Judd {8 months}

 Happy 8 months little dude!! This is my favorite stage of babyhood so mommy is very excited about the 8 month mark! It's busy, fun, and your personality is shining through more than ever before! This month has been full of new adventures for you and it's been such a joy to watch you grow and learn and discover new and exciting things.

STATS
Weight: approx 25 lbs
Height: not sure

Wears 18 months
Size 4 diaper
Takes 4 bottles a day, 8 ounces at a time
Eats 3 meals a day and sometimes an afternoon snack after nap
Sleeps from 7pm-6am
Naps 2 times a day for two hours or an hour and a half

You have four teeth on this day, but I think you are getting another! This month has been rough on you and I now realize why we had some sleep regression. Darn top teeth wanted to "go big or go home" and come in all at once. So far you have the right one all the way out, the left just behind, and the tooth next to your right top is trying to come through. Mommy won't lie, this makes her super sad to know this is just one more sign that proves the inevitable: you are growing up.



This month was your first real vacation, which involved flying and staying in a condo for multiple days. You went to Destin, Florida and had the best time! You proved to be a great little traveler (although we tried everything to get you to sleep on the plane and you were not having it). We learned about your love for yogurt melts and gerber "cheetos" on said plane rides. Yummy! You had such a fun time swimming in the pool and playing in the sand. You also tried to master crawling while on vacation, but didn't truly get the hang and coordination of it all until the very day we got home. July 30, 2012 was your first official day of crawling on all fours with your belly off the ground. Since that day, you have not looked back! You love your newfound freedom to explore.

You have become quite the momma's AND daddy's boy this month, and your social anxiety has most definitely peaked. You cry at most unfamiliar faces, unless it's a cute young blonde. I try to tell you judging is not very nice but you don't seem to care. You will scowl, stare or cry at anybody you don't recognize. Mommy tends to get annoyed at family members who take it to heart and blow her off when she tries to explain your social developmental stage. Oh well.

You eat all finger foods now and have mastered the pincer grasp. Your meals look a little like this...

Breakfast: butter toast and strawberries

Lunch: turkey dog weiner, zucchini, corn, and peaches

Snack: puffs, craisins/raisins, watermelon slice

Dinner: whatever we are eating (tonight was barbeque chicken baked potato)

I have been pretty lax on the sippy cup with you as you don't take a paci and love to have your bottle before you lay down. But I've noticed you are starting to not want to rock anymore (yet you still throw a fit when I put you in your crib awake. NO MATTER HOW MANY DAYS I AM CONSISTENT!) So, I'm thinking we will switch one of your bottles to a sippy. Most likely it'll be your late morning bottle. I'm nervous about this!

You had been waking at 6am every morning for the past 2-3 weeks until this week. I moved your bedtime back to 7:45/8pm and you are sleeping until 7:00. This is MUCH better as mommy cannot function at 6am. And unless you want her to go back to teaching while you go to daycare, then you better get on board with the sleep-in train, mkay?

I love you so very much and am having a blast with you this month!! It's been nice to take a break from work and just focus on you and your sister and nothing else. I don't know why I've been so blessed to be chosen as your mommy. You absolute perfection in my eyes! 

Phone dump {overload}

Summer is in full swing and we are finally getting into the groove of no weekly school schedule. Ava is getting bored regardless of how much fun we have, which makes me so happy about my decision to send her to preschool as opposed to my "previous" plan of keeping her home until kindergarten.

                  

I bought her this fishing game at Walgreens and it has been worth every dollar! It's "fishing for jewels" princess edition.

                 

Finally for the kids 4yr and 6mo pictures printed & hung! Love them. Excuse the rando in the 8x10. Still waiting on the picture to go in that frame.


                   

Ava had swim lessons last week. She is doing so well! This year she worked on her American Crawl and dive. She dives just like her momma...and it's a sight to be seen for sure! Belly flop, anyone?



Ava was invited to a princess party for her friend Olivia. Jenn gave Judd some frosting from a cupcake and that boy almost ate her finger off! Funny how all the rules such as "no sweets until your first birthday" go out the window with baby #2!


Princess Ava at Olivia's party.

               

I went in to get Judd from his nap and he had a crown on his poor head. That boy will be bullied into wearing a tutu and high heals before long, I'm afraid.

                               
Do I really need to address this picture? The pose? The crown?


                 

Ava had a dentist appointment last week and got an A! That's for good brushing and flossing!! And I'll own that grade bc I get an F every time I visit my dentist! Glad I can live vicariously through her. After all, I am the one doing the brushing and flossing.



I got my hair hilighted on Friday. It was time to go back to the old faithful. The lady I went to said she had never worked on someone with as much hair as me. That depresses me. I know, I sound ungrateful. But my hair is the biggest pain in my butt! Too much of it and no time to mess with it. I love it more in the winter when it's not so hot & I can stand to dry it.



