12 Month Update & Dr. Appt

Jacob is now a year old! Unbelievable! To be quite honest though, I don't think that much has changed since his 11 month update. His home measurements on his birthday were 22.6 lbs and 28 1/4 inches. Shortly after his birthday we let him have juice for the first time. He tried apple juice (low sugar!) and he LOVED it! He quickly learned how to drink from his sippy cup after that! Stinker. He's also been standing up for longer periods of time now, especially when he's wearing his new shoes. He still is a bit too timid to walk though and I am okay with that!

Yesterday (12/16/09) I took Jacob to his 12 month check up. We had to reschedule from the week before due to the weather. He weighed 24 lbs, was 29 1/4 inches long, and had a head circumference of 18 1/2 inches. This puts him in the 70th percentile for both weight and head circumference and the 25th percentile for length (shorty!) Dr. Wynalda said he is perfect again. He will need to have his blood drawn sometime this month to check for lead and anemia. This is a standard testing and he said he can't remember the last time either of those came back positive on a child. I will probably take him in this weekend so that I don't forget to do it! He said, based on what I have told him he does and does not do, he will be walking within a month. I said no. I think I am in denial a little bit. We'll see if he does or not.

Now here's the bad part of his dr visit. When we first got there the nurse took me back and did the measurements then left. I was waiting for the doctor when the nurse came back in to do his shots. I thought it was a little strange because we always do them after the appointment but I didn't really think anything of it. He got four shots total - two in each arm. He did really well. The first two he didn't really react at all. The second two he poked out his bottom lip and whined just for a split second and then was happy again. Then the doctor came in and asked me why he had bandaids on his arms. I said it was from his shots. He asked me what shots he got and I said I was just going to ask him (usually they tell me and for WHATEVER reason I still don't know, I didn't ask. I always ask!!) He asked if they were from the health department. I said "No, he just got them" Dr. Wynalda got this look on his face and said "Oh.... I'll be right back." My heart sank. As it turns out he received the wrong shots. He received the shots that were supposed to be for the kid next door. LUCKILY that kid was also a 12 month old so they were mostly shots he was going to get anyway. He received two of the vaccines he was supposed to get (prevnar and MMR) and he also received the H1N1 vaccine which I probably would have agreed to give him anyway and then the seasonal flu shot. He has already had the seasonal flu shot but the extra dose won't hurt him other than an unnecessary poke. BUT he was missing two of the vaccines he should have had (chicken pox and hepatitis A) that the people next door decided to delay. So he had to be poked again. I could tell the nurse had been crying when she came back in. She felt terrible and apologized to me a million times. Luckily no harm came from it and I told her so. She still felt bad. He got his next two shots again in the arm and this time he had had it. He was screaming!! He was actually quite inconsolable for awhile. My poor little buddy :-( So anyway, what could have been a disaster was actually okay. The dr popped back in and thanked me for being so nice to her. But, you know, I am a nurse and I know mistakes happen. And like I said, no harm came from it. Otherwise, I may not have been so nice!!

He goes back to the doctor in March for a 15 month check up.

Ten & Eleven Month Update

Wow, it's been awhile! Ten months just sort of blew past me and here we are at eleven months already!

So at 10 months Jacob weighed about 20.6lbs and was about 27.5 inches long. He started clapping his hands and he, unfortunately, learned how to unroll the toilet paper rolls. We now keep the bathroom doors closed! We took him to his first apple orchard and he loved looking at all the animals, riding the hay ride, and sampling the apples we picked. We also celebrated his first Halloween. He dressed up as a lion and we visited both sets of grandparents.

At just shy of 11 months I had to stop nursing Jacob. I continued to pump for awhile while we mixed in whole milk - per our doctor's permission. He didn't even seem to notice the transition. Yesterday he had his first all whole milk bottle. He's been doing great with it!

He now weighs 22.7 lbs and is 27 inches long with a head circumference of 46 cm. As usual, we took this measurements at home so we are not sure how accurate they really are.

He continues to grow and amaze us. He is growing up too fast for my liking!

