SEPTEMBER 27, 2008

• MILESTONE: August 27, Kai turned 11 months old, and on August 28, he did his first real walking! I was on the phone with my sister in St. Louis. She was trying to tell me something, but I noticed he seemed to want to walk more than his normal 2 or 3 steps. I explained to her why I got distracted and then he started again. So I sat on the other side of our kitchen and encouraged him to come to me. After several steps I realized that this was it! He was really walking! It was nice to share the moment with my sister over the phone. He's walking real good now!

• From Sept. 2-10, Kai and I went to St. Louis to visit my family. I hated being without daddy for that long, but we had a great time! The first day or two I felt a little lost, as I had to find my own routine with him in an unfamiliar place. But it was a real pleasure to see him take a shine to Grandpa like he did. The rest of Kai's aunts, uncles and cousins were thrilled to visit and play with him. We had a beautiful day at the zoo with my sister and her family. My brother especially made every opportunity to play with his nephew. My neice had her son, Nathan, 2 weeks after Kai so we had an early birthday party for both of them which provided a great opportunity for everyone to get together. My sis-in-law gave them both a special birthday treat: We got their portraits done at Kiddie Kandids. All in all...we had the best time visiting with everyone.

• His "real" birthday party was at Grandpa and Grandma's house. I kept it real simple and had a fun time fillig up all the helium ballons while cousin Samantha helped daddy decorate the rest of the house. Lots of family and friends came to celebrate his big day. He did a great job opening his presents and this time around he got into his cake a bit more :) I was amazed that he didn't get too cranky at all because he didn't get a nap all day. Silly mom and dad got so busy with the video camera that we forgot to take still photos. Hopefully Aunt Sheryl has some we can borrow.

• The Baby Signs are starting to sink in. He definitely knows what the signs I do mean. ie When I do the sign for "Kitty" he'll look for her. But it has only been recently that he's been making the attempts to sign back. He has done "snack" fairly well a few times and can do the sign for "Bath".

• This side note really belongs to next months update, but we are very happy to announce that Kai is done with the helmet!!!!

• With the 1 year old milestone right around the corner, a friend asked if there was anything we would like for Kai to have. I did create an Amazon.com "Wish List". I figured even if people didn't use the list ideas, at least it would give them some clues as to what we would like. Books, interactive toys, and anything to do with the ocean :)

 

• Kai has a couple of new "tricks": He can blow you a kiss and clap his hands. It's funny, I've been working on him to clap his hands for months now and Mike was like "He's almost walking and you're worried that he doesn't clap?!?" Not really worried, but I was happy when he finally started doing it!

• We got his new helmet from Hanger, and for the first 2 weeks we had some fitting issues. It was rubbing in places so much the skin started to peel. Everything seems right now, but we miss the baby-friendly Cranial Tecnologies office. Hangar is just a regular doctor's office so we can't let Kai romp around like he did at C-Tech. I was under the impression he would only have to wear this one a month or so, but it will take another 3 months. ((sigh)) Disappointing but...we'll deal with it. The first helmet I painted like Eddie Van Halen's guitar for daddy. This one was for me. I did a Van Gogh style beach scene. Mike just pointed out the coincidence that we seem to have a thing for Dutch people when it comes to the artwork. HAA!!! I didn't even think about that one!

• By Sept. 2, Kai and I will be in St. Louis visiting family. I can't wait to see everyone and it looks like we will have an early birthday party for both Kai and Nathan. I think that will be a lot of fun.

• I've started prepping for Kai's actual first birthday party which will be at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We're keeping it simple: Balloons, Cake, Hot Dogs and Hamburgers. The only "special" thing I've done, is I made him a t-shirt through my Cafepress on-line store for the occasion. I figured next year he'll have a favorite cartoon or toy that I can get all theme-happy with.

• On August 17th, I had a rare Sunday off of work and we went to Manhattan Beach with Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Sheryl. We had a great day out together and Kai got to touch a live starfish at the small aquarium at the end of the pier. He didn't know quite what to make of the hard, rough and slimy critter, but it made for a great pic! You can see pics from our outing here....

