I can’t believe how fast time is moving these days. I thought it would be fun to do a post so you all could get to know Little Deer before we jump into monthly updates. Bear with my iPhone photos… though I love using my DSLR, oftentimes the best pictures are snapped on my phone.
This silly baby has been such a source of joy in our lives. I truly never realized how much of a personality babies had until LD was born. She is a spunky one for sure! She knows what she wants and when she wants it. Still hungry? She’ll bang her little hands on her highchair tray and yell for more. A toy she wants across the room? She’ll let you know. And diaper changes? Don’t even think about it!
Growth
Before starting solids at six months, Little Deer was 100% breastfed. She’s on the long and lean side, usually around the 80th percentile for height and the 25th-50th percentile for weight. Once Mr. Deer was home from deployment, we started feeding her with the Baby Led Weaning method. Though I know with BLW it can take some time for babies to learn to chew and swallow, Little Deer didn’t quite seem to take to it. Most foods we gave her she shunned, and bananas seemed to be the only thing she really wanted to eat besides her rice puffs. It was super tough to find things that were soft enough for her to chew, yet firm enough for her to grasp without squishing.
One day Mr. Deer was eating some applesauce and she looked super interested, so we gave her a spoonful. She opened up her mouth like a little bird and gulped it right down. I realized maybe I needed to relax a bit and go with what works for her. Now that she’s up to five teeth, she’s doing much better with eating finger foods on her own. We still use the spoon for a few things, but lately she wants to be the one to hold it and fling food everywhere, so I think that’s quickly becoming a thing of the past! With all the yummy milk and good food she’s been eating, LD seems to be growing bigger and bigger by the day.
Monthly Highlights
Little Deer has been following the typical baby track as far as her development goes. Sometimes it can be challenging to keep up with recording everything, but I know it’ll be worth it to be able to look back at her baby book and read about her first year. Here’s a few of the highlights:
Month 1: She loved taking baths, stretching and doing yoga moves, kicking her little busy legs about, and making silly little hissy noises when she was hungry.
Month 2: Finally saw some real smiles, made her first “aww” sounds, started napping in the snugabunny swing, and liked reading books.
Month 3: Big growth spurt, discovered how to use her hands, rolled from tummy to back, first giggles (so wonderful!).
Month 4: Transitioned to sleeping in her room in her crib, first squeals, a lot more aware of her surroundings.
Month 5: Rolled from back to tummy, “singing” during late night nursing, found her feet and toes to be a delicious treat.
Month 6: Mr. Deer came home (yay!!), tried summer squash as her first food, loved jumping in the jumperoo, trying really hard to crawl.
Month 7: Sleeping in the crib for nighttime and all naps, first tooth, loving bananas.
Month 8: Lots of babbling, began crawling, sitting up, pulling to a stand, and then a sleep regression… phew!
Month 9: Cruising, loved playing peekaboo, drinking from a bottle and straw cup, down to two naps, and getting into everything!
Likes
Blankey – I remember buying these aden + anais security blankets when she was about four months old. Since she refused to take a pacifier, I really wanted her to have a comfort object. She loved rubbing her hands on the silk edges and playing with the tag on it, but she wasn’t too interested in snuggling it. Around when she was six months we did some sleep training, and that was the time that she definitely became attached to her blankey. I would notice that whenever I checked on her at night with the baby monitor, she always had her blankey snuggled right next to her. Though it’s usually for sleepy time, sometimes she wants to carry it around with her in the living room. Whenever she finds it unexpectedly, she rushes over to it, balls it up, and lays on it making little happy humming sounds. It’s pretty cute.
Sammy bird – I’ve mentioned that she is super interested in our parrot Sammy. She knows his name and loves watching him crawl around his cage and make noise. Lately we’ve let his wings grow out so he can fly, and she gets super excited if he flies off his cage into the living room. She then proceeds to chase him, so we have to be careful. He’s fast, but he’s not afraid of her so he doesn’t try and get out of her way (though he should!).
Dada – Obviously this goes without saying, but she loves Mr. Deer so much. Usually he gets home while I’m nursing her after her afternoon nap. I’ll know he’s home, but she doesn’t realize it yet. I’ll look at her and say “dada’s home!” and she whips her head around towards the door and yells excitedly. I love it.
Going outside – If you so much as walk near the front door, she’s squealing and bouncing with excitement. She loves going for walks, being in the stroller, playing at the park… basically anything outside. Even just walking to the mailbox seems to make her day!
Playing chase – This is a new development that started when my mom was in town last week. If one of us holds her and “chases” the other person, she literally closes her eyes and shrieks with happiness. We go running down the hallway, then switch and have the other person chase us. I still cannot believe how much she loves this!
