Arlo: 7 months old

Hello, 7 months old!  Summer keeps right on rolling and so does this little guy.  Here is what we have been up to during the last month:

Sleeping:  I am so happy to report that in the last month, things have definitely become easier in this department.  On the advice of Dr.Sears, I started to try and establish somewhat of a nap routine to make sure Arlo was getting enough sleep during the day.  I began observing him closely for signs of sleepiness during the day, and when he started yawning and rubbing his eyes I quickly popped him in ergo carrier to help him off to sleep.  Dr.Sears calls it "wearing him down" but I call it the best advice ever.  If he is truely tired, he will fall asleep as soon as two minutes after I put him in the carrier.  Sometimes we have success with just holding him and swaying or rocking, but the majority of the time naps and bedtime begin with the ergo. 

Arlo wakes up for the day around 6:00 am and takes 2-3 naps during the day - early morning, early afternoon, and generally a short 30-45 minute nap in the late afternoon, depending on the length of his second nap.  He gets a bath and his last bottle of the day around 8:00 and is usually asleep by 8:30 pm.  He will sleep the entire night without waking and starts the day by babbling sweet baby sounds - not a bad alarm clock to wake up to  :)

Eating:  Not a whole lot has changed in this department since last month.  My last post talked about the switch from a soy-based formula to one that is dairy-based.  He is still taking in the same amount of milk and eating on the same schedule as before.

As far as the solid foods go, I was thinking by this point he might be really into trying different foods and perhaps we would even be attempting some "baby led feeding" methods by letting him gnaw on larger pieces of food himself, but he is not quite there yet.  Our biggest challenge lately with feeding is how distracted he gets.  Everything is so interesting to him - he would rather watch the animals walk by, or look out the window, or play with the straps on his high chair.  And that brings me to another new thing, we recently started using his high chair!  I picked up an awesome wooden one a couple of months ago on Craigslist and sewed a new cushion complete with strap to buckle him in.  It turned out so cute and now that he is finally getting big enough to sit in it, we are really enjoying having it.

"new" high chair - tray removed to show my homemade cushion  :)

He really likes using his silicone baby feeder because he can hold it himself and suck the food out from inside, and so far we have filled it with banana and pear.  He also loves playing with his sippy cup, although he still needs help to tip it so the water will flow, and still much of it lands on his bib and lap!  Favorite foods right now are: banana, avocado, spaghetti squash, and sweet potato.


Weight and Length:  No pediatrician appointment this month but I would estimate he is between 16-17 lbs.  His petite size would lead you to believe he is on the lighter side, but he is much heavier than he looks!  We will have his official measurements at his next appointment when he is nine months old.


Wearing:  Arlo is just barely squeezing into his six month rompers and onesies.  I think I have a few more days at best and they will be heading up to one of the tubs in the attic with the rest of his outgrown clothes.  Nine month stuff is fitting the best, and also the size I have the fewest items of.  12 month onesies are still quite roomy on him, but I recently pulled out a few to use since we don't have a lot of stuff in the nine month size.

During this month we have also ventured into full time cloth diapering and are no longer using disposables at night!  I was pretty nervous that he was going to leak through the diaper during the night and wake up with wet clothes and sheets, but we have been at it for a couple of weeks now and so far only had one leak during one of the first few nights.  I am happily surprised with how well it is going and glad we have found a system that works for us.  I still have my epic cloth diapering post in the works, but one day I am going to get it together and finish it, and will talk more about nighttime diapering there! 

Likes and dislikes:  
likes:  gloworm, Cat Stevens, his silicone feeder, the doorway jumper, riding in the ergo carrier, straps and buckles of any kind - they are far more interesting to him then any toy he has, bath time, grabbing Lucy and the cats, being naked, being outside, riding in the jogging stroller, and baby song time at the library

dislikes:  (pretty much unchanged from last month!) loud noises, being in the car seat when the car is not in motion, and spending more than 10-15 minutes at a time playing on the floor


New milestones and developments:  Well, last month I was quite sure that by the time I wrote this post Arlo would be all about the crawling, however we are still not quite there yet.  On the day he turned seven months he finally pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, and not knowing what to do at that point launched himself forward with all his might into a giant belly flop, ha!  Just because he isn't technically crawling yet doesn't mean that he isn't on the move - he has mastered getting where he wants to go by simply rolling across the room, and while laying on his belly can spin in a full circle.  He will often move his arms and legs in a crawling motion while laying on his belly, but won't really move more than a few inches in any direction as he does it.  Maybe it's his tank-like weight holding him down?  ;)  In any case, I am excited for him to start crawling, but I also understand the territory that comes with a crawler - more baby-proofing, gates at the stairs, etc.

