Friday, October 5, 2012

M at Six Months

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As you know, Baby Boy turned SIX months old!  Crazy!  I was actually super emotional on his actual half-birthday.  I still can’t believe he’s here.  That he’s ours.  We feel so grateful both to our Heavenly Father and our sweet Natalie Girl.  What I wanted more than anything was to have Nat here with us.  But though she was busy being a student and a working woman miles away, we thought of her all day long.    

(If you like Mason’s ADORABLE little gnome hat, you can order one for yourself (or your little one as the case may be)!  Spencer’s co-anchor, Natalee made two little hats for M Bug and we LOOOOOOOOOOVE them.  He will be wearing them a lot in the near future, I do believe.  He wore them today in fact :).  Natalee is opening up an etsy shop, but she also does customized colors and can add a flower to the girly hats.  Like to order one?  Visit Natalee’s website HERE.) 

These days, Baby is getting so good at sitting up on his own!  Every time we go the doctor, he comments on M’s muscles.  He definitely does have some definition under that cute chub, as well as super broad shoulders for a wee one.  And he is STRONG.  Like when he’s getting burped, he will throw all of his weight backwards and arch his back with all his might.  It's sometimes all I can do to keep him upright.  He can seriously kick those little legs too.  Tonight his bouncer was sitting next to the table and he put his foot on the table leg and pushed the table so hard he moved it.       

He loves to pump his left leg while he is sitting in his bouncer and rock as fast as he can.  He still adores his car seat.  He likes his high chair and his Johnny Jump-up too.  Although, he still hasn’t figured out how to JUMP in the Johnny Jump-up.  He mostly walks in circles with a huge grin on his face.  He thinks it’s pretty cool to be upright like a big boy.  We got M one of those little mesh bag things (I can’t for the life of me remember what they’re called) that safely holds solid food for babies to chew on.  We put a banana in there today and yesterday and M was in heaven gumming that poor banana to death.  He got food everywhere.  It was all over his face and in his hair.  It’s nice because M can practice feeding himself and he feels like such a big boy when he can do that.  He always wants to hold the spoon when I’m trying to feed him, but of course isn’t coordinated enough to get the food to his mouth.  So he loved eating the banana all on his own.   

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One of my FAVORITE things that M has started doing is giving kisses.  When I say, “Can I have a kiss?” M will open his mouth as WIDE as he can and plant a big wet one on my cheek.  He doesn’t do it every time.  He can be stingy with those kisses!  Which, I guess makes it all the more special when you do get one.  I never thought I would love getting slobbered on so much, but M’s soggy kisses totally melt my heart.  He still blows raspberries from sunup to sundown.     

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Something kind of funny about M is that he never fusses when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap.  He lays quietly in his crib pulling off his socks and chewing on his toes (he won’t leave socks on for anything).  Some mornings I have no idea what time he woke up because when I peek in to check on him he is already wide awake.  He usually sleeps about 12 to even 13 hours a night and takes a couple of 20 minute naps.  He is a cat napper, which really isn’t all that surprising since he sleeps such a long stretch at night.  One of my favorite times of day is getting him out of his crib in the morning.  He gives me the biggest grin in the world like he’s saying, “Mom!  You’re here!  Thank you for rescuing me!”  He is such a content baby and can entertain himself for long periods of time. 

One of my favorite things about Baby is how affectionate he is.  He LOVES to cuddle.  His favorite place is in our arms, which we are more than okay with.  When he rests his little head on my chest, there’s just nothing better.  It’s those moments that most make we want to freeze time.  I try to memorize every single little detail of how he feels in my arms and the smell of his baby shampoo.  I never ever want to forget these most precious times of his childhood.  They are golden.

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If we’re really lucky, sometimes M will sing along to the radio or hum along as we sing primary songs.  He is most vocal when we are driving in the car.  He giggles the loudest when we tickle his collarbone or thighs.  He also thinks it’s pretty hilarious when we pretend to eat his fingers or tummy. 

Oh big boy, will you slow down a little already? 

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Happy Half!

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Today the bug turned six months old!  Absurd!  I mean really, how the heck did that happen?  I can’t even wrap my mind around my baby being half a year old.  Those were the fastest six months of my entire life.

