5 Months Old and Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's only been 5 months! I feel like I've always been your Mommy. This past month has been a whirlwind between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We really enjoyed being able to spend time with family for both holidays. I'm so glad you were old enough to travel around to all the parties and get-togethers. You've had your first head cold over the last week. You were very snotty and had a pitiful little cough but you seem to be much better now. Other than that, you've been healthy. You are eating great and sleeping great as well. You are even starting to enjoy tummy time. You are rolling from your tummy to your back all the time now. You are so mobile now. Even though you aren't crawling yet, you can move all around, rolling and twisting to where you want to go. You sit pretty well for short periods of time. You get really interested in your feet and then tip over to the left or right. You've started doing the "Scarecrow" - anytime we hold you or carry you around, you stretch your arms out wide and hold them there forever with the funniest look on your face. Your favorite toys are: your hands and feet, Sophie, anything that crinkles, anything that makes music, and anything that lights up. The look on your face first thing in the morning is the best thing in the world. Your whole body smiles at me and my heart melts. Daddy is going to start working day shift in January and we will be able to spend much more time with him. We are very very excited about this!

Rolling over:

First Foods:

Rice cereal - 11/27/11

Bananas - 12/30/11

Butternut Squash - 1/2/12

You wear 3-6 month clothes with some 6-9 month boutique brands. You are still in size 2 diapers. You eat at 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, & 10pm - give or take 30 minutes. Now that we've introduced some real food, you have been eating less formula. You have eaten up to 4 ounces of food (butternut squash/bananas/rice cereal) and then followed that with 4-5 ounces of formula. Usually, you eat food at 10am, 2pm & 6pm. We are introducing new foods every 3-4 days to make sure you aren't allergic to anything. I am making all of your food now. That may change as your appetite increases but I want to stick with it as long as I can. Aunt Rachel gave us a GREAT starter kit of apples, carrots, pears, and sweet potatoes for Christmas! 

It's Christmas!

To our baby, on your first Christmas,

Praise God for the joy that you have brought to our lives. As we read from Luke 2 this morning, I prayed that you always understand that Christmas is about Jesus. It's about giving to others out of love just as He has given to us. It's about showing Jesus to others. It's about enjoying time with your family and friends.

Hudson, we have enjoyed the last 5 months more than we ever could have imagined and we are so excited about what the rest of your first year will hold. It's so exciting to see you develop and learn new skills. You are truly an amazing creation. When I think about how you grew in my womb and how we could feel you move, I am humbled. I am humbled that God chose us to be your parents, that He chose us to bring you into this world and take care of you.

You are the sweetest baby I've ever met. You really do have the best demeanor. You don't feel so great right now. You have your first cold and you're full of snot, but you are still so sweet and happy and cuddly. Mommy has the same cold. Let's just say that you are handling it much better than Mommy!

Merry Christmas sweet baby. I can't wait till next year to see the wonder and amazement in your eyes.

We love you,
Mommy & Daddy

Balancing Act

I'm really struggling with finding the time and content to write about. I work - feels like all the time. When I'm not at work, I'm feeding you, changing you, playing with you, cuddling you, or putting you to sleep, spending time with Daddy, doing chores, running or errands.

You and Dede (and Pawpaw when he's in town) have so much fun together during the day. I check in often but I really can't think about it much. It is bittersweet. I miss you so much. I miss you right now and you're in the other room!

You are growing up so fast. I am really trying to soak up each moment with you and enjoy each and every little thing about you at this age. It's hard not to wish for a time when you can talk to me and tell me what you want or how your day was, or to wish for you to have more mobility so that you can explore all the things you stare at now. I really don't think I'm ready for you to be mobile or talk yet. I love the little ball of joy that you are right this minute... staring at your hand as if it's not even yours, catching the glimmer of a light (any light) and "talking" to it as if it were calling your name, smiling bigger than my heart can hold at the very sight of someone you know, studying with pensive eyes the people you don't know, laughing... oh the laughing brings me to tears.

I pray that I'm able to appreciate and deeply experience every stage of your life. I don't want to wish it away.

You had your 4 month check up Friday, December 9th.  Dr. Quizon said you were very healthy and precious. We already knew that. You weigh 15lbs (44th percentile) and are 24.5 inches long (22nd percentile). Short and wide... like mommy and daddy :). Your hair is still very reddish in the sunshine. Your cheeks are ruddy too because of your eczema during this cold weather.

I'll try to put some pictures up later this week...

4 months

HuddyMan!

You are 4 months old and growing like crazy. Your doctor's appointment is tomorrow at 1:30 and I can't wait to see how much you weigh, but especially how long you are. Everyday you amaze me. I feel like you grow another inch while I'm at work.

Stuff you can do:

• Stand up with balance help
• Sit up with very little support
• Sit up without support (if I get you in the perfect position)
• Raise your head and neck and look around while on your belly
• Coo like crazy
• Laugh and giggle
• Visually track anything
• Anticipate events - you start laughing before I tickle you, you freak out when you see your bottle...
• Smile and play, engaging in eye contact
• Cry in different ways to express hunger, sleepy, pain, etc...
• Reach for toys with one hand - only occasionally but I see it improving lately.
• Bring things to your mouth
• Put yourself to sleep
• Sleep through the night

You are still wearing 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. You eat 5-7 ounces every 3.5-4 hours and nearly 8 ounces at 10 pm. You are meeting all your developmental milestones! You are amazing and a huge blessing in my life.

Love,
Mommy