Thursday, June 28, 2012

Graham is 7 Months

 I wish we could just freeze time!  I can't believe my baby is already 7 months old!  I know I am obviously very bias, but Graham is such a great baby!  Almost perfect now that he is sleeping through the night!!!

This was a great month!  Graham is just getting so big and growing so fast.  He is sleeping better, sitting up, almost crawling, eating great and happy all the time! 
Now that he is eating more baby food he seems to have put on a lot of weight, he is finally getting chubby! He didn't have his 6 month check-up until 6/19/12 and he weighed 16 lbs 12 1/2 oz (25%), 28 in long (85%) adn his head was 17.25 (40%).  We have a long and skinny little man.
At the check-up I was talking to the doctor about being concerned that he wasn't sitting up yet and he said he would probably just be one of those kiddos that just decides to sit up one day and literally the next day he just starting sitting up!

He is also almost crawling!  On 6/5/12 Josh had come home from work at noon and we were both sitting in the room while he was on the floor and he just pushed himself up on his knees.  We couldn't believe it!  Within a couple of days he was rocking back and forth and now he is starting to take movements forward.  He is still trying to get his arms and legs moving right, but it won't be long!

As you can see in almost every picture Graham constantly has his mouth wide open smiling and happy.  He is to sweet for words!  His latest thing is screaming!  He has literally scared me to death thinking something is wrong and he is just squealing with excitement.

Since Josh's birthday 6/4/12 Graham has not woke until 3:30 or later for his pacifier and many night has made it until between 5 and 6.  Sometimes he is up for the day as early as 6, but most mornings it is 7 to 7:30.  I didn't think he would ever sleep!  It has been wonderful!  He is also still taking great naps.  Normally 1-2 hours in the morning and mid-afternoon and then a shorter nap between 3 and 5. 

Loves his toys! He will sit and play forever it seems like.  He also loves his jumperoo and can make it go crazy now and he still loves the walker but is still mainly only going backwards.  We have seen a couple of pushes forward but not many.  Today Reed and Graham even played together in Reed's room for about 15 minutes.  Of course I checked on them about 15 times, but they both just played and interacted...it was super sweet!

Starting to wear some 6-9 month clothes, but still mainly 3-6.  It has been great, because I have been able to use all of Reed's clothes and had to buy very little.  He is finally starting to grow out of his cute shoe sock, so we have moved to wearing more shoes.   
I finally feel like we have a schedule.  He wakes between 6 and 7 and still nurses in the mornings.  Then between 8 and 9 he has breakfast which is usally yogart and sometimes fruit and cereal.  Between 10:30 and 11:30 he has a 5 oz bottle and then eats 4 oz of baby food.  Usually avocados and fruit.  Around 2 to 3 he has another 5 oz bottle.  Usually one of his bottles during the day we struggle to get him to drink it all.  He really just prefers food over milk, even with it still being breastmilk.  He has another 5oz around 5 to 6 and dinner witch is usually 4 oz of vegetables.  He still hasn't turned down anything!  Tonight he tried potatoes for the first time and a couple of days ago he had a couple of very small bites of pancakes.  He was whining so bad watching me and Reed eat I just couldn't help it! :)  At bedtime we always try to get another 5 oz down him, but sometimes he falls asleep with as little as 3 oz. 
Right before Graham turned 6 months he started putting up a fight when I would try to nurse him during the day, it literally happened over night and broke my heart.  After a few days of misery for us both, I started exclusively pumping and did that for 2 weeks and then started nursing only in mornings and pumping the rest of the day.  It's not easy, but I am getting in a routine and only losing a couple of ounces a day over what he eats.  When he stopped nursing I had a freezer full of 670 ounces of milk, so I am going to try and make it as long as I can before we start formula. 

Started picking up puffs.  He his still working on the pincher grasp, but about 50% of the time he gets them in his mouth.  I also gave him a mum-mum for the first time last week and he loved it!

Still slobbering like crazy, but still no teeth!  As you can tell Graham already needs another haircut, he has the craziest, curly hair but it just fits his cute, happy personality.  He is also starting to reach out more and more for who he wants to be held by.
Graham still loves being on his stomach and his still the best snuggler ever!  I eat up the morning and night time snuggles EVERY day!
And as you can see these brothers are becoming best friends!  I think I could stare at these pictures forever!  Reed asked to take a picture with Graham and he hopped up in the chair and just put his arm around him all by himself and gave me the cutest smile and if you know Reed, normally it is a crazy cheesy smile (and he insisted the bear/dog and his blanket be in the picture). 

My heart is so full seeing them together, we are SO BLESSED!  I can't remember what was so funny, but this might be my favorite picture of them so far.  Just a precious moment with my boys! 

Reed at 7 months!  They are still very different, but lately I catch myself seeing a lot of Reed in Graham!  They both have an infectious smile that's for sure!



Monday, May 28, 2012

Graham is 6 months old!

