Raising Rex – 7 & 8 Months Old
It has been a while since I updated Rex’s progress on this blog. There have been so many changes since Christmas and he is at the age where I can remember how Grace was. The biggest difference I can see between the two of them at this stage is that Grace had her first teeth before she was 4 months old. Poor Rex is still teething like a good ‘un but the blasted teeth have yet to make a proper appearance. You can see them budding in his top gum.
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His First Signs of Being Scared
Rex has recently showed his first signs of being scared. It started with the blender on the Vital Baby Steam and Blend machine. He was sitting in his highchair and, as I switched the blender on, his bottom lip went and he started to cry. The same thing happening when I switched the smoothie maker. He isn’t sure about the Gtech vacuum cleaner – his reaction to that varies!
Ruddy Teething!
Poor Rex. He has been teething on and off for about 3 months now – but still nothing is coming through! He has regressed with his sleeping recently and the top two teeth are starting to bud a bit more now. I am regularly using Bonjela and teething powders and using Calpol as and when it is necessary.
As a result of the teething, he is also having quite and upset tummy together with nappy rash. Sudocrem was a godsend when I had Grace and it is working it’s magic again this time around.
I find it really interesting with the difference between Grace’s milestones in comparison to Rex. Grace had her first teeth by 3 or 4 months old.
First Sign of Being Jealous
A couple of weeks ago we were all up in our bedroom, on our bed, around Rex’s bedtime. I went over and gave Grace a big hug and Rex started to cry and reach his arms out! He really is starting to develop his emotions. Much of the time, he also cries when he sees me because he wants me!
First Time I Left Him Overnight
Back on 20th February I travelled up to my mum’s after I had put Rex to bed. This was so I could drive to Richmond early the next morning and catch the tube to Temple and a visit to Spring at Somerset House in London for Photography event.
This was the first time I had left Rex overnight. Thankfully, a couple of days before, we had finally convinced him to start taking a bottle (more of that below). Typically he didn’t wake up for a feed that night! He certainly gave daddy a run for his money the next day. I arrived home around 3.15pm and I think Ross was rather pleased to see me!
Loves CBeebies
Rex does love a bit of CBeebies. It is more the music he loves for things like Peter Rabbit, Go Jetters, The Twirlywoos and Something Special but he will watch Yakka Dee in full and half watch Hey Duggee!
Learned to clap on Sunday 18th February
One thing that we were really chuffed with was probably Rex’s biggest milestone to date. He learned how to clap. I am not sure who he got this from but he was very thrilled with himself and, each time he clapped and we congratulated him, he rewarded us with a big, dimpled smile!
Strong personality
Rex is a very determined little soul. It really comes across in many different ways but he gets very frustrated and cross if he can’t do something.
The biggest deal for him is that he cannot use a spoon properly yet. Each time I try and feed him, he grabs the spoon off me and tries to do it himself. Initially I took the spoon back off him and he was having a complete and utter paddy fit! Now, I go in armed with two spoons. As soon as he has grabbed one, I go in with the other for a stealth feed!
First snow
On Thursday 1st March, Rex saw his first snow. He just looked at it from the front door on the first day but on the second day – when the layer of sheet ice had disappeared – we dressed him up in his warm onesie and took him outside so he could take it all in.
Sleeping
Back at the beginning of 7 months, just as he was able to roll from back to front and then back again, he started to sleep on his side. It was obvious that he had wanted to do this from the outset when he was in his Chicco crib but now it was more prominent. In the Chicco crib he liked to cuddle up to the muslin which I left on the other side of the mesh. Now he has a bobo – just like Grace has. This is a small comfort blanket with a little picture of a giraffe on it. It has a soft middle with silky edges and he really loves cuddling up to it.
He varies on his sleep patterns and some nights I can get around 4 hours sleep in one go! Others I am up every hour. At the moment it is very sporadic and I totally put that down to his teething.
