Say it in Pictures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so instead of typing out a whole mini series I'll just post some of our recent pictures.


This is Nathanh showing where his ears are...I hope he doesn't hurt his head doing this!




Looking into the backyard.  Nathanh loves looking outside - at any given moment he might spot a squirrel, a neighbour's cat, a bird, or just leaves blowing about.




I put the step ladder in the living room to set up a "walking or cruising" course for Nathanh to walk.  He could go from the toy box too the step ladder, to the coffee table, to the couch, to his activity table, to the love seat, to the exersaucer, to chair #1, to the book box, to chair #2 and back to the toy box all without crawling!




Over the past week or so Nathanh has developed a soft spot for his stuffed animals (tiger is still his favourite though).  He will put his head down on them and pretend to go to sleep - for about 2 seconds!




Sharing an apple with daddy!




On Sunday, I decided I should get outside and do some much needed weeding / pruning in the garden.  I thought I'd try taking Nathanh out with me so he could get some fresh air.  It didn't go a bad as I thought...he didn't put nearly as much in his mouth as I thought he would (I did have to stop him from putting the empty snail shell in his mouth) but mostly he just wanted to explore.  Of course, we did take some time to blow bubbles somewhere in the middle.




Standing tall in his new overalls.





Choosing a book to read...Thank you Auntie Joyce, David and Daniel...I love reading about that crazy Poppy Cat!




Uhh - what type of trouble should I get up to now???



Showing daddy his new hat from Nana.

Appointments

It is spring break here this week (and next) so most of our programs are either over for this session or postponed until after school goes back.   As such our days have not had the same routine as usual and Nathanh has had a few appointments.

Yesterday Nathanh visited the pediatrician.  She saw no concerns and was impressed by his standing, pulling up and cruising.  His weight is still low, it has actually dropped from the 5th percentile to the 3.3 percentile...which is unbelievable considering how much that child eats!  But really he is just a small baby and will probably be a small adult.  That being said, when I got home I checked the Vietnamese growth chart that I have and it has him around the 75th percentile for weight, so no big deal.  She said the biggest problem that we are going to have with Nathanh is child proofing...EVERYTHING!  Yeah, she noticed that he is active! 

Today a someone from the Infant Development Centre came out to the house to see Nathanh.  This is following up on a referral that was made back in December.  Nathanh loved her!  There really seems to be some people he takes to and others not so much...he LOVED her so he was all smiles and tricks galore.  He even left my side to go and climb, pull up and get attention from her.  She reiterated that she did not have any concerns at this point for Nathanh.  In the screening test that she completed he scored the highest a nine month old can score for gross motor skills...anyone seeing a pattern here...this child is go-go-go!  Everything else was in the no concerns range.  She did notice that he seems to stand using his right leg only to power up so showed me how to get him to use his left leg equally.  I also asked her about the toes on his left foot, we think they curve under his foot.  The paediatrician said it was something Nathanh would just grow out of as he gets better with balance and walking.  She agreed, but  made a physiotherapist consultation appointment for Nathanh, just to be on the safe side.  so that will happen next month.

Here are some shots from this week.

Outside on the front veranda.  Nathanh is smiling at Erwin, who is blowing bubbles for him.

A quick smile for mom, while waiting for more bubbles!

Hugs and kisses from Nana!

Ta Da!
To work on the words dada and tata (grandpa in Tamil), we have started trying to teach Nathanh to say ta da.  So far he doesn't say it at all but when we say it he gleefully throws his arms up in the air with a big smile!

Erwin made pho for dinner the other night.  I didn't see anything wrong with letting Nathanh try some of the noodles.

This boy is definitely going to like his pho! 

At the Park with Daddy!

Today was a VERY rare day.  I convinced Erwin to go for a walk with us!  I said I wanted to go out and do something family orientated and Erwin was all for it.  However it was about 2:30 in the afternoon when I said this, so after checking the hours of a few places on line we thought it wasn't really worth it as most things closed at 4:00 or 5:00 and there would be driving involved to get anywhere like the aquarium or zoo.  So we settled for a nearby park with a train ride.

The problem was that Nathanh fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up when I transferred him to the stroller.  I thought he would.  Anyways, it seemed kind of pointless to take a sleeping baby on a train ride.  So we walked around the gardens instead...a very rare thing for Erwin to do.  Nathanh did eventually wake up and got to see ducks, dogs, streams and flowers...followed by some time on the swings!