He can recognize objects by name now. If we say certain names he will either look at the object or point to the object. Sometimes he says "da!" or "de!" when he points too. I think it's his way of saying "there it is!" Things he can recognize by name are: tick tock clock, turkey, pumpkin, pilgrims (all my fall decorations hehe), baby jakey (his baby picture on the wall), charlie, and kitty. He is dying to start talking and has his own words for different things too. Kitty = tee; Pumpkin = PA-ba; Truck = ta; etc.

He is also dying to start walking, which I am not ready for! He likes to practice with his push toys going back and forth over and over throughout the house. He still isn't brave enough to try to stand up on his own without holding on to something so I think that will buy us some time before the madness really begins! He is crawling up a storm and is so fast now sometimes he's hard to catch! He has also figured out how to crawl backwards to get off my lap. Boo!

I haven't witnessed this but Lolo (my mom) says that he has switched the lights on and off a few times from his crib. He hasn't made the connection yet and looks around, confused, when they go on and off. Luckily he doesn't do this often! Haha. What he does do often is throw everything out of his crib.... pacifier, cross, blanket, elephant, etc. When he's really being a stinker, he'll throw it all out and then cry until you give it back to him.

He has been trying more and more table foods. One of his favorites is bananas. He makes a huge mess mashing it up in his hands before eating it but he loves it! He's also tried sweet potato fries, nilla wafers, chicken, peas, apples, and that's all I can think of right now.

He is really starting to develop a personality and we're in for it because he is going to be a troublemaker. But he's also a lot of fun so we're up for the challenge!

9 Month Dr. Appointment

Jacob went for his 9 month check-up on 09/09/09 (which I thought was kind of funny!) He did really well.

The nurse took us back and asked us the usual questions about milestones and nutrition. Then she took his measurements. He weighed 19 lbs 8 oz and was 27 1/4 inches long. His head measured at 17 3/4 inches. This puts him in the 20th percentile for length, 30th percentile for weight, and 50th percentile for head circumference. So it seems he is just about average or maybe a little small for his age (hard to believe! since everyone always says he is a huge kid or a tank, haha)





Then Dr. Wynalda came back to check him out. He asked me the same questions about milestones. The only thing they think he should be doing that he isn't is when he pulls up on furniture, he should be walking along it. He said he should start that very soon. He asked me about how he grasps things, to which I answered with his whole hand versus with his index finger and thumb. He thought he should be doing that as well. Then Jacob dropped the keys he was playing with so the doctor had me let him pick them up. Apparently, he did it in the right way! Dr. Wynalda says I underestimate him. Haha. :-)

He told me we could start giving him finger foods (oops, we've already been doing that!) And that he could start on dairy as well as table foods. He should still be eating 3 meals a day. He said we should avoid giving him citrus, seafood, peanuts, and eggs (although cooking with eggs and giving that to him is okay, just not the whole egg) because early exposure to these foods can cause children to have allergies they wouldn't have otherwise had. I never knew that. It makes me wonder, though, how they would have set up studies to prove this. In any case, we've already given him baby food that contained oranges as well as tuna. I went through all his jars when we got home and pulled out the offending ones. Once he turns a year old, everything is fair game.

Then Dr. Wynalda looked him over. I got to hold him in my lap the entire time instead of putting him on the table. That seemed to work really well. I couldn't help but laugh when Dr. Wynalda was listening to his lungs and heart though. The look on Jacob's face was priceless -- wondering what that stethoscope was. He, of course, grabbed it away from him too. I suppose I should get mine out (NOT my nasty work one!) at home and let him play with it from time to time.

I asked him my three questions and he laughed at me and said I am so laid back. He said I should see the lists people come in with. It's funny because he's usually laughing at me for being so crazy! I guess time has done me good! I asked him about the amount of food I should be feeding him. I am so afraid to overfeed him that I am worried I am now underfeeding him. He said the amount of food didn't matter, it's the amount of milk. He should be getting between 20-30 oz of milk in a day. I have no way to know how much he is getting but since he is growing as he should be, I have to assume it's enough. He said I could give him as much solids as I wanted -- but that the 6-8 oz per feeding I am doing was probably perfect. The more he eats per feeding, the more likely he will be "really fat." So I guess we'll stick to what has been working. I also asked him if it was okay to wash his face with soap now, which it is. And if I should be cleaning his teeth now that he has them. He laughed at me again (I asked this when he was about 4 months old as well) and said "If you really want to!" In other words, I definitely don't have to yet but it won't hurt anything if I want to do it and get him used to it. Part of me wants to. However, I have yet to do it.

