Grant - 9 Months! (Video overload)

First Valentine's Day

 Age: 9 months

Weight:  21 lbs

Eye Color: Brown

Clothes: PJs: 9/12M, Onesies:  9M and 12M. Pants: 9M/12M

Diapers: Size 4
 
Milestones:  *First Haircut on 2/7/15 - he wasn't a huge fan of the clippers. I think the vibrations tickled his head!

*We officially have a crawler! He started crawling forward on 2/21/15.  He was motivated by none other than a bottle full of milk - lol - He's still working on perfecting it and he has to be REALLY motivated to go after something at this point, but he CAN do it if he really wants to now.

*Not a good milestone, but he had his first ear infection this month.  He was a champ though and kept sleeping through the night!

Best Moment(s) This Month:  Watching Grant try and move all over the place. He also seems to smile and laugh more often now.  He's always been a very serious baby and we have to work for a laugh from him!

Loves: *to eat!
*Stand up and play
*Chew on everything!
*oranges!

Favorite Toys: 

LeapFrog My Pal Scout

Garanimals Froggie Teether Beads

Hates:
*getting his face cleaned after eating baby food
*the texture of solid food in his mouth
*getting his snot sucked out/wiping off his nose
*Peas (the first food he's refused to eat)

Food:   STILL pumping and giving him breastmilk. We are giving him solids 2-3 times a day. He eats around 8-12oz of baby food each day now.  He's finally opened up to oatmeal cereal, so I'm trying to include that once a day as well. He's moved up to some level 3 baby food and will sometimes eat (suck on) toast.

Looking Forward To: Celebrating my birthday next month with my handsome men :)

Tiger loves Grant!

Fresh out of the bath!

I had to add this hilarious video of Grant falling asleep! Poor thing was exhausted!

Here's Grant's 9 month video:

Grant - 8 Months!

Age: 8 months

Weight:  not too sure... I need to weigh him. I would guess 20 lbs!

Eye Color: They are looking pretty brown now - something I can claim he got from me!

Clothes: PJs: 6/9 months, Onesies:  6M and 9M. Pants: 9M

Diapers: Size 3
 
Milestones:  *He slept through the night for the first time on 1/12/15
(He has been pretty consistent about sleeping through the night since then. If he does wake up, he will whine for 1-2 minutes and then roll over and go back to sleep on his own.  He no longer gets any bottles during the night.)
*Started cutting his first teeth (bottom two) on 1/11/15
(They are both through the gums now on 1/26/15, but still have a ways to push up!)
*He has started to kind of move around. He scoots backwards and is leaning forward and to the side a lot when he's sitting.  I can tell he is trying to figure out how to move forward, but hasn't quite got it worked out yet.

Best Moment(s) This Month:  Grant has been so AWARE this month.  He wants you to hold him more. He likes to play with the freckles on my arm and lay his head on my shoulder. He also got rid of all of his night feeds and is sleeping so much better at night now.
He's started giving "hugs".  When you are holding him, he will lean on you for a second like he's giving you a hug and then sit back up. It is the sweetest thing. I love my "hugs" from Grant.

Loves: *to eat!
*Stand up and play
*Chew on everything!

Favorite Toys:

VTech Busy Learners Activity Cube

LeapFrog Animal Adventure Learning Table

Hates:
*getting his face cleaned after eating baby food
*the texture of solid food in his mouth
*getting his snot sucked out/wiping off his nose

Food:   STILL pumping and giving him breastmilk. I'm really hoping that since I've made it this far that I can make it to my goal of 1 year.  I haven't had to dig into my frozen stash yet (I have about 2,500oz I think, our entire deep freeze is full!) so if I can pump until 10-11 months, my frozen stash should cover the rest.
We are giving him solids 2-3 times a day. He eats around 8-12oz of baby food each day now.  He's finally opened up to oatmeal cereal, so I'm trying to include that once a day as well.

Looking Forward To: Crawling!

 *all bundled up for a walk*

Grant - 7 Months

*First School Picture*

Grant has his first "school picture" at daycare.  He smiled like a champ! I love, love, love his smile.

 *those cheeks! I love them!*

Age: 7 months

Weight:   18 lbs!

Eye Color: Some days they look brown, other days they look hazel.

Clothes: PJs: 6/9 months, Onesies:  6M and 9M. Pants: 9M

Diapers: Size 3
 
Milestones:  *Very good at holding toys now

*Doesn't fall over when sitting anymore
*Rolls onto side all of the time and can roll from tummy to back
*Can stand holding on to something
*grabbed a puff and put it in his mouth last night, hated the texture, but it's progress!

