A NYE Letter to My Baby Boy

I do some blogging for a baby boutique called Caden Lane. It has been a fun way to work on my writing craft and give me an outlet for adulting while I’m at home with the little man. Most of my articles are more “technical” if you will- how-tos, tips and tricks, product reviews etc. But I wrote this article for New Years that is full of all the feels. 

If you’d like to read my letter, head over here! 

This year has been so special and yet somehow still I know the best is yet to come with our little man. I have loved 2022, full of sweet baby snuggles, plenty of worries, and yet so, so much joy! I can’t wait to see what 2023 has for us. 

I’m so appreciative to those of you that read along with me here. I write mostly so these days don’t ever escape my memory but I love having you right alongside me! Happy new year everyone! 

6 Months

I’m behind on these pretty much every month but this month takes the cake! JB turned 6 months…10 days ago! As I said, I’m behind. But I think we all understand that, given the craziness of the holiday season. Trying to get everything ready for baby’s first Christmas, preparing for traveling, wrapping gifts and all the baking of course- it keeps you busy! 

6 Month Stats

Weight: So interestingly enough, he was 18lbs 8oz. This surprised me since he weighed more than that when we went in the month before for his ear infection. But I guess the fact that he’d been weighed with clothes (and apparently a full diaper) must have thrown things off at that appointment. Even still, being 18lbs 8oz does put him in the 70% for weight so he’s still growing, growing, growing! 

Height: His height curve isn’t moving on as steep of an incline and he measured in at 25.5 in putting him int he 35% for height. 

Likes

He loves his activity center and getting to sit up on the floor to play. He likes to chew on anything and everything he can get his hands on. He loves to watch Bo play and chase toys and is all around enamored with anything Bo does. (Bo is still undecided about him, but I think he’ll come around). He likes his toys that make noise and play music. He likes to drink water out of his special cup but really would like to drink out of whatever anyone else is drinking . He loves when his daddy gets home from work and getting to go out on walks. He’s enjoying trying solid food and so far loves hummus and broccoli best but he also loves puréed prunes! And as always…he still loves bath time!

Dislikes

He is still a pretty happy guy for the most part but we have discovered, with the introduction of food, that he does NOT like having his face wiped and his belly isn’t so sure about the change in food but we’re figuring it out. He has also started trying to crawl and is not a fan of the fact that he hasn’t actually figured it out yet. He gets pretty frustrated when trying to move and he doesn’t go anywhere. 

Sleeping, Eating and Playing

His sleep has been up and down lately. He’s had some good streaks of sleeping through the night but he’s also recently gone back to waking up around 1:30 and then being up for the day pretty early around 5:30 so we’re working on figuring that out. But he naps pretty well during the day which is great! He usually takes 3 naps- 1 a pretty long one and the other two around 45 minutes a piece. He usually up for the day by 6:30 at the latest and is usually down for the night by 7:30. Now that he’s older his feeding and sleeping schedules have spread out so it isn’t always sleep, eat, play, repeat. He tends to eat closer to 3-4 hours (but sometimes till more often). And when he isn’t sleeping or eating, he’s playing. He is usually awake for anywhere from 2-3 hours between naps- usually closer to 2 in the morning and closer to the 3 later in the day. 

Favorite Moments:

I think my favorite moment would be taking him to see Santa! I wrote a post all about that with some darling photos to go with it. But aside from or Santa excitement, getting to start on solid food has been exciting! It’s fun to see him trying new things and being excited about food. He takes after his daddy and loves red meat! His first thanksgiving was also this month! I’m also loving that he is sitting independently, it makes it so fun to play with him! And while I don’t know that I would say it was a favorite moment for me (it may have been for hubby) it definitely seems like a noteworthy moment, he spent his first night away from me this month. He had a boys weekend with daddy while I went to see a friend for one night. He loved the extra time with daddy! 

One half of a whole year feels monumental. It seems like he just arrived but also like he’s been here forever. I want to slow time down, but I also can’t wait for what’s coming. I love every minute with this sweet boy! 