In the past few days Arlo's four existing teeth were joined by a fifth, and the sixth is sitting just under the surface ready to pop through any minute.  Teething this time around wasn't quite as bad as before, and perhaps it's because we are now armed with the skills and knowledge to help him through it.  Tylenol still seems to provide the best relief, and a single dose during the worst two or three days has kept him from being completely miserable.

This past month Arlo also went on his first trip to Tennessee to visit Grandma and Grandpa C!  The drive there typically takes around seven hours, but add in a baby and a dog and the trip increases to a solid nine.  Arlo really did great considering the fact that he spent so much time in his car seat.  On the way there, about 45 minutes before we reached my parents house, he finally had enough and entered into his first real meltdown of the day.  We quickly turned on some Cat Stevens, which we had discovered his love of earlier in the drive, but even Cat's soothing voice was no match for the tired little fusspot.  So, I got desperate and allowed Arlo to watch a few minutes of baby cartoon videos on the phone via YouTube.  He smiled, laughed, and eventually fell asleep just before we arrived.  On the way home, I attribute our meltdown-free drive to the fact that we stopped around halfway and had a leisurely picnic at a grassy rest stop location.  Arlo rolled around on a beach towel for nearly an hour, Lucy ran around and stretched her legs, and Erik and I were able to fill our bellies with a delicious lunch my mom had packed for us.  All in all, a wonderful and successful trip!

Recently Arlo has started to say "mama mama mama" over and over again.  I am quite sure this is just his word of choice to babble, but a few friends and family members are convinced he is saying his first real word.  Perhaps I should start saying "dada" to him throughout the day to see if he picks up on that as well!  Whether or not he is actually referring to me when he says "mama", I always repeat it back and say "yes, I am your mama!" and he usually smiles back.  Another thing I would like to document in this post so I can look back and remember it, happened a couple of weeks ago while I was giving Arlo a bath.  I spiked up his hair into a mohawk and told him he looked like a punk rock baby.  Right after I said that, he started laughing hysterically.  I kept repeating it, and he kept laughing.  Now, every time I want him to laugh or smile all I have to do is say "punk rock baby" in the same silly voice I used, and it works every single time.  I really need to get this one on video...

The last thing I will mention is that last week we discovered "baby time" at the local library.  I met my friend, mama L, and her baby "Bean", at the library and we had so much fun.  The room was completely filled with babies from the age of six months up to a couple of years old.  Many were crawling, a few were walking, and some were just sitting and hanging out on their mama's laps.  Arlo seemed fascinated by the whole experience - the songs, puppets, sign language and movements we engaged in during the nursery rhymes were a whole new thing for him.  I am definitely adding this to our list of weekly activities!  Every month I feel like Arlo is at a stage that is more fun than the last, watching him grow and change is such a neat experience.  Looking forward to yet another fun-filled month with this little guy.  Sweet baby Arlo, I am so lucky I get to be your mama  :)

dairy in vegan-ville

As many of you know, Erik and I have been following a plant-based diet for some time now.  I have been vegan for over seven years, and Erik around five.  There are many reasons to adopt a plant-based lifestyle - for us they are primarily ethical and a very close second being health.  As a former cooking and nutrition instructor for the Cancer Project and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, I consider myself rather educated on a plant-based diet.  We have always planned to raise our children as vegans and believe wholeheartedly that growing up eating as such will give them a great nutritional start to life.  If, later on, they decide to take their own dietary path, we will support their rights to do so - but while mama is doing the cooking, it's going to be plant-based meals all around!

So, when Arlo had to start on formula at four months old, we wanted him on not only the very best option out there, but in staying true to our commitment to a plant-based lifestyle, also wanted to avoid animal products as much as possible.  Since there are pretty much two main categories of formula out there - dairy or soy based, we opted for the soy.  I read extensively about the different brands and settled on Baby's Only.  It is entirely organic and the company really seems to care about the ingredients they use.  It's a sad fact that most of the formulas sold in the US are poorly made - using GMO corn syrup as the primary ingredient.  Not only that, but non-organic formulas contain pesticides and chemicals that no human should ever ingest - let alone the immature and developing systems of tiny babies.

