The 9th Month Milestones

Well everyone, it's that time again! Time to wish my Monster another "Happy Month-iversary"! In celebration of Monster being on the outside as long as he was on the inside, we're going to go over his 9 month milestone checklist from What to Expect in the First Year.

Like previous months each thing is found in a section as follows:

By the end of this month your baby...
...should be able to:

• Work to get a toy out of reach - Check. Nothing is ever out of his reach unless it's on our dining room table or kitchen counter.
• Look for a dropped object - Check. Monster doesn't just drop his toys, he throws them.

...will probably be able to:

• Pull up to a standing position from sitting - No, for the last month he's been pulling himself up to one knee, and one foot. Just when I think he's about to fully stand, he flops onto his bum. 
• Get into a sitting position from stomach - Check! For a month now (basically since he started crawling) he's been able to get from his back to a sitting position. He rolls onto his stomach, and then sits up from the crawl position. 
• Object if you try to take a toy away - Check. We've moved on from here to "Tantrum if he realizes we've blocked off something he's not supposed to have".
• Stand holding on to someone or something - Check.
• Pick up a tiny object with any part of his thumb and finger - Check! Pincer grasp was mastered months ago when Cheerios were introduced into Monster's diet.
• Say "Mama" or "Dada" indiscriminately - CHECK!!! FINALLY! Monster started saying "Dada" three weeks ago when I returned to work, and now also says "Mama" and "Baba".
• Play peekaboo - Check! It's just not his favorite thing.

...may possibly be able to:

• Play patty-cake or wave bye-bye - Check! Monster has been waving for a few months now, but just started clapping about 2 weeks ago! I love clapping.
• Walk holding on to furniture - No, he can only walk while holding on to someones hands
• Understand the work "No" but not always obey it - I think so. He definitely doesn't obey it all the time.

...may even be able to:

• "Play Ball" (Roll back and forth to you) - We've never tried, I will certainly get back to you on that one.
• Drink from a cup independently - He can use a sippy cup independently and he can drink from a regular cup, but I've never leave him a lone with a cup with no lid. That is just a mess waiting to happen.
• Stand alone momentarily - No, most certainly not.
• Stand alone well - No, most certainly not!
• Say "Dada" and "Mama"  - I would like to think he knows who he's talking to or about... But I can't be sure.
• Say one word other then Mama or Dada - He says "Hi", "Hey", and "Baba"... But I honestly don't think he knows what he's saying.
• Responds to one-step commands with gestures - Check. Monster definitely knows what "Let go" and "Come here" means.

Here you have it! I am confident that Monster will reach and surpass all his goals by the end of this month considering he can do a lot on the list as it stands!

Eighth Month Check List

A few months ago I was inspired by one of my mommy friends Enyo (please click here for her Facebook Blog Fan Page and become a FAN) to post a checklist of how Monster is measuring up against other babies his age.

I've been using the checklist from my What To Expect in the First Year book. In the book they section the month off into categories, here they are!

By the end of this month, your baby...
...should be able to:

• bear some weight on legs when held upright - Check, for a LONG time.
• feed self a cracker - Check, again, for a long time.
• pass a small object from one hand to the next - Check, long time!
• rake a small object and pick it up into a fist - Check. I replaced the word raisin with small object because he eats puffs and cheerios, however I think raisins are a little far off of his feeding scale.
• Turn in the direction of a voice - Check, for a long time!
• Look for a dropped object - Check. Monster's favorite thing to do is feed our pug LOLA his Gerber Puffs. Lola doesn't mind one bit.

...will probably be able to:

• stand holding onto someone or something - Check. We've been "walking" for a couple months now. 
• object if you try to take a toy away - Check. This one is new from the last couple of weeks. He didn't mind before. That was until he started to grab at things he couldn't have like a PS3 controller...
• work to get a toy out of reach - Check... Toy, dog food dish, microphone cord, curtains, etc.
• play peekaboo - He does something that resembles peekaboo, but I've heard (Thanks Mama to Triple H) that I'll *know* when it's peekaboo. We just don't play it that much...
• get into a sitting position from stomach - He has only done it once, so I'm chalking that up to fluke. He mostly "airplanes" until we pick him up.

...may possibly be able to:

• pull up to a standing position from sitting - Not with everything, just our hands. So I don't feel right saying yes.
• pick up a tiny object with any part of thumb and finger - Check! For about a week and a half! YAY!
• say "mama" and "dada" indiscriminately - No. But he can say "Hi", "Hey", and something that sounds like "Cat" 

...may even be able to:

• play patty cake or wave bye-bye - Check! We have had the waving thing down for almost a month, but the clapping thing just ends up being "Monster BANG" (both hands down).
• walk holding onto furniture - We're starting. He shuffles in his playpen while standing.
• stand alone momentarily - Definitely not.
• understand the word "No", but not always obey it - No, I don't think so. 

Well, there you have it folks! That is a checklist this mama can be proud of!   