Christmas Magic

A few weeks ago, we got to take JB to see Santa for the first time. Obviously he is completely unaware of all things Christas but I love getting to experience all of these firsts with him. Hubby and I often comment that even though he won’t remember this, we will. And that’s just as important. So I booked a 5 minute time slot at a local boutique that was doing Santa photos. And let me tell you, I think this man may well be the real Santa because he was a good one! 

We put him in a red sweater onesie and he looked like a very cozy Christmas baby. As we were headed in, they let us know that they find with the little ones it’s actually best to bring them in backwards so they don’t see Santa before they’re on his lap. Supposedly it keeps them from crying on the spot and at least means you’ll get one or two tear free photos. It definitely made me giggle as we reversed JB onto Santa’s lap but it turned out to be pretty good advice! 

We managed to get a few darling shots of him being extra curious about Santa’s fluffy sleeves and looking up  at hubby and I. 

Things started taking a turn when he looked behind him and realized who was holding him and he was none too sure about him. We did have some brief tears. Which honestly, he’s still adorable even when a bit upset.

He made a pretty good recovery though with his dad making silly faces and noises at him for some distraction. So overall I would say it was a huge success! 

We’ve had a delightful time putting up all the Christmas decorations, getting presents under the tree and showing JB all of the Christmas magic. 

 

Nothing makes me happier than my sweet little guy in his Christmas pjs (a hand me down from his older cousins) sitting (his favorite new skill) in the beautiful Christmas tree morning light! 

5 Months

I had several posts I was hoping to write between 4 months and 5. I had hoped to share a little bit more about JB’s baptism and also about Halloween and our recent trip to Charleston. I am still hoping to get to them (we’ll see!) but for now, it seems time has flown and it’s already time to share 5 month stats. The way time flies blows my mind. Some of the days (or a lot of them) feel long but when I get to one of these posts it’s like I can’t figure out where the days have gone! 

Five Month Stats

Weight: 18lbs 14 oz…Now he was fully dressed during this weight check since it was for a sick visit (more on that later). Usually he gets weighed in nothing so it may be a little skewed but either way I think we can agree he isn’t missing any calories! 

Height: No height this month since he hasn’t been measured at the doctor and I wasn’t able to find the measuring tape at home. So stay tuned for next month! 

Show me a happier baby! 

Likes:

He still loves being outside! Which with the weather turning is starting to become a little trickier. But he is so happy out there so we’re bundling up and going out there anyways! He also has started using his activity center and he’s a big fan of the little piano on there. He still loves his mat but is definitely enjoying more belly time than last month. He is enjoying going for walks more and is also starting to be more interested in books which is extra exciting for this book loving mama. A few of his current favorites are Goodnight Moon, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and If I Were a Dinosaur. 

Something else to add to his list of likes is chewing on everything and anything in sight!

Dislikes:

He is still a genuinely happy baby with few dislikes. However a slightly unfortunate change we’re noticing is he isn’t as happy in the car as he used to be. Because he’s awake for much longer stretches now that also means he doesn’t just go to sleep as soon as we hit the road. And he is a busy boy so he seems to get bored during any longer car rides. He’s still good just out and about town but we took a few longer drives this past month and did have to deal with a few bouts of a very unhappy baby. He is also not a fan of antibiotics. Poor buddy had an ear infection and giving him his medicine was a bit like wrestling a mini alligator. 

