7 Months!

B is 7 months old!  I couldn't choose just one picture from this month.  So to recap month 6…Todd and I went on our first trip away.  We went to Chicago for 4 days to celebrate my 30th birthday and my mom and sister came down to stay with Brooks.  I was so so nervous about leaving him but we ended up having a really good time and he did great while we were away!  I was able to pump enough in the weeks before we left so he had plenty of bottles and he was also eating solids twice a day.  He was mostly with me this month because I had some time off from work but for the last two weeks I had my speech camp so my friend Hallie watched him for me at the house.  He did great for her too.

We have been having lots of fun now that I am able to be home.  We go swimming at our friends pool down the street…

We "fingerpaint"…

and play with water

We practice our football skills…

It's so much fun!

Health stats:

We went to the doctor this month and B got his last round of shots for awhile.  He only got two this time so it wasn't bad at all…I didn't even have to give him any Tylenol.  The dr. said that he looks like he is right on track!

Sleep: Umm…who really knows?!  He was still sleeping great before we left for Chicago but when we got back it was a nightmare.  He sometimes would nap really well for the babysitter and sometimes would sleep for 5 minutes.  At this point he is going to sleep pretty well at night but he usually wakes up around 430 or 5 to eat.

Clothes:  He is in 6-9 or 6-12 or 9 mos clothes right now (depending on which store) and size 3 diapers.

Milestones: He is not crawling yet but he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth and is still doing the backwards crawl.  He sits in a highchair now when we go out to eat and he gets to ride shotgun at the grocery store and Target.  He is eating a lot more food now and he also has two teeth!

(tried to get a pic of the teeth)

He can hold his own bottle…

He is sitting up really well...

and he celebrated his first 4th of July!

Likes:  He likes looking at books, boat rides, and swimming.  So far we have tried butternut squash, peas, carrots, avocado, bananas, prunes, oatmeal, eggs, pears, blueberries, pineapple, peaches, apples, and I'm sure some other things that I forgot. He likes almost everything except the apples and the eggs.  He also loves his sippy cup now with ice water in it.

Dislikes:  ?!? Nothing really…he is pretty easygoing and likes to go everywhere and check things out.

6 months!

I can't believe my baby is 6 months old!  It has gone by so fast.  I realized I have been doing these posts wrong probably, because I am posting the picture of how old he is but all of the info is from the month before.  So really I am talking about what happened when he was 5 months old...

Health stats: No dr appointment this month but no sickness or anything either which is great.

Sleep: Still going strong with the sleep.  He is taking two naps a day and usually sleeps through the night.  We went through a period for about a week where he was refusing to go to sleep.  He would be sleepy and I would put him down and he would just scream and scream.  So, we would take turns going back in there and shushing him and it would take us over an hour to finally get him to bed.  I realized though that as soon as he heard us open the door to his room, he would stop and look around smiling.  So we decided to cry it out.  He only lasted for 16 minutes and then fell asleep and ever since then has been sleeping really well. Fingers crossed!

Clothes: He is wearing 6-9 months clothes now.  9 months in the carter's stuff.  Still in size 2 diapers.

Milestones: Started eating solids this month! (6/1) He had sweet potatoes, banana, avocado, and butternut squash.  For the first few weeks we tried it he was really not much of a fan of anything but towards the end of the month he started liking the banana and now he will eat the other stuff if I mix it.  I have been making most of his baby food and it is actually really easy to do and not that time consuming.  We are going to the doctor for his 6 month checkup so after that I think he will get clearance to start trying some more things.  He is also sitting up now! (6/9)  You still have to sit behind him because he will fling himself backwards occasionally so its not completely unassisted sitting but he's doing really well.  He also went swimming for the first time this month.  My sister came down for their family vacation so we went to the Wild Dunes pool for a few days in a row.  He loved it but wasn't quite big enough for the float that I got him so I need to find him a better one.

Likes: He is also really into playing with his toys now, and likes pretty much all of them!

Dislikes: any food that is not bananas

He is doing the backwards crawl.

We celebrated Todd's first Father's Day!  I made him this picture frame and he got to go camping for the night with some of his friends.

Reading his favorite book!

5 months!

This was a crazy month...work is finally winding down and I can NOT WAIT to be done.  This month, Brooks got to hang out with his Aunt Janis, his Granddad, and his Gram again.  As much as I hate going back to work and leaving him, it is really such a blessing that everyone is getting to spend so much time with him and get to know him while he is young.  This age is so much fun!

Health stats:

Sleep:  We have really been rocking sleep this month!  We started "nap training" ish towards the end of the month and it is really working.  We cut out the naps in the stroller and really started working on trying to get a good nap in the crib.  We were having a really hard time--enter Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit.  It costs like 40$ but it is totally worth it!  Since we got it he has been napping for 2+ hours in the crib.  We don't use it at night because he was already doing such a good job.  At the beginning of the month he would go down around 7 or 730 and usually wake up once around 3:30 to eat and go back to sleep.  After we started napping in the crib with the suit, he started sleeping all the way through the night....usually from about 7-7!  Occasionally he still wakes up around 3 or 4 and rolls around for a little bit but he will usually put himself back to sleep without me having to go in.  (PS I say "we" alot in this section because Gram is the one with him during the day and she has done alot of the work as far as nap training goes...thank you thank you!!)

Clothes:  The 3-6 month onesies are starting to stretch a little too much lengthwise so we are moving up to the 6-9 in those.

