Brody's 13 and 14 month update

I have had this post written for a while, but have held off posting due to gathering pictures.  Brody will turn 15 months, so I thought I'd better post this before it's too late!  This past month and next month will be in a December post.  Also, I may only do updates every couple months now.  Not that his milestones are any less significant, but I'm getting busier and busier!

My dear baby boy,

It seems since you've turned one, the weeks have flown by.  It has been an adjustment since the beginning, but I feel like we know each other pretty well now.  Yet, you constantly surprise me with how much you have learned!  You are just about to leave the baby stage and become mommy's toddler.  You aren't walking yet, but I definitely see it in your near future.  You love for us to hold your hands and walk you all around the house.  You laugh so hard and stomp your feet up and down, trying to get your balance just right.  You have started to try and stand on your own by releasing your grip on the couch or my pant leg.  It doesn't last long and you plop on the ground (gracefully), but you're getting close!  I have a feeling that you are going to be one that will climb out of your crib the second you're big enough to do so.  Because you are brave.  And it scares me to death!  You climb on everything!!!!!  You can't walk, yet I will watch you climb onto a skateboard up to your little rocking chair, stand up, then squat back down, turn around, climb back down on the skateboard and crawl away.  Really, baby?  REALLY?!  You have started to climb on and off the couch all on your own, so I have to be extra careful if I leave the room for a minute.  Oh!  And you climb out of the bath tub too.  Your dad watched you do it and then out you came, crawling around the living room soaking wet and butt naked! "I"M FREEEE!!"  What a little ham you are!

Remember how you only had one itty bitty tooth popping through by your first birthday?  Well, now you have a grand total of FIVE teeth!  And it never seemed to bother you!  Hallelujah!  With those chompers, you have been eating lots and lots of food!  There isn't a food that you have tried that you don't like.  Lemons, cucumbers with vinegar, pinto beans, cheese puffs, potato soup, peas, tilapia, spaghetti...You love everything.  And since your first birthday, you have had your fair share of PB&J's.  And we can't forget bananas.  You have a love affair with those!  I break off a piece, hand it to you, and you just laugh and say, 'nana.'  Sweet thing.  We have started to give you baby spoons and forks to use and you love it!  You make a huge mess, but you're learning.

Just like you eat us out of house and home like a teenager, you sleep like one too.  I have been blessed with such a great sleeper!  You sleep at least 12 hours at night, most times more.  And you usually have a good 2-3 hour nap during the day.  Sometimes an extra 1 hour nap later in the day, if you feel like it.  You never fuss at nap time.  Even if you don't sleep, you'll be content to just rest and talk to your pacifier for a good 45 minutes while I get stuff done around the house.  The only thing is, you hardly sleep in the car anymore.  You have to be extremely tired and cry for a good 5 minutes before you pass out.  I guess you know your crib is your comfy night night place and you don't like change.

You are a boy after my own heart because you love to dance.  And rock out to music.  Not kidding--anytime we enter a store and there's music playing, you automatically starting nodding your head and pumping your fists in the air, and jerking that shoulder up and down.  Even when you wake up in the morning, I pick you up and you point to the radio and do this funny questioning noise, 'huh?' and I turn on the alternative station and we rock out.  You even crawl up to the CD player in the living room and know which button to push to make your favorite Dirty Heads CD play.

Right now, you are totally, totally, totally in love with buttons and wheels.  Buttons on the remote, on the house phone, on your books and toys, buttons on shirts, buttons on the fan, buttons on the ATM machines at the store.  Wheels on the car, wheels on your stroller, wheels on your toys, steering wheels.  You will turn your push toys over and just spin the wheels.  I could set you in my lap in the driver's seat of the car and you would play with the steering wheel, jerking it back and forth, for 30 minutes with a big ol smile on your face.  And then scream bloody murder if I tried to pull you away.  You are serious about your wheels.

While you still love to be held, you are definitely Mr. Independent.  You know what you want and you always want it RIGHT NOW.  You point and cry if it's out of your reach until mama gets it for you.  You are recognizing environmental print, so you know what the graham cracker box and cheese puff bag looks like and you will be Mr. Meltdown if you don't get it.  Even if you just had lunch!  And I can tell the difference between your, 'Mommy help me, I'm hurt!' and 'Gimme that NOOOOOW!' cries.

