9 Months Old

Note: I wrote this blog shortly after Jacob's 9 month check up, but never published it because I kept forgetting to get his measurements from the note at home to put in there! And now my baby is almost 11 months old! Oh well, better late than never! :) 

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I haven't been as good about keeping on top of this! But my little baby isn't such a little baby anymore. Jacob is 9 months old! He's officially been out in this world longer than he was inside of me. Crazy. And he's changing so much, every single day. I was just telling Austin last night that I feel like even in the past two or three days, Jacob has made huge strides in learning new things! It's such a fun stage to watch him learn, figure out new things, see how proud he is of himself and praise him for it all! :) 

I mentioned in the last post that Jacob had gotten sick and had an ear infection. Well that wasn't the end of it, unfortunately. At the end of that week of him being sick, Jacob picked up a separate stomach bug at daycare. It hit him on Friday night and he was throwing up quite a bit. We didn't even try any foods - just a lot of breastmilk. And then on Saturday night, it hit me and by Sunday, AJ. It took us all down. I have to tell you, that those 48 hours or so that all three of us were sick, were some of the worst. I've struggled quite a few times as a mom - we all do. But during that time of sickness, I didn't know if I would make it. It was that bad. Luckily(?) Jacob was still under the weather so he didn't need quite as much attention from us, which was good because we would not have been able to give it. But, thankfully, it passed. And we survived. And it took a good while for Jacob to really get back on track. When we had our follow up at the doctor, he still had an ear infection so we got some stronger medication for him. He seemed to like this one better and it finally knocked out that infection. But it took a couple weeks before he was back to eating normally again. 

At Jacob's 9 month check up, he did great! He did actually develop a rash over his body just like a day or so before we were suppose to go to the doctor so we were glad we already had the appointment scheduled. We also decided that "googling" baby rashes is not a great idea... ha! We were trying to figure out if it was from new foods we were trying with him, new laundry detergent or different water... we weren't sure. Luckily, the doctor told us it was just a post-infection rash that babies can get from being sick. It doesn't itch or bother Jacob at all and would go away on its own. Other than that, he is a perfect and healthy baby! His weight was 20lbs 4oz (67%), height 28" (33%) and head 18.5" (92%). Not really any weight gain from his 6 month check up but I think he lost some weight being sick and not eating like he normally was. So, a great appointment and no shots! 

Like I mentioned above, Jacob is in a really fun stage! He's learning so much! He's figured out how to clap and loves to make noise! He's still very much experimenting with his mouth and vocal chords and it's so fun to listen to him make all that noise! Although, maybe not when we're trying to watch TV. :) He also has really figured out some of his toys and it's so entertaining to watch him play. 

And we officially have a little mover on our hands. Jacob has finally figured out how to really move around. His crawl is a little unique and sometimes he'll crawl on one knee and one foot... silly boy. But he can effectively get across the room to get a toy or to come to mommy. :) And we're also quickly realizing how much more he needs to be watched and what types of things we can't leave laying around. Jacob has also been getting much better at standing without any type of support. You can see the determination on his face and he's working on his balance and sometimes he'll hold his breath! :) But he's able to stand by himself much longer. He can also pull himself into a standing position. He's done this in his crib, climbing up on Daddy or holding on to your hands. And when you walk with him, he wants to sometimes let go of your hands but don't quite have that balance yet. It won't be long before he'll be up and walking though! 

Jacob has also cut another tooth! His top right front tooth has peeked through and the left one is close to following. Hopefully this will help ease some of that teething pain, but he has been a biter lately. He bites our arms, fingers and he's biting while nursing. This is a behavior that we're having a hard time trying to stop, but we keep working at it. But I have to admit, with the biting during nursing, I have an internal struggle about continuing to breastfeed. I want to make it a full year, but I hate the biting and am so tempted to quit. I don't have enough in the freezer to get us through June and I also hate pumping so I don't think I'd have the drive to just exclusively pump. So for now, I continue to nurse while trying to teach my son the word "no". I must add, it doesn't help that when he hears us say no he tends to smile, giggle and try to continue doing whatever it is we want him to stop doing. Like, Jacob currently has this strange obsession with throwing himself backwards. He does it when he's on the bed or couch. But he also does in the highchair. Another behavior we're trying to stop. Oh, the joys of parenthood. :) 

