6 Months!

I'm only 1 day behind on this post!  Yea me!!!  With good reason too.  Yesterday he was 26 weeks old, but today is 6 months!  I honestly do not have any clue how 6 months have already gone by!  I still feel like I just found out I was pregnant!

We had G's 6 month well-baby appointment today as well.  More shots, poor little Buddy :o(  He was a trooper though!  He was 17.6lbs and 26in long.  His pediatrician said everything looks great!  He was happy and smiling (at least until the shots came along.)  His doctor smiles and laughs the whole time because G is such a happy kid.  He's told us the last two appts. that he can't believe how happy G is all the time.  That's a great thing to hear! 

This week has been met with a few challenges.  He has started rolling onto his belly while in his crib.  He did it several times while he was swaddled during naps earlier this week, and he couldn't roll back onto his back because his arms were pinned.  Well, that meant it was time to go cold turkey with the nap time swaddles.  To say he was not happy is an understatement.  Wednesday was the first day I put him in his sleep sack for naps instead of his swaddler.  His naps lasted only about 30 mins and he would protest for over an hour in his crib before finally falling asleep.  He would roll and squirm over every single square inch of his crib several times before he'd finally give up.  Thursday was slightly better.  He gradually began to sleep a little longer each nap, but he would still protest being put in bed unswaddled quite a bit.  Today we had success!  His first nap he didn't make a peep when I put him down.  He fell asleep instantly and slept for 2 hours!  The second nap he protested for about half an hour, but finally fell asleep and slept for 2 hrs again.  I felt like I'd won the lottery!  Let me tell you, it is exhausting fighting with a child over and over all day about naps, especially when he used to be a great napper.  I'm hoping we've turned a corner and things will continue to improve! 

Here is G's 6 month picture.  He has become such a little person now.  His personality just cracks me up and fills my heart with so much joy every day!  His smile and giggle are hands down, the two best things in the world! 

6 Months Old today!

6.29.12

25 Weeks

Wow, I am SUCH a slacker!  I have not been able to get my weekly blog posts up on time for a couple of months now.  EEEEEKKKK!  Oh well, better late than never right?!  Well as the title says G is 25 weeks (as of Thursday.)  Little Monkey Man is growing like a weed.  Sometimes I pick him up and I can't believe how heavy he's gotten!  I used to be able to cradle him in one arm and it felt like I wasn't holding anything.  Not anymore!  Carrying him around for more than a few minutes starts to get exhausting.  That's the way it's supposed to be though, so I'm very happy he's healthy and growing! 

We go back to the doctor this Friday for his 6 month (OMG!!!) well-baby appointment.  I can't wait to see how big he is now, and where he falls in comparison to other 6 month old babies.  He's been right at the 50th percentile the last couple of appts in both weight and height, so it'll be interesting to see if that's the same, or if he's changed any.  One thing's for sure, he sure is a happy kid! Even when he's exhausted and desperately needs a nap, most of the time he's still smiling and laughing.  It's pretty incredible actually.  We get people who ask us all the time if he's always that happy, and truthfully the answer is yes.  I hope that means we're doing something right!  While you always want your child to be smart and successful in whatever they decide to do while growing up, the ultimate goal in parenting (in my mind anyway) is to raise a happy, healthy, well-adjusted child.  I think we might just be doing pretty good with that goal.  Not that I'm trying to toot my own horn or anything, but being a first time parent is scary, so having some reassurance from the one person who can tell us the best if we're doing things right, is pretty nice!  It doesn't hurt that our pediatrician tells us the same thing every time we go too.  That definitely makes a mommy feel good! 

Now, call me crazy (you can thank my sister for this one...) but I've already started looking at ideas and thinking of things for G's first birthday.  Ya, ya, ya, I know...he's only 6 months old, BUT since his birthday is right in between two major holidays, I figure it doesn't hurt to start thinking of things now.  Auntie Cindy got me started...it's all her fault.  HAHA!  I spent some time on Pinterest yesterday and in a relatively short amount of time I had a TON of ideas tied to two different themes.  I think it's safe to say that in order to pull off either of these themes, Auntie Cindy is going to be helping Mommy out A LOT for this party!  :o)  Thank goodness I still have 6 months before the big day!