Today, we celebrated.  I don’t intend on celebrating every half birthday from now on.  I just was excited about this one.  I love a good excuse to eat cake.  Of course, Baby didn’t get any of his own half-birthday cake (sorry Bub, you can eat fistfuls of cake when you turn one).  But he enjoyed hearing us sing “Happy Half- Birthday” all day long.  And he loved donning his party hat for photos.  Really, what it came down to was I wanted to try my hand at cake decorating.    

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Well, I’ll never be a professional.  But it was lots of fun to make and even more fun to eat. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all fun and games all day.  M had his well check visit at the doctor and had to get three shots in the fat little thigh!  Poor baby!

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M is currently 27 inches long (75th percentile) and 18 pounds 6 ounces (75th percentile), which actually means he is slimming down.  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Prior to getting his shots, M had a blast at the doctors office.  He had the time of his life ripping the paper on the exam table to shreds.  He really did go to town on that paper (as you can see).  It actually makes me even more excited for Christmas.  I bet he is going to love unwrapping his presents. 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Just a Slight Obsession

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I kind of have this thing for fall.  October especially.  Pumpkins in particular.  I LOVE them.  Nay, ADORE them.  I can’t stop myself from decorating my house with them and eating recipes containing them. 

And lately, I have been dressing my baby in pumpkin clothing.  This kiddo has more punkin’ outfits than is probably reasonable.

But they’re just so cute.  I mean can you blame me?!  Did you SEE that punkin’ beanie?  I try to put in on him everywhere we go, but Spencer always takes it off saying, “It’s not cold enough for beanies yet dearie.”  But it will be soon.  And when it is you can bet your bootie that M is going to be rockin’ that punkin’ beanie every. single. day. 

And what about this little beauty: 
p1I die!  It is just so cute!  We all know how I feel about details on the diaper bum. 

The other night, M stayed up waaaaaaaaay past his bedtime.  And we all know the consequences of staying up too late.  Yup, later on when I checked on M, I was amazed to see that he had turned INTO a punkin’!  See for yourself: 

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So for those of you who stay up way past your bedtime, let this be a lesson to you. 

Anyway, there you have it.  Evidence that I maybe have some kind of obsessive compulsive pumpkin disorder. 

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And I bet you’ll never in a million years guess what M is going to be for Halloween. 

Friday, September 28, 2012

Thumbelino

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Uh oh… I think we have a thumb sucker on our hands.  He hasn’t even liked his pacy in over a month now, but he quite suddenly decided that he likes his thumb.  Every time I went to check on him during naps/bedtime, he had that thumb firmly planted in his little mouth. 

A tiny part of me worries that he might develop a bad habit or mess up his teeth (which aren’t even there yet!).  But, it is mighty cute.  Little toot. 

Monday, September 24, 2012

Farmers Market

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(I love that he has a fistful of my hair in this picture.  So typical of M these days.  I love it though.  Lots of times he likes to hold on to a fistful of curls while he falls asleep.  It’s the most precious thing in the world.) 

Last weekend we took the little gnome to the farmer’s market.  We’ve been several times this summer, but wanted to squeeze in one more visit before the market is over for the season. 

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M loves cruising along in the stroller, enjoying all the new sights and pretty colors.  We love sampling lots of yummy, fresh produce. 

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These little stumps were the cutest ever!  I want one so bad.  Each stump is hollowed out with a few little drawers.  Perfect for holding jewelry or maybe craft supplies. 

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We love downtown Boise.  It has such a fun vibe and there are so many neat places to window shop or take pictures.  There are dozens of fun local restaurants that we would love to try someday, but it’s fun to just go exploring.  We might have stayed longer, but it was such a smoky day from all the wildfires nearby.  We didn’t want to be outside for too long. 

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It’s starting to finally really feel like fall is here.  The air has been cooler and it has that autumn smell.  It even drizzled on Sunday.  It was the perfect weather for baking pies or wrapping up in a blanket and reading a book or sipping hot chocolate (I did all three).  And I’ve even been working on some fun fall projects.  I decided that we needed some cute fall decorations, so I’ve been a busy little bee working away after the boys are all tucked in for the night.  Tonight I spent some time sewing while I watched a BBC movie.  It was so very pleasant and something I hadn’t done in a long time!  I’ll have to share what I came up with soon.   

Friday, September 21, 2012

The Skinny on the Chubster

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I wanted to write some of the things M has been doing lately.  I am always amazed at how quickly he grows and changes, but this past month in particular has been packed with milestones.  Well, maybe more than actually acquiring new skills he has really finessed old ones.  Seeing him move those little limbs with more coordination makes him seem so much older to me. 

