Skyler’s Seven-Nine Months Update

I’m currently typing this up with a ten-month-old baby boy at home and my mind blown.

How in the world did this happen? He’ll technically be eleven months in nine days, so I figured it was time to finally share his latest update post with y’all today.

Since our last check-in, a lot has changed in Skyler’s and our lives!

I’ve backed off of hours at work (and hold a steady 30-35/week), and we have daytime help for him twice a week. We usually try to plan one day of help when I’m off so I have time to blog, run solo errands, and work out. It’s a great balance to have Scott and I tag team taking care of him, but it’s just as great to know that I will have one day a week to get stuff done while enabling Scott to do the same.

The decision to get help did not come lightly. The waitlists to get into good daycare programs in our neighborhood have a few months or even years’ long waiting times (what?), so we washed that idea from the get-go. We lucked out by finding a very part-time nanny who was looking for one consistent and one flexible day a week to watch Skyler, which was perfect for us.

As a new mom, I didn’t like the idea of not spending all of my off time with him, and I was terrified at the thought of handing him off to someone I hadn’t met but a few times. So, we asked around at church and found someone who works for the kids’ program there and has been in childcare for some time. We instantly felt comfortable with her, and so far so good!

So here we are. I’m sitting at a coffee shop after working out, showering, and enjoying a nice cup of joe while listening to 80s ballads overhead. I’m in my happy place of getting to check in with y’all before I wear my mommy hat for the rest of the day, and I’m feeling warm and fuzzy with all of these photo flashbacks.

But enough about all of that. Let’s get to the good stuff!

Here’s what’s been going on on our lives over the last three months.

Thanks so much for reading!

Skyler’s Seven Month Update

Sky grew up so much from six to seven months. He started sitting, babbling, playing with toys, and laughing up a storm. His favorite phrases were “mama” and “baba” repeated over and over. I like to think that his first word was mama, but that is an ogoing debate around our household!

Our little man got his first two teeth, and we worked on trying to save chomping down and biting for his chew toys and not me. He was in a big phase of making noises with his mouth, including blowing raspberries and smacking his lips! We added solid foods and purées into his feeding routine at each meal, and the kid hasn’t met a food that he doesn’t like. His favorites include sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and apples, just like me!

Skyler was a drool monster, and we changed bibs a few times a day. He’s very hands-on on and started taking interest in his toy piano! He loves being around the pets, and we’re still learning the concept of being “gentle” versus grabbing.

His happiest time of the day was and still is in the mornings, and he goes from wanting cuddles and chill time before his first nap to completely wound up and ready to party after it. His personality really started to show through that big gummy smile!

He was very content playing on his own as long as he can spot us from across the room. We got a playpen for him, and worked sitting up on his own after he got rolling down pat.

Skyler’s Eight Month Update

It felt like Sky turned into a big boy at eight months. He started fully sitting on his own, babbling and screeching with excitement, banging toys together, and giggling through most of his days.

He thinks his daddy is hilarious and said “dada” all day long. We’re still working on saying “mama” on demand, but he turns to it whenever he’s upset. Maybe he associates me with comfort?

This dude got four of his top teeth in (yowza), which totaled six in sight! He still chomped down on anything and is a huge fan of pulling my hair.

We fully embraced solid foods and have at least three real meals on top of mommy’s milk/bottles every day. He still likes anything we put in front of him, and he may have tried all the goods and a few tiny spoonfuls of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. His eyes got SO big, and he loved it all!

I shared more pictures and stories from his first Halloween, and I am just trying to soak in everything I possibly can.

He LOVED mirrors, anything that crinkles, and toys that make noise. He still wasn’t crawling, but he got on all fours and was so close.

Skyler’s Nine Month Update

Our little boy grew into a little man with a big personality! He babbled to himself, screeched, and said “dada”, “mama” and “baba” (bottle) on the regular. Every now and then he’d say “keeeee” for kitty, too!

This cool dude had a total of six teeth and loves his baby banana toothbrush. He grabbed on to anything he could to pull himself up (!!!) and army crawls like a boss. He still does this and hasn’t caught onto the concept of getting on his knees to crawl, but he sure does stay active. I often joke that holding him when he’s hyper is like wrestling an alligator!

As far as food goes, he’s had everything from lobster and sushi to beets and mushrooms — and he doesn’t stop eating until we stop feeding him. He’s our mini foodie for sure!

I’m convinced that being Skyler’s mom is the best job in the entire world. The days go by quicker and quicker, and I’m just trying to soak in as many snuggles as I can while he’s still little and lets me!

Travels & Holidays

Skyler has been quite the traveler in his short ten months of life. The last three months have taken us to a few different states including a weekend getaway in Manchester, Vermont which you can read all about here.

He did so great in the car rides up there and back and seemed to thoroughly enjoy exploring new areas as much as we did!

It was his first time visiting a pumpkin patch, and we took a long hike through the mountains that had views that belonged on postcards.

It was so nice to get outside and spend some real quality time together as a family.

More recently, we flew down to Florida for me to attend the Orlando Magic Dancers 30th Reunion! It was a blast and while we didn’t have too much free time to catch up with friends, we made the most of our time with family and left with extremely full hearts.

Something I didn’t blog about that took place on our most recent trip home was Skyler’s Baby Dedication. As soon as we booked our flights to Florida, we reached out to our old church and asked if they happened to be doing any baby dedications that weekend. They weren’t, but our pastor graciously offered to give him a private dedication between Sunday morning services.