We're still working our way through first foods, and he's doing great!  I accidently found a new combination that he enjoys.  I say accidently because sweet potatoes and peaches look very similar when frozen into ice cubes.  I meant to pull the peaches out to mix with pears, hoping it would help tame down the flavor of the peaches and he'd like them better.  Instead I pulled out the sweet potatoes, and by the time I realized that it WASN'T peaches I was thawing, it was too late.  So with my fingers crossed I mixed them up and fed them to little man.  To my complete surprise he LOOOOOOOOOOVED them!  In fact I couldn't feed him fast enough!  I would put a spoonful in his mouth and he would instantly swallow it down (when he doesn't like something he holds it in his mouth instead of swallowing...not sure why because the flavor stays that way, but whatever.)  Anyway, he'd swallow the spoonful immediately and sit with his mouth gaping open until I could shovel another spoonful in.  If I didn't get it fast enough he'd yell at me and bang his high chair tray.  I couldn't help but laugh a couple of times when he did it.  When the bowl was empty he had the most pityful little look on his face.  It was like you'd just taken his favorite toy away or something.  He was so sad!  Definitely not a combination I would've expected him to like that much, but he certainly did!  Later that day I thawed the correct food and tried peaches/pears together.  It was not successful.  I was so hopful, but nope...peaches are NOT a favorite food for this kid at all.  I think that's putting it mildly actually. 

Well I think I'm finally caught up.  Hopefully my next post won't be TOOOOO late, but we'll see :o) 

Mmmmmm....avocados and pears!

24 Weeks and Happy Father's Day!

Not too much to report for 24 weeks.  Our big adventure of the week was babysitting a friend's daugher.  I had a 14 month old and a 5 1/2 month old in the house for three days.  There was never a dull moment!  Both kids were great and it was kind of fun to see what G will be doing before too long.  I'm not quite sure I'm ready for him to be so mobile yet though! 

We also spent most of the day on Tuesday making Matthew's Father's Day present, and it turned out pretty great if I do say so myself!  I was very proud of it, and thankfully he loved it too! 

The jumperoo continues to be G's favorite new toy.  He can't get enough of it!  We skyped with my parents for Father's Day and G jumped for him the whole time.  They got a pretty big kick out of it.  He laughs and squeals when he is able to make the lights and sounds turn on.  It's so fun to watch him discover how to make things work.  You can almost see the little wheels in his head turning every time he's in it! 

He is also now no longer being toted around in his infant seat.  We still use it for a car seat, but we've started leaving it in the car and taking him out of it instead of bringing the whole thing with us.  This means he's now sitting up in shopping carts and restaurant highchairs!  One of our baby shower gifts was a shopping cart/highchair cover.  It's nice and padded, so he's not sitting on the hard wooden chairs or carts, but it also helps keep germs at bay.  His toys can attach to it to keep him entertained as well.  Such a great invention!

G has now tried peaches, and he is NOT a fan at all!  I've tried to feed them to him several times and he just is not having it.  Bless his little heart, he is such a good sport.  He won't spit them out, but he makes the most pityful faces!  It's almost as funny as the green bean episode! 

That's it for the new stuff going on at the moment, I'll leave with the best part of each blog post...pictures!  :o) 

Me and my buddy Aubrey!

I can sit in the restaurant highchairs now! 

Mom!  I don't like peaches!

Seriously Mom...no more peaches...ick!

G's Father's Day present to Matthew!

Ohhh!  A big present!  Is it for me?!??!

Little Ham :o)

Helping Daddy unwrap his present!

23 Weeks!

Well here we are again.  Another week older!  23 weeks old and growing like a weed :o)  This week was met with some new firsts!  G went swimming for the first time!  The neighborhood across the street has a pool, so we went with friends who live in that subdivision.  He really enjoyed it!  I thought it might scare him at first, or that the water temp would upset him, but he did well with everything.  He was pretty amazed looking at everything and watching the kids who were playing in the water. 

