Months 8 and 9

The last two months have been jam packed and therefore his 8 month post got away from me. So we’re combining these months and I’ll try to get all caught up. 

Stats: 

Weight: 20 lbs 12 oz- he is 70th percentile for weight and we love each chunky little ounce of him. I know as he starts moving now some of those rolls will start to fade and I will be so sad to see them go!

Height: 27.7 inches putting him in the 25th percentile for height.

We didn’t go to the doctor at 8 months so I didn’t have stats to share then. All of his stats are from his 9 month appointment this week. What I do know for sure is that people still comment on how solid our little guy is. He continues to be positively squishy and delightfully adorable! 

What have we been up to? 

Since this post is a bit delayed and we have a lot to catch up on, let me just fill you in on all of the fun we’ve had these last 2 months. 

We celebrated his first Valentine’s Day

Started swim class 

The first couple classes were not his favorite.

But the back float is his favorite and now he’s the star of the class!

Visited the aquarium for the first time 

Got a backyard swing 

Started crawling 

Enjoyed the early warm weather 

Got an ear infection (and visited the ER)

Saw the cousins (and did a terrible job taking pictures but they were all there I promise)

Celebrated St Patrick’s Day (ok this one technically happened the day after he turned 9 months but I’m including it anyway)

Likes: people watching, hanging on a blanket in the backyard, going for walks, bubbles, playing with the dog toys and trying to get his water and food, bath time (still!), seeing his friends from church, the back float at swimming, daddy coming home from work, anything Bo does, puffs and yogurt melts, trying new foods, “talking”, throwing toys on the floor 

Dislikes: having his face cleaned after meals, having his nose wiped ever, being told he can’t have Bo’s food and water, ear infections 

Eating, sleeping and playing: 

Well in the last month we weaned from breastfeeding so that’s been a big change. It’s bittersweet but he’s done great! He has 4 bottles a day and sometimes one overnight too but I’m hoping we can get back to sleeping through the night soon. He takes two naps a day both of which are usually a pretty good length which is nice. He usually is up between 6-6:30 for the day and goes to bed by 7:30. We aim for eating solids 3 times a day too but that doesn’t always happen. Some of his favorite foods right now are peas, mandarin oranges (the kind in the little cups), chicken and pasta. But he really loves his snacks-puffs, yogurt melts and applesauce pouches. Playtime is spent with all the many toys, crawling all around the house and getting outside as much as possible. He loves to hang outside in the yard on a blanket or go for a walk. We put a little swing up in the backyard and while he’s still a little small for it, he does enjoy it! It will be fun when he’s a bit bigger for sure. We also try to get out and about at least once a day, we do the store, swim lessons, bible study, play dates, the library etc.

Best moment this month: We had a great time taking him to the aquarium at the end of February. He seemed to really enjoy getting to see the water, and watching the big exhibits. Plus he loves people watching and there was plenty of that to be had. It’s fun for us getting to do new things with him and see his reaction to everything!

He has officially been here with us as long (well a little longer actually) as he was in my belly. I took this photo as a 9 months in vs 9 months out comparison and it is just wild to me. I, actually closer to 8 months in this photo but it was the closest I had to 9 months. And now there is a little person here, with his own personality who lights up our world every day. Gosh we just love being his parents! 

Month 7

 Our little man is officially 7 months old! The months seem to be flying by and I can’t believe that somehow we are actually closer to him being one than we are to him being brand new. It’s just wild! 

7 Month Stats

Weight: 20 lbs according to my home scale. A sweet and solid little guy. 

Height: No height this month because I haven’t managed to wrangle him to measure him at home. 

Likes: 

He loves to eat! He has been thoroughly enjoying trying all kinds of new foods and is always a pretty happy camper at meal time. He loves his little stacking “donuts”. He got them for Christmas and they’ve become a favorite for sure. He loves to chew on his teethers, or his toys, or anything he can get in his mouth. He loves when daddy comes home from work in the evenings. He likes to hold his toys in the bath tub and loves to squeal and shriek and make all kinds of noise. He likes to be tickled and making silly faces. He loves the wind in his face and watching Bo play with his toys. He likes to snuggle after nap time. He still loves Goodnight moon but is also starting to enjoy some other books too. 

