ball

Atticus said "ball" for the first time on Monday. Chris took him out on a walk, and they saw a girl playing basketball. Atticus pointed to the ball and said the word several times, according to Chris. As you can imagine, Chris was especially pleased that Atticus bestowed a basketball with his new word. Wednesday Chris took Atticus to the toy store to buy him a fisherprice basketball hoop. Tonight Atticus scored his first shot.

Fingerfood update: Atticus is now eating several fingerfoods, including avocado, mozzarella cheese, and slivers of grapes.

What with teething and travel and the ear infection several weeks ago, his sleep schedule has gotten totally out of sorts. I did try to soothe him to sleep as normal tonight, but when he cried as soon as I placed him into the crib, I decided I was too tired to pick him up again, and that it was time to work on getting him to sleep well again. He cried for nearly two hours. :( I did go in a few times just to try to get him to lie down, to tell him goodnight and that I loved him. The last time I went in, I rubbed his belly, and he immediately closed his eyes and gave in to sleep. Maybe I should have rubbed his belly the previous times, and he wouldn't have held out for so long? I don't know. I'm glad he's sleeping peacefully now at least.

Crawling and Christmas (video)

Crawling and Christmas

tooth #7

Atticus has been working on his seventh tooth the last few days, the top left lateral incisor. This one has been particularly tough. Although he's always refused a pacifier the few times I've offered one, he had one in his mouth half of Sunday. That and his fingers, his toys, etc. He was just getting over an ear infection, which I decided to treat with visits to the chiropractor (and some garlic/mullein oil) versus an antibiotic, so now that he's pulling his ears again as he teethes, I'm the tiniest bit nervous, even though I'm 98% sure it's just the tooth pain that's nagging him.

On another note, I seemed to have hit upon a food Atticus doesn't care for: kiwi fruit. I gave it to him last week, and he made "yuck" faces. I tried again this evening, and he reacted as though I'd stabbed him in the mouth. It was an especially tart one, so maybe if I can find the perfect kiwi fruit...

He likes barley now. I guess I got the texture down right.

However, he's become finicky now about pumpkin and butternut squash, which he used to like just fine. I think it's more the spoon than anything else. He's much more apt to eat them if I spoon them to him with my finger. We don't have this problem with cereal or yogurt though, so who knows. sigh. (He NEVER tires of those damn puffed rice things. It's baby crack, I tell you.)

Hanging out on Sunday.

9 months (last Friday)

Still behind... Atticus turned 9 months on Friday (as my friend Eleanor put it, he's now been out as long as he was in). I've been looking back over his older baby photos a lot lately. It really is amazing how much changes so quickly.

He now weighs 22 pounds (just 1 pound up from three months ago), putting him in the 75th percentile. The nurse measured him at 30 1/4 inches, but I and the pediatrician strongly suspect she made a blunder. There's no way he grew just 1/2 an inch these past three months. I'll have to try to measure him on my own soon. If she's right, he's in the 95th percentile for height. His head measured 47 cm, the 90th percentile.

What's new lately:

• He's preoccupied with standing and sitting, back and forth like that again and again, as well as cruising from object to object. He drives me nuts during bath time. His sitting from a standing position has become quite smooth and controlled, but as we all know, bath tubs can be slippery.
• A sixth tooth appeared in the last week (I'm not sure when exactly). This one's on bottom, so that brings us to three on top, three on bottom. The third teeth on top and bottom are both on the right side of his mouth.
• He's learning how to high five.
• He's learning how to eat finger foods. I was a little skeptical about giving him those puffed rice thingies, but I have to admit they are way easier for him to handle than slippery bananas and apples, etc. He's loving feeding himself now.
• He had yogurt for the first time, and barley. He loves the yogurt (the tart plain kind with no sugar). He's undecided about the barley. I suspect it's the texture. I'll have to grind it more finely next time.
• He's now eating three meals a day, as well as a snack some days. He's always hungry, it seems like.
• He's consistently been sleeping the entire night, except when he's ill or not feeling well.
• Now that he's an expert crawler, he's quite the handful at mom and baby group. I had to chase him around the room much of Saturday, which kind of takes the mom part out of mom and baby group (it's as much for me, if not more so, as it is for him).
  
• He's so excited to see us when we've been gone. I've noticed that with Chris for months now--that Atticus jumps up and down in my arms and flaps his arms like a bird to see him when he comes home. He gets pretty excited when I pick him up from daycare--grinning and giggling. I guess that's not new exactly, but it's lovely and notable nonetheless.
  

a few Thanksgiving pics

Atticus and his cousin Connor


four generations of Riggs men


Atticus hanging out with Slick


Atticus and Rowan

getting the ball rolling

The holidays come along, and we inevitably fall behind in everything, including blogging.

We went to Chicago and Indiana for Thanksgiving. Atticus had a blast. He didn't fuss for a second on either flight. Both times, our neighboring flight passengers expressed their awe over his good behavior (and breathed some delighted sighs of relief). He did fuss a bit in the car here and there--so much driving!--but not too bad. Chris calmed him with Christmas music--from the radio and from his own throat. Atticus basked in the love of friends and extended family. He perfected his crawl. He cut his fifth tooth. He napped in the ergo despite some pretty chilly weather. He slept for over two hours on great-grandma Marty at Chris's 40th birthday party. He hung out with his great-grandfathers Slick and Loyd. He had his first turkey (which was also his first meat), and he loved it as much as he loves everything. He's an eater, my boy. He also had his first egg yolk. And his first jar of store-bought baby food (with all the running around, it wasn't always easy to make food for him, though I did make most of his food; I did buy Earth's Best organic with no additives or preservatives, etc.). He saw his first fireworks--from the skyline club overlooking the Christmas tree lighting in Indianapolis. He stared with wonder. Am I leaving anything out? Tons probably.