• A couple notes about the site: I realized the "Other Photos" Gallery was getting pretty full, so I decided to delete a few to keep it fresh. Also, I finally made time to get all the video tidbits from the video camera to the computer, but now I can't get the video editing software that came with my computer to work. It will place the video in the timeline to edit...but it "plays" as a blank screen. Back to the drawing board. Maybe that will be ready for the big "One Year Old" website update. :)

• We had his 2nd-to-last visit to Cranial Technologies on July 22nd. August 5th will be his "exit" appointment where they do the final measurements and photos. The new helmet will come from Hanger Prosthetics, which is closer to us, and I think his new orthotist will work out just fine. We will get the new helmet July 31. By the way, Cranial Technologies puts out a calendar, I sent this photo into the contest.

• He's learned to wave "bye bye" but hasn't caught onto the finer nuances...he'll wave bye bye while standing in his play pen :)

• We had a great time with our friends, Ron and Stacey. Their son, Alex, was born 20 days before Kai. They had a swimming pool and let Kai use Alex's baby float...which he just loved! Video is coming soon...I just gotta make the time.

• His 9 month check up on July 10, and is now 30" tall (officially half my height) and weighs 22 lbs. I have daddy's baby book, and when he was that height and weight...he was 12 months old! We got a big boy on our hands :)

• Kai's first Tonka Truck! It's one of those jobbies where a kid can crawl and push it in one stage, then walk and push it in stage 2, and then sit and ride on it at stage 3. He's been walking like a champ behind it...but not on his own yet.

• It's great to see him be able to eat more and more table foods. He loves avocados, bananas with kiwi fruit...and french fries. Okay, so we don't give him that many fries...but he loves them.

• We had a scary false alarm with him one day. The thing is, Kai is such a low-key, non-fussy baby. He's barely ever been sick...besides his bronchiolitus he's maybe had a low grade fever 2 days in his life. No issues with colic...gas...teething...nothing! So one day, I was at work, and Mike fed him his bottle. Then he started getting fussy, and threw up his entire bottle...and then proceeded to scream in agony for 45 minutes straight before Mike called me and told me to come home. I held him, and he was pushing away from me with all fours and just screaming his head off. Mike and I had never heard him scream like that and we decided to go to the hospital. By the time we got there he was fine (he slept in the car) and I was beginning to feel like one of those over-reacting parents. The doctor checked him over anyway but whatever was hurting him seemed to have gone away so we assume it was just a bad gas bubble. But what do you do? You know your kid is in pain, and you don't know why...so you take him to the doctor. It was frightening to see go "off the charts" like that. But thank God it was nothing in the end...but we've dubbed it "the $100 gas bubble" due to the ER co-pay.

• Kai's Favorite Pastimes: Athletics (chasing the cat), Climbing (bookshelves, barstools), Reading (the books mom lets him chew on), Music (banging on things, and pressing the buttons on toys to play the same tune over and over (and over!) again, while anxiously awaiting mommy or daddy to whistle along)

• Little by little: After those first few wobbly steps towards me last month, Kai has really got the hang of walking while holding on to stuff. And now he has begun to let go and stand on his own two feet for up to 15...20 seconds. I think walking may not be too far off now.

• The Doc Band has been on for 2 months, and the change has been amazing! I am anxious to show you all the before and after photos, but we will need to get a second helmet made soon to continue with the treatment. Now that we are going through the insurance company, we may have to switch orthotic companies. Which is a shame, because I really like the ladies at Cranial Technologies...it will feel strange going to see other people in the middle of his treatment.

• The "stranger anxiety" has kicked in, but that is partially our fault as he has been spending all his time with the only 2 of us. That just isn't good for him. We left him with Grandma and Grandpa to go out on a date and he was fine for awhile but then noticed we were no where to be found. Apparently it was hard to keep him happy after that. We are making the effort to spend more time over there now, and leave him for short periods of time. His Aunt Sheryl has been making visits too :)

• Daddy won't be able to make it this time, but the baby and I will be making a trip home to St. Louis the first week of Sept. I can't wait!! It looks like we may have an early birthday party for both him and his cousin Nathan who was born 2 weeks after he was.

• Not a whole lot new this month...but everyone we run into still cannot believe he is only 9 months old. He's tall, has 8 teeth and has a mature face that makes everyone think he's at least a year old if not more.

