Autumn Adventures

 

Our family loves the fall, and it seems like this fall was particularly beautiful. Alas, I type this as I look out my window at the thin blanket of snow on our lawn.  :(  This makes it all the more desirable to reminisce about the fun we've had the past few months. From attending my 10 year college homecoming, to enjoying a hayride and trip to the pumpkin patch, to hiking in Brown County State Park, we made beautiful memories together this fall, and I want to share some of my favorite pictures of our autumn adventures. Davis and best buddy Nolan running across the mall at Manchester toward Petersime Chapel  Adam stopping to smell the roses in the Peace Garden Davis was delighted with playing in the fountain in the Peace Garden Family picture attempt #5,243 (seems like!) Pumpkin fun at Aunt Shalimar's house...   and at the Nehemiah Ranch pumpkin patch!   Yuck!   Playing with his pal Silas at Brown County State Park   Picture perfect day Davis was a real trooper during an unexpectedly loooong hike! Meanwhile, Adam napped on Daddy's back.   Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor in Columbus Davis climbed to the top of The Luckey Climber at The Commons in Columbus with no hesitaton. Fearless!

From Loving the Life We Live

6 Months

Today is Adam's half birthday.  HOORAY for being six months old!  He is crossing that bridge out of infancy and into the more fun half of the first year. Just within the past couple of weeks, several exciting things have been happening that are harbingers of great things to come! 1. Adam is starting to nap in his crib.  Hallelujah!  I can actually put this sweet sleeping babe down during the day.  Crib naps are still far too short, but I remember this stage from Davis and I am confident that they will gradually lengthen.  I can not wait for the day of long, solid naps.  He is a pretty decent nighttime sleeper, typically waking up twice in the night, which is something this mama can handle.  It may not sound like much to moms whose babies sleep all night from a young age, but it's far better than what I was getting with Davis at this age, so I'll take it! 2. He can sit unassisted!  He seemed to develop this skill so rapidly.  He sits very well and is sooo proud of himself.  You can see that he thinks he's SUCH a big boy and is eager to show off his sitting skills to anyone who will watch.  This is an exciting milestone for me because it means being able to sit in shopping carts and restaurant high chairs is right around the corner after he gets a few more weeks of practice.  He is also really enjoying sitting in the stroller lately and just looking around.  We marvel at what a "good," patient, go-with-the-flow baby he is. 3. He is starting solids!  This is a milestone that I do NOT look forward to because solids are a huge pain.  I have been having a hard time wrapping my head around him actually being old enough to start solids, but last night I gave him his first taste of solids - some mashed-up avocado -- and he was very accepting of the new experience.  He was mostly interested in holding the spoon and chewing on it and made a few weird faces at the taste, but I chalk it up to a success.  Coming up next: sweet potatoes and bananas! 4. He is rolling over!  No wait, that's a lie.  He is still NOT rolling over.  He's gotten about 95% there but just won't do it.  Oh well, I'm sure he'll learn to roll over before he goes to kindergarten! Here are some of the things Adam loves at six months old: making exaggerated chomping motions with his mouth, playing with and sucking on his taggie blankets, grabbing Mommy's cup, making very loud noises, and watching Davis.  He is still a big guy and wears 12 month size clothes.  It keeps throwing me off to see him wearing clothes that Davis was wearing at a much older age.  His six month well visit is coming up right before Halloween, so I'll have some stats to share then.  As Davis said last night, Adam is doing a good job growing up! UPDATE: 6 month stats from 10/30/2014: Weight: 23 lbs. 10 oz. (99th percentile) Length: 29 inches (99th percentile) Head circumference: 17.75 (91st percentile)

From Loving the Life We Live

5 Months (Rewind)

Ok, so I wrote the below (super short) post when Adam was actually 5 months old.  I just never found the time to finish it and add pictures so I could post it.  Anyway, let's rewind now and revisit when Adam was 5 months old . . . poor kid is going to have second child syndrome with my lack of timely blog posts! -------- Time marches on and Adam is officially 5 months old!  His newest trick that he enjoys often is grabbing his toes.  He has perpetual floppy socks from grabbing the toes of his socks and pulling on them. :)  His core strength is rapidly improving and I've really noticed lately how well he's doing with holding his torso upright when I sit him on my lap.  I am still waiting on him to roll over.  He continues to bring a ray of sunshine to our home!

