6 Month M

M is half a year old! He is our little man. He loves to talk to people. He loves to laugh. He is generally a happy guy when he's not tired.

He adores his siblings. They can make him laugh and entertain him like no one else. He gets so excited when they pay attention to him. C loves 'furburping' his belly. Makes M laugh and laugh.

M started grabbing his toes this month during diaper changes. However, he gets frustrated when he has a cloth diaper on and can no longer get them to his mouth.

He is getting less and less content in the bumpo, swing and bouncy seat. He'd rather be on the floor where he can roll and spin himself.  However, he loves the stroller. He'll sit for an hour in the stroller. We spend many evenings walking him up and down the driveway for a bit of exercise and to keep him awake (and happy) until bedtime.

He is still taking about 3 naps per day. If he takes a long nap in the afternoon, he doesn't need that early evening nap. But, most days he has to have a short nap at 5.  One of these days sleeping will improve and he'll get to the two naps per day.



 Tooth #1 popped on September 17th on the lower left. Tooth #2 popped September 22 on the lower right, and tooth #3 sprouted a corner on September 23 on the top. Poor boy has been a teething mess for the past couple of weeks. Sleeping has been difficult and awake time hasn't been great. Hopefully the teeth will slow down and life will be a little better the little guy.

 He is just starting to get up on his knees. Crawling will be coming soon. He also loves to stand up. Anytime he is held on a lap, he wants to stand up. He may be an early walker, if he can get that core developed. He no longer leans against the person holding him. He is working on those core muscles. He can't sit independently yet, but he's working on it.

He does adore his siblings. However, I think that he'd prefer to view them from a distance or from the safety of Mom's arms. Generally, he looks scared in all the pictures that they are holding him. But, they love to hold him and help care for him.  E walks him in the stroller when he's fussy. X fetches toys and keeps him company when Mom is busy. C just loves him to pieces.

 M took his first train ride at CrossRoads Village this month. He slept through almost the entire ride. He wasn't nearly as impressed with the ride in the caboose as the older three. The trip equated to another long car ride and he wasn't too thrilled with that.

Chilling and drooling at home

He can get toys easily to his mouth. He loves to chew anything. Today, he was chewing on a broccoli leaf that he pulled while he was hanging out with me in the garden. He generally grabs anyone's hand and tries to shove it in his mouth. He loves sucking on my finger to go to sleep. However, that is going to stop now that he has teeth coming in.

It has been a fun month of growth and discovery. Month 7 will be more of the same!

**Interesting note: We noticed today that his umbilical hernia is no longer visible. His little belly-button is turning into an innie instead of an outie.  Dr thought it would take until age 2 for it to 'disappear'.

First day of school

Happy, dancing baby

Furburped belly

Outgrowing the bassinet

Loving his new skill

Adoring E

5 month M

M's fifth month missed pictorial documentation with the exception of our week vacation to the north country.

He became extremely vocal this month.  Chatting all the time. He loves to talk.

He continued practicing his rolling skills.

He continued belly-laughing at his silly siblings.



He wasn't overly impressed with vacation. He hates sleeping in the car. For that matter, he hates riding in the car, which made traveling a not-so-pleasant experience. He missed his naps. He was always either hungry or tired and sometimes both. There were so many people that he never got put down. He was ready to be home! He actually enjoyed the days that we spent at the vacation house. Probably because he was able to keep a semi-routine and didn't have to endure any car rides.

He wasn't impressed with the Bridge or the Island or the Lake.








Sand and water wasn't very exciting.

He visited the cardiologist again this month. Everything looked good. He laid fairly still for the echo cardiogram. The hole is still in his heart but the cardiologist was fairly confident that it would close by the time he was three.  Additionally, he was in a normal sinus rhythm for our entire visit.  All the PACs were gone. The cardiologist was very pleased with his growth and how he was doing. It was a very encouraging visit.

Why am I here Mom???

The whole vacation gang

He spent most of our time out and about sleeping in the Ergo.

My Mathematician

X wowed his teachers at VBS tonight.  However, it wasn't by his superior biblical knowledge or profound religious thoughts.  His teacher gave a 3 minute warning for a transition.  Without missing a beat, X piped up, "That is 180 seconds!" Everyone was astonished.  I guess most pre-k students don't know that random fact.

