the first tooth!

you know what i got for my 7th month birthday? ... A TOOTH!!! yep, that's definitely a sharp tooth peeking through my lower gum!

my first tooth is marked with number "1"
this surprised my parents since i wasn't that fussy the past few days, even today. i was just immensely drooling and feeling my lower gum a lot through my tongue. well, it felt different that's why.

well, that's it! my very first tooth!...hello tooth fairy!.. oh, but not now ok?!

ps. i'll post pictures once the tooth can be very clearly seen (that is if i can stay still while it's photo is being taken).

happy 7 months to me!

today, we celebrated my 7th month birthday! this day wouldn't pass without our simple feast of course. dad prepared some broiled bbq ribs and smoked salmon with shrimp carbonara. he was also able to make a picture-worthy puto this time around (let's just not talk about the flavor, it's still being perfected).

more 7th month birthday pics here

drumroll for the 7th month updates....*tada!*

from the 7 month milestones from babycenter, i'm going to skip the Mastered skills (most kids can do) category since i've really mastered those from my last update.

as for the Emerging Skills (half of kids can do), i've mentioned about the first few milestones from my last update. the only thing new on the list for me is that of starting to experience stranger anxiety. my eyes would really roam the room to look for dad and or mom whenever someone would take me away from anyone of them. and more often than not, i would cry.

for the Advanced Skills (a few kids can do), i'm a 3 out of 4! the only thing i cannot do from the list yet is that of waving goodbye. hey, do you know how to do this already? dad or mom will one day teach me how to do this too.

i definitely stand while holding onto something now or leaning on something. i have been banging objects together and on the table. and i also had begun to understand object permanence. iiit-baaa or peek-a-boo is one of the all-time favorite game that i play with my parents. here's one video showing my iiit-baaa game with mom.

i have some more updates, as usual (and thus prepare yourself once more since we're just halfway through).

now that i am 7 months old, i now weigh 17.2lbs and measure 26.75 inches. i am also becoming more and more malikot. so my parents decided to get the family room almost ready for that. see my nook pictures on previous post? this nook is kinda helping me out to become more and more mobile... alright, malikot! and yes, i started crawling. or at least attempted to crawl. but i have discovered a better way to move anyway and reach for the things that aren't within my arm's reach, while sitting down by rocking myself back and forth so who needs to crawl?! heehee.

oh, and since we're on the topic of kalikutan, my parents are already having a more difficult and challenging time while carrying me around because i can squirm and wiggle away in all directions, specially when i get excited. similarly, nappy changing is still difficult (and they thought it would get better with experience). dad's just becoming frustrated with this, specially when it's a poopy diaper that needs changing. haha

now that i am learning a lot of new things, i have found a lot of different ways to get my parents attention. one example: whenever they're leaving me at my pack-and-play if they're doing some chores or preparing my food, i have discovered that if i lunge forward and end up on my tummy and cry or complain, they will pick me up. so i do that all the time now, i don't even wait til they're away. haha. another example, i squeal! as in a girl's ear-deafening shriek! at times, i would kalabit whoever's beside me, specially when i am needing help. that's why mom call's me donya. hahaha. these tactics are proven and tested to be working 100%. more often than not though, i really don't need to use them since they're both all eyes on me anyway.

and oh yes, i am a-learnin'! i've just learned new tricks (as what my mom calls them). that of clapping my hands and giving my parents a kiss. of course, i have my own special and very unique ways on how i do them. i had a separate post about this as well. they're teaching me some more so stay tuned for more tricks from me ok?

ah and now we go to food, my favorite topic of all! i'm one chunky eater ya know! i love chewin, and munchin' and tastin' different kinds of food. between my 6th and 7th month, i've already tried the following:

veggies: sweet potatoes, squash, peas, green beans, spring veggies mixed in 1 jar of my stage2 gerber food, harvest veggies mixed in 1 jar;
fruits: apple, banana, avocadoes, grapes, plum, apricot, peach, pear. i love it better though when they mush a little portion of that big banana for me or a tiny bit of a peeled grape;
meat: just chicken (included in a gerber jar with sweet potatoes in it). i'll resume with meat once i turn 8months old;
grains and cereals: rice, oatmeal, wheat, macaroni (is this part of this food group? well, it was just one of the ingredients on that stage 2 gerber food, together with cheese :D).