From Loving the Life We Live

4 (cough, and a half) Months

This post is so late that I debated just waiting and combining the 4 and 5 month posts. Yikes!  But anyway, Adam is now four and a half months old and just as cute and sweet as can be. He drools like there's no tomorrow, enjoys grabbing toys or clothing with both hands and bringing them to his mouth to gnaw on, has been able to roll from tummy to back since the date of my last post but has only demonstrated this a few times, and is just recently getting soooo close to rolling from back to belly. He gets quite far over on his side but just can't make that final push to get over his arm. He is working on holding himself straight when you hold him upright and is doing lots of baby crunches to strengthen his core. He did a great job in the car on his first trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Missouri over Labor Day weekend. As far as sleeping, well, he he slept ALL NIGHT LONG two nights in a row and I was so excited . . . but has proceeded to wake up an excessive amount of times every night since then. But I know the little stinker is capable of sleeping all night, so hopefully better rest is in my not-too-distant future. He adores his big brother, who makes him smile and laugh. He has rubbed out a lot of his side hair but has a ton of hair in the middle, which elicits a lot of mohawk comments from friends and strangers alike!

Adam's four month stats:

Weight: 21 lbs 12 oz (99th %ile)

Length: 27 in (97th %ile)

Head circumference: 99th %ile

I am so enamored of this little man. The curve of his chubby cheek, the soft creaminess of his skin, the kissable rolls on his thighs, the chubby starfishes that are his hands, the way his deep brown eyes light up when you look into them, his winning smile . . . This kid is a keeper!

 

 

3 Months

We have successfully made it through 25% of Adam's first year.  Whew!  Not that I'm wishing away the months with my last sweet cuddly infant, but let's be real here - the first year is exhausting! As far as babies go, you'd be hard pressed to find a sweeter one than our little Adam.  He continues to have such a calm, laidback personality.  Undivided attention is hard to come by with big brother around, but whenever he can get it, he absolutely thrives on it.  He loves to look you in the eye and smile, gurgle, and coo.  He has the sweetest way when he's tired of burrowing his face up under my chin. If you put a toy in his hand, he brings it to his face and mouths it.  He enjoys sucking on his fist, fingers, or thumb whenever he manages to maneuver them to his mouth.  Many other times, you can find him with his hands clasped in front of him, twisting them together.  He is a prodigious drooler.  He continues to top the charts, sporting 6-9 month clothes already and making other babies jealous of the fat rolls on his thighs.  He's not a bad sleeper, usually waking up twice per night.  A couple of nights ago he surprised me by sleeping from 7:30pm-4:15am, although I'm not expecting that to become standard.  I'm making plans to move him to his crib soon.  He is well-traveled for a three month old, having not only visited my parents, but also his Aunt Shalimar at her new home and experiencing his first hotel stay when we went to a wedding in Ohio. I am back at work part-time and Adam has transitioned very well and is getting a lot of love and attention on the couple of days a week that he and Davis spend with our wonderful babysitter. He is an all-around great baby and is soooo unbelievably loved!

From Loving the Life We Live

2 Months

Our little munchkin had his 2 month well baby visit today.  He has been a sad, sleeping baby all day long after that mean ol' nurse gave him his shots.  :(  However, he got a glowing report from the pediatrician.  She wondered how I get any shopping done with all the people who must be stopping me to comment on how adorable Adam is.  :)  His tight neck muscle also seems to be corrected.  We will have a follow-up with the physical therapist on Monday but I think she'll say he's a-ok! Here are his 2 month stats (brace yourself): Weight: 17 lbs. 7 oz. (99.9 percentile) Length: 25 in. (99.6 percentile) Head Circumference: 16.25 in. (97.62 percentile) When he's not recovering from a round of vaccinations, our two month old is a sweet-tempered, easygoing baby and a cuddly little joy.  He started really smiling at us on June 5 and Aunt Shalimar was lucky enough to be here for his first smiles. He had his first road trip this past weekend to visit my parents and go to a family reunion and did beautifully, sleeping right through church and most of the afternoon.  He loves his Mommy and is always happy when he's cuddled in my arms. He is a pretty efficient eater and, unlike my first baby, prefers not to "snack" and nurse to sleep, opting instead to fall asleep with just cuddles or with a pacifier.  His night sleep is decent, but there is a lot of room for improvement.  :)  There have been a few nights where he's had a 5+ hour stretch, but that is not the norm.  As you can tell from the above statistics, he is a BIG boy.  He is very long and wearing 3-6 month clothes, some of which are even too short for him.  I tried to put him in an outfit that Davis wore at 2-3 months and he was stuffed in there like a sausage - for a moment I thought I would have to cut it off of him!  He is being baptized this Sunday and we are looking forward to sharing that special time with our families.

From Loving the Life We Live