Dexter's Official 2-Year Stats

Weight: 30.6 pounds (79th %ile)
Height: 36.5 inches (93rd %ile)
Head Circumference: 20 inches (93rd %ile)

So, compared to a year ago, he is now 4 pounds heavier and 2.5 inches taller (except they really measured wrong a year ago, since his 18m height was 2" shorter than his 12m height). An extra 1.25" of head circumference isn't too bad, either.

Somehow, he's still able to wear some of the same clothes.  His waist seems to be the same size, but the pants we were rolling up last year are now just a little bit too short. (Desmond is glad. Otherwise he'd be naked!)

Otherwise, all is well.  He's doing great on all of his developmental milestones (even verbal ones!).  So yeah. We're pretty proud. :)

Dexter is 15 Months Old! (with official stats)

Height: 33.5 inches (96th %ile - this is actually shorter than he measured at his 12m appointment. So much for this measuring system, I guess.)
Weight: 27 pounds, 9.6 ounces (85th %ile)
Head circumference: 18.75 inches (62nd %ile)

He got 2 shots today and only cried (OK, screamed) for about 30 seconds afterwards.  He's such a good little disease-fighter.

The pediatrician isn't concerned that Dexter toes in when he walks. (His legs/ankles/feet are anatomically correct, so it should fix itself.)  She also isn't concerned about his language development, since he is making progress (went from 0 to 3 words since his 12 month appointment).

Let's see.... Otherwise, Dexter is still our Dexter.  He's definitely communicating a lot more, though sadly not nearly enough to avoid frustration tantrums.  He seems a lot happier lately - downright giddy, even. 

Signs: "more," 'eat," "bath," "please," and, officially as of yesterday, "banana!"

Words: "shoes," "mop," "uh-oh" (really "uh-mmm").  Maybe "duck," too. (Still no "Mom" or "Dad.")

Teeth: Still just the 10, though we're seeing a little more of 9 and 10 all the time.

Sleep: Usually, Dexter is a good sleeper. About 12 hours/night.  The holidays messed up his routine a little, and he was going to bed later, waking during the night, then sleeping until 9:30 or even 10:30 in the morning.

Food: Dexter is still eating anywhere from 1-3 bananas every day.  He loves, loves, LOVES clementines, too.  And grapes.  Also likes yogurt and cinnamon bread and scrambled eggs.  And gumbo. He's great about drinking his milk.  Overall, he eats a ton and a fairly wide variety of foods. 

Dexter is also learning the parts of the body. He definitely knows "tummy" (and has for a couple of months, really).  He also knows "feet," "ear," and, we think possibly "hair." 

Playing Chase is still probably his favorite thing, although playing in the sink (or the washing machine or a drinking fountain or any source of running water, really) is fighting for the top spot as well.  The frigid temperatures haven't kept him from always wanting to go outside, either.  And he's always up for dancing. As Dennis told me the other day when I was trying to get Dexter's attention, "You can't compete with the beat!"

Finally, his newest trick seems to be climbing.  He can't quite get onto the sofa yet, but he can get onto the ottoman and then LEAP onto the sofa from there.  It's really quite funny.  And he is really quite good at it, though he usually has a bruise or two to show for his climbing efforts.

Dexter's Official ONE YEAR Stats

Dexter is a very healthy baby. Er, toddler. Or something.

Weight: 26.6 pounds (91st %ile)
Height: 34 inches (99th %ile - actually WAY above the curves on the graphs)
Head circumference: 18.75 inches (83rd %ile)

He got his MMR vaccine today, and another dose of the Polio vaccine. The MMR is a pretty nasty shot, as these go, and he certainly let us know he did NOT approve. Our worst shot experience yet, but he still only cried (ok, screamed) for 2-3 minutes. His mom cried a little longer than that. He also got a little finger stick to test his iron and lead levels (great on both counts).

No big shocks otherwise. Gross motor development is excellent. Fine motor is right on track. Verbal is slightly behind the curve, but nothing to be concerned about yet, since he's still making progress (increasingly sophisticated babbling, understands us, follows directions, tries to communicate, mimics actions, etc.).

Dexter's Official 9-month Stats

Weight: 24 pounds (90th %ile)
Height: 31.25 inches (99th %ile)
Head circumference: 18.25 inches (76th %ile)

He seems to finally be over his ear infection, and overall, he got a clean bill of health. His biggest issue is excessive earwax, which is to the point of preventing the doctors from being able to get a good look at his ears. We are to administer hydrogen peroxide 3 nights/week as regular maintenance. Dexter, of course, HATES this, which means the bath/bedtime routine - already a study in baby wrestling - will become even more fun. If it helps, though, it'll definitely be worth it.

Dexter is 8 Months Old!

