Walker-8 months

Y'all, my baby boy is EIGHT months old!



SLAYS me I tell ya!

Gray/Walker

 

He and his brother are keeping me busy as ever, which is why I haven't written in a month. Like I predicted in his seven month post, we've got a fully mobile baby. He is crawling everywhere and getting into everything. We've put up a baby gate so he can't fall down the stairs and thanks to Pinterest we found a way to baby-proof our huge brick fireplace. Other than that we don't plan to do much baby-proofing. Once making the house safe we try to teach "no touch", or at least we did with Gray. So we'll see how that goes ;)

Eating habits-Walker is back to nursing well (about 5-6 times a day) but not taking more than an ounce or so from a bottle, if even that. He is still loving his stage 2 and 3 baby foods and we are trying to introduce table foods now too. He loves "real" bananas and sweet potatoes. He continues to put away Puffs and teething crackers, except for the past few days when his teething has been at its worst.

Sleeping habits-I try to always be home for Walker to take at least one good long nap in his crib. He completely fights sleep at church or the Y but will dose in the car some. If we happen to be home all day he takes at least two good naps and sometimes still three. He goes down between 7:00-7:30 every night. He has not been sleeping well at night and is up anywhere from one to three times. I will only nurse him once during the night and unless we know he is in pain from his teeth, he has to cry it out. As soon as he gets a break from teething he is going to have to cry it out completely because I really don't think he is hungry at this point. And Mama is TIRED!!!

Milestones/New Discoveries-He started crawling a couple weeks ago which is almost a month sooner than Gray did. He is pulling up on his knees and will be cruising around things in no time I'm afraid. He had two top teeth break through a week or so ago, two more top ones two nights ago and he has two more bottom teeth coming through too which will make EIGHT total. He seems to be following in the exact footsteps of his big brother in the teeth department (Gray had 16 teeth when he was just 14 months!!). One of my favorite baby milestones/discoveries of all time is clapping! Walker started clapping a week or so ago but he takes his left hand and "claps" it against his stomach or chest. It is the cutest thing and I nearly die every time he does it. The past few days he has started clapping his left hand to his other hand but only moving the left one, instead of clapping both of them together. If we say "clap, clap Walker" or start singing, he pretty much performs on cue. He waved bye-bye a few times early in the month but hasn't done it since.

Practicing his clapping and actually using both hands a little here

Walker was a tired, fussy, teething hot mess last night at church (Gray goes to Awana on Wednesday nights. Paul usually stays home with Walker so I can have some "me" time but we had to meet with some people about something last night). After fighting it for a long time he finally fell asleep and I got to enjoy this slice of heaven for about a half hour. Thanks to my friend Laura for capturing the moment. I sure wish this wasn't so rare anymore but we've got a busy, "I want my bed" baby.

Temperament/Mood-A little less content lately even though he is crawling. He has had some really rough days and nights since he's had like 37 teeth coming in. Other than that he is a pretty happy guy. He still seems to have a lot less animated and more chill personality than big brother.

Likes-crawling, pulling up, chasing Sophie, watching big brother, when Daddy throws him up in the air, being tickled

Dislikes-Teething (duh!), getting in his car seat (fine once in the car, thankfully), having something taken away from him, when Mommy leaves the room, getting his diaper changed (I DREAD every diaper change and feel like I've just been in a wrestling match every time we're done), "real" strawberries

Between teething and a nasty, mean stomach virus last week I'm not too hopeful Walker has made much progress in the weight department but we will have official measurements at his 9 month check-up.

Walker-7 months

With my blogging record lately it should come as no surprise that I am almost a week and a half over due on baby boy's seven month post. Better late than never, right?



I'll never be able to get enough of this face.

I don't think anyone would question that they are brothers but I didn't really think they looked too much alike in this picture.

Walker went for a weight check yesterday (he was weighed a month ago and had actually lost a little) and weighed 17 pounds, 9 ounces. He has gained almost a pound in the last month and I'll take it!

He wears size 9 month clothes and is still in size 2 diapers.

Eating habits-He is back to being pretty hard to nurse and take bottles. I consider it a miracle that I am still making any milk and every month I feel so thankful that I am. I'd be thrilled to be able to nurse him through the winter. On the other hand, Walker is a champ at eating solids. I still feed him quite a bit of oatmeal mixed with breast milk since he doesn't nurse well but he also eats stage two solids and will pretty much eat anything. We've also started Puffs and he can't get enough. At his six month appointment his pediatrician said I could start adding a scoop of formula to his oatmeal and  pumped bottles to add some extra calories. So I've been doing that for about a month and I think it's definitely helped him gain some weight.