i've also tried some finger foods to help me learn how to pick little things and chew well. but like i've said, i'm a donya. i want to be fed. haha. but yes, i do chew. i chew as if i have teeth. here's a video showing that. i actually love mouthing paper and paper products as well (kids, don't try this at home, hahaha). when we're reading a book, or learning letters through the flashcards, i'd rather get them from dad or mom and chew on them. i'm just fascinated with it. so when they're reading mags or books or simply sorting and opening the mails, i couldn't help but grab whatever it is that they're holding.

anyway, i have not had any allergic reactions with any of these, so my parents are really happy. they're hoping and praying that i won't have any bad reactions to any food since they just loooove feeding me. they couldn't actually wait until they give me table food (because i really show them how much i would like to try what they are eating, with the drooling sometimes as if takam na takam). making me drink water and juice is a different story though. just read about it on my previous post.

do you think this is long enough?! alright, i'll stop here. i'll just leave you with my month 6 to 7 pics. enjoy!

on mom's homemade food and sippy juices

mom made and fed me some homemade food this weekend. my very first homemade food. yumyummmy!

yesterday it was one 2oz serving of sweet potatoes and apples that she boiled, peeled, then pureed. then today i had the same amount of avocado and banana puree. since she was able to fill quite a lot of recycled jars of these, she placed the leftovers in the freezer. so now, i have these to fill me up in addition to the gerber veggies and fruits that i have inside the pantry.

talking about dinners, i just hate it when they make me take water or juice with water after my meals. they didn't want to introduce it to me through my bottles since i might associate it with my bottles and end up not taking my milk. and since i like solids a lot, my milk intake reduced to just about 20oz per day and that worried mom. so they've tried a lot of things just to increase my intake of fluids, and milk. i've had 2 kinds of sippy cup (and oh, i just hate the feeling of the spout touching my gums, ugh!), strawed cups (but c'mon, am i supposed to learn how to sip from the straw instantly?), and just a simple glass.

the last one worked -- the glass. or so they thought. one of the reasons why i liked drinking from the glass is the way the cold fluid touches my lips. chillin! the other one is when i get to play with it. spittin' lots of fluid is one of my favorites.heehee. i'm one messy baby. haha. and because of that, they made me switch back to the sippy cup. they just removed the no-spill attachment from the lid though so it's freely flowing from the spout. it's still ok, but nothing beats the good ol' baso ;)

i'm a-clappin' and a-kissin'

there are two things, or tricks that i've learned from my parents this week:

1. i've learned to clap my hands! whenever mom or dad would say or sing, "clap your hands, clap your hands" or "a-clap-clap-clap, a-clap-clap-clap", i will join my hands together. if it's you're lucky day, you'd see me do it more than once, or if you're really really lucky, you'd see my right hand dustin off my left hand (and doing the kaskas motion).

2. i can now give my dad and mom a kiss! and boy they always want lots of kisses from me. when anyone of them says "kiss mommy" or "kiss daddy", they'll get one cheek near my lips, and with my mouth open, i'll give them the sweetest but silent kiss.

close-open? no, i have not learned that yet. my lolo dadi started to teach me that when he was here. but i just like to watch how funny my lolo dadi looks when he does that. well, i'll learn that eventually. my parents won't stop teaching me new tricks anyway.

ps. you might ask where my vids are knowing how my mom documents all my baby steps. well, i don't have them yet. you know how kj i am on-cam right? as soon as mom gets successful capturing them, i promise to post the links here :)

mah play area

my parents finally started with step one on babyproofing last saturday by taking the cofee table away from the family room. so this whole area is now mine, all mine. it is filled with all my baby stuff anyway, so yea, all mine!

cofeetable gone!
today, they bought this cool colorful puzzle mat with numbers and the alphabet on it. that way, i wouldn't have to crawl on the carpet (which really makes it all the more hard for me). ah, friction's just not that baby-friendly. excuses! =)

don't you just love how coloful it is?!
i love this place! wanna come and join me at play?