You babble and talk to yourself all the time.  You say mama, dada, nana (for banana), uh oh, nose, our (flower), out, and your try real hard to say diaper.  You stare at my mouth when I try to teach you new words and you usually respond with random sounds, but the correct syllables.  You are just so darn cute and you probably say bababa 100 times a day.

I also need to mention that you no longer breastfeed.  The last day you nursed was actually your 1st birthday, August 10th.  That was the day I got extremely sick and had strep throat.  We were only down to nursing once first thing in the morning and even that was only lasting for about 10 minutes.  I loved that time though.  I would bring you in the bed with me and it seemed to be the only time of day where you would still snuggle with me.  After getting sick, I took a few days off and when I tried to nurse again, you were not interested at all.  You even bit me!  I knew right then and there that our time together was over.  I still miss it so much.  But you chose for it to end, and I'm following your lead!

Now for the pictures.  I stopped taking pictures of him in the chair....

You can see his teeth coming in!

Looks like his 18 month PJs are still too big...

Did this all by himself...stuck in his drum

Climbing 

Pushed the turtle over and tried to climb up the cabinets

And you try to climb in the bath tub yourself...

And out of it...

You do NOT like the swings anymore

But you are still a very happy guy :)

Lowe's trips are fun

And you love Hap's cheeseburgers

Trips to IKEA make you just as giddy as mommy

You had so much fun at Tiger World

and the pumpkin patch.

We have had so much fun and we are so excited to see how much cooler you get!  Love you baby boy!

 <3, Mommy

Brody's 11 Month Update!

***Publishing a little late***
Oh my gosh.  In one month, Brody will be O-N-E!  How did this happen?!  Let's not let time get away from us.  Focus, Jessica.  11 months.  Ahhhh, what a relief this month has been.  Brody has been sleeping better, becoming a little comedian, and has just been an all around cutie patootie!  I could seriously kiss him every second of the day and it not be enough.  I am so so thankful to be this little boy's mama and to have such a good hubby/daddy to do it all with.  After doing Brody's 10 monther, I realized that I left some stuff out that he has been doing.  Oh well, I will just add to this one!  How 'bout that?  Here we go.  At 11 (and 10...) months, you:

-Don’t have any teeth still.  whatelseisnew?

-nap twice a day for about 2 hours each.  You have always had at least one nap every day, even if it was only 30 minutes long. 

-are pulling yourself up and slowly cruising along furniture.  I don’t really think you are anywhere near walking on your own.  You can’t stand on your own for even 1 second.  That’s okay. We still love ya!

-are still affectionate.  You love to be held and hugged and played with.   You don’t give kisses as much, but you rub my arm and put your head on my shoulder and it’s the best feeling ever.

-have only had diaper rash one time and it wasn’t as bad as I heard it could be, and it lasted less than two days.  I attribute it to cloth diapers and being an avid diaper changer.  About every four hours, even if the diaper doesn’t seem that wet.

-are no longer swaddled.  This is one that I have forgotten to mention before.  We never really said, “Tonight we are going to stop swaddling.”  You liked to be swaddled and it helped settle you to sleep and by morning you would wake up completely undone on the other side of the bed.  We never had to go through the transition of keeping an arm out and then the other one where some parents struggled with sleepless nights over it.  For the past couple months though, we have just laid a blanket on you and you’re set.  Also, since you have been able to roll over you have decided that sleeping on your stomach is most comfortable.  Sometimes with your butt sticking up in the air!  So funny baby.

-LOVE books.  You squeal with excitement when you see one and love helping me turn the pages when I read to you.  You can be fussy in your car seat and I will hand you The Very Hungry Caterpillar and your satiated for a long time. 

-are waving hello and bye bye, sometimes even saying, “ba ba.”  You clap and raise your hands up over your head when you’re excited. 

-shake your head no and nod your head yes.  Sometimes you do it on purpose and other times just to practice.  You usually do it when you are eating and when I am trying to give you kisses (say ‘no’).

-point to everything.  It helps let me know what you want.  If you are ready for your nap and I take you in your room and sign ‘sleep’ you will point to your crib and try to climb out of my arms to get in bed.  If not you point out the door shaking your head ‘no.’

-are signing and understand my signing and it is so cute.  You sign all done, eat, milk, and sleep.  You also understand stop and more.  You picked up sleep in one day and it really has made naptime much easier.  Sometimes you will do it to let me know or if you start rubbing your eyes and yawning, I take you to the crib, sign ‘sleep’ and you lay your head on my shoulder.  I rub your back for a minute, lay you down and within 10 minutes I don’t hear a sound through the monitor.

