Eric Anthony is 9 Months (39 Weeks) Old!

After my last post, I seriously thought I would be writing this post in the next few days.  I thought, it's Spring Break.  I'll definitely get it done.  Then we just got too busy and I never made it back to the computer.

Eric's major developments during his ninth month were learning to pull up to standing, learning to climb the stairs (but he's still a little too short to do it completely by himself), and learning to sign "all done."  Adriana was motivated to sign by having to tell us she wanted more when she was eating.  That didn't quite work for our skinny little guy.  Instead, I taught him to sign "all done" so he could get out of his high chair and get back to wiggling around.  He picked it up really quickly, but doesn't use it all the time.

At nine months old, Eric can do all of the following:

• Reach for toys
• Drops objects and then looks for them
• Drops objects and then looks for them
• Drops objects and then looks for them
• Drops objects and then looks for them
• Drops objects and then looks for them
• Grabs the spoon during feedings
• Goes from tummy to sitting by himself
• Picks up tiny objects
• Begins to identify self in a mirror's reflection
• Gets upset if a toy is removed
• Transfers object from hand to hand
• Stands holding onto someone
• Pulls to standing
• Says "mama" and "dada" discriminately

And he also just keeps getting cuter and cuter.

He's such a happy baby!

Eric Anthony Herman is 8 Months Old (aka Weeks 34 - 38)

Now that's it's Spring Break, I can end my month-long sabbatical.

On March 8, Eric was 34 weeks old. 

On March 15, he was 35 Weeks (8 Months) old.

I remember when Adriana was around 8 months old that I wrote about how I really liked her personality.  Eight months old must be when our babies start to develop their own personalities, because I've noticed lately how likeable Eric is.  He is a sweet, cuddly, funny little boy.  He likes to make faces to get people to laugh.  He likes to watch Adriana and laugh at the different things she does.  Their favorite game is to climb all over me when I'm lying down.  They both laugh hysterically.  Eric loves to get attention, but immediately gets shy about it.  When random people talk to him, he will get a huge smile on his face, and then he will bury his face in my shoulder.

Eric is a definite Mama's boy.  Scott is Adriana's favorite right now.  The minute he walks in the door, I am all but forgotten.  I joke with Scott that it's ok because I am definitely Eric's favorite.  He never wants to leave my side.  He would like to be permanently attached to my hip.  I can't wait to tell him about this when he's a teenager and wants nothing to do with me.  :-)

Here's everything that Eric can do at 8 months old:

• Reaches for utensils when being fed
• Turns head away when finished eating
• Rolls all the way around
• Sits unsupported (he just doesn't like to)
• Gets on arms and knees in crawling position (but then flops like a fish to move)
• Has specific cries for various needs
• Babbles enthusiastically
• Tests gravity by dropping objects over edge of high chair (my favorite)
• Responds to own name
• Has different reactions for different family members
• Shows some anxiety when removed from parent (this is an understatement)
• Reaches for toys
• Drops objects and then looks for them
• Goes from tummy to sitting by himself
• Picks up tiny objects (and immediately tries to eat them)
• Begins to identify self in a mirror's reflection
• Gets upset if a toy is removed (Adriana tests his development in this area often...isn't that nice of her?)
• Transfers object from hand to hand
• Stands holding onto someone

 Here are the pictures of our 8-month old Eric:

Since I'll be back soon for Eric's 9-month post, I'll mostly focus on pictures now.

Week 36 (March 22):

I love how Eric looks in polos!

Week 37 (March 29):

Eric got his top two teeth on March 27.  The poor kid got them both on the same day!

The other day, I was thinking that I still don't really know who Eric looks like.  With Adriana, I could tell right away that she looked like me, and then certain features developed, and I could definitely see Scott.  But to me, Eric just looks like Eric.  And then, as I scrolled through these pictures, it hit me.  Stay tuned while I find a baby picture.

I might have an update with this picture, too, if I can find the picture I'm thinking of.

Week 38 (April 4):

Eric is now pulling himself up to standing.  Adriana's days of putting things on the coffee table to keep them away from Eric are over.  He's also working on his 5th tooth.  He hates it.

Adorable!

See you soon for 9 Months!

Eric: 32 & 33 Weeks

Eric has made two big accomplishments in the past couple of weeks!  First of all, he has started crawling...well, his version of crawling.  Eric does the worm.  Or rather, Squirmy Hermie does the Wormy.  He will get up on his hands and knees and then flop himself forward.  It looks just like "the worm" that people do at basketball games to get the crowd excited.  It gets him where he needs to go, and he is pretty fast, so we're thinking this may be all he does as far as crawling.  We'll have to see if he ever does start crawling traditionally.

Eric has also started sitting up by himself from a lying down position.  He will be on his stomach one minute, and then he will roll himself up to a sitting position.  He is still kind of leaned over, and never sits up straight, but he is definitely sitting.

Eric is still working on his next set of teeth.  I can see the outlines of his top teeth, but we can't really feel anything yet.

Here are the pictures of Eric from the last two weeks:

Week 32:

Week 33:

See you again soon...

Eric Anthony is Seven Months (31 Weeks) Old!

As Eric ends his seventh month, he continues to show off his incredible motor skills and his sweet disposition.  He always has a smile for anyone he comes in contact with.  One of the best things about each day is seeing my kids when I first get home from work.  If Adriana is awake, she will run to see me, and Eric will give me the biggest smile as soon as he sees me.  I also love how much my kids love each other.  Of course, there are times that Adriana gets annoyed when Eric goes after her toys, but you can tell that she loves him.  Yesterday, we were driving home and Eric started to cry.  Adriana immediately said, "it's ok, Buddy.  Don't cry.  We're almost home now.  It will be ok."  And Eric loves her, too.  He watches her constantly, and always wants to be close to her.  One of his favorite things to do is look at pictures of Adriana.  He laughs at her several times a day.  It is really cute to see the two of them interact.