We had a very low key father's day and just hung out at home. We got Aaron some clothes for work and the kids made him recordable picture frames and handprint cards. Always a big hit for my simple guy!

Hope you guys had a great weekend and that your week is off to a great start!

Judd {7 months}

Judd is 7 months old! Oh boy! So far, this has been an interesting month. I can see much more of his independence and personality come out and he is turning out to be a FEISTY little fella.

STATS
Weight: approx 23 lbs
Height: not sure

Wears 12 months and 18 months
Size 3 diaper
Takes 5 (sometimes 4) bottles a day, varying from 5 to 8 ounces
Eats 3 meals a day
Sleeps from 7pm-7am
Naps 3 times a day for an hour at a time, give or take

Judd, you are such a sweet, social baby. So social that this month you have learned that when we walk out of the room, all it takes is a little hollering and we will return. You spend much of your day in your monkey bouncer, sitting on the floor with a basket full of toys to pull out one at a time, or in your mommy's arms. You actually would rather be held than anything else right now. You want to be in the center of the action at all times!
You have learned to wave "bye bye" and give kisses this month. Your wave is a big arm wave, complete with a huge two-toothed grin. I try to get it on video but you don't perform on cue. You also love to turn your head to the side to where you are almost looking upside down. I love watching you explore the big old world around you!
You love going on jogs with mommy. Actually, you love anything to do with being close to me. I can't complain about that!

Everywhere we go people assume you are a girl. It's only because you have the MOST BREATHTAKING eyelashes. They are so long and so dark. Ava is quick to correct people every time and tell them "he is my BRUVER, NOT my sister!"

You pretty much decided you were done with baby purees and only want to eat foods that YOU can feed yourself. Fiercely independent! So far you have been eating soft carrots, watermelon, cantelope, mandarin oranges, toast with melted cheese, english green beans, chicken and rotini noodles. We will soon be trying softened brocolli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, ground beef and eggplant.
You are on the move and will be crawling in no time! You finally mastered sitting up but you'd rather be on the floor, on your belly, rolling and scooting around to get what or where you want. Sometimes when I am holding you in my lap you will scoot in such a way that you literally fall down my lap and pretty much out of it and onto the floor. It freaks me out! Boys are SO strong and I'm still getting used to your strength.

Your sleeping is great at night and I am so happy to have another good night sleeper. Especially since you don't take a paci! Your naps are our biggest challenge, little buddy. You are a world record cat-napper. The king of 40-50 minute naps! It wears me out and I have to really reach deep within my soul to keep my sanity by 5pm each day because you are exhausted and fussy and want nothing else but to be held. Mommy is working very hard to get you to nap longer and no matter what, you are just inconsistent. Some days you will nap for 2 hours, other days 40 minutes. The average is an hour. I have tweaked your somewhat "schedule" to this and it seems to be working better than everything else we've tried:
wake at 7am
6 oz bottle
play
breakfast at 8am
jog
6 oz bottle and nap at 9am
play
lunch at 11
errands or play
7 oz bottle and nap at 12:30 or 1pm
outside play
6 oz bottle and nap at 3:30 or 4pm
dinner at 5:30 or 6pm
bath at 6:30
8 oz bottle and bed at 7pm
I did this similar schedule with your sister and she was a very happy and thriving baby. You are very happy and thriving as well, but for some reason you seem like you need more sleep than what you're getting. I'm hoping one day we just have a switch flip and you decide to sleep during naps as long as possible.

Looking at this collage of you from 1 month to 7 months blows me away!! You have grown and changed so, SO much in such a short time.

I love this close up of you! It shows your sweet (rather bushy) eyebrows. They are one of my favorite features of yours. And those two teefers? You slay me, sweet boy.

I love you so very much and look forward to the many more exciting milestones in your upcoming future. Seeing the world through your eyes is such a joy! I'm loving the priveledge I've been given to be your momma!

Boys clothes {blog sale}

Before I add these to eBay I thought I'd see if there were any takers.
These all are brand new with tags or worn once/twice as my baby is basically a 6mo toddler.
$2 shipping
Post in comments item you'd like and your PayPal email.
Set of 2 Remember Nguyen Peter pan collar shirts. One with blue gingham piping and one with red. Never worn. 12m $12 for both.




White Peter pan collar shirt. Classy Couture 12m nwt. $6
SOLD



Pirate longall. 9m. $14




Carter's romper nwt 12m. $6




Anavini bunnies bubble 9m. Worn once. $20




Baby Gap romper and newsboy cap. New with tags. 6-12m $15 for set.
SOLD



Petit Ami set of 2 bubbles. 9mo. $18 for both.




Up close of sweet, simple details. Sailboat and train.