Dislikes: 

Having his face wiped. Not a fan at all. I put that in his 6 month post as well, but he continues to be unhappy with our desire to help him have a clean face. But if you sing and make noise and act like it’s a game he will usually be tricked into letting you get a quick wipe in. Other than that he’s a pretty happy man as long as he’s fed and not getting too sleepy. He’ll fuss if he starts to get bored but is pretty quickly calmed with a change of scenery or a different toy to play with. 

Sleeping, Eating and Playing:

His sleep schedule is pretty much the same from 6 months. He’s still taking three naps. Usually the first one is his longer nap. Then the middle nap is a mystery- it could be an hour, and hour 15, 45, 40- who knows! And then the last nap is always a cat nap just to help him get to bedtime so it’s usually only about 30 minutes. He’s usually up for the day around 6 and then spends about 2.5-3 hours awake in between each nap. I love having a slightly more predictable schedule these days because even though it’s not exactly the same each day, I’m able to plan a little better based on how things usually go. 

He is still nursing about every 3ish hours, sometimes 4. And we’re adding in more and more solid food which has been fun (and a little overwhelming too!). He will usually eat breakfast about an hour after his morning milk and he eats his dinner when we eat dinner, usually eating some version of what we eat. Sometimes he eats lunch as well or a little snack in the middle but that’s not as consistent yet and kind of depends on our day. He loves to try new foods and I am trying to introduce him to as many things as possible. I try and pick up a few new things for him to try whenever I get groceries for the week. This week we’re trying spaghetti squash and mango for the first time! He’s been a champ and up for all kinds of things! A new favorite of his is salmon. 

Since we have around 3 hours of awake time between naps there is plenty of playtime! We spend plenty of time on the floor on his playmats Paying on his belly, on his back and sitting up. He plays with all of his new toys he got for Christmas and loves them all! We read books and try to take a walk when it’s nice out. Mealtime always takes up some of our awake time and he usually hangs out in his activity center while I get it ready or cleaned up. We take rides in his little wagon and sit on the porch when it’s not too cold. He helps me do chores around the house (well he joins me while I do them). We try to get out once a day too. Sometimes it’s to see a friend, other times it just for an errand but it’s always good to get a change of scenery and be out and about. He’s the best little buddy to hang out with each day! 

Favorite Moments: 

Christmas! I mean how could his first Christmas not be a top moment? It was magical and sweet and something I’ll cherish. I wrote all about it here if you want to read more. 

What I’m Looking Forward To: I’m excited for a lot of the milestones we’re getting close to like crawling (he’s trying so hard on this one), learning some of the baby sign language I’ve been teaching him, first words. It’s so fun to see what new thing he’ll do! 

2 Years

Our anniversary is coming up on Monday and it’s had me thinking about how different things are just 2 years later. And thinking about where we were and what we doing this time 2 years ago. 

It’s 2021 and there are only a few days until our wedding. I’ve finished sub plans for the school days I’ll be missing. We’ve been trying to get packed for the long weekend, not wanting to forget a thing. This involves a lot of me wandering around the house talking to myself. 

“Is my rehearsal dinner dress here? Or did I leave that at mom’s?” 

“Did I end up ordering the cake topper from Etsy?”

“Where did I stash my wedding shoes?” 

“Let me go get our marriage license out before I forget”

I’m doing my best to make sure Allan remembers all the pieces to his tux, especially socks, don’t forget socks. And the groomsmen gifts, and the wedding rings, and the information for the hotel and let’s not forget about the dogs! Loading up the car to make the trek from PA to SC. 

The months, weeks, days and moments leading up to a wedding are so full of fluttering chaos. The type of busy where you just flit from one thing to the next, giving a little bit of time here, a little focus there hoping that everything will turn out just right. 

But those days are also filled with the most beautiful kinds of anticipation and joy. The kind that rises up inside you till you’re about to burst. The kind that radiates in a glow on your face, through the giant smiles that seem plastered on in their permanence when talking about your fiancé. The kind of anticipation that brings butterflies to your stomach in the best sort of way. Feelings that you want to hold onto forever. 

