear to ear. He laughs, he plays, he is curious... and he is so smart!

SIGN LANGUAGE UPDATE - 6 Months

Asher is now signing:

Dog

Milk

Up

Eat

More

We have seen glimpses of...

Cereal

Mama

Dada

Water

He gave up on:

Banana 

Carrot

I have now introduced these new signs:

Diaper

Change

Sleep

Sleep Clothes aka Pajamas

Train

Airplane

Car

Ball

Bath

Pacifier/Binky

Play

SIGNING IN USE...

The other night, I had to change Asher's diaper after having already put him to bed. While on the changing pad, he signed "milk". I wouldn't have otherwise given him any since he had just eaten, but once I did he ate the whole thing! This is just amazing to me and really solidifies our desire to continue with baby signing.

Here's a video of our little signer showing off his skills signing "dog" when he sees and hears the pugs during his pictures this morning...

MILESTONES @ 6 MONTHS

• Asher can now sit without using his hands for support (still topples over after a minute or so).
• Crawling "inchworm" style, still, only he is now making more progress in terms of moving across the floor. He can't yet lift his belly and support himself on his hands and knees, but once he figures that out - watch out! He'll be unstoppable.
• Sounding out "brrrr", "thhh", "deh", "meh", and blowing spit bubbles. I swear I heard "mama" and "dada" tonight but it may just be wishful thinking. ;) I DID hear "eee-ooo" while he was trying to  do peek-a-boo and I'm pretty sure he wants to say "doggy" so badly!
• Can drink from a sippy cup (but loses his grip within a few seconds). Just a tiny bit of water with his "crackers" (which I then discovered "may contain milk or soy" - oops - so I made homemade ones and will share the recipe soon. They also said they contain "organic flavor"? What the heck is "organic flavor"??? I am getting crunchier by the minute...)

Half-birthday onesie from Kakabaka on Etsy.

TEETHING UPDATE

We are still on "tooth watch"! Nothing yet, but lots of crankiness in the evenings, so something must be moving around in there. We've got a close eye out for anything breaking through...

We've been giving Asher 2-3 Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets in his bottles whenever he seems to be experiencing teething pain. We also picked up some BabyGanics Teething Pods which I have only had to break out once and it really seemed to have helped a lot. 

SOLID FOOD UPDATE

Asher loves solid foods! He loves them so much that he will only drink half his usual amount of milk in the mornings and is extra finicky with bottles now. I had to start giving him brown rice cereal (against my original plan) so that I could mix more milk into his solids to thicken everything up.

It's been about 2 weeks now that he has been eating brown rice cereal and over the past week or so we have seen an onset of mild eczema on his face, arms, legs, and chest. I am not sure if this is related to the rice cereal or the introduction of stage 2 baby foods (which have multiple ingredients in them) so I am going to be doing some backtracking to stage ones and hopefully I can figure out what is causing this issue. Our city has also made changes to the water recently and it smells like awful chlorine now, so maybe it could be related to that... It's so frustrating! His next doctor's appointment is just around the corner, so unless the skin issue takes a turn for the worse before then, we'll address it then.

POSTPARTUM UPDATE

My hair is still shedding like crazy - when does this stop?!?! Otherwise, things are pretty much back to normal, for the most part. Thank goodness!

Giving Suki the "stink eye". :)

Happy Half-Birthday to our ENERGETIC little jumping bean. He is so sweet and loving but he is also showing signs of never ending ENERGY! Those feet - they just go and go and go. We have our work cut out for us with this one, I think. Oh and that mischievous smile... Yes, we are in trouble. 

We love you baby Asher! 

Don't tell Daddy, but now it is time to start planning your 1-year birthday...

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5 Months Development & Milestones

Dear Asher,

You are so interactive now! Within the past few weeks, you have let your silly personality come through. You are grabbing at toys more than ever - even today you are doing so more than yesterday! It's amazing how we wake up each morning to you doing something new. I am in awe of how much you are playing with your toys, reaching for Suki and Sumo, and following us around the room with your eyes and now turning your head when we go out of view.

