Sleeping

Fortunately for us has Joshua changed his sleeping patterns. Now that he is more mobile (see moving) he runs himself ragged, and now that he eats solids (see eating) he gets more satisfied.

So now he goes to bed at about 7 o'clock and sleeps until 5-ish. Sometimes he actually plays for some time in his bed. He likes to go to bed. In fact he'll get very grizzly when he is tired and doesn't want to do anything, including cuddling. When you put him down he grins, plays peek-a-boo under the blanket, rolls on his side and … off he is.

We have now introduced the travel-cot into his room from time to time to make it more of a 'routine' to sleep in it and so far it has gone well when he has stayed with Lisa's parents.

Eating

When he was about 5½ months old, we slowly started introducing solid food to him. We especially purchased a high chair and started him off on simple rice-cereal. He was obviously ready, for the last weeks he had been staring the food out of our mouths and once fed he immediately started chewing.

Via rice cereal we moved up to baby foods and mashed vegetables & fruits. In the beginning we took care to feed him only one ingredient at a time. This so it would be easier to detect any allergies. Then they got mixed and less mashed.

Now he eats three meals a day (at child care also morning and afternoon snacks) and loves it. He clearly indicates that he wants another spoon. We always give him the last spoon, which he sticks in his mouth with a big grin (and then proceeds to bang it on the high chairs table). He likes sweets (fruit, chocolate custard) better than savoury (veggies, combination meals), but as good parents we try to keep a balance.

As he doesn't feed himself the mess he made is relatively minor (chocolate custard can still make some awesome stains). However he hasn't outgrown his colic completely and after his meal he is prone to vomit a little bit while playing.

After months of displaying teething symptoms (drooling, red cheeks, sore gums, loss of appetite, slight fever) he finally got a tooth (bottom-front). We have started giving him rusks to chew on. It keeps him occupied (and quiet), introduces a new food and is supposedly good for his gums. This can get messy when the rusk (or biscuit) gets mushy and he starts either banging on tables, rubbing it on his head or similar activities (fun to watch though).

Moving 

Looking over the progress Joshua has made in his mobility, it is hard to comprehend that it only has been 3-4 months since I last updated this site. Then he was laying on his back, able to roll over on his belly and sometimes get up on his knees.

Now he is crawling around and pulling himself up on any object within reach and walk (sideways) along tables etc. He crawls since end September although in the beginning it was more a commando-crawl (with only 1 leg). All of a sudden in November he started properly crawling. This did signal the requirement to get a playpen and to move valuable objects higher. Although he likes his playpen (for short periods, and preferably with someone there), he loves crawling around. In fact he is now chasing Roebel, who sometimes lays down, lets him come close (or even touch her) and then jumps up and moves half-a-metre or so away so that the fun can start again.

Next he mastered to overcome the threshold in our bedroom (which is sunken) by crawling up to the edge, pulling himself up on his knees and then dropping himself on the elevated bit, wriggling until his knees get a hold. Once he mastered that he started to become a real mountain goat, always wanting to climb up (which is a nuisance when you're carrying him).

In October he managed to pull himself with one hand on my knee and another on the coffee table into a standing position. Pretty soon he was standing against anything he could get his hands on and preaching loudly. Being unable to come down again (at first) this often resulted in loud screams of attention.

Vocally he is exploring as well, ranging from long monologues to everyone in earshot (along the lines of 'a-wow-wow-ow-ow-ow') to little playing sounds we reckon he has copied from us ('tss' and 'brr'). At times he is 'saying' ma-ma and da-da but we don't reckon it is specific (yet). It really is a delight to listen to him especially as he can give you such a big smile in between ranting & raving at you.

Deze pagina is ook in het Nederlands te zien