Saturday, January 28, 2012

6 months old - the month of many changes!

My oh my, Ethan has definitely changed a lot this month.  He went from only sitting up tripod style last month to sitting up without assistance this month.  He also went from a gummy smile to a 2 toothed smile!  I can't believe that Ethan has been with us for 1/2 a year already!!  We love him so much and can't wait for all the other changes that are to come. 

Weight: He lost a little bit of weight when he was sick, but he has definitely made up for it.  He has gained just over a pound this month, and most of that came this past week!  He weighed 17 lbs 12 oz when I took him to the clinic this morning.  He gained 14 oz in the past 2 weeks - I'd say we hit a growth spurt!  Considering how big of a baby he was at birth, he has grown to be very average size, which I'm perfectly fine with! He weighed 18 lbs 6 oz at his 6 month Dr's appointment on Feb 7.

Length: 27 inches at his 6 month dr appointment

Head:  His head circumference was 38 cm at his first appt, 39.5 cm at 1 month, 42 cm at 2 months, at home estimate of 43.5 cm for 3 months, at home estimate of 44 cm at 4 months, an at home estimate of 45 cm at 5 months, and 45 cm at his 6 month dr appointment.

Clothes:  Pampers and CostCo size 3's - almost thinking about moving to size 4's.....not sure though....He is in quite a few of his 3-6 month clothes, but is slowly growing out of them.  He has grown out of almost all of his 3-6 month sleepers, so we had to buy a few 9 month sleepers. We also stopped using the swaddle sleep sacks and have moved him just to regular sleep sacks.

Sleep:  Ughh.....don't get me started on this topic....the first two weeks of this month were ok, nothing special, then 2 weeks ago he decided to start waking up two times a night.  At the time I thought that wasn't fun, but little did I know that this past week he would start waking up 3-4 times a night....I am hoping it is a growth spurt and teeth coming in thing and that this phase will end soon.  He is starting to phase out his evening nap, and still doesn't nap very well for us, but does nap well at daycare.

Eating:  Still going strong with breastfeeding - this month has been a little trying, but hopefully we can continue for another 3-6 months.  Today we started solids - more on that later!. 

Looks:  More blonde hair and beautiful dark blue eyes!  No clue who he looks like, but he sure is cute!

Milestones:  Two teeth came in (Jan 20 and Jan 23) - both bottom central incisors, sitting up unassisted, starting solids, turning in a circle while on his belly, doing a little more scooting around on his belly, and rolling over from back to belly for the first time on Jan 8 - now he rarely stays on his back!

Firsts: First time of rolling over back to belly, first teeth, first time of eating solid foods (sweet potatoes on his 6 month birthday), first sleep over at mamma morai's (Jed took me to KC for a romantic night away, Ethan did great without us!), first time of sleeping on his stomach at night (now that he rolls over constantly, he rolls over in his sleep, the first few nights it wasn't good because he kept waking himself up, but now he likes to sleep that way), first play date with other babies, first ear infection (a miserable time, let me tell you), and first time to sit in high chair at home and in a restaurant!

What we are looking forward to: Experimenting with solids

What we are dreading:  Any more rough sleep nights....

Favorite moment this month - All the times that Ethan laughs - he is a giggly boy, and his dad is really good at getting him to laugh!

Food that he eats -Ethan had his first taste of actual food today - we tried sweet potatoes for lunch and dinner.  He didn't absolutely hate it, but definitely wasn't a huge fan, haha.  I was hoping that eating solids would help him sleep longer at night, but he didn't swallow enough today to make any difference, haha.  We will just keep trying and see how it goes - up next....bananas, then cereal, then avacado, then apples, then zucchini! 

Ethan is the greatest thing that could have ever happened to us.  I can't imagine my life without him now.  Parenthood is always a roller coaster, but it's definitely one that I don't want to get off!

Enjoy the pictures...we really slacked on taking pictures this month...
Sleeping with mom - that's the only way he would sleep when he was sick at the beginning of the month

Fun shopping with mom!

Hanging out with dad!



First time sitting in the high chair!

First bite of solid food - sweet potatoe

Maybe this is going to be ok....

I'm still not sure about it, haha




I think more of the food ended up on his face!

Really mom...


Playing in the food!

I am totally done with this!!




6 month photo shoot


Ethan and his favorite toy - Mr. Ladybug

Look at that big boy sitting up!

Reading his book!

First time sitting in a restaurant high chair!


First play date!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

5 months old, Christmas, and New Year's all in one!

Ethan and dad


Ethan's favorite toy - Sophie

Ethan, Granny, and Grandpa

Ethan with his great-grandma and great-grandpa Bolen

Grandpa and Ethan love snuggling!