Go - Go - Go

Time just keeps flying by around here!  So what's new??  Nathanh is becoming more and more active.  Before I thought he just seemed active around all of the girls but the more I see him in various programs with other boys and babies of varying ages, the more I realise just how active he is.  I don't mean it in a bad way...at least not yet!  He can be very focused but he is always thinking about something or doing something...there is NEVER a dull (or down) moment with Nathanh.  To that end I try to tire him out as much as possible...I make him climb the stairs here at home and when we are out, at the library for example, I just put him on the ground and make him crawl after me...he is getting quite good at following me.  But anything I can do to keep him active and use up energy is a good thing!

We have increased the milk based formula in his bottle to two scoops milk one scoop soy.  He seems to be tolerating it for the most part.  I do hear his tummy gurgling a lot, especially for the two days after we increase the milk.  And he does refuse some of his bottles, after an increase but that could be due to the taste difference.

Nathanh went for his hearing screening test this past Tuesday, everything seems to be fine there.  And we are visiting the pediatrician again next Tuesday. 

Here are some pictures from this week.

Out for lunch with Nana and Auntie Jennifer.  Nathanh is quite well behaved in restaurants.  Erwin and I make sure we take him out at least once a week so that he is used to the behaviour expectations...but with Nathanh as long as he is being fed he is quite well behaved!

Climbing up the stairs to get ready for bed.  Erwin is behind him so that I can take the picture.  Nathanh is stable on the stairs but will sit up as soon as he reaches the landing so I am trying to teach him to take a few crawls in before sitting.  I am also still teaching him how to turn around and go down the stairs safely.

Nathanh in all his glory as I have all of his cloths on the floor to be folded!

Just hanging out in a diaper with a cloth in his mouth...happy times!

Nathanh is standing more and more.  He is quite stable now and I have seen him stand for up to 20 seconds.  However, he usually has some place to go or something important to see before that time is reached so he sits down and is off to the next thing!

Climbing and cruising with rubber ducky! 
For Nathanh the best thing about learning to walk is going to be being able to carry things in his hands while he is on the move!

Nine Months Old

Today Nathanh is nine months old.  Time is passing just a bit too quickly for my liking.

It was mostly an ordinary day around here.  Nathanh and I went to visit nana and grandpa in the afternoon.  Nathanh was having no part of his afternoon nap once we got home.  After over an hour of trying to get him to sleep I gave in up.  It was probably for the best because with the time change he kind of had to go to bed an hour earlier than usual and I don't think he would have fell asleep if he'd had a nap. 

The most exciting thing that Nathanh got to do though was have a big boy dinner.  I made him a dinner of all soft solid foods he could eat on his own - no purées.  So he had chicken, peas, carrots and soft cauliflower macaroni all mixed together.  He really enjoyed feeding himself...and the floor!  By the end of dinner he had it everywhere...hair, pants...although I didn't find anything in his diaper this time!  So after dinner we whisked him upstairs and gave him a big boy bath in the tub.

Other Updates:

Sleeping through the night...it was going quite well for awhile.  Nathanh was sleeping through the night about 50% of the time.  However, this past week he has been back to waking up for one 4oz bottle in the night.  In fairness, it is not always waking up for the bottle, sometimes he wakes up because his diaper leaks and then after changing him and the commotion of changing his bedding, the only way to get him back to sleep is a bottle.  Tonight at bedtime, I whispered to him that nine month old big boys sleep through the night...we'll see if that works;)

Changing formula...the first few days of the part milk formula Nathanh seemed a bit off.  His tummy seemed to gurgle a lot (and loudly), he was a bit gassy, and he was pushing away one bottle a day.  But this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, he has taken all of his bottles again and seems to be back to his regular self.  Instead of upping to two scoops milk and one scoop soy on Monday, we are going to keep things the same for a few more days but change his 4oz night time bottle to one scoop soy one scoop milk.  We just don't want to go too quickly with the transition.  Even though things seem to be going okay both Erwin and I remember all too vividly the extreme pain that Nathanh was in in Vietnam.  So to us slow is good.  Nathanh's doctors are probably rolling their eyes at us but that's okay!