• The milestones just keep flying by:
  • Although it was awhile back that he could sit without support, I think it was about May 5th that he started to sit up all by himself.
  • And he's already been pretty mobile scooting around, but by May 12th his "scooting" started turning into the classic crawl.
  • He's also gotten pretty good at feeding himself finger foods. Gerber has this great line of snacks to promote the skill, I've noticed that if I go to put one directly in his mouth he still reaches with his fingers to take it from me first. One small sign of many that tells me the little guy is getting more independent.
  • He is a ball of energy and loves to stand and climb and crawl no matter what obstacles are in his way which led to the biggest milestone of all this month: May 16th, he pulled himself to a standing position in the living room as I sat about a foot away from him. He screeched a couple of times in frustration, but then he managed to pick one foot up, step towards me, then he picked the other foot up and so on. The steps were tiny and wobbly, but he still managed to hang onto the furniture and make his way towards me. I couldn't even congratulate him...I was too speechless! All I could do is scoop him up in my arms and give him a good squeeze.

• The Doc Band is going great! Even after 1 week we saw some minor improvement which is rare for a baby as old as he is. We only have to go to Cranial Technologies every 2 weeks now, instead of every week only because he's at the age that he is not growing *quite* as fast as he has been.

• We got his portraits back. We only bought the standard package deal at first, but then I couldn't help myself and ordered more online so I could get some different poses. Are the words "First Time Mother" coming to mind??? You can see all the photos I bought in the "Portraits Gallery" .

• We started him kinda early with solid foods, and it seemed like he was on the right track...but then he went through this odd phase where he would only eat cereal. I got tired of throwing out jars of food, so that was pretty much his diet for awhile. This week I decided to try again, and now it seems he's eating just about anything we give him.

• THE "PURELY SENTIMENTAL" JOURNAL ENTRY..
  
  Mike was laying on his stomach, with his head at the foot of the bed, Kai was close to him, and I was sitting up at the other end. I looked across at Kai laying on his belly, as he started to pivot toward me. He raised his head up and looked back at me with a tired, silly grin. His head then dropped back down, he pushed up with his feet, moved forward a bit, his legs relaxed and then he raised his head again. He continued to do this, inching slowly but surely, his way towards to where I was sitting, every time looking up at me with that same tired, silly grin. He finally reached my lap, and I helped him lay his arms across my legs a bit. He then rolled lazily to his side, laid his head on my hip, and fell fast asleep.

ok..now everyone together...AWWWWWWWW!!!

• It wasn't long after I posted last months Journal, that we saw 3 more teeth coming in. That makes a total of 6 coming in all at once! All 4 uppers, and the 2 on either side of the 2 lowers he got awhile back. Although there were a few days he was a bit grumpy, he still seems to be handling all of them quite well.

• Milestone for the Month: If we put him sitting down in his crib, he can pull himself to a standing position! I can't recall the exact day he did this as he gradually went from kneeling to standing. I would say it was about April 20.

• For many reasons, we decided not to wait find out if the insurance would cover Kai's Doc Band, and we made the appointment to get the 3D imaging done. April 7 we drove to San Diego for the appointment. To get a smooth image, they had to put a stocking over his entire head and face. But he could still see and breath so it didn't bother him at all. Then they placed him on a stool, in the center of about 5-6 digital scanners/cameras. They all flash to capture the image at once, and after a few tries they got a good clean shot. Moments later, we got to see the 3-D model of his head on their computer. It's from that image that they create the helmet. We had to laugh though! It was only $35 for the car rental..but $60 for gas. And here we drive 300 miles round-trip, for an appointment that took us 5 minutes. From now on, we go to their Pasadena office once a week for adjustments. I think we are just relieved to have this under way.

• Of course, I had a great time painting his helmet to look like Eddie Van Halen's signature guitar! Mr. Van Halen even has his own "E V H" logo, which I copied using Kai's name.

• Saturday April 19 we had Kai's portrait taken at JC Pennys. I can't wait to share them with everyone! Right now we only got the basic package deal, but we can order more online for the next 3 months. I should be able to pick up our copies May 2.