What to Expect... In the 7th Month

Last month I decided to blog about Monster and how he's hitting hit monthly milestones according to the book What to Expect in the First Year. I'm a creature of habit, so here goes the 7 month milestone blog! It's just a few days late. Just a reminder that the milestones are separated into sections with different headings.

By the end of this month, your baby...
...should be able to:

• Sit without support - Check! For over 2 months now!  
•  Feed self a cracker - Check! Well, I've never tried a cracker but he really likes Mum Mums
• Razz - Check! He stared around 5 months, but then stopped after he mastered the skills. Now he does it every so often... Usually when we're trying to feed him something.

...will probably be able to:

• Bear some weight on legs when held upright - Check! His love for standing predates his love for sitting.
• Object if you take a toy away - Meh.. I'm not sure if this milestone is accurate? What if you have a passive baby who doesn't really care? He fusses about it sometimes, but a lot of the time he doesn't mind.
• Work to get a toy out of reach - Check! About a week ago the little Monster used a wooden spoon to reach for a toy I put a foot away from him. I was attempting to get him to crawl to get the toy.
• Pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other - Check!
• Look for a dropped object - Check! One day that whole exersaucer is going to topple over!
• Rake a raisin and pick it up in fist - Check! Only sub Cheerios for raisins
• Turn in the direction of a voice - Check! Wasn't this on the 4 months check list?
• Babble combining vowels and consonants "ma-ma-ma", "da-da-da"- I'm sad to say no. He doesn't babble he shoots out combinations that sounds like he's trying to say words. We've heard "Hey", "Hi", "Yeah", "Dad", but the only babbling he does is "mmMmMmMmmmMmm" at meal times.
• Play peekaboo - Check, kind of. If I put a receiving blanket on his head and ask "Where's Monster?" he will pull it off and that's when I say "Peekaboo!". Is that close enough?

...may possibly be able to:

• Stand holding on to someone or something - Check! Once we master crawling we will start practicing cruising.

...may even be able to:

• Pull up to a standing position from a sitting - Check, but only with mommies hands. He hasn't pulled up on anything else.
• Get into a sitting position from stomach - He has only done this once, so I'm not going to count it.
• Play patty-cake or wave Bye-Bye - Check, kind of. He's waved a handful of times without coaching. The rest of the time it's hit or miss. He might wave, he might play shy. No patty caking around here though.
• Pick up a tiny object with any part of thumb and finger - No, Monster has not mastered the pincer grasp. He tries desperately, can make the motion but has not actually picked anything up.
• Walk holding onto furniture - No. He walks while holding someones hands though.
• Say mama or dada indiscriminately - No. Boo.

The Sixth Month Pt. 1

One of my fellow whattoexpect.com mommies is an avid blogger, she so kindly Ok'd the thievery of this blog idea.

When I found out I was pregnant via pee stick the first thing I did even before making a doctors appointment or telling our families was drive down to my local book store and buy the book What To Expect When You're Expecting. The book stayed at my bedside and became my bible over the 9 months I was pregnant.

Of course once Monster was born I would I turn to the pages within What to Expect in the First Year as my reference and monthly checklist.

I've decided to post Monster's progress monthly. Each month is separated into categories as follows:
By the end of this month, your baby...

...Should be able to:
Keep head level with body when pulled to sitting - Check, he's been able to do this for (at least two) months.
Say ah-goo or other vowel-consonant combinations - Check, Monster talks 90% of the day.

...will probably be able to:
Bear some weight on legs when held up-right - Check, for at least two months now.
Sit without support - Check, for just over a month

To be continued...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Attack of the Post-Baby Booty

I was recently on the 'March 2010 Babies' home board at whattoexpect.com and came across a thread regarding "after baby body".

One of my fellow March mommies referred to her newly spread hips, and cup-sized bigger boobs as a badge of honor for her bravery during pregnancy and delivery. I giggled to myself (Hubbs isn't home, and Monster is sleeping.. Oh, and LOLA doesn't judge) when I read it, because it's so true!

That badge of honor is just not something mothers often talk about to a newly pregnant woman! The scale might say that you've finally reached your pre-pregnancy weight, however your jeans still say "Heck no! We wont go.... up and higher!" There are a lot of things that happened to me during pregnancy that I wasn't really expecting or didn't notice the magnitude of change until I delivered.

Hair is another huge thing! Yes, I heard stories about fast growing, glorious hair once pregnancy hormones kicked in, and yes, that is something I enjoyed. However, something that was very unexpected to me was that my leg hairs grew at an alarmingly slower right whilst I was with child. Now, I feel like a she-man! I have furry legs every single day, even if I shaved the day before, and I'm loosing all the glorious strands from on top my head! These things are normal, but since they haven't been normal to me for over a year, the changes feel drastic! Everyday I'm in the shower, I fear I will leave it without any hair on my head!

At least these physical changes are changes I can get used to, even if it might take some time for adjustment.