Like all babies, you have your moments; but your budding personality is suggesting that you have a relatively patient and calm demeanor. There are times when you'll sit and watch me make Suki and Sumo's breakfast, make coffee, and get your bottle ready without making a peep. You'll even smile at me when I glance at you sitting happily in your Bumbo seat (which you are almost too big for!).

You are sweet, loving, and silly. You laugh when mommy does funny things like "the wave" with her arms. You love to reach for and pet your doggies. Luckily, they are patient and loving just like you. They don't even flinch if you tug on their ears. :)

You love to meet new people and are generous with your smiles. You still save the best ones for mommy and daddy, though. ;)

You know who your grandparents are, all 4! You get so excited when you see them. You are very lucky to have so many people who love you. I think we are all the lucky ones to have such a wonderful little guy to love!

I love to watch you grow. I love to watch you play and learn and develop. You are growing so fast and I am blessed to get to spend each day with you to witness it all happen. You are so very special.

I love you, little Asher!

Love always, Mommy

5 MONTHS OLD!!!

Asher is healthy and growing a strong! He has just acquired his second cold, though, and it's all my fault! He caught it from me but seems to be handling it much better than I am. Both of his first colds have come from me so if I could stop catching things we would be much better off! Hopefully the diet revamp helps - post updating on that coming soon!

SIGN LANGUAGE UPDATE - 5 MONTHS

We gave in and got the rest of the Baby Signing Time DVDs, a cardboard signing book, and "Mr. Hopkins" plush frog during a sale.

Asher's Intermittent Signs:

• "More"
• "Milk" - only while eating, not to ask for milk.
• "Banana" and "Carrot" - Similar
• "Eat"
• "Up"

He makes excited noises when hears a word he's familiar with during the signing DVDs. He's started yelling out with glee when he hears "train"!

MILESTONES @ 5 MONTHS

• Almost sitting by himself! Will "tripod" for several seconds along, then topples over.
• Rolling quickly, either side, 360 degrees
• Trying to crawl! Sometimes going backwards and gets so frustrated!
• Grabbing and holding toys.
• Reaching for toys, dogs, phone...
• Still saying "aaa-ooooo" and "aaahhhh". New sounds will come up every once in awhile and especially in when he's playing!
• Trying to grab spoon and hold bottle. Usually ends up pushing them away by accident!
• Gazing at lights.

TEETHING SIGNS

Every so often we'll think he's having teething pain, but then we'll realize he had gas or something else. There have been a few days where his temperature has been elevated (99-99.7) and I thought this could be related to teething. I don't think I feel anything under the surface of his gums yet, so we're still on TOOTH WATCH!

SOLID FOOD UPDATE - 5 MONTHS

Because we've had a few traveling days thrown in where we were mostly on the road and are still getting back into the swing of things while catching up on work with our shop, we haven't stuck to an official baby solids feeding schedule quite yet. Some days we'll have breakfast (fresh mashed bananas mixed with formula), some days dinner (Happy Baby pureed carrots or squash), and some days both! I think Asher will appreciate knowing what to expect and when, so within a few days we'll get back on track and put a real schedule in place.

Foods we've introduced:

• Bananas *Favorite
• Avocado - Reaction, rash and redness
• Carrots *Favorite
• Butternut Squash 
• Apples - Not too fond yet.

POSTPARTUM UPDATE

Feeling mostly back to normal now. Back to pre-pregnancy weight, just need to do some toning up! Still losing a lot of hair, but I guess that is to be expected for awhile. :( My hormones would probably be mostly leveled off if I could stop forgetting to take my birth control pills!


At 5 months, we couldn't be happier with our little man. He is such a blessing and so fun to watch as her gets bigger and bigger each day. While I miss my tiny little baby, I am so excited for each new stage!


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Baby Sign Language - What's on Your Mind?

Honestly, I was skeptical about Baby Sign Language to a certain degree. I didn't think it would start "working" until 7+ months like all the resources on baby signing suggest and I thought it might be difficult to work into our routine. Boy was I wrong! We started signing with Asher at 3 months and now at 19 weeks, he is already starting to sign to us. For real.