Then the nurse came back in and gave Jacob his flu shot. Since he's a baby, he will have to have another one in a month before he has the immunity. He did amazing! In fact, he didn't even flinch at all. Just smiled at me the whole time. What a trooper!!!

We go back in exactly three months later, on December 9, 2009. He will be a year old then. I can't even believe it!

Nine Months

Jacob is now nine months old. Even as I write it, I can't believe it. Time is going by so quickly. He is already 3/4 of a year old!

Stats: Matt weighed and measured Jacob on September 5th and he weighed in at 20lbs and measured 26.5 inches long. We did not get a head measurement this month. He goes in for his 9 month check-up tomorrow on 09/09/09. (Kinda funny, if you ask me!)

Teeth: Jacob is now the proud owner of THREE teeth. His first broke through mid-August. He has both of his front top teeth and the right bottom tooth. The left bottom tooth is working its way in currently but has yet to break through the gums.

Movements: Jacob has been sitting for a few months now but has gotten very stable now. He no longer topples over to the side when he is sitting up. He has also been putting himself in the sitting position by pulling up on things. Once or twice he has done it from laying down as well. He continues to mostly Army Crawl but did start regular crawling this month as well. He mostly army crawls on the carpet and gets up on his knees when he's on tile or hard wood. He also does what I call "the monkey walk" on tile and hard wood floors. What he does is stick his butt way up in the air and walk on his hands and feet. It's pretty funny to watch and I should try to get a video of it sometime. He has also been pulling himself up on things. Mostly just me at the moment but also his bookshelf, his activity center toy, and lower tables. It is amazing how well he moves now.

Food: Jacob continues to eat a variety of stage 2 baby food. He also continues to be an excellent nurser. This month, once his teeth broke through, we also introduced him to puffs. They are like flavored, very airy cheerios. He loves them! He also enjoys feeding himself for a change. At first it was pretty funny to watch him attempt to get the puffs into his mouth but he now seems to have mastered it.

New Activities: This month we took both Jacob and Charlie to the beach for the first time. It actually went well. It was a beautiful day and the water in Lake Michigan was actually warm! Hard to believe! Jacob enjoyed sitting in the sand (and trying to eat the sand!) and also wading out in the water with Mama. Charlie also enjoyed the beach. He swam, chased other dogs, and even peed on this poor guy's chair! We were so embarrassed but luckily we were at a dog beach so everyone there was a dog lover :-)

Words: Jacob continues to explore new sounds. He still mostly says "bababa" and "dadada." He also says "ah-ba," "fffff," "blah," and various sounds with his tongue and mouth that I can't possibly recreate with letters/words. He enjoys imitating sounds that we do.

The End: I suppose that is all the update I have for this month. Like I said earlier, we see the doctor tomorrow so I will likely update again soon! Enjoy a few pictures from this month.


08.12.09

first trip to the beach 08.15.09

08.29.09

08.30.09

09.04.09

Eight Months

Jacob turned 8 months old on August 5th. It is hard to believe how fast he is growing up! On the 5th I attempted to get some measurements of him but I am not convinced they are accurate. If they are he did not grow at all this last month but instead SHRUNK! Haha. In any case, here is what I got: 16.2 lbs, 26.5 inches long, and a head circ of 45 cm. I believe he really weighs about 18 lbs now. We will find out in another month at his 9 month check up.

It hasn't been a very busy month for Jacob. He did start pulling himself up on things to a standing position so we lowered his crib mattress. He has since stopped doing that. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth but continues to just do the "army crawl."