Arlo has been doing great with the formula since we started it three months ago, but for months five and six he had been receiving half formula and half breastmilk in his bottles.  About a month ago, when my milk supply sharply dropped to just 2 oz per day, and I made the difficult decision to stop pumping, he rather abruptly started drinking bottles that consisted entirely of formula.  I suddenly had the realization that having him on a soy-based formula meant that he was getting a lot of soy in his diet.  Now, soy has been portrayed in the media in recent years as a food that is either going to give you cancer or cause you to suddenly grow breasts if you are a male.  I can assure you that neither are true, and countries that have a high consumption of whole forms of soy (tofu, soybeans, soymilk, tempeh, miso) have much lower rates of cancer than those in the United States.  Eating soy in it's whole state is key - and most people in this country eat a heck of a lot more soy than they realize, primarily in it's overly processed (and potentially harmful) form.  So, anyway, while I do feel that a moderate amount of whole soy in anyones diet is fine, the fact that Arlo was consuming a lot of it at every single meal was starting to bother me.

I then started thinking about the reason why we avoid dairy.  Primarily, it is for ethical reasons - and to be honest that is a whole 'nother post that I never plan to write.  You can do that research on your own if you are interested.  However, what you might be interested to know is why as adults you might want to consider eliminating dairy for health reasons.  First, let's think about what cows milk is intended for in nature.  Simply put - it helps a young calf grow into a large, adult cow.  Cows milk (and all dairy) contain hormones.  Yup, even the "hormone-free" milk does.  Cows milk contains a growth hormone, Insulin Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), that is proven to make cells, especially cancer cells, grow like crazy.  It is this very hormone that is responsible for growing that tiny calf into a large cow that weighs several hundred pounds.  When we are young - we want this hormone in our bodies.  It also helps tiny babies grow into adult humans.  But, as adults, we want very little, if any, of this hormone in our bodies.  Unfortunately the Standard American Diet (SAD) contains so many foods high in IGF-1.  "Milk - it does a body good!" so says the ad.  No, the sad truth is that milk really fills your body with unnecessary growth hormones which are partly responsible for the nations deplorable cancer rates.

I came across the video below while writing this post, which does a fantastic job of further explaining IGF-1.  I promise you will not regret spending the next 2 minutes and 55 seconds of your life watching it.




Video source here.  Dr. Greger also has another great video here, about IGF-1 and plant based diets.


When faced with the need to make any tough decision in life, I always ask myself (when appropriate), how would this be done in nature?  What is the most natural outcome possible?  And, while I would have loved to have a wet-nurse or donor mama on standby to keep Arlo on breastmilk for at least the first year, that just isn't a reality for us.  What seems like the next best option, is the milk from another mammal.  So, after much research and discussion with our pediatrician, we decided about a month ago to switch Arlo to a dairy-based formula for at least the next five or six months.  I am not concerned with the growth hormones at this stage of his life - he would be getting those from breast milk anyway and actually needs them right now.  When he is a year old we will reevaluate.  There is an organic rice-based nutrition drink on the market made for toddlers 12 months and up that we may introduce when the time is right.  I don't see us ever buying cows milk for Arlo and still plan to raise him as a vegan when he is no longer on formula.  For now, I am happy and grateful that formula exists (both soy and dairy) as it has kept Arlo fed and nourished when I was unable to.

When we decided last month to make the switch from soy to dairy formula, again I had to scour the internets for the best option.  What I concluded, is that the best option is actually sold in Europe, where food companies have to conform to even stricter organic rules and regulations than set by here in the United States.  There are two brands, Hipp and Holle that get glowing reviews.  In fact, parents who use these formulas claim that they are so much like human breast milk that they turned their babies stools into that of a baby who is eating exclusively breast milk.  And if you are a parent who has a child that has consumed both breast milk and formula - you know exactly what I am talking about!

 
Arlo has now been on his new formula, Hipp, for about a month now, and I am happy to report that he is doing great with it.  I will say though, our hungry little man has never said no to anything we have offered - be it breast, bottle, donor milk, pumped milk from mama, soy formula, or dairy formula.  This little guy is a trooper and just wants to eat!  And as for those parents who wrote the reviews about their babies poo changing for the better being on this formula, well, I can now attest to their truthfulness!

Had someone told me a year ago that our baby would not only be on formula at seven months old, but a dairy-based one at that, I would have looked at them like they were completely off their rocker.  But, if this whole parenting thing has taught me anything, it's that parenting a child is a constantly evolving process and most of the time we should enter into new territory without any expectations. I have realized that setting my expectations low prevents me from being disappointed when things don't go the way I would normally want them to, and pleasantly surprised when they turn out better than I thought they would.  This is probably something I should have realized much earlier in life.  Thank you my sweet baby Arlo, for helping your mama learn a valuable lesson.