12 Month Letter

Dear Gregory,

A huge part of Mommy feels at a complete loss for words. Her baby boy, becoming not-so-baby by growing up on her and turning a year old! How can this be happening? It feels eery and surreal.

To say that this last year has been the best year of Mommy’s life is an understatement. You bring Mommy and Daddy more joy than anything else in our lives. You add balance and completion. Before you, we always felt like something, someone, was missing. You have done more than “fill” that hole, you have enlarged us, grown us into new and better people. You are a miracle, not just because of your life, but because of what you’ve done to ours! It’s been amazing to watch such a tiny person make such a huge impact.

Over the past year, there have been so many things I’ve grown to love about your character. You are filled with such a passionate zest for life. You don’t just let things happen, you make them happen. If you want the dog to play with you, you chase and “beat” her with stuffed toys. If you want an object, you don’t stop trying until you get it. Today at lunch, you didn’t just eat the corn on the cob, you grabbed it with both hands and DUG IN ferociously with your teeth. I think this sums up your personality well.

This passion also shows itself when you are happy. If someone comes home, you don’t just smile, you throw your hands up, shout, “HII!” and giggle with the biggest grin on your face. Every time. As though you can’t contain all the happiness inside! If someone comes up and laughs nearby, you can’t help but join in, usually out-doing them in volume. You are hardly every cranky or morose–when you are, it’s almost always easily explainable.

You are also very smart. You can color with crayons, you can sort toys and leaves and you already have a small vocabulary of words. You can match with singing any note that you are hearing, and when you flip through books you babble away, just like you’re Mommy or Daddy reading to you. Today at church, you even grabbed a songbook and pretended to read from it (LOUDLY, I might add!).

You love animals. This could get you into trouble in the future, because you are so fearless. Not every doggie is as kind as Claire, however, so there is some definite training in the future for you. You make a high pitched whiny sound whenever you see a cat or dog (imitating Claire’s bark), and can’t wait to get closer for a better look.

Physically, you are still very small– just shy of 18 pounds. You have a big belly, skinny arms, and nearly-stocky little legs. Your feet and head are actually what’s big for your age– none of your 12 month hats fit, and you already wear a Size 3 or 4 in baby shoes!

Your “Dadda” has become your favorite person on the planet. When we drop lunch off to Daddy at work, it’s “Dadda”-this, and “Dadda”-that the whole way home and for at least an hour afterwards. When Mommy feeds you a bottle in the morning, you take a while to get over your “sleepy crankies”, but when Daddy’s there, you are belly laughing and playing peekaboo and wrestling him immediately.

You still don’t like walking very much, although you can take several steps at a time. You had a couple falls that scared you, Mommy thinks. But you will walk someday when you all of a sudden decide you want to– when you put your mind to it, nothing gets in the way. That’s always been the kind of kid you are.

You always seem to find yourself in precarious situations! Mommy and Daddy joke that your favorite game is “Sandwich Head”, where you get your head lodged in between two pieces of furniture and HOWL until we come and pull you out. You have found a way to climb into the most awkward positions and spaces, underneath tables, through chairs, under the sofa (sigh…yes).

You are such a GREAT sleeper. Seriously, it’s the single greatest gift you’ve given Mommy on a logistical day-to-day basis. 12-13 hour stretches every night (I can’t even remember the last time you woke up prematurely!), and 4 hours of napping by day. Once or twice a week, you even sleep in until 9am (bless you child, BLESS YOU)!!! And it takes us no more than a few seconds to lay you down to sleep– you just grab your blankie, suck on your pacifier, and roll over.

You’ve made huge dietary strides. Today at lunch, you drank 10 oz. of normal milk– no formula needed! You eat anything we are eating, so we hardly need to carry baby food around anymore (and you don’t really like the watery texture very much anyways). We have to be careful though– the last few times we’ve let you eat bread on your own, you’ve found a way to immediately stuff the entire piece in your mouth at once, resulting in choking episodes. NOT COOL. We are now careful to only leave a few pieces of something on your tray at a time to keep you from over-filling your mouth (if we leave too many, you find a way to gather them all in your palm and shove it all in at the same time!). Again, it’s that zest for life, affecting even how you eat your food. You can’t wait to get it all in there! We sometimes call them “Cheerio Grenades”.

Something that Mommy really wants to let you know (in case you ever wonder!), is that you have never been a duty. You aren’t holding her back from a career, getting in the way of her chores, or cramping her social life. You are a joy, someone that Mommy is privileged to spend her days with. She wouldn’t have it any other way– she feels so blessed to get to stay home and play with you. At night, after you’ve gone to bed, she can’t help but think through all the fun times you both had together throughout the day, all the cute smiles and looks, all the crazy antics you got yourself into. In other words, even though you’ve only been asleep for a few hours, Mommy already misses you, every night, without fail. Please, don’t ever ask Mommy if she resents having to be a “stay at home” mom. You already have your answer.

