Your First Christmas!!!

What a fun Christmas we had little man! Relaxing and joyful. 

You were of course more crazy for the crowd of family members to hold you and play with you than you were the actual presents, but that is fine by me (especially since mommy and daddy were totally broke this year!  Don't worry, you'll have plenty of presents next year thanks to Swagbucks!)! Oh and you also had a particular affinity for this box:

We spent Christmas Eve at Aunt Michelle & Uncle Rick's house with Nana's (my mom) side of the family and Christmas Day at Grandma & Grandpa's house with Papa's (my dad) side of the family (who were especailly fun to see since most of them hadn't met you yet!)!

There are really so many pictures that it was difficult to choose, and in spite of how it may appear, I did narrow them down to only these!  So, here goes:

Grandma & Nana admiring you!

Nana lugging you around!

Napping with Papa- a favorite past time for both of you!

Mama & Daddy just cuddling while checking our e-mail and blog readers on our iPhones!

Aunt Michelle & Uncle Rick- our hosts!

Hangin' with Mama!

Your beautiful Nana & handsome Papa, just snugglin'!

Fun with Nana beatin' on the couch!

Snoozin' on Grandma!  What a nice way to spend Christmas Eve!

Christmas Morning!  You played in the exersaucer while your brother tore through his gifts...

...and placed a bow on your head, anointing you as the best gift we received this year!

Family photo opp at Grandma & Grandpa's!

You can see how enthused your brother was about taking this picture!

You love your Grandma! And she loves you!!!

Mama, Grandma, Aunt Jeanna & You!

Grandpa, Grandma, Papa & Nana after a rousing game of Catch Phrase!

Uncle Bob & our cousins Macy & Kolton

And we finished out the day by having Kolton serenade us all with some lovely Christmas songs- "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" & "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer"

He has a great voice and it was really nice to hear him play- your brother especially loved it!

Merry Christmas Lion Cub!  

You are the cutest Christmas baby on the planet!

Love and hugs,

Mama

28 Weeks Old!

Here you are jammin' on your brother's microphone!  I think you will be following in his footsteps as one musical guy!  You guys seem to kind of sing back and forth to each other!  It is funny and adorable!

You continue to scoot like an inch worm all over the place.  I actually walked into the living room the other day and panicked a bit when I found the room empty!  You had scooted your way into daddy's office and were so happy to be just be checking everything out!  You get happier by the day so that the world is more accessible to you (and therefor I get happier by the day as well!)!

Your sleeping schedule has been a little wonky still, but I find that if it comes 7:00 and we are trying to fight through to keep you up until at least 8:00 so you can just go to bed for the whole night instead of taking a nap, a bath really seams to help calm you down and keep yo entertained!  I have even held you up in your bother's bath a few times which you both get a total kick out of!

You learn new things every day!  Here you are learning how to make your voice sound funny- daddy would wiggle his finger between your lips as you made noise and you thought it was just the funniest thing ever!

You are such a joy and we can't wait to see how you react to your very first Christmas little man!

I love you bunches!

Mama

27 Weeks Old!

You reached for me!  You actually reached for me!  It is so nice to feel like you actually want me- just the reward a warn out mommy needs!  This past week you got a cold and so your sleep has been all wonky and you continue to only want to sleep when I am near.  I am trying to keep in perspective that you aren't feeling well though and just buckle down and let you cling to me!

In other news, you tried your first solids this week!  Well, okay, I did feed you two, small bites of banana a week ago, but this week was the first time I actually mashed something up (avacado) and fed it to you with a spoon!  You actually enjoyed it- much more than your brother did with his first bites! I think you are going to be a big lover of food and will probably eat us out of house and home in the coming years!

You have been having lots of fun with your daddy and brother too!  We pulled the futon mattress into the living room to snuggle as a family and watch Christmas movies this weekend so you all decided to "wrestle!"  So funny!

I also gave your hair another trim this week!  You were beginning to look like to look like my high school drama teacher or one of those silly looking monks with the way it was floofing out on the sides so I clipped it again!  I will have to post better pictures next week to show the dramatic difference!

I love you cutie and hope you get to feeling better very soon!

6 Months Old!!!

I can't believe that you are already 6 months old Lion Cub!  And wouldn't you know that last night, the night before you reached this milestone, you started army crawling (much to my delight!)!  So, times up buddy, you can crawl and you have reached six months old- your fussy deadline has been reached and you shall hence forth be a happy baby!  Okay?  Deal?  Please?!

You are starting to sit up too!  Although you can't balance for long, you are coming right along and you have a fun time trying!  We are also discovering that you love thrills as much as your brother- you can be totally crying and we hang you up side down or throw you in the air and you are happy as all get out!

We had an eventful week this week (to say the least!)  Here are some pictures of us going Christmas tree hunting with one of my past doula clients and her family (I was pregnant with you when I attended her birth last March).  We didn't actually get a tree because we already had one, but it was fun to hang out and the scenery was beautiful!

We also went and baked Christmas goodies at Grandma's house (well, our first round anyway!).  It was a fun day and very sweet (someday you'll get to partake too!)!

And finally, here is one of you snoozin' on me!  You haven't been much for sleeping anywhere but on us lately (a phase I hope you will quickly grow out of).  Although sometimes it drives me crazy I am learning to cherish these cuddle moments with you!

I love you so much little man!  I am excitedly looking forward to the next six (crazy) months of your life!  Congrats on half a year buddy!

What I love About You- December 4, 2009

There are so many things I love about you Lion Cub, but here are just few:

-What a little beefcake you are!   And how much you love those toes!!

-How you are already enjoying the role of pesky little brother!  Very funny!

-How you like to rub your head and pull on your ear while you nurse when you're tired!  It is so sweet and cute!