Carriage Boutique smocked train bubble. 12m. $16
SOLD



Sir John smocked tools. New with tags $12. 12m




Carriage Boutique 18m new with tags $15




Zackali 4 kids hand knit set. Comes with hat not pictured. This set was $50 and worn once. 6m $20

Ava's first ballet recital

Ava has been taking ballet since last summer. Her auntie was a ballerina herself so she has informed me since the day I found out I was having a baby girl that she would be in lessons just as soon as she was old enough. I didn't argue as I think little girls that take ballet are SO sweet! I love that ballet is so graceful and prissy, but in a good way prissy.

Well wouldn't you know that Ava was born with Aaron's flat, flat feet. Not a very promising future in ballet with no arch, right? But let me tell you we were all pretty impressed with Ava's form and turnout at the ripe age of 4! We didn't get to watch her practice all year. She goes to the ballet room and we go to the waiting room. No windows, no peaking. So this recital was our chance to really see what she had learned throughout the year. She always told us she loved ballet but when anybody asked her what she was learning she would basically ignore us or change the subject, which is totally Ava's style.

The recital was of Hansel and Gretel. It was so neat! Here we are in the dressing room before the big performance. Ava wasn't nervous, too excited, or really expressive of any emotions. Just her typical stoic self. Love that stoic girl!

The little flowers, sitting below the butterflies. I wish I could tell you which classical piece they danced to, but I don't recall who it's by. All I can say is it's a very well known song.

Ava is the second flower from the left.

Blurry picture, but check out that first position!!

Is there really many things much cuter in life than little girls in tutus, all dancing to the beat of THEIR own drummer?

Watching my baby girl's first ballet recital was the perfect Mother's Day gift and I cannot wait to watch many more recitals in Ava's future!

Judd {6 months}

6 months.

Six.

One half of a year.

Stats:

22.2 lbs (98%)

27 inches (95%)

Size 3 diapers/cloth

You wear a size 12month or 18month.

You are eating solids three times a day. You eat fruit oatmeal for breakfast, a vegetable for lunch, and a vegetable and fruit for dinner. You take about 24-28 ounces of formula. You get so mad if I don't give you your own spoon when eating, so even though it drives me crazy because you get food everywhere, I do as you please and you hold one spoon (in your mouth) while I feed you with another. You take a bottle when you first wake up, go down for a nap at 10, take another nap around 1 or 2, and sometimes take a small nap around 5. Your naps can last 50 minutes or 2.5 hours. It really just depends with you.

You're in bed by 7:30 or 8:00 each night and sleep until 7am or sometimes even 8:30. The 8:30 wake up usually occurs if you wake up for a bottle at 6:00. I actually prefer this over the 7am wake up and haven't stopped you from this pattern because you can finish a bottle in 10 minutes, which means I'm back in bed very quickly and get to sleep later! Mommy loves her sleep and is very happy when her babies sleep until 8:00 or 8:30.

You still are swaddled in a miracle blanket and a summer swaddle, but those days are short lived as you are starting to roll over like a maniac. I'm having such a hard time staying consistent with transferring you 100% to the halo swaddle blanket with your arms out, because you do not sleep well at all.

You are almost sitting up but balance is hard for you. I imagine you will be sitting unassisted in a few weeks. We had to transfer you to the convertible carseat as you were just too heavy for the infant carrier and I *thought* you were uncomfortable in it since you seemed generally unhappy in the car. Well, I was wrong on that and you may even dislike your convertible seat more. (even though the below picture portrays the opposite) What am I going to do with you this summer when it's blazing hot and have to stick you in a carseat while you protest and get all worked up?

                       

You have two bottom teeth now and I'm pretty sure you are already working on your top teeth. We have had some fussy days this past week and you are a drooling machine. You don't like to chew on toys to soothe. Nope, you prefer fingers. Anybody's. And this stresses your mommy out to see you grab any ol person that touches you and work to get their fingers in your mouth. Ick!

You are on your 4th ear infection but other than that and teething, you are still the happiest, jolliest little fella!! You grin when spoken to and will go to anyone. You get so excited when we pick Ava up from school, when daddy comes home from work, and when it's bath time. You also just started reaching for me (and me only) which melts me 100 times over.

Your favorite toys are the jumparoo and a stuffed panda of Ava's. You still aren't attached to a lovey and won't take a pacifier, but I'm sure once I get rid of the swaddle you will take to a lovey very quickly.

Look at how much you've grown in the past 6 months!! 

I simply cannot believe how fast the first half of your first year has flown by. Thank you for being such a flexible, lovable, joyful baby boy! As I always say to your daddy, "This is when the fun begins!" I look forward to watching you grow each day as you develop more into a little boy with things on your mind, places to go, adventures to see, and milestones I'm sure you are eager to meet. I love you my Judskey!