milestones in a day!

being with dad for the whole day during work weeks, he was the one who witnessed yet another milestone for me yesterday... i tried to crawl... backwards! yep, you read it right, i tried to drag myself the other, unusual way. haha!

he shared the great news to mom immediately when she came home so i had to show her. and of course, i did not disappoint. with her very own pair, she saw me crawling dragging myself backwards, away from my target. that's still a good start, ya know! i've heard that most babies did this before they completely became mobile through crawling. well, maybe i won't skip crawling after all. hmmm, we'll see. and just before you (like my parents) get that excited, i just want to clarify that i still hate tummy time. haha.

and here's another one... leaning on a sofa (or i guess, anything for that matter), or holding on to it, i can now balance myself whilst on my two feet!.. well, at least just for a few until i feel gravity pulling me in all directions and i start to extend my hands and seek for dad or mom's support. (and boy, they're fast! i wonder how they do that) i have yet to learn how to use the strength of my grasp to fully support me though. well, we'll get there, we'll definitely get there. no pressure please.

<*EDITED 03.20.09, adding a couple of pics and video link*>

you can also watch how i do my balancing act here

a half year old!

wow, it's been half of the year already since my birth! i have soooo many to share for this month so i'd have to divide this entry accordingly. so brace yourself for a really long and picture-laden entry. ready?! 1, 2 3!

** the 6th month birthday celebration **

since there's no 30th on feb, we chose to do the half year point celebration on the last day, the 28th. dad prepared some baked mac which he made special that day. my 6 candles were all on top of 6 large pieces of cheese danish (a fave of my folks) that they got from costco.

more 6th month bday pics here

** milestones and updates for the halfyear point **

from babycenter's milestones for 6 month olds, i can only do one on the Mastered Skills (most kids can do): that of turning toward sounds and voices. i'm a bonafide usisera remember? call my name and i'll surely look towards you.

i don't like imitating sounds however. but, i like it when mom or dad speaks my language. oh did you know that i already said "da-de"?! dad's just one proud father when i did that! i still have my own made up words and if you're lucky enough, you'd get laway-filled raspberries (that i looove looove doing because of the sounds it makes!) with that too! teehee!

rolling over still isn't my thing. yeah, i may have started to roll over early and that's just because i hated tummy time. i still do the tummy-to-back roll but i wouldn't do the other way since i still very much hate me on my tummy! but i do love standing up! i can stand up with less support from my parents, just enough to help me balance. i still can't do that by myself since i don't know how to use my hands yet to grasp for support. and be prepared to tone your arm muscles with me jumping up and down at your lap! specially when i get too excited! sometimes the act of bouncing just comes automatically for me. perhaps, a jumperoo would be a good companion!

i like walking too. but, don't get excited just yet since i only walk when mom or dad fully supports my whole body. this is the reason why my mom thinks that i might skip crawling altogether. but they still make me practice crawling by putting my toys or the tv remote (which i jut recently learned to work wonders) or mom's cellphone far from my arm's reach. i just couldn't resist squirming when i see them. and hey, don't say that i am not trying ok, coz i give myself a few minutes before i resort to whining! ahehehe.

as for the Emerging Skills (half of kids can do), i got a perfect score!

i definitely started with solid foods and i just love eating! this actually worried my mom since i'd prefer solids over milk. i've tried rice cereals, carrots, green beans and sweet potatoes. next time i'd try oatmeal and fruits and i'm probably ready for stage 2! and this is why my parents got me a booster seat already (it's like a high chair but most of the high chairs can only support up to a 3-year old kid as opposed to my booster seat) that can be attached to any dining chair. they put me here whenever they're feeding me or while mom and dad are eating just so i could join them on the dining table and be one happy family having dinner. but then of course, i normally eat ahead of them, haha.

let's eat!!!
sharing videos here and here on my booster
i am a no-support sitter for a long while now, and actually likes this position much much better when playing rather than lying down or at my tummy. you'll see a pic when mom starts sharing our makeshift studio pics on her blog.

