One Year Checkup

[sorry for late post, I know 18 months is coming soon!]
Weight: 23lb 5oz (75-90%)
Height: 30.5" (75%)
Head: 18.4" (50-75%)
Teeth: ...

Mastered:

• Mobility pt. 2. He can stand. He can walk. He can climb. All with nefarious intent to get into whatever he should not have.
• He continues to be a food champ, devouring anything put in front of him with abandon.

Starting:

• Speaking is still monosyllabic, though he is using his favorite syllable (usually "dat") with bold expressiveness.
• For all he doesn't use words, he understands them! He can follow many simple instructions; come, go, pick that up. He'll even make deliveries on request!

We won the war for sleep! We (well Amber anyways) are hardly green in the sleep training area, but none of our usual techniques were effective. We expect the main issue is that, unlike Elora, Archer has consistently refused a pacifier (or any other comfort item in bed). After a protracted battle with a worsening sleep regression, we relented and hired an expert, Julie Kennedy. Even then it was a long fight, but we won in the end, and Archer is back to sleeping through the night.

Even now, it's hardly smooth sailing; there are still the occasional wakeups he can't settle through, and during teething, ibuprofen is practically a religion. And no matter the bedtime, 6am is the most we can get out of him. But it's still a win.

Nine Month Checkup

Weight: 22lb (75-90%)
Height: 29" (90%)
Head: 18" (50-75%)
Teeth: 1

Mastered:

• All things baby movement. Can crawl at lightning speed, and cruises almost obsessively during every waking moment.
• Food! The tone changed almost overnight, from cautious foodplay to a power devourer of all things solid. Noodles, puffs, avocado, meat. Anything, and with volumes increasing dramatically by the day.
• Intention; Archer knows what he wants and clearly shows the pathing required to reach it. His current obsessions include any of my canned drinks, and getting into the hall bathroom. For the latter, he'll cross the entire house, over any obstacle, the second he suspects that door is open.

Starting:

• Some vocalizations. Some very clear Mamamas, and even a few Daaaas.
• Standing.

It's hard to believe where we are at nine months! We're always surprised at his pace of development, though looking back at Elora's blog, he is following her developmental schedule surprisingly close. Knowing what to expect makes the milestones feel like they're flying by, while with Elora we counted down each day.

The one difference is that he continues to be huge, already bigger than Elora at 12mo, and fitting comfortably in 18mo clothes. Also, he's starting to show teeth, something that Elora was fairly late with (no matter how many things we blamed on teething). Sadly, the sleep regression continues, exacerbated by teething problems and a few changes in routine. The last couple of months have been challenging, with many wakings per night, and very little ability to self-soothe.

Happy baby can move.

Happy baby can eat.

Six Month Checkup

Weight: 19 lb 8.5 oz (75-90%)
Height: 28" (75-90%)
Head: 17.4" (75-90%)

Mastered:

• Grabbing, holding, and tasting. If he can reach it, he'll grab it. And pull it with great strength towards his mouth.
• Rolling and maneuvering in seal position. He can reposition effortlessly from front to back, and spends most of his time braced up on his arms. He can maneuver around through pushing with his arms; mostly backwards, but can intentionally rotate to reach an intended destination.

Starting:

• Rocking, the classic crawling precursor. He can get up on his knees and rock back and forth with no help (and he'd complain if you tried to).
• Food. He hasn't embraced solids with the gusto that Elora did, but has shown a strong interest in purees.

Regressed:

• Sleep. As he has become more active, he's become harder to settle and will wake multiple times most nights.

The monster immunization cycle - an oral and 3 needles. We spared him a fourth needle (and a booster in a month) by skipping the flu shot. Normally we'd never skip a vaccination, except that this year's flu shot has been shown to be highly ineffective, and it's already halfway through the season. He took it like a champ and slept it off over most of the afternoon.

Archer continues to be a giant and is about to height out of the infant carseat, which supports up to 30". Though it can support up to 30lb, would YOU want to carry a 30lb baby plus 9lb of carseat around?

The other big story is his mobility, which has opened a world of adventure for him. He can move all about the living room now at often surprising speeds. This has also exposed him to the wide world of toys - he can now genuinely play with something beyond just attempting to eat it. Favorites include the piano toys and a honking ball.