Seven Months

You read that right. Seven months. What the what? I know. I don't understand it either. Time is flying.

Jameson is 7 months old and thinks he's 7 years I think. He is everywhere into everything. He's a boys boy with an awesome sense of humor that is blossoming. His laugh is the best sound in the world.

This seventh month has been full of awesome new things. He is a crawler. He's a pull-uper. He's hilarious and happy. And he's adventurous without fear.

What comes along with all that is… he's a faller. He's a bruiser. He's loud and he's constantly curious. That's my boy! I love every single thing about him.

He's still not sleeping through the night but I'm hoping to fix that soon. I think I'll probably have to start cry-it-out assisting soon. Maybe that will be a deployment project.

He is such a lover of life. Making him giggle is pretty much the best because I can't help but laugh along with him. He's an instant mood lifter. How could he not be with all that chunk and wide eyes.

I'm so in love with this boy.

10 Months and I'm back

Yeah, I know. Its been a while. A very long while. One day I know I will regret taking this blog hiatis when I want to remember all the little details about Jameson's first year, but somehow blogging had to take a backseat to life and everything that came with that for a few months.

I'll kick start my blogging back with a fun time that I just don't want to forget. 10 months has been a ridiculously fun month with Jameson. 10 months is good on him. Every day he looks more like his daddy, doesn't he?

Jameson at 10 months is:

• communicating in his own way- He grunts when he's hungry. He claps in his high chair when he wants more. I've started working on sign language. Yeah, no interest there yet. He moans when he's sleepy and ready to fall asleep. 
• a super fast crawler- SUPER. FAST. I have to watch him like a hawk. Turn your back for a second and he might very well be half way up the stairs in the other room. Or like again today, he could crawl into the kitchen climb up on the open dishwasher door and have started "emptying" it across the kitchen floor. Still a little surprise you aren't walking on your own yet despite loving it with help, but your crawling skills are ridiculous so I guess you're not too bothered.
• in love with most everything that his sister does- even when its directed at him in not the most gentle sweet way, he stays in awe of her. He thinks she is hilarious, which is great because she thinks that she is hilarious too so we all laugh a lot.
• quite the dancer. Any beat gets his little toosh bouncing around.

• will climb over most anything to get to his Daddy on Skype. Objects in the way, beware. You will get trampled on if you get in his way.
• a really awesome eater- This kid is a champ eater. I laugh now at the idea that last month, his pediatrician said I should be feeding him more because his weight was not off the charts like it had been. Never mind that his height is still in the high 90s percentile… Example A, he can devour 2 pieces of homemade pizza himself even after eating an entire serving of peas and carrots. So far, he's not rejected any food at all. He pretty much loves it all
• favorite foods are pizza (obviously lol), bananas, any finger foods pasta related, carrots, broccoli, cheese, and pretty much anything that we're eating. He doesn't like to eat something different than us- or maybe more accurately he demands to eat what we're eating.
• Taking a bottle has gotten easier but I don't push it that often, only when necessary. Its nice to know he does well with one now though. I'm just lazy and hope to nurse as long as possible.

• Speaking of nursing… he has 4 teeth, 2 up 2 down. Teething and nursing has become a little problem every few meals. Not so much on purpose, but just the logistics of more things in his mouth, I have started to think about how long I'll be able to nurse. Amazing what Moms are willing to go through for their kids.
• loves people. He's still very attached to me but he is a flirt and will smile at most anyone that looks at him. He's my happy boy.
• a waver. He waves all the time until I tell him to. Im pretty sure people think I'm making it up when I tell him to wave. I swear. He can do it!
• sleep is still sometimes good sometimes bad. He'll sleep through the night awesome for a few weeks, then get a cold and be back to waking once during the night for a few nights then we do it all over again. 
• Bedtime is 7pm. 6:30 seems to be his natural bedtime still but most days it is just physically impossible for me to have my stuff together enough to get both kids fed, bathed, and happy enough for me to get him down on my own. Because of that, his bedtime is very reflective of how the day is going and what kind of mood Cheyanne is in. If she's clingy, it'll be a late night for him. If she's into something, I can usually find the 10 minutes to get him down without being disturbed. Then he normally sleeps in until 6-7 when I nurse him and he sleeps again until 8-8:30am. 
• an easy kid. Seriously. Not saying all moments are easy, but rarely is he the reason that things are not going well. Life tends to take over and effects all of us which is when things get hairy. He is very much a go with the flow, active kid and I love him so much for that.

Some of my favorite photo moments from this month are:

He's just the sweetest, happy boy that we are blessed to be a part of his life. I am thankful for him every single day. 

