GRADUATING FROM AN INFANT CARRIER

Somebody had to graduate from the infant car-seat carrier to a big boy rear facing car-seat!

(waking up from a nap in your new seat)

I don't feel as though you are much bigger than your brother at 7 months, but even after loosening the straps as much as we could, in order to buckle your car-seat  we had to pinch your chubby thighs. So, you have been upgraded. I think you like that you can see Gage more, but you hate that you are not as reclined. The first two days were awful. You have since learned how to fall asleep with your head dangling to the side and you seem much happier!

6 MONTHS

You weigh a whopping 18lbs 13oz. You officially weigh nearly 2 pounds heavier than every other baby we know around your age. Everyone agrees, you are solid.

This month you mastered an army crawl. The moment the Christmas tree went up you were doing laps. I would put you my room, minutes later you were attacking the bows on all of the presents, and then we would start over. I started to regret putting the presents out so early.

You sit up now, but you hate it. You are normally whining or crying because you can't figure out how to get back on your tummy. You like that you are mobile, it means you can reach whatever you want, and momma doesn't normally put you close to anything while you are sitting.

The spitting up has not slowed, and your nana is giving me no sympathy. Dr. Schmidt says that most babies grow out of this by the time they are 8 months so we have to wait before he will even consider medication. I think all of our clothes, and our over worked washing machine are pretty sad about it.

You love to be held more than anything in the world. Papa came to visit and everyone was amazed how long you would stay happy beyond your nap time as he bounced you for hours.

You are eating pureed vegetables. Sweet potatoes are your favorite. 2/3 of the way through a vegetable you start making sour faces, but if I mix in another flavor you can down close to 7 oz. You still prefer to have bottles, because bottles equal cuddles.

You have this special way of really bugging your brother. You seemed to be obsessed with anything he is touching and you maul him until you can touch it too. Cries are inevitable, but never from you, always from Gage who knows he is not allowed to push or shove you, but is struggling with learning how to share.

Your most favorite toy in the whole world a a string, or anything that resembles string, like hair.

I love your little personality. I love that you have developed a little stranger danger and that you need me. I love that you can smile with a binky in, and that you have a fake cry and a fake laugh. I love that you are healthy and strong, so so strong. It is such a joy to watch you grow, but I am ready for you to stop.

5 MONTHS

Its official, you are THE happiest 'lil guy alive.

You think Gage is the funniest person alive and you laugh just watching him.You just like to be close to him. I often catch you rolling or skooching just to be within touching distance. I wish he adored you the same way you adore him. I thinks he still forgets you are there until you kick him.

You often begin to hyperventilate when you see your bottle. Your breath  quicken immediately and you start shaking until it is close enough to ferociously attack. We are teaching you to hold the bottle by yourself. Everyone agrees you are difficult to feed because you wiggle so much, so we are ready for you to take over that responsibility!

You love to be held. ALL. THE. TIME.

You now share a room with your brother. I am blown away how much the two of you can sleep through. If Gage isn't roaring then you are screaming, and yet neither of you seem to wake the other up. The monitors have officially been turned off so mom can get some decent sleep.

You eat 8oz every 3 hours and take three long naps a day like clockwork. To mix things up, we started feeding you rice cereal for dinner. You eat it like a champ, and never put up a fight, even if it takes twice as long to feed you by spoon opposed to bottle.

You sleep 10pm - 7am. However you like to yell, not cry, but yell around 3am nearly every night. I think its because you feel lonely being awake by yourself. All it normally takes is momma or daddy sitting by your bedside for a minute or two and you are back to sleep. No loves, or kisses, or even food, just our presence puts you back to sleep.

You are getting much better at sitting up, and can make it a full 5 seconds before toppling over.

Gage taught you to squeal like an elephant. Most days I have two happy screeching boys. If you didn't see it for yourself you would think I was torturing the two of you all day long.

You LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being naked. Seems to be a trend in this family.

You have mastered escaping your swaddler. Its a talent I can't wrap my head around since its more of a straight jacket than a swaddle blanket. And yet every morning we find your arms free.

You love it when I sing to you, it makes me want to learn more songs so you don't just hear the same 3 songs over and over and over.

Loving this age, wishing you would never grow up.

