Little Mister - 7 Month Update

Weight/Height: We used our at home methods this month.  E weighed in at 22.2 pounds, 91st percentile and measured 27.5 inches, 55th percentile. 

Eating: Oh where to begin?  Since we started solids for E, we stopped tracking him.  Which is good and bad.  I'm glad I'm not frantically writing down every thing anymore, but I often don't know how much he's eaten or what exactly he's doing.  When we stopped tracking C, he was still on a strict schedule of 5-8-11-2-5-8.  That isn't the case with Little Mister E.  He's all over the place.  Typically he's having his first bottle between 5am and 7am.  The rest of the day, its a crap shoot.  Some days he'll eat every 3-4 hours religiously until bedtime, other days, like today he ate at 7am and didn't eat again until 1pm, but had a third bottle at 2pm.  Other days, he'll do back to back feedings in the morning and take super long naps in the afternoon and miss a feeding.  The only semblance of routine is each bottle is 6 ounces and he's usually finishing that each time he eats, sometimes he'll leave anywhere from half an ounce to an ounce, but usually he's eating a full 6.  The other normal is he's taking his last bottle between 7:15pm - 7:45pm.  So between 5am and 7:30pmish he's eating between 30 and 36 ounces.  Little E, ALL OVER THE PLACE!  We tried taking the Happy Bellies Brown Oatmeal out of this bottles, but when we started cutting it out he started spitting up all the time so we put it back in.  He's still eating Similac Sensitive Formula with 1 scoop of oatmeal in each bottle.  Now onto solids.  E loves to eat!  He especially loves cheese and strawberries.   In just the past month we've seen him already excel at eating and not just gumming the food.  He downs a waffle for breakfast with C, he makes a mess out of a banana!  His napping has meant some days he doesn't do lunch with us, but others he does.  If he's awake lunch is usually a cheese stick, carrots, broccoli, butter beans, deli turkey, roast beef, chicken and strawberries.  Some combo of that.  Dinner is usually the same as lunch and we add in what we're eating if its cut appropriately for him to pick it up.  We've tried some spoon feeding of applesauce and he loved it and he also enjoys Pirate Booty and Veggie Straws like the rest of us! We've been a bit more lax this time around because we know he's still learning to chew and swallow and pick up food, so we haven't been tracking stuff and not worrying about him eating a lot of the same stuff.

Sleeping:  E's been pretty consistent with his sleeping and he and C are still rocking at sharing a room for night time sleep.  So glad sharing a room has worked out so well for the boys and momma and daddy!  If C's awake, E naps in his crib, but if he takes an afternoon nap E naps in his cradle that's still in our bedroom.  Naps are just not a deep enough sleep to let them share a room.  We had to work with E a bit this month with some more CIO.  He was trying to wake up around 3:30am - 4am.  We're blaming it on teeth.  And since we've done a few nights of CIO, he's doing much better or if he does wake up early, he plays and puts himself back to sleep until 5:30 or so.  Sometimes, if he wakes up early, after 5am we'll get him up, feed him and he goes back to sleep until 7.  Other times, he'll wake up after 5am, not eat and be up until mid morning.  Remember, no routine for this little guy!  A typical day includes a cat nap in the morning and longer nap in the afternoon.  Wakeup between 5am - 7am and bedtime is usually 8pm.  Sometimes he'll be tired, eat his last bottle and when we burp him he wakes up and doesn't want to go to sleep until closer to 9pm.  Writing this all out, it really does sound like he's all over the place and he is, but by the way his day starts and how our day goes (errands, running around, or home) we can usually guess how E's going to flex to fit into the day in terms of eating and napping.  Its working for us and he's sleeping well and eating well so I can't complain!

Diapers: We're in a routine with diapers.  He's in cloth when we're at home, but he's in disposables for overnight and when we're out and about.  For disposables he's still wearing Pampers Cruisers Size 3 and his cloth Fuzzibunz, I need to take the time and adjust the sizing.  He's too big for them currently, but it isn't causing leaks or anything, its more just making it easier to put on him because they aren't long enough right now.

Clothes: E is rocking out in size 9 months in most clothes from Carter's and big brother's hand me downs.  Our little chunkster, we did have to go up a size for his church dedication outfit from Crazy 8's - size 12-18 months! And he's been wearing last year's wool peacoat that is size 12-18 months.  Everyday clothes though, he's been wearing tops, pants and one pieces in size 9 months.  As it gets cooler and more winter like we'll have to figure out if C's 12 month hand me downs are too big and we may need to buy E some more of his own 9 month clothes to get through the winter months.  And while some of E's clothes are larger sizes, he's still a little guy so we've gotten pretty good at hemming his pants to make them fit!  We're still having to do the same thing for C too with his pants, especially dress pants.