We invited my family to attend, and it was such a special fifteen minutes or so. There were a lot of prayers, tears, and hugs.

We are very grateful for the community that still supports us from afar at FBCO and will cherish this day for years and years to come.

We have had a lot more to celebrate over the last three months including Skyler’s First Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!

(Click on the links above for more pictures and stories and watch the video from Christmas if you haven’t seen it!)

Likes & Dislikes

Skyler is getting more on the move by the day! He still can’t figure out how to crawl on his knees, but he’s mastered how to scoot around on his belly and army crawl throughout the apartment.

When he isn’t doing that, he is completely obsessed with being inside of boxes and/or standing!

It’s so cute to see his facial expressions take off as he digs through new things in his boxes each day and tries to figure them out. He’s become a pro at pulling himself up which was scary until he got enough balance to support himself. We always keep a watchful eye on him, but it’s insane how quickly he can go from sitting on one side of the room to scooting and then standing on the other side. He’s a quick one!

He doesn’t like to be left “alone” (meaning I’m literally in the next room staring at him) for more than a minute or two and isn’t keen on being stuck in one place for too long, either. He still does just fine in his carrier but prefers to be standing and moving around as much as possible.

He absolutely loves being out and about going on adventures. He enjoys getting strolled around in shopping carts and going for walks in his stroller.

Overall, he’s a happy baby unless he’s teething or tired, and I just can’t get enough of him.

Eating/Breastfeeding

I wrote an entire post on my experience early on, and things have shifted since the last update.

After going back to work, my supply dramatically dropped which meant that we started supplementing some of his daytime feedings with formula. (He’s been on Earth’s Best organic infant formula) and seems to like it without any issues. From six to nine months postpartum, I slowly backed off of pumping and would only pump once during the day and nurse him at night.

The less I pumped, the less he actually wanted to nurse and preferred the bottle. I got pretty frustrated (and sad) about this, so finally gave in to just nursing at night and this has been our best combination of everything yet. He seems ready to nurse by this point of the day, and I have just enough supply to give him a good feeding. Everyone wins.

As far as solids go, the kid can EAT. He is a true foodie like his parents and hasn’t tried something that he doesn’t want more of. We try to keep him on a schedule of eating three meals a day between bottles and giving him snacks, too. He started eating puffs (he’s obsessed), and I would guess that his favorite foods are cheese, noodles, peas, blueberries, and anything I’m eating.

(Still loving the Ikea Antilop High Chair for the bargain price of $22!)

We still buy fruit and vegetable pureés and mix them in whenever I feel like he needs guaranteed nutrients. He downs them in about 30 seconds flat and definitely holds his own with a healthy appetite!

Sleeping

After the four-month sleep regression, we got back into a routine that usually works for bedtime. This includes taking Roadie for an evening walk between 5-5:30 pm, eating dinner sometime after that through 6-6:15 pm and playing before taking a bath between 6:30-6:45 pm.

He loves his baths now! He likes splashing and playing until he’s over it and tries to stand up to get out. That’s his cue.

It’s serious business after our bath and to keep him calm I lower the lights a little, give him lots of cuddles while getting him ready for bed (lotion, nail trims, brushing his hair, encouraging him to “brush his teeth” with his baby banana toothbrush/teether) before stories and his last bottle feeding of the night.

He will still occasionally wake up once or twice after I put him down, but is almost always sleeping soundly by 7:30-7:45 pm. White noise machines are key! Now we have one on the floor and his portable one across the room since his room is in the middle of the living room and our room and the pets continuously like to go through it to get to another room. (The struggle of a railroad layout apartment is real!)

Daytime naps aren’t very predictable, but we are down to two per day. Sometimes they are 30-45 minutes long and others he’s conked out for 2+ hours. It all just depends! We are still using the Huckleberry App to track his sleep because it also analyzes his sleep patterns and gives you the insight of when his “sweet spot” of putting him down for his next nap would be. Scott and I both love it.

Postpartum Recovery

I found my postpartum fitness grove at around six months post-baby, and while I still look slightly different (mostly softer) than I used to, I’m feeling a lot more like myself these days. I have been loving a return to the barre, HIIT workouts, and running outside on a consistent rotation. On a good week, I will get in 2-3 Orangetheory Fitness workouts, a barre workout, and run outside.

Jason Roth Photo

On a normal week, I’ll find time for a combination of what’s listed above for a total of three workouts, and I’m okay with that for now. Now that we have help from a sitter in the day time, I’d like to stay more consistent and aim for three to four workouts per week.

On a more adventurous note, I got talked into running a Tough Mudder obstacle race right after I posted the last baby update. Woof. And, I actually typed up an entire post about it and haven’t shared it because all of my photos got lost from the event. But, I’ll be sharing more on it soon, promise!

In a nutshell, I survived, but it was really hard. It would have been challenging with or without being six months postpartum, so I allowed myself as much grace as I needed to cross that finish line. I walked a lot more than I anticipated, but I also had a lot of proud moments, too.

I probably wouldn’t have chosen to run anything like that so soon after having a baby, but Scott talked me into it. I went into it knowing I wasn’t going to set any records and would have been happy with myself for completing even half of the challenges, which is what happened. Stay tuned for a full post recap coming soon!

Right now I feel great in the recovery department … just working out and running with a more sensitive bladder. Hehe.

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We ended Skyler’s eighth month with a trip to the pediatrician’s office for his nine months check up. I’m the worst at keeping track of his weight and length, so I’ll just share what I remember which is that he is growing right on track and seems to be doing quite well!