11 Month M

 Only one month left and we'll no longer have a baby in the house.  Hopefully, we'll have some visit but we have no plans to have one live here again. Part of me gets melancholy when I think that this phase of life is over. Our baby chapters are written (with the exception of this last month). While it is sad to leave this stage behind, it is exciting to see what is on the horizon. I'm finally coming out of the 'baby psychosis stage' as I like to call it.  M is sleeping better and so I am too and therefore able to get more things accomplished. I was exhausted with pregnancy when we moved into the house and then exhausted with a baby for the past year. I'm finally getting to some of those projects that have needed tackled for a year and a half.

 M took his first unassisted steps this month! He's still very wobbly but he's walking a few feet at a time. He thinks he is big stuff. He's fun to watch.

He is getting into everything. He's learned to reach things on the edges of tables and desks. Little fingers are constantly stretching to see what objects are within his grasp. He also figured out how to open the cupboard doors and cooling racks are always laying about the kitchen floor.

Teeth #7 and 8 finally came through. The second one on the bottom left erupted on Tuesday, January 26th and #8 made his mouth symmetrical on Thursday, January 28th.

He is wringing his hands and sticking out his tongue to end January. He started shaking his head "no". I sing "Clap your hands all ye people..." to him and he grins and claps his hands.

M is so interactive and fun. It is amazing to watch his personality blossom more and more each month. He is constantly investigating things and 'tasting' everything. Figuring out the world is his objective.

He loves to get into the places that he knows that he usually is blocked. If the stairs are left open, he's headed that way. If the school room door is not blocked shut, he's in there. If the bathroom doors aren't closed, he's playing in the toilet. He has a great knack of finding the places that he is not suppose to be.

He was eating great for a bit this month but between his head cold and back molars causing trouble, he went back to baby food. He even gave up puffs for a week or so. But, slowly he's coming back to regular food. He ate more than a half cup of blueberries for dinner tonight, which is a great sign that he's feeling better.

We went to the cardiologist last week. M's heart is doing well and we don't have to return for 2 years until his next heart echo. We were so thankful for that news.

10 Month M

It was a fun month of developments.  M gets more fun all of the time. M learned that he could push chairs around the downstairs and walk places. He has had a lot of fun developing his walking skills. He is also gingerly releasing his hold on objects and standing independently for a few seconds here and there. Independent walking is going to be here entirely too quickly!

He finally sat up independently this month. He has been so close so many times, but he finally sat in a full-upright position for the first time by himself.

Waving his hand and shaking his head 'no' are two new ways that he's learned in the last couple of weeks to get a reaction from people. He thinks he's pretty cool stuff when he performs his new tricks.

He slept through the night for two consecutive nights this week! However, then, he was up for a couple hours from 1 to 3 for the next couple of nights. Needless to say, sleeping is still an issue. This week, I started trying to wean him to 1 long nap per day, as it is easier to do school with the bigger kids when he takes one good 3 hour nap. It worked a couple of days.

For the past two Sundays, M has stayed in the nursery at church without needing to be rescued by Mom. It seems like a big accomplishment. I think he's deciding it isn't so bad in there, which makes life a little easier on me.

M discovered frozen blueberries this month. He loves frozen blueberries...although his fingers get cold and so he tries to lean down and eat them directly off his tray, which doesn't work. But, he will eat as many as he gets despite the cold fingers.  He also ate lots of a beet, sweet potato and applesauce mixture all month. He loved it.

He went in for a well-child visit this month. He weighed 20 lbs 9 ozs and was 28.5 inches long. He's growing well and his heart was behaving nicely.

He is really starting to chat at you...especially if he's upset about something. He will give you an earful of gibberish.

He loves to play with my hair as he falls asleep. His little hand is always up there. That isn't new for this month but I do love it and will miss it.

9 Month M

 Lots of mischief happened this month. M is getting faster with his crawling. He has left the 'worm' behind and is traditionally crawling everywhere.

He not only likes to crawl but the older kids found him standing up in the crib after waking up from a nap the last week of November.  M pulled himself up to a standing position on the clothes basket on December 1.
He took first steps alone cruising along the couch on December 4th. He is a man on the move!