Recently, M has loved to grab people’s noses.  He is constantly grabbing our faces with those cubby little hands of his.  He also loves to throw his hands up in the air when he gets excited.  When we talk to him in our most excited voices, he throws those arms above his head and waves them all around like he’s at a rock concert.  It’s pretty darn cute.  

M loves to suck on his fingers.  The middle finger and ring finger in particular.  He hasn’t used his pacifier in months (except for during take off and descent on the airplane to help his ears pop). 

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Cutie Pie has been getting better and better at sitting up on his own.  And he has been trying harder to do it without help.  Often when we put him in his car seat he will lean forward as hard as he can so that his head is not touching the back of the seat.  He does this while he’s sitting in the stroller too.  He really wants to be able to balance and support his own weight. 

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He continues to be a pretty quiet baby, but he does have times when he is a jabber box.  We LOVE it when he talks.  He seems most talkative when he is in his bouncer.  And sometimes he will sit on my lap and look up at me and talk and talk like he’s just telling me all about it.  I love those times.  I adore our “conversations.”

M just barely started doing this thing where he fusses with his lips pursed tightly together so that he makes a kind of humming noise. And man, our child can SCREAM.  He doesn’t do it often, but if he misses a nap or gets overly tired, our kiddo can blow the roof off the house with his hollering.  That is generally the only time M gets really upset.  He’s a pretty cheerful dude, but don’t even think about messing with his sleep schedule.  

One of his newest tricks is sticking out his tongue.  He is CONSTANTLY sticking his tongue out or sucking in his bottom lip.  He makes such adorable little faces. 

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Cutie Pie continues to love all his solids.  He has tried a few different veggies now (green beans, squash, carrots, and peas) and has liked all of them.  I think mealtime is his favorite time of the day.  Like a true man.  He has a total fascination for watching us eat.  He watches every bite travel from plate to mouth and smacks his little gums like he would like a taste too. 

Second only to mealtime, M still loooooooves bathtime.  I think he would splash and chew on his rubber ducky all day long if we would let him.  He also loves when we sing “wheels on the bus.”  I have invented a dozen rather creative verses and accompanying actions because I get tired of the same old song every single time.  If M is upset, usually a few rounds of “wheels on the bus” or “popcorn popping” will happy him right up.  He continues to love peek-a-boo and likes to be the one to pull the blanket off his face.  He LOVES to dance while we hold him in our arms and spin about the room, or if we just hold him under the armpits and help him do a jig of his own. 

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I suspect that M is maybe left handed because, so far, he has preferred doing things with primarily his left hand.  He almost always grabs objects with his left hand first.   

It’s interesting because I can already see a few things that M and I have in common.  I don’t know if any of it is learned from me versus just commonalities, but I like that we are so alike in certain ways.  For one thing, we both LOVE going on adventures.  It doesn’t matter where we are going, we just like to go.  M is at his very happiest when we are strapping him into his car seat or stroller.  And he is a total trooper when we are out and about.  He is perfectly content as long as we are on the go.  I am totally the same way.  It’s nice to get out of the house, even if it’s just to go to the grocery store.  We also both have a very small comfort zone when it comes to temperature.  And we both love people watching, but get a little shy when we are the center of attention.  M does not seem to like having lots of people crowding around him looking at him.  He will laugh and chat and sing all day long, but if he has an audience he totally clams up, just like me.  He does the same thing if he sees a camera.  Hence dozens of pictures of M’s serious face to one of his smiley face.  He’s just a bit camera shy. 

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(I love this picture of him.  I know it’s a little blurry, but those big blue eyes KILL me.  Silly boy.)

We sure do love our little sweetheart! 

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Avast Matey!

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Yesterday was National Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Krispy Kreme observed the day by offering a free doughnut to anyone who remembered to talk like a pirate.  And they gave anyone who dressed like a pirate a DOZEN free doughnuts.  Well, you know us and our inability to pass up a good deal.  We donned whatever pirate garb we could scrounge up from costumes past and took the wee one along for an excursion to Krispy Kreme.   

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No cuter pirate has ever sailed the seven seas! 

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We walked away with 38 doughnuts (most of which we gave away to friends)!  We were most proud of our spoils! 

Oh and Spence did a little segment about our doughnut pillaging on the news.  You can watch it here.