11 months

I can't even think about my baby boy having his first birthday next month (but of course I have been planning his party ((in my mind at least)) for months)!! How did that happen?? He is becoming such a big boy lately.

- Took his first few steps the day he turned 11 months, which happened to be mothers day :). Loves to walk holding onto hands and toys.  Does not like wearing shoes (luckily our PT says this is fine).

- Loves splashing...bathtub and water table! Thinks its hilarious!  Wants to be outside all.the.time

- Barely eats anything these days unless it is sweet (fruit, cookies, ice cream), everything else goes on the floor! Rotten!!  Although he will eat pretty much anything that someone else is trying to eat.

- Loves to steal his brothers drinks and drink from a straw (and only chokes on it occasionally!)

-Understands and follows some directions...open (as in mouth where he puts everything), kiss and hug (loves to give big ones when you ask!),  dog (he loves them right now, even though the feeling is not entirely mutual), I'm sure he understands the meaning of no but he usually chooses to ignore it and give you a big smile instead :)

 So big!

 Hey Mom (coming for the camera!)

Love his rotten little smile.  

10 Months

Conrad is now...
-officially crawling!  We call it the crab crawl because he likes to keep one leg tucked under him and use the other one to propel him along :)
-pulls to stand and cruises along the furniture
-has 5 teeth with another one about to pop through
-loves to throw balls (and pretty much anything he can get a hold of)
-gives the best big slobbery kisses, even knows the word "kiss"!
-growls, screams, says dada, and nana (pretty sure that means mama)

 

 the crab crawl

Loves to play with the dog bowls, especially when it's full of water!

Easter

 So silly!

 Getting a picture of both of them is quite the challenge!

 Hunting eggs

 He loved the eggs!

 Trampoline fun

Helmet

I have had many questions about Conrad's new head gear, so I thought a blog post might be helpful (also thought he might "enjoy" reading about it when he is a teenager and sees pictures of himself in a helmet and wonders what his parents were thinking!).

Conrad has torticollis, which means his neck muscles on one side are weak causing his head to always tilt to one direction. It was most likely caused by positioning in utero....big baby in a small space. Because of this, he has always slept (on his back) with his head turned to one side resulting in a flattening on the back left side of his head (plagiocephaly). The helmet is technically called a "cranial remolding orthosis" and is custom molded to redirect the growth of the head to the flattened area. He wears it 23 hours a day, just gets it off for cleaning and bath time. Treatment usually takes 3-6 months depending on how fast/slow he is growing. Without the helmet treatment, the flat spot would always be there and since he is a boy and may not have hair to help cover it, we thought it was important to fix it while we can! Of course I think he is perfect and handsome no matter what shape his head is, but am hoping he will appreciate a round head when he is older ;)  He has adjusted to wearing it very well, he barely even notices its on, other than making him more warm and sweaty than usual. It has not inhibited his movement or curiosity one bit ;)

Here is a picture of his head looking down at the top. The left is before and the right is after only 2 weeks in the helmet (already seeing improvement ((and hair growth)) yay!)

Look at that handsome boy!!

If you are interested in more information about Conrad's particular helmet (or just want to see some cute babies in helmets!), check out http://www.starbandkids.com/ or for more info on plagiocephaly visit http://www.plagiosupport.org/  If you have concerns about your baby's head shape I would encourage you to ask your doctor questions and get informed as there is a very limited amount of time that it can be corrected!  

9 months

Weight: 19 lbs 5 oz (45%)
Height: 29 in (78%)

What Conrad is up to now....

On the move! Not "crawling" officially, but scooting, lunging, going backward, pulling up, he can get where he wants to go!

Mr. Independent loves to feed himself! Refusing to be spoon fed for the most part but loves anything he can pick up, especially green beans and bananas!

Loves to feed the dogs, just like his big brother.

Cries/whines if Mama is out of his sight for longer than 10 seconds.

Doing better riding in the car now that he has his own DVD player. Rotten!!

Lots of babbling. Has said dada, dog (og), and I swear I heard mama once ;)

Loves to play with balls and take things out of boxes.

Wears 12 month clothes and outgrowing his size 3 diapers.  Big Man!!

Snow

Conrad's first official "play" in the snow!  He liked it (for the 5 minutes we were out!).  Wyatt loves to throw snowballs.  He got me and the camera on one good shot :)  Now that we got that done, Spring can come anytime!!

8 months

Things that Conrad is up to at 8 months....

-not crawling yet, but scooches on his bottom while sitting and rocking/lunging forward for things. Trying to enjoy the last few moments before he takes off!
-figured out how to splash in the bathtub and thinks its hilarious!
-squealing when he's excited and saying several one syllable sounds.
-not liking baby food quite as much, prefers to feed himself, especially puffs!
-still taking thickened breastmilk by bottle every 3 hours during the day. Slowly weaning down the amount of thickener we are using. Has yet to have a taste of formula!
-learning to drink thickened water (yum!) from a sippy cup
-outgrowth his 6-9 month clothes quickly and wears size 3 diapers.
-takes 2 naps a day, usually around 11am and 4pm.
-loves to give big slobbery kisses, especially to mommy!

7 months

Weighs 18 lbs 3 oz

-Loves to eat. Haven't really found a baby food yet that he won't eat :)
-Loves books, music, toys that light up
-Chews on everything and drools nonstop but still no signs of teeth.
-Napping is getting worse. Ugh!
-So happy and full of smiles as long as someone is paying attention to him and not trying to make him sleep :)
-Still taking thickened breast milk by bottle thanks to a swallow study in December that showed some improvement, but not enough to stop thickening :(
-Started physical therapy at the beginning of January to help strengthen neck muscles (poor guy has torticollis thanks to his cramped quarters while in mommy's belly)

Christmas

A quick summary of our 2012 Christmas: night light parade with friends, Christmas at the zoo, elf on the shelf, Wyatt refusing to sit on Santa's lap (and slightly afraid of Buddy, our elf), a never changing wish list consisting of a DS, stompeez slippers, and a dreamlight, 4 family celebrations, Wyatt tearing through the gifts and Conrad trying to eat the paper and taking in all the sights of his first Christmas!!

Christmas morning

Sweet Brothers

Mommy with her boys

Opening a gift

DS-check, Stompeez-check.  Santa was nice to Wyatt!

Cutest little elf

6 months

Half a year already!? How did that happen? This sweet and completely rotten baby boy has my whole heart! Him and his big brother keep me so busy and oh so happy!

Weighs 17 lbs 12 oz (52%)
Height 28 inches (93%)

- sitting up by himself!
- eating baby food fruits and veggies. Gags on the stuff mom makes but will devour the jar kind :)
- still drinking only breastmilk (thickened) by bottle.
- fights sleep just like his big brother. Always afraid they are going to miss something!
- Reaches/grabs/lunges for everything!
- drool machine but still no signs of teeth
- has the best belly laugh and giggle, especially for big brother and when he is tickled.
- jumps like a maniac in the jumper and wants to be standing/jumping on your lap.

This boy melts my heart!!