almost 14

at over 10 kg, weight is not the only thing that karol gained. he also learned new skills and talents :)

skills include:
* walking
* climbing on and going down from sofa
* shaking his head
* turning knobs on alex's kitchen
* clapping hands
* holds a big ball with one hand

talents:
* waving be bye and saying "baba" or "papa"
* holds head ("where's your head?")
* holds hand to ear, or at least close enough ("hello karol!")
* combs hair while holding comb
* tries to hold his ear ("where's your ear?")
* makes gigil ("are you strong?")

words:
* he's not much of a talker as alex was, but he is not quiet either. likes to say "pa-cha, pa-cha, pa-cha..." repeatedly as if he's talking about something.
* most of his words sound like "baba" (referring to different things)
* "tight" means light
* "bey" means bird, he says this while looking out the window even if there are no birds.
* "bawu" is flower.
* most other words are unintelligible at this point but he has his own versions for balloon, ball, fish, among other things.
* plays peek-a-boo, hides his face ("where's karol?")

hobbies:
* walking, walking and walking
* taking out toys from alex's oven
* pulling toys (car, stroller) while walking
* carrying pillows as big as him on his back while walking
* watching (baby einstein videos, bebe tv, etc.)
* playing drums and xylophone

on walking

karol made his first steps before he turned 1. he started cruising along with the support of furnitures and familiar surroundings, until we found out that he didn't like to crawl on grass and made his own unsure steps (from previous post).

from thereon, he started walking around the living room. starting and stopping himself with help from people, furnitures, walls, etc. (see video). for a long time he was walking in even steps with one hand held but afraid of letting go.

then, at exactly 13 months and 2 days old, karol started walking without support or any promise of one. he forcibly let go of my hand and walked back and forth our hallway (video link).

now he is the unstoppable walking monster. walking around the apartment and everywhere we go. :)

one

"I AM PROUD TO BE 1!!!"

statistics (@1 yr & 2 wks)
weight: 9.66 kg
height: 76 cm
head circ.: 46 cm
chest: 46 cm

the (pa-)cute birthday pose! karol in his crib right before we left for piestany, where the skrovina family was having the usual get together, plus karol's birthday celebration. it was a simple celebration.

karol and alex enjoyed the swimming pool with daddy before lunch.

and of course there was cake,

and gifts and picture-taking...

karol is walking

the lazy walker is now walking!

he has been cruising our living room for a long time. holding on to our sofas. then after his 11th month, he started walking holding on with only one hand. and just 12 days before his birthday, he took his first 2 steps.

karol walking @ uncle svato's garden

during our visits to dunajska streda (swimming pools), we discovered that he doesn't fancy crawling on grass. our visit to uncle svato's garden surprised us. he didn't want to crawl, so then he decided to stand up and walk all by himself.

so now he can stand by himself without any support. today he was able to successfully take 6 steps before he fell on all fours. :D

way to go karol! such strong legs! :)

@ 11 months

at last, a timely post :D

after almost a year, karol had at last established some sort of a routine:
* wakes up around 6am and starts his nonstop breastfeeding until he gets fully awake
(around 7am)
* plays with ate and lola helen until 9am (sometimes snacks on piskoty)
* eats breakfast (8-grain cereal or fruit puree)
* goes to playground (loves to swing), and sleeps before lunch (quite lucky if he gets more than 30 mins of nap)
* eats his lunch (which mommy cooked) or a favorite bottled food (which i think he prefers more, very picky eater)
* drinks 7oz (210mL) of formula
* playtime and naptime (again only for around 30mins)
* snacks or goes straight for dinner (depends on his mood and what time he went to sleep)
* bathes and drinks another bottle of formula (with daddy)
* goes to sleep (he now sleeps without being rocked/breastfed. but i still have to trick him into not standing or sitting up)
* sometimes wakes up during the night, but i just need to put him back down and he falls back to sleep.
* wakes up once to feed and stays on mommy and daddy's bed until the morning.

yes, he doesn't breastfeed so much anymore :( mommy is a bit sad. but he's a big boy now.

other updates:
* screams when he doesn't get his own way :D
* likes so much to play with ate alex's kitchen toys.
* loves to play ball, and can hold it with just one hand.
* still a lazy walker.
* has now 5 visible teeth, and one more looming around.

@ 9 and 10 months @

there's only one word to describe karol at 9 months -- emotional! it was really funny how he pities himself, drooping eyes and lips, and all. screams when you take a toy a way from him or if you take him away from his target.





at 10 months, he is more active. travels around holding on to furnitures and sometimes even lets go and stands by himself for a short time. but he's a lazy walker, he prefers to crawl. it was a crazy month, what with 3 upper teeth sprouting at the same time. poor cookie! was a real cry baby.

@ 7 and 8 months @

i know! i know! i'm late! oh well, better late than never and i have a reason...

over a week after karol turned 7 months, he had his very first airplane ride :) got that right! we went home to philippines for a well deserved vacation. he also got a taste of his first beach experience. where? of course, in boracay itself!

so you see, i was kinda busy :D anyway, here are some developments:

@7 months	@8 months
*breaths like darth vader	*makes scary sound like the character in exorcist
*learned how to do "baka-bakahan," where he swings back and forth on all fours	*started crawling slowly and keeps falling off the bed
*started with solid food but was never successful at swallowing	*now gabbles up and favors cerelac-type of food over mashed veggies

of course there are more. however, it's quite hard to keep up with all of them. right now he's sprouting 2 teeth (bottom). he also started pulling up by himself and threading alongside his playpen. kids these days, why do they grow up so fast. sigh! :)