[18/02/2011] Well, still haven't got around to sticking pictures in this post, but I'd better publish it because otherwise it'll be time for the 10 month post before this one goes up! Will try and stick photos in later :)
[21/05/2011] It's been bugging me for ages that I still hadn't gotten around to putting pictures up. Turned out that I was pretty slack in taking pictures when Setri was 9mo and there were only a few anyway. Slack is possibly a bit harsh- for several months he throws a tanty when I try and take a photo and don't give him the camera- it doesn't make for the best photos :)
Speech:
This month seems to be one of rapid speech development. Not so much hitting milestones, but building and gaining more confidence. He now consistently calls me 'Mum-mum' and 'Mum-ma' again, instead of 'Nun-nun'. I thought he had that figured out a couple of months ago but then he stopped saying any 'm' sounds for a while.
He now consistently calls Feifei 'yay yay', and says a very definite 'no!' when he is given a suggestion he dislikes or I try and do something he doesn't want (e.g. "Sleepytime, Setri!"). This morning he indicated that he wanted some coffee, which I obliged by giving him a few drops in the end of a straw, and he then indicated with an infuriating mooing noise that he wanted more, which I also obliged, trying to encourage him to use the word 'more', instead of making the mooing noise. When I offered a third lot (more coffee, Setri?), he replied 'no'. Gam says we should encourage him to extend his vocabulary by saying 'no thanks' every time he replies 'no', as a blunt 'no' won't seem cute for long! Sometimes if I put him down when he doesn't want to be put down I will get a super-dramatic "No! Mummmm-mummm! No!" [Update 04/02/2010: my insistent coaching worked- he now says 'mmmORE!' most times when prompted!]
Setri will now often mimic sounds when prompted- e.g. familiar ones like 'Mum-mum' and 'dad dad', and especially 'yay yay', but he also likes to assert himself. One time, after saying 'dad dad' when prompted, we asked him to say 'mum mum' and Setri emphatically replied 'dad DAD!' [Update 10/02/2010: the last few days he has been a lot more adventurous in what he will attempt to mimic. Today, at first prompting, he said 'AN' for 'ant', and since Monday he will make a burbly 'bub-wub-wub' noise (most of the time) when asked to say 'bubble').
He makes attempts at words that he is not yet successful with- 'baw-OOH' and 'AWW' for ball, for example. He also uses 'DOW' (down) in its proper context (i.e. when he wants to be put on the floor, or to be taken down the stairs). His vowel sounds are good, but the rest, especially consonants at the end of words, still has a way to go. He still, for instance, says 'UH' for up. And, just as often, he makes that infuriating moooing 'UuhNnnh!' noise when he wants something. (Update 10/02/2010: Today he said 'dot', with a clearly enunciated 't' on the end for the first time- we have an Aboriginal artwork that he is obsessed with and roars 'Doh-doh-doh!' at whenever he gets within arm's reach. He immediately went back to saying 'doh' again, but he's getting there).
Social:
This month I took Setri to Playgroup for the first time, and he seemed to have a really good time. There were only 2 babies in the same age bracket- one chubby 9-month-old girl who wasn't yet able to crawl or even sit up by herself as far as I could tell, and one nearly 11 month-old- an absolutely angelic-looking little blonde girl who seemed to be about where Setri is developmentally, slightly ahead, as her mother told me she was able to stand on her own, which Setri isn't doing.
Update 10/02/2010: Bec brought Xander around for a playdate a few days ago. Setri had an absolute ball, 'talking' to Xander in the special way he does to the cats. He obviously took a lot on board, as as soon as Xander had left, Setri started copying one of the cute things Xander does- putting his arms in the air and saying 'yay!'. Setri had never before put his arms above his head except in an effort to steal things, so it was obvious straight away that he'd got it from Xander. Anyway, he got such a cheer out of Gam and I that he does it all the time now, mostly without the 'yay', but every time with an ultra-cute smile on his little face in anticipation of the reaction it gets from anyone who sees it (except the cats, who are strangely immune, even though he has included this new skill in his arsenal of charming things to win over Xiaoxiao)... it's super-adorable. He also now thinks that he has the ability to descend the stairs at the front of our house by himself, because he saw Xander (who can WALK- big difference there!) doing it.