Mommy may have lost her temper here and there throughout this year, as you broke something special, clawed her face, or had a huge poop explosion all over,  but it was always her lack of patience, her shortcoming. You have been a GREAT baby, even what most would call “easy”, by most counts. You have only been sick one time with a chest cold. One time, in an entire year!!! That’s amazing! You are easy to please, you play independently for over an hour (especially with grandma’s kitchen, just waiting to be torn up!) and you are so so so loving.

And that, little Gregory, is what makes Mommy happier than anything. It’s not just that we love you– it’s that you clearly love us in return. From your sweet baby kisses and hugs, to your sighs of contentment when we rock you, to the huge greetings you give us when we walk through the door, you have made it clear that you know how to love, and that you do it effortlessly.

And we will NEVER stop loving you,

Mommy

Whew!

G’s Book of Letters is all done! Well, except for Month 12…still waiting to write that one.

Also, there will be a few extra pages at the back, composed of letters from his relatives and godparents. And a birthday party sign-in page, so he’ll always know who came to his first party 🙂 If it ever matters! 😉

But we have a busy rest of the week ahead of us! I have more decorations to make for the party along with all the food (my mom works all weekend and can’t help! ah!). Jesse’s job on Saturday is to mow the lawn and sweep off the porch. We also have a school carnival taking place on Saturday, not to mention G’s photo shoot!

We’ll make it through, somehow!

 

Preview

I haven’t finished much, but you can see at least the first month of the “Letters to G” Memory Book.

Originally, I was just going to put all the letters in a binder. Then, I decided that if I could find a scrapbook cheap enough (thanks, Ross! $3.99!), I’d make it a bit fancier! Not too fancy, because I want the focus to be on the words.

When it’s all done, it will not only contain all the letters I’ve written for G this past year, but also letters from special people in his life. I’m even going to have a “1st Bday” page, where guests at the party can sign their names!

Don't judge-- I haven't scrapbooked since I was in junior high!

11 Month Letter

Dear Lil G,

This was a big month for you! Not only are you now walking (just a step here and there!), but you also say 4 words: “Hi”, “Done”, “Dadda”, and “Doggie”. You say a version of “Mama”, but it kinda goes on for a while, like, “Mamamamamamama” and transitions to “Nanananananana”, showing that it’s more of an expression, less of a name for me 😦 That’s okay, I can wait. But not too much longer, k?

Your other tricks:

* Whenever you’re excited, you raise both arms high in the air and squeal with glee!

* You clap whenever someone says, “Yay!”

* You wave hi and bye on command.

* You kick a ball.

* When we ask where the doggie is, you give a high whine/bark, right on cue!

* You eat whole pears, all by yourself!

A quick in-action shot of you walking!

More walking!

Also, as far as big news goes, you just found out you’re going to be a big brother! In just 7 more months, we will be training your new playmate/best friend.

Unfortunately, you’ve also had to learn to “share”. Ever since mommy got pregnant, there hasn’t been much milk for you to drink. We transitioned you onto formula two weeks ago, and it’s been going well. Mommy always snuggles with you as you drink your bottle, just because she misses those nursing times with you 🙂

You are gaining weight like a champ! This is probably due to the fact that you eat more than some adults. You frequently eat an entire banana, half an avocado and 2 pieces of bread, just as a snack! You eat anything off of our plates– from “Joe’s Mess” (eggs, taco chips, salsa), to marinara ziti pasta, to rice and beans at a Mexican restaurant. You’ve also begun drinking juice (only organic, 100% juice with no sugar, watered down considerably…). Anyways, you are growing fast. Even though your arms are still skinny, you have much chunkier legs and the BIGGEST Buddha Belly! Most of your clothes are now in the 6-9, 9-12 month range.

Eating cheerios

You’ve given Mommy and Grandma quite a few scares this last month. The first was when you stuffed 3-4 huge pieces of banana in your mouth, all at once. Grandma had to quickly pull you out of the highchair and do the baby-Heimlich! Another was when Mommy went away for just seconds and came back to find you, the little Houdini, standing up, turned around in your high chair! The last was when you went out of Mommy’s sight around the corner from the table and started playing with a cord plugged into the wall (all the open outlets are blocked up, but this one had the tv cord in it). A few seconds later, Mommy heard your scared cry, and knew exactly what had happened– you had shocked yourself by touching one of the prongs, while it was still plugged in! Silly boy! Silly Mommy!

Your favorite toys: books of all sorts, all the dishes in Grandma’s cupboards (you have a set exploration routine, destroying each cabinet in the same order each time!), your push-walker, anything that you like to use as a walker (ie. a dining room chair!), your Dodgers baseball bat (which you hit Daddy with as he’s changing you into your pjs!), leaves in the yard, cups that you can stack.

