Hunter, Hunter's progress HUNTER: MONTH 7-8 PROGRESS 25 September 2011

Happy 8 month Birthday, Hunter!

Mr Cheeky

 

Is Hunter already 2/3 of a year old?! Seeing him grow so quickly makes me realise I’m also growing older just as quickly – eek! Our little man certainly has a will of his own – once he’s decided on something, no amount of cajoling, pleading or forcing will change his mind. Hmmm.. sounds like me 😉

He’s still pretty easy to look after, thankfully, and doesn’t have many demands. He’s been fine the whole month except for 2 consecutive days in the month where he had meltdowns when we were out.. for no apparent reason. I was so worried, but then he’ll emerge out of it happy and laughing (!), so I’m just chalking it up to growth pains/teething and moving on.

MONTH 7-8 PROGRESS:

  • Eating – Same as last month, we have made zero progress with solids. Where other babies have no problems trying out new foods and also pooping, Hunter struggles like it’s the most difficult thing on earth. He HATES solids, full stop. The only thing I have discovered that he will eat is: natural yogurt with pears or mango puree. THAT’S IT. Yes, our odd little boy loves things cold and sour! Warm and sweet? Nope, results in the food being hurled across the room. Whhhhyyyyy?? Food is so yummy?! I can’t quite believe that Chris and I, insane food lovers, created a child that hates food. Miffed.
    So obviously I’m breastfeeding 99% of the time. And that also translates to no ‘me time’ as I can’t be away from him for more than 3-4 hours a day. I tried to express breastmilk into a sippy cup so I could go out with friends, but the two times I did that, he flatly rejected the sippy cup (though he drinks water from it like an expert) and went on a hunger strike ’til I came home and breastfed him. I’ve created a breast-fed monster SIGH. As I told my friends, it certainly feels like 18 years from now, I’ll still have Hunter latching on to me, d’oh!!
    Despite all the breastfeeding/yogurt/fruit, he still cannot poop. So he gets a suppository every 3-4 days and the poo comes out looking healthy and normal, and the rest of the time he’s happy and not in discomfort. So weird.

Hunter trying out this organic yogurt drops for the first time
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFosEh7zVZA

  • Sleeping – Where Hunter is bottom of the class in eating/pooping, he really quite gifted when it comes to his naps and night sleeps. Oh well, guess you can’t win ’em all, eh? Have nothing to update here – going well and no issues. Well, no news is good news, right?!
After his bath, getting ready for bed

 

  • Motor control – He crawls at a snail’s pace, because his body is so hefty it’s hard for him to lift it off the ground and move 😉 I’m hoping that the more he crawls, the more baby-fat he’ll lose.
    His main method of communication is arm-flapping. He does it when he’s happy/excited, but particularly when something is out of reach and he wants to say “Oi! Give that to me!” He also now looks up at us and raises his arms up towards us, to indicate “Pick me up??”, which I find infinitely cute and irresistible 😉
    OK and this was actually last month, but I managed to get his pincer grasp on video, though it’s not a very clear one but I can’t be bothered to take a proper video.

Trying out his pincer grasp
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGc_C1NrD54

Thumb-sucking (though he rarely does this)

 

  • Talking – Still saying “MumMumMummm” for me, and now “NaaaNaaNaaa” when he’s pissed off 😉 But he also likes babbling (maybe to him it’s indepth conversations) with Teddy, which he does after waking up. He’ll hold Teddy up and yak away earnestly, then play Peek-a-boo by himself with Teddy… screaming with laughter to himself each time. Hilarious! I usually leave him to do that for about 10-15 mins before going in and picking him up.

As for me, I do struggle with having to do so much each day. I am constantly picking things up, doing laundry, and most of all… washing. I wash pacifiers, I wash cups, I wash spoons, I was toys.. and all in an endless cycle. Sometimes I look at the tap/sink and I shudder, and the skin on my hands feels rougher nowadays thanks to the sheer amount of housework that needs to be done.

Oh how life has changed from when I was working full-time, with a housekeeper and a driver. And so, I saw this image and it really resonated with me:

Oh it's a tough life, being a baby

PREVIOUS PROGRESS:

Let’s Chat!




Let's Chat!

I did Baby led weaning with my girls and it allowed for me to de-stress about food with them. Try googling for some info. I breastfed for 12 months and then 27 months with my second. They are 4 and 8 years old now and have very healthy appetites. Don’t stress about food because it’s the one area they have total control over and they know it!! 🙂

It’s good to hear you breastfed for so long! And fortunately I’m breastfeeding too so I’m not too frantic about Hunter not really eating solids (not like he’s starving)…

I think he’s the same as my son. He reject most of the food and have consitpation problem. He need suppository before he can poo. My son is now 20 months. Wonder when will they outgrow this.

Man so you use a suppository every few days, for over a year now? I’m so worried that it’ll continue on and on, sigh. I have no idea what to do either!

Ya man…he got so reliant on it to poo. Now he will tell me he do not want the suppository and will cry badly. He’s so scare of pooing 🙁

Kudos to being a SAHM!
Have you tried pureed prunes e.g. from Gerber? They really helped with Melody. You can try pears or peas too but prunes worked the best for Melody.

Yeah I tried both those, other organic brands, and also steamed/blended fresh. He will tolerate maybe one or two mouthfuls before rejecting. Same with peas (though worse, won’t go past 1 mouthful)!

Fortunately, pear, he likes 🙂

Hunter is doing so awesome, and so is his mummy! Kudos that you’re still breastfeeding Hunter, and it shows in his cute chubbiness and healthy glow 🙂 what’s that yoghurt snack you’re giving him by the way? Am trying to find nice finger foods for Enoch so that he learns to chew and pick up his food.

Yup, Enoch is all BFed goodness too! 🙂

Thanks for the link to the melts, they look yummy indeed 🙂 so far Enoch hasn’t developed any real interest in grabbing food yet, but when he does, whoohooo 😉

8 months old already? wow, I remembered checking out your blog daily after his birth posts, seems like yesterday 🙂
It’s encouraging to read that you’re still breastfeeding, I hope my milk supply lasts at least 3 months…

I know… so that means we’re 8 months older too, damn!

do keep at it, even at times when you don’t feel confident! Your body will adjust accordingly 🙂 Also I’d recommend doing a lot of research online before/after giving birth on breastfeeding advice and issues – I did that and it helped a LOT

You may want to go easy on the mango puree, which is so-called ‘heaty’ in natural and may impede bowel movement.. Try papaya puree lah ! 😀

My dad was saying the word “heaty” too but I thought it was just him randomly saying it , hahahaha! I didn’t realise heaty means it can cause constipation? Anyhow he had so little (1 tsp per day) and no more of it now…

Ooh I will try the papaya, thanks for the tip!

Ohhh that’s good to hear, and makes me feel a lil more relieved. ‘Cos almost all the babies I know LOVE being introduced to food! 🙁