Tupperware – Playing with tupperware is now a daily activity for LD. While I’m in the kitchen, I open the bottom drawer that has all of our Tupperware in it, and she crawls over and proceeds to pull out every single container. Once she has all the containers spread all over the floor, she’ll chew on them, throw them, and basically just have a ball. I’ve also added in a spatula, whisk, and some other kitchen utensils for her enjoyment. Though messy, it allows me to cook and do dishes so it’s perfect!
Brushing her teeth – She’s now up to five teeth, with a few more looking like they’re on their way. I realized a few weeks ago that I should probably be brushing them, so we bought her a baby toothbrush and got busy! I was sure she would hate it, but to my surprise she gets so excited brushing her teeth! She loves it and even tries to do it herself.
Dislikes
NoseFrida Snot Sucker – I’m not sure if it’s allergies or a cold, but recently LD has had a runny and stuffy nose. I needed to use the NoseFrida a lot so that she could breathe while nursing… boy she is not a fan. She will scream, shake her head back and forth, and bat at the NoseFrida like her life depends on it. Silly baby, if only you would just blow your nose we wouldn’t need to use this thing!
Sleep sack – Though I don’t think it’s the sleep sack itself, she’s come to associate it with going to bed (another dislike) so she gets super angry when you try and zip her up in it. We’ve had to start getting creative with it, like laying it on her changing table and zipper her up after a diaper change, or putting it on while she’s standing up.
Laying on her back – The sleep sack, diaper changes, outfit changes… no way no how. I don’t know when it started, but she now hates laying on her back for any reason. The only way I can get her changed is to give her a new toy to hold that she hasn’t seen in a long time. If it’s not something new and exciting she throws it, then proceeds to try and alligator-roll her way off the changing table. Since she’s had lots of diaper rash issues lately, this is not a fun combination when trying to apply lots of creams and powders. Let’s just say it usually ends in a big mess!
Strangers – Like I mentioned, she’s definitely not a giggly happy baby around new people. She keeps a straight face and stares them down. She’s particularly good at mean-muggin’ sweet older ladies that stop to say hi in the grocery store. It usually takes a little time, but once she gets to know you she’s totally fine and comfortable, so friends and family are okay!
Challenges
Breastfeeding – We had a super rough time with breastfeeding in the beginning. Not unusual, I know. She had a small tongue tie which we got clipped, but for whatever reason, she always had a super shallow latch no matter what. We went to Seattle Breastfeeding Medicine, met with a lactation consultant several times, and ended up doing some occupational therapy for her mouth and jaw. Nothing seemed to work. The only way I could make it through was by using nipple shields. Thankfully they didn’t affect my supply. Although a bit of a hassle (we’re still using them!) they’re what allowed us to breastfeed so I’m very grateful for them.
Bottles – You would think that since she nursed with a plastic nipple shield all the time that she would be cool with a bottle, right? Wrong! She took a bottle a few times when she was just a week old while I healed from my nursing battle wounds, but after that she wanted nothing to do with them. Since Mr. Deer was deployed, no bottle meant we were tethered together 24/7. There’s nothing wrong with that, but for a new mom with no partner, no breaks, and going through some baby blues… it made for a hard time. Just recently Little Deer has decided she’s totally fine with bottles, and started drinking out of a straw cup too like a pro. Phew!
MSPI – Like I mentioned in our MSPI post, Little Deer has Milk Soy Protein Intolerance. This means that the two of us eat a dairy and soy-free diet. That was pretty hard to handle at first, but it’s now become our way of life and I think we’re better because of it. Though I do miss cake. And pizza. And ranch dressing…
Sleep – I’m sure everyone can relate to this, but we had a tough time with Little Deer sleeping! That’s a whole post in itself. Until she was almost seven months old, our bedtime routine consisted of nursing, putting her down in her crib, picking her up because she was crying, and repeating the sequence. Over and over again. We eventually did some sleep training which helped with bedtime, but until recently she was still waking up several times a night. The past week or so she’s only been nursing once around 5:30 AM which has been heaven! I am so hoping we’ve turned a corner, but I’m not getting too excited just yet.
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Thanks for taking the trip down memory lane with me and getting to know Little Deer. Now you’re all caught up! I really need to soak up every minute with this silly baby girl, I have a feeling that one day soon I’ll blink and she’ll be a toddler running around. Oh my!
pineapple / 12053 posts
she’s sooo cute!!
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
Cuuuuuuute!!!! Love her!
blogger / pomegranate / 3300 posts
She is so adorable!
blogger / persimmon / 1225 posts
Oh my gosh, such a cutie! Love her faces!