Social Butterfly: During E's seventh month he went out and about a lot.  He went to Cincinnati for to the Cincinnati Zoo for the Institute for Reproductive Health (our fertility clinic)'s Baby Celebration, he traveled back to Virginia for his baby dedication with big brother at my home church and hung out with his cousins while in Virginia,  he went to the Louisville Zoo's World's Largest Halloween Party to trick or treat and he went to a handful of Trunk or Treats with big brother.  E did a whole lot of riding in the stroller, but he loves seeing people and watching things.  He can be screaming in the carseat, because he still hates it, and you take him out and he realizes he's somewhere new and he immediately settles down and starts looking around.  He also was out and about with us for our weekly errands and a couple vet trips for the pups.  E has also been visiting different church nurseries as we try to find a home church and attended his first MOPPETS room when I went to my first MOPS (Mothers of Preschools) meeting this month.  E continues to invoke smiles and comments about his big blue eyes from strangers on most outings!

Playtime:  Playtime has been more of the same this month.  E's still loving C's toys like his cars and Fisher Price Little People.  He pretty much bypassed the baby stage toys unless we specifically give them to him!  E has also started scooting around the floor on his bum when he's sitting up.  He can be in the middle of the floor and within a couple minutes he's slowly bounced on his bum across the room and pulled toys off the shelves.  Its hilarious!  He's rolling back to front and front to back and thus rolling around the room too investigating anything he can find.  He really loves watching C play and trying to play with him, which C is learning to tolerate!  E also enjoys listening to books and listening to momma singing songs.  He loves Peek A Boo and loves being tickled on his cheeks and necks and belly.  He gives the best belly laughs when momma 'eats' his cheeks!  During playtime, E is also really really REALLY wanting to crawl!  He's getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth.  But inevitably he just ends up spinning in a circle, doing baby pushups or planks and scooting around.  I would place money that by month 8 he'll be crawling though, he wants it so badly!

Personality: E you are such a clown!  You light up from attention.  You're so curious and investigate everything you can get your hands on.  You're a chatterbox.  Daddy and I have laughed and laughed lately listening to you carrying on conversations with your toys.  You let out the biggest squeals of joy, your laughter, your babbling.  Its an amazing sound!  You hate being left alone and want to be on the move all the time - trying to crawl, scooting, jumping in the exersaucer, wiggly all around everywhere!  I can't wait to see how your little personality continues to develop and shine over the coming months!

Milestones: In E's seventh month, his biggest milestone would be getting his top left tooth!  The top right isn't far behind, but not yet poked through.  Another big milestone is his bottom scooting and getting up on his hands and knees to rock and try to crawl.  I can't believe we'll have a second mobile baby sooner than later!  A big milestone is getting dedicated at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Glen Allen, Virginia.  Going along with the dedication, we've been on the hunt for a home church in Louisville and E's been doing great visiting nurseries and meeting new people.  He's growing up so quickly and I can't believe he's closer to be a year old than being a newborn now!  Slow down, baby boy, slow down!

Who does E look like? 6 Month Edition

And I think its safe to say E doesn't look like either of us!  Although in real life, we often get that C looks like RCW and E looks like me.  However, I don't see it in these pictures.  I see RCW's features in E more than me! And our poor little bald man, he's going to look so difference once he has hair!

Little Man - 20 Month Update

October Crafts via Pinterest - Part 1

I've felt for a while that C is getting bored with the same old, same old.  We stopped going to MyGym after August because 1. E was just too wiggly and would get bored sitting in the carseat.  And while I can do a lot of things with the boys solo, wrangling C at MyGym while keeping E happy is not one of them and 2. their summer rates went away and fall ones came with the start of school which meant it was costing us more money for fewer lessons.  Those 2 things meant we stopped for right now.  But because of that C doesn't have something happening 2-3 times a week now.

I've also been thinking more and more about teaching C.  He isn't getting a curriculum that I know he would be getting in a preschool situation and right now there aren't plans for him to go to preschool until he turns 3.  And most likely it'll be 3.5 since he'll go to a school year preschool program and start in September 2015.  That is if I can convince RCW.  RCW still thinks kindergarten is like it was when we were kids way back in the mid 80's.  Remember when kindergarten was a half day and was essentially preschool to prep you for first grade?  Yea.  Well I know it isn't like that anymore, but RCW needs some more convincing!