He has started "talking" as well. Sounds he has mastered are "bababababa" and "dadadadada." He will occassionally throw out a "ya," "la," or "mm" sound as well.

We took Jacob to the zoo for the first time on August 2nd. At first he seemed less than impressed, then he started to like looking at the animals. I think his favorites were the fish and the bear.

We converted our old office into a toy room for him and he enjoys pulling all the books off his bookcase and all the baskets off his other bookcase. He also likes pulling all our DVDs off the shelf in the living room. I know it is a way of learning but it will be nice when that phase is over.

Not much else going on in his life right now. Enjoy a few pictures of him below.







first trip to the zoo


8 months old

Seven Month Update

Well, another month has come and passed. Unbelievable how quickly time goes now that Jacob is here. Here is a little snippet of what we've been up to the past month.

Jacob turned seven months old on July 5th. His measurements that day (taken at home, not the dr's office) were 17.2 lbs, 26.5 inches long, and a head circumference of 45.5 cm. He sure is growing!!

The list of foods he's tried is ever growing. I won't bore you all with it though. But it includes a ton more fruits and vegetables and he has even tried some chicken as well (yum!) He is now using a sippy cup, though he mostly just plays with it instead of actually drinking from it.

He continues to roll constantly but he no longer uses that to get around. He has started army crawling and getting quite good at it. He is getting faster and faster and it won't be long now before he really takes off. We're not ready for this!! He is sitting up now as well. He can't put himself in the sitting position but if we put him there he can stay there for quite awhile before he topples over. He is getting better at balancing himself too.

This last month, Jacob's Auntie Melissa and Uncle Brandon got married. Jacob did so well at the wedding and reception and looked awfully cute in the vest that Brandon's mom made for him. It matched the bridesmaid dresses :-) I was very proud of him for being such a good little guy.

We also celebrated our first Father's Day and his first 4th of July. For the 4th, we saw fireworks and went to a parade. Jacob did surprisingly well with both. We took him swimming for the first time as well. I did take a video but haven't had an opportunity to upload it yet (I don't really know what I am doing and Matt isn't home) but I will post that eventually. I thought for sure there would be screaming involved but he actually seemed to like it. He is going to be a water baby just like his dad. He was kicking his legs and trying to get the water with his hands. It was a cooler day though so we didn't stay in the pool very long. We'll have to try again soon.

We switched Jacob to cloth diapers at the end of June. We are using a brand called gDiapers. It is the first cloth diaper I have tried but I just love them. They are part cloth, part disposable. You can also make them completely cloth which we will probably do soon. We are very excited about them and he looks super cute in them.

He has started to boycott sleep which we've been told could be a sign of teething. We don't see or feel anything yet though. But it could be soon. I've been saying that for the last three months though so we aren't holding our breath!

Other than that, I don't think there is anything new in the life of Jacob. I felt like this was a big month for him but now that it is all out there, it doesn't really seem like all that much. He continues to amaze me every day.


look at how much I've grown! footprints at birth and footprints at 6 months

first time using a sippy cup

Jacob and daddy at Melissa & Brandon's wedding

Father's day

Look at me!

first time swimming

Baby's first 4th of July

This is the best way to start the day! 7 months old :-)

Puppet

Yesterday I pulled out the puppet and Jacob thought it was just the funniest thing ever. Here is a video of Matt playing with Jacob. (Don't mind Charlie barking/whining in the background. We locked him out of the room because he was so annoying. And that didn't help matters any.)

six month doctor appointment

I took Jacob for his 6 month doctor appointment this morning. He did really well.

They nurse brought me back and asked the usual questions about how he is doing and then took his measurements. He weighed in at 17 lbs even and was 26 inches long. His head circumference was 44 cm. He is the 25th percentile for length, 45th for weight, and 50th for head.

Then Dr. Wynalda came in and we talked about his eating habits. He said we should start feeding him two to three meals a day of solids. Meals can consist of as much or as little as Jacob wants so even when he only takes a few bites we can count that as a meal. He also said we can introduce meats to his diet now. I think we will stick with just the cereals, fruits, and vegetables for awhile longer though, until he has tried more of a variety of them. We also got the go ahead to start giving him water. He was very happy that I wanted to give him water and not juice. He said we didn't need to be starting any bad habits So we will probably introduce him to his sippy cup soon. I can't wait, as he is just in love with cups.