My baby boy is 6 months old!  I just can't believe we are half way to Graham's 1st birthday!  This little guy makes my heart melt on a daily basis!  He is just SO sweet!  6 months have come and gone so fast, I just can't imagine life without him!
Graham is still wearing 3-6 month clothes, size 2 diapers and he doesn't wear shoes much but size 2 fit.  Compared to Reed, Graham has such little, skinny feet.

Still not a great sleeper, he normally makes it until 4 or 5 am for the paci and then wakes between 6:30 and 7:30.  Going to bed between 7:30 and 8.  Still takes good naps, but has had some days lately where he has mainly just cat napped.  Usually has a long morning nap and then 1 or maybe 2 shorter naps in the afternoon.  Most nights when Graham wakes up for the pacifier we let him fuss for 15 to 20 minutes and a few times lately he has put himself back to sleep, I wish this were the case every night.
Graham LOVES to eat!  He has now had sweet potatoes, avocado, bananas, pears, peaches, peas, carrots, apples, mangos, papaya, nectarines and apricots.  He has not turned away anything!  I added lunch after the 11 o'clock feeding last week and today he had yogurt for breakfast for the first time.  Lately I feel like he is never satisfied, I think the 6 month growth spurt is in full swing! We can't even eat in front of him or he is constantly whining for our food.

Still the best snuggler and loves sleeping on his stomach.  He will just lay forever flat on our chest when he is tired.  I LOVE it and can't get enough!   
Teething like crazy!  You can see his two bottom teeth through the gums!  He even had a low grade fever tonight. 

Perfected putting the pacifier back in his mouth in the last couple of weeks.  He has also mastered spitting it out when he sees something he wants!   

Do you see those eyelashes?  Graham still has blue eyes, but some days I would swear they are green or brown.  Most days I vote that they are going to turn brown, but these pictures really made them look blue, so who knows.   

Still not sitting up great without support, he would rather just roll around.  I try to sit him up in the boppy pillow as much as I can, but he will lean back and literally roll out over the top of it.  He can roll across the room in no time.  He knows how to get to what he wants.   

I love this sweet profile!  Graham's hair is really starting to fill back in.  He had his first hair cut on 5/9/12 (pictures to come).  We just had the sides and the top trimmed, but I already fill like it has grown quite a bit. 

Constantly chewing and slobbering on everything!  Everything goes straight for the mouth!
Do you see the drool?

Talking and squealing more and more every day!  Graham said Da-da for the first time on 5/26/12.  He had been saying "Da" a lot, but Saturday morning while Josh was getting him dressed he started saying it.  Josh yelled at me to come in there and Reed and I ran in there.  It was a sweet moment for us all to be there together as he said "Da-da" a couple of times, but of course not when I turned the video camera on.

I bought a walker a couple of weeks ago and Graham loves it.  He loves sitting up to play!  He can't quite push it forward, but he pushes it backwards very easily.  He  loves the jumperoo, he is really starting to jump and turn around in it and play for quite a while. He also loves playing peek-a-boo and any toys he can slobber on for a while!

Loving drinking water from a sippy cup!  It took him a while to figure it out and for a week or so he would spit out most of the water, but he is getting better and better at it every day.  He has also perfected holding his own bottle I hadn't seen him drink from a bottle in several months until last weekend and I was shocked how well he could hold it.

Interacting more and more every day with Reed.  Reed can still make him laugh harder than anyone.  Reed still loves him to death, makes my heart so happy!

Had his first plane ride and did perfect, it never even phased him!  I had to travel for work and couldn't bear to leave him so the best Aunt in the world traveled with us to baby sit! :)


Starting to reach for me and will lean towards you when you reach for him!  It is the BEST! 

So big!

Okay, I promise just one more!  I can never get enough of this smile!

 
 Graham you have filled a space in my heart I didn't know I had! We love you so much, little brother! I wish I could freeze time and snuggle you forever!


 
Reed at 6 months!  They are pretty much opposite in every way, I seriously can barely remember Reed at this age, makes me so sad!

Reed's 1st T-Ball Game

Reed started t-ball on April 16th!  He was so excited, as were we!  This is one of those things we used to talk about before Reed was born.  We just couldn't believe he was old enough to play at only 3 years old.  He had to be 3 by April 30th, so he just made the cutoff. In the weeks leading up to it Josh had taken him to get a glove, bat and cleats, so he was all ready! 

Reed's team is the Cardinals!  Reed's best friend from school is on the team and 5 other team mates are from church.
I never imagined how cute they would be, they all look a like once they get in these uniforms!

Warming up!

Headed back to the dug out, all warmed up! 

Up to bat for the first time.  I have to be honest and say I was overwhelmed with joy when he went up to bat!  I literally started tearing up, they came from no where.  Just a proud Mommy moment I guess! 

Swinging for the fences! :)
Running to first base!


Rounding third (Daddy there to coach him along)!
He made it home! :)

Back to the dug out!  He looks so grown up to me!

Out in the field!  Did I mention how cute they are?

Catching the ball!



The whole team running for the ball.


I think Reed wants to make sure he catches it....the hat and the glove are down!


The cheering section! :)  Everyone was there to watch!

Reed's biggest fan!

Graham loved cheering on big brother!