Abel Christopher | 9 months

NINE

Woah. This past month has been a big one for you baby! You have learned so much & you are all over the place now! You are pulling yourself up on anything & everything which has resulted in some bump and bruises but that hasn't slowed you down one bit! Your personality is so big & I love it! I am so over the moon in love with you. The older you get the more excited I am about all the new things you are learning to do. You are so absolutely curious about everything and it is so enjoyable hanging out with you and seeing the wonder in your eyes of this great big world. Baby boy you make life so much fun.

 SO. MANY. CHANGES.

• You are all over the place. Rolling. Crawling. Pulling up on things, you do not hold still for nothing and changing your diaper & taking photos has become quite the challenge
• You have two cute little teeth now! The first tooth was a duzy with some rough nights but we survived.
• You are so much more vocal! You love singing and mimicking the sounds that Daddy or I make and get so much joy out of it.
• You clap & it's the cutest thing! Anytime we say "yay Abel" you will start clapping.
• It's so cute how you find some things soooo funny. You just laugh & laugh & laugh. It's truly the best. ever.
• You love love love your daddy. As soon as he gets home you are big smiles and instantly want to spend all the time with him. He's your BFF and it's the greatest.
• We have a pretty set schedule and you have been napping really well lately (whoohoo)
• We had to lower your crib because you are pulling yourself up ALL THE TIME now. It's your new favorite thing to do.
• You love food! You would eat all day long if we let you. We stick to mainly the very appetizing looking baby food jar for you but we have been adding in more fun things like ice cream.. which you love! Definitely my child. :)
• We are still nursing about 4-5 times a day. My supply has been all crazy since I started working out and we have been supplementing with formula but this is nothing new & you do pretty well with it.
• We started attending a great Church nearby and they have a great kids program. We stuck you in the nursery the first day we attended since it's a larger church and their music is pretty loud. It was a rough start, you cried, I cried and then we both had a great time and survived. This is the first time you have been away from us for that long of a period and I think you are just so excited to be around kids your size! (I really do need to get you out more). Church service is right smack dab in the middle of nap time so sometimes you will stay in the Nursery the entire time and other Sunday's you come hang out with me in the lobby. 
• You have chunked up pretty well! You have the most adorable chunky thighs!

Weight: A little over 20 pounds

Loves: Food! & pulling yourself up onto absolutely everything!

Dislikes: Not being able to play with your bowl while eating

Sleeping: about 10-11 hours at night. You are waking up more frequently at night though, about 2-3 times. You usually take a 2 hour morning nap in the morning and an hour afternoon nap. We try to squeeze in an evening nap but it never seems to happen.

Wearing: Size 3 in diapers & 6-9-9 month clothing.

 XOXO,

Abel Christopher | 8 months

EIGHT

How the heck do I have an 8 month old? It feels so strange when I tell people how old he is when they ask. I mean seriously where is my little squeaker that had cute little old man wrinkly skin and slept on my chest most of the day? How do I have this chunky thighed little boy that is on the verge of crawling.

My baby Abe oh how you are my favorite little person to hang out with all day. We keep ourselves busy with library & Target trips, hanging out on the floor rolling all over and having dance parties. This past month has been pretty quit with all the snow we have gotten. You are NOT a fan of snow at all. We took you outside and you disliked how bright it was and buried your little face into my neck to hide from the bright outside and cold. I feel you buddy, mama's ready for Spring as well. 

What's New

• You do not hold still, ever. Getting dressed and changing your diaper has become quite the challenge.
• You are making all sorts of new noises & mastering "mama" and "dada"
• No crawling. You roll, army crawl and find any other way to get from point a to point b
• We have started feeding you solids and you have not turned anything down yet. You are a lover of all food.
• You are starting to explore more and if you can reach it you are into it. You are my wild little boy.
• You are always a little behind on your milestone achievements but once you accomplish it you are an expert at it. 
• We taught you how to wave but you wave when you feel like it so we are working on waving when someone waves at you.
• You are still drooling like crazy and chewing on anything you can get your hands on but still no teeth.
• You are always smiles & giggles. You are generally a happy fellow and if you are upset you have a solid reason to be. 
• You're pretty good at naps and sleeping at night. You still have off days with some crap naps and a full moon disturbs a good nights rest but we are getting better at this whole sleeping thing.
• We spent your first Valentine's day chilling at home and sending daddy out for some Dunkin Donuts- our Sunday addiction.