At first I thought I was being "that mom" who might insist her baby is signing when he is really just moving his hands around randomly. But after a few days of wondering if what I was seeing could be real - I know it is! My baby is signing to me!  { I apologize in advance for all the exclamation points. I am just that amazed and excited about this! }

Here's what happened that made me a believer in baby sign language:

Last night, Asher would NOT go to sleep. I tried putting him down 4 times starting at 7:30pm. He would either fuss or just play and talk in his bassinet. I tried feeding him more milk, changed him, let him sit with me and the dogs for a while. He kept signing "banana" and putting his hand to his mouth (which now I know meant "eat"). Being a baby who may or may not be starting teething, I just figured it was just a baby thing. As far as the "banana" sign, I thought it must be that he didn't really know what it meant yet, or he was associating it with the book we had just read with bananas in it. I basically didn't want to jump to conclusions - I mean, he's not even 5 months old yet. Finally, after hours of this, I gave in and fed him some carrots (he already had bananas that morning). He ate almost 3 tbsp with a smile on his face the whole time. I got him cleaned up and readied again for bed. When I put him down, he fell asleep INSTANTLY. He was out for the night. I should have listened to him in the first place! I probably would have saved myself hours of frustration. 

So now I am a believer. I will be teaching him all the signs I can throughout the next few months. 

Could this be "eat"?

Here's how we've done it so far.

I did not know any signs when we decided to do this. I bought a baby signing book, but after trying to decipher a few of the signs pictured in the book, I have realized that I need to actually see it being done to learn it. I bought Baby Signing Time Vol. 1 and learned alongside Asher some of the basic, primary signs for babies. This DVD is AWESOME. It's the only thing Asher will watch on TV and he absolutely LOVES it. It's full of fun songs, cartoons, and other babies making signs. I really want to get him the full set complete with a "Mr. Hopkins" plush frog (because that's a necessity), but it's unfortunately out of our budget right now. I bought volume 3 on Ebay (I don't know why I skipped 2... it was a 1:00 am purchase) and plan to slowly build our collection.

He watches it a few times a day (*blush*) while I'm doing things around the house or getting work done on the computer. Hey - at least it's educational!

Our early signs throughout the day have included:

• "Milk" - whenever we would give him a bottle and while he's drinking it.
• "Water" - whenever he was getting a bath, when it was raining and he would focus on it, or when I was drinking a bottle of water.
• "Dog" - whenever he saw/touched Suki or Sumo, our pugs, or when reading the book Doggies.
• "More" - when we'd give him more milk, read him another book or do more of anything he liked.
• "Mama" - when he looked at me, "Dada" when he saw John.
• "Grandma/Nonna" and "Grandpa" - with our parents (although we've been slacking with those).

That's pretty much it until about 2 weeks ago. I also have another DVD (that is full of 80s footage and not fun for babies at all) where I picked up a few more signs.

I have recently introduced:

• "Banana"
• "Bird"
• "Diaper"
• "Change"
• "Eat"
• "Up" <-- Which I may regret because he always wants up! :)
• "Hungry" <-- New today. This may be too conceptual for his age, though...

Mind you, Asher watched the DVD each day and has seen the signs for "banana" and "eat" in the video since he was 3 months old. We also read a book called Today, I'd Really Like to Eat a Child that has a crocodile who eats bananas in it and we sign "banana" while reading it, too. (It's a cute book and not at all as scary as it sounds - haha!)

The thing about a young baby signing is that you have to have a keen eye for their signs early on. They are primitive versions of the sign and can easily be written off as nothing. For example, here is a video of Asher signing "more" and "banana" a few days ago (please ignore my annoying mommy voice): 

I will continue to post on our progress with Baby Sign Language. I also am going to be tweeting videos of signs and any cool resources on the practice, so follow me on Twitter to get those updates!

Sorry this post is lacking pictures. It's hard to get my little signer on camera.

Good luck with your baby signing adventures. I'm happy to answer any questions and also welcome advice from anyone who has done signing with their babies!

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