Then Dr. Wynalda examined him. He couldn't believe how calm and happy Jacob was. He said most babies are squawking at him by that point in time. Jacob just smiled and played with the little bracelet he gave him to distract him. He said he looked great and was doing really well. He had him sit up supported and pass the bracelet from hand to hand to make sure he was meeting all the physical developments that he was supposed to -- and he is!

After that, the nurse came back in and he got his vaccines. He got the rotovirus which he drank - and proceeded to spit up a good deal of it. Then he got three pokes in his legs. They were all the same ones he has had before at 2 months and at 4 months. He cried/fussed for MAYBE a minute when it happened and then he was back to smiling. When I went to check out the lady at the desk saw he was 6 months and asked me if he had shots. She couldn't believe that he had because of how happy he was! What a trooper.

We go back again on September 9th, at 9 months. He doesn't have to have any shots at that appointment


on our way out the door


getting weighed


17 lbs


getting his head measured

Jacob - 6 months

Hello all, I hope you are doing well. It's hard to believe that it's been half a year since Jacob came into our lives. The time is passing by so quickly! Here is a little update on what we've been up to the past month.

Jacob is currently 17.4 lbs and 26 inches long. He will go to the doctor for his 6 month check up on Wednesday, June 10th.

He's been doing really well with taking solids now. He opens his mouth for the spoon and gets a lot more of the food in his mouth now. So far he's had: rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, peas, prunes, green beans, and peaches. Prunes and peaches have been his favorite so far. He enjoys playing with his spoons and "helping" me put them into his mouth. He also has a fascination with cups. It is hard to drink anything near him because he is always trying to pull cups or pop cans out of our hands. We will probably introduce him to a sippy cup soon.

I mentioned in the last update that he had found his feet but they had yet to make it into his mouth. Later that day I found them in his mouth. He spent a couple of weeks doing this but is now mostly back to just hanging on to them. His fingers, though, are a different story! He continues to "talk" quite frequently. He also likes to "sing opera" as we call it. He is certainly testing out his sounds and his voice.

He has gone in a Johnny Jump Up for the first time (he doesn't quite understand what to do in there yet) and he has gone on the swings for the first time. He liked the swings so much that we bought him one for our backyard. He also went on his very first bike ride. We also bought him a pair of baby sunglasses. He looks like a cool little guy in them.

As far as milestones go, we have only reached one new one this past month. Just today he mastered rolling from his back to his belly. He did this for the first time overnight. I happened to check on him in the monitor in the middle of the night and saw he was on his stomach so we missed his first time rolling. I flipped him back over and he was back on his stomach when I woke him up this morning. He spent the morning rolling back and forth on the living room floor. I think he's pretty pleased with himself. No signs of teeth yet but I bet it won't be too much longer. Sitting up shouldn't be too much longer now either. He can sit unsupported for a couple of seconds at a time before he falls to one side. I can't believe how big he is getting!

Jacob - 5 months old

Hello all, it's that time again. I can't believe another month has come and gone and my sweet baby boy is now 5 months old! His unofficial measurements this month were 17 lbs and 25 inches long. His head circ was 43 cm.

As I mentioned in our last update, Jacob started on some solids. So far he has tried rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and peas. He has yet to get the hang of eating from a spoon. He usually looks surprised when we try to feed him and about 95% of his food ends up back on his bib.

He's been "talking" like crazy lately and he has learned to blow raspberries so he does that quite frequently.

He celebrated his first Easter and picked up a bug from a girl at church. He spent about two weeks with a cough and a few days with a nasty cold. He is feeling much better now though. Our little trooper was smiling the whole time!!

He also stayed the night away from mom & dad for the first time. He stayed at Grandma Kathy & Grandpa Jim's while we went to a wedding in Detroit. He did very well and slept the whole night for them.

