My little guy is getting BIG! His birthday is creeping up fast. He hit 10 months old this week.
At his 9 month appointment, his doctor was concerned about his weight. He had only gained 1 pound since his 6 month appointment and he was in the 1% for weight. For height, he was pretty average, so for his height, he seemed pretty small. But he didn't look skinny by any means, but just not a huge chunk like some babies. His doctor talked to me for a while about ways to get him to gain weight. The problem is I don't feel comfortable giving him cow's milk or other animal products. I felt like I had a lower milk supply, probably due to the fact that he has never been a good nurser. He sometimes only nurses 1 minute on each side.. So we didn't feel like he was getting very much breastmilk. But I did not want to supplement with conventional formula or any that were made with cow/goat milk.
So we needed a plan! I decided I would do everything I could do increase my supply and see if that helped. I started drinking Mother's Milk Tea and that seemed to help a little. I met with a lactation consultant (even though I had been reluctant and felt she couldn't tell me, who nursed Noah almost 2 years anything I didn't already know) and thought I might as well drop my pride and at least give it a try. I felt like I wasn't giving him enough fats, so we increased his fats/proteins/carbs and lowered his fruits a bit.
We also wanted to try to give him a supplement drink. I found a recipe online made with coconut water/milk from fresh young coconuts. Of course I know this is nothing in nutrition compared to breastmilk but I felt like maybe if he had one bit bottle of this a day, it would just fill in some calories/fat. I made it but I just couldn't get him to drink it unfortunately. I tried different bottles and sippy cups. So it's just in the freezer and I guess it's good for an emergency. We also tried giving him just canned coconut milk mixed with a splash of homemade almond milk to water it down. He'll drink that sometimes, only like an ounce maximin though.
We decided to meet with the doctor 2 weeks after his 9 month appointment to check his weight. He gained a whole pound!! His weight was 16 pounds 9 ounces. We were both shocked but very pleased. And when I say we, I mean myself and the doctor. She said she wasn't as concerned anymore. And although I was never as concerned as she was, I felt much better. Since then, in the last few weeks he seems like he's gained even more and you can really see it in his cheeks! We'll get his weight checked next week at Noah's 3 year well visit.
He's also gotten stronger with his weight gain. He has started to pull up on things now. He hasn't pulled up past his knees his crib yet - Okay literally when I was writing this post I went to check on him and he was standing on his feet in his crib! He can pull up to shorter things pretty well, like our step stool, and is starting to climb our basement stairs a bit (he just gets to the first step usually). He's done an army crawl for about 2.5 months and I don't know if he'll ever start crawling on his knees. He gets up on his knees but when he wants to move forward he flops back to his belly and army crawls away! He's really fast and goes all over the house like that. I have to really make sure I close the basement door and the bathroom door now (he likes to play with Noah's potty...).
He eats a lot of food! He usually eats as much as or more than Noah. He literally will eat anything. But his favorite I think is blueberries and blackberries. My boys just love berries (like me!). Also beans and peas. He's fun to watch eat, he just gobbles everything down so fast and makes a huge mess! He could literally eat a whole banana in a few minutes. He's a plant based baby and it makes me so happy.
Oliver is a feisty little baby. His temperament reminds me of Noah in many ways. I used to think they were different because Oliver has always been very smiley and more animated. But they're actually quite similar in a lot of ways. They both have strong personalities and I would never describe them as "easy going". Oliver has started having little tantrums already. If you take something away from him or don't allow him to do something he wants to do. Or if you take him out of the bath. He REALLY loves baths and splashes with his hands like crazy! He even tries to stand up and get in the tub by himself, haha. Oliver is generally very smiley and social. But he's also sensitive and at times, timid. He is easily startled and afraid. Specifically with people. I don't remember Noah EVER crying with a stranger as a baby/toddler. Oliver is definitely more attached to mommy than Noah was.
Basically my life story right now is this: Oliver wants to touch EVERYTHING that belongs to Noah. And Noah doesn't want Oliver to touch ANYTHING of his! It's a real struggle. Noah also takes away Oliver's own toys too. But Oliver really likes Noah's toys It's kind of driving me crazy! He loves Oliver to pieces but has become a bully to him the last few months. I don't know why he is like that, he's also like that with his friends and he was like that with his kitty, Jovi (why we had to give her to my mom). So playing together is a challenge right now. I hope we get through this phase fast.. It's kind of sad because Oliver LOVES Noah so much and loves more than anything just to play with his stuff and with him, haha. He wants to be around people and see "what's going on" all the time. He's very inquisitive.
Oliver makes silly sounds, and talks like "derka derka", using his tongue and makes a bunch of gibberish mostly. He does make the sound "dada" but not really "mama" or anything like that. He can be very loud!! Sometimes it seems like he's mad but I think he's just trying to get his voice heard haha.
Oliver is sleeping better.. but still not even close to "ideally". But that's okay! I don't wish that he would sleep through the night every night (although that would be amazing), but it would be nice if he only woke up once every night. Some nights he only wakes once, but most nights it's at least twice, sometimes 3-4 times in a 12 hour period. Most of his wakings are right after he goes to sleep though. We usually put him to bed around 6:45-7:00. but he almost always wakes up 30 minutes later because he's overtired. And then sometimes another 30 minutes later. Once we get him to sleep after that first initial waking(s), he usually wakes at around 11 to nurse and then sometimes another 1-2 times (maybe around 3, and occasionally again at 5 or 6) before he wakes up at around 7. Derek has been amazing with helping me in the nights. I just can't get up more than once after I've already gone to sleep. So if he wakes up again, Derek usually goes and gets him back to sleep. Also if I go in there he'll want to nurse again and I don't want him to get used to nursing several times throughout the night.
He is taking two naps most days. He'll go down for his first nap around 8:30-9:00. Sometimes he'll only sleep 30 minutes, sometimes 1 1/2 hours. He'll go down for his afternoon nap around 12:30-1:00, right before I try to get Noah down for his nap, too. Then he'll usually take a 1-2 hour nap. Noah definitely needed more sleep at this time. Oliver does technically need more, he's still tired, but he still functions without as much, he just gets more grumpy.
I think that's about it. I can't think of anything else. He loves his family. He gets so happy when he wakes up and I take him to go see his daddy or Noah, or little Sophia. He loves to explore and go outside and see everything! He is a pretty happy baby, just kind of whiney sometimes too :) But we love him so much! I still look at him and think, how are you my baby!? Haha, although I must admit, with his chunkier cheeks lately, he does resemble baby me a tad more.
Love you Ollie boy!