Dexter is EIGHT months old! I can't believe it. :( He's practically a toddler - both in size and in energy level. By our best at-home estimates, he weighs about 25 pounds and is about 30 inches tall. (When did we stop calling it "long?") That's 3.6 pounds and 0.75 inches more than his official 6 month numbers. Sounds like progress to me. (Our height number may be way off. He's TALL!)

He has three teeth broken through on the bottom. Two have broken through on top, and 2 more are |thisclose| to showing their ridged baby tooth goodness up there. That's right. Five (almost 7) teeth in less than a month! He's really handled it like a champ. He's pretty shy about showing off those pearly whites, but we managed to get a shot of the bottom ones during his monthly photo shoot. (You'll almost definitely need to view the larger version to see them. Baby teeth are small!)

He still has his gorgeous blue eyes (we're now brave enough to think they might stick around) and that gorgeous, even head of soft and shiny strawberry blonde hair.

While we wouldn't quite say he's close to standing on his own, he is doing a lot more with only support with one hand, and it seems to us that he's putting less weight on the supporting hands and more on his feet. We'll call it progress. And, really, the child has no need to walk, because there's just about nowhere he can't get to by crawling and climbing.

We're also seeing some progress in the verbal development area. Most days, we are graced with a handful (or more) of consonant sounds as well as plenty of vowel-sound cooing and squealing and "aaah"-ing. Still nothing consistent, but at least he seems to be aware of what his vocal cords are for.

Sleep, sadly, is a different story. We seem to be in the midst of yet another sleep regression.  The night of June 4, he was up at 10:30, 11:30, and 12:30, and then from 3:15 - 4:45, then again at 5:45, when I gave him a bottle in his crib. (No, we don't typically do this, but these were extreme circumstances.)  He was up for the day and HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY at 6:45. That probably isn't a typical night (more typical is waking at 10:30, 11:30, and 12:30, then sleeping through until 6:30 or 7), and the night before that he slept straight through from 8:00 PM - 7:40 AM (also very highly unusual lately, I promise).  It all seems very inconsistent, and we can't figure out what's going on.  Eventually, we just go through the list - diaper check, baby orajel, bottle, gas drops, tylenol/motrin/benadryl if he's sick or just feeling cruddy, humidifier. Eventually, something sticks or he just gets wiped out again and goes back to sleep.  He's getting VERY fond of just sortof chilling in Mom or Dad's arms, though.

So, without further delay, here are some of his 8 month photos. He's a squirmy little guy; these are getting harder and harder to get. (I love that last action shot. Thank his Dad for that one.)

Dexter's Evening with Shelby

You might remember our first evening with Shelby and her wonderful parents, Kelly and Raul.

We finally got together for a second time. Shelby is the sweetest thing ever. She's about a month older than Dexter and 7 pounds lighter. She already has 4 teeth and can clap 'YAY' and wave hello. Quite a study in contrast vs. our giant little man, who, as we all know, has focused the entirety of his energy on developing his physical abilities.

Dexter wasn't exactly his usual cheerful self that night, so we weren't able to get a lot of pictures or video, but we did get this one tidbit. How cute is that waving, smiling, clapping baby?!

Dexter's Official 6-month Stats

As anticipated, Dexter got a clean bill of health today at his 6 month checkup. He was pretty good and showed Dr. Johnston how he rocks on his hands and knees. She was appropriately impressed.

On to the numbers...
Weight: 21.4 pounds, 94th %ile
Height: 29.25 inches, 98th %ile
Head circumference: 17.75 inches, 81st %ile

It's nice to see that his head is catching up with his body (last time, that was 53rd %ile). And he's only gained 3.4 pounds in 2 months, which is consistent with his increased level of activity and makes me feel better about his probability of ending up as an 80 pound first grader.

He got 2 immunizations today (Rotavirus - oral, and DTaP - shot) and handled them like a champ.

All in all, a great checkup. :)

Dexter is 5 Months Old!

FIVE months?! When did that happen?

Well, somehow, sometime, it did. Dexter is still such a very very happy baby. He smiles and LAUGHS like crazy. He really only cries when he's hungry or tired, and a grateful mother can't ask for anything more than that.

He's started sleeping *a little* better at night. He even slept all the way through the night on March 1. He's still our little giant, with a current estimated weight of 19 pounds or so. He's wearing anywhere from 9 month to 18 month clothes, mostly depending on brand and shrinkage. He's eating so much - anywhere from 40-48 ounces of formula each day, plus about 2 tbsp of rice cereal (mixed with formula and apple-grape juice) in the evenings. Plans are to start vegetables possibly as soon as March 7.

He has definitely mastered rolling over (both ways) and now travels across the floor by rolling and scooting and rotating. The scooting is the most funny, since he tends to scoot backwards like a little crawfish. He moved a good 5 feet under his own power the other day. (Unfortunately, although he always starts out on the rug and playmats, he invariably ends up on the bare hardwood. Poor kid.)

