nine months

NINE whole months. seriously?!?

I have such good intentions of continuing to use this blog to document our little family... but I'm finding myself so far behind. It's hard to find time to sit at the computer with two little nuggets around here. In addition to a bazillion other good things that I still need to post...this little guy just keeps growing up. It's bittersweet to know that we are already 3/4 through his first year. Babies are so hard and so much of it is just about survival in the beginning and then by the time you catch your breath.... the baby stage is over.  It's surreal and a little sad.

::9 month stats::

weight - 20lbs 12oz (60th percentile)

height - 29.25 inches (80th percentile)

head circ - 18.11 inches (75th percentile)

So, he's still on the big side of average, but he has thinned out a bit and is averaging out on the growth chart...no longer at the tippy top.

Other notable achievements this month:

Finally starting to crawl... mostly just an army crawl still, but he's starting to get up on all fours a bit more and rock back and forth. He just can't seem to figure out how to make those legs work! Nonetheless, he's mobile and can get across the room and straight into trouble in no time flat! 

His top two front teeth are coming in, one has already broken through and the other is right there and should be making it's appearance any day now.

Sleeping like a dream, napping like a champ. Making mama proud.

He is so happy. Honestly, he is the sweetest, smiliest, most content little guy ever. And those dimples still get me every time. He is super duper ticklish and has a laugh that turns my heart right into a puddle.

Still bald as can be, but finally I am starting to see little wisps of what appears to be real hair!

He loves to read stories before nap time and his clear favorite is "Barnyard Dance". He laughs hysterically, without fail, every.single.time. 

He adores Leah and thinks most everything she does is funny. She is really turning into a good big sister and I think the older and more interactive and playful he gets, the more smitten she is with him.

He loves bath time, and especially loves to see how big of splashes he can make.

He is a great eater and is starting to venture into more table foods and legitimate solids (rather than just purees) and he seems to love it. I am afraid that this kid is going to eat us out of house and home. He is finally taking a bottle a little bit better which has given me a bit longer leash.

He's a mama's boy. He loves everyone and is happy and smiling...but he loves mama best and gets sad anytime I walk out of the room. Actually, I love it. I hope he loves me most always.

I feel so lucky to be his mama and can't imagine our family without him. He has me wrapped right around his little chubby finger!

Happy 3/4 Birthday Little Love!!

eight months

getting cuter every month.

period.

(most notable achievement this month is that he's finally sleeping unswaddled...just like a big boy, and like a champ, I might add)

seven months

Gah! This boy melts me.

• He's sleeping through the night like a pro. 10-12 hours consistently. Bless him. (still swaddled, but that's okay)
• Finally a decent daytime schedule, with two good naps (1.5-2.5 hours) and a predictable bed time and wake time.
• Sitting up like a champ... his balance is better all the time.
• Rolling over every which way. Still much better going from back to tummy, rather than tummy to back
• Two bottom teeth appeared this month, without too much drama.
• Getting better with the solid foods... eating and enjoying almost everything we've given him, which includes: squash, sweet potatoes, spinach, green beans, peas, oatmeal, brown rice, carrots, parsnips and avocados. We have just barely started introducing fruits and so far he has tried and loved bananas, pears and apples.
• Still nursing 4-5x a day and loving it almost as much as mommy.
• Size 3 diapers, almost all 12-18 month clothes. He's such a chunk!
• This sweet boy is happy and ticklish and content. Finally the sweet, good natured boy that I knew was in there all along. I am happy to report that I am eating anything I want again and its heaven. 

Easter Sunday(s)

It just so happens that I am one of those cheesy-love my kids to match and coordinate-kind of moms. Especially on Sundays. Usually, I try to coordinate too. It's super ridiculously nerdy and I'm sure garners some eye-rolling, but  I can't help it. You can probably imagine how much I love special holidays when I can usually talk CJ into joining us too... especially Easter. It's like mom-crack for a girl like me!

Well... some nasty awful stomach bug found it's way into our house the week of Easter and Leah got it BAD!

Poor sick little thing was miserable. 

It's by far the worst sick I've had to deal with as a mom so far. She couldn't keep anything down, We had some pretty rough days and nights snuggled together in her bed lined with towels. We washed a lot of towels and jammies those first few days.