And I think your wedding day is there to do just that. To anchor you and your husband to that joy. As we move through life and through the early years of marriage, we realize that our anniversary is just a day. An important day for sure. But it’s just a day. Our wedding is only one snapshot in the bigger picture of our marriage. And while it’s significant as the starting point of our forever, I’d like to go back and tell myself that it won’t be the peak of the anticipation, butterflies, smiles or the glow. That the coming days, while they may be less glamorous, will be full of these types of moments. 

The smile that radiates with pride when hearing about an accomplishment at work. 

The growing anticipation of a positive pregnancy test. 

The abundant glow that radiates for days as we share the news of our growing family. 

The flit and fluttering as we check off to dos on our moving list. 

The joy at an ultrasound.

The sweet smiles shared over coffee and the news on a Sunday morning in a new home.

The familiar comfort of your favorite person next to you on the couch watching jeopardy. 

The overwhelm at holding our son in our arms. 

The reassuring word while we figure out the parenting thing. 

A kiss on the way out the door.

A phone call from the road when he’s traveling. 

Date night in our own kitchen while the baby sleeps. 

It’s those same feelings from our wedding day, just reshaped to meet us in our everyday life. But always reminding us of the commitment we made, the love we share and the promises we’re keeping. I couldn’t have predicted what our life would like today when we said “I do” 2 years ago. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Cheers to 2 years with my best friend, and forever more to go! 

Christmas Magic

Christmas with a little one is extra special and we jam packed as much of it into our season as we could. We had plans to travel for the week of Christmas and so we decided before leaving that we’d do our own little family Christmas at home just the three of us. No need to lug all the bigger gifts with us and it also gave us a time to enjoy the holiday season as our own little family outside of the craziness. 

We stuffed James’ stocking and he wore Christmas jammies to bed and we brought him downstairs in the light of the Christmas tree to see what Santa and mommy and daddy had brought him. He also got to open some family gifts and hubby and I opened our gifts from one another as well. Our main gift to little man was this super sweet radio flyer push wagon. Eventually he’ll be using it as he learns to walk and as he gets older to cart around his favorite things but for now we’ll pull him around in it while he laughs and adorably holds onto the sides. 

He was of course a big fan of all the wrapping and mostly wanted to play with the paper and bows. So we enjoyed a slow and sweet “Christmas” morning watching him crinkle paper and chew on his new toys and loved every minute! 

The next stop on our Christmas tour was my in-laws. We headed there mid week before Christmas to spend a few days. There were more gifts, more wrapping to crinkle, old friends to visit and an aunt and uncle to finally meet!  Hubby’s parents had also refinished his rocking horse from his own childhood for JB and that was a special present. He enjoyed it for a few brief moments before the tears started but we know it will be well loved as he gets older. 

The final stop was my parents’ house where we spent a few days with them as well as my sister’s family. This included plenty of cousin time! We got to finally meet the newest member of the family who is the sweetest little thing and I am so excited for JB to have a. Cousin so close in age to grow up with. He also thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with his older cousins who he finds positively hilarious and the best entertainment. 

I took exactly one picture of JB on Christmas morning…mom fail. But I was too busy enjoying the morning, and keeping him from eating the wrapping paper. 

It was extra special to have my nephews there because Christmas is more fun with little ones who believe in all the magic. My mom did snap this photo of my sister and I with our kiddos on Christmas Eve in their matching jammies and it makes my heart so happy! 

This year will always be one of the sweetest Christmases for us and I’m glad we were able to stretch it out and make it last! 

2023 Thoughts

I still need to recap Christmas but that feels like a lot. So for today I am sharing some of my (rambling) thoughts on the new year. I love a new year! Fresh start, clean slate, the refreshed desire to organize, declutter and be more efficient. I have always been one to set a resolution and prefer an actual resolution as opposed to choosing a word for the year or something in that vein. But in the past, I’ve often made large sweeping resolutions that, like many people’s, get tossed to the wayside by mid February (or earlier). 