Best Moment(s) This Month:  I enjoyed having some time off from work to celebrate his first Christmas.  He loved all of the excitement and has enjoyed his new toys so far.

Loves: *The Jumperoo
*Chewing on his hands
*Playing Peek-a-Boo
*Standing up and bouncing
*Bath time (he sits like a big boy in the bathtub now!)
*food!

Hates: *Tummy time
*Being left to play by himself for too long

Food:   STILL pumping and giving him breastmilk.  We are giving him solids 2-3 times a day now.  Since he hated cereal, his ped said I could start feeding him the baby food meat meals.  So he's moved up to level 2 baby food and has tried chicken, turkey, and tons of yummy fruits and veggies! He def loves fruit the most, but he would just keep eating it all if you let him.  I always have to end the feeding session because he's eaten so much or he finishes the container!

Looking Forward To: Mobility, he has shown zero interest in moving from one place to another so far, but I am looking forward to when he does!

*First Ornament he made at school*

I cannot believe my sweet boy is 7 months.  Each month I know I say the same thing, but it really feels like time is FLYING! I know his first birthday is going to be here before I know it.  I'm trying so hard to soak up all of these moments and remember what it feels like to rock him to sleep and hold him when he's sick. He's been battling his first cold for weeks now, so there have been quite a few cuddles happening :)

Grant - 6 Months Photo Shoot

There were so many adorable pictures from our photo shoot the other day that I decided to just do a separate post instead of cramming 20 pictures all into his 6 month update.

We FINALLY managed to get a picture with him smiling while I was holding him.  He was in such a great mood that afternoon at the park and was fascinated by all of the people walking by. So fun!  And all of the photo cred goes to my handsome hubby :)

I know that I'm biased, but how adorable is this face?

I love how his eyes light up when he smiles.

Handsome like his daddy.

Grant - 6 Months!

 

 

Grant is 6 months old! Half a year. Wow.  Sometimes it still feels crazy that I am a mom, and it definitely feels crazy that I have a 6 month old! He's growing up so stinking fast and I just want to slow down time so I can enjoy these moments.

Age: 6 months

Weight:   17 lbs!

Eye Color: Looks like a mix of hazel and brown right now.

Clothes: PJs: 6/9 months, Onesies:  6M and 9M. Pants: 6M

Diapers:  Size 2, moving to size 3 as soon as we run out of 2s.

Milestones:  *Looks around at things
*Puts toys in mouth
*Rolls onto side all of the time
*Bounces on legs :)
*Sits unassisted!
*Holds the bottle by himself! (did this for the first time on Thanksgiving) 

Best Moment(s) This Month:  We finally have heard him laugh a few times.  We have to work HARD for it though! He is def not a giggly baby lol

Loves: *The Jumperoo
*Chewing on his hands
*Playing Peek-a-Boo
*Standing up and bouncing

Hates: *Tummy time
*Being left to play by himself for too long

Food:   STILL pumping and giving him breastmilk (I made it to my original goal of 6 months! Yay!) He's had some solids (green beans, apples, bananas), but not every day. He's really enjoying the foods we've tried, but he's fine if we skip it too.

Looking Forward To: His first Thanksgiving and Christmas!

 I am looking forward to all of our "firsts" with Grant this year.  First Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's.  Last Christmas we were imagining what it was going to be like with a baby, and now we are getting ready to experience it. :)

 

My Review of the Zipadee-Zip

My Zipadee-Zip finally came in the mail yesterday, and I was so excited to try it out.  Grant is 5 months old now and had been breaking out of his Halo Swaddle Sleep Sack for weeks.  Once he gets his right arm free, he flails it all over the place until he is wide awake.  I tried the Magic Sleepsuit, but he gets way too hot in it and seems uncomfortable.

Just for laughs, here is a picture of Grant in the Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit. Can you tell he loved it? haha

I kept going back and forth on what size to order.  I was scared he would grow out of the small in a week or two, but that the medium wouldn't have enough resistance to help him sleep.  I ended up going with the Small.  It's long enough, but it seems like the arm span isn't quite big enough for him.  I'm not too worried about that though since I am trying to keep him contained at night!

After throwing the zippy into the wash I tried it on Grant... and he loved it!  He just smiled and smiled and rolled around in the crib.  Usually when I lay him in the crib he immediately starts fussing, but for some reason he loved being in the zippy!

The very first thing he did in the zippy was put his hands in his mouth - lol

Grant was very comfortable in it, but unfortunately it didn't have magic sleep powers like some of the reviews that I read.  I didn't really expect any huge surprises, but I had a sliver of hope! He woke up at his usual times to eat and actually woke up an hour earlier and another time before midnight.  I do think that the Zipadee-Zip is a great transition from the swaddle.  I LOVED how thin the material was.  He was always drenched in sweat when he was swaddled or in the Magic Sleep Suit.

