Thursday, March 16, 2017

Six Months to One Year

Winter is still grasping on with the recent snow storm that we just experienced.  Our little family are all just aching to get out of the house and go on some summer time adventures. We still have a few months to go, but in the meantime I plan on scheduling a few posts to play catch up.  Hopefully after that we'll have some more recent adventures to share. 

:)

Between six months and one year Micheal developed so much from army crawling, to proper crawling, and finally furniture cruising.  It has been an incredible experience. Around six months his hair finally grew out from his random bald phase. He has such gorgeous blonde locks and when it's longer he has the sweetest little curls on the back of his head. Oh, and let's not forget those big blue eyes.  The blue is here to stay.  Well, for now anyway.  I still think his eyes will turn green as mine did as he gets older.

We crammed in so much during his first year because we wanted so much for every moment to be special. We took trips to the music box lounge where I worked on art projects, trips to the park where Micheal discovered his love for the water toys, trips to the science museum, and so much more.  We celebrated Easter, we celebrated his Christening, and of course we celebrated his 1st birthday. 








In terms of the goals that we set for ourselves this is how we did:

Goal #1) Breastfeed exclusively.  I was able to breastfeed Micheal exclusively until he was 8 months old. At that point I was becoming overwhelmed by maintaining a pumping schedule, working full time, and not getting any sleep. I continued to pump in the morning before work, but would only pump enough for one bottle.  Roibeard would give Micheal formula while I was at work and then I'd breastfeed him once I returned home. We used Earth's Best Organic Soy Infant Formula.  Trust me, it was hard to pick a formula and required a lot of research.  Earth's Best worked really well for us though.  Once he got closer to the 12 month mark we switched from the soy formula over to the dairy formula.  







Goal # 2) Cloth Diapering.  After six months Roibeard pretty much called it quits on any attempt at cloth diapering. Between months 6-8 I tried to revive it in the evenings, but I was having the same issues as before - poor fit, poor absorbency, and rashes. Eventually I gave up altogether.  I do still use them once in a while when the little guy has clothes that he has soiled and I need more clothing articles to justify a wash cycle.  I am glad that we tried it and I will say for anyone who is considering it...spend the extra money on the All-in-Ones (AIOs).  During my few successful attempts at cloth diapering with Micheal I found that I was always reaching for my AIOs first because well, they are the most convenient.  When you are dealing with an angry and very squirmy baby, sometimes you need a little convenience.  













Goal #3) and Goal #4) Make our own baby food and raise him vegetarian.  The vegetarian part has been easy.  We have one healthy little "pudger" of a vegetarian on our hands.  Also, making our own baby food has been such a fun and rewarding experience!  It is much easier than you may think and there are so many really amazing recipes out there.  One of our favourite recipes that we have been using since Micheal was about 8 months old is this recipe for tofu salad from Weelicious.  I love it because you can use it in a lot of different ways.  When he was just starting solids we would use it as a puree.  Now that he's older I still make it, but I like to spread it on a piece of toast and it becomes an awesome open-faced sandwich. 








What a truly amazing couple of months it was!  

No comments:

Post a Comment