In our 7 months update I mentioned that Aiden had started to crawl backwards, since then he has discovered forward motion and is a little speedster on the floor.  His increase in mobility and the way he motors around the floor is actually quite scary but is really cute watching him get to grips with his new tricks.  Only a couple of weeks into forward crawling and he is keeping me on my toes, nothing is safe anymore and we seriously need to get our butts in gear and baby proof the house. 

So much has happened this month, it’s crazy how fast babies develop in such a short space of time. 

Sleeping 

We have been really lucky that Aiden has always been a good sleeper at night, waking up 2-3 times to feed and he has been pretty consistent with this throughout.  Right now, he has 3 teeth coming through at the same time and before they cut through we had a couple of rough nights with him where he was finding it difficult to settle and was running a temperature, probably one of our worst nights with him since he was born.  

With the longer days and lighter evenings, he’s been finding it difficult to drift off to sleep.  I made a conscious effort to teach him the difference between night and day from the beginning and the sunnier evenings have confused him and he’s been going to bed later, even though he desperately wants to sleep.  The past couple of weeks have been better and he has gone to bed at his usual 7.30 pm on the dot.   Using the blackout blinds are really helping when I give him his bedtime feed and he drifts off into a milk coma. 

One thing that I really want to tackle is feeding Aiden to sleep before transferring him to his cot or our bed.  It would be so great if I could put him asleep in his cot awake so then he self-soothes himself to sleep, so far no such luck and I hate the cry-it-out method.  He is sleeping better in his cot though, but sometimes I sneak him into our bed after a night feed for baby snuggles – there is nothing better! 

Breastfeeding and Weaning

Weaning is still going great and we are still doing our adapted version of baby-led weaning, which works great for us.  There is nothing that Aiden won’t try, so I’m happy that he’s not a fussy eater and loves his food like his mama.  He still doesn’t eat a whole meal and on a couple of occasions he hasn’t wanted to eat and I never force him.  Apparently, food before one is just for fun, and babies main source of nutrition is still from their milk.  

Watching Aiden feeding himself and become increasingly independent amazes us.  If I try to feed him with a spoon he starts to cry because he wants to do it himself. It’s so messy, but I’ve surrendered to the massive cleanup after mealtimes now.  I really enjoy our family meals at the dining table and the fact that Aiden takes and active part in them. 

We’re still breastfeeding on demand alongside weaning, so far Aiden hasn’t really dropped a feed yet, but I know that he will when he’s ready.  I know some of his feeds are for comfort or to help him sleep, but we really just go with the flow.  Now that he has 2 teeth on the bottom and 2 coming through on the top, breastfeeding is going to get very interesting around here…ouch! 

Body

Recently I have felt a bit run down and I probably haven’t been taking as much care of myself as I know I should.  I did manage to give myself a manicure and pedicure last month though, which felt like a real treat.  I’m well overdue a ‘me’ day and will have to try to book one in with myself soon.   Fitness wise I feel like I’ve regained most of my strength back after pregnancy.  There is still some work to do in the abdominal area, but I know that it will come back in time, there’s no rush. 

Mind

I really feel like we have finally settled into parenthood now and I’ve found a happy medium of being a mum and finding time for myself too (mainly in the evenings when AJ is asleep).  I think it’s so important to have a separate life from your baby so that you’re not totally consumed my mamahood and lose your identity completely.  Yes, I am a mum, but it doesn’t define me as a person, there are many other strings to my bow that make me who I am, being a parent has enhanced my life and in some ways made me a better person. 

Aiden’s Milestones 

Like I’ve already mentioned, AJ is now crawling forwards and he gets into everything. It’s amazing how quickly they pick up speed once they become more confident and he definitely keeps us on our toes. We desperately need to baby proof the house, but it’s difficult to know where to start.  Alfie taught him how to climb our stairs and yesterday he scooted up the 3 steps to our bedroom whilst my back was turned for a few seconds.  The baby safety gates are on order and I cannot wait for them to arrive for a bit of reassurance unless I can grow eyes in the back of my head.  

Not only is Aiden crawling he now likes to pull himself up to stand and he doesn’t care what he uses as leverage either, a bookcase, his cotbed the laundry basket.   I need to buy him a walker next as his cute chunky thighs are definitely strong enough now and he always wants to stand.  Everything seems to be all happening at once! 

He’s still loving clapping his hands as well as bang two objects together, well, banging in general actually.  My mum thinks he would make a good drummer, I’m thinking more on the lines of Animal from The Muppets instead of Ringo Starr from The Beatles.  Only this week, he’s discovered that his voice has a higher octave and has been screeching like a banshee ever since.  It’s actually adorable watching him learn different sounds with his voice.  He’s a little chatterbox when he gets going and I’m eager to hear his first word. 

So there are lots of things going on over here at the moment and we are still getting used to our house with a super mobile baby.  It’s hectic at times, but so much fun too! 

How did you go about baby proofing your house?  What was your baby getting up to at this age?

What age did you learn how to crawl?  Did you go backwards before going forwards?