Getting around:
It's actually rather surprising that Setri isn't yet standing on his own, given he has been crawling for nearly 5 months, but ever since he could trundle around and get into mischief it was like he didn't have the same hunger to advance that he used to have. He will sometimes let go of whatever he's holding onto when he's standing up, but from what I can tell it's more because he forgets to hang on rather than because he's testing new skills. Today, for instance, he was holding onto a spoon with one hand and hanging onto my leg with the other, and he let go of my leg so he could slap me on the knee a few times without letting go of his spoon. He sometimes stands on one foot while dancing, and waves the other leg around, and sometimes stands on tiptoes on one foot when he's trying to steal something off the lounge or a shelf that's too high for him. (Update 10/02/2010: today was the first time he seemed to intentionally let go of something and test his ability to stand. He only managed a couple of seconds before sitting down heavily with a surprised look on his face).
Physical:
Setri is still only about 75 or 76 cm tall. I thought he had gotten a little taller, but perhaps he just tends to stand straighter than he used to. We haven't weighed him since whenever I last mentioned it, but I'm pretty sure he's heavier because I'm finding him difficult to carry for any length of time.
This month he stopped clapping the 'wrong way' (i.e. palm of hand to back of hand) and started clapping properly, palm-to-palm.
Feeding:
Feeding has been a little strange for the last couple of weeks. Setri shows lots of signs of teething (but still hasn't sprouted a single tooth) and has gone off solid food a lot. Even meat won't reliably tempt him. Many days lately he has had almost nothing but breast milk. It's easy to tell the days when he's feeling better because 'normal' for Setri means only minimal interest in boob- he's never been one of those babies whose eyes light up as soon as they lay eyes on their mother'. Given his lasting obsession with food from age 3-and-a-half months onward, it really feels strange on days where he refuses most solid food.
Despite not being particularly interested in boob, Setri this month again started doing something he's done in passing before, and I always wondered if I was imagining things... He sees vaguely-breast-shaped objects and starts saying 'boooo'. This time around, it started with the onions that he raided from our tiered fruit basket. He would point the root bit towards his mouth, open his lips in a pre-latch pout and say 'Boooo. Booooo!' before putting his mouth on the onion and sucking. Then it was the turn of the pomegranate, the plum (which he went on to eat half of, so it wasn't a complete waste of time), the orange, the rockmelon and the lime. He does it in the fruit aisles of the supermarket, and he gets especially excited when he spies a balloon. Quite beserk with excitement, in fact.
Sleep:
Sleep seems better lately, but I can't quantify how. I think I'm the one adjusting, resisting the temptation to stay up late just to get some time on my own with Gam and to get a few things done around the house. Mostly it's so exhausting getting him off to sleep between 7.30-8pm (with settling starting as early as 6.30pm) that I'm a bit of a zombie afterwards, and never very productive anyway. It's gotten so that I'm satisfied if I get to eat dinner without interruption. Gam generally tries first to settle Setri if I'm eating, so I can finish my meal. Between his bedtime and ours(~10.30pm), Setri wakes once or twice on a good night, 3 on a normal one and 4-5 times on a bad one. On good nights it's enough for him to simply see us and he will keel over and go back to sleep, while on bad nights there appears to be some kind of discomfort keeping him awake and it can take up to half an hour to resettle him. As a rule, Setri doesn't wake once we come to bed with him, until around 6 in the morning when the alarm goes off. Then I get up and he gets up, most days, and we leave Gam to sleep for around half an hour. After a bad night, it's the other way around, Gam gets up and Setri and I stay in bed until around 7am, but thankfully bad nights are few and far between. Often on weekends I will stay up late, idiot that I am, figuring I can sleep in the next day, but the latest Setri will sleep in is around 7-7.30am.
Toilet training:
I gave up trying to put Setri on the potty when he needs to poo, as he made it pretty clear he was unhappy when I did try. He doesn't mind being taken to the bathroom, though, so I do that. I figure maybe when he can walk and get on and off the potty himself it might be easier. He's still young yet!