Milestones:  Brooks had his first boat ride and his first beach day this month.  He did great with both!

Likes:  Playing on his tummy, blowing bubbles, reading books (Pat the Zoo), Sophie, playing in his new exersaucer

Dislikes: Loud music--we have to go to the senior section of our church where they play the acoustic guitar instead of the contemporary room with the loud rock band.  B is not a fan!

hanging with Granddad on the boat

life jacket is cute but not his favorite part.  

I def see a resemblance!

This was Brooks before church on my first Mother's day!  It was a great day, Todd and B made me a really cute card with his handprints in it and we went out for a nice dinner while Aunt Janis babysat.  I also got some new bracelets that I <3.

4 months! (13-16)

Brooks is 4 months old!

I started back to work this month which was kind of a bummer.  I was worried about how it would all go with trying to breastfeed and pump at work but so far it has been ok.  My job changed while I was out on maternity leave and my afternoon group of kids all moved away.  Now I have a class at Belle Hall in the mornings and then I drive over to James Island in the afternoons to see itinerant kids.  I usually pump once in the morning at work and then run home in between to feed him and that tides him over until I get home in the afternoons.  It is alot of running around for me but it's worth it!  Brooks was very lucky and he got to hang out with his Gram and his Nana for 2 whole weeks each this month!  They were great babysitters and it was great for me as well because I have complete peace of mind while I am at work knowing that he is well taken care of.  (and also they do laundry and cook!  win win!)

Health stats: He has been doing great!  There were no doctor visits this month so I don't have anything official to report but he hasn't gotten sick or anything yet so that is nice.

Sleep: He had his first "sleeping through the night" experience this month!  It was kind of a big deal!  On 4.16 he slept from 7:30 at night until 5:45am.  Of course I woke up and just watched the monitor waiting for him to wake up, and there was only one or two repeat performances but I think we are getting there!

Clothes/diapers: same.  3-6month clothes and size 2 diapers.

Milestones:  Main milestone is rolling easily from front to back and back to front.  He usually rolls over at some point during the night and seems to prefer to sleep on his tummy.  We also put the bumper back in the crib because he was rolling over and banging into the sides and sticking his arms through the slats and getting them stuck :(

Likes: Chewing on his hands constantly, Sophie the giraffe toy, these little rolling caterpillar balls, his bouncy seat, taking long walks in the stroller, standing up

Dislikes: napping, pacifiers

We also got to go to Granny's house for Easter this month and B got to hang out with his cousins and meet his great grandparents!

We also did a little photo shoot when Gram was here and tried to recreate this photo from Todd's childhood…I think its a pretty good replica!  We couldn't get any snow for the background but other than that I think we nailed it.

3 Months!

Brooks is now 3 months old!  One side effect of this is that he now looks at the phone when you try to take a picture.  As soon as he sees the phone he stops smiling and stares at it so it is really hard to get a smiling picture unless you have two people.  Here are some monthly stats:

Health stats: 

This is from our doctor visit.  He was 13 pounds there but he has definitely put on some weight since then.  He got his first round of shots and it was very unpleasant for everyone, but mostly for me.  I had a ton of anxiety about it and he ended up having alot of pain afterwards and screaming for a couple of hours...I finally called the doc though and thankfully it was nothing a little baby tylenol couldn't fix!

Sleep:  We are all over the place with sleep right now.  He still is not a fan of the crib so he is mostly napping in his little bouncy seat or in the MamaRoo during the day.  I have been trying to put the bouncy seat in his room next to the crib so he at least gets used to falling asleep/waking up in there.  He is still sleeping in the pack and play beside our bed at night.  I am just not ready to move him into his room yet.  He was doing really good for a few weeks, going to bed around 8 and sleeping until 3 or 4!  However, right on the 25th he started what I'm assuming is the 3 month growth spurt and went back to waking up every 2 or 3 hours :(  Hopefully he will be through that soon (preferably before I go back to work on Monday!)

Clothes/Diapers: He is in 3-6 months or 6 months stuff now and size 2 diapers.  

Milestones:  He really started smiling/laughing this month.  He smiles alot, pretty much anytime someone talks to him which is fun.  He is still rolling from front to back everytime we try to do tummy time and he has almost discovered his feet.  He is really into staring at them when he is wearing the footed sleepers with little characters at the bottom.

Likes: his playmat, music, the swing, car rides(unless it is 8.5 hours long to Pigeon Forge), baths

Dislikes: being held over the shoulder, the crib :(, mom going back to work (he told me this), pacifiers

We did alot of fun things this month so here is a quick recap:

Week 9: 

We went out for brunch with friends and he got his first sunburn on his little arms, but it was fun to wear short sleeves!

Week 10: 

We went over to Addison's house for a playdate.  She is 5 weeks younger than Brooks and her parents were in our baby class.  Along with T-Rav and Kathryn Dennis from Southern Charm...spoiler alert, she's definitely pregnant and he is the daddy.

Week 11: 

We went on our first trip!  More about this later...

Week 12: 

Happy St. Patty's day!  We didn't do much to celebrate this year other than put on this stylin shirt. (which he spit up all over .2 seconds before I took this picture)

We also went to visit Dad at work...

and had a playdate with Addie, Mary, and Catherine over at my friend Jill's house.

Getting so big!  Mom is heading back to work on Monday so there may be a bit of a time delay on the rest of these posts but I will get to it eventually!