This past month I've found myself having to say "no" a lot due to Colton's endless curiosity with all of our household items. He can really move around fast now. He finally learned how to crawl forwards, so I've had to repeatedly stop what I'm doing and remove him from something. And on Sunday morning, I found him sitting up in his crib for the first time! He can easily get into a sitting position now from being on all fours. Colton is practicing standing too, holding onto me or a piece of furniture. He doesn't have the confidence yet to take a few steps and can't get back down on his own, but his balance has gotten so much better.
My little boy has discovered the fascination of opening and closing whatever he can get his hands on- doors, cabinets, drawers- and promptly pulling out their contents. Time to get safety latches! He loves finding the pots & pans and playing with them on the kitchen floor. He also enjoys reaching into his push toy and taking out all the blocks one by one.
It sounds like Colton is trying to deliberately imitate specific words, like dog. When I say "doggie" to him, he'll try to say it back and start to say something like it whenever he sees Tess enter the room. He's also begun saying "mama", but I don't know if he really associates this word with me or not. It could just be one of those syllables he repeats over and over.
Colton is on all table food now. He flat out refuses to eat baby food, although he'll let me feed him oatmeal as long as there are a few pieces of fruit on his highchair tray to pick up and feed himself. The other night I actually decided to make a soup from some of the leftover jars, figuring if he won't eat it at least me and Gregg will! I added some noodles and ended up giving the pasta and peas that were already in the jar to Colton, and he ate it right up. This past month he's tried a wide variety of foods including banana chunks, avocado, zucchini, pancakes, french toast, macaroni & cheese, cantaloupe, pork and chicken. So far there's been nothing that he absolutely refuses to eat. Hopefully he won't turn into a picky eater later on.
A few weeks ago, I started the process of weaning him from the bottle. He's down to two bottles a day from four. He drinks formula in his sippy at lunchtime and dinnertime now. I'm working on cutting out the bottle when he wakes up from his afternoon nap next. I think the hardest one to replace will be the morning bottle, but we'll see. Since he eats three meals a day plus two snacks, I've also been slightly reducing the amount of formula he gets. I'd like to have him at least try whole milk before his first birthday, but we won't be switching exclusively to milk until he's one.
It seems like Colton continues to get a little heavier almost every day. People still tell me all the time how big he is for his age. It gets annoying after a while. It's not like I'm feeding him cheeseburgers and fries!! His hair is growing like a weed, well past his ears and curling up at the ends. He's starting to look like Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused.
Coltie is still generally so sweet and event tempered, but he definitely has a mischievous side. And he has moments of pure stubbornness, usually during diaper changes. He all of a sudden decided that he hates getting changed and kicks his legs when I'm trying to put a new diaper on him. I've gotten kicked in the chest, stomach and arm which let me tell you hurts. I try to be very firm with him and tell him no in my best parenting voice, and sometimes he listens and other times he doesn't. I know that he is starting to understand what "no" means, but sometimes when I say it he just laughs like he thinks it's a game. Then I want to laugh too, but I try to maintain a straight face, one that conveys I'm not happy with his behavior.
Colton will also pitch a fit if he's in his hook-on chair too long. I used to be able to leave him in there with a few toys while I cooked dinner or checked email or something, but those days are over. He's associated his chair with eating, so when he's finished he wants OUT. He wants to be crawling around exploring, not confined! When he decides he no longer wants to be at the table, he'll get red faced, ball up his fists and whine until there's no tomorrow. Real cute, huh?
His laughter is infectious though, and can make up for all the times when I'm at my wits end with his screaming. Tickling, funny faces & sounds, and peekaboo always get the giggling started. I love his laugh and gummy smile (still no teeth yet!)
Well, here are some pictures. The next milestones post will be the biggie!
Playing with Mommy's pots and pans
Grinning after lunch
Having a blast in his cousin Kate's swing
No comments:
Post a Comment