When they got home, Jut started quizzing him.  A few made him think for a couple moments, but he made it all the way up to 10 minutes is 600 seconds  I think that is pretty impressive for a 5.5 year old that is starting grade k this fall. 

I forget how well his mathematical abilities are since I see them every day. He knows his addition facts almost as well as his sister.  I forget that many of my eighth graders couldn't have done what he exhibited this evening. He is my mathematician.

4 Month old M

M is four months! He is to that fun baby stage.  No longer a sleepy newborn but interactive and showing off his personality.

He is a smiley guy (despite all the serious pictures) that loves to drool and drool and drool. He however, doesn't like to sleep.  Naps are much better this month.  He usually sleeps between 45 minutes to 2 hours.  But, he's up 5-6 times between 8 and 8. The nights are pretty short around here.  He had his second full night of sleep on July 4th.  VBS and Aunt Stacey's house wore him right out.  I guess we don't make him tired enough on a frequent basis.

The big kids love to make him giggle.  C loves jumping at him trying to illicit that response. X and E are not quite as abrasive in their attempts but they love talking to him and entertaining him as well.

While spending the week at Rock Lake last week, M learned that he could roll from his back to his tummy. He loves to practice that trick any time that he is laid down.  He is even starting it during diaper changes.  Fun times.

He is also figuring out that he can move.  Mobility has begun.  He doesn't stay on his blanket any longer.  He scoots backwards and can rotate ninety degrees or so in addition to rolling over. I came out of the bathroom at camp and found him half under the couch and very upset about it. Made me laugh when I determined that he wasn't hurt but just mad.

The older kids love giving him toys. He can hold them and chew on them.  He's beginning to throw them on the floor and so they'll pick them up. Sofia the Giraffe is back and squeaking all the time. It is obnoxious enough that it even stops his crying sometimes. But, grasping objects is a new skill this month that makes it fun for the older kids to 'play' with him.  I got my hair cut this month because I was tired of him pulling it constantly. It is the shortest that I've had it since college, I think. Keeps him from pulling it though, even if I'm still not certain how much I like it.

 

Realization about #3

I love my third child.  He is so different from his older brother.  C is a force to be reckoned with at all times.  Today, Jut used a word to describe him that I hadn't thought of before...and yet it is so accurate. 

We were driving to church this evening and C was 'pu-pu'ing 'asterdroids' (aka asteroids).  He was so focused in his imaginary game that Jut felt like he needed to be dodging them in the minivan too.  He looked at me and said, "He is so intense."

"Intense"...that is the word that describes C. When he is playing, he is playing to 100% of his ability. He runs at full speed everywhere.  He lightsabers anything that moves when he is a Jedi.  There is no half way with that little man.  It is all or nothing.  He'll talk your ear off...or he'll be completely non-communicative with you and just growl or scowl.

If he's a cat, he licks you...and licks food off of his plate. If he loves you, he showers you with hugs and sloppy kisses. If he claims he's upset with you, he'll "not talk to you until Christmas".

He's loud all the time.  Teaching him to use his 'quiet' voice is like bashing your head into a wall.  He loves his little brother and yet 'gentle' isn't in his vocabulary when he's playing with M. When he talks, he'll use 100% of his voice.  When he's being a big brother, he does it with 100% of his strength.  The olders like to pretend fight...but C doesn't understand how to not hurt them because he plays with 100% of everything thing he has...including his strength. "Intense" is so accurate.

We were waiting for Jut to finish up checking out campers on Saturday and C and I were hanging out in the cabin. He was sitting on the couch with a couch pillow in front and behind him.  He was in a speeder bike chase.  I tried talking to him a couple of times but it was like I wasn't even in the room as he was dodging trees and Imperials. It was fun to watch his imagination...and he was so 'intense' with his game that M and I didn't even exist.

"Intense" is a great descriptor of C. It will be interesting to see how it evolves as he grows. I'm hoping we can learn to channel it a bit more.