Don't mind my drying undergarments in the background. Whoops.

 

We are yours and you are ours and it's still so hard to believe. (I know I say this every single month and I will for the rest of his life, mmmk.)

Weight: We didn't have a Doctor's appt this month but I'm guessing around 19. You have chunked up a lot since starting solids.

Loves: Rolling around on the floor in your diaper & being tossed into the air.

Dislikes: Getting your diaper changed in the middle of the night

Sleeping: about 10 hours at night waking up once toward the morning to nurse. You usually take a 2 hour morning nap and an hour afternoon nap. We try to squeeze in an evening nap but it never seems to happen.

Wearing: Size 3 in diapers & 6-9 month clothing


XOXO,

Abel Christopher | 7 months

SEVEN

Oh hey my big 7 month old! This past month flew by. We spent the first half of the month impatiently waiting to visit Iowa and then the 2 weeks in Iowa flew by so fast. I worried so much about your first flight but you did so well! You were so content to hang out in the wrap and take in all your surroundings when we laid over in Chicago and you looked out the window and slept on both flights. You're a pro at flying now.

2015 has been such a great year for us, we welcomed you into our cozy little family and are so blessed to call you ours. We left hot Texas and moved out to the east coast. You had your first Thanksgiving and first Christmas. You are already a lover of opening presents! I would say that 2015 has been a pretty great year.

Being home is always bittersweet. I love being back but it makes me home sick and always wanting to stay longer. You had so much fun spending time with friends and family! You are such a happy, laid back baby that you were such a champ at running all over the place and napping wherever you were for the day. It filled my mama heart with so much joy to see so many people love and care for you.

• You are sitting like a champ. That big noggin of yours gets the better of you every once in awhile but for the most part you love sitting and playing with all your toys.
• You love singing! I usually have music playing during the day and you belt your sweet little voice right along with it. You are definitely finding your voice now! You love to mimic all the noises that I make and it makes you so proud.
•  You get so excited when dad comes home from work. You adore your daddy and love spending one on one time with him.
• You love to laugh! You are always finding something to giggle over and I. cannot. get. enough. seriously. Your giggles are everything.
• You are starting to move and groove more. You have this awesome scoot where you plant your face into the ground and stick your hiney up in the air and try to push yourself along.
• We started giving you rice cereal but you were not a big fan so we went ahead and started giving you oatmeal mixed with apples or bananas and that you are happy to eat. 
• You like to dance as well! Music is pretty much your thing.
• Chewing on fingers are a thing of the past and toes are the in chew toy.
• I'm not for sure you are teething yet. I swear I don't feel anything but your dad thinks that he feels some teeth popping up. You drool like crazy and chew on everything but you have been that way for a couple of months now.
• You are rolling around all the time now. Front to back and back to front. You have got the hang of it and love showing off.
• Sleeping..well... For awhile it seemed like we were set. You were heading to bed around 7 sleeping through the night till about 5 waking up to nurse then back down again till about 7. Then we switched you to a pack and play since we were heading home and you were going to sleep in that. The dreaded pack and play. I hate the stupid thing to be right honest. For two weeks before we left and the two weeks we were at home you started getting up around 1 or 2 then again around 3 or 4 and sometimes you would get up at 5 and want to stay up and party for about an hour before you were ready to lay back down again. I was not a fan after being blessed with you sleeping through the night. It got worse when we got home though and we started having you nap in your crib during the day and the pack and play at night. You were getting up 3 to 4 times a night and this mama was extremely grumpy. Hopefully we will get back to sleeping through the night again soon.