Some other fun facts about Jacob: He LOVES the book "Good Night Moon". I mean, loves it. Every time we pull it out, he does his little hand grabbing motion and bounces in his seat. In fact, one time I just started reciting the book without it in the room with us and he looked all around trying to find the book! He also loves to help turn the pages! Bath time is still a favorite activity, especially trying to drink the water these days... He still likes the song "Six Little Ducks" as well. 

More than anything though, Jacob ADORES himself. Okay, so I don't know he really loves himself or just really loves that baby he keeps seeing in mirrors or on our phones. :) We started showing Jacob "the baby" in the bathroom mirror after his bath each night. He would get so excited to see this baby every time! And now, anytime there is a mirror, he loves to see the baby! And when we pull up old pictures or videos on our phones, he will just watch them or stare at the pictures, getting excited. But when we put the camera on so Jacob can see himself, he gets the most excited! He's a fan of selfies. :) It's too cute. 

Jacob is still a great eater. We've tried some fancier foods recently. Still a lot of chicken, but we've had corn chowder; minestrone; braised beef; veggies and cheese sauce; potatoes and peas; chicken with sweet potato and apple; potatoes with leek, carrot and peas; tomato, cauliflower, carrot and basil; and pasta and butternut squash, tomato and cheese. Very fun! And Jacob definitely eats better than Austin and I. Haha! We're also slowly starting to work on letting Jacob feed himself. He does great with puffs and these little biscuits called Mum-mums. But we need to start with small pieces of veggies or fruit for him to pick up by himself.  

Jacob has also slowly been getting better about sleeping. He's not always as fussy when it comes to going down for a nap or at night. It use to be where he had to be rocked or in the swing to fall asleep, or nursed to sleep. But he's been able to put himself to sleep just laying down some times. Austin even sent me a picture of Jacob sleeping on the floor in the living room - he had fallen asleep while playing! That has never happened. He still wakes up to feed at night so I haven't started any real sleep training yet - no point until I know he's capable of sleeping through the night. And when he does wake, he normally eats pretty good so I know he's still hungry. I'm not sure how exactly to start weaning these, maybe try feeding him more during the day or try offering a bottle of just some water at night? That'll be our next adventure though. 

Also, if you have some time, please check out our vimeo page! (link on the right sidebar) If you love videos and love Jacob, you'll love our vimeo page! :) There are plenty of videos to watch, as Austin pointed out to me the other day... 2 pages of personal videos and 9 pages of Jacob videos. I didn't see the problem! 

And in non-Jacob news (boring, I know). I've been at my new job for almost a month and so far I'm really loving every minute. I've really had to jump in with my feet to the ground and start running. It's a busy time of year with planting season soon starting so I've been thrown into a lot and have been kept busy. But I love it! I love being busy, I love learning new things, I love having a lot of projects to work on. I'm still getting comfortable with all the jargon and equipment but that will come in time. But I think this is going to be a really great fit for me. I've talked a lot on this blog about my calling and trying to figure out what I want to do and I have to say, I think this job is a step in the right direction. And that feels great.  

Some of this & that

These past few days have made me realized how truly blessed we've been with a healthy baby so far! This was the first time that Jacob has really been sick. Sure, he's had a couple small colds and one bout of pink eye, that luckily we caught right at the beginning and it was gone in just a couple of days. But this time, we had a sick little baby on our hands.

We noticed on Saturday morning that Jacob felt a little warm and when we took his temperature, it was higher than normal. Unfortunately, it stayed high all weekend and Jacob wanted to spend most of the weekend cuddling or just sitting or laying in someone's lap. Normally, he is a very active baby, always wiggling around and wanting to play. 