With Grandpa at the park

You’re developing quite the little relationship with all of your grandparents. Grandpa Cone makes you stare in amazement at his funny faces and expressions. Grandma Cone sings with you every week when she comes to babysit (you totally sing along, every time!). Grandpa Honeycutt takes you on “nature hikes” in the evening. Grandma Honeycutt takes you on walks around the neighborhood in your stroller and often feeds you your lunch. You also are becoming quite familiar with all 4 of your aunts who live nearby!

Mommy just can’t get over how cute you are. You have HUGE blue eyes that everyone comments on. Your blondish/red hair has turned into curls in the back and around your ears. You still have super long and dexterous fingers. Your cheeks are definitely getting pudgier, and you still have your cute little dimple.

Bath time!

Your sleeping schedule has not changed a bit– still two 2-hour naps a day (one at 9am, one at 1pm), still asleep by 7:30pm, sleeping all the way until at least 7am. Some days, you go without one of your naps, but we can tell that you needed it because you get cranky!

This is your sweet lil tired face...:)

But you just have the cutest, most compliant way about falling asleep. We lay you down, sometimes without even your pacifier. You grab your blankie, pull it to your cheek for comfort, and roll over on your side. Done and asleep within minutes! You rarely ever wake up in the middle of the night. When we do come in to get you in the morning, you are standing at attention, shaking the crib rail as if you’re trying to break it down! We also occasionally find your pacifier thrown across the room.

No matter how many years pass, no matter how many brother and sisters you get, you will always be Mommy and Daddy’s first “BabyLove”– our first little miracle.

We love you so!!

Love, Mommy

10 Month Letter

My sweet little boy,

You are now in the double digits! 10 months old! As your grandma and mommy started making plans for your first birthday party, it felt a bit surreal. How can you already be so close to a year? Yesterday, Mommy’s automatic facebook alerts told her that at this time last year, she was getting her 30 week ultrasound– even though she’d already had two, she just had to see you one more time. She was so impatient to meet you.

That’s how she still feels, every time you wake up from a nap. She always comes in and says, “Hi!! I missed you, sleepyhead!” so that you’ll never doubt for ONE MINUTE how much she couldn’t live without you.

The dog and her boy

And it’s hard to ever think of a time when you weren’t a part of our lives. 10 months is a long time, but every month goes by a bit faster, which is scary. Mommy feels like the main thing that’s changed this month is the way in which you interact with others. You are keenly aware of anyone in the room and always want to be part of the action. If you hear someone laughing, you start to laugh along, even if you have no idea what it’s about. That’s actually one of the ways Mommy and Daddy can get you to laugh– we just come up to your face and say, “haHA!” and you scrunch up your nose and giggle. It’s the sweetest thing.

You love to play games, even initiating them yourself. Just yesterday morning, you were standing next to Mommy’s chair, and all of a sudden you were using the edge of the tablecloth to play Peekaboo! It made you so happy to be able to do it over and over again and still get the same reaction from Mommy. The day before that, you went up to Grandma and stuck your finger through the hole in her clogs. When she gave a little pretend yelp, you thought it was the greatest and did it over and over again!

You also make it very clear when you’re happy to see someone. When you woke up this morning and saw Daddy for this first time in days (he was driving your baby diapers and toys across the country from Dallas!) you were ecstatic. Beaming with glee, climbing all over him while giggling, even trying to talk a few times. You had eyes for no one but him.

You still love Clarabelle– a ton! You have figured out that if you hold onto her dog toy, she will “wrestle” with you. This game goes on for over half an hour at times, as you giggle hysterically. Whenever you see a pet of any sort, you make this high pitched babbling noise that sounds kind of like a meow, kind of like a doggie whine.

You LOVE the pool!

You still eat a TON. An example from your dinner last night: you ate one scrambled egg mixed with a bit of salsa and two huge jars of baby food! Not to mention all the scraps you begged from everyone’s spaghetti a little later in the evening. We have not yet found a food that you won’t eat. Luckily, it doesn’t matter how much solid food you eat– you never turn down a nursing opportunity. Hopefully, Mommy can keep her milk supply up, long enough to at least take you through the next 8 weeks to your birthday!

You love eating lemons!

We discovered the “snack cup” this past month, and it has been such an easy way to keep you entertained. That’s the thing– when it comes to food, you are verrrry predictable. Mommy knows that if the cup is filled with “puffs”, you will stay put, hand in the cup, until the entire thing is gone. Even after the last piece, you keep your hand inside the lid, crawling around with the makeshift hoof on!

You are very mobile, pulling up on anything and everything, and have even figured out how to climb a few things! No walking yet, even though you push around your walker toy with gusto. We’ve even caught you standing without support a few times, but the moment you realize it you sit down.

