Raising Rex – 9 & 10 Months Old
So, once again I am behind with Rex’s updates. These last two months have been a trial by fire for us. Poor Rex has been continuously poorly with a cold and cough and the phlegm he has been suffering with is awful. As a result, it seems to be putting me behind on pretty much everything – but, I am his mum and he needs me so he comes first. Here are his 9 and 10 months update.
Aside from the poorly stuff, he is a bright little soul and smiles through pretty much everything. He certainly knows how to turn on the charm to other people and is a sociable little boy who smiles at most people – especially other children. He thinks Grace is hilarious and the relationship that those two have is already extremely special.
Table of Contents
A Visit to A & E
Way back on the weekend before Easter, poor Rex got really poorly. I had taken him to the doctors on the Thursday and then, on Friday night, he was so poorly that we rang NHS Direct. They were going to give us an out of hours doctors appointment but, by 1am, Rex was sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb him. I decided to cancel the call but, half an hour Rex was up again. In the end, to help him breathe, I decided to hold onto him and let him sleep in my arms (a bit like the early days). By 5am I was pretty much done, so Ross took Rex off me and let me sleep.
Later on that day, Rex was getting worse again. We rang NHS Direct who told us to go straight to A&E. There was some to-ing and fro-ing but the whole time, Rex just lay on me. The doctor did think that it might be bronchiolitis but, after further tests, thankfully not. We were sent home and, by the following weekend, he seemed more like himself again.
Since then, he has had a cough on and off in varying degrees. I have been back to the doctors a couple of times and even taken him off dairy in a bid to try and help his phlegm. I think it is just a virus as Ross has had the same condition for pretty much the whole of this time too. We are seeing the paediatrician on 16th May so I will be bringing this up then if he is still coughing.
Easter at my Mums
Rex’s first Easter was spent at my mums. Rex, Grace and I travelled down on Easter Sunday for a big family meal. Rex was in his element and really enjoyed watching everyone else.
We stayed with my mum until the Wednesday and spent our time shopping and playing. Grace went off to her fathers and Rex and I went to visit his new cousin (Ross’ sisters new baby) before we travelled home.
Baby Chat
At the moment Rex is using a lot of da-da-da and mum-ma. He has tried to say car – and I know this because I regularly use the word when we look out of our bedroom window. Then, last week, as we were walking back up the hill from the post office, Rex was pointing and saying ‘car’ to all the vehicles that drove past us.
I regularly sing ‘Five Little Ducks’ to him in the bath. I also ‘quack quack’ at him regularly (it reminds me of my Grandad). He has started to do this as well. On top of that, he also snorts like a pig – thanks to Peppa!
He is very commanding too. He likes to stand on my legs when we are out in public, point his finger and ‘shout’ – he stiffens his body up as he does it. It is both cute and funny at the same time!
Book Love
Rex showed us a love for books early on. He was – and still is! – obsessed with the book ‘Stomp and Roar’, a Peppa Pig sounds book given to us by my brother, Olly, and sister-in-law, Vicki, as it used to belong to their daughter, Lily. Rex has always loved it and loves pushing the sound buttons. One of them is a tune to the song that Grampy Rabbit sings at the end. He loves rocking to it – and has started to do that to most music now! The book is starting to become a little over-loved and I am going to have to stick it!
He also loves another Peppa Pig book called ‘The Fire Engine’ which my mum bought him at Easter. There aren’t any sounds but he does love laying on his back and gurgling as he looks at it (which he does with most books!). There is also a few other favourites including the ‘That’s Not My’ range (an old classic) and a book which I used to read with Grace which I found in our loft called ‘Cuddle’.
Crawling Commando Style
Up until Saturday (yesterday), Rex had been getting around by crawling ‘commando style’. He grabs with his hands and pulls himself along. He had been getting up onto his knees and then deciding that he couldn’t be bothered to use them! However, he has started to realise that it is quicker on his knees. So, at Messy Play on Friday, he started to make the effort, making a bigger one yesterday. He is now crawling on all fours a majority of the time.
Cruising the furniture.
I think that Rex would rather walk than crawl. He much prefers to pull himself up on furniture – which is doing successfully – with me hovering in the background to make sure that he doesn’t fall and bang his head! He has started to pull himself up in his cot too and I really don’t think it will be long before he is walking. He is also regularly practising standing unaided.
Rex’s Favourites
Certain things have started to emerge as firm favourites for Rex. CBeebies love includes ‘Hey Duggee’, ‘Peter Rabbit (nicknamed ‘Theiving Rabbit by Grace and I) and Yakka Dee is still there! He also has a new-found love for Peppa Pig thanks to the books and we are looking forward to taking him to Peppa Pig World next weekend for the opening of two new rides.
His toy loves include his stacking cups, the Tomy ‘Hide ‘N’ Squeak’ Eggs, anything musical including a Baby Einstein radio which one of my sisters gave him for Christmas, some First Words picture cards, a walking talking Bing and a Crawling Bear from VTech.
We play ‘Round and Round The Garden’ on a regular basis and he also loves to play with Ross’ old wrestling toys.
Rex loves photographs. We have a large canvas in our bedroom which has various pictures of all of us on it and he loves looking and pointing at it.
In his cot, he has a peek-a-boo mirror, a cuddly Mimim rabbit (which I picked up at Britmums Live one year) and a singing Owl.
Baby Jail!
We recently bought a Surreal Castle Infant and Baby Playpen. There are 14 panels including one with a play wall and one with a gate. It seems to make good coverage of our lounge and, now Rex is more mobile, has really helped keep him out of too much mischief!
Sociable Events
Rex absolutely loves going out. At the moment, his absolute favourite is Edible Messy Play. When we went to the session last Tuesday, he squealed when he saw where we were. We hadn’t been for a couple of weeks but he knew what we were doing!
I strip him down to his vest and he explores different tuff spot trays which hold things like flour, spaghetti and, his favourite, brown sugar!
We sometimes visit the Toy Library on a Wednesday and we go to various houses belonging to the mums of the Postnatal Group that we attended back last October.
Eating
Eating can still be a bit of a battle of wills between him and me. I tend to give him fruit pouches for breakfast as he has an element of control over this because he can do it himself. At the moment he absolutely loves the Kidilicious Vegetable Straws and would quite happily go through a pack in one sitting if I let him! I give him those as a little starter and then feed him three quarters of a jar or three quarters of a bowl of homemade food. His very special treat is a Jaffa cake. His eyes light up every time I give him one! He definitely takes after his mum there as these were my favourites when I was about that age.
First Swing
A couple of weeks ago, Rex experienced his first playground. It was a beautiful, sunny Wednesday and a couple of mums and I decided to have a picnic in the park after the Toy Library session. We had that on a picnic table in the playground and then took all our babies onto the play equipment.
Routines
Our routines are fairly similar to what they were before. I tend to get up with Rex anywhere between 6 and 7am (sometimes earlier!) and he has a bottle of milk followed by some breakfast. He goes down for a sleep between 9 and 9.30 – or in the car if we are going out – and has lunch around 12.20pm. He has a bottle and then another sleep around 2.30pm. Teatime is around 5.15pm then bath and hour later followed by a book (Under the Sleepy Stars) and bedtime.
Coming Up
This month is going to be a busy one. We are off to Peppa Pig World next weekend, then it is my birthday, Rex is going to his first wedding at the end of May and then, we are really excited to be returning to IVF Spain for a visit during the May half term.
