15 month well visit

this morning we had the dude's 15 month well visit.  i know i say this everytime...but seriously...where is the time going???!!!  

here are the stats:

weight - 26 lbs 10 oz (78%)

height - 30" (17%) (woah...2 inches in 3 months!!)

head circumference - 19.5" (96%)

here's what you've been up to:

still wearing the tride and true size 5 diapers all day

typically you go to bed at 730 and are up by 645.

you still sleep with your binkie and lovey.

you're not a huge fan of red meat.  nor very many vegetables!

you've become quite attached to me and always want me to hold you.

you are AWESOME about playing by yourself.  we'll often find you reading on the floor by yourself.

you love playing across the street at the playground with the neighborhood bad boys.  you've also become the first one of the bunch to climb UP the entire twisty slide!!

you are a full time walker and working on running!!

you had two tests so far to try and figure out what's causing all these breathing issues.  both the sweat test and upper GI came back normal.  PHEW!

365 days. 8,766 hours. 31,556,926 seconds.

yes, our little dude is ONE!!!    he is officially a BIG dude!!  i can't believe the day is finally here.

dude, you have been so special to us.  i never thought i could love something or someone the way that i love you.  you light up a room with your smile and warm my heart with you cuddles.  as much as i don't want you to get any bigger, i can't wait to see what lies in store for you!

you will always have my love and support.
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY DUDE!!!

stats:
 weight - 24lbs 10oz (76%)
height - 28 inches (5%)
head circumference - 19.75 inches (100%!)

here's what you've been up to:
- still wearing size 4 diapers during the day and 5's at night
- still sleep like a champ!
- not walking on your own yet but it definitely won't be long.  you're little mister independent and won't hold our fingers and walk, but you'll use pretty much anything else to help you move around.
- started saying 'uh oh'
- you've mastered the sippy cup
- you love to sit and read books and play peek-a-boo
- took your first flight to florida and did perfect!
- went to the ocean for the first time and LOVED it!
- you love pretty much anything with red sauce on it...pizza, pasta, raviolis, etc.
- you know how to hold your hands up for a 'touchdown'

one month away from being ONE!!!

time slow down!!!  i only have one mere month left to call my little dude....my baby!!!  come october 22nd, the little dude will become a BIG little dude!

we didn't have a well visit for you this month, but we did happen to be at the doctors right around today and we have one stat:

weight: 24 lbs!!!

(this was a solo photo shoot and i had a wiggle worm on my hands!!)

here's what you've been up to this month as well:

 - still wearing size 4 diapers during the day and 5's at night

 - your bedtime is normally around 730 and then you typically wake up around 645-7.

 - taking two naps, averaging 1.5 hours each

 - got 2 more teeth this month for a total of 4 pearly whites in that cute little mouth of yours!

 - have a couple more words in your vocabulary: dada, baba (although he's been saying this one for awhile...think i just left it out of the 10 month update) and tata.

 - figured out how to make a stinky face

 - you LOVE to smile at people and you LOVE to laugh

 - pretty much understands what 'hands off' means.  now, whether you take your hands off or not, that's a different story!

 - slept through your first 5.8 magnitude earthquake!

 - figured out your dino walker within seconds and you cruise around all the time now

 - not walking on your own yet, but your definitely crawling around, pulling up and walking around holding onto something like a mad man!

 - discovered how fun swings at the playground are

 - still love all your wooden blocks, oh, and rudy's feather toy!

- you have a couple new favorite foods: squash nuggets and spinach nuggets (thanks lisa for the recipes!)

 - pretty much have the hang of drinking water or juice from a sippy cup
 - went to your first farm and saw your very first farm animals (pigs, rooster (didn't like the rooster!!), goats, bunnies and peacocks)

10 months!!!!

i won't say it again, you all know what i'm thinking.

what.....10 months already!!!

in the past month little dude, you have definitely started to become your own little man!

here's what you've been up to:

- you weigh a whopping 23.7 lbs!!!

- pretty much wearing 12 months clothes now.  you still fit in some 9 month stuff.

- still wearing size 4 diapers during the day and 5's at night.