Sleeping, Eating and Playing:

We are moving into a more predictable routine and I don’t want to jinx myself but it is very exciting! He is able to stay awake for much longer stretches so he’s awake anywhere from 2-3 hours in between naps- usually a little closer to 2 hours in the morning and right before bed but longer in the middle of the day. Right now (as in the last few days) he is taking 3 naps a day. He is getting up around 6-6:30 (a literal answered prayer after weeks and weeks of 5-5:30 wake ups). He takes his first nap anywhere between 8-9 and this is usually his longest nap but that’s not a guarantee. Once he’s up it’s eating and playtime and a lot of times this is when I like to get out for the day for errands and such. He will also take an afternoon nap somewhere around 12-1 followed by more eating and playtime and then one more nap (usually a short one) around 4-4:30. Bedtime is still somewhere between 7-8 depending on where that last nap fell. Then he will usually sleep well for the night with typically only one wake-up to eat sometime around 4ish usually. Then he’ll do his last little stretch before waking for the day. During playtime we do a lot of mat time both on his back and his belly. And woohoo he is finally rolling! So we’re practicing that skill as much as we can! We’ll head outside when we can, or go for a walk. We run errands, play in his activity center, sit in his high chair for practice while I make lunch, read books, FaceTime his cousins and anything else I can think of to keep him entertained! 

Favorite Moments:

This was an easy one this month! We went to Charleston for homecoming at The Citadel and we got to take JB to the beach for his first time. He got to see the ocean and put his feet in the cold ocean water. He got to squish his toes around in the sand and hear the delightfully peaceful sounds of the waves and I loved getting to show him! It was also a particularly special and meaningful trip in my own heart because the last time we were there was 3 years ago. It was also for homecoming and it was the start of mine and hubby’s relationship. And it was so sweet to me, to be back there 3 years later married with our baby boy. It had me looking back over the last few years in awe at God’s goodness in my life. 

Next month is going to be a big one…his first Thanksgiving is coming up! And his first food is most likely going to be thrown in there anytime now so I can’t wait for the excitement that is coming! 

4 Months

I am running late with the monthly post this month…I seem to always be late with it but this month I’m extra late. But we had a busy weekend and a busy start to the week too! Our little guy did turn 4 months this past weekend though and it is shocking to me that he is getting so big! I mean I seriously can’t figure out where the time is going and each new phase we enter is even more fun than the last! 

Four Month Stats

Weight: 16lbs 13 oz…still a sweet chunky little guy! 

Height: 25.5 inches- This puts him in the 65th percentile for height which was pretty impressive to his mom and dad who definitely are not passing on many tall genes. 

Likes:

His current favorite toy is his plastic links that he likes to hold and chew on. I keep them in my diaper bag because they are guaranteed to occupy him if he gets fussy while out and about. He still enjoys floor time both on his back and his belly whether on his mat or just on a blanket on the floor. But his most favorite place to play is outside. He loves to hang on our outdoor couch and look at the sky. He’ll be rolling any day now too! He also has been enjoying his frozen teething toy and I’m wondering if we’ll be seeing teeth pop through pretty early with him. 

Dislikes:

Honestly he doesn’t have many dislikes and is an overall pretty happy baby. He gets fussy when he’s tired or hungry and can occasionally get overstimulated but is a pretty happy little guy otherwise. 

Sleeping, Eating and Playing:

He is still eating like a champ! And typically eats roughly every 2.5-3 hours during the day. We have been a bit all over the place with sleep lately. We’ve had a few nights that he hasn’t woken up to eat at all and has slept straight through from about 7 until 5:30 which is amazing! But we’ve also had a few nights of being up every 2-3 hours which isn’t as amazing. For the most part he’s somewhere in between that but it’s exciting to be moving towards sleeping through the night. 

He is definitely an early riser and likes to be up no later than 6 but usually around 5:30. I’m getting used to it though! We’re still in our sleep, eat and then play routine for the most part and as he’s gotten older the more play time we get to have! Usually right now after he eats, we still have at least an hour sometimes closer to an hour and a half of playtime. Sometimes its tough to occupy a 4 month old that long but I’ve gotten really good at making silly faces and singing all the best songs. 

Favorite Moments:

We took him to the pumpkin patch this month which was precious and a fun start  to some holiday traditions! I wrote and posted all about that here. We also are still getting all the smiles and laughs which I can’t get enough of. This past weekend  he got to go to his first Oktoberfest and on the day he turned 4 months we had him baptized which was a delightfully joyful event with our families. It really seems as though each new stage is my new favorite which helps the sting out of how fast he’s growing! 