Our morning routine
Mornings have slowly evolved into what they are now. Rex usually wakes any time from 6am to 6.45am. He then has a bottle. Then we look out the window and count the cars. I also teach him the word car in the style of Yakka Dee (if you watch it, you will know what I mean!). We go downstairs for a bit of a play before he has breakfast at around 7.30am with the rest of the family. Depending on what day it is, we either stay in and play or we go out for a walk. He will usually sleep anywhere from 9.30/10am for about an hour. This does depend on what time he got up and what the night before was like!
Next week we will be starting at a messy play centre and we still have our rhyme time at the library on a Wednesday – followed by a much needed coffee for me with the rest of the mums. Sometimes he has another bottle around 11/11.30am.
Our afternoon routine
Rex has his lunch between 12.30 and 1pm. He then has a play for around an hour and we either go out for a ride in the car or he sleeps in his cot – this depends on what we did in the morning. At around 3.30/4 he sometimes has a bottle of milk and a play and teatime is around 5,15pm.
Our evening routine
After tea, we sometimes have a little play or read a book (books are his favourite at the moment) and then it is upstairs to mummy and daddy’s bedroom where he either has a play with Grace or daddy or both. I run the bath and put his night clothes together as well as put his star night light on.
Then it is probably his favourite time of the day – bath time! Or has we call it ‘bathies time’! Whenever he is laying on the bathroom floor, about to go in the bath, his eyes get all shiny and he has a great big smile on his face. We always use the duck and sing ‘Five Little Ducks’ then he plays in the water. He has just started to get very inquisitive and has started to stand up in the bath (with me holding him, as I am usually in the bath with him) and he looks over the side. He has also started to play with the holes for the jets (it is a jaccuzzi bath but hasn’t worked since we moved in) so it is the perfect opportunity for me to teach him the word no.
Grace usually helps with bathtime. She was having a bath with him – until last week when she let go to scratch her leg and dropped him! I think that scared us all a bit so we have put a hold on her bathtimes with him for now.
Once bathtime is done, he gets dressed in his babygro and a sleeping bag and I read him ‘Under the Sleepy Stars’. Then he sometimes has some milk and he is ready to sleep!
His feeding
A couple of days before I went to London, Rex started to take a bottle. The change has been gradual and he is now on 2 to 3 bottles a day and one at night. During the change over, Rex had started to search through my top so he could have a breastfeed. At times, I would still feed him. Thankfully though, as the change has been gradual, my milk production has reduced slowly – meaning I haven’t been uncomfortable. The milk he is drinking now is Aptamil Follow On milk.
I have to admit that I really miss breastfeeding. I miss the closeness and I am sad that it is over. That will be a post for another time.
As I stated above, meal times can be a bit of a battle. Sometimes I use our steam and blend machine but much of the time he is on baby food jars. His favourite at the moment seems to be Spaghetti Bolognese from Cow and Gate. He love the organic carrot stick crisps from Lidl and chocolate biscottis are his favourite!
His movement
Rex can now roll over from back to front and back again. He seems to be able to get round the room with a mixture of rolling and pulling himself along with his arms. There are times when he is on his front and he starts to flail his arms and legs around and complain. I know it is because he is frustrated because he wants to move properly. He seems to want to run before he can walk!
He still uses the jumperoo – but I don’t think that will be in the mix for much longer. Not only has he cottoned on to the fact that I put him in there when I need to get a few things done (!) but he is also getting too big for it. He still uses his Leapfrog Learn and Groove table and, in fact, that has come back into use.
His speech
There are lots of da da das and general baby babble. I love it when he focuses on a toy and just talks to it. He also loves to laugh – especially at his big sister who is the best person ever it seems!
His toys
There are a number of toys in circulation at the moment including a VTeach spinning top, Frankie Beats – a little drum with numbers and colours on the top, some mexican shakers from the Early Learning Centre (one of them plays a mexican tune that really gets in your head!), a learning puppy which has buttons on it’s ear, hands, feet and tummy but his absolute favourites are books – and ‘Stomp and Roar’ (which I mentioned in my last update) is still his top read.