- still sleeping 11 hours or so at night.

- eating all solid food now.  you always want to feed yourself.  the only thing you'll let me feed you is applesauce and yogurt!

- some of your favorite foods right now are yobaby yogurt, bananas, yellow squash, sweet potato & black bean hash and homemade chicken nuggets that mommy makes!

- normally find you standing up in your crib when you're ready to get out.  you'll play with seahorse or llama for a little bit before you let us know you're ready though.

- can pull yourself up on pretty much anything and you scoot around.

- said MAMA!!!

- met aunt star and cousins kaeli and kamrin for the first time.

- apparently you're taking after your mother and take your baths standing up.  we had to move you to our bathtub since it's deeper!

 - got your second tooth.

- took our first solo road trip to richmond.

- has developed a few ticklish spots: bottoms of your feet and if you blow raspberries on your thighs.

- met great aunt evie, uncle mark and cousin tiana for the first time.

- LOVE blocks and have started putting all your blocks in and out of things deliberately.  

- was admitted to the hospital for the first time.  mwrrrr!

overall you are still a very happy go lucky baby.  we love you so much and love seeing all the new things you learn everyday!!

nine month stats

OMG!!! the little dude is turning into a BIG dude!!

weight: 22 lbs. 7 oz.  (77%)

height: 27.25" (15%)

head circumference: 19.25" (100%!!!!)

doctor said he looked great though.  he was impressed with his 'moving' (ie, crawling, sitting, standing up, walking, etc), and thought it was great that he had no anxiety towards him whatsoever.  he did have a little snarfle in his nose and chest though, so we're doing the neb for the next several days to try and take care of that, and we're also giving him benadryl in the morning and evening to see if that will help him clear up in the nose department.

the dude's been congested pretty much ever since birth, so the doctor isn't sure if maybe it's just allergies.  so we're going to give the benadryl a try for awhile and if we think it's making a difference, we might need to see an allergist later on.  uncle tim...sound familiar!!  :)

eight months!

eight months already!  three quarters of a year old!  craziness!

we didn't get a lot of smiles today with out photo shoot, but we did get a plethora of different kinds of shots.  so many of them were so cute they had to be all on their own.  no collages necessary! 

here's what you've been up to:

 - wearing size 4 diapers during the day, and size 5 at night

 - still fit in some 6-9 month clothes, but definitely fit better in 9-12 month clothes

- drinking about 28oz of milk (formula) a day

 - have tried many fruits and veggies and seem to like most everything.  some recent favorites are green beans, yams with apples, peas with pears, zucchini and carrots

 - starting to eat 'finger food' aka, puffs, cheerios and you even tried your first bit of diced banana and seemed to enjoy it

 - still sleeping between 10-11 hours at night and napping 3 or so hours during the day.  you've also turned into a stomach sleeper.  

 - you sit in the BIG big boy bath tub now

 - went to the pool for the first time and loved it!

 - gave mom her first medical scare...see blog post from the thursday previous

 - weight from the saturday follow-up visit....20.1 lbs!!

 - standing up with confidence when holding onto a couch, table, finger, etc.

 - getting the crawling motions down, but really only moving backwards at the moment

our little daredevil! 

sweet boy

some of my all time favorites right here!

6 month stats

holey moley...the due is GrOwInG!!!

weight: 17lb 4oz (43%)

height: 25.5" (15%)

head circumference: 18.5" (drum roll pleeeeeeeeeeeeease......99%!!!!!)

dude has a BIG head! :)

nothing to be worried about (i already asked the doc). he has a feeling his head growth will plateau and we'll see that at his 9 month well visit. guess we'll wait and see!

graham did super well at his visit today though. no stranger anxiety, he impressed dr. bill with his tummy time strength, he was reaching out for all the cool toys dr. bill had, and he only cried for a little bit after he got his shots. he's one tough dude!

fabulous five months

today the dude is 151 days old! happy 5 months!!

weight, height and head circumference will have to wait until his 6 month appointment next month. buuuuuuuuuut, here is what he's been up to recently:

- wearing size 2 diapers now

- the 0-3 month clothes are in storage bins now!! which means the dude is fitting in 3-6 month outfits

- sleeping between 8.5-9 hours a night

- no more swaddling for the dude. we have transitioned to the halo sleep sacks which work great!