All in all, the Zipadee-Zip is a win in my book! It kept Grant cool, he slept comfortably, he didn't scream when I put him in it, and he didn't wake up any more than usual!  Although we didn't get a magical "slept through the night" story, I think it worked pretty well! I think I may go ahead and order a medium before they go out of stock again :)

Grant is sporting the Baby Baluga pattern.

UPDATES:

ETA: Pretty sure Grant was going through a sleep regression when I switched to the Zipadee-zip.  His sleep was pretty rough between 5-6.5 months, but now we are back to waking up just 1-2 times a night.  He does GREAT in the Zippy and I've already ordered a Medium so we can start transitioning him to more freedom.  He's 17lbs and 7 months and still fits in the small right now, so it was def worth every penny!

1/27/2015 - Update! Grant is now sleeping through the night in his Zippy (at 8 months).  He is in the Medium now and it allows a lot of movement.  He rolls over onto his belly each night and he's always doing "push ups" when I go in his room in the morning.  The Zippy really allows him to move around the crib while keeping him cozy and asleep during the night.  I also love that it's part of his bedtime routine each night.  He knows that as soon as I zip him up that he's about to get a bottle and go to bed. I cannot recommend this product enough! I just ordered a second medium (so now I've bought 4) and I seriously think they are worth it.  You can't put a price on a good night's sleep!


3/16/2015 - Grant is now almost 10 months old and is still in a Medium.  He's still sleeping through the night and I am about to transition him to the Large so that by his 1st birthday we can sleep in just PJs.  Right now I am loving the fact that his hands are covered so that he doesn't stand up in the crib!

 

Grant - 5 months!

 

 

He is almost half a year old! I cannot believe it.  My sweet tiny baby is turning into a little man before my eyes.  When I look at him now it's hard to believe he was ever the tiny, less than 6 lb baby that we brought home from the hospital. He's so healthy and full of life! His personality is just shining through and I can already tell that Grant has such a sweet, sweet soul.  His eyes are so kind and his smile is so precious.  When he smiles, his eyes light up his whole face and it warms my heart.

Can I just take a minute to reflect on much he has grown?  It's crazy!

This month he celebrated his first Halloween.  We decided we didn't want to go the traditional route with a baby costume (the thick, hot animal costumes).  Can I just say that they need to offer more costume options for babies?  And in Texas we don't have cold weather in October, so offer some thin material costumes while you're at it.  We decided to dress Grant up as Phelps, circa the Beijing Olympics.  We got quite a few laughs at the church fall festival :)

And the stats:

Age: 5 months

Weight:  17 lbs!

Eye Color: Looks like a mix of hazel and brown right now.

Clothes: PJs: 6/9 months, Onesies: Can still squeeze into 3M, but 6M are roomier.

Diapers:  Size 2

Milestones:  *Amuses himself by playing with hands and feet
*Turns towards sounds
*Will look for me when I'm talking in a room
*Can sit on his own for a few seconds
*Can stand in his jumperoo now!
*Discovered his toes
*Puts things in his mouth
*Bears his weight in standing position
*I think he laughed - it kind of turned into a cry so I'm not sure!
*Tries to grab bottle when he sees it and pull it into his mouth :)
*Sleeps with 1 arm out of the swaddle now! Working on getting both out.

Best Moment(s) This Month: His personality has really come out this month.  He reacts so much to us now and he smiles and plays.  He's at such a fun age!

Loves: *Bouncing around
*Standing up
*Chewing on his hands
*Playing with his feet

*Staring at his hand
*Eating
*Going outside

Hates: *Tummy time (he refuses to even roll over now, just lays there face down until I turn him over lol)
*Bumbo - he only lasts about 2 minutes in this thing.
*Being left to play by himself for too long (he lets you know when he's ready for you to play with him!)

Food:   I am still pumping and giving him 100% breastmilk. After his 4 month appointment we got the go ahead to start introducing solids.  I tried oatmeal cereal and he HATED it.  Absolutely hated it.  I gave him rice cereal and he was a little more receptive, but still not a huge fan.  I tried mixing it with a little apple or banana and he still wasn't very interested.  I tried apple and banana alone and he wasn't into it so I let it go for a couple of weeks.  Last night I gave him sweet potatoes, and he LOVED them! I included a snippet of the sweet potato love at the bottom of this post :) 

Looking Forward To: Hearing a good long belly laugh. Seeing him sit by himself.