We also now have a Jumperoo for him to play in.  Playtime with the toys we had wasn't wearing him out enough.  He would be tired and ready for a nap, but wouldn't stay asleep very long.  I started looking for used Jumperoos, because brand new they're CRAZY expensive, and no longer than they are used, it's kind of crazy to spend that much money.  Thankfully when I mentioned looking for one to my friend Angie, she offered to let us borrow the one they have for their daughter.   She's too big for it now, so we went to get it on Wednesday.  He played in it several times today and it definitely did the job!  After playing in it the first time, he napped for 2 1/2 solid hours without making a single peep!  Usually naps consist of anywhere from 1-3 wake ups in a 2 1/2-3 hour period.  He's easily soothed back to sleep, but doesn't usually sleep all the way through without waking up at least once.  Today he was so worn out that he didn't move a muscle the whole nap. 

The weather has been so nice lately that over the weekend I took G's highchair out onto the deck and he dined al fresco.  He was really enjoying looking at everything outside while scarfing down his sweet potatoes! 
Aunt Cindy is coming to visit this weekend, so I'm sure there will be lots of good pictures taken!  I don't have too much more to report this week.  Since I'm actually posting this on time there's less to write about :o)  Here are the pictures of his new adventures from this week!

Such a happy little guy!

Playing in my blankie from Aunt Cindy

Little Gangsta!  HA!

First time swimming!

I love the Jumperoo!

Dining al fresco for the first time!

5 Month and 22 Week Birthdays!

My baby is 5 months old!  He's getting so big and doing something new every day it seems!  His latest trick is rolling over without hesitation.  He will no longer stay on his belly at all.  As soon as I put him down for tummy time, he immediately flips himself over to his back.  It's become a bit of a game, he flips onto his back, I put him back on his tummy and tickle him.  We keep the game up until he starts to get mad.  He has flipped once from his back to his belly, but since he really doesn't like to be on his belly, I don't see it happening again any time soon. 

He's also started to try and blow raspberries.  We blow raspberries on his belly, neck, hands, all over all the time and he loves it.  He lets out the cutest giggles ever, squeals and kicks his feet.  He's now decided he wants to blow raspberries by himself.  He hasn't quite gotten it to work, but he sure is trying hard!  He will purse his lips and says "bububububu" until he manages to spit and drool down his chin.  Then he grins great big because he's so proud of himself.  It is incredibly cute if I do say so myself! 

Today we took him to the zoo for the first time, and I think he really enjoyed himself!  He was mezmorized by the animals.  Even though he missed one of his naps due to our big adventure he sure was a good sport!  Once we got home he totally sacked out for 3 hrs!  That was one of the best naps he's had in a while.  He woke up so happy :o)

His newest solid is sweet potatoes, and he LOVES them!  I made some earlier in the week for him to try, and he has been so excited to have a new food.  He squeals in excitement every time he sees them.  It's the greatest sound! 

Here are a few of the newest pics I've taken of little guy.  Now that I'm home all the time the camera is in his face constantly.  Poor kid.  ha! 

Such a big boy at 5 months old!

Crazy hair after my bath

22 Weeks Old!

First time trying sweet potatoes.  I think it was a success!

With Daddy at the zoo!

Mommy and me at the zoo!

   

Wow...

Well, to say that I'm behind on the blog is a bit of an understatement.  My last post was May 1st!  Sorry G, Mommy has really been slacking! 

Griffin is now 21 weeks old!  I really don't know how that's possible, but I guess it is :o)  He is getting so big I can't even believe it.  His little personality is so much fun, and just gets more and more entertaining by the day.  His giggle is absolutely the most incredible sound I've ever heard.  There is nothing Matthew and I enjoy more than playing with G and making him laugh.  He has a ticklish spot just below his ribs and at some point every day I can't resist tickling him just to hear that amazing little sound. 

School has finally ended, so I am officially a stay at home mommy for the next couple of months!  While I do wish I had been able to stay home with him all the time, now he is doing so many new things, that's it's definitely more exciting to be around him than it was when I went back to work.  Don't get me wrong, there wasn't a single day that went by where I didn't wish I was home with him, but he's much more entertaining now than he was two-three months ago. 