Down goes the mattress

Hi my name is Jameson and I have NO idea that I'm only 6 months old. No. Idea.

___________

Tonight, one of the scariest moments of my adult being-a-momma-to-Jameson life happened. And let me just say first off, it happened WAY earlier than I ever dreamed it would. At the end of nap time while I was downstairs finishing up a quick project, I heard Little Man starting to stir and wake up. As is the norm, I gave him a few minutes to really wake up and start "talking" before I rushed up to get him. After a few minutes, I looked at the monitor to see what he was to up and my heart stopped. There he was, standing up in his crib hanging over his rails at his waist!! I ran faster than I've ever ran, taking two steps at a time upstairs praying the entire time that he wouldn't fall. I think I startled him when I threw the door open running to grab him because he started screaming immediately. He thankfully must have been stuck on the rail in the corner and didn't fall out but he came way too close. My heart pounded for about an hour afterwards and I think I gave him about 4,000 extra kisses before bed tonight. 

This boy is growing up way too fast, y'all. At 5 months, the first time he army crawled across the living room floor, I thought, "Come on Son, you're just a baby" but I was excited for him. He was so happy and excited to be mobile. He could catch up to his sister laying across the floor. He could chase Lola around the living room. He immediately knew crawling was the way to go. A few weeks later, he brought up both knees and hauled it into the kitchen from the living room and I thought "OK, so that was fast. This kid…" He's a determined boy that seems to be growing faster than I ever dreamed. But for the first time, I'm physically screaming inside "SLOW DOWN!" I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready for this next phase of babyhood. Its going by too fast. I love everything he does so much, but I so want him to just be a baby a little while longer. 

Ah this is so difficult! Needless to say, Little Man's crib mattress got lowered tonight before bedtime. We won't be having this issue again. But I think its safe to say that there is no slowing him down. All there is left to do is baby proof all things before he can get his hands on it. I want to cry.

Kid, you're killing me.

6 Months

I find it so hard to believe that I have a 6 month baby boy. sometimes when people ask me how old you are, I have to count on my fingers "January, February, March" etc and it always shocks me when I get to the second hand. Ricidulous.

As for stats, he's a biggin'. He's in the 99th percentile in height at 28 1/2 in and a shrimp in weight at 96th%- 19lb7oz. HA, he's my big baby boy. Measuring exactly like his daddy did at the same age.

Six months has been one of my favorites with Little Man. His personality is coming out so strong these days. He is my little lover. He's a snuggler that loves attention and smiles all day long. He's a flirt and its one of my favorites of his qualities. Remind me of that when he's in high school please.

His best friends are his sister and his dog. He is obsessed with both of them. He beams when he sees either of them. He cracks up at pretty much everything his sister does, whether she is aware of it or not. She knows how to get him going though and when she starts cuttin' up for him, its quite a laughing fest.   He adores our pup Lola too. He will get himself to her any ways necessary for a snuggle. She is so great with him. Gentle and loving, they are pretty cute.

Its been a big month for J. Not only has he been a traveling boy, seeing lots of family members that we don't see often, he's had some new experiences and learned some exciting new skills. His 6 months has been a nonstop adventure, one new thing after another. I think it might just be easier to list the main ones.
-crawling. That's the biggest one by far. The army crawl started last month but the actual mobile at warp speed crawling started this month. He's a quick learner and an even more determined one at that.
-talking. He says "dada" all the time. He says it to everything so I know its not his first "word" but its a recognizable sound so it counts. "baba" and "bla" and "bra" are all other sounds we hear a lot too right now. I love the early stages of babbling.
-Daddy obsessed. I feel like the word obsessed doesn't do it justice. Jameson is ob.sess.ed with his Daddy. He wiggles and squirms right out of my arms to get to him when he is reachable. Mommy's sloppy seconds when Daddy is around.
-Starting solid foods. I just started him on any solid foods. He's still a momma's milk kind of kid which I love. I don't rush the solids on my kids because let's face it, I thankfully have healthy fast growing babies that seem to thrive on whatever liquid gold I seem to produce for them. And really, food is so much more difficult than breastmilk.

Potty what??

If you've visited with us recently then you know our potty song. Most likely you have it memorized just like we do because of how much C sings it.

"PEE PEE ON THE POTTY. PEE PEE ON THE POTTY. PEE PEE ON THE POTTY. NO PEE PEE ON THE FLOOR." sung to the tune of the conga? I don't know. I made it up. I think of a conga line when we sing it. It worked, that's all I know.