Peering into the school room is a favorite past-time. He wants to join the big kids so badly...there is so much stuff in there to explore and examine. It is a little boy's dream! He spends a lot of time gazing longingly through the parlor doors.

Chew, chew, chew. M loves to chew. On Sunday, he was very interested in Jut's lapel pin...he kept trying to figure out how to get it in his mouth. He slobbered Jut's suit all up. He was tenacious in his attempts. He could not be distracted from his objective.  It was pretty funny.

M met Santa at Cookies with Santa out at G'pa and G'pa's church.  He couldn't quite figure him out. He examined him pretty closely and for as stranger shy as he is, he didn't fuss at all.  He even gave some spectacular smiles for the camera but I didn't get a great shot.

M hates the nursery at church. He won't stay in there without screaming. They call me back every week. Poor guy. I think he has stranger anxiety. He loves his mommy and wants her right next to him. He figures out that I'm gone with sixty seconds. He is quickly becoming the proverbial spoiled baby of the family.

M decided that he LOVES food this month. He really enjoys his food. The baby food with spouts was great because then he can feed himself. That is the best!

M got to experience his first Black Friday shopping excursion with Mom, Aunt Stacey and G'ma. He was a trooper. He enjoyed watching all the crazy shoppers...although, he was very confused at being taken out of his bed and put into a carseat at 6:15 am.

He did so well that G'ma and Mom even took him Christmas shopping again later in December.

G'm is one of his favorite people. He always goes to G'ma and gives her a snuggle when he sees her.

M got to go to a 100th B'day celebration for Dad's G'ma Cappy in Dowagiac. He didn't particularly enjoy sleeping in a hotel. However, he did really well in the car. Thankfully the days of screaming in the car appear to be behind him.

He took his first tumble down the stairs tonight. Thankfully, he appears to be okay. It just scared everyone and was a needed reminder that we need to keep the door closed at the top of the stairs at all times. The craziest thing was that he went right back and tried to do it again less than an hour later. Silly baby. So, we started lessons on going down the stairs on his belly.

Sleeping is generally better. He is taking a good nap most mornings. He is only getting up once or so most nights...unless he is having tummy troubles. However, last week he had two nights that he was up for 1+ hours in the middle of the night. So, sleeping is somewhat better but we have a long ways to go before I'd say it is great.

M is just really becoming more and more of a person. He loves watching the big kids and trying to connect with them. He spends lots of time watching C play with Legos on the landing to the stairs. He wants to do what they do...it has started already...Life is just going to keep getting more and more fun.

C is 4!

My vivacious boy turned 4. He is fun...challenging at times but very fun. He takes life at 90 mph. It is all or nothing with him.

He loves Star*Wars. He got money for his b'day and chose to spend it on a Kilo*Ren mask along with the matching light saber.

However, he did love dressing up as TinkerBell all fall. Mom sent the costume home with his cousin Lydia and he was very upset when he found out it was missing. He did make an adorable TinkerBell.

He embraced the roll of a big brother wholeheartedly this spring after he decided that baby wasn't leaving. While he doesn't always enjoy sharing the limelight and cuddles, he does love his little brother very much. He ALWAYS wants to hold him and cuddle him. It seems like almost all of my pics of C involve M. He loves him to pieces.

C spent the summer riding his "XWing" down the driveway. It is amazing how fast he can get the balance bike to go. He could ride X's 2-wheel bike without training wheels in August, but I think the pedals hurt his feet without his shoes. He'd rather not wear his shoes...so he stuck with the balance bike all summer. I couldn't even register a guess how many miles he put on his bike this summer riding up and down the driveway...always barefoot, of course.  Unless he had on his "gardening boots" aka his winter boots. He wore his winter boots until August. Crazy guy. I think G'pa always wore work boots...and so C had his on too.

Now it is December, and we can't get him to wear boots, coats or pants. Thankfully, it has been a very warm fall.

Our days of Thomas*the*Train are dwindling. He still has them out and plays with them, but it is our first year in many that there is no Thomas on the Christmas lists. He is definitely growing up.

 He is trying to spell things and he's learning to add. However, he is adamant that he will NOT do school.  We might have to trick this one into his learning...although he seems to be doing okay on his own so far.