His newest developmental trick is ROLLING OVER!  On Sunday night he rolled from his belly to his back for the very first time.  I was so glad that it was on the weekend and not during the week while at the babysitter.  I would've been so disappointed if I'd missed it.  I told the babysitter that he did it, so she had him do lots of tummy time on Monday and he was continuing to roll over the next day.  I wasn't sure if he'd do it again or if it was more of a fluke thing.  Turns out it wasn't a fluke!  Then on Wednesday, my first day of summer break, he rolled from his back to his belly!  I was so glad I didn't miss that one either.  Poor Matthew though, has yet to see the "live show."  I've been able to catch G rolling over on video, and sent that to him via text.  So he has seen it, just not in person yet. 

I have also decided to start trying my hand at making baby food instead of buying packaged food.  It's gone pretty well so far.  G is finally enjoying eating more than just a bottle.  It didn't go well at first however.  I don't think he was quite ready when we first started trying them.  He would cry when he saw the spoon coming towards him.  Thankfully that part is over.  He has now started to like avocados, rice cereal and bananas.  The one food that he REALLY hated, and I haven't tried with him again yet, was green beans.  To say he was not a fan is quite the understatement.  I'll let the picture below give you a better idea of how he really felt about them.  haha!

Well, that's been our excitement.  No more school for me, and G rolling over!  I scared the pants off of him the first time he did it.  I was so excited and squealing/cheering him on that it made him jump.  ha! 

Since it's been so long since I've managed to write a post, here are several pics from G's 4th month :o)

 

    It's really just wrong how cute this kid is!  (Not that I'm biased or anything...)

Mom, I don't like green beans!

Playing in your food is WAAAAAAAY more fun than actually eating it!

He makes the most hilarious faces!  haha!

Someone is sitting on Mommy's lap all by himself!  What a big boy!

Such a tired boy

Chillin with Daddy

Just a boy and his dog :o)



4 Months!

Griffin is now 4 months old!!!!  How in the world is that possible?  I really do not understand how that can be, but it is.  I guess I should just accept it :o)

Monday was his 4 months well-baby check up.  He is up to 15.2 lbs and 24.5in long!  My baby isn't much of a baby anymore!  He is in the 50th percentile for both height and weight now.  He has really shot up.  At his 2 month appointment he was only in the 15th percentile for height, so I'd say he's caught up quite well.  The doctor was amazed at his neck strength and head control.  He's had really good head control for well over a month, if not more like two.  He was also cracking the doctor up the whole time we were there.  Griffin was lying on the exam table just giggling, cooing and smiling through the whole exam.  His peditrician couldn't believe how happy he was. 

Then came the bad part of the appointment...shots :o(  G had the same round of vaccinations that he received at 2 months.  Three needle sticks and an oral.  This time the oral didn't go so well.  He had almost all of it down and the last bit must've gone down the wrong  pipe because he started coughing pretty hard, and all of a sudden everything he'd eaten recently came right back up.  It was like a volcano erupting!  Thankfully he was still naked so his clothes weren't soaked, and I managed to catch most of it in his burp cloth, but of course I got a good dose of it on me, the floor was also quite covered.  Thankfully the nurses gave us some towels and even rinsed out our burp cloth.  Poor little guy wasn't too fond of that!  Then came the really bad part :o(  He cried and cried like I expected.  Once I was able to pick him up he calmed down a bit, we got him dressed and fed him, which helped a lot. 

Since G has such good head control the doctor gave us the green light to start first foods!  I can't believe my baby is no longer on just formula.  That doesn't seem right at all!  Since we had the go ahead to start solids, I gave Griffin his first taste of true rice cereal.  He's been getting cereal in his bottles for quite a while now to help combat some reflux, so it's not completely new, but he'd never had it in such a thick consistency or eaten with a spoon.  It was quite comical!  He did such a great job for his first time eating out of a spoon.  The faces he made were cracking me up.  He'd act like he didn't like it, but would eat it anyway and then decide it wasn't so bad.  He went through that little process with every single bite.  He was a champ!  The only bit that came back out was what didn't get slipped into his mouth to begin with.  He never spit any of it back out.  Although I'm having a hard time adjusting to the fact that my baby is no longer on just formula, I can't wait to see what all he decides he likes and doesn't like.  My goal for the summer is to make his baby food.  We'll see how ambitious I get before summer is out.  I don't know if I will get any made prior to being done with work or not.  We'll see.  I'm excited to try it out though! 

Well here is G's 4 month picture and his first experience with big boy food!

4 Months Old!

First taste of big boy food!