9, 10 and 11 Months Old!

Eeeep! Sorry Logan. Just like that you're nearly 1. This kid is such a bright light in all of our lives. Happy belated 9, 10 and 11 months little dude :)

November 10th, 2016

December 10th, 2016

January 10th, 2017

• He's everywhere! He's been on the move for months now. He is a speedy little crawler and an expert cruiser. He loves using his walker as well. He gets around so well, so it will be interesting to see when he chooses to walk. He's extremely determined and will take risks (ie. climbing over stools/boxes, through tunnels, into laundry bins!) in order to explore something that he finds interesting. He never stops moving. Even when he's sitting on a lap, his legs are kicking away. Diaper changes cause me to break a sweat, as I try to distract him or hold him down and get the diaper on at the same time. He's strong and very solidly built. 

•  At this point, he has tried everything in the food department. I generally stick to nutrient dense fruit, veggies, legumes, meat and nuts/seeds. He has had some cow's dairy (grass-fed plain yogurt) and goat and sheep's dairy (yogurt and goat cheese), but as a household, we limit cow's dairy products. He loves almond butter and has tried peanut butter numerous times. I add grass fed butter or coconut oil to his food (the fat helps his body assimilate protein and absorb vitamins and minerals). He seems to like almost everything he tries and still prefers foods that are less sweet. I usually spice up his food quite a bit -- he loves curried lentils (mild curry powder, garlic, turmeric, onions and other veggies). I'm breastfeeding on demand, so it's tough to say how often or how much he is drinking. He absolutely loves his milk and still seems to prefer it over solids. Being #3 and not having time to worry about it, I'm just taking his lead with food. Stress-free for all of us! 

• He's a chatterbox! He babbles and talks to us constantly. When he sees or hears me, he will now say "mamamama". He will point to Teagan, Quinn, the dogs, my Dad (Grandpa), my mom (Atty) and Jenn and I when asked. He also says "da" for the dogs and will point out dogs in a book. He shakes his head 'no', but at this point, he seems to do it because he loves the reaction that he gets from others. The girls tend to be quite loud with him (which he loves), so he frequently shrieks and (happily) screams. He does understand some simple commands (ie. "come here"), but clearly chooses to ignore it when he is doing something more fun! He will often wave to someone when I say, "say hi to __".  He will also wave and point to things that interest or excite him. Given his hearing loss, language acquisition is on our radar and frequently discussed. At this point, he is hitting all of his milestones. 

• He usually gets upset when I come home because he realizes that I've been gone. He has started to develop separation anxiety when I'm around as well. He will often cry when he is passed over to someone he doesn't know or when he's tired and wants me. He is left with our babysitter twice per week for a couple hours when I take the girls to their hockey and swimming class, but is comfortable with her now.  

• Sleep, or lack thereof, is the reason that I haven't been writing. I've decided that he is just a sh*tty sleeper. We have tried it all. He's a good-sized baby (20lbs) so he should easily be able to sleep for 12 hours without a feed. I do still feed him when he wakes at about 3/4am. There is no consistency to his night wakings, despite a consistent bedtime and nap routine. Some nights he will wake just once around 3am and then again for the day between 5:30-6am. On many other nights, he will wake 2-4x between 8pm-4am. I do not feed him in the late evening hours and we only go in to briefly soothe him if he is hysterically crying (otherwise, we let him settle himself). The sleep deprivation is depressing quite honestly. He is a happy and healthy baby and there really isn't a reason for the wakings. 

• The testing to determine his candidacy for a cochlear implant is nearly complete. After his MRI, we will need to make a decision. He has a hearing aid that he never wears. It frequently fell off, got pulled off or got eaten. His hearing loss is also so severe that the aid is likely not helping very much. He is essentially deaf in his left ear. It is clear to me that he has trouble localizing sound, but other than that, you would never be able to tell that he can't hear out of one ear. 

• He has surgery scheduled next week to repair his hypospadias. The surgery will take about 2 hours. They will need to reconstruct his urethra with his own tissues and move the hole of his pen!s to the correct spot. I'm feeling anxious about it, but know that he is in very good hands at Sick Kids. I had a call with the pre-anesthesia nurse this week, who explained our options for putting him under. I will be happy once it is finished and Logan is on the mend. 