Life Lately

Life continues to be all about baby which is delightful and we still think he is the greatest thing to ever happen. And as we move into the fall and are approaching the holidays it is so fun to realize we are in the midst of so many firsts! Aside from all of the baby milestones we’re watching and waiting for, there are also all of the other firsts of life like….first trip to the pumpkin patch! 

Does the three and a half month old care about the pumpkin patch or even know what a pumpkin is? Absolutely not. Did we still think it was the cutest thing ever to take him and take his picture and let him “pick” a pumpkin? Absolutely yes. Everything feels so much more fun and festive with a little one, even if they aren’t quite in tune with that excitement themselves. 

His little personality shines through a bit more everyday and when I tell you that I literally want to melt into a puddle when he smiles at us or laughs, that feels like an understatement.

Him and I have settled into a bit of a routine with our weeks which has been great for me to feel some semblance of a schedule start to appear. Most weeks we do our grocery order on Mondays and then have one morning where we walk with some other moms and their littles and we also usually manage to make it to bible study each week where he is mostly an excellent (ideally sleeping) participant. The rest of our days are filled with early morning coffee while he plays on his mat, naps, a LOT of time on our porch looking at the sky, more naps and then some snuggles with daddy once he’s home before bath and bed. 

This is quite possibly my new favorite picture…the sweetness is too much!

Hubby and I have found a church home we enjoy so there are a couple evenings a week we’re able to spend with our community group and Sunday morning church where unlike bible study, the little man tends to not be such an excellent participant but we’re working on it!

And in the middle of all of that, I try to keep up with the house (try being the operative word), and do some blogging. Which if you didn’t know, aside from my own personal blog here, I am also doing some blogging for Caden Lane which has been a super fun creative outlet for me as I transitioned to a stay at home mom. 

Sometimes the days are long (and some of the nights even longer lol) but they’re so gloriously full of “the little things” that I know these are the days I’ll look back on and wonder at how they went so fast. 

Visitors, Caves and Falls

After the little man was mostly recovered from his yucky cold we had a lovely weekend with some special visitors! My cousin and her husband came to spend the weekend with us and we got to do some touristy things. Due to the timing of our move around the holidays and then me being hugely pregnant we haven't done much of the exploring we would like so it was great to have a reason to get out and see things! There was also plenty of porch sitting, and lots of catching up talking.

My cousin, my sister and I are all pretty close in age which was buckets of fun growing up. We didn't live close by but took advantage of holidays together often! And then as luck would have it my sister and I both ended up going to school near our cousin and her parents so we were lucky to spend a lot more time together in those years. Now we're back to living farther apart so we'll take advantage of the time we get together whenever possible! And I think it's safe to say JB has a new buddy! 

Saturday we ventured up to Lookout Mountain to see Ruby Falls. This is a waterfall that is actually inside of a cave. So you do a little cave tour and your reward at the end is this beautiful waterfall. It was crazy to me to learn about how this waterfall was discovered and to see the narrow, oh so narrow, space the original explorers crawled through before finding it. 

Little man did pretty well, with dad carrying him in the carrier for the first part of the cave tour. And then the lovely waterfall sounds lulled him to sleep and he slept in the carrier for the walk back out. 

Along with the cave tour and falls, there is also a pretty great overlook where you get a great view of the city! There's actually two levels and I imagine the top level has even more spectacular views but between the bright sun and the precarious looking (to a first time mom) railing, I decided JB and I would just hang at this first level while the others checked out the top. 

We finished off the day with a yummy lunch before heading back home to grill out and watch some college football. The weekend was full of yummy food, storytelling, some relaxing and lots of snuggles- both for the baby and our dog who was so sad to see his new BFF leave.It was definitely a great end to a not so great week! 

3 Months

Three months? Are you sure? Time is literally flying! This month was so fun because his personality is coming out more and more. I could watch him smile and laugh all day and not lose interest it is just the sweetest thing there is. And as he's settling in to himself more, it's becoming easier to be out and about with him too. He's a bit less fussy in the evenings and he's awake a bit more during the day so it's easier to be a bit more flexible with our outings. 

