8 Months

Dempsey has been around for two-thirds of a year already! It is crazy to think that he is approaching the one year mark! The time has truly flown by!

He loves to eat most anything. He particularly likes vegetables, and thankfully LOVES his carrots. We have introduced a lot of new fruits, vegetables and even some meat this month. He is a great eater! He eats two "meals" per day and also shares my breakfast with me most mornings - he likes to zoom around the house in his roller chair and he will come up to me with his mouth open until I give him a tiny bite then will wander off to pester the dogs or play with something and then come back again when he's ready. It's pretty cute and funny.

He is getting closer and closer to crawling but hasn't gone forward just yet. He is very good at sitting up and enjoys sitting and playing with all sorts of toys and other objects. He still loves the outdoors and enjoys long walks in his Bjorn. He also likes going for walks in his stroller - which we rarely use. My dad and I used it one day when we got a some snow and had to do some work in the community garden. So, we bundled that little fellow up and strolled on out into the chilly air. He also went on a walk to the garden with his Grandma Tutu and my parents took him for a long walk in Broomfield in his other stroller. He has lots of new noises and is starting to laugh a bit more. We are still waiting for the giggles and belly laughs that last longer than one second and aren't started by tickling! :)

He weighs about twenty pounds and has probably grown about an inch since his check-up last month. We won't get his official stats until next month at his 9 month check-up, but I'm quite certain that he is growing perfectly. He is starting to fill out his chair quite nicely ;)

This was a busy month for us - something new and exciting, eh!? But in all seriousness, it was his first Autumn/Fall and that meant we had to cram in all sorts of fun stuff that he didn't understand at the time and will never really remember - Heehee!

Along with our parents, we took him to pumpkin patch. I thought it was a pumpkin patch but it turned out to be more of a corn maze with piles of gourds and pumpkins along with a petting zoo corral and other Octobery activities. We had Dempsey pose in the big scarecrow cut out - which made for some funny pictures. We sat him in a pile of gourds which he found to be interesting and delicious. We attempted a family photo but they didn't turn out - but we'll have it for the ol' memory book anyway.

It was also Dempsey's first Halloween! Finn and I decided that we needed to accentuate his best feature - his adorableness. So, logically, we dressed him up as a monkey!

Finn took Dempsey into his work that day to see everyone and win the cutest trick-or-treater of the day award from ACVIM. That night Charlotte came over and we took Dempsey out to see the neighbors dressed in his best monkey garb. He enjoyed picking his own handfuls of candy out of the bowls. It was cute  when he went for a new piece of candy because he would drop the previous piece he had gotten. We only went to four houses, but it was fun nonetheless!

 I also traveled to San Francisco to present at the American Public Health Association conference. The weather couldn't have been nicer, I got to tour the city and go to lunch with a close family friend and the presentation and conference was great! I wish I would have had more time to be there, but I had to get back home to my family and I didn't want to miss Dempsey's First Halloween!

Finn wrapped up another season of coaching this month. He had a new U11 boys team this season. It was a great learning experience for him as he has previously coached girls. He had a successful and winning season, as well!

While this is should technically part of Dempsey's next monthly update - it is so exciting that I had to include it. The day after he turned 8 months he cut his first tooth -- his bottom, left central incisor! Woohoo!!

7 Month Stats - An Update!

Well, the formula seems to be doing the trick! Dempsey is back on his original growth curve for both height and weight!  So if he ran into one hundred other seven month old babies he would be taller than 75 of them and weigh less than 75 of them. Haha!

7 Months of Dempsey!

Holy cow! I know I say it every month, but it is truly hard to believe that another month has passed and that Dempsey is now 7 months old! That means he is closer to being a year old than he is to being a newborn - wow did that just totally blow your mind!?