Thus, my October projects.  I wanted to start trying to do things with C a few times a week.  Something semi structured.  Something with crafts.  Something that would be new and exciting for him.  Something that can hopefully easily transition into a more set learning time at home as he gets older.  I am by no means trying to homeschool C, but I'd like to help him learn so he has a foundation upon entering preschool.

In the middle of September I took some time and turned to Pinterest.  I found a plethora of October, Halloween related, activities I thought we could do.  I set out to do something 4 times a week with C, but as the month has started, I realized that on errand days its hard to get something going.  We usually have the morning, but once he wakes up from his typical 3 hour nap at 4pm, its a bit late in our day to do something.  But again, this is about him having fun, doing something new and not so much a set everyday.at.10am.we.do.something. mentality.

Here's a peek and review of some what we've done so far! 

Pinterest Successes

1. Golf Ball Web Painting and Spider Fingers

This was our first project.  He really loved tilting the box and moving the balls.  Oh the balls.  Balls and cars, his favorite things.  Then much to my happy surprise C was all about having his hand traced to make the spider.  He thought making a 'bug' was super cool and well we made one for the painting and then made a second that hangs out on our kitchen window and he plays with regularly now.  He loves shaking it up and down and making it move.  And seeing it and shouting BUG!  E got in on the action too on this one!

2. Smoosh and Stamp Pumpkins

We did this art project and C really enjoyed it as well.  He loves paint.  Loves it!  He thought the smooshing part was fun, although he kept trying to look inside the bag to see what was going on.  Momma didn't have any black paint - oops!  So instead of stamping, we did gluing.  I cut out squares, circles and triangles from black construction paper, put glue on the back using a glue stick and then gave pieces to C as he requested.  I did ask him to make eyes, a nose and mouth.  He did pretty great.  I think it was a lucky day for our little Picasso!  And he totally had preferences.  I would hand him a square and he would say no, wait, and I'd hand him a circle.  He would take it and place it.

You can see our finger spider hanging in the window!

3. Spider Handprint

This was an easy, typical toddler project.  Handprints.  Oh the many different things you can make from hands and feet!  Later this month we'll be doing a ghost footprint too.  C loved having his hand painted and putting it down.  Its so much fun this year!  Last year, it was a struggle and I remembered it oh so well with E again this year.  Those babies do not like making handprints, but toddlers do!  We made extras of this one to give to some grandparents too.

4. Halloween Gak

I didn't know how this would go over, but C loved it.  He thought it was so cool!  Its definitely a different play experience than playdough.  We bought out popsicle sticks, googly eyes and pipecleaners too.  Beware if you make this: the orange will dye things so be sure to wash it out afterwards, gak likes to stick in fabrics such as carpets and clothes, but will wash out and if you make this you will think you did it wrong, but just keep stirring, it will thicken.  Its still sitting on our kitchen counter and honestly, I'm not sure who had more fun with it C or RCW.  RCW's obsessed.  He thought it was really cool when he got home from work and kept saying how he never got to play with gak as a kid! RCW has continued to poke it and play with it daily when he's hanging out in the kitchen and even used it one night after dinner to throw on my arm and scare the c.r.a.p out of me.  I knew it was there.  I knew he was behind me.  I was finishing my dinner and singing a song with C to keep him entertained.  All of a sudden something cold and wet feeling was on my bare skin.  I immediately freaked out that a snake or frog was on me.  Hello, my name is Stephanie and I'm irrational.  I screamed.  Like screamed like someone was killing me.  Then C started screaming too.  Monkey see, monkey do around here.  And RCW laughed so hard he cried.  Too bad that moment wasn't on film!

Pinterest Fails - no pictures of these because they were massive failures that didn't work out at all.

1. Blow Paint Monsters

This was a 2 part fail.  Part 1: Momma didn't thin the paint out enough.  Oops.  Part 2. C LOVES straws.  C loves pretending to blow bubbles or blowing when we read The 3 Little Pigs.  He only drinks from straw sippy cups.  All of these facts added up to C sucking in, but not blowing out.  He did not ingest any paint, but that was what was trying to happen in addition to the paint being too thick.  Honestly, I thought about taking a picture, but it was truly just purple blobs on white cardstock.  No one wants to see that.  Fail for this year.  I think next year or probably next month we could try this again with some success.  Blow Paint Turkeys or Blow Paint Elves, anyone?