-are saying mama and dada discriminately but randomly too.  You also say ba ba, gung gung, doot, bpt, and have started rolling your tongue and saying lalala.  You also make your mouth into a perfect circle and say ‘ooo  ooo ooo’ like a monkey!

-DANCE!  It is the most precious and hilarious thing I’ve ever seen!  As soon as you hear music, whether at home, in the car, walking into a store, you start nodding your head up and down, waving yours arms around and/or swaying your shoulders back and forth.  You love music.

-are sharing.  It started with your pacifier but now you do it with everything.  I give it to you, you give it to me-back and forth.  I am trying to teach you the ‘thank you’ sign in the process.

-have slowed down your nursing a lot.  You still nurse well in the morning, some in the afternoon, and your bottle of pumped milk daddy gives you at night.  You don’t nurse for comfort really, only if you are really hungry.  You love your solid food and would much rather have that!

------I have only pumped a couple times this month and it has been so freeing!!!!  You still have quite a bit stockpiled, but hopefully you will use it because you…

-have started taking less and less during your nighttime bottle feed.  You used to drink 4-8 ounces, but now you only drink 1 or 2 before you get squirmy for bed.  You might be dropping this feeding.  Daddy is sad.  He used to hold you for about 20 minutes for bed and now it is sometimes 5 minutes or less.

-had your first experience at IHOP.  You love their pancakes and eggs.  

-can climb stairs.

I am 11 months old!

giving blue doggy kisses

:)

standing and playing with your drawer

your average sized meal---you eat like a teenager

lots of fun pool time to be had

devouring eggs and pancakes from IHOP

sleeping bottoms up!

lots of boat rides

Buddy and grandma got you this cool pillow racer!

Improvised baby wearing

making my most favorite scrunched up face

Brody's catching the big one

always a happy guy

catching the sunset on the beach

make your oo oo face like a monkey

Your first 4th!

handsome guy on the 4th

"I need a nap!"

crawling all over mommy

Here you are with Nana

and Papa

another beach trip

Family of 3

well aren't you adorable?

We love you so much!

Thanks for being the best baby in the world and giving mama an easy job!  Next post like this will be when you are a whole year old!!  AHHHHH!

Brody's 8-9-10 Month Update

****Pictures later!  Just had to finally post!!

Oy Vey y'all!!!

Is it bad that I feel like a failure for not doing an 8 month update?  Or a 9 month?  Or a Christmas one to boot?!  Time just got away from me and I kept putting it off.  I took his 8 and 9 month pictures though (3 days late)!  Since this an update over 3 months time, there is a lot to say.  You know, because babies are amazing and grow so fast.
**9 month stats:  Length- 30" (95%ile)  Weight- 18 lbs. 4 oz. (25%ile)

I have to say that the 8th month was a little rough.  Remember his 7 month update when I said he started waking up at night, but was soothed by a pacifier and would go back to sleep?  Not anymore.  It was the first time I had to nurse him to go back to sleep.  Several times.  There were a few nights where it would be every 3 hours.  Ridiculous.  I think he may have been going through a growth spurt, because he's definitely NOT teething.  Why?

Because at 10 months, you:
-HAVE NO TEETH! NONE!  I am wondering if there are any in there!!  Yeah, you drool, you put everything in your mouth, you bite down and jerk back and forth when I put my finger in your mouth, but nope.  Check back next month.  I think you are just a baby who likes to do things in your own time.  It took you ten days extra to come out and you don't care when you reach your milestones!

-are sleeping much better now.  Like I mentioned before, it got a little awful there for a while and I thought I was going to die.  Then, you started sleeping through the night but waking up at 6:30!  You would be so tired but not go back to sleep.  Finally, you have gone back to your normal schedule and have been sleeping until 8/8:30.  Phew!!

-have gone from army crawling, to this army crawling/regular crawling weird combo. thingee where you'd look like a zombie, to now full on crawling.  Lemme tell you son-you. are. busy.  ALL THE TIME!  You just travel all around the house whether you are following me from room to room or decide to head to your bedroom for your basket of toys.  It is so cute but sometimes you scare the begeezus out of me when I turn around and you're not there anymore.  Where are you?  OH!  Splashing water in the toilet and taking stuff from the trash can and putting it in there because you....