At seven months old, Eric can do all of the following:

• self-feed some finger foods.  He loves Puffs and rice rusks most.
• turns in the direction of a voice
• plays peekaboo
• imitates many sounds
• chews on objects
• grabs utensils when being fed
• rolls all the way around
• sits unsupported
• gets on arms and knees in crawling position
• has specific cries for various needs
• babbles enthusiastically
• responds to own name
• has different reactions for different family members
• shows some anxiety when removed from parent
• reaches for toys
• drops objects and then looks for them
• picks up tiny objects
• begins to identify self in a mirror's reflection
• gets upset if toy is removed
• stands holding onto someone
• babbles "dada"

Eric is such a wonderful baby.  He is a great sleeper.  Teething sometimes interrupts his sleeping, but for the most part, he is great at self-soothing.  He does still like to be held more than anything, but this gives him lots of practice with hugs and kisses.  We are so lucky to have little Eric in our lives!

 Isn't he just the cutest?!

Eric is 27...umm, 28...well, 29...yikes! 30 Weeks Old (Let's get caught up)

I'm back at work now.  Eric has adjusted to the change pretty well.  He refused to eat anything for the first three days.  This was pretty stressful for everyone involved.  By Thursday of the first week, though, he took a bottle while screaming/crying.  On the first Friday, he took the bottle without any problems at all.  He has done great with the bottle ever since.  He's still not a fan of solid foods.  It seems like he doesn't like the mushiness, so I hope he gets some more teeth quickly!

Eric's first tooth popped through on January 8, and the second one followed 10 days later.  I think he might be working on more already because he chews on anything and everything.  He loves to chew on restaurant tables when he's put in a high chair.  Don't worry...we stop him after his first nibble.

Eric is going to crawl any day now.  I could have had Eric's 27-week blog written on time and still typed that sentence.  But I swear, he is going to take off soon!  He has been army crawling for over a month.  He scoots everywhere!  He's also been planking for awhile, and last week he started rocking on his hands and knees.  He loves to be held, but I think if we can put him down more often, he'll be taking off in no time.

He still doesn't really like to sit up.  If I try to sit him up, he flops himself onto his belly so he can practice his crawling.  If he's interested in something close to him, he'll sit up, but otherwise, he'd rather be on the go.

He's had a little trouble sleeping through the night since I went back to work (of course).  Most nights, he still sleeps from about 9:00 - 5:00, but occasionally, he's gone back to waking up around 1:00 just to make sure I'm still here.

I think those are all of the big milestones.  I hope to be back soon to update you on his stats as a 7-month-old.  So, for now, I'll leave you with the cute pictures.

27 Weeks Old:

28 Weeks Old:

29 Weeks Old:

And 30 Weeks (Hello Little Ernest):

Eric Anthony is Six Months Old (26 weeks)!

Eric went to the doctor for his six-month check-up yesterday, and we learned that he is definitely our son.  Unfortunately, Poppy's genes were just not strong enough to carry through to Eric for very long.  According to the nurse's measurements, Eric is no longer tall.  In fact, he has fallen to the 17th percentile.  We are questioning the accuracy of this measurement though.  It just doesn't make sense that he would fall that much in such a short amount of time.

Otherwise, Eric is doing extremely well.  In fact, the doctor says that he is acting much more like an eight-month-old than a six-month-old.  He is rolling back and forth and all around like crazy.  He is "planking" (getting up on his hands and toes) as well as getting up on his hands and knees occasionally.  He scoots to get whatever he wants.  The doctor was not at all surprised that he doesn't want to sit up.  Whenever I try to have him sit up, he immediately scoots himself back to the ground so he can roll around.  Eric just LOVES to move!

He is also advanced in another area.  Eric is having a little bit of separation anxiety, which usually doesn't happen until babies are a little older.  I'm guessing this is because I went back to work last week and Eric is adjusting to not seeing me all the time.  He is having a lot of fun at home with Adriana and Hermie, though.  He gives Hermie and great big smile every morning when he sees her.  He is also ok with me leaving.  He doesn't cry.  He just wants to be held a lot when I'm gone, and I can barely put him down once I get home.  I'm sure he'll get used to it.  He'll learn that I do come back and the Mama's Boy phase will subside.

According to the list of milestones, Eric is doing very well in all areas.  At six months old, Eric can do all of the following:

• keeps head level when pulled to a sitting position
• makes some vowel-consonant sounds
• sits by self with minimal support (as long as he is interested in something)
• opens mouth for spoon
• reaches for and grabs objects
• rolls over and back
• can hold bottle
• copies some facial expressions
• makes two-syllable sounds
• turns in direction of a voice
• chews on objects
• reaches for utensils when being fed
• turns head away when finished eating
• rolls all the way around
• gets on arms and knees in crawling position
• has specific cries for various needs
• babbles enthusiastically
• tests gravity by dropping objects over edge of high chair
• responds to own name
• has different reactions for different family members
• shows some anxiety when removed from parent
• reaches for toys
• gets upset if toy is removed
• stands holding onto someone

Another interesting fact about Eric is that he is more ticklish on the right side of his face than the left side.  When I kiss his right cheek, he laughs so hard.  It is the greatest sound!

Here are the pictures of Eric at six months old*:

*Like most days, he had no interest in sitting still.