9 Months

Where has the time gone?  My precious little boy is 9 months old (as of 5-24-13, I'm a little late).  Matthew has gone through so many changes this month and growing/learning so fast.  It's unbelievable how quickly little ones learn new things.  Matthew does something new every day and I love it!  His personality is coming through more and more also.  I am so thankful for my happy, ticklish, and curious little boy!

~ We went to see Dr. B today and you now weigh 21 lbs (57th percentile) and are 28.75 inches long (66th percentile).  Your head circumference is now 18 inches (62nd percentile).  Thankfully, you did not have to get shots today, so this trip was much more enjoyable.  You had a great check-up again!  Dr. B says you are growing and developing perfectly :-)  Just what mommy wants to hear.  What mommy was not ready for was actually having to schedule my baby's ONE YEAR doctor's appointment.

~ You're still in size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night.  We've officially packed away all of your 6 month clothes (tear, tear).  You're wearing size 6-9, 9, and 6-12 month clothes depending on the brand.  I'm loving all of the adorable summer clothes that I can put on you.  

~ Your feeding schedule hasn't changed much.  You have 8 oz of formula four times a day - 7:30-8:00 (depending on when you wake up), noon, 4:00-4:30, and 7:30-8:00.  You get a serving of fruit/vegetable around 9 am and 6 pm.  You still love apples, carrots, peas, sweet potato, and pears.  This month you've tried watermelon and cantaloupe.  Neither of which you were a fan of.  You've also tried Mum-Mums, but since they're banana flavored, you're not too impressed.  You like being able to feed yourself, but once you get the banana taste you put it down.  You've also tried Puffs, but we're quite sure about those either.

~ You started crawling right after turning 8 months old.  You're now ALL OVER THE PLACE!  Oh how life is different with a mobile baby - I LOVE it!!!!  You get so excited when mommy and daddy chase you while you are crawling around.  You get such a sweet smile on your face, and squeal with excitement.  Then, you quickly start crawling away.  You will crawl 90 mph if you see Bella's soccer ball (the nastiest thing in the house/your favorite thing in the house) or the vacuum cleaner.  

~ You are also pulling up on everything - toys, walls, couches, coffee table, our legs, etc.  While you're not pulling up to a standing position, you're very proficient at pulling up to and balancing on your knees.  I absolutely love when I walk into the room and you come crawling towards me and pull up on my pants - precious!!

~ You can also stand for long periods of time while holding onto something.  This is your favorite while playing at your activity table.  You're not cruising while standing and holding on to things yet, but I know that will come.  Didn't I say that you had changed so much during this month :-)  So many new tricks!

~ You had your first bought with pink eye and your first ear infection last week :-(  I picked you up from daycare on Friday (May 17th) and you had slept or laid down the whole day.  As I got you out of your daycare bed, I notice a little bit of puss in your left eye, but didn't think much of it.  When I got you home, you had a temperature of 101.4.  We gave you Tylenol before bed and that helped with your fever.  After putting you to bed, I got a text from the daycare director about a confirmed case of pink eye in your class - ugh!  We kept an eye on your left eye over the weekend.  By Sunday, when both eyes were turning pink, we knew we needed to take you into the doctor.  Your daddy took you in on Monday and that's when we learned that you also had an ear infection in your left ear.  You've been on antibiotics since and are feeling much better!!!  Dr. B checked your eyes and ear today and said both were completely clear!

~ You're still talking up a storm and learning new sounds.  "Dada", or variations of it, are your go to words still.  You're close to saying "mama" again - I can hear it mainly when you practice your fake cry.  I've heard "whoa", "bah", and "eeh" on occasion and it is just precious.  You are also in a squealing phase.  You like to see how loud you can get.  My favorite thing is our morning and afternoon conversations in the car.  You just talk and talk and I love it.

~ We finally bought you a jumperoo, and it just so happened to be the exact same as the one you love at daycare.  You have so much fun jumping away and chewing on the frog and bird hanging overhead.  Now that you are more into standing, you'd much rather stand on the outside of the jumperoo (either with our support or pulling up on the side rail to your knees) and play with the attached toys.

~ As a teacher, I love that you LOVE to read books.  The look on your face when I get out your fave books is priceless.  Your favorite books are Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?, Dogs, Bubbles Bubbles, Tractors, Pets' Tails, and The Goodnight Book.  You've begun to enjoy turning the pages while we read.  Once you see that it's time to turn the page, you start trying to peek at the next page.  I sure hope this love of books continues :-)

I cannot say enough about how blessed I am that the Lord entrusted me to be your mommy.  You have brought so much joy to our life and I cannot wait to see what is in store for our family.  I just know that the Lord has BIG plans for you.

1st Mother's Day

I am so very thankful that I was able to celebrate my very first Mother's Day today.  I continue to thank God for the blessing that he gave Mike and I in sweet Matthew.  This day was made even more special because Matthew was dedicated at church this morning.  Not to mention, I got to spend time with my amazing mom and mother-in-law.  To begin our Mother's Day festivities, Matthew and I took a few selfies in his room before bath/bed time.