- wakes up sometimes in the night and just needs his binky and blanket. he LOVES to cuddle with his blanket, and we love it too because it puts him back to sleep instantly.

- started eating cereal at breakfast and dinner. we have tried rice, oatmeal and barley so far and we love all three!

- is definitely drooling a lot more these days. i think in the teething mode!

- babbling a lot more these days. especially when he's on his changing table. all the good stories come out then!

- legs have grown long enough to fit in the exersaucer. yahoo!

- rolled over three times in a row one day from his tummy to his back

- can do a half-way roll from his back to his tummy

- celebrated his first st. patricks day

- can sit up almost on his own, he just needs a little support

- would much rather be standing than laying on his back

four months!

happy four month birthday little dude!!!



stats:

weight: 13 lbs 7 oz (23%) (increase of 2.4 lbs since two month visit)
height: 24 in (16%) (increase of 1.5 in since two month visit)
head circumference: 17.25 in (84%) (increase of 1.5 in since two month visit)

unfortunately (well i guess fortunately for graham), the little dude didn't get his 4 month vaccines today. dr. bill thought he sounded a little too wheezy for his liking. i went over everything we've been through (since we weren't able to see him for the bronchiolitis issues) and told him how the nebulizer seemed to work at the hospital, but all they sent us home with was the inhaler. so dr. bill wanted to try a nebulizer treatment in the office to see if it did help.

10 minutes later...yup, the nebulizer definitely helped. so we were sent home with our very own nebulizer and a months worth of albuterol! we'll have to give graham treatments three times a day until next tuesday when he goes in a for a follow-up, and hopefully his vaccines. daddy will have to go in for those alone!!

but let's change the topic and talk about all the milestones that have happened this month:

- outgrew size 1 diapers and are now in 1-2 diapers...soon making the transition to 2's!
- are mainly in 3-6 month clothes, although some of your 0-3 month sleepers and onesies still fit.
- sleeping through the night i'd say 50% of the time. you'll give me a good stretch of 8 hour nights...then it's back to up every 4 hours.
- wake-up call is usually betwen 5:15-6am.
- you have definitely found both your hands and your feet
- you have also found your thumb, and if you don't have your binkie, the thumb is usually in your mouth!
- you tolerate tummy time now. still not a huge fan, but more than you were.
- and even though you haven't rolled over yet during tummy time, you like to scoot yourself around in a circle, which is fun to watch.
- you smile as a reaction now!
- LOVE baths! they were very small too, but i think some splashing was being done during the last bath.
- you would much rather be sitting up or standing than laying on your back.
-you love to blow rasberries and are quite the little taker these days. you press your lips where it looks like you're trying to say 'boo' back to me.
- you are definitley a drooler now!! as the nurse put it...you are pre-teething!!


your firsts this month:

- mwrrrr, had your first visit to the ER
- watched your first superbowl!
- went to grammie's house

three months

happy three months little dude!!!




you're definitely starting to become your own little dude and we are having too much fun experiencing it with you.
here's what you've been up to this month:

- weight: 12 pounds (based on the doctors visit you had on 1/14)
still in size 1 diapers
- still wearing 0-3 month old clothes...although some of them are getting a little snug
- eyes are still a pretty grayish blue. we'll see if they stay that way soon enough!
- still not sure if your hair is blonde or strawberry blonde, but mommy would sure like it to be strawberry!
- you aren't completely sleeping through the night, but i can definitely get at least a 4 hour stretch each night...lately its been about 6.5 hours or so. luckily we have no problem putting you to sleep though. once you're fed for the night, lights out in cribland! :)
- you LOVE bathtime now! and you love getting your face wiped with the washcloth. we've even started letting the water that we pour on your head go down your face and you don't mind at all. hopefully this means you're going to be a fish like your cousins!
- not sure if you've exactly figured out that your hands are yours, but you definitely know how to put them in your mouth...all the time now!
- you've also figured out how to grab things. you like to hold onto your toys in your highchair.
- texture books are now your favorite types of books. you like to slap the pages and feel the different textures on each page.
- you are controlling all of your smiles now and react with smiles to lots of things now. like the words "agoo," "buggity buggity boo," "hi booger" or just if dad or i look at you and smile.
- you would be content laying on your changing pad for hours if we let you. something about it is very amusing for you!
- you can hold your head up on your own when we hold you. and you can move your head from side to side and hold it up for a little bit when you're on your tummy.
- you've started to 'jump.' where we hold you under your armpits, count to three and then lift you up and you stand on your own legs for a couple seconds.