-Your giggle!!  It is priceless!

-The way you love looking at our faces!

-How you love to cuddle everyone!

You are a sweetheart little man!

25 Weeks Old and your first Thanksgiving!

I have one word to describe your latest fascination: TOES!  But only the one on your left foot!  Whenever there are out of your PJs you just go to town!  It is so cute and funny!

You get closer to crawling every day!  You can now balance on your hands and knees pretty darn well- you can even twist your torso and pick up one hand!  You really get to rocking back and forth and we know that anytime now you are just going to race across the room!  When you really get going and then flop down on your belly you get so mad!  But you are getting better at scooting and twisting your way around the living room floor.  You can nearly get to everything you want, it just takes more effort than you want to put out!

Sleep has still been rough this last week.  You are fine once I am actually in bed with you for the night, but anytime before that and you just don't want to snooze for long.  What can I say, you just love to snuggle!

You continue to be a screamer and we are quite sure that you are just very bored!  All the moms at my Bible Study think you are going to be very outgoing and talkative, though, because you are so interactive and vocal!  They laugh as you LOUDLY soothe yourself to sleep during study each week!  You are a character, no doubt!

We had a really nice Thanksgiving over at Aunt Michelle and Uncle Rick's house.  I was very grateful to have lots of hands to hold you and you were of course loving the crowd of people to watch!  Pretty much everyone got some face time with you, Lion Cub, but my favorite pictures from the day are this one with you and Papa snoozin' after dinner:

And this one of you and grandma!  She just adores you and is such a wonderful help!

You of course thought that the moment we sat down to eat would be a good time to start screaming, so I fed you in the other room with less distractions and then was able to pass you off so I could eat myself!  Fairly typical of a holiday meal with a little one though, I guess!

I love you sweet boy and adore watching your little personality emerge more and more!  I simply can't believe that you will be 6 months old in a week! Time goes by so quickly! 

Kisses and cuddles my Lovey Boy!


Mama

What I love About You- November 27, 2009

There are so many things to love about you, Lion Cub, but here are just a few!

-How precious you are when you fall asleep, really asleep!  I am so glad that we co-sleep and I get to snuggle your warm little body all night long!

-Your silly little (and big) noises!  You especially like to make lots of loud noise as you fall asleep!  It is so funny!  I told daddy I am going to start carrying on and yelling the way you do when I try to fall asleep at night- maybe it would help my insomnia!  Haha! :-D

-The way I catch you staring at me or daddy!  It is so sweet!

-How you smack your gums together like an old man without his dentures!  You just crack me up!

-Your chubby cheeks (both sets!) and big hands!

24 Weeks Old!

You are officially moving, if not quite crawling little man!  You can turn completely sideways when you are up on your knees and are keeping balanced for so much longer!  You even moved your knees a little bit a couple of times, you just can't quite figure out how to move your hands!  You manage to scootch yourself all around the living room and darn near backed yourself down the stairs the other day!  It looks like we are going to have to put the gate up a little sooner than expected! You are so close to crawling all the way!  Keep it up buddy!

I think you could definitely qualify for "Boredest Baby on the Block," and I know you will be so much more satisfied when you can get to the things you are trying to explore!  You are starting to enjoy this toy though!  It speaks in different languages, plays all sorts of music from around the world, and is just interesting enough to keep your interest for limited periods of time! 

Sleep has been eluding you (and therefore me!) for most of the last week and a half!  Somehow your schedule got all messed up and you are waking up from an evening nap around 8:30 or 9:00 only to be up until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning!  Not so fun for mama!  Any adjustments you could make would be greatly appreciated little man!  :-D  Thanks in advance!

Regardless, we adore you!  Your silly laugh and coy grin are just enough to completely take my breath away!  We love you Lion Cub!

What I Love About You- November 22, 2009

There are so many things I love about you Lion Cub, but here are just a few!

-I love the way you try to accidentally suck the fingers on your right hand (you usually suck your left) and end up getting all discombobulated!  It is so adorable!

-I love how you are really beginning to show that you recognize me- especially if I walk in a room and you haven't seen me for a little bit.

-I love how you are already recognizing the sound of Daddy's diesel truck coming into the neighborhood!  You can be almost asleep and your head will pop right up, knowing he is almost home!  So sweet!

-I love the silly raspberry noise you make!  It is really high pitched and makes the littlest bubbles- it is so funny and I can't figure out how you do it!

-I love how inquisitive you are.  I think it will serve you well in life!

Everyday there is something more to love about you!

23 Weeks Old!

You are so close to crawling little man, I can hardly believe it!  You are pushing up on your hands and knees and rocking back and forth like crazy!  You can scoot backwards pretty well already and roll all over the living room floor!

You are getting interested in your brother's toys (which he isn't too fond of!) and still think he is just about the funniest person on the planet!  You love for daddy or me to pick you up and chase R-Man around the house!  You both get a kick out of it and roll with laughter!

Your favorite outfit is still your birthday suit and we go through a lot of blankets a day because of it!  Anything to make you happy (for now anyway!)!

We have gotten together with other moms and kiddos a couple of times and you are usually so good and just mesmerized with all that is going on!  You love crowds of people, for some reason it is very calming to you!

You love to grab hair (especially mine!) and anything in our hands!  You stick everything in your mouth and seem to be sucking your thumb more.  You love hanging upside down and any sort of popping or clapping sound!  Mama's singing and crazy dancing are still sure bets to keep you entertained and happy and you just love looking outside!

You sleeping schedule got a bit off again this week but you seem to be adjusting.  I  think it is the hustle and bustle of the groups we have attended that threw you off.

You are a darling boy and you get cuter by the day.  You remind me a lot of your brother but you are also starting to come into your own!  I love you sweet man!