Instead of going down to one long nap, you’ve now stretched things back out into 3 naps/day. Perhaps this could be from a few of the late nights we’ve had due to goodbye parties and moving. You wake up at 7:45am, have a nap at 9am, nap at 1pm, and a short nap at 4pm. And then it’s back to bed at 7:30pm! Sleeping the night away!

Falling asleep on Grandpa

One BIG thing Mommy forgot to mention– you no longer live in Dallas. It will always be your birthplace, but Mommy and Daddy decided that seeing your grandparents only once or twice a year was just not enough. We want you to have a relationship with all four of them– something that could only happen if we moved back to California. So far, you seem to be adapting quite well– it’s very hard for you to turn down lots of attention 😉 Not to mention, you are going to have two new large houses to explore/destroy! Your grandparents better be ready!!!

Discovering drawers in Grandma's kitchen

We are loving the little boy you are becoming, and we are very blessed to have a baby as easy as you. You have your “moments”, but for the most part we know how to please you and how to keep things going smoothly. You are a very adaptable baby, which showed itself while we were moving. I don’t think you went to bed at a normal time even ONCE for the last 2 weeks, and yet you somehow managed to be a good boy while Mommy packed. You ran errands in the car all day without complaint, and you let anyone and everyone hold you as they said their goodbyes.

You are still, by far, the most important thing Mommy and Daddy have in life, and we promise to put your first, whenever possible. We love you so much that it’s a part of who we are.

Love, Mommy

9 Month Letter

Lil Buddy,

Two days ago, you turned 9 months old. A whole 9 months! That’s almost as long as it took for you to grow in Mommy’s tummy!

9 Months before you were born

9 Months later at your two week old photo shoot

9 Months old!

Playing: You pick up new skills right and left now. The first day you were home on vacation in CA, you tried out one of the walkers Grandma bought you. You stood holding it just fine, but as soon as it moved you fell flat on your face. Just a few days later, however, you had figured out how to push it and walk behind, cruising all over the living room!

You crawl like a pro now, alternating between the “army” crawl and the traditional hands and knees. You know how to push yourself up to a standing position from the floor, using just your leg muscles! Once up, however, you look for something to hold onto for support.

You love love love to climb. Mommy had you next to her on the couch one morning, and before she knew it you had climbed over the back of the couch, onto the bookshelves beneath.

You are an absolute wiggle worm. Anyone who holds you testifies to this– you’re sometimes very hard to hang onto! Always wanting to explore.Your signature move is the rocking back and forth of your whole body, eyes fixed on whatever it is that caught your attention.

Eating cutlery at Grandma's house

Peekaboo games are all the rage now. We can get you to laugh and squeal for nearly an hour, using the same games. While camping, you had a crowd of over 10 of your aunts and uncles captivated as Daddy snuck up to you, over and over. Your shrieks of anticipation were hysterical.

You also love love love to swim in the pool (but only in the warm Texas pool water…baby steps…). Mommy has never known of a baby who loves to be dunked, yet you do. Sure, you are surprised and sputtering– for about 2 seconds. Then, it’s all giggles. You actually try to dunk yourself while sitting in your baby flotation seat, which looks more like you trying to drink the water through your nose. When we hold you tummy down in the water, you immediately kick and try to put your face in the water.

Talking: I’m pretty sure your first word was “hi”, although it is more of a gleeful sigh. When someone comes up to you and says it first, you have started responding with, “Haaa–iii!”, using the same intonation as the person speaking, smiling the whole way. You take a different consonant each day and play with it until the cows come home. If it’s a “B”, you spend the whole day saying, “Babababababa-booboobooboo- beebeebee…” If you’re angry or upset, the letter you almost always use is “M”. I think you’re starting to associate that with Mommy, since you only use it when you want something! You’ve also taken to saying, “Daaa-daaa-daa!” whenever Claire is nearby. It wouldn’t surprise Mommy and Daddy one bit if your first consistent word was “Dog”, since you absolutely love them and can’t get enough!

Lovin' on Aunt Brooke's dog, Eloise

Singing/Reading: If someone is singing to you, it’s a given that you sing back. No question. You also like to sing whenever the radio is on in the car.

Mommy still reads you a few books each day, and you seem to like it more now. Your attention span is only a few minutes, but you love to be read to, especially if you can slap your hands on the book’s pages while Mommy is reading.

Eating: You still nurse 5-7 times a day, but you are eating larger quantities of solids. You get 3 jars of fruits or veggies per day, along with a few tablespoons of oatmeal.

What we already love about you is your willingness to eat/try ANYTHING. Within the last month, you’ve tried and liked: peppercinis, black beans, pinto beans, rice, quinoea, chunks of banana, “finger” slices of bread, lemon, mustard…basically, anything Mommy’s having, she’ll give you a little bit of. You are good at