He's getting stronger every day. He still hasn't quite made it up to hands-and-knees, but he occasionally gets his hips off the floor to a nice hands-and-thighs position.

Anyway, without further ado, here are his "official" 5 month photos.

Picture time? Again? Okay!


Eating my toes is still my favorite-est thing.


Man. It is so much fun being 5 months old! I crack myself up.


(I had to include this one to show off his new hair. He's got a lot more growing
in, and it looks like a crew cut right out of the 1950s. It's hilarious.)


Hmm. Bear or Demonjello. Bear or Demonjello...


I choose BEAR!
(Bear was full of slobber... er, love, within a few short minutes.)

Finally, more with the toe-eating. This cracks me up.

Dexter's Official 4-month Stats

18 pounds (92nd %ile)
27.5 inches (98th %ile)
16.75 inch head circumference (53rd %ile)

Yep. He's a big guy. More of him to love and all of that. :)

He got 2 more vaccinations - one oral and one injection. Apparently the oral stuff tasted gross, because he fought it pretty hard. He did great with the shot, though.

The pediatrician says he is doing great and that it's OK to start solids. (Good thing, since we started solids last Thursday. He was more than ready for it.)

Dexter is 4 Months Old!

Dexter is 4 months old! He's such a good baby. He's very happy - always smiling and laughing, even at strangers. (As long as they smile at him - and, really, few people can stop themselves because he's just so darned cute!)

He is going through what is apparently a very normal "sleep regression," in which he wakes up several times per night. I do miss my baby who's been sleeping through the night for the last 2 months! Hopefully I'll get him back soon.

Granddad's unofficial weight estimate is 18.8 pounds. (Over the last couple of weeks, several people have guessed his age at 6 months. Or, as Terry the Builder said, "Well, he's well-fed!") We get the official weight on Monday, 2/9.

Here are his "official" 4 month photos. We were still in Mississippi (separate post about the trip coming soon), so we took advantage of the chance to get a photo with his favorite uncle in addition to the normal sofa pictures.

Dexter's One Month Checkup

It was no surprise to learn this morning that Dexter is a very healthy baby. Yay!

Apparently compensating (or maybe overcompensating) for his initial weight gain issues, Dexter weighed in today at 10 pounds even (a considerable rise from 8 pounds, 9.6 ounces just 2 weeks ago). He is 22 inches long (up from 21.5 or 20.5, depnding on whether you believe the hospital or the pediatrician) and has a 15 cm head (up from 13.5 at birth).

Everything else is looking good, too, except we apparently aren't giving (er, forcing him into) enough tummy time. Poor kid - we'll be rectifying that directly. I guess this is the part where he starts to hate us.

Dexter's Weight Revisited

8 pounds, 9.6 ounces!

Dexter gained 12.8 ounces since his last weight check six days ago! He's now back above his birth weight (yay!), and we can relax - a little - about his feedings. He's still peeing and pooping like mad (skills he displayed in grand style at the doctor's office), and he looks good from head to toe.

I'm still not producing nearly enough milk for him, but I'm getting more OK with that. He still gets plenty enough to have good poops and get some immunity and nutrition benefit. Hopefully I'm getting some of those magic benefits, too.

And, since I feel badly when I post without any pictures, here are some 2-week pictures of our champion weight gainer. He wasn't feeling very cooperative that day.

Dexter's Weight Problem

To those who claim breastfeeding is free, I call you on your BS.

So far, we've spent $20 on herbal drops to increase my milk supply, $45 on a lactation consult, and $45 in additional pediatric co-pays for Dexter's repeated "weight check" visits. If I didn't have such a generous friend in Danielle L., you could add $300 for a breast pump to that total.

Yet, we still try. Dexter hadn't gained any weight between last Saturday and yesterday (5 days). The new approach is to nurse him for every feeding AND supplement him for every feeding. This way, he gets at least 16 oz of formula each day, which should be consistent with his needs for his current size, plus however much breastmilk comes from ~320 minutes of breastfeeding each day.

That's right. We're spending over 5 hours/day just breastfeeding. And I'm pumping some in between. We're trying to give it until the next weight check (Wednesday, 10/22).

The good news is that he isn't losing weight, and he's still/again peeing and pooping like a champ. So we're not worried at this point about dehydration or anything like that. But if he isn't gaining enough weight, something will obviously need to change. I think the next plan will be all bottles (even though that nearly eliminates the "fewer ear infections" benefit of breastfeeding), with as much pumping as I can handle.

In brighter news, I've lost 24 pounds in less than 2 weeks. If I weren't so exhausted, I'd probably feel like I have a lot more energy.

Finally, it's not too exciting, but here's a video hot off the presses(?).