The first part of this month was really difficult for Monroe. He basically cried anytime I put him down. And if I had the audacity to then walk away into another room, he would crawl after me crying and then bang his head against me when he found me. It really was the most sad and pathetic sight, not to mention really exhausting for everyone involved. In fact, I felt like it put a real damper on the whole house. There are some things that are hard to do with the big boys while I'm holding Monroe, but it isn't any easier to do them with Monroe writhing on the floor screaming. Thankfully, he seems to have turned a corner the last week or so. He does still want to be held quite a bit, but now it seems to be more predictably when he's tired or hungry and not ALL the time.
On a positive note, Monroe has some fun new accomplishments. First, he has learned to clap and he is very pleased with himself. He claps if he sees someone else clapping and also if he hears someone say "Yay!". And of course the clapping is accompanied by a giant smile. I also love that he laughs when he hears other people laughing. He often has no idea what we're laughing about, but he joins in on the merriment. Monroe has figured out how to push his walker around with ease. He has become a pro at turning it too so he basically "walks" all around the house and I think he's really enjoying the new view.
Monroe has also finally figured out how to suck pureed food out of a pouch. I feel like it took a long time for him to be able to do this, but he also refuses to drink from a bottle so maybe the two are related. It's been really nice, though, to be able to rely on a pouch for feeding him veggies if we need to. Monroe is becoming very opinionated about food and if he sees that someone else at the table has something he wants, he basically throws everything else off his tray. And generally what he wants is carbs, specifically bread or pasta. I can't really blame him....those are my favorite things too.
His sleep needs haven't changed much except that he is able to stay awake longer in the morning. This is really nice because it means that I can actually go to the grocery store or run a quick errand before his morning nap. It also means that he's able to go to church on Sundays so David and I no longer have to take turns staying home with him to nap. Currently, this is his typical schedule:
7:30/7:45 wake, nurse, breakfast
10:15 - 11:45 nap then nurse & lunch
2:30 - 4:00 nap then nurse & snack
6:30 nurse then dinner
7:30 bed time
Monroe hasn't said any definitive words yet, but he sure does like to babble and repeat the sounds he hears. We're trying to convince Parker and Conway to teach him real words instead of mimicking Monroe's baby talk. So far they seem far more interested in making baby noises, though. Monroe does say mama a lot, but it sounds more like "mamamama" and it's anyone's guess what it means to him sometimes. So, we're still waiting for his real first word.
Another fun/cute thing he does is that often after he nurses I lay him on the ottoman in his room to take his sleep sack off and when I say "s-t-r-e-t-c-h" he does a big stretch with his arms and legs and big grin on his face. Oh and he loves to give slobbery kisses and nuzzle in for a hug. This guy is almost a year old! Crazy!