We've been up to plenty this month, as usual. The biggest change has been making a switch from breastfeeding to formula. This was not in my plans, but after Dempsey's 6 month well visit we realized that we needed to get more calories in this kid. At first we tried to just supplement with formula, but the less I breastfed the lower my supply became. So, we moved to me just pumping once a day which yielded about 4 ounces on any given day. That amount isn't even a full meal for Dempsey, so we have been using it to make his organic rice cereal and then giving him a small snack with whatever was left over. But, in all honesty, it began to feel like more of a hassle to continue taking my fenugreek and other milk friendly supplements to pump and get so little. So, very recently, I decided that it would be best for all of us for me to stop pumping. Dempsey is growing quite well on the formula; he is an extremely happy little guy full of smiles and giggles. And, while I may not be able to provide milk for him through me, I can provide him with the nutrition he needs to grow up strong, healthy and happy. I made it to the 6 month mark and that was especially important to me, so now I'm letting go and moving on. He will be perfectly fine eating formula!! I think you can even see the difference in the picture below between 6 months and 7 months - he's filling out quite a bit! :)

Speaking of formula and eating, the kid LOVES to eat! He particularly loves carrots which is great since Finn and I have probably 50 pounds of them in our garden (not even exaggerating a little bit - I swear)! He also likes his organic brown rice cereal, bananas, butternut squash and even corn bread. He still is not a huge fan of avocados and recently did not enjoy blueberries very much (but Finn said they weren't too ripe). We need to add many more things into his diet, but have had such an abundance of orange veggies that we've been trying to use up that we just haven't done it yet. He is a pretty ferocious eater, so I think that he will unlikely be too picky with any of the items we offer him. I'm excited for him to try all sorts of new things, including cauliflower (tried on 10/3 and loved it!), chicken, fish, green veggies and so much more.

Happy after a big meal - and such a clean eater! :)

Since we switched to formula feeding he is on a slightly different schedule. We are now going through our days on an eat, play, sleep cycle. This is different from when we were breastfeeding because we did an eat, play, eat, sleep cycle. He now gets enough in his feeding that he can be up and active for about 2 hours at a time and then goes down for a nap with little to no fussing/crying. He typically naps for 2 hours at a time, although sometimes it is shorter and at other times a bit longer. He almost always wakes up happy and smiley and ready to have fun!

His favorite activities while he is awake include pestering the dogs, playing in his jumparoo (see video), moving all around the house in his walker, going on walks/being outside, and working on his crawling. He really enjoys his rocker and can move around in it really well - both backwards and forwards. He can go from the living room, to the kitchen, into the laundry room and to the front door in no time at all. If he wants a particular toy that is on the table or that I have he will walk/roll himself right on over and grab whatever it is he had his mind set on playing with. It has been really fun to watch him develop this skill and is always interesting to see what object he wants to play with at any given time. We got the jumparoo from a good friend and have set it up in our living room where the swing had been (our living room is really quite small for all these baby items). He really gets a kick out of jumping and sometimes we will catch him trying to jump in his walker! :) He sits up really well on his own now, although we never walk away since he still is a little bobbely. He can even hold onto objects and play while sitting up without just tipping over - the boy has some serious core strength. We've also been making sure to give him some mat/tummy time each day to help him work on his crawling. He much prefers to be standing then laying down, but if we don't give him that opportunity he won't learn how to crawl. He can now get up on all fours in a "table top" position and he will then rock back and forth. It is pretty darn cute! He tends to push off of his hands rather than his knees so he moves backwards rather quickly, but has made no forward motions as of yet. But, it is still incredible to see how quickly he is developing. Just check out the progress he is making on the video below! :)

It's been an exciting month full of laughter, growth and good times! We look forward to all that is to come in the following months and hopefully Dempsey's mom will stop slacking and blog a little bit more (but don't hold your breath). :)

Love you all!

6 Months: A Letter to My Little Man

Dear Dempsey,

Wow. I don't even know where to begin. It is absolutely crazy to think that you have been around for a half a year already! In some ways it feels like you have been with your dad and I for so much longer, and in other ways it is truly hard to believe that 6 months have already flown by since the day you were born. Look how much you have grown in your chair!