2. Pumpkin Moon Sand

I don't know what I did wrong.  I measured wrong.  I didn't mix quickly enough.  Ours does NOT look like the picture in the link.  At all.  Picture playing with sand at the beach and adding water.  Yup.  That's what happened when I trying making this during C's nap.  Its thick.  Its not like sand.  Something happened.  But first there wasn't enough water, then there was too much water so I added more sand and cornstarch.  It was a mess.  And our chalk powered paint to color the sand (see the link above), yea, not so much.  Or maybe I didn't use enough chalk.  I don't know.  I let C see it and touch it, but sand particles just stuck to his hands.  Which he rubbed on his face in the short minutes he had access to it.  It was going to be a massive mess!  It didn't look like that in the link pictures, right?!  So, mommas, have you made moon sand?  What did I do wrong?  This looks like such a fun activity.  C loves sand.  C loved gak.  I thought this would be great.  But my concoction was a wreck.

So far, 10 days into October this is what we've done.  I have a list with many more activities for the rest of the month.  I'll post again when the month is over.  But you can see our successes and failures and what works for my almost 20 month little guy!  I'm hoping to keep this up and to continue for November and December, which should be easy months with Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I'm hoping to keep going and in February or March when C is 2, start doing some alphabet projects mixed in with other stuff.  A letter a week type thing to help him learn ABCs.  And I'm sure variations of these projects will pop up again.  They're easy to do and successes and C liked them so we'll tailor them to fit the month and theme and not always recreate the wheel.

If you stay at home with your littles full time, as in they don't go anywhere else, what do you do for learning and establishing an educational foundation?  Am I overthinking it and worrying too much?  I will admit I think because I know he would have been getting a top notch preschool experience had I kept working (where I worked had an accredited preschool program starting at age 1 that he would have attended with a discounted tuition) it makes it that much harder for me sometimes with this type of stuff.  I just want the best for him, as we all do for our littles!

E's 6 Month Photoshoot

On Saturday, September 21 we headed to the Louisville Zoo for E's 6 month photoshoot with our fab photog Sarah.  I picked the zoo because September 21 was our anniversary.  8 years together, 4 years married.  And we happened to get married at the Louisville Zoo.  Be still my photoshoot inspiration heart.  I've thrown in our wedding pics along the way for comparison's sake.  Enjoy!

Some of the main attraction.  E is 6 months.  How is that possible!?  He's sitting up, eating solids foods with us, scooting across the floor on his butt to get to things, rolling from belly to back all the time and occasionally wows us by rolling from back to belly.  He's loves 'standing up', being tickled and watching his brother, the dogs and us.  He loves to grab our noses.  He adores his toes.  He is a wiggly little man who we often say does a crazy dance and just recently he's starting cocking his head over to the right and just flirting with whoever will pay him any attention.  Mr. Big Personality with BIG blue eyes!

These of our littlest man were all taken around the gardens.  The purple flowers in the background, just like from our wedding portraits.

Ahh, brothers.  Seriously I adore this shot and everything its quietly saying and foreshadowing for years to come.  E's face.  He wants to touch C.  C is over it

 

And now a lesson in taking pictures of a 19 month old.  It ain't easy.  Follow the progression and Lord knows how many Sarah deleted inbetween what she gave us!  I'm confident by the time we can teach C to smile for the camera, E will hit the stage C is in now.  It will be a good few more years before we have pictures of everyone smiling at the camera on purpose!

These were all taken around the stone wall and iron fencing.  Like these from our wedding day.

 
The one shot I wanted to recreate from our wedding day.  RCW's even wearing the exact same tiger socks.  The rest of us found animal print socks to go with the theme since there was no way to have the babies pull their pants up!  4 years has blessed us with oh so much. 

The final shot of the day.  We tried to quickly grab one before we got booted off the carousel.

The carousel from our wedding day.  Oh the infamous spot where my wedding dress tore trying to get onto the elephant.  Which is what the family shot above is on by the way!  It was much easier on our wedding day because we had the carousel to ourselves and it was closed to everyone else.  On this day, we all paid, hopped on and hoped for the best in the quick few rotations it made!

I'm absolutely in love with the pictures we got from E's shoot!  It makes me so happy to create more amazing memories at a place that already hold so many for RCW and I.