He is very close to being able to roll from his back to his front and he has pretty much mastered rolling front to back. (Tummy time is officially out) We also bought him a little seat so he can practice sitting up. He LOVES to practice sitting and standing. His legs are very strong and with a little help in the beginning he can pull himself up from a sitting to a standing position. He has discovered his feet which are often in his hands now. He has yet to stick them in his mouth though! (I'm not sure with his big belly he could bend that much)

Jacob - 4 months old

Jacob turned 4 months old on April 5th. He went to the Dr on the 8th and he weighed in at 15 lbs 10 oz (putting him in the 60th percentile for weight), 24.5 inches (40th percentile) with a head circumference of 42 cm (40th percentile). He also received his second set of vaccinations at the appointment and did well with those. He goes back to see the doctor when he is 6 months old.

This last month has been busy as far as new developments have gone. Jacob is now reaching for and holding objects (rattles, small toys, burp cloths, etc) He reaches for everything in sight! He also developed object permanence which means he realizes that we have left. This caused him to start waking up again in the middle of the night. Luckily, our pediatrician had warned us this would happen so we were ready for it! We took that opportunity to unswaddle him at night and do a little "sleep training" with him. It took 3 days but he is back to sleeping through the night now -- unswaddled!

But probably the most exciting new development this last month has been laughing. He doesn't do it often but we happened to catch his first time on video! It is adorable. We can't wait until he laughs more often.

Since I am writing late I will tell you a little bit about what we have been doing since he turned 4 months. This will probably be repeated in the next email (sorry!) We have started him on rice cereal. Just tastes for now. He had his first taste on Friday and spit it all back out. We then gave him a bottle of rice milk last night which he spit up the entire bottle. I believe he just drank it too fast though. We will be giving him some sweet potatoes soon as well, I have already made some to freeze. We were given the go ahead to try both rice and oat cereal, as well as fruits and veggies. We plan to take it very slow though. He still will be receiving all of his calories from me, just having tastes here and there to prepare him for meals at about 6 months. We are excited!

Three month update

Jacob turned 3 months old last Thursday, 3/5/09. His unofficial measurements were: 14 lbs 9.6 oz, 24 inches long, and head circ. of 41 cm. He received his first set of vaccinations and did very well with them.

This past month he seems to have learned a lot. Sometimes you can just look at him and SEE him learning, it is amazing. He has been smiling much more now and is on the verge of laughing. He has continued to sleep through the night every night but maybe one or two. We are so blessed with that.

We had a play date with the other girls from work who had babies in December. There were 5 babies in total ranging in age from 6 weeks to 10 weeks, plus 2 two-year olds. It was a scary site to see so many children in our home!

Mom went back to work and Jacob stayed home with Dad for the first time. He is also babysat by his Aunt Melissa on Thursdays. He seems to be adjusting well to both transitions. He also got to meet Grammy & Auntie Sarah for the first time. And did some visiting -- both of Lolo & Mom at work.

He discovered his hands this month, right at 10 weeks old. They have been in his mouth pretty much ever since. Which means pacifiers are all but out now.

But probably the most important thing that happened this past month was that he was baptized on 3/1/09.

Happy Valentine's Day

two month update

Today Jacob Michael is 2 months old!

His unofficial measurements (taken at home vs. the doctors) were 22.5 inches long and 12 lbs 6.4 oz.

Over the last month he has learned many new things -- our two favorites are smiling and sleeping through the night. He has also started sleeping in his crib in his own room instead of in his bassinet next to our bed. The transition went very well! He has attended church for the first time and has had his first play date (with Kaytee and June). He occasionally rolls over from his tummy to his back, but can't seem to do it every time. He has been talking (cooing) a lot more this month and sometimes it even sounds like he is laughing (he isn't!) He has been doing an excellent job at supporting his head as well.

He still is fascinated by looking at the blinds and has also started to be fascinated by the elephant on his mobile. We have often found him staring, smiling, or "talking" to it -- and it is always only the elephant! He also enjoys looking at himself in the mirror (has even started smiling at himself sometimes) and enjoys looking at his picture we have framed as well.