And for a different perspective, look at you on the day you came home from the hospital compared to you at 6 months old in your car seat!

You've been hitting your developmental milestones like it's your job! :) You can now sit up on your own, which is not only impressive, but completely adorable! You are able to roll over back-front-back and front-back-front. You can cover a lot of ground while rolling, that's for sure! And speaking of covering a lot of ground - you love your walker from Grandma Tutu, Grandpa Jeff and Great Grandma Marge Kast! You are able to "walk" in it and can even turn corners in that bad boy! You have so much fun playing in your walker and it can keep your attention (with the right toys) for up to a half an hour!!

You no longer like your swing; or rather you don't like that you cannot swing while lying on your stomach. Whenever we put you in your swing these days you grab on the the sides near your head and try to fling yourself onto your tummy. It is funny to watch, but not very safe....so we are about to pack that bad boy  up! It will be nice for us to move your swing out of the way because it along with your other toys and belongings take up a lot of space and our home has a pretty small living area! 

You are on a pretty good schedule these days. You usually wake up around 7:30 in the morning and go down for your first nap between 9 and 9:30. You are on a two hour increment schedule. When you wake up from your naps (which are usually about 2 hours long) I feed you and then we play for about an hour and a half or an hour and forty five minutes and then you go back down for another nap. You go to bed between 6:30 and 7 most nights; which can be hard because your dad coaches soccer and on Tuesdays and Thursdays you guys sometimes don't get to see each other for very long (he also goes to work at 6am). It might seem like a strange schedule, but it works for our family and that's important! 

You continue to love the outdoors and even when you are fussy, going outside proves to be a quick fix. You enjoy walks, hanging out watching the chickens, playing ball with Oakleigh, or just soaking in the nature around you. You also still like seeing all of our friends and family - which is good because you went to 4 weddings this year! Plus you've been to several happy hours, birthdays, and general family gatherings. Below is a picture of us the day before you turned 6 months old at Ellen and Ben's wedding in Evergreen, CO. 

I made it to your six month birthday breastfeeding you! This was very important to me. I'm sure that some day you will think that it is silly or gross to think about me breastfeeding you, but really it is and was the best thing for you. By making it to the 6 month mark, I got your health off to an incredible start! I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to breastfeed you though. When we took you for your 6 month check-up with Dr. Albert we found out that you had only gained 11 ounces since your 4 month appointment. She told us that you needed more calories and that perhaps my milk supply had dropped and you weren't getting everything that you need from me. She recommended that we supplement you with at least two bottles a day of breast milk or formula. And, unfortunately, I'm not producing enough milk to make 8 extra ounces for you each day. So, we will probably be switching you to formula soon. It makes me a sad, but I know it is for the best. You still have a lot of growing to do and we can't inhibit you by not giving you enough milk! :)

Speaking of eating....you got to celebrate your 6 month birthday in style, with food all over your face!! You got to try your first solid food! We fed you avocado and you had some mixed reactions. But overall, you were very excited and had a lot of fun! I've done a lot of researching on introducing foods and using purees v. just small bites. We chose to give you small bites, but Dr. Albert said only mushy stuff on a spoon for now. I'm not completely in agreement, but she is the doctor, so we will stick to spoon feeding you for the time being. Since your 6 month birthday, you have also tried sweet potato and rice cereal. You didn't like the rice cereal until I mushed up some sweet potato and then you loved it! You loved it so much you were actually very demanding and crying and reaching for the spoon between each bite - we couldn't get it in your mouth fast enough! You are a very messy eater, much like your Grandpa Jeff so we'll see if you grow out of it. ;)

I'm sure there are a million other things that I could tell you since you change every day. But, I think this gives you a pretty good idea of what you have been up to lately! I have loved being your mom since the moment we found out that we were pregnant and from the day you entered this world you have made me so proud. You are an incredible kid and I love watching you grow! I love you to the moon and back.