• Kai had his 6 month check-up with his Pediatrician today. And he's still thriving! She is very happy with his growth and development. We have a 10 month long 6 month old (i.e.. he's 29"...long enough to be a 10 mo old) and he's weighing in at 18 lbs, 14 oz. More vaccinations today, but we've been lucky that he's never had any bad reactions to them. Normally he just cries for a bit and then he is as right as rain!

• On March 12, we saw Dr. Bristol at Children's Hospital regarding Kai's flat spot, and she wrote our prescription for the "Doc Band" helmet. March 18th was our First Assessment at Cranial Technologies. Kai's flat spot is quite pronounced and he will have to go through 2 bands. He was very good when it came time to take his assessment photos, and getting measured. I had thought about posting those photos now, but I think I will wait until I can post the "Before" and "After" shots. Once we find out what the insurance will cover (hopefully all of it), we will have to go to San Diego to have the digital imaging done, and then they will manufacture the helmet for him in 7-10 days.

• Yet another milestone! March 18 was the first time Kai stayed sitting up, without support, for a small amount of time (Don't cry Bev! ;). Obviously, this skill is "in progress", as it doesn't take him long to start listing to one side and topple over. But mom and dad are still real proud of their little man! PS Thanks to Joanna for the Cardinals onesie...it looked so big when you first sent it, it fits great now.

• He's eating real good, too! He can down 1/4 cup of baby cereal or a small jar of baby food in nothing flat! At this point it looks like peas are his favorite. While I feed him, he likes to grab the spoon and put it in his mouth. I've noticed he does this with his left hand, so I wonder if we may have a South Paw in the family..?

• Baby
• Mommy
• Daddy
• Kitty
• Bath

• Bottle
• Eat
• More
• Book
• Light

We will see how it goes!

• Six months...I feel like I've given him about 6 billion kisses.

• Lately he has become very fascinated with his feet! I know it may seem like a lot of the photos in the Other Photos Gallery may seem like the same photo...him, on his back, feet up in the air. But hey, he's only 5 months...he don't "do" much else :)

• What a difference a month can make! He's still a pretty content baby, but he has started to get cranky when he's tired. And he fights so hard to stay awake! We had about 2 weeks where it seemed like he cried every time he got tired, and needed to be held. But even then I had to admit, if this was the worst he got...we still had it pretty easy. But for this past week or so, he seems to have mellowed out. He still gets a little whiny when tired, but he hasn't had a single meltdown. Fighting to stay awake now consists of him kicking his legs and arching his back a bit, but he settles down quickly enough. The rocking chair certainly helps.

• I am really lucky! I will only work 3 days a week and Mike and I have worked out a schedule to just about eliminate the need for Day Care. Of course this comes with the luxury that we both work at the Home Depot 3 blocks away from where we live. On Wednesday, I work 7am-2pm, and Mike works 2:30pm-11pm. So we trade off caring for the baby on those days. Then I work 8am-5pm on Thursdays and Fridays ...which are Mike's days off (at least most of the time). We only had to put the baby into Day Care one day last week. And we still have time TOGETHER! The only days we won't see each other a lot is Wednesdays, but I do get to come home for lunch.

• Funny thing happened though. We agreed that Mike would take over the early morning feedings on the days I work. Knowing he's not the easiest person to be around at 4:30 am, I prepared him! I told him that he's not allowed to be grumpy because the baby would pick up on that. The very morning I started back to work? The baby decided to sleep in 'till 8:30am. The next 2 days he slept in past 7am. Wait a minute! What happened to those 4:30am feedings!?! Well...they are gone. The baby now sleeps from 9pm to past 7am.

• He smiles sooo big all the time! And he's starting to laugh more. It's so cute, it's like this deep little chuckle that comes from his belly. I've noticed he laughs the most when he's being changed. I don't know if he thinks it's a game or if he just likes being naked :)

• He goes through a string of days where he's real quite, and then all of a sudden he decides he wants to talk a lot! Along with those vowel sounds I can make out a few soft consonants. I'll hear m's, n's and l's ever so often. We try to encourage him by talking back to him.

• Little "man" is right! Everyone can't get over how big he is for his age! And it's not like he's one of those roly-poly, chubby babies. He's skinny but looonngg! At just over 2 months, he was about 13lbs+ and about 24 inches long. His 4 month check up is Feb. 6...we'll see where he's at then.

3 months old