Tuesday, November 5, 2013

I Don't Wanna Grow Up...

I wanna be a Toy's R Us kid!  That's what I keep thinking every time I look at our sweet, little Carter and chuckle about some big kid thing he should be doing right now, but is more interested in the baby stuff.  As much as I'd love to keep him a baby, I know he needs to start transitioning to some big boy stuff.  He will be 11 months old next week after all. 
So Mr. Man really should be crawling to get around and even moving on to cruising on the furniture.  Is he?  Nope!  His mode of transportation of choice is rolling.  Here, there, everywhere.  He adds in some modified crawling by using just his legs and feet to propel himself forward.  He also throws in pushing up on his arms to spin around and get in the direction he'd like to go.  The little guy is the master of getting around without working too hard!  If he can't get to what he wants using his method, oh well, that toy probably wasn't that cool anyway!  As far as cruising and standing goes?  He'll stand while holding onto something and will occasionally take a few steps while holding my hands, but that's as much interest as he's shown in that type of movement.
Can I skip crawling and walking and go straight into driving?
Eating table food he does pretty well in the beginning, but starts getting frustrated with how long it takes him to get the food from his hand to his mouth and from his mouth to his belly.  I totally understand that basically gumming food (I mean, 4 teeth really isn't an adequate number for chewing) would get frustrating.  After a while he starts fussing and crying to be fed.  He'll start refusing harder foods like grapes, kiwi, and zucchini and reach for yogurt and cottage cheese.  He'd be as content as could be eating purees for every meal.  So with some nudging he is eating big boy food.

When it comes to nursing, I'd say that's one area he is ready to be a big boy.  He likes to nurse, but LOVES food!  He would be quite content to switch to eating mostly food and just nursing to wash it all down.  We are going to start transitioning to more food and less nursing.  We went down to an afternoon snack with a bit of milk today and tomorrow will do a morning snack with a bit of milk.  That decision was made due to his interest in food and influenced by the fact that I'm just not pumping like I used to. 

The last couple days I've been stressing due to my lack of production.  My morning pump session usually yields 5-7 ounces, it's been 3.  My plan time session usually yields 2.5-3.5 oz, it's been 1-2 oz.  My evening session usually yields 3 ounces.  Last night it was less than an ounce.  We'll see what happens tonight.  When I talked to my mom she responded with, "Well he is about a year old.  Even milk cows go dry."  She can seriously make me laugh no matter how stressed I feel.  Simple and to the point.

Not impressed with the shoes.
Shoes are another not ready to grow up area for little man as I'm sure is the case for most babies his age.  My mom and I went into a shoe store this weekend and had him try on shoes.  He hated them!  He screamed and cried and didn't want to stand up at all.  He bent in half and stared down at his feet in disdain.  I could tell he was wondering what were on his feet and why!  Today I pulled out some soft soled shoes to try out.  He still didn't like them too much, but tolerated them.  Unfortunately they were so big, he could kick them off after he's wiggled around in them a bit.  I couldn't get over how big he looked wearing them.  I could almost picture him walking, but it was hard since he's not yet crawling.

One way he's holding onto his baby ways that I am loving and hope he continues is snuggling.  Little man loves to snuggle.  Sometimes he wants to be held so badly, he'll cry whenever I set him down.  We still use the baby carrier from time to time which is a life saver, especially at 6:30 in the morning when I'm still trying to get ready for work and he just has to be held.  When I'm holding him and he snuggles his little head into the nape of my neck, that's a feeling I want to remember forever.  Such a sweet feeling wrapped with unspoken love and trust.

By no means am I trying to rush Carter man to grow up, take your time little dude.  You will learn very quickly that mommy and daddy are very patient.  If it takes you a year to decide you want to crawl, then we'll be clapping next to you as you go.  I've learned from years teaching young children, some kids just need time.  And buddy, we've got plenty of that.  Now as far as your grandmas go...  I think they're getting a bit anxious!

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