1.02.2009

4 Months Later

It’s been a good 4 months since my last post on the blog that I vowed to update every week – or at least try to update every week. I did try, but I was obviously unsuccessful. There were a couple entries that were on draft for a while, though, but they never made it to this blog – until today. Besides these entries from the past, here are a few updates on my mommy life and to now 9-month-old boy, Milo:

Baby Signing
We started signing with him at 6 months, and have awaited the day he signs back to us. So far, no such luck yet, except for a couple times when we thought he signed milk – which he actually did. Nothing consistent yet, but we’re getting there slowly. And we’re super excited!

Potty Training
As soon as he started to sit up on his own, my mom told me to sit him on a potty first thing in the morning and make the “sssshhh” sound to help him associate peeing on the potty. I had no idea this was called “elimination communication” but we did it anyway, and so far it’s working. He pees – and POOPS – on the potty! So when he learns to sign, he can start communicating to us his need to answer nature’s calls. At this point, we haven’t changed a single poopy diaper in months.

Crawling, cruising
He learned to crawl, pull up to stand and eventually cruise along our bed and his crib at 7 ½ months. He’s now climbing the stairs, too. His mobility has caused me to already run after him esp. when he gets a head-start to our flat-screen TV, the fireplace and my slippers. I can imagine having to really run after him even without a head-start pretty soon.

Teething and Feeding
He now has 2 lower teeth, 1 upper semi-tooth and another upper tooth emerging. And I’m still nursing him – I plan to nurse until I have milk, despite the occasional biting. Hopefully it stays that way, because his teeth are sharp and I don’t know if I can handle any more than biting every now and then. If he decides to keep biting, we’ll have to wean him and start buying the expensive soy-based formula, because we learned the hard way that he’s allergic to milk protein (see next bullet). That means no cheese, yogurt, butter or any other form of dairy, including eggs, until he’s a year old.

Trip to the ER
Yep, he’s been to the emergency room. We had a post-Thanksgiving dinner with some relatives, and one of his well-meaning aunties fed him a sliver of cheesecake. A few minutes later, his eyes and face were red and swollen. We rushed him to a nearby ER for fear of his throat closing up. He’s never had that kind of reaction before, because he’s never been fed anything other than fruits, vegetables and rice cereal, per his pedia’s instructions. And he’s never gonna be fed anything without them running it by me or his dad. And Benadryl is now his best friend.

2 nights out
Since Milo was born, I’ve only been out two nights – for friends’ weddings, while my husband stayed home to watch our baby. Though I loved the chance to take a break and feel like a woman – not just a mom – again, I realized that 90% of the time, I was either talking about or thinking about my baby.

Grandma and Grandpa Babysit
My in-laws have been visiting and staying with us from another country for almost 3 months as of this writing. Though they’re leaving in less than 2 weeks, it’s not like there will be a lot of changes when it comes to babysitting. They’re not exactly hands-on grandparents, esp. with a baby this young. They’re not comfortable playing with the baby on the floor, so Milo gets held and rocked when he’s with them, which means he gets bored from no mobility and no exercise. And they panic when he cries. I do give them A for thought and effort - that's what counts anyway.

Unfortunately, my initial plan to have at least ONE date night or movie in the theater with my husband has never come to fruition. I wonder how much longer we have to wait for that to happen.

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I’m a new mom and this is my story. I’m sharing with you my moments of joy, tears, excitement, and every other emotion that comes with being a mom, whether you’re a new mom yourself, a veteran mom, a mom-to-be, even a dad-to-be. Learn from my experience, or reminisce about your own. Welcome to this mom’s world!