All he wanted to do was grab my phone - of course

This morning after everyone was ready for church, I was given Mother's Day gifts from Mike and Matthew.  Mike got me a gift certificate for a 1-hour massage at our local spa.  I will be using that after school is done and we get back from our vacation.  Now on to Matthew's gift to momma.  Mike helped him "write" in my card - precious!  Matthew gave me a collage of some of our most precious moments in his 8 months.  It will be displayed proudly on my bedside table :-)  

After opening my gifts, we went to church for the baby dedication ceremony.  What a special occasion!  I loved making a public profession to raise Matthew to follow our Lord Jesus Christ.  I cannot wait to see how the Lord will use him.  Both sets of grandparents were able to be at the dedication, as well as, his Uncle Jim and Great Aunt Carol.  He is one loved little boy!  Once the dedication and service was over, we went with my family to eat for a Mother's Day lunch.

The rest of my day has been spent relaxing, taking a family walk, talking to one of my best friends who became a 1st time mommy this week, a long jacuzzi bath, and finally ice cream.  Such an amazing first Mother's Day.

 Brandon, one of our pastors, about to introduce all of the babies that were being dedicated

The picture of Matthew shown on the screen - love that boy!

Matthew's dedication :-)

Happy Mother's Day 2013

Mike's parents came from Conway for the dedication

My parents at the dedication

    My gift from Matthew - the pics are from his birth, his first bath, Halloween, Christmas, and Wye Mountain

What a wonderful job motherhood is!  I am so thankful for my mom and everything that she has done for me.  She is such an encouragement, especially now that I am a mom.  I am also thankful to my friends who are also mommas and who have set such amazing examples of motherhood.  It's so helpful to have women in my life who have walked in my footsteps and can lend advice or encouragement when I need it.  Happy Mother's Day!!!

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.

3-6 Month Faves

O'Ball Rattle ~ Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether ~ Bright Starts Rattle & Shake Barbell ~ Little Busy Bodies Boogie Wipes ~ Infantino Cloud Deluxe Shopping Cart Cover ~ Baby Bullet ~ Angelcare Deluxe Movement Monitor ~ Baby Einstein Neptune Activity Saucer

1.  O'Ball Rattle & Bright Starts Rattle & Shake Barbell - these are Matthew's favorite toys.  Both allow for his little fingers to grip them easily and shake them as much as he wants.  He'll even throw the O'Ball across the room!  I highly suggest these to help promote fine motor skills.

2.  Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether - even though Matthew has not cut any teeth yet, he still loves to chew on Sophie.  He holds it by the legs and chews on it's ears or legs.  It also makes the most adorable sound while he's chewing away :-)

3.  Little Busy Bodies Boogie Wipes - these are amazing and Matthew loves them!  During the cold/flu season, Matthew had a constant runny nose.  Since the Boogie Wipes are moist, unlike kleenex, we could wipe his nose often without it getting irritated.  He loves the grape scented wipes and gets a huge smile on his face while we wipe his nose.

4.  Infantino Cloud Deluxe Shopping Cart Cover - this has been great on our evenings out to dinner or a quick lunch outing.  We just cover the highchair and strap Matthew in.  My favorite part are the hooks that allow us to attach toys to it - no toys falling/being thrown on the floor!  There are a ton of really cute designs, it was hard to settle on just one.  I ended up choosing this one because it's gender neutral and the teacher in me thought it could be educational - ha!

5.  Baby Bullet - now that Matthew is eating solids, we get so much use out of this mixer.  Mike and I knew early on that we wanted to make his food and this has been perfect for us.  It's so easy to use, plus it comes with a recipe guide to help create yummy meals for little bit.  If you're looking for a fast and easy way to make your baby's food, I highly recommend the Baby Bullet!  

6.  Angelcare Deluxe Movement Monitor - this one's for me.  Not only do we have a video monitor in Matthew's nursery, but we have this gem also.  The sensor is under his crib mattress and it monitors his breathing/movement while he sleeps.  If it detects no movement for 10 seconds, the alarm will go off.  It gives mommy some peace-of-mind since Matthew is on the other side of the house.  The only downside are the false alarms.  When Matthew moves to the very corner of his crib, it sometimes activates the alarm since he is further away from the sensor.

7.  Baby Einstein Neptune Activity Saucer - this is great for when I need to cook/clean/shower and Matthew is wide awake and ready to play.  I can just put him in it and let him play while I take care of something.  There are so many colorful parts that he is entertained for a while in this thing.  He loves the noises each part makes and pressing the buttons to play music.  The only downside - it doesn't allowing for jumping.  While this serves it's purpose, I would also like to have an actual jumperoo because sometimes the Johnny Jump Up just doesn't cut it.

 

Wye Mountain

Man, I am so behind in blogging.  I have a good excuse though - I've been spending lots of time with my sweet little boy!  We're just coming off of Spring Break and I so miss being able to greet Matthew in the morning and play/love on him the rest of the day.  The first Saturday of Spring Break Mike and I took Matthew to the Wye Mountain Daffodil Festival.  We met up with my parents and my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and their kiddo, Alli.  The drive there was absolutely beautiful!  The views of the river were unbelievable.  I can't wait to go back next year!

 

My precious Matthew sitting in the Daffodil field.  Such a handsome boy!

   

Sweet cousins - this is about the best we could do.  I love that Matthew kept putting his hand on Alli's shoulder :-)

 

I love my family!!!

 

 

Checking out Emie

    

Checking out Pop - love these pics!

 The Fleisher/Rippy clan

Beautiful place, right?  I'm hoping to get caught up on my blogging before Easter.  Be looking for our 3-6 month faves and Matthew's 7 month stats (yes, he turned 7 months old on Sunday).