In 2021, my resolution was to read through the Bible in a year and I did! I loved the feeling of having actually accomplished something that I set my mind to 365 days prior. There were bumps and hiccups and days (more than a few) I had to play catch up but I made it. And I think part of the reason is because it was a very actionable goal. It wasn’t abstract or a focused on something too general. There was a specific goal, a specific number of pages to read and a plan for how to do it. I am sure I also set a goal last year but honestly can’t remember what it was, which tells me I probably didn’t stick to it. But hey, I birthed a human so I feel confident I grew exponentially in 2022 whether I stuck to my resolution or not. 

In thinking about this years goal though, I wanted to get back to something actionable. A friend of mine who is an author, shares a weekly newsletter that shows up in my inbox on Monday mornings. (I highly recommend you check her out- she’s a phenomenal writer!) A couple of weeks ago she shared her own thoughts on resolutions. She talked about focusing on something small that could still make change in your life. She shared her pervious year’s goal (get dressed every day- like more than yoga pants) and her plans for this year (switch to decaf after her morning coffee) and while they were things that many would consider small/ordinary/insignificant, I could really see how these small changes could impact your day to day as a whole. Allowing her to feel more prepared for the day and less jittery throughout. So I tired to think of something in this same wavelength. And I landed on…wash my face. 

Now you might read that and be concerned…”Maggie, you don’t already wash your face?” and rest assured, I do wash my face. But not always as consistently as they tell you to. I know I should wash it first thing in the morning and before I go to bed. But in all honestly, it mostly just gets washed in the shower (where I now keep my face wash because I’ve accepted that’s who I am). I don’t wear makeup or other products regularly so I’ve never felt super guilty about skipping the evening cleanse and thankfully I have also been blessed with pretty good skin that doesn’t suffer many breakouts or other ailments. However, I am in my 30s now and I want to take care of myself and my skin. So this year, I’m going to try to be better. I will most likely still wash my face in the shower in the morning, a habit I don’t see the point in changing. But I am going to consistently wash my face each night before bed. It feels small, but I think my skin will thank me for it in the long run! I also am hoping that beginning to set up some more consistent morning and evening routines will help me day feel bookended with order and calm as opposed to rush or exhaustion. 

And while that is my one resolution- wash my face everyday- the thing I will look back on and say yes I did it, there are other things in my life that I want to tend this year too. Not things I am making specific measurable resolutions for, but things I want to be mindful of in 2023. 

One of the biggest of these is the time I spend on my phone- both the quantity and quality. In general, I want to spend less time on my phone. I know I’m on it too much, I know I need to be on it less. Having JB around helps with this goal partly because I just can’t be on my phone as much when I’m hanging with him and also because he’s a big motivator for why I don’t want to be on it all the time. I don’t want him to ever think I’d rather be doing something on my phone than enjoying time with him. Also, he wants to chew on it all the time and well I’m sure that is super germy so there’s another reason. I’m not setting a number of minutes/hours I can be on it, I just know in my head I want to be more conscious of how much I’m on it and be more purposeful about when those times are. I also want to be more mindful of the quality of my phone use- so less social media and mindless candy crush and more kindle app, audiobooks/podcasts, blogs etc. 

I also hope to continue working on decluttering. Hubby and I have done a few sweeps of the house to declutter and donate some of what we don’t use but I still find myself wanting less. So I’m hoping throughout the year we can continue really considering the things we own and deciding what works for us in our life and what could we give away to allow for more space and room to live life as a family. 

And as always, I think I say it every year, I want to read and write more frequently. Hopefully the less phone time will help with this one but I want to meet (or exceed) my goodreads goal this year and do my best to blog more consistently. I give myself plenty of grace with the blogging because there just isn’t always time (or motivation) but I enjoy the art of writing and want to push myself to keep that muscle strong! 

This was long and wordy and mostly a giant brain dump of what I’ve been thinking about over the last few days but I do find that having your goals out in the world helps motivate you to reach for them. Cheers to 2023, 2022 will be tough to beat but I can’t wait to see what it holds!