Night time Pull-ups are finally a thing of the past.

The boys discovered Paw*Patrol at the library in November...and that is their latest obsession...it is almost bigger than Star*Wars...go figure.

He doesn't like being four. There are too many rules for four-year olds...especially at church. He wants to constantly go back to the 2's and 3's class.

I think my little guy (who is 1.5 inches taller and 4.5 lbs heavier than his 'big' brother) doesn't like change and will do what he can to avoid it. He is head-strong and persistent. He is one to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. He is a challenge on many levels and so different than his older siblings. But, I wouldn't change anything about him. He is sweet and sensitive (in a different way than X) and has a heart of gold. I'm excited to see the developments age 4 brings.

One thing I forgot...C loves pretending to be a cat...the name changes...but he loves being a cat. He eats like a cat, curls up in my lap and meows. He's pretty adorable in his cat mode when he's not lapping up peas from his dinner plate.

M is 8 months...

 Month 8 brought M's first Halloween. That was fun. He didn't mind the costume until he got too hot, but since it was a rainy, miserable, cold night that wasn't much of a problem.

October 23rd brought Mom and Dad 7 consecutive hours of sleep. They were ecstatic, but it didn't last and M was back to his up a couple times a night shenanigans.

Tooth #4 and #5 erupted this month.  Tooth #4 surprised Mom. She was waiting for the top right one to come in, but the second one on the top left snuck in first around November 4th. Tooth #5, the top right one, erupted on November 6th. The drooling has slowed down and sleeping patterns got a bit better with M usually only up once or so each night.

M took his first bath in the big tub with his brothers. He loved it, but he's still a bit wobbly and slippery. He's been back in the baby tub for our peace of mind (and the older boys have been showering lately).

Baby mischief started at the end of the month. Jut came home on the 19th to find the trash bin sitting up on the island away from little hands. He is a boy on the move that wants to explore his surroundings. 

He also pulled himself up to a standing position on the landing to the stairs on the 19th. He thinks he is getting to be big stuff.

On the 19th, M also took his first few 'traditional' crawling movements. He has been worming his way everywhere, but he finally got the hand-knee movement going. He is going to start getting fast.

He's never been a tiny guy, but when E hold him, he is starting to look very big. She is smart. If he needs held for a minute, she quickly finds a chair.

M is a smiley guy. He just lights up for the camera. He is fun to photograph and hang out with. With the exception of his middle of the night wakeful times, we enjoying our last baby play times. He loves to stand up. He loves to chew on anything. Peek-a-boo is always a hit. Simple things bring such joy and amusement. I am trying to soak up and enjoy these moments.

He does give our nursery workers at church a hard time. I get a distress text every week as he's upset and inconsolable. As soon as I get there, everything is right with the world again. He might be a touch of a stinker.

Family Photos...A 'Hoot-shoot' :)

A wonderful friend from the 'Nac popped in one windy, blustery day in mid-October and did a 'hoot-shoot' for us. It was a hoot...even in the cold and wind. M was confused by all the shenanigans and the other three weren't super cooperative but we had fun. More importantly, we had a great chance to catch up with our friends. It was a great time and we even got one really good photo for our wall. 

Halloween Madness

   Halloween was a bit crazy this year. We had the boys' birthday celebrations on November 1st. So, we had a full house on the 31st. Jut's mom, sister, brother-in-law and niece made our weekend even more fun. Mario, a bee with super kitty, a little adorable witch, Princess Leia and a chick made our ensemble. It was a crazy crew but we had a good time. The weather was wretched. But, we made the best of it.

We carved pumpkins again. I think we missed last year. We raised our pumpkins in the garden this year. X had his 'perfect' pumpkin picked out in September and waiting until Halloween to carve it was so hard. But, finally it was time.

The boys weren't super helpful cleaning theirs. But they enjoyed watching the process and designing their pumpkin faces. E was amazing. A couple of years makes such a difference. She cleaned and carved hers all by herself.  I was impressed.

I did take E's pic with her pumpkin right away...but I forgot with the boys'. So, the bottom picture isn't the best as it was a few days later but at least there is some pictorial evidence that they got to carve pumpkins another year.