                        

It started on Wednesday and I had hoped that it would be a 24-48 hour bug that would pass quickly. No such luck. This girl was in a bad way. I have never seen a child so tired and lifeless. She didn't eat a thing for days and slept all.day.long for several days (except for throwing up and emergency baths...we had a lot of those). It was heartbreaking.

She stayed flat in bed most of the time...

I got her out to the couch a few times, but she would end up fast asleep again within 15-20 minutes.

By the time Saturday rolled around and she was still lethargic, feverish and sickly... it became pretty clear that we would not be dressing up and enjoying Easter the way I had planned. 

Luckily... Easter morning she was feeling a little better and was excited to find her basket loaded with a few special treasures. She put her game face on and hunted for the handful of eggs that we had hidden around the living room. It wasn't the perfect Easter, we didn't color any eggs, we didn't get out of our PJs and we didn't even eat any candy... but we still felt love and gratitude just the same.

Luckily... after a good solid week, she finally got feeling better! Two weeks later, we had a do-over//take two//"Second Easter" and finally got a chance to dress up in our matching outfits.

As we were sitting in the chair taking pictures, Leah looked over and hidden behind a lamp... she excitedly discovered a special pink tube of Easter m & ms left especially for her on "Second Easter". (turns out we just forgot to find them on our lackluster hunt on "real" Easter)

She was so excited!

And just like that we captured the magic of a holiday even when we were just pretending!

Happy Easter!

Carrots

Honestly, these pictures are too funny not to document.

Charley's first encounter with anything other than mama's milk and his faces say it all...

"What the what?!?"

"Honesly, that is awful. Why on earth would you put that crap in my mouth, what's wrong with you people!?"

"Trying not to gag here, folks"

"If you think I'm just just gonna open my mouth and take it, you are sorely mistaken."

"Maybe if I just keep my mouth open like this, it will fall back out"

"There. I swallowed it. Are you happy? Well, I still don't like it"

"Well then, let's do that again soon. Not"

six months

{Six Months}

An ENTIRE half of a year.

It's amazing how quickly you can fall in love and not even be able to imagine your world without someone that you didn't even know six months ago. (I guess that also happened with the mister and I)

This little chunkychuck has wiggled and melted his way into every single crevice of my heart and soul. Honestly. He's a sweet one.

It's been a busy month with a lot going on for him. He's growing like a weed and learning new things every day.

::6 month stats::

weight - 18lbs 6oz (75th percentile)

height - 28in (95th percentile)

head circ - 17.52 in (75th percentile)

He's still hovering at the top of the charts, though his weight leveled off a bit. But my back assures me daily that nearly 18 1/2lbs for a dead weight 6 monther is nothing at all to be ashamed of. Ouch.

Other notable things to report:

We changed his name this month. 

Well, not so much his name... just the spelling. 

It's a long story, one that his daddy will have to explain to him one day. Daddy learned a valuable lesson about speaking up when in fact you have an opinion and Mommy learned that some battles just aren't worth winning. So now hopefully we got it right in honor of his namesake. I am still a little sad about it, but I have a load of baby keepsakes to help me remember what used to be.

The good news in all of it is that I love him just the same, whether he's CharlIE or CharlEY. 

He also graduated to the big tub this month. His chubbachub was spilling out of the baby tubbatub and he was ready to have a little more splashing room. We got him a sweet little bath chair and he loves it. Sissy loves having him in the tub with her and delights in splashing him and making him laugh. And last but not least, I love that we are only doing one nightly bath instead of two. 

Another highlight around these parts is that Charley graduated from the cradle and into his crib. Hooray! We finally made the jump and did the bed shuffle so that we could get him out of our bedroom in hopes that we would all sleep better. It worked!!! This boy, that gave us so much grief in his first few months of life is now consistently sleeping 9-11 hours a night. 

We attempted to also try breaking him of swaddling at the same time, which was significantly less successful. That first night was a little rough, however we swaddled him the second night and he slept 10 straight hours and hasn't looked back. At this rate, I'm totally willing to swaddle him until he's 9 1/2.

He is sitting up all by himself, unassisted, and loves the new outlook and perspective it gives him. He still topples over occasionally, but he is getting better every day at keeping his balance and owning his position. He is really starting to play with toys now. I love to watch him work his hands and watch the wheels turn inside his head as he figures new things out.

