12-Month Appointment

I realized that I haven't sent an update about Grant's 12-month appointment, which we had about 10 days ago (right at the beginning of his never-ending cold....which, by the way, has finally started to go away, we think!). First, here are his stats:

24 lbs, 3 oz (67%)
31 inches tall (80%)
19.25 inch head circumference (97%)----still a big-headed baby!

It's so funny to me, because I really don't think Grant looks like he has an enormous head! But yet every time we go to the doctor, he's at the top of the charts in this category!

He did fine at the checkup, although he didn't care to sit still for the doctor when she did her examination. He (of course) much preferred to walk around! I was a little nervous about the shots, because I've heard the 12-month ones are a little harder on them than all of the others. But he did great....he only got three (flu, MMR and Chickenpox), and he stopped crying about a minute after he got them! We'll have to go back in another month to get a booster shot for the flu, and then he'll get a few more at 15 months.

Grant is right on track with all the things he should be doing, maybe with the exception of speaking words. He'll say the syllables "mama" and "dada," but I still don't know if they're directed right at us. He'll walk around the house saying "dadadada," but I think that's more because he's practicing how to say things. The doctor said that at this age, some kids will have one or two words (on top of mama and dada) that they can say, but I haven't noticed that with Grant. She basically just told me to model words for him. And I'm not worried about it....I really think that it's one of those things that he'll just start doing one day (an experience we've had with a lot of milestones, like sitting, crawling, etc.). I think I've come to the conclusion that there's not a lot that parents can do to speed up certain milestones....when the child is ready, he will do it! One thing he IS saying, though, is "whoa," which I will explain later.

Update

***I just posted some walking pictures in the previous post below. This is an update about Grant's cold and some things we've been doing the past couple of days, but I don't have any pictures yet!

Grant's cold seems to be getting a LITTLE bit better....his cough is still there but doesn't sound nearly as bad. Yesterday I almost called the doctor because he was wheezing a little bit as I tried to put him down for a nap. But I haven't noticed it since, so hopefully he'll get better without having to experience the nebulizer machine again! The nebulizer has a mask that you attach to the face; when you turn the power on, it spits out a gas that, when inhaled, opens up the passageways in the lungs to allow you to breathe better. As you can imagine, it's not much fun for a baby!

Still, though, Grant's just acting a little more needy and fussy than normal. And his appetite has been horrible....he won't eat most of his favorite foods (he still gets excited about processed cheese, but that's it!) Today, I felt like I was going crazy for a while, because he'd start crying when nothing had even happened! It's been kind of a bad week anyway, and having a sick child just wears you down after a few days. I hope I'm right when I think that even the most nurturing and sympathetic moms out there have to break down and get frustrated with a sick baby every once in a while. Even though I know he doesn't feel well and I hate to hear that horrible cough, sometimes (like this morning) I get to the point where I'm almost mad at him for being fussy! Then I feel horrible because I know he can't help it!

Anyway, I do try to remember what I've read recently in books: that somewhere around 15 months (or later in some babies), they start establishing more independence, and will want less and less to do with mom. For the most part (even when he's not sick), Grant still likes to be held quite a bit. So my perspective is that I want to enjoy as much of this time as I have, before he starts to set off on his own and doesn't tolerate being held anymore!

Yesterday, to get out of the house for a while, we went to Kemah for a couple of hours. He enjoyed looking at all the fish at the Aquarium restaurant (he's never really been interested in them when we've gone in the past). We also sat outside by the "dancing" water fountain and ate lunch (at least the little bit I could get him to eat), and then walked through some shops to look at Christmas stuff. Like a typical boy, he got tired of this pretty fast, so we went and walked on the boardwalk next to the water. He chased some seagulls and enjoyed pushing his stroller around. We basically had the entire place to ourselves....there were times when nobody was around, including once when I was holding Grant and tripped over a rope! He had crawled into an area that was cordoned off, and I went to get him. I tripped when we were walking back over it, and it was almost a bad flashback to September when he fell off the counter! I heard two things hit the ground hard, but I think they were my elbow and my camera. Grant cried, of course, but I could tell he was more scared than anything. I'm very sore today, but thankful for that, because the more impact I absorbed, the less was absorbed by him! And, once I knew we were both okay, I was thankful that nobody was around to see me look like a klutz and fall on the floor!

Before we left Kemah, while Grant was practicing his walking on the boardwalk, we walked by one of the restaurants and some people who had just finished eating were admiring his newfound skill. One of them, an older lady, mentioned what a fun Christmas we're going to have this year. I know that's definitely true!

One more story: tonight I went up into town to meet my good friend Megan. Grant stayed with Dean, and they finished his bath just before I got home. When Dean was combing his hair, Grant grabbed the comb and started combing his own hair! Then he started combing Dean's hair! It's funny what they pick up just by watching you!

