8 Months

In just 4 short months, I will have a one year old.  How crazy is that?!?!  Matthew turned 8 months old on Wednesday, April 24th and we are loving every minute of this new age.  Matthew's little personality is coming through more and more everyday.  I can't wait to see what new things will come with an 8 month old baby boy!

There are no words for this picture

~ You weigh right around 20.4 lbs and are about 27.5 inches long. These measurements are based on our visit to the doctor's office last week and your daddy and me trying to measure you - not an easy task.

~ You're still in size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night.  You're now wearing 6-9 month and 9 month clothes.  You can still fit into a few of your 6 month pants, but they are getting snug.

~ Your eating schedule hasn't changed much.  You have a bottle of formula at 8:00, noon, 4:00, and 7:30ish.  Around 9:15 and 6:30 you have a serving of either vegetable or fruits.  Your new foods this month were carrots and green beans.  You've enjoyed a mix of sweet peas and carrots this month.  We were going to make you peaches, but we never could find fresh ones.  We've tried to thicken your solids more, but you seem to choke more when we do.

~ You are trying SO hard to crawl.  You can get up on all fours and rock back-and-forth, lift an arm and a leg, lunge forward with your legs, and crawl backwards.  It's just that forward movement that we haven't gotten down yet.

~ Standing is a new favorite.  You're getting better at holding yourself up on your own, which you love.  You'll hold my fingers and just practice figuring out your balance.  I like to call it your Elvis move :-)  If you're up for too long, you eventually go into a split.

~ While sitting, you've learned how to rotate in a circle.  This has come in handy when there is a toy behind you that you want or if you want to get closer to mommy or daddy.

~ You clap all the time and it is absolutely precious!  You've started to associate clapping with music and doing something exciting.  If we say "Yay", you will clap.  If we sing the ABC's, you clap.  The past few mornings, you clap to yourself before we come in to get you out.

~ "Dada" is your favorite word (that's okay since "mama" was your first).  You've got "dada" on repeat all day long.  It really is adorable and I know your daddy loves it.  I'm still working with you on saying  "mama" more.  At least me saying "mama" brings a smile to your face :-)

~ As mentioned above, we did have to take you to the doctor for what we thought was an ear infection.  Thankfully it wasn't, but it turned into some kind of possible fever virus.  You were extremely congested, running a fever of around 102, and not sleeping well.  Thankfully, it only last a few days.  The best thing was how much you wanted to snuggle with your mommy.

~ Your favorite books are the Dog book (still), Baby Animals, Bubbles Bubbles, and Pet's Tails.  Your favorite toys are your soccer ball rattle, music table, and bear rattle.

Most likely in the middle of saying "dada"

What a blessing you are sweet Matthew.  I cannot thank God enough for allowing your daddy and me to raise you.  We love you!!!

M's First Easter

I know I'm super late on this post, but better late than never, right?  To celebrate Easter this year, we went to our church's Saturday evening service.  Mike's parents met at our house in order to ride with us to church.  They got to see Matthew's nursery and where we worship each Sunday.  It was an amazing service full of music, praise, rejoicing, and God's word.  As we worshipped, I had tears in my eyes as I rejoiced that the Lord indeed has risen.  I can't wait until Matthew is old enough for him to truly understand the importance of Easter.

After the Easter service, we met up with my brother & sister-in-law and my niece, Alli to eat at Santo Coyote in Little Rock.  Matthew slept pretty much the entire time.  We then went back to our house and just hung out for a while.  It was nice since we don't get to see Mike's family very often.

On Easter Sunday, Mike and I gave Matthew his Easter basket full of books, bubbles, bath toys, and socks.  We then met up with my family at my Aunt Shirley's house for lunch.  Matthew, of course, was the center of attention as he rolled around on the floor.  They were amazed at how much he had grown & developed.  Matthew also opened his Easter gifts from his Emie & Pop, his Aunt Lauren, and his great grandparents and great aunt Carol.  This included clothes, toys, and the Easter Eggs full of materials that tell the Easter story.

Below are pictures from Saturday night.  Matthew was wearing Mike's first Easter outfit (so special) and he is a bit bigger than his daddy was.  Needless to say, he was not a happy camper the longer he wore the outfit.  This is evident by the pictures below.

My sweet family before church - can you tell his outfit is a little snug?

 See, not a happy camper :-(

 

Not even his paci would help

7 Months

I have a 7 month old - unbelievable!  He is getting bigger, learning more, and becoming more & more precious daily.  It is so neat to see how much he has changed just in the last few months alone.  This is such a fun stage!  Matthew loves to play, snuggle, and explore.  He is so very curious about the world around him and I love it!  Here are our 7 month stats - enjoy!

~ We do not go back to the doctor again until you are 9 months old, but we did our own measurements.  You are close to 20lbs and are still measuring 27 inches.  I picked you up the other day and it felt like you had gotten bigger over night!

~ You're in size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night.  I am starting to pack up your 3-6 month clothes and will need to do the same with your 6 month clothes soon.  Right now, you should be in 6-9 month clothes, but that size is SO hard to find.  

~ You are still taking a bottle of formula 4 times a day, but you are now eating 8-8.5 oz at 8, noon, 4, and 8.  This schedule started when you dropped your 6:30 pm nap.  You now only nap from about 9:30-11:30 and 2:30-4.  With no nap in the evening, you are exhausted by 8:00 and are ready for your bottle and bedtime.  You are also eating fruits/vegetables twice a day (9:00 am and 7:00 pm).  You've eaten, and liked, pears and apples.  You did not like bananas and avocado.

~ I posted in your 6 month blog that you were rolling everywhere - boy was I wrong.  Now, you are REALLY rolling EVERYWHERE!  If you want to get somewhere, you just roll.  I can see your brain working to figure out how to get to your destination and/or toy.  You've also started scooting with your feet.  You're not crawling yet, but I can tell you want to so badly.  You can push up with your arms and get up on your knees, just not at the same time.  You'll get it soon :-)  In the mean time, you are definitely a little busy-body.

~ You talk constantly and I love it!  You've said "mama", "dada", "baba", and "gaga".  I'm happy to report that you said "mama" first, even though you still don't associate the word with me.  I could listen to your stories all day.  You make your daddy and me laugh because you are now working on squealing and screaming as loud as you can.

~ My absolute favorite thing is that you are reaching for me when you want to be held.  It is the cutest thing ever!  You really started this while at a bridal shower and were being passed around.  Since then, those little arms raise up when you see me and it puts a big smile on my face :-)

~ You've loved it when we clap our hands since day one, and now you've figured out how to clap your own hands!  Those little hands still amaze you.  You'll stop playing with your toys to observe your hands/fingers and see what all they can do.  It makes you happy when you're able to clap those hands together and make noise with them.

~ Sitting up is now standard.  You'd much rather sit up to play with toys than lay on the floor.  You're working so hard to go from laying down to the sitting up position on your own.  

~ Your favorite things right now are bath time (you love those bath squirty toys), your Little Tikes Workbench, Sophie the Giraffe, jumping, and being tickled.  You still love being read to (the teacher in me loves that) and patting each page as we read.

I cannot thank the Lord enough for the blessing of being your mommy.  You bring so much joy to our family, Matthew, and we look forward to seeing you grow and learn.

You had that monkey flying all over the place during our photo shoot.