Varen @ 11 months - October 21,2011
Weight & length - 23 lbs 13 oz & 29.5" long (at 10 months he was 23 lbs 5oz )
Weight & length - 23 lbs 13 oz & 29.5" long (at 10 months he was 23 lbs 5oz )
Varen 11 months old
Sleeping Patterns - Varen slept in bed with me until about 10.5 months old and then I thought that I should try to get him regularly going to sleep in his crib. So when my mom was in town a few wks ago so that is when I decided to make the switch. (I need the support) I'm still a firm believer in not straight up hardcore CIO until 1 yrs old so I practice the technique of The Sleep Lady based on what a friend told me. Well Varen doesn't have an issue going to in his crib and I don't really believe in the whole self soothing thing, I would nurse him, he would fall asleep I would sort of wake him to burp him and then lay him down, he'd fuss, I'd pop the paci in and place my hand on his chest for a min then leave the room. No lengthy fight, no heartbreaking cries. My issue was that Varen would go down around 830-9pm and wake up around 1-130am to nurse, and after that getting him back into the crib was not an easy task, or maybe I'm just not willing to to give up an hour or two of sleep to get him back in his crib only to have him wake up an hour and a half later to eat again. So my issue is not him sleeping in his crib it's the night feedings. So I've tried since 9.5 mo to try to cut out night feeds but Varen scratches at me and cries, I really think he's hungry, despite what his pedi says I think that for the first yr, those night time feeds are important and necessary. So instead of withholding him of something he clearly wanted (see the scratches on my breast) I thought maybe I can just push the feed back, that will make for longer sessions when he does nurse but also give us longer uninterrupted sleep. I read an article by Dr. Jay Gordon about a less aggressive approach to night weaning and while I'm not practicing that until after a year, I am taking some of the advice and instead of just offering the boob, I'm trying to just hold him tight and push the feed back by an hour or two. That was working out, but once I started dream feeding him before I went to bed I was getting about another hour to hour and a half of uninterrupted sleep in his room in his crib. THEN........ like a like switch turns on and off one day while a friend was playing Varen she notices he had 4 yes 4 teeth coming in at the top. By that night he was a crappy patty and his poor top gums we bright red. He was not sleeping in his crib, in fact he was not sleeping anywhere that wasn't touching or near my breast, and I was not fighting him. I've had many toothaches and I can only imagine the horrible pain he was going through. So I scrapped the routine and until those teeth are all in and he's happy again, he's going to bed with mama again. AND like I said all along, THERE IS NO POINT IN GETTING USED TO ANYTHING WITH YOUR BABY IN THE 1ST YEAR, BECAUSE IN THE 1ST YEAR IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING AND YOU ONLY GET THE SAME BABY FOR 2 WKS AT A TIME, THEN THEY CHANGE.
Eating Habits - Varen has just recently realized he has taste buds. For a while I was wondering if he had any because he would willingly eat anything I offered him. But now he has refused green beans and oatmeal. He's just a great eater over all, it makes me very happy.
New foods he likes - Broccoli
New discoveries - Opening and closing cabinets, emptying out the dvd case.
New Milestones - Super cruiser, but not standing unassisted or walking.
Places baby went - Varen went on an airplane for the 1st time at 10.5 mo and he did great on all 4 flights. We went to visit my mom in CA and I'm very proud of both my boys, who were very well behaved on the plane. :)
Anything else -
How is older brother - Vashon is getting so smart, smart good and smart mouth. lol. But he's doing great, really misses his daddy. He's also playing with Varen more and I'm sure that once Varen is walking well they will be regular brothers, that play and fight, because they have such different personalities.