-can pull yourself up now!  You used to just go to your knees.  Now, you pull up on everything-the pack n play, the crib, the coffee table, my leg....it's pretty cool BUT you haven't learned how to get down gracefully yet.

-love to open and close doors (not all the way).  You push it until it's almost closed then crawl over and open the door again, crawl over and push it closed then crawl and open it----getthepicture?  You also LOVE to open cabinet doors.  AHHHH!  I mostly don't mind but the one you love the most is under the sink where all the cleaning stuff is!  Knob locks please!!!  You also like to open the one with all my kitchen towels so I don't mind if you play there. :)

-reach your arms up to be held---whether we unstrap you from the car seat, you are in your crib or sitting on the floor.  You have been doing that for a while now--a couple months.

-have recently started clapping.  IT IS SOOOO CUTE!  (Sometimes) You clap when you look at the fan, when you tasted something good, when you like playing with your toys, when we laugh, when you laugh, when we clap....it is so cute to see those soft little hands come together and not even make a sound... :)

-give me kisses!!  I LOVE IT!  Sometimes you do it when I ask and sometimes you just do it out of the blue and it makes my heart melt.  I'll be holding you and in the middle of a sentence while talking to someone and you dive right in.  One time, you had your pacifier and I was saying good night and you popped that sucker out and gave me a big open mouthed kiss.  Sweet guy.

-are tending to favor me more lately.  This usually just happens when you're tired, but if I am around when you are fussy and someone else is holding you, you won't stop until I come get you.  Or if someone takes you from me.  Or I walk into a room where you were previously content as can be, you look at me and and start crying...at least I know that I comfort you.

-are eating us out of house and home.  For being such a little guy, you are a huge eater.  I mean 8-10 ounces of food.  You could eat a whole banana, a slice of canteloupe, a slice of cheese, some ground beef, a couple ounces of rice/veggie mixture that I made, etc. all after an appetizer of about 20 puffs.  Sheesh!  You eat a lot more 'adult' foods now.  I don't puree a lot of stuff and try to give you a sippy cup when I remember!!  You have eaten a variety of fruits-banana, canteloupe, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, peaches, pears, mango, apple....and veggies/grain/protein/dairy-zucchini, summer squash, butternut squash, peas, green beans, broccoli, spinach, potato, sweet potato, carrot, lentils, ground turkey, deli turkey, ground beef, egg, brown rice, bread, oatmeal, tomatoes (spaghetti sauce), cheese, yogurt....you love it all.  Every single bit of it.

-can still fit in your 9 month clothing but mostly wear 12 month.  You wear a size 3 disposable and are on the second setting on your One Size BGs.

-are told at least once a week that 'you have such great coloring' or 'your eyes are such a beautiful shade of blue' or 'you are such a happy baby!'  no joke.  once a week.  at least.

-really are a happy guy.  Your personality is starting to shine through and it is so much fun to watch you study things to learn how they work, mimic behavior, push buttons and watch what happens.  You laugh and try to do things that make us laugh, continuing that behavior over and over if you are successful--playing peek a boo, clapping, laughing, shaking your head back and forth, sticking out your tongue....

I can't believe that you are almost ONE!  Birthday planning is in the works!  This year has gone by so quickly.  You make life sooooo fun baby!  I am so thankful for the gift of being your mother!
i love you i love you i love you
<3,
Mom

Brody's 7 Month Update

This is a mommy blog (for the most part) and we mommies need to keep it real.  With that said, this month was a little rough.  There were several nights where dude man decided that sleeping was not a priority, especially one night when he took me back to his newborn days and woke up every 2-3 hours or would wake at 1 am and not go back to sleep soundly until 4 am (poor Brian).  I think this was due to him catching a cold (directly proceeding our wonderful day at the park :( ), starting solids and having trouble, um, pushing his food through the 'chute,' and I thought he was teething but there is no solid evidence since a daggern chiclet can't be found!  Of course all of this has been made up for with his laughter and coos and smiles and just being the cutest little boy I've ever seen.  Now that that's out of the way....let's get down to business...,

