Months 6 - 10

I thought it was naughty missing a month last time I blogged, but I haven't really had time to blog at any length for 5 months now! That maybe gives you an idea as to the amount of time Isaac takes up these days.

Tonight, we are trying yet another sleep technique as a development of the last couple of months is a refusal to sleep by Isaac, no matter what we do. We've tried the letting him cry, we've tried putting him in bed when he's fallen asleep elsewhere, we've tried the routines, you name it, we've tried it, but nothing seems to work.

Darren is currently sitting upstairs with him while he screams his arse off in his cot. Its my turn tomorrow night. I wonder how many nights it will take 'til he gets the message, if indeed he does. We're currently at 1 hour and counting and he's still screaming. This parenting lark tis not easy!
I'm with him from the minute I get up every morning until he goes to sleep (which hasn't been until midnight) so I'm absolutely knackered. There never seems to be a break from it. The last break we had was at the start of December to go to a gig and we've got a meal out to look forward to at the end of this month. Thankfully Darrens dad & Kath take him once every month or so, so we can do something. I think I'd go completely mad if I didn't have that respite. I've started taking him to a toddler playgroup once a week and he has his swimming once a week as well, but thats exhausting with the stage he's at of constantly crawling away and getting into things he shouldn't be. Its definately the reason my fibromyalgia is bad again, which is turn has kicked off my CFS and IBS. Anyone who doubts motherhood is bloody hard work needs an arse kicking.

So where to begin to catchup on his progress over the last month. He is sitting up perfectly and is able to rebalance himself if he starts to topple. He is also crawling proficiently (too proficiently if you ask me!). He is eating finger foods himself and proper food now. The aim at the minute is to get him to hold his own bottle (which we're having a bit of success with sometimes) and to use a sippy cup (we've had less success with that so far). His latest development is walking around the furniture holding on and pulling himself up. He should be walking within a couple of months. He seems determined though to go to the few places where we don't want him to go. His latest trick is to attempt to post a coaster into our DVD player. He's also obsessed with my laptop and I can never get on it without him trying to press buttons. Wires hold some kind of weird appeal too. If he shouldn't be into it, you can be assured, he will be. I even caught him climbing stairs a few days ago (I was stood there watching him).

We now also have teeth! Check out the photo below of him in his spiderman outfit to see the bottom ones. He has the 2 bottom teeth and one of the top ones is halfway out and the other is breaking the skin at the minute. He has a vicious little bite when you're trying to apply teething gel!

Another difficulty is trying to get breakfast and lunch as if I leave a room he screams murder. Ive read that its common for babies to go through separation anxiety at this age and he doesn't realise I'll come back, but its so hard to get anything to eat with having to rush to do everything. Even making something the night before leads to difficulty as he either screams when I'm eating it as hes not getting the attention he wants or he is over trying to pull at my plate or legs.... not condusive to enjoying a meal. I tend just not to bother, which has led to significant weight gain as I'm eating too much in the evenings to compensate. I really need to get this sorted, but what to do to stop the constant hanging off me and whinging, I have no idea.

We have a health visitor coming next week for the normal 6-12 month development check, so I'll have a word with her then about his routine and see where we're maybe going wrong.

Well 1 hour and 20 minutes later and Darren returned successful in his quest of getting Isaac to sleep, but half an hour later he was awake again and I had to go up and sit with him until he settled again... wondering how many times that will happen tonight?

So in the last 4 months updates that I have missed updating - He's changed from mush to proper food, he's crawling VERY well, is attempting walking, is clapping when asked, waving when he feels like it and occasionally doing his 'how big? So big' routine. He's very mobile, very strong and very naughty, lol. He's also a world class flirt with an eye for the ladies.

Hopefully I'll try not to leave it so long until the next update. The little mans 1st birthday is next month! Doesn't time fly!

I'll leave you with some recent piccies