Three Month Stats:

Weight: He is now 15 lbs. We haven't been in for a well check but we did get his weight checked just a few days shy of the 3 month mark when we were in for a sick visit :(  But it was exciting to get to see his weight. He's growing, that's for sure

Likes: He loves his mat and is starting to interact more with the different pieces -grabbing at them and noticing when he kicks them. He also loves to just be outside and look around and enjoy the breeze. He loves laying on his back so he can kick his legs as fast as possible. He loves to "stand" and also likes to practice sitting up (with help obviously). He definitely loves to be part of the group, and still prefers to be held upright in a sitting position where he can check out what's going on. He likes music and making faces at mommy and daddy. He likes to chill in his bouncer while mom folds laundry or unloads the dishwasher and is also enjoying his carrier especially now that he can face outwards. 

Dislikes: He does not like to miss out on anything so he has started to fight sleep time a bit. He's too worried all the fun is happening during nap time.                               

Sleeping, Eating and Playing: He is still eating every 2-3 hours during the day and we're still getting longer stretches at night. We seem to have a hit a bit of a growth spurt so he's been waking up a bit earlier than usual in the night- after about 5 hours to eat. But I'm hoping that's just a phase and he'll be back to doing an 8 hour stretch soon. Daytime sleep still isn't his strong suit but he's been doing better, taking naps closer to 40-50 minutes instead of 30. He usually takes about 5 naps a day still since they're not super long. Lately he's been up for the day around  7 and he usually goes down for the night around 7:30. It's been great to have a slightly more set schedule although it's never exactly the same it's nice to have a bit of predictability. Usually he's awake, then eats and gets a diaper change before we play and then down for nap. Right now he's usually awake for about 1.5 hours between naps which has given us lots more time for playing in this phase. 

Favorite Moments: A few of my favorite things about this month have been the increase in smiles and the real, actual belly laughs we're getting. He also had his first trip to the pool and swim in the lake which while not his favorite was super cute for the rest of us. I also love that his nighttime fussiness is dwindling. The witching hour was tough and it's so nice to see that fading and have him be a bit more pleasant in the evenings. Dad loves this especially since it's the time of day that he's at home and gets to spend with him. 

Oh how I love watching him grow! 

Baby's First Cold

It's been a week over here. The little man has had his first little virus this week. On Monday morning, the little guy seemed to choke on some milk after eating and had this big ole' coughing fit. It scared me to death but he got himself together after a while and I was finally able to get him back down. But once he was up for the day, I noticed that he was still periodically coughing and his breathing sounded pretty junky to me. Being the over paranoid first time mom that I am, I was convinced he had aspirated some of the milk into his lungs causing the cough. So I called the pediatrician and after I shared my observations they said I should come in to get him checked out. So off to the pediatrician we went for their last appointment of the day! Hubby met us a the pediatrician which always makes me feel so much better. He is the absolute best dad, always wanting to be there for his little man. 

The pediatrician told us his chest sounded great, they looked in his ears and didn't see any cause for concern and gave him a little once over for anything else that might be the source of his troubles. She decided he was most likely coming down with something viral and it was just an unfortunate coincidence that it coincided with his little feeding episode but that the cough was probably unrelated to that. So to be cautious and since it's going around, she decided we should test for RSV. Y'all. He hated it and it was so so sad. The swab they use for RSV is basically a covid test. Now if you've had a covid test, you know they are not known for being comfortable. And our poor little baby boy did not like it one bit and made the saddest cry you've ever heard! But, the test was negative! Phew! So they sent us home with directions to watch out for a fever, and to let them know if the couch got worse or new symptoms developed. 