Love,

Your Mom

Five Months!

Yet another month has come and gone and I clearly cannot keep up (hence the late post)!

Dempsey has had quite the exciting month for such a little man! He is looking really big but has only gained about one pound since his 4 month appointment, but he fits in 9 month pajamas! He is still able to wear a lot of his 3 month clothes but also fits into 6 month ones. He has long legs which is why he needs to wear such a large size in pjs!

He went on his first vacation/road trip to Durango. For anyone that doesn't know, that's where Finn and I went to college and lived for five years. It was really nice to go back, but soooo different being "grown ups" with a child, rather than young college kids. We went and saw our old house and went to all of our favorite restaurants plus hung out with awesome friends and stayed with one of my best friends and her super cool husband (thank you Jess and Cody!!). It was a nice trip but definitely hard to mess with the little man's routine. Napping and sleeping were a bit rough on all of us and Dempsey had his first true diaper blowout and boy was it a mess!

He went to his first (and second) wedding which brought with it his first (and second) bow tie and suspenders wearing experience.The first wedding was in Durango which was the reason for our road trip/vacation. It was great to see our good friends Josh and Sarah (finally) get married! We have known them for nearly 8 years, which is how long they have been dating! The second wedding was in Estes Park and it was a beautiful day even with the rain delay. Luckily Dempsey is so cute that he even makes me and Finn look good in pictures! ;)

We have successfully weaned him from his swaddle. He rolls all over the place at night and during naps and we often hear him hitting his head/knees/elbows on the sides of his crib. He doesn't roll over as much during the day and often acts as if he is unable to roll from his tummy to his back, yet I know that he does it during his naps and throughout the night so I'm sure it is only a matter of time before he starts rolling, or crawling I suppose! Since he is no longer swaddled that also means that he is napping in his CRIB! This is a huge deal for us since he used to do all of his napping in his swing and sometimes also needed a little help from his favorite Pandora station to fall asleep. He now only has one swinging session a day, first thing in the morning while I pump and then takes his morning nap in there. I also turn the swing off as soon as he falls asleep so that he is not in "moving sleep." We have him on more of a schedule for naps and bedtime, which includes a pretty early bedtime - between 6:30 and 7:00.

His nighttime sleep habits still have Finn and I scratching our heads. Most nights he wakes every 2-3 hours (I know, it's exhausting). But, on the plus side, he typically just eats and then falls right back asleep. Occasionally he will not go back to sleep and will do a lot of screaming and crying and nothing seems to help. Luckily we have only had a few of those evenings, but man are they tough. Then there are the nights that we really cherish; those are the ones where he sleeps for 6-7 hour stretches at a time (like he did before he was 3 months old). I hope that those nights increase because I think everyone is much happier when he does sleep for those long stretches of time!

One of the reasons why we think he doesn't always sleep so great is that he is definitely teething. He not only likes to put everything in his mouth and drool a lot, but he likes to rub his gums on just about anything he can and he spends more than 90% of the time he is awake with his hands/fingers/toes shoved into his mouth. He likes all of his teething toys which is good and we give him some homeopathic chamomile drops to help him with any discomfort. 

He has discovered that he has a lot of new voices - including an ear piercing, but adorable, squeal. He also likes to bow bubbles at us - although he is quickly outgrowing that activity (way too old and advanced for that!). He likes to practice this, particularly on days when he is not teething as much. 

He likes his dogs, a lot. He will reach out to them when they walk near him and he likes to grab their faces or fur to say "hello." He also enjoys smiling and laughing at Oakleigh, especially when we are playing ball with her. He also still enjoys watching the chickens walk around. He continues to love being outside and is definitely a nature lover!

Until next month...when he will be a half a year old! Oh my word!!

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