He is happiest when he is playing
with these two :)

He loves pure veggie juices -- I have to
fight him for my green juice!

Excited to take Christmas photos!

Brunch with Grandpa

Face off with Riley and his smelly licks

Milk coma -- I will enjoy them for as long as I can

One of his favourite places is in our
front window

Nap? No nap.

Waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve

Christmas photos with my amazing friend and photographer,
Lauren.

Crawling through his present from Santa!

Christmas Day with his cousin

Planes, trains and automobiles...prepping
for Florida.

This is how Logie went through
US Immigration

We are happy to be in Florida!

Getting ready to board the Disney cruise ship

Sailing away!

Water baby in the Bahamas!

Final night of the cruise

He figured this one out on his own

Sumo squats with Atty

8 Months Old!

Our little man is 8 months old! This past month has seen quite a few changes in Logan.

• He's on the verge of crawling. He is up on his hands and knees constantly. He rocks back and forth and tries to take a step forward. He hasn't quite figured out the coordination of his arms and legs. His determination is shining through though, as he is not easily frustrated. He can also now get himself up to sitting and is incredibly proud of himself for doing so! He's a rolling and scooting machine. He manages to get himself across the floor quickly and is motivated by a toy that is just out of his reach. He's been trying hard to pull himself up and will grab onto anything in sight. 

• We've been battling sleep for a while, as I've mentioned in previous posts. Things got progressively worse from about 4 months onward. For a while we were co-sleeping. Part of me loved it, but eventually, I wasn't getting any sleep and I became his soother all night long. We moved him into his own room and things improved slightly, but then got worse again. In the last 6 weeks or so, there were nights when he would be up every 1-2 hours -- worse than a newborn! On a "good" night, he would be up 3 times. We hit the sleep deprivation wall and spoke with a sleep consultant/doula last week. After a lengthy chat, she created a plan for us and sleep training commenced on Friday night. Things improved fast! My boobs are slowly adjusting to not feeding him through the night. We still go in and soothe him very briefly. Last night saw only one waking. We're on the road to more sleep and a happier Mommy! 

• He's extremely alert and always watching what people are doing, particularly his sisters! He find the girls to be hilarious. They will make him smile or laugh when others can't. He will try to imitate sounds and actions -- he loves to bang his hands on his high chair or the floor. He will also mimic us when we stick out our tongues at him. The girls are convinced that he can say words. While this is not true, he will try to repeat sounds that they say -- "ma", "goo", "ba". When the dogs are around, he is usually fixated on them, finding the most random things hilarious. He broke out in the most fantastic belly laugh when the pups were running back and forth across the house. I'm trying to teach him how to pet the dogs gently. It is extremely important to me that my kids understand how to respect animals and read their body language. 

• He seems to really like music. We did a music class with some friends for over the summer and are currently doing a music class that is strictly for deaf and hearing impaired children. He is usually fixated on the instructors, who will often play the guitar. He loves banging on the drums or tambourines. Our current music teacher always incorporates bubbles, which are a huge hit. I've started singing to him before bed each night. He absolutely loves it, resting his head on my shoulder and doesn't seem to care that I don't have the best voice.

• He is enjoying food a little bit more. I've forced him to eat some purees and now he will sit and let me feed him a few bites. He still prefers to feed himself. While baby-led weaning is easier, it's far messier. So far, his favourites seem to be sweet potato, broccoli and pears. He absolutely loved Love Child's ratatouille, which has lentils and beans in it. I gave him a taste of my homemade butternut squash soup the other day and he enjoyed that quite a bit. Interestingly, he was indifferent to an apple-blueberry puree. He usually eats twice a day, but is still a much bigger fan of his mommy milk.

A chat with his best buddy...

Logan and his cousin enjoy some play time at yoga! 

The dogs have been spending most of their time at my parents' house. We all miss them, but the help from my mom with the dog walking has been huge. He adores the dogs when they're around!

He enjoyed munching on an apple at the farm a few weeks back and hung out in the hay while the girls went down the slides. 

From May until just last week, we would spend one afternoon/early evening with friends hanging out at the farmers' market. The kids would eat delicious popsicles and play in the park and Logan would happily roll around on a blanket while watching the kids and the trees.