Well bedtime rolls around and we decided to check his temperature before starting our usual bedtime routine and were surprised and sad to see he had a little fever! I called the pediatrician after hours line (I mentioned I'm a bit over paranoid right?) just to get some guidance for the night. She assured me that now that he is a bit older a fever isn't the emergency that it can be when their younger. I was able to give him some tylenol and put him to bed. My pediatrician actually called me back about an hour and a half later..now that is some quality bedside manner if you ask me...and after we talked through what we were seeing at home she encouraged me to bring him back in in the morning to check a few other things. That night when he woke up to feed he had just the worst cough and it made it so hard for him to go back to sleep. It was positively pitiful. He did manage to get some sleep, although I don't think I did, and I was glad we were headed back to the doctor because he was pretty puny the next morning. 

This time we checked for the big C virus which meant another swab up the nose. He was much less upset by it this time thank goodness and it was negative which was a huge relief. They also ran a little blood panel just to be on the lookout for infections which came back clear. And his chest and ears still sounded/looked great so they reassured us it was most likely just a cold virus and would pass in a couple days. So him and I have spent the last few days, laying low, trying to take plenty of naps and stay hydrated. I'm hopeful that today might be a fully fever free day since up until now it has been coming and going throughout the day. It's weeks like these that I think having one stay at home parent isn't even enough, but I'm also so grateful that I'm able to be home with him when he needs me. 

Even sick he is the sweetest little guy and we've still been getting plenty of smiles and giggles. But I will be so happy for him to be feeling 100% better hopefully soon! 

Labor Day

We made the trek with our little man over to my parent's house for Labor Day weekend. They live on the lake and we were excited for little man's first lake experience. I did take him a couple weeks ago but he didn't get in the water and we were excited for him to test it out. The weather had other plans and it poured buckets almost the whole weekend! But we definitely made the best of it. 

September is birthday month in my family so we celebrated both my dad's birthday and mine while we were there. So there was a lot of cake and sweet nephews helping to blow out candles. 

I have the world's sweetest nephews and the oldest is the biggest snuggle bug. We are best buds and I loved the extra snuggles, secret sharing, casual chats and the sweetest unprompted breakfast hand holding.

 

They are also over the moon about their new cousin and were great at keeping him entertained over the weekend. And JB thought they were just the best. 

Sunday my in-laws came to join us as well so he got all the love from all the family. He's probably wondering why there aren't as many people just dying to hold him all day long now that we're home because he sure was loved on this weekend. He loves to be in the middle of everything and be able to see all the excitement that's going on. He's not so much a "hold me so we can snuggle baby", more of a "hold me so I can see better" baby and there were plenty of people to oblige that request throughout the weekend.

On Monday, the clouds finally parted for a few minutes and we made a quick trip down to the water to see what he thought. He was not a fan and was in and out pretty quickly. Hopefully next summer the ratio of getting ready for the lake and actual swimming will be a bit better. This year, we spent a lot longer getting all the gear on than we did in the water. But he makes the cutest water baby so we're all ok with that. 

As it turns out our chihuahua doesn't hate the water either! I wouldn't go so far as to say he likes it, but he tolerates it and got in more than once! The first time was against his will but he decided it wasn't so bad and he got back in himself. He, like his new little bro, does not want to miss a thing and if people were in the water well then so was he! 

Monday also meant JB's first game day! He's going to be a Clemson fan whether he wants to or not and while he didn't make it to kickoff for this game, I'm confident there is plenty of Clemson football watching in his future. 

After a fun filled weekend we made our trip home on Tuesday but not without making a few stops! We decided to take the long way home allowing us to swing by hubby's grandparents on the way who hadn't met our little guy yet. They were over the moon to finally meet him and he was equally as happy to meet them based on all of the smiles we saw. We were also able to make a pitstop at my grandmother's house and take her to dinner. So she was also able to squeeze in some snuggles. 

Before our final leg home we got buddy all snug in his jammies to hopefully encourage him to sleep on the ride and make for an easier transfer once we were home. The ride started out a little dicey and I thought we were about to have a very overtired baby on our hands but he did finally go to sleep and made the transfer to bed like a champ! 

Having a baby seems to make everything more exhausting, but it also makes it so much sweeter.