At 7 months, you:
- are still a rolling machine.
- can sit up on your own for quite a long time.  It just clicked one day and you went from wobbly to straight as an arrow.
- try so hard to sit up from a lying down position.  When you are in just a diaper, I see your stomach muscles flex so hard trying to push yourself up.
- extend your arms all the way when you're on your belly and try to tuck your knees under but you just aren't there yet.
- make a lot of sweet noises.  baba, mama, and high pitched squeals.
- are eating a lot more solids, about 2 ounces twice a day.  You have tried avocado, butternut squash, banana and sweet potatoes.  You seem to like it all and are a really good eater. Except peas.  You hate peas.
-gave mommy and daddy your first kisses!!  What a special moment.  I had been trying to teach you to give kisses and when I asked, you opened your mouth wide and leaned in for a big one.  You mostly do this when there is absolutely nothing else going on.
- seem to cuddle more.  You nestle your head on my shoulder and it makes my heart melt.
- can get around pretty well in your walker (when on a smooth surface).
- are starting to get a thick patch of hair right on the top of your head.  I wonder if this is where it will start to fall out first, many years down the road.
- love a rousing game of peek-a-boo.
- have a cranky period between 5 and 7.  I think you are tired, but you fight that nap so hard and most times you win.

Here are some pictures from your 7th month:***to be added later

Happy 5 Months Brody!

Oh my gosh!  You went from infant to baby right before our eyes.  You have grown up so much this past month, I can't believe it!  So many things happened at once and now you are a little man!  You still bring us so much joy and are getting cuter and cuter by the day!  We love you so much and couldn't imagine life without you!
Here's how you've grown...
You:
- seem to have gotten longer because some of your 3-6 month pjs are getting tight on your toes!
- still LOVE your bouncer.
- drool and chew on ev.er.y.thing.
- grab for things.  If anything is put in front of your face, you reach for and pull it to your mouth! :)
- seem right hand dominate.  If you are sitting up and something falls to your left, you still cross your right arm over your body to get it.
- celebrated your first Christmas!!  (which reminds me I need to blog about it!)  You got so much stuff!  People sure must love you!
- started waking up in the middle of the night again!!!! :(  Good thing it started the night I was off for Christmas break and pretty much ended the day I went back.  You would wake up sporadically throughout the night but were always comforted by your paci and would go back to sleep.  I think this is due to some ***milestones*** you hit just in the past couple weeks.
- ***started saying 'bababa' sometimes 'mmmmammma' and dadadada.' !!!!!  We absolutely love it!  And when you get really mad and want to go to bed, you say yell BA BA BA BA!  It makes me smile. :)
- ***roll almost completely over from your back to your belly.  The daggern arm gets in the way!  But this leads you to be a lot more mobile and if I set you down- 5 minutes later you are 180 degrees from where you were and have scooted off your play mat!
- ***not really a milestone, but you started to stick your tongue out! It's the cutest thing!  Last weekend daddy was doing it to make you laugh and you did it back!  Now whenever we do it or you are really happy, you stick it out!  Just like mommy showing the 'bullet' when she was little!
- ***started sleeping in your crib!!!  This made mommy soooo happy! I was so worried you were going to be attached to the swing for forever but New Year's Day, you were so tired and I just laid you in your crib with your blanket and soft minky and you went right to sleep.  I tried it again later and boom!  I try to lay you down there now every time.
- haven't started solids yet.  Still waiting...
-drink about 5 oz. a feeding.
- love your taggie blanket that I made you!  You crinkle it for a good 15 minutes before you tire of it.  (which is a long time baby-wise)
- are soooo squirmy.  Long gone are the days where we can just cuddle up with you.  You still love to be held but move around and look at everything going on.
- still can't sit up very well but we are working on it!
- you love your feet!  You love grabbing on to them and pulling them into your mouth!  It is precious!
- still think bath time is the best thing that has ever happened and you kick and splash with those long, chubby legs!


Your 5 month picture:

January 10, 2012

Now for some outtakes:

This time the blanket fell because you were sooo squirmy!!

Hey dad!

Peek a boo!

Some highlights:

:)

Love this one!  Wish I would've thought of it sooner for our Christmas card!

You love bath time!  Especially when daddy puts every bath toy you own in there!

Such a big, strong boy!

Haha!  You fell asleep sucking on your finger!

Getting in the Christmas spirit!

Your new trick!

Taking a nap IN YOUR CRIB!

How did you get way over there?! Perpendicular to where I lay you down!

Your taggie blanket I made you

You are one cool dude!

My goodness that's a lot of presents!

Well, that about wraps up the past month!  Lots of learning going on!  Babies are amazing!  We love every second of parenthood!  It's easy with a little dude like you!

<3, Mommy