Walking pictures

As promised, here are a few more pictures of Grant first learning to walk. These were all taken last week. These first three are in our front yard:


This was at the park last Thursday:
This was his third time to ride on this piece of playground equipment...I'm not sure what it's called, but it spins around....everyone knows what it is! The past two times, he has ridden on it while sitting down. But this time, I stood him up and spun him very slowly (then faster as he got used to it). He got such a kick out of it! He kept making this silly face and laughed as he went around!

More, please!

Here is a picture of Grant walking....unrelated to the rest of this post! I will post some more walking pictures eventually!
Grant learned the sign for "more" and did it back to me on Sunday! It was quite exciting and unexpected, because I don't model it for him very often. I'd read about baby signing a while back (before he was ready for it) and the only one I distinctly remember is "more, please" (tapping your fingers together). So sometimes when I'm feeding Grant, I'll ask if he wants more and I'll do the sign. But for the longest time, he'd just stare at my hands with a confused look on his face! I thought that he'd never get it and must just think I'm crazy, especially because I'm not very consistent about doing it.

But on Sunday night while we were eating dinner, I asked if he wanted more, and I did the sign, and he did it back to me!! He did it a few more times that night too. Then yesterday when he was eating his morning snack of banana, I asked if he wanted more (but didn't make the sign myself) and he did the sign! What a smart baby! :) The only problem is that he doesn't really know what it means yet. He knows to tap his hands together when I say "more," but he'll do it whether he really wants more or not!


Other news.....Grant has a bad cold (yes, another one!). It started last Thursday, when he coughed a few times and it sounded like he had something caught in his throat. The cough continued on Friday, when, incidentally, we were going in for his 1-year checkup anyway (more about that in the next post). Our doctor told us that they've seen a lot of kids come in with these symptoms...it starts as a bad cough and ends up in their chests. She said that if we notice wheezing again (like what happened in May when he developed bronchiolitis), that we should bring him in so he can undergo the Nebulizer treatments again. Oh no!!!

He's acting like normal for the most part....maybe a little more fussy and clingy, but he is still enjoying his newfound walking ability in spite of his cold. He just doesn't have much of an appetite....he isn't breastfeeding as much, and at meals he'll hardly eat anything before he wants to get down (he still loves his processed cheese but doesn't even want fruit, which is unusual!). On Saturday, I was at a baby shower for much of the day. So when I got home, we decided to go out for dinner. I fed Grant some bread and meat before our food came, and a couple of times he coughed and gagged on his food. The first couple of times made me a little nervous, but then he gagged again and threw up some of what he had just eaten, then started crying. So we asked for our food to go and left immediately....poor baby, I feel so bad for him. He's done this a few times since then....it seems weird that a cold could make him do that, but maybe his throat just gets irritated or something.

This was a little long and graphic, so I'm sorry to anyone who may have just lost their appetite! Hopefully the cold will go away on its own in the next few days so we don't have to make another trip to the doc!

Our baby is upwardly mobile!

At least for the most part! Since last Wednesday at Nana and Papa's house, Grant has been walking more and more every day. Before that, he would only take steps when we'd set him in front of us and encourage him to walk (and even then, it was only a few steps before he bent down and started crawling). And he never seemed to care much for walking either....he's a very fast crawler, and I think it was frustrating for him to try to walk and to be so slow at it! He'd take our hands and walk alongside us a lot, but just didn't want to do it on his own.

But last week at Nana and Papa's, he walked to me probably 7 or 8 times in a row, and was so proud of himself every time! And since then, especially since we've gotten home, he'll stand in the middle of the floor and all of a sudden start walking, instead of bending down and crawling! Last night, he made it all the way from the middle of our den, around the couch and over to the pantry in the kitchen (about 15 feet), and today he even went a little farther! And now he thinks it's fun....he'll falter and fall down, then stand right back up and keep going!

He still does crawl quite a bit....especially when he needs to get somewhere quickly (like the kitty litter box, before I can reach him to grab him away from it!). But I think a baby learning to walk is one of the cutest things; with every step, their chubby little legs lift up so high and their little bodies waver from side to side as they concentrate so hard!

A few days ago, we were unloading groceries and Grant just insisted on getting down and walking on the driveway. He'd walk a little, fall, walk a little more, and he eventually ended up in the neighbor's yard. I tried to take his hand and steer him back towards our house, but he wouldn't accept my hand to help him (which hurt a little!). He wanted to walk on his own and go where he wanted to go! But he hasn't completely given up on our help....when he's uncomfortable with the situation or tired, he doesn't want to try to walk on his own....he'll still grab my hand to help him. At least for now!

The picture above is a little old....I've taken a few walking pictures this week, and will try to upload them soon....