Sleeping habits-Walker is such a sleepy head! He is yawning and rubbing his eyes within an hour of waking up no matter how long he has slept. He still takes three naps a day (usually 1.5-2 hours each) and most nights sleeps at least 9-10 consecutive hours. The past few nights he has slept 11-12 hours, though I guess that technically needs to go in his next month's post since I am over a week late writing this. He fights sleep if he is not in his bed or in the car but isn't nearly as fussy about being tired as he used to be. He is getting to be a lot more flexible-thank you Lord!

Milestones/New Discoveries-I expect more teeth anytime since we've had some rough days with teething here and there. He is really starting to express his likes and dislikes. He is also starting to make a lot more sounds and says "mamamama", though of course he doesn't associate that with me yet. He isn't crawling quite yet but is rolling everywhere, rocking back and forth in push up position and can almost sit himself up from a laying down position like so...

This will go down in history as one of my most favorite Walker pictures ever!!

Temperament/Mood-Walker man is a pretty happy, chill baby these days...at least compared to how he started out! It's easy to make him smile and he is getting better at going with the flow. I just love how he smiles with his mouth closed most of the time-sooooo presh! Daddy jokes about him being "a tough crowd" because he isn't laughing much yet. He gives us a really short little chuckle when he's being tickled but that's about it for now. By five months Gray was straight up belly laughing but I think Walker is just a lot more chill. We joke but love to see how different our boys already seem to be. He just has the sweetest little chubby face and smile though and he has me completely wrapped around his little fingers!

Likes-rolling around, being on his tummy and pushing up, watching Gray, Sophie (our dog, not the giraffe, though he loves that too), sucking his thumb, his mobile, being read to, music, toys that light up and make noise, his jumper

Dislikes-When I take something away from him or when he can't get to something he wants, green beans, trying to rock him to sleep...major sniffle over that one-homeboy wants his bed and only his bed :(

I have a feeling we're going to have a very busy and mobile baby by next month's post!

2.5

Dear Gray Christopher,

Oh my sweet, sweet boy! Today you are two and a half years old (well it was today, and then this stayed in my drafts for almost month-you keep me busy, what can I say?!). I won't bother going on and on about how you were just born yesterday. I really can't even begin to describe the joy you have brought us over the past two and a half years. You make my heart so full and every day I thank God for allowing me to be your Mama.

You have such a big heart buddy! Of course Daddy and I always thought so but from a very early age people commented on how unique and special you were. There is just something so sweet about your spirit and we know that comes from God. You willingly ask to pray for people at night and your prayers are so sweet they bring tears to my eyes. You make me want to be a better person. You keep me humble-constantly reminding me of God's grace and love and how I can't do this whole parenting thing without His help. Often you are the one reminding me to say our blessing before meals. Just the other day you saw Rose's (a girl in Kenya that we sponsor through Compassion International) picture and said "We need to pray for Rose, Mommy!" We were in the car last week when an ambulance drove by and you said, "Let's pray for them Mommy." I could go on and on for hours about the sweet, sweet boy that you are. I pray every day you stay that way, my precious boy.

Though you have such a sweet spirit and big heart, you are also extremely strong willed. Daddy and I pray daily that God will use that to make you a positive leader. But for now, it sure keeps us on our toes. You really are a good little boy though. You obey and use good manners most of the time and when you disobey, usually your little heart is sad because of it. The other day after I had given you a spanking, I told you it hurt my heart when you were ugly to me and you said, "No Mommy, it hurts MY heart!"

You make my heart want to explode when you say to me out of nowhere, "Mommy's my girl!", or "I love you Mommy.", or "Will you dance with me mommy?" or "You're so pretty Mommy!"

You love tractors and have since you were a baby. You can name any and every kind and love playing with them and seeing construction sites. You also love trains. For your second birthday we took you to the Transportation Museum and you rode on your first real train. You got a train table for Christmas and have already spent hours playing with it. I already wonder what you'll be when you grow up.

You are a Daddy's boy! He is your most favorite person on this earth and there is no question as to why. He really is the best. You want Mommy if you are hurt, but other than that if Daddy is around Mommy is only good for snacks and band-aids.

You are a good big brother. Most of the time anyway. You were very patient when Walker was such a fussy baby. You'd bring him a paci or a toy and say "It's ok Walker man!" when he would cry. You also sing "Hush little baby" to him almost every time he gets upset. The other day Walker was in his jumper and started to get upset and you ran up to him and said, "It's ok Walker, I'm here. I'm here buddy!" Walker adores you! Every time he sees you his whole face lights up and he gives you the biggest grin. He loves to watch your every move. He already wants to be your best friend and I pray so hard that y'all will be just that.