Teeth...Tooth number 8 has finally made an appearance!  I saw it for the first time last Wednesday at swimming.  Nathanh was splashing and laughing as usual in the pool so his mouth was wide open and I cause a little glimpse of it just breaking through.

Other Pictures:

Okay, I've been trying to capture a shot of Nathanh standing without holding on for awhile now.  The longest we've seen him stand is about 20 seconds.  He seems to be able to stand longer if he is holding something, like he is doing here.

I gave Nathanh an old container and a chopstick to use as a drum.

When he put the chopstick in his mouth I caught myself telling him "no, that is not for your mouth"...then I realised it actually IS for his mouth!  Not to worry he was supervised at all times with it.

This is so typical - Nathanh!  All smiles and trying to engage me into playing the "head game"  I (or whoever is around) need to copy his head movements from side to side.  This is like a test with Nathanh, if you do not participate in his little game,  he will not have you on his 'friends' list!

These are the same jeans I tried on him when he turned 6 months old...they are still a bit big.  They pull down very easily when he crawls and then they become a tripping hazard when he stands!  I changed him after I took these photos.

These ones fit better!  If you remember pictures from Vietnam, you will remember this as the shirt Nathanh wore at the Giving and Receiving Ceremony (sleeves are no longer rolled up).  He also wore these pants in Vietnam...he has grown; they were just really big back then!

Speech and Language

This is a post that I have been meaning to do for quite some time so that I can remember Nathanh's language development milestones in the years to come. 

Nathanh is not a quiet baby!  He is very talkative and babbles (or growls loudly) much of the time!  I have been trying to listen for different letter sounds that he is able to make in his everyday babbling.  So far I have heard these sounds:  a, b, d, g, h, long i, l, m, n, r, u, y and oo (as in peakaboo).

Nathanh says "mama" repeatedly but although it is getting more consistent, I still don't think he knows "mama" refers exclusively to me .  He typically repeats "mama" when he wakes up in the morning or after nap time and says it throughout the day...I am always there so he could be talking to me but...

Nathanh's receptive language is developing too.  There are definite words that he knows.

light - he knows that when we say light he is to switch on or off the light switch on the wall.
dada - he will look at Erwin.  He will also crawl to Erwin if I say "go see dada" or "go to dada"
jumping - when he is in a standing position he will start jumping on command
clapping - he will clap his hands
bye - will wave bye
hi - will wave hi
cloth - Nathanh will look at or get his cloth...he always has one close by!
polar bears - he will look at his feet...okay not correct, but consistent!
ball - will go get his ball, if he doesn't want it then he'll just look at it.
turtle - he will turn and look at the turtles (he has turtle wall decals in his room and beside his change table)
tiger - I just noticed this one on Monday.  He looked at and picked up his stuffed tiger when I asked "where's your tiger?"
head - just starting to get this one...when we say head he will pat his head!

clapping

head

And here are some words that we are working on but I can't say that he definitely understands.
kicking - we use this all the time in swimming
splashing - also from swimming
ear
soother
more - I am pairing this with the sign for more.  Nathanh will often clap instead of doing the more sign but for right now I am treating the clap as the more sign and then helping him to make it correctly.  Who knows maybe he is just clapping...to Nathanh all food deserves an encore!
water - I pair this with the sign for water too.
bottle - Also pairing this with the sign.
finished or all done- also pairing it with the sign

That is all I can think of right now. 

I was having coffee with a friend a couple of weeks ago and said that I wished he'd just slow down on the growing and changing so fast.  My friend has two children, a 4 year old, going to kindergarten in September and an 11 month old.  Anyways, she said "no, don't think like that" and assured me that it only gets better as they grow, learn and develop.  She said it is just so much fun as they get to the stage where you can have conversations and ask them questions about their thinking.  As I think about it more, perhaps she is right, Nathanh and I have so much fun everyday.  He really does make me laugh and as he is able to do and understand more and more I think I am enjoying myself more and more too.  He is becoming so much more interactive and it is fun teaching and showing him new things...I still want him to stay little though!!

Trying Milk Again

Nathanh has been on a soy formula since the first week we were back from Vietnam.  He was having terrible abdominal pains so our family doctor suggested that he could be lactose intolerant. We tried the soy formula after a particularly bad night and Nathanh has been fine ever since.

