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.

7-Month M

7 month old M is a delight.  He smiles and laughs. He says, "Ma ma ma ma ma". Sometimes it even seems to be directed at me. He is making other consonants sounds too but they aren't recognizable enough to write out. He loves playing 'peek a boo'. It gets a giggle out of him every time. He loves 'getting' people by whomever is holding him to lunge at someone else. He is a fun, little guy.

He finally started solids, but his face shows his opinion on that craziness.  However, if his food is mixed with either apple or banana, it will at least go down and not cause him to gag. Plain pumpkin or avocado causes all sorts of faces...and subsequent gagging.  He was finally starting to eat pretty well and he got a cold at the end of the month and is back to not eating much. But, he'll pick it up again when he's ready.

I don't have a picture of him standing, but he loves to stand up. He'll be doing it independently far too quickly. He doesn't like to sit. When he's being put down, he keeps his legs straight. He wants to stand. It is easiest to lay him on his belly when he's being deposited on the floor because otherwise you have to bend his legs to get him to sit. Silly baby. I had almost decided that he was going to stand independently before he sat independently because he didn't practice sitting nearly as much as standing.  However, just before he turned 7 months old, he started sitting independently. He can almost get himself back into a sitting position from his belly but he's not quite there yet.

He's really getting up on his knees and rocking. He can even make some forward progress, but it generally involves pushing off with his feet and vaulting himself forward into a nose-dive to the floor, which may or may not result in tears.  It isn't horribly efficient but it gets him what he wants. Choking hazards are a concern because he seems to get where he wants to go and can now pick things up and shove them into his mouth. He loves paper and plastic. While holding him, he is becoming a 'Grabby-McGrab-Grab'. He tries to get whatever is in your hands. Meal prep while holding him is beyond challenging anymore.

He went to the doctor on Oct 23rd. He weighed 18.75 lbs and was 27 inches tall. He is pretty close to the 50th percentile for both.

Sleeping is still challenging. He did give us 2 good nights of sleep this month. One night he did 7 straight hours and the next was 6.5. However, then the next night he only allowed me 4 hours. Go figure. I blame it on teeth...although sometimes gas bubbles wake him up too. My least favorite part of this stage is that he tends to be up for 2 hour chunks in the middle of the night when he's unhappy. That tends to make me unhappy too.

M has 3 teeth (#3 erupted on the 19th) and the 4th is visible but it hasn't erupted yet. However, based on his drooling, I expect it to pop through any day.

Swaddling is a thing of the past. He just likes to sleep normally and not a burrito anymore. I miss my burrito baby but do enjoy not having to swaddle (and reswaddle) anymore.

He started taking a pacifer this month to go to sleep. Once his teeth erupted, I decided that chewing on my fingers was no longer an option and so we tried the paci again. After a little convincing, he accepted it.  That has made a HUGE difference in getting his to sleep easily. There is no longer much screaming. I pop the pacifer into his mouth, bounce on the ball a bit, and he is out like a light. He's my first baby to take one and I love it! I probably won't love breaking him of the habit later, but for now, it makes my life so much easier.

C is still loving him to pieces. Life is never dull.

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.