You are so, so smart! You can say your ABCs and can count to thirteen consistently and twenty most days. You can also spell your name and you love to ask us what letter different words start with. You have an incredible memory and are very well spoken for your age. We love your sweet voice and the way you talk. There are very few things you say that we can't understand and few things that you don't pronounce the right way and I have to say I think it's so cute! One of my favorites is "bevy", which is what you say for both "very" and 'really". You and Daddy read Bible stories every night and your favorite stories to hear are 'the mean king", "Moses in a basket", and "Jesus heals the little girl". You can pretty much say the entire Lord's prayer because you've said it with Daddy every night since you were a baby. You also have an incredible memory; you don't forget anything and you will bring things up that happened six months ago. You love to ask questions-especially "WHY?, WHY?, WHY?" You love to read and your favorite books are tractor books, Curious George, Clifford and your children's Bible.

You are a very good eater. I can count on my hands the number of things you don't like. There's no doubting who your Mama and Daddy are when it comes to eating-you get it honest!

You are fearless! I really can't think of one thing you have ever been afraid of and you are also very tough. I'm afraid you'll have a broken bone one day and I won't even know it because you'll just keep right on playing. However, you do love for Mommy to kiss your boo-boos and I LOVE how you really think it makes it them all better.

You are really tall and most people think you are three years old, which I don't really love to hear because although I love your age, I don't want you growing up any faster than you already are. You wear size 3 clothes (some of which are too short for you already) and size 7 or 8 shoes. You are starting to want to dress yourself and Mommy tries to choose battles with you wisely. The other day you had on a nice shirt with some sweat pants and your camouflage boots. It also happened to be a rare time that we went out to eat. You may have gotten a few looks.

I could go on for hours and hours. You make me so happy, so proud and just so thankful! I'm afraid that until you have your own children one day you won't be able to grasp how much I love you. But I promise you this my sweet boy, I'll spend every moment of every day trying.

With all my heart,
Mommy

The best of 2014

January

We had just found out on Christmas Eve that baby number two was a boy. We picked a name and I started feeling those amazing kicks every day. I went to Kenya for the fourth time and got to experience it with my best friend (Paul's first time). We rang in the new year with the most precious, grateful people.

February

We enjoyed a huge snowstorm which meant lots of days off with Daddy. We went sledding and ate way more snow cream than we ever should have.



Celebrating Valentine's Day in the snow

 

 

March
Paul surprised me with a two night babymoon at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.

 

April

We celebrated Easter by worshipping our Risen Savior, Gray went to his first Dash game and my brother took a few Easter/maternity pictures. Daddy also finished building Gray's big boy bed and he made the transition like a champ. Mama was getting bigger by the minute and we were all so excited to meet baby Walker.

 

 

May

This was quite the month of celebrations-Mother's Day, Daddy's 34th birthday and then we welcomed our second son into our family and watched Gray become a big brother. And also, this was the month my heart nearly exploded.



June

Another crazy month...adjusting to life as a family of four, my 33rd birthday, Gray turned TWO, Father's Day and we celebrated five truly wonderful years of marriage.

July

We went to the beach with my family. This was Walker's first beach trip and although he had been extremely fussy for weeks leading up to our trip, he was pretty content during our vacation. This was the first year Gray seemed old enough to really take in the beach and he had SO much fun!

 

August

After what seemed like waiting forever, we finally bought our first "real" home together. We were so excited to have more space, a big yard and a place that would feel like home and one we knew we would raise our family in.
 

September
This might go down in history as the hardest month of my life. And I am fully aware that the reasons for that mean I am so incredibly blessed. But it was still hard. Walker screamed pretty much every minute he was awake, Gray was acting every bit of a two year old boy and Paul was pretty much never home because of soccer and meanwhile we moved into our new house. Shall we skip to October?

October
Our sweet Walker finally started feeling better after a long first few months of pain, discomfort and alot of screaming. The boys and I snuck in a few soccer games and we "celebrated" Halloween with the cutest Olaf and pumpkin you ever did see.

 

November

Paul's soccer team won the 4-A State Championship!!! We celebrated Thanksgiving with Paul's extended family in Boone and then later that weekend we hosted Thanksgiving at our new house for my family.

 

 

December

We got to experience our first Christmas as a family of four. And though we do a very scaled down version of Santa, it was still so magical and exciting through the eyes of a two and a half year old. After Christmas we spent five nights in Williamsburg with Nanny, Papa, Uncle Jon and Aunt Laura. It was the first time in well over a year that we'd all been together and we had such a sweet time. Sorry but I'm not sorry for the major picture overload here...

I am very humbled by all of the blessings God has so generously poured out on our family. 2014 will be hard to top but we are excited to see what the He has in store for us in 2015!