However, both our family doctor and pediatrician have recommended trying regular formula again, re-introducing it slowly.  Admittedly, Erwin and I have been putting it off because we can't stand the thought of causing Nathanh any pain or discomfort.  But I bit the bullet this week and started on Monday.  So for this week we are mixing his 6oz formula bottles as two scoops soy and one scoop regular.  If everything is going well we are to increase to two scoops regular and one scoop soy next week. 

So far I am not sure about how it is going.  Yesterday, after only one bottle, Nathanh - for the first time ever - spit up food after his meal.  He spit up three times - about half and ounce each time.  He is also burping harder and more suddenly...I think he is even shocking himself a bit.  He has also refused two bottles.  One yesterday and one today.  Nathanh refusing food or drink is very out of the ordinary!  In Vietnam it took about a week for the stomach pains to start after we switched him over to the formula we brought with us.  So I would assume it would take about the same and perhaps longer since we are re-introducing milk formula gradually.  I hope it all goes well and Nathanh is able to take milk / lactose products but we are worried and a bit skeptical about trying it out again over the next few weeks.  I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

And here is what everyone really wants to see...

Nathanh always wants the blue ring.  If you pile them on again he will come and get the blue ring off...even if he is on the other side of the room!

Our latest play date.  Nathanh, baby and Abby.  With Sarah and Tegan missing, we were in quite the dilemma as to what order to put the babies in - Nathanh in the middle or keep the same line up order.  Baby decided for us...when we said should we put Nathanh in the middle she vehemently shook her head 'no'.  I think she just wanted to be beside Abby who is a bit safer and calmer than Nathanh!!

Vrooom!! 

Train jammies...Nathanh avoiding bed time!

Nathanh loves to climb the baby gate that Erwin installed at the top of the stairs.  All of my photos of him here are blurry because he likes to hold on and jump or at the very least rattle it!

Erwin's Birthday

March...already???  I can't believe how the time is just flying by. 

Nathanh had his second visit for vaccinations on Thursday.  He only had to get one shot this time and now he is all caught up on his immunizations.  His next ones will be on the regular Canadian schedule at 12 months. 

Friday was a really 'off' day for Nathanh.  He woke up with a stuffy nose, which he has never had before.  Even when we were doing the nebulizer treatments in Vietnam his nose was always clear.  Anyways, that was how the day started, he didn't want his breakfast...Nathanh not eating is a sure sign that something is wrong, and then I really couldn't comfort him.  He fell twice while playing / climbing which is unusual as he is really stable getting around now.  Both times he banged his head in the same spot.  After that I was very close by for the rest of the day and had a few good saves.  Yeah Mommy!  He had two very long naps...thank goodness...two and a half and two hours.  When Erwin got home he was still napping at 6:30pm, usually I wake him by 6:00.  I told Erwin to just trust me, he needed his sleep.  When he did wake up, Erwin could see right away he just wasn't himself.  Oh well I guess there will always be days like that.  The good thing is Nathanh woke up Saturday morning and was happy and re-energized so Daddy still got to take him swimming!

Friday was also Erwin's birthday.  We had decided to go out Saturday night instead of Friday so that Erwin would not be rushed getting home from work.  I did make sure we had some birthday goodies though. 

Cheesecake is Erwin's favourite so I made a chocolate truffle cheesecake.

Erwin's slice...complete with a bit of carmel Bailey's!

On Saturday, my mom came to baby sit so Nathanh was all smiles and high fives!  He sure knows and loves his Nana!  We headed out for Erwin's birthday dinner.  Erwin got to choose the restaurant...let's just say there was a lot of meat involved - not my favourite but it was Erwin's birthday!

Here are some shots of the last few days.

Climbing and cruising the furniture.

Climbing and cruising Daddy!

Those teeth are sure getting big.  Still only 7...I'm a bit surprised number 8 hasn't peeked through.

Nathanh is finding a book for our morning reading time.  But the real reason for including this shot is the jammies...isn't he cute in those jammies?

The sun was shining in through the window and Nathanh was quite taken with the sunbeam.  He kept putting his hand in and out of it and then he climbed the coffee table to get his face too!  Maybe mommy is teaching him to enjoy the vitamin D!!

My boys...in their plaid!!  Got to love 'em!