The Valdez Family Blog: July 2007

Some Recent Pics

Some of the pictures turned out a bit dark for some reason. But as you can hopefully see, our boy is all over the place. And he loves to stand up against anything.

Devin is still sleeping great. No more night feedings. Yeah!

Sleeping the Night

After 9 months and 14 days, we officially have a baby who has slept the night. Most books say that once a baby sleeps 8 hours straight, they are technically "sleeping through the night." Well if that was the case, then everyone in the house would have to go to bed at 7:30 or 8 p.m. every night to enjoy a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. My defininition of sleeping the night is when Devin goes to bed and is still in his bed when I get up the next day. Now, that's what it is all about! And last night was the first time it has happened in our house. I did wake up a few times wondering why I hadn't heard from Devin, but managed to easily go back to sleep. :-) I am amazed at how well I've managed with not sleeping a whole night in almost a year. Moms must be gifted with a special gene to handle sleep deprivation. As you can tell, our sweet baby boy is not much of a sleeper overall. So this is a BIG milestone we are all very excited about. I just hope I am not jinxing myself writing about it.

Happy Birthday Grandma

Today is Grandma Casaday's 60th birthday. Happy Birthday!

Devin is sleeping great these days. He had been getting up twice a nice for a while, but we've had a breakthrough these past fews days. And last night, Devin slept from 9:30 to 5:30 straight. Then went back down for another hour and a half. Devin always wanted to be soothed to sleep and we just couldn't do the cry it out thing. I know...we broke every rule in the book but it seemed the right thing to do. We tried to let Devin cry it out a few times but either Rich was on board and I wasn't or vice versa. But now, Devin is getting the sleep thing all dialed in on his own, which we are thrilled. And he is in his bed all night, and not in ours. We are all sleeping great!

Got Milk?

Our refrigerator/freezer died last night...and, as a result, all the breastmilk I've been stockpiling spoiled. When I opened the door and saw everything liquified, my heart just sank. I've been pumping extra milk for months now so I'd have an extra supply to carry Devin for a while after I stop nursing. Well, in one night, that whole plan vanished. I must have put 5 of the gallon size ziploc bags of breastmilk in the garbage can. Sighhhhh!!! For those of you who have pumped milk, you can truely appreciate the amount of time and energy that went into that milk. It was a sad moment to say the least, but thankfully I am still able to build up some more reserves.

On the positive side, we now have an ice chest in our kitchen (until the repair man can come on Monday). And Devin thinks the ice chest is soooo cool. He loves to stand up and bang his measuring cups and spoons on the lid. Anything new to play with (and stand up against) is a huge hit in his world.

The last two teeth have broken through and Devin is a happy baby. I'm amazed at how he has already perfected how to eat with those new teeth.

Tonight at dinner, Devin was having fun with his Aunt Deseri. She would raise her hands in the air, and then Devin would do the same. It was a fun game they were playing. It is so cool to watch his interactions.

Two More Teeth for a Total of Eight

Devin sprouted up two more teeth. He just got his bottom ones to go alongside the two middle ones. Now, our boy is sporting a total of eight teeth (four up top and four on the bottom). The last two are still coming up...it will take a few days for them to get all the way through. Our little guy has been a bit fussy, so hopefully these teeth will finish coming up fast.

9 Months Old

For Devin's 9 month birthday, we flew to Arizona so he could meet his great grandmother, Alice, who celebrated her 90th birthday in February. Doesn't she look great! Here's a few precious pictures from the weekend.

Devin is a busy boy these days pulling himself up on any and all furniture he can find. He also is crawling everywhere in search of new things to explore. His latest trick is to smack his lips. When you give him a piece of fruit, he smacks his lips after each bite. It's hilarious. He also will do it without food if you prompt him with doing it first.

Devin's other favorite thing to do lately is brush his teeth. Or maybe I should say that he likes to chew on his toothbrush. But it does keep him busy long enough so I can change his diaper. Otherwise he is a complete wiggle worm making diaper changes a struggle. And Devin is a strong and determined little guy.

Last week, Devin ran another low grade fever. I'm thinking it was the tail end of those last two teeth coming in, or maybe there are more on the way. It is hard to tell...it seems like endless teething in Devin's world lately. As a result, his naps have been off lately. But thankfully, he seems to be back on his good night time sleep schedule.

This weekend, Devin had his first food allergy rash. We gave him too many new things at once so I'm not sure what caused the problem. He hadn't had a food reaction until now, so I didn't worry too much about introducing pesto and cheese at the same time. So, something in there didn't agree with Devin. I'll have to reintroduce them one at a time to find the culprit.

Devin is very close to waving. We haven't really practiced, but I notice him waving (or rolling his fingers) at me. I'll laugh if he officially waves before he signs (which we do practice all the time).