and here are some of your firsts for this month:

- celebrated your first christmas
- celebrated your first new years
- went to daycare for the first time
- had our first weekend without daddy. we missed him A LOT that weekend!
- got your nails trimmed (not just filed) for the first time (and mommy didn't make you bleed at all. yeah!)
- went to your first party
- went to your second state, west virginia (first was north cackalackie)

two month stats

today graham had his two month well baby visit. thankfully grana and grampa stuck around this morning to lend some moral support for the visit since there were shots involved. he did such a great job though. he did cry when he got his vaccines, but i was able to soothe him and calm him down in an instant once the nurse was done and handed him to me (thank you mother nature!!).



well and i'm happy to report that my little dude is growing into a big dude!!!

weight - 11 pounds 3 ounces (29%) (increase of 2.6 pounds since one month visit)
height - 22.5 inches (24%) (increase of 2 inches since one month visit)
head circumference - 15.75 inches (42%) (increase of 0.75 inches since one month visit)

it looks like he might have a herniated umbilical cord, but it's nothing to worry about. once he starts walking his ab muscles should be able to pull everything together and he'll have his innie belly button back. he also might have a very small case of cradle cap, so we picked up some baby oil and are looking for a shampoo brush so we can start massaging his scalp with that at bathtime.

and just for future reference we found out three interesting remedies:

1 - malox! graham has a slight little cough that the doctor thinks might be a little bit of reflux and said to give him a teaspoon of malox after he eats if we wanted to. never would have thought of that!!
2- pedialyte or dark karo syrup! the little 'rasinet' looking pieces (that's what i think they look like) in his poop, combined with him straining to poop sometimes could be a sign of constipation. so a teaspoon of the karo syrup or 2 ounces of pedialyte once or twice a day should get rid of it!

who would have thunk it!! we're going to let him try to work things out naturally, but if anything gets any worse we might give one of these a try.

one month!

i can still hardly believe that graham is one month old today! it doesn't feel like it's been that long ago that we drove to the hospital at 7am, got induced at 8am and then had our little dude in our arms at 3pm!! it seems like it took forever (and a day) for 39 weeks to pass and now 4 short weeks have gone by in what seems like 1!

one month stats:

weight -8lbs 7oz (17%)

height -20.5 inches (15%)

head circumference -15 inches (48%)

one month milestones:

has a VERY strong neck and can hold his head up for a good while when laying on our chests

is a pretty chill dude most of the time. he only really fusses when he's wet, hungry or just wants to cuddle. love it!

has 'showered' mom multiple times!!

had one glorious night where he slept for 5 hours straight! (most of the time he sleeps for 3-4 hours at night)

went to the doctors for the first time for a non-well visit. i'm glad to say that his eye is doing MUCH better now!
has a little case of baby acne. mwrrrrr. hopefully it will go away soon though.

has started to focus on and track objects

enjoyed most of the last bath we gave him. he especially liked the lotion bit at the end!

watched his first redskins game with mom and dad

celebrated his first holiday....halloween!!! and he was the cutest little sweet pea on the block!

went out to dinner for the first time with the clay's and murray's
has been to the outlet mall and the regular mall

had his first skype call with grana's kinder class

one month likes:

the morning (he must take after his mom)

cuddling on either mom or dad's chest

being swaddled

his swing
being read to

looking at mojo

going for walks (he falls asleep instantly)