"TIG-EES"

You rocked a pudgy tiger, or "tig-ees" as Gage would say it, for Halloween. You first tried out your costume at Grandma's school carnival. It was a total hit. Had there been a costume award for the cutest, chubbiest, tiger, you would have nailed it. Since the dress rehearsal was such a success, we headed to the cousin's for the real thing. Sadly you slept almost all the way through trick-or-treating. That stroller was too comfy and watching Gage trudge from door to door was exhausting. This Halloween was a total success!

3 MONTHS

Only a month after your well baby checkup and you have already gained another pound, you weigh 15.3lbs and are 24.5 inches tall. You have completely grown out of 3-6 months clothes and fit nicely into your 6-9 month outfits. You eat 4-5 ounces during the day and 6-7 ounces to go to bed. You eat best when you are watching a show, otherwise you get pretty distracted and end up make a mess.

Did you know when you were born you had frog legs? Legs that would stay tucked so close to your body that it was nearly impossible to straighten them to change you. These days its the opposite. No matter how cranky you get, the one thing that will make you happy is to hold onto our fingers, stretch those chubby legs out and stand. You have been known to stand during an entire full length movie without flinching. You're my buff baby.

At three months you talk a lot, and laugh out loud. You blow bubbles and make Gage roll on the floor he thinks its so funny. Your Auntie thinks you always look concerned when you are talking, like you have something really serious to say. With the amount you smile, I don't that's so true. I think you are living up wo the meaning of your name, Happiness.

You hate the car, but don't mind your car seat. Weird, I know. The moment we open the door to get out you stop crying, and you will contently sit, strapped into your car seat until we get back in the car, then it starts all over. Trips to St. George are tough when you cry the whole time.

You sleep 8 hours regularly, and just once when I fed you while you were sleeping you made it 10 hours, it was heavenly! You take three naps a day like clockwork, but you are almost always woken up my your brother, and you a re not a happy camper when that happens. To resolve this issue, and let you get your beauty sleep, I started moving your bassinet into my closet. Its worked. Your afternoon naps are now about 4 hours. You like it best when daddy puts you to sleep. He tucks one of your arms tightly under his, puts a blanket over your eyes, and you doze off nearly immediately. You love him lots.

You LOVE to get your diaper changed. You kick really frantically, laugh, arch your back and try to roll over. You have never peed on me while changing your diaper, which is a miracle, but you have peed  on me twice now hiking. I think you get a little too comfortable in your Bjorn.

You can still rock a faux hawk better than any other baby, but you are losing a lot of your hair in the back the more you roll around. The lighter and lighter it gets the redder and redder it looks. However, I have a feeling you will turn out to be a blondie like your brother.

If you had it your way, you spend all day every day in the bath with your brother. He likes to have a buddy to show all his toys too, and mom loves that neither of her boys will cry while bathing. So, we take a lot of baths!

This month you ventured to St. George with the cousins for some pool time. You had such a blast swimming that fell asleep in the water. You also hiked Mt. Timp, pet some animals at a farm, took a ride on a ski lift at Oktoberfest, and spent a great deal at various parks. You are pretty incredible at falling asleep just about everywhere.

TOUGH GUY

Momma thinks you will be our tough one. You will have to be, with a brother like Gage knocking you around. I suppose its a good thing you are packing on so much weight. You seem to handle the occasional kick as he walks by without looking, the shove off his lap when he is done playing, or the sitting on your belly with such grace. I think its because you know how much he loves you, like when he tells you all about Nemo, or reads you his books. Thank you for loving him too.

BIG BROTHER

On the day you were born, this guy became a big brother. He may have been a little nervous to meet you at first, but from the moment he held you for the first time, he hasn't wanted to let you go.


You are lucky to have such an good big brother, he is already trying to take care of you. Gage has tried sharing, he even puts Hot Wheels cars in your hands when you are sleeping, or runs them over your face to wake you up. Gage loves to feed you, he even took a bottle off the counter when mom was on the phone and attempted to feed you. When I came over to help him get the bottle in your mouth, your whole face was white, covered in formula. Gage loves to console you, when you start to cry, Gage runs to your side and lays his massive head on your tummy. It hasn't worked yet, so instead we are trying to teach him to put your pacifier in your mouth. He misses your mouth most of the time, but he sure loves to try.


Okay, so you have taken a fair share of beatings this last month, but I think the number of kisses and hugs you have gotten from Gage may have made up for some of the abuse. He loves you so so much, and even reads you all of his favorite books. I have a feeling you two will be best friends in no time.