I'm obsessed with his cute little toes, can you tell?

Weight: 17.14 pounds

Loves: singing, dancing & rolling all over the place!

Dislikes: 

Sleeping: sleep? whats that? You rock naps now and like to wake up way too much at night. *yawn*

Wearing: Size 3 in diapers & 6-9 month clothing


xoxo,

Abel Christopher | 6 months

SIX

My sweet baby boy, it is so hard to believe that you have blessed our lives for a half a year now. Where does the time go? I feel so lucky to be a stay at home mom, knowing I am able to soak up so many moments and watch you grow every single day but it still doesn't feel like enough. Time is such a thief my precious baby. You have grown so much and learned so many new things. As I was laying you down on your changing table the other morning it was crazy for me to think that there was a time just not that long ago where you disliked your changing table so much that you would cry and be startled every time we laid you down. You used to be this itty bitty baby that wanted to eat every hour and a half and I was a hot mess of a mama trying to figure out if I was doing the right thing for you, my how we have both grown since then. You have turned into my chubby cheeked handsome little fella.  I just can't get enough of you. Being your mommy is the best thing ever.

 You are reaching such a fun age! Your little personality isn't so little anymore and you always having me grinning ear to ear with your little spunky attitude. You love to babble and have conversations with  mommy and daddy & of course Sophie the Giraffe. Your jumper is your new favorite activity. You think it is so fun and hilarious to jump around like a little monkey and love showing off for us. You are really starting to explore with your hands, wanting to reach out and touch absolutely everything. You sit up for a prolonged time by yourself now which makes play time so much fun. Tummy time is still not a favorite but you tolerate it long enough to scoot around in a circle. We spend most of our days hanging out at home listening to Michael Buble & Penatonix Christmas albums and reading books. My current favorite book to read to you is "Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney.
Sophie the Giraffe is your favorite toy with your Winnie the Pooh crinkle book coming in second. You think it is absolutely hilarious to be scared. Dad always hangs out with you on the couch and mommy will sneak around the corner on the floor and jump up and yell "boo" and you jump and giggle.

We feed you rice cereal for the first time this past month. You didn't know really what to think at first but you are slowly getting the hang of it. The Skinamarinky song is my current favorite to sing to you and of course Wheels on the Bus because you think the hand motions are so much fun. You love spending all day with mom but you are always all smiles when daddy comes home from work.

Thanksgiving was pretty relax with just the three of us at home. You slept through the prep work & cooking and woke up just in time to sit down and see our little kitchen table overflowing with yummy food that you had to sit back and watch mom and dad eat while you ate your rice cereal. Don't worry kiddo, next year will be way more fun for you since you will be able to eat all the yummy food as well.

We started switching you from your rock and play to a pack and play for sleeping since that is where you'll be sleeping in when we go home to visit. The first night we tried it you were up 4 times in 4 hours before my sleep deprived self switched you back to your rock & play. We ended up moving the insert of your rock and play to the pack and play and having a pillow underneath the mat and then put two rolled towels on the sides. Yup. You sleep in it and that's all that matters. I know we need to start transitioning you to your crib and I strongly dislike the idea of you sleeping in a different room at night. I'm sure that transition will be much easier for you than me. All these changes makes me so excited that you are growing but makes me sad that you are growing up so fast. My heart burst seeing you grow and learn new things. I am so proud of your little self.

You are my sun, my moon & all my stars baby boy. Every day is such a blessing with you and I look forward to every moment with you.

Weight: 16.14 pounds

Loves: Singing along to music, jumping in your jumper

Dislikes: being on your tummy

Sleeping: About 9 hours straight at night, waking up to eat and then sleeping a couple more hours for 11 hours total. We are getting a little better at our nap time schedule but You are STILL the king of 20 minute naps.

Wearing: Size 2 in diapers & 6 month clothing