A Night at the Park

On the way home from church on Sunday, C was adamant that we go to a park. So, we convinced him that we could go after supper.  We've been so busy lately that it sounded like a fun family activity that we could all enjoy.  While I was napping, the idea was hatched that we should have a picnic in the park.

So, I packed some ham sandwiches and other munchies and we headed to the park.

In typical kid fashion, there wasn't any interest in eating although they were scavenging anything they could find prior to leaving. They managed to eat a few bites before heading off to play.  C was the first to disappear, as he had been excited about this since church and he couldn't wait to play.

 M tolerated his first picnic very well.  He let us eat while he contentedly sat in the carseat, but that only lasted for as quickly as we could eat. It is much more fun to be in the action.

I hadn't taken many pics of the kiddos lately.  So, I had fun snapping pictures while they played.

We had fun exploring three of the different play areas at the park.  The kids ended the night climbing to the top of the sledding hill and running down.  They had so much fun.  It was a great evening had by all until M had too much excitement and it was time to go home...so we compensated leaving a bit early with ice cream and that made the 'big kids' happy.

C being his adorable self...and smiling instead of growling

E climbing the rope...and was super excited to make it to the top

M enjoying his first swinging experience...'enjoying' might be stretching the truth...'tolerating' might be a more accurate description of his thoughts on swinging.

The olders paused for a moment while running through the castle.

My three monkeys

X being his silly self...he looks excited about something.

M at 3 months

At 3 months, M is a happy, little guy.  He freely gives smiles to all.  He loves to laugh at crazy facial expressions.  We are enjoying our little man.

He has his challenging moments. He's happy for about an hour after he wakes up.  Then, we jiggle and change scenery for about a half hour and then it is time to sleep again. He does have a very predicable three hour schedule of eat, play, and sleep.

The good news is that sleeping has changed for the better this month.  He started sleeping in the bassinet for the entire night about half way through the month on most nights.  That was a huge improvement.  Sometimes, he'd only get up once or twice to eat, too.  That was great.

Napping started improving also.  He'd sleep in the bassinet for 20 minutes to 2 hours depending on the nap.  Most naps ranged about 45 minutes.  But, he was sleeping independently and that was a huge improvement.

He took his first two out of state trips this month.  We went to Cleveland, OH for a wedding over Memorial Day, and Aunt Stacey and I took him to Indiana mid-June.  He did great in OH. He went along with the flow very well.  I even got to observe the wedding and he slept great, as he slept with us each night.  

Indiana was a fun adventure too.  We learned two things.  Number one was that M REALLY loves his mommy and doesn't really like strangers...even if they are family.  Number two was that he hates to be hot. It was in the nineties that weekend and he wasn't impressed with that.  He slept the entire trip to IN.  That was a nice, peaceful drive and he did pretty well on the way home too.  Fortunately, the little man loves his car seat if it is moving.

He rolled over several times one evening in Indiana from his tummy to his back.  However, he still isn't really doing it purposefully.  Every so often it happens and still seems to surprise him.  Then, sometimes it looks like he's trying to make it happen and then he gets frustrated that he can't.  So, I assume he'll get it all figured out in the next month without problem.

Thankfully, he gave up his middle of the night screaming sessions this month.  I took beans out of my diet and that has seemed to greatly help his night sleeping. I'd give up about anything to avoid those unhappy awake times from 4-6 AM.

He's starting to like toys and he'll coo at the animals hanging from the bouncy seat or the bassinet. He's getting so much more interactive.  The older kids really enjoy getting a reaction out of him. They talk to him. They still all love to hold  him.  

He loves to chew on his hand.  Drooling is picking up even more.  I've even found a couple of drool bibs, but I need to find the stash of them because I'm changing his shirt some days because he's drooling so much.  Bubbles and drool are common place these days.  

C loves him to pieces. He's a bit too much in his face and rough. but he just wants to interact with him too.  He and X always want to hold him.  M tolerates it for while. E is a little more steady, I think, and M enjoys her holding him a bit more.  They love their love baby brother.

We are enjoying our time with M. He is a wonderful blessing and we are soaking in all the baby that we can. We know he'll be toddling around before we know it and our last baby will be no more.  I'm trying to treasure all these things in my heart so that I can remember them when my littles aren't so little anymore.