Charley got his very first "grandpa swing" this month... courtesy of the little rocker for a little more stability.

I think it's safe to say that he's a fan...

Solid Food.... the day that I thought this chubby kid had been living for. 

Turns out, he's not a fan. Like, at all.

At least not yet. Hopefully he'll come around and those carrots will grow on him.

He still doesn't have even hardly of a whisper of hair on his head. He's as bald as a q-ball.

Hopefully it will grow someday. 

 He is happy and content most all of the time. We are getting ready to start weaning him off of his reflux meds and I have started re-introducing dairy without catastrophic results. It was a hard few months...but  we did it and it finally seems to be getting better and this sweet, happy boy is more than worth it! 

This boy is super ticklish. Like really, really ticklish. 

And his laugh? Oh my, his laugh. 

ihaveacrushonthisboy

Six long hard months in and I wouldn't trade it for anything. This little Charley Chunk is a keeper!

A certified, bonafide, make-my-heart skip-a-beat keeper!

Happy 6 Months Little Buddy!

I love you to the moon. 

...and back.

five months

The months seem to be zipping by faster than I am comfortable with. Just a few short months ago, I was having a hard time imagining my life with a baby boy in it. However now, just five months after meeting him... I literally can't imagine my life without him.

This squishy, chubby, happy smiley boy definitely makes my world a better place!

This was a month of firsts...

Charlie made his first road trip this past month and had it been a test, he would have aced it! 

Such a good little traveller! 

The worst news of the month was that he also got his first sick bug and it was a doozy!

Poor buddy got RSV and was miserably sick for about a week, terrible cough, high fever, runny/stuffy nose and diminished appetite. It was awful. For a few days we had to take him into Primary Children's for suctioning and breathing treatments. I'm not sure who hated that worse... me or him. 

He was a hot mess much of the time, but he was also especially sleepy and snuggly, which doesn't suck. I realize that the it won't be long before he will no longer sleep on my chest and rest his head on my shoulder and I just wanted to drink him up like this.

  For the most part, he was a pretty sweet little sick guy, just so puzzled and confused as to why he felt so icky.

As if that week wasn't bad enough.... I had some sinus/oral surgery that had been scheduled for months. It was horrible timing, however we decided that I should go ahead with it and get it over with. I wasn't able to nurse him for about 18 hours, due to the anesthesia and it was miserable. We have never been super successful in getting him to take a bottle and he was definitely having none of it. Poor Chris had to feed him from a medicine dropper that whole time. His poor sad little face kind of ripped my heart out!

Luckily, we survived all of it!

In better news, he is finally sleeping better for the most part! Though we lost some ground when he got sick, we are back to getting a 6-8 hour stretch most nights. Nowhere near as good as littlemissbigsis was doing at this age... but still a significant improvement and we'll take it. Unfortunately we still have some crummy nights mixed in there... but the good nights are slowly starting to outweigh the bad. 

I have gradually been adding soy back into my diet and it hasn't seemed to be a problem. He still seems to have some issues with dairy, so I am still trying to avoid it for the most part. However, my pediatrician suggested that I start taking some digestive enzymes, which I have and that seems to lessen the severity of his reaction to it! I am no longer as totally militant about it as I was and it feels soooooo good!

He is still growing like a weed and I suspect he has surpassed the 18 lb mark. He's enormous and ridiculously heavy.

He is very near growing completely out of sister's hand me down pink bathtub... yet not quite ready for the big tub. We gotta figure something out and soon because this boy loves his baths and its hilarious to see him bending his legs all crazy just to try and get his chubby torso under the water! 

We have started venturing out on walks a little more these last couple of weeks, since we've finally had some days above freezing and he seems to love the fresh air almost as much as his mama! 

Being cooped up in the winter isn't good for anyone's soul.

He is hitting that age that is so fun as he becomes more active, playful, alert and interactive. He is hitting new milestones all the time. He is rolling all over the place and is getting closer to being able to sit up on his own. He is finally really interested in toys and is working his hands really well. He loves to watch Leah play and no one can make him smile and laugh better than her. 

This boy definitely has me wrapped around his chubby little finger.

He is sweet, happy and content and his dimples are pretty much my favorite thing on the planet.

happy five months littleman

*****