Saturday, December 31, 2022

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! 



Monday, December 26, 2022

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! 


Monday, December 12, 2022

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!