Long overdue Baby Update!

Dominic has been doing all kinds of amazing things!!  I'll go month by month.

7 months continued (March)

Welllll, he did NOT start walking at 8 mos -- however he was still quite mobile!  After he mastered pulling up to a stand, he seemed to hit a plateau for a while, and spent some time perfecting his skilz.

aw, yeah, I'm all dat!

Must. Stand.

His new-found mobility meant that he could now Get Into Stuff.  The good news: he can now entertain himself.  The bad news: he can... get into stuff.

hmmm what have we here?

look, Ma, it MOVES!

power tooooools.....

His favorite thing was using big people legs to stand up.

he LURVES my maxi skirt especially -- so many hand holds!

Stairs are also PERFECT for learning how to stand.  They are exactly at the right baby height.

these are awesome!!

 Finally, when you're the youngest of six and you can't run or hit back yet:

life is rough when you have older siblings

 

but I'm so cute they just can't resist!

 8 months (April)

We attempted to introduce Dominic to solids at around 7 months-ish.  For a long while the relationship was shaky -- he much preferred "real" food (i.e., Mom).  However, every once in a while the planets would align and we would find something he didn't turn his little baby nose up at.

sweet potatoes are acceptable

Really well-ground oatmeal with apple sauce or with pureed bananas seemed okay, too.  In tiny doses.  At the right time of day (which varied).  And as long as he was a little hungry, but not too much.  And he had to be sitting in Mommy's lap and holding his own spoon.  #mrpickypants

We were lucky if we could get a teaspoon into him -- meanwhile he wanted to nurse about every 45 minutes.  That was rough.  (Finally at 9 months he learned that eating was all right, and was able to handle more textures so I didn't have to super-puree everything.)

He also popped out six teeth!  The first two came one by one, and then the next FOUR came altogether!  After that we were finally all sleeping better, hallelujah.  Those naughty incisors did not make their appearance painlessly, for him OR for us.

but look how cute my widdle teethies are!

Speaking of Getting Into Stuff:

how thoughtful of them to put in a wall-mounted entertainment device just for me!

9 months (May)

Nicky TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS!  He was so amused by the whole process and giggled hysterically each time -- even though it was more like barely-controlled falling.  His siblings are the best cheerleaders, and loved providing ample opportunities for him to land on his face practice taking steps.

Babies born into large families really have it made.  For one thing, they never have an opportunity to get bored cuz their siblings are always thinking of fun things to do for them:

baby-sized personal ball pit!

Apparently I spent the rest of May gardening because I have tons of pictures of the yards, but only that one for Dominic.

10 months (June)

After a few weeks practicing his controlled falling, Dominic officially started walking!!!1!.  Soon after that he figured out how to go from a squat to a stand without using furniture or conveniently-located big people legs. 

And soon after THAT, he figured that he could actually go UP those magical stairs. Our baby gates were in a sorry state, so this is what we rigged up at first:

so ghetto.  but hey, it works!

as you can see this baby gate doubled as a lemonade stand

Our slightly more permanent solution until we get some new ones (after I scrubbed the dirt and spider webs off -- remind me WHY we were storing the gates outside again??):

not much better -- still held in place with bungee cords

July (11 months!  I KNOW!)

Another entry in the Getting Into Stuff category:

ooh! it's the happy box!

how do I get them out?

success!  om nom nom

Dominic hasn't said any real words yet, but he is experimenting with new sound effects.  His latest are saying "oo" with adorably puckered lips, and a shrieking cackle that he uses when chasing his siblings. 

Even though I'm sad at the thought that someday he will no longer be a baby, we all rejoice with him whenever he masters a new skill!  Every age has been the best age, so far. :)  And he is so, so loved.