Sleeping
Well...Henry got four top teeth this month, which took quite a toll on his night sleeping. Apparently the arrival of the top teeth is quite painful. That meant that Henry went from sleeping in eight to nine hour stretches to waking up, without fail, at 2:30 a.m. every morning. And then again at 6:30. And then up for the day around 8:00 a.m. It was rough. And the 2:30 a.m. wake-up became a habit, I know, because he woke up at the same darn time every night. He didn't need to eat, so I would either rub his back or put him in the swing to get back to sleep. After the top teeth broke through, I decided enough was enough and let him cry when he woke up at 2:30. He cried 10-15 minutes the first night, maybe 10 minutes the second night, and voila, no more 2:30 a.m. wakings. Knock on wood, Henry is back to sleeping through the night now. Generally he is asleep by 9:15 or so and he sleeps until 7:00 or later. Please keep it up, Henry!
Eating
There were two milestones on this front this month. The first is that I cut down on breastfeeding to just twice a day, morning and night. My supply had diminished after I stopped pumping, so I couldn't produce enough to sustain Henry throughout the day. I actually really liked feeding Henry just in the morning and at night because it was our time together to get ready for the day and then wind down at night. Plus, I made it past my original goal of breastfeeding for nine months, so anything more than that seems like icing on the cake to me. The second milestone is that Henry tried much more table food this month! He had pieces of bread, pasta, black beans, chickpeas, cheese, pancakes, chicken, and even ice pops (to help with the teething!). He is his father's child and loves everything you put in front of him. When he really likes the food he's eating, he smacks his lips or says "mmm" (did that for Oreos), which is, of course, adorable!
Moving and Shaking
Henry is a big fan of pulling up on cabinets. He crawls right up to the kitchen cabinets and pulls himself up to grab onto the door pulls. He even stands on his tiptoes to reach the pulls--not going to let being a little too short stop him from having fun! He isn't too interested in pulling things out of the cabinets yet, thank goodness. Mostly he just likes opening and closing the doors a million times. We've rigged a lock on the kitchen sink cabinet using a hair tie, but we're investing in some actual magnetic door locks soon.
Henry also loves to crawl behind doors and swing them back and forth repeatedly. Sometimes he'll swing/push so hard the door closes. He also pulls himself to a stand on doors and walls.
Another new thing Henry started doing this month is pushing objects along the floor while crawling. So he'd take a block or a puzzle piece and push it in front of him with one hand while crawling. It's as if he were pushing a toy car along the floor. He even does this with Rowan's dog bowls and his boxes of baby crackers. So cute!
Verbal Development
At the beginning of the month, Henry was very into shrieking. I think he just liked hearing the sound of his voice! This didn't last long, only a few days.
Henry started using more consonants in his babbling and now strings consonants together--bada, dababa, etc. He also uses new consonants, like w and f. He clearly says dada and mama, but I really don't think he says them with meaning.
Henry clearly knows his name, but he does not always respond when called. Just when he's in the mood.
Henry's receptive language is developing. He looks out windows when you say the word "outside" and laughs when I tell him to be careful. He's a born daredevil, that kid.
Other Milestones
As I mentioned above, Henry got his four top teeth. They are in various stages of growth; his top two teeth are farther in than the ones next to them.
Henry is becoming more and more interactive. He plays with us now, rather than just by himself. If we make a tower using his blocks, he loves to knock it over. He'll even wait for me to say "Go!" before knocking the tower down. Henry also mimics things we do. For instance, if I bang on his highchair tray, he'll repeat the sound. He doesn't really mimic sounds too much, but he does like to copy gestures.
Henry's stats this month are: 21 lbs, 1 oz (50%), 29 inches (61%), and a 18.3 inch head circumference (72%).
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