Second 6 Months of Fun & Milestones

How does an entire year go by in a blink of an eye?!

As you may remember from the First 6 Months of Fun & Milestones, babies learn at different paces and milestones happen at different rates. So just enjoy them as they come!

If you have milestone questions you may find some answers here for 1-6 months and here for 7-12 months, or ask your pediatrician!

The following 6 months brought even more exciting milestones as baby CJ starts developing more independence and a more pronounced personality.

Baby CJ was already eating solid mush since he was 4 months and at 7 months, we introduced him to the Gerber Puffs. They have lots of different flavors and baby CJ loves them all! These cute little snacks are designed to teach your baby how to grasp with two fingers as well as how to chew. In order to get your baby started on this, he or she must be a crawler with tummy off the floor. At 7 months baby CJ was already sitting, crawling, standing and taking steps while holding on to furniture! And it seems like they all happened at once because it all happened so fast!

During this time period, he also got his first stroller ride without the car seat! He grew out of the infant car seat and graduated to a rear-facing car seat. Still, in his 7th month, he also got to sit on a high chair at a restaurant for the first time and got his first cart ride at Target the same day. He was so adorable and excited, he couldn’t stop looking around! I do recommend getting a cart cover that doubles as a high chair cover like this Eddie Bauer from Target. First thing Baby CJ (and all babies ever), did was start sucking on the handlebar of the cart. Ew. And, not healthy at all!

While baby CJ had teething symptoms before, there were no teeth until he was 8 months. Baby CJ showed no interest in teething rings even when he was most in pain. We used Infant’s Motrin or Tylenol when he was most fussy. Husband also came up with a great homemade remedy. In a quart size ziplock, fill with ice halfway and fill a quarter of the way with water, then insert that ziplock in a second ziplock bag to avoid leakage. He really loved that. I also froze some breast milk and put it in his mesh feeder when he began drooling a lot.

Not a whole lot more happened at this time, other than him getting better at the things he had conquered the month prior (taking more, faster steps). We took him to his first state fair and pumpkin patch, from which he was so happy to see baby chicks for the first time! Oh, and he was the cutest turtle for his first Halloween! 🙂

Entering his 9th month, baby CJ was showing a second tooth! I thought it was awesome that his teeth were finally coming in, but no more have made an appearance as of yet. He still eats everything as long as it’s mashable. He’s a real foodie!

At the 9th month follow-up with his pediatrician, everything looked great! Also, at this time, baby CJ started wearing his baby helmet. To learn more about our experience with the cranial orthotic check out Baby Helmet.

Thanksgiving is one of the holidays we look most forward to. Husband’s side of the family lives on the east coast and as you may or may not know, we live in the west coast. Arizona to be more precise. So for this family holiday, we decided to take a trip to New Jersey and have everyone out there meet baby CJ for the first time! You know what this entailed… his first airplane ride! Being first time parents we didn’t know what to expect, but for it being our First Time Flying With an Infant, we did pretty well! Although it was somewhat cold, we had lots of fun going to places in South New Jersey. He even got his first haircut!

The day after we got home from our trip, baby CJ woke up with his first cold. We took him to the pediatrician where we were informed there’s not much you can do for an infant cold. We were advised to give him herbal tea and let him soak in eucalyptus infused baths to help alleviate the stuffiness. We found the Johnson’s Baby Soothing Vapor Bath to work wonders. Baby CJ didn’t let that stop him from dancing and clapping!

At 10 months we decided to broaden his menu. We introduced him to eggs and he loves them! We also introduced him to pasta, beans, oatmeal with fruit, yogurt, bread, and pureed chicken with veggies. There isn’t a whole lot of things he won’t eat and it’s awesome! At this point, we decided to start giving him juice at lunchtime instead of milk with his meal. And guess what? Success! He can hold his sippy cup and drink from it on his own.

During his first Christmas unwrapping, he didn’t know what to do with all the presents. At first, he was a little disappointed when I showed him how to rip the paper off, but once he realized the paper wasn’t the present, he tried it himself! Cuteness overload! Needless to say, most gifts under the tree were baby CJ’s.

The moment every parent awaits and dreds at the same time finally came. Baby CJ started walking without help at 11 months! Because he was in full walking mode, we started putting shoes on him regularly so that he could walk as often as possible (all of our home is tiled). He’s a total walking professional now.

A week before his birthday, we got the O-K to stop using the baby helmet. He made great improvement and it was determined he would no longer benefit from wearing it and that we were to let gravity and time take its course and more improvement would be achieved in the next few years to come as baby CJ grows.

First birthday party time was here! Because baby CJ doesn’t really favor any toys, we decided to make his first birthday party Mickey Mouse themed. The same day, we did his cake smash pictures and baby CJ got to eat cake for the first time! He wasn’t too sure about making a mess at first, but with mommy and daddy’s help, he realized he was supposed to use his hands. He was such a happy birthday boy!

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Now that baby CJ is 12 months, we’ve introduced him to regular milk to wean him off the breast milk. So far, baby CJ doesn’t seem to mind. Sometimes. Sometimes he only drinks half of what’s in the bottle and he will not drink it from the sippy cup.

He recently had his 12th month check up and received a set of vaccines. He’s perfectly healthy and on the right track, developmental-wise. He is so brave, he only cried while getting the shots and calmly resumed to being curious and directed his attention to what was posted on the bulletin board in the exam room!

Baby CJ has kept his sleeping routine the same, which is so awesome! He really is the best starter baby, as husband would say, and I think baby CJ is just as excited and eager to grow as we are!

In case you missed it, check out baby CJ’s First 6 Months of Fun & Milestones.

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