i definitely mouth objects. everything that i grab (and i just grab everything, specially those things that my parents are holding) goes directly to my mouth (which my mom finds scary coz i might swallow something or worse, choke), even my hands, and yeah, my footsies!!! the video showing this is a work in progress over at mom's multiply site (she's having technical difficulties uploading vids lately).

want some?!
i also do pass objects from hand to hand. aren't we supposed to do that?! that's what i do with my toys just before i drop them, specially when i'm on my booster. as to why i am dropping my toys, like what my tita tokti said, it's a cause-and-effect thing that babies love. i drop the toy, mom or dad picks it. they'll give it back to me. then i'll drop it again. cycle repeats until they give up and tell me not to do that anymore. haha. you can also make me catch a ball and i'll throw it back at yah! catch-and-throw is one of the games that i play with my folks. but don't be fooled coz i can't catch yet. but i can use all my might to throw that cushy ball towards all directions, just a few inches away from me though. haha

let's now go to the Advanced Skills (a few kids can do). ..

i never showed any signs of starting to crawl. when i am on my tummy, i wiggle a lot though and try to move, but frustration beats me. crawling isn't my thing yet. dr. womack even said that i might skip it altogether. but i do a lot of twisting and turning to make nappy changing all the more challenging for mom and dad. but i do lunge forward. i do this all the time when i am dragging things towards me.

i do jabber and combine syllables a lot. i told you i have my own language that i don't think anyone in this household can comprehend. i'm one helluva talkative baby. and i can charm my way through this. yep, even at church. i break the silence and solemnity during the mass with my blabbering. i get shushed much more often now by my dad at mass. heehee.

as for other updates, i can now be left alone for a few minutes. just enough for my parents to do some chores. usually, my parents would put me on the exersaucer or my pack-and-play while i play by myself, or watch some noggin shows or baby einstein dvds. and i really do pay attention and find myself focused on the telly. they would only allow me to watch just for a few minutes though.

here's another video of me on the exersaucer
so far my favorites include dora the explorer (and i'd really squeal with delight whenever i hear dora's voice and when there's singing and dancing), backyardigans, the wonder pets (my mom's fave as well) and the noggin inserts between shows caref of moose and zee. i still get interactive while i watch basketball with dad by the way.

going out is also one of the things i enjoy with my parents nowadays. yeah, even when it's freezin' cold. i just like seeing things other than those within the confines of our home, and other people as well and that keeps me from being cranky even if i'm really hungry or tired. "batang gala", that's what i am


** the 6th month checkup **

this afternoon saw us at dr. womack's clinic for my 6th month well baby checkup. i was measured to be at the 60th percentile for my height (@26 and 1/4 inches) and at 50th percentile still for my weight (@16lbs). my head circumference is still at the 25th percentile.

like the usual, my parents, well, my mom, bombarded her with tons of questions. fortunately, my pediatrician is very patient. she now recommends water and juice for me, to help with the ahem, ya know and has explicitly told my parents to keep my milk intake at a minimum of 20 ounces per day. it might help if i'd take milk first before i eat solids, she said. coz no matter what, i'd still eat them anyway. that's how much i love food!

since it worries mom that i didn't like tummy time and wouldn't learn how to crawl, dr. womack tried to put me on my tummy to check. but of course, i was a showoff! i controlled myself from being pissed a few more minutes than the usual. haha. she tried to sit me up as well and got surprised at how i can balance myself without any support. and as always, she made me giggle. i just love this doctor! she never fails to get a smile out of me.

but then the smiles and giggles turned into wails when the nurses came. i had to take those drugs again! one, i took orally, and 4 were injectables. yes, 4! 1 of them is the infamous flu vaccine. and i have to take the other flu shot 30 days after. ugh! my mom saw how my eyes widened in panic when the 1st two were administered. wailing with tears came after that. but dad easily calmed me down.

i'm thankful though that i won't have to deal with these shots til my next well baby checkup on my 9th month.

so, are you still with me? yes, this is the end of the line. congratulations if you made it this far! =). as a bonus, i'll share my month 5 to 6 pictures with you!

tatah! til next month!