By Monday, Jacob still had a fever, a pretty bad sounding cough and a very runny nose. So it was off to the doctor for us! He had gotten a virus, which also caused a small ear infection and luckily we were given some medicine to start helping. But even with medicine, it was Wednesday before his fever was gone completely and he still had a runny nose and a small cough.

During these past few days, it broke my heart to see him sick and just cuddling/laying there, looking miserable. I so wanted to make him feel better, but didn't know how. The days were also exhausting. While Jacob did want to just cuddle and sleep, he couldn't always find a comfortable position. He would lean into me to cuddle but then sit back up crying. Then after a few seconds, he would cry again and lean in to cuddle. During the night, he would wake up screaming and crying and a couple of times, it took a long time to calm him down enough to get him to eat or back to sleep.

He would also scream bloody murder while giving medicine or getting the snot out of his nose. No fun. Although, we did learn a little something about Jacob. He likes to know things and/or have control of things. Example: when we first started giving him Tylenol for his fever I would come with the syringe and when I tried to give it to him, he would fight it and scream. If I brought over the medicine bottle and showed it to him, let him watch me put medicine in the syringe and then show it to him again before offering it to him, he would almost always open his mouth and let me give him the medicine willingly. Granted, this hasn't worked every time, but he's a smart cookie.

I really enjoyed being able to spend some extra time at home with Jacob, even if he was sick. And by Wednesday, he was feeling much better and wanting to play a lot more. And he is soclose to crawling! He will get up on all fours and rock back and forth before going back on his tummy. His head is also still a little heavy. :) But his overall balance is just awesome and if he falls over or onto his back, he is almost always able to get himself back into a sitting position! He also loves to try and pull himself up to a standing position! He does great "walking" across the room with us holding him up as well. Very soon, we're going to have a very mobile baby on our hands! Spring can't come soon enough so we can just have him run around outside!

Jacob also has a new favorite word! "DADA"! It's all I hear some days. :) And when I try to get him to say "mama", he will smile and laugh and say "dada" again! Silly boy. Although, I did use this to my advantage one day. I asked Jacob, "Jacob, who do you want to change your dirty diapers all day?" To which he answered, "Dada!" Good boy. :)

In other news, we will be seeing some change again soon. Seems like we can't ever have a year go by without something changing or something exciting happening or us moving. :) Some of you may know that I wasn't completely happy at my current job at Maple Manor (a nursing home and assisted living facility). I just haven't felt that I got all the necessary training to help me be truly successful in my position. So I was applying for other jobs. Well I am happy to announce that starting March 13th, I will be in a new position.

Even though I risk being disowned by my family - haha! - I will be the new Marketing Coordinator at P&K Midwest, a John Deere implement in Eastern Iowa. They have nine locations and I'll be responsible for the marketing for all nine locations. It's going to be a huge job and one that I'll need to hit the ground running, but it's going to be much more similar to what I was doing at Kruger Seeds and it's in an industry that I feel much more comfortable in. I'm very excited to see where this opportunity will take me.

For the time being, I'm going to be based out of the Waterloo office, but by summer, they want me based out of Mt. Vernon, which is about an hour and half south of us right now. So yes, we will be moving again. We really don't know all the details yet on where and when. Austin has already decided that he doesn't want to teach at D-NH again next year as he didn't feel like it was a good fit for him there. So he's looking into some possibilities closer to Mt. Vernon. After all, we figured I've followed him for his last two jobs so now it was his turn. :) The good news is that we'll only be about 30 minutes from Austin's parents but the bad news is that means we'll be farther away from my parents. So we've promised them many trips up to Minnesota. I joked with my mom that we'll just have to get a cabin in Minnesota to spend our summers there and she said "Yes, Megan's house!" Sounds like a plan to me! :)

So with this new adventure, I'm sure there are going to be challenges. But we've had a lot of challenges in life and I'm confident that God will provide and will be there to help us make this transition as smooth as possible. I'm hopeful that with these changes, better things will come for our family.