I think it is safe to say now that we are a one diaper household! WHAT WHAT?!! Man, how can I type this and you get the full affect of my excitement? After months-and months-and months of working on the potty routine, Chey's got it. She's been diaper free for weeks now with only 1 accident so far (I'm still not sure how it happened- she was in the bathroom by herself). Even though I have her in a cloth wrap at night because I'm not 100% trusting of her yet, she is in big girl undies all day.

To our surprise, she still will not get out of her bed by herself until we go in there with her. Because of this, I'm not willing to put her in undies at night yet until she realizes that she is actually allowed to get down alone. I have no idea why she hasn't challenged it yet, but she seriously will stay in bed all day until someone finally comes and gets her. That doesn't mean quietly, but she will not get down. And so you know, she's in a full size bed and has been for over a year now, not the flippin' eiffel tower, so she is completely physically capable of getting down but just won't. Once she is willing to get out of bed on her own, I'll be more willing to put her in undies at night. Then at least if she has to go, she'll get down and go. She wakes up dry in the mornings, but the cloth wraps makes me feel better in case she does actually have an accident.

POTTY POTTY POTTY!!! Woohoo! Momma and Daddy are so proud of you big girl. You are growing up so fast. Sometimes you act so much older than 2 that I have to remind myself that yes you are still technically two and a toddler. Ah, I'm so proud of you I could explode.  Good job baby girl!!

5 Month Stats

Jameson, five months have flown by. You are not my teeny baby anymore. Your size fools people, sometimes even me.

You are still nursing about ever 3.5 hours during the day and sleeping in 6ish hour stretches at night.

Bedtime is 6:30pm. Sleep until midnightish (give or take an hour or so). Nurse. Back to sleep until 4-6am. Nurse. Sometimes back to sleep until 8, sometimes not. Those "not" mornings make for long days…

You DID sleep through the night once. I thought maybe that was the start of something new. You tricked me. You were up 3 times the next night :(

love that you hold your ear when you're nursing.  No idea why you do, but its cute. Chey used to play with her eyelashes or my hair when nursing. You play with your ears.

One word. Slobber. One word said multiple times. Slobber. Slobber. Slobber. Ahh the drool.

"Jameson…!"

"Hey Jameson"… There it is. The drool :)

I felt a tooth last week while you were gnawing on my fingers. Its just a little corner piece poking through, but those teeth are making their way up. I'm. Not. Ready. For. That.

You're favorite person in the world is your sister (because I don't count since most of the time I'm quite sure I'm just the boobs in your world). You laugh at everything she does whether she is trying to be funny or simply walking by you. You crack up.

You're newest love is bubbles. You think they are hilarious and amazing all at the same time. See the best bubble video HERE.

You are constantly moving, quite the wiggle worm. Daddy loves holding you when you are wiggly butt. NOT!



You roll everywhere. If you don't have room to roll, you scoot yourself like a flopping seal using your face and whole body to get yourself moved. Crawling is in your near future.

You still loves baths, despite the fact that you are too big for your bath. I haven't figured out a new game plan for that one so we just deal with too small bathtub that you try and squirm out of.

You are in size 9-12 months. 9 months is snug but its the last of my cute onesies for you so I'm getting my wear out of them. 12 months is quickly taking over though. There is no early buying for you. I can only get you things to fit now, no planning ahead because there is just no predicting.

You love being rocked and will fall asleep with pretty much anyone if they rock you. Exhibit A- you fell asleep in Skipper's arms while in VA.

You love being carried in either the Baby Bjorn or my Mayan Wrap. Those are your favorites. The Moby Wrap was just never going to work for you.

Firsts at five months- seeing bubbles and finding them hilarious!, Trip to VA to meet lots of new people, playing in your saucer, played in a "jonny jumper"-awesome, slept through the night, successfully took a bottle (the only bottle to date unfortunately).

Best outstanding moment of month five-

This. Happened.

Yes, you are a chunk and half and its only accentuated next to your cousin Ty. Yes your thigh is as wide are your cousin's waste. Yes, you did try and eat his head at one point.  I love that you two are holding hands and yes, you're best friends for life.

You are still such a happy boy! I hope that never changes. I hope that you continue to bring smiles to peoples's faces and shine your light bright in a very dark world. Your daddy and I are so thankful that we get to be your parents. What a gift you are.

 

Happy 5 months baby boy!! We love you.

4 months old (or so they say)

People seem a little astonished when they ask how old Jameson is and I say "four months." Between his size and his strength, its easy to see why it can be confusing. But, I birthed him so I'm quite sure he's only 4 months. Apparently, he just doesn't know it.

As my sister said the other day, he's a 4 month old in a twelve month body.