Playing with his second cousins Gabe and Abby
Talking with his cousin Grace

Reading with Uncle Doug and cousin Grace

Tummy time with Grace!

Grace loved pushing his stroller!  It was cold, so he is all bundled up and you can't even see him, haha!

Saying goodbye to cousin Grace and Aunt Maleia

Ethan and Kristin

At my graduation

Ethan and Momma Morai

Ethan and Grandpa

Ethan and Abby - 6 days difference in age

Christmas morning


Ethan, Gracen, and Gaige

I love this little guy!

A graduate already!

He loves his jumper!

Merry Christmas

Figuring out this sitting up business

Maybe he doesn't quite have it figured out...haha!



Christmas eve with our little elf

Isn't he a cute elf!

He found his feet this month!



Christmas morning

Ethan in his Christmas PJ's

The chair that used to be mine, but Granny and Grandpa repainted it for Ethan

Driving cars already!

Wow - 5 months!

There's that smile and those feet!

Our little Santa


Well I have been trying to get this post written for the past few days, but right after his 5 month birthday my parents were here, and then Ethan got sick, so we have been doing lots of cuddling and not much computer time.  This month has flown, and I can't believe he is closing in on 6 months already.  He is becoming such a little man with quite a personality.

Weight: He has been consistently gaining slowly this month, so that is good.  He was 16 lb 3 oz at his 4 month appt (at 4 months, 1 week), 16 lb 10 oz at 5 months, and 17 lbs even with clothes on today at the dr.

Length:  25 1/2 inches at his 4 month appt.

Head:  His head circumference was 38 cm at his first appt, 39.5 cm at 1 month, 42 cm at 2 months, at home estimate of 43.5 cm for 3 months, at home estimate of 44 cm at 4 months, and an at home estimate of 45 cm at 5 months.

Clothes:  We are in all size 3 diapers, and mostly 3-6 month and 6 month clothes.  He is starting to grow out of the 3-6 month sleepers though.

Sleep:  Another up and down month on sleep,  he started to do better, but then about a week before Christmas he started to wake up more.  Christmas eve he slept AWFUL!  I went to Christmas Eve church at 11 pm, which meant I only got about 2 hours of sleep...luckily when we were in western KS for Christmas his Granny and Grandpa were there to help us out.  Unfortunately this latest bought of sickness has caused him to only sleep in our arms in the recliner the last 3 nights....ughh....

Naps are getting a little more consistent of 3-4 30-45 min naps a day.

Eating:  At daycare he still eats quite a bit, but when he is with me he eats about every 3 hours.  Still going strong on breastfeeding and we are waiting until 6 months to start solids. 

Looks:  A little more blonde hair, blue eyes, and we have decided he has Jed's jaw line.

Milestones:  We have discovered that when he is overtired, he giggles a lot, he sat up on his own for the first time (tripod and for about 10 seconds).  This has also been the month of finding feet big time.  He loves to grab at his feet! The other big milestone this month was that on his 5 month birthday, we moved the cradle out of his room and he is sleeping in the pack-n-play in the closet for now until I feel comfortable moving him downstairs to his crib in his own bedroom!

Firsts: First Christmas, first funeral (his great-great grandma passed away - she was 98), first time meeting santa, first time attending a graduation ceremony

What we are looking forward to:  Getting over this cold/ear infection and getting back to better sleep

What we are dreading:  The time it takes you to get over your cold/ear infection!

A little about Christmas - we spent Christmas at my grandparents in western KS this year, and Ethan had a great time.  He loved the wrapping paper!  Santa brought him an activity center where he stands/sits in the middle and has toys all around.  He loves it!  His grandparents spoiled him of course.  We bought him Christmas PJ's, but of course being the overly hot child that he is, the fleece was way too warm for him and we had to take them off!  We went to church Christmas eve at 5 and he fell asleep.  The next day we got up and opened presents (mind you he hadn't slept most of the night - I think he was just excited), then Jed left for home, we went to church, then came back to the farm and had my grandma's wonderful beef and noodles.  We had a small Christmas with just my grandparents, my parents, Ethan and I.  Monday my cousin from North Dakota came to town, so we hung out with my mom's side of the family for a little bit.  My parents brought us back to Topeka on Wednesday and stayed a few days.  We were very blessed!

A little about New Year's  - New Years turned out to be not a great night as he started getting sick on Saturday and Sat night was the first night of needing to be held.  So, he was up in our arms when it struck midnight, so we had a family hug.  New Year's day was spent cuddling with mom and dad, not feeling good, and not really acting like himself.

We have had so many people comment about what a happy baby he is!  We are so lucky!