At his 4 month appointment, he weighed in at 17 1/2 pounds and 26 3/4 inches long, 93% in both length and weight. Just to have a comparison, here was Cheyanne at 4 months. Long story short on size alone, Jameson has 3 pounds and 4 inches on Cheyanne at this age. Ah, Wood boys.

He is also a rolling boy these days. For a while, immediately after lying him on his back, he would roll over, get stuck on his belly and cry until someone came and saved him then do the whole roll and cry thing again. That was a fun couple weeks. Thankfully, one day Big Boy swung one leg back over and has been rolling 360s every since. He is rolling all over the place now.

Jameson is a charmer and a flirt. Although he is always happier in my arms, he loves flashing his sweet smile at any face that will smile back. Tickle his chin or cheeks and you'll get a full hardy laugh. Tickle him pretty much anywhere and you'll get that good reaction. He loves to be startled which I think is fantastic. He thinks it hilarious when I surprise him or say "boo!" in his face.

He's a drooler, boy is he a drooler.  Its a sweet drool, but Lord its constant. I'm just praying that this is not the beginning of teething. He's too young, right? I'm hoping because I'm nowhere near ready for that challenge yet. I need him to stay baby just a little while longer (and my boobs just don't need that right now!). He loves his hands and has them in his mouth constantly which seems to contribute to this.

This picture cracks me up. That face.

• Asleep by 6:30pm, up to eat at 2:30am, then back down until 6 when you are wide awake. Takes a while to get you back to sleep until 7:30ish.
• Adores his sister. She cracks him up.
• His favorite is when we all go down the stairs together. He gets hysterical with laughter watching her "boom" on her bottom down the steps on her own.
• You probably could start food but I don't think we're there yet. I'm holding off an indefinite amount of time. I'll decide at some point when it seems necessary but for now, you just love momma's milk.
• First beach trip was to Isle of Palms. I'm pretty sure your pale skin never touched the sunshine thanks to Daddy and his tent making abilities.

I'm sure there is tons I'm not putting here right now, but I'll add to it as I think of more. Four months is so much fun. We love you Little Man, or "Brother" as we typically call you.

Honey, we have a roller

Long gone are the days of a stationery baby. I can barely remember the last time I laid Jameson down somewhere to return to find him in the same spot. He is a roller and a mover. Once he started, he has never stopped. One day last week, from the minute he woke up he started his rocking and rolling from side to side. Trying all day long, grunting and fussing. It was finally about an hour before his bedtime and I turned to look at him and sure enough, there he was on his belly. He's learned to do something that most babies don't do until 5-6 months. He doesn't last more than 3 seconds on his back before he flops over to his belly now. And from his belly, he can now turn and scoot himself to face any direction. He especially loves to do this when his sister is doing something entertaining and he needs to see. I showed you awhile ago how he's moving around on his back HERE.

Now, this is what I find.

As excited as I am that he has gained this new found ability to roll and move, it comes with its GIGANTIC problems. For one, when he cant get himself back over to his back, he cries. That happens a lot. So, there is a lot of going back and forth when busy doing things to put him back on his back only to have him flip back over and go through it all again ALL. DAY. LONG.

Problem two, he's a swaddled baby. The last month, I have been letting him keep one arm out when swaddled because the boy loves his fingers. That was working great for him. Well, now that he rolls, I was stressing out at night and during naps about the fact that he rolls to his belly and may not be able to support himself off of his sheet with only one arm. Terrifying.

Problem three, I have ditched the swaddle (last night) and moved on to the sleep sack which is quite the adjustment for him. Even if he wasn't rolling though, I would have had to lose the swaddle soon because he barely fits in it anymore. But not being swaddled, he's so used to being tight at night, its his cue for sleep.  But now he wakes himself up with all the arm freedom. I haven't figured that one out yet. Advice? Anyone? I still stress about him sleeping on his belly and check his face 5 times before I go to bed to make sure he's on his cheek and not face. But, since its only been one night, I'm hoping things get better with the sleep.

3 Months and a 1000 smiles

My sweet Jameson is 3 months old. Three months! 

He is such a joy. Honestly. He is a happy boy that loves attention and adores his momma. He smiles about 80% of the time and if he's not smiling, there is something very wrong in his world- dirty, sleepy, hungry, something drastic.  He loves watching his big sister and cracks up at her moments of drama, which at age 2 are pretty often. I wonder if it will always be like this. She cries so he laughs so she cries harder he laughs harder. Oh boy.

His favorite things beside the things I mentioned already are…

peeing in a warm bath, having his shirt pulled over his head during changes, and being tickled pretty much anywhere. 

Tummy time is getting better and better. He has strong head control and is starting to push up off his chest when on his belly. He is "mobile." These days, he is rarely still in the position that I left him when on his back. He moves himself in all directions, a full 180 and then complete 360s. He's fast at it too so I have to watch him close.

He's also getting more comfortable in his bumbo seat. He loves to sit up and always tries to hoist himself up if I've only propped him half way on something. He's strong. No lie. (And, yes, I'm buying a cover for the beautiful purple bumbo that used to be Cheyanne's. I just haven't yet).

He's also very much a Wood boy, a growing-very-quickly Wood boy. Three months old in 9 month clothing. Yes, nine months. When we were in Roanoke, we weighed him at 15.5 pounds. That was 2 weeks ago. I'm guessing he is more at 16 by now. I'm dying to know real measurements.

Sleep isn't fantastic around here yet but what's new there? I'm starting to believe that I just don't birth strong sleepers. Zzzzzzz…. oops sorry I fell asleep real quick. Anyways, I'm trying to commit to the Baby Wise way of doing things. I've heard enough praise stories about it that I'm trying my best to figure it out for him. So far, no luck.

But, look at that face. Who can be upset from severe sleep exhaustion when you look at him? I know I can't.

He is in his own room now. The night we came home from Virginia was his first night in his room. I was up quite a bit that night with him, but by night 2 was doing much better. I started with him in his bassinet in his crib, but seeing as he's grown so quickly, he just didn't fit in it anymore. That only lasted about 3 nights until I took the bassinet out. I love not having to tip toe in my room anymore going to bed, even if I am up more during the night.

I guess the most significant thing in Jameson's life this month was our trip to Virginia at the end of March. He met so many new people that have been waiting a long time to meet him. He is so loved and I am so blessed. He met his Skipper, all of his great-grandparents on my side, Uncle Jake and his family including cousin Libby, his Uncle Greg and girlfriend Krista, gained a little cousin Tyson, and met some of my best friends from childhood. He was a very busy kid for a few weeks.

Jameson, baby boy, I cannot express enough how very much you are loved. You bring so much happiness to us all. Your sweet toothless smile, your ball of energy early in the mornings, your love of being snuggled. All these things make each day with you better than the last.

Happy Easter

Before it gets too far gone, I'm sending out a big Happy Easter to you! I don't know if your Easter week was quite as exciting as mine, but I hope you found time to enjoy and appreciate the things that truly matter in life.

I've already posted about our biggest news this week, little Tyson. I thought I would share some of our Easter pictures and the days that surrounded it. Since my sister gave birth Thursday, we spent the rest of the week in her area which also happens to be 5 miles from my in-laws house. They were gracious enough to let my little family of 3 plus my parents bunk up at their house while T was in the hospital. That meant we ended up celebrating Easter morning at their house.

First things first Easter mornings (no matter where we are), we must search the house to find where the Easter bunny left us our Easter basket. And of course by 'our' I mean Cheyanne...

Found it!

Now from this point on, almost every Easter picture you'll see will have a lollipop in it. I mean, if the Easter bunny gives you lollipops, you have to eat them even if it is 8am! Or so Cheyanne thinks.

What can I say? The girl loves lollipops.

Poor Jameson watched the festivities from afar.

But before you think I'm a horrible mother that forgot to remind the Easter bunny about the second child, Jameson got his basket later when we got to Auntie T's to see Tyson (and TT and Uncle Jonny). Of course the boys needed matching Easter baskets with all matching presents, matching swim trunks, bath ducks, monkey toys, etc.

Once the Easter dress went on, the lollipop had to go. Amazing that her favorite Easter present despite the toys, clothes, and candy was a blank notebook for writing. This girl loves to write and draw so she requires her own drawing book or every single scrap of paper at home would be covered in doodles.

I think they both had a pretty good Easter. Jameson's first Easter was a success and Cheyanne's 3rd Easter wasn't all about the babies which was a success in her mind I'm sure after the days she had leading up to it.

Happy Easter!

Now, before you're done checking out our Easter, visit my second Easter post. Trust me. Its worth it. Too many pictures for one post, so I just made it two.

Two month update- measurements

Little Man had his two month doctor appointment today. Minus the looming vaccines, I was pretty excited for this appointment because I have been dying to find out how much my boy has grown the last month.

Rechecking his measurements SIX times, the nurse finally settled on the measurements. I knew he had grown, but I did not realize he'd grown quite so much. My 7lbs 7oz- 19 1/2 inch long baby has grown to 13lbs 6oz and 24 inches long! That puts him in the 91st percentile in weight and 80th percentile in height. Uh, no wonder he's in 6 months clothes!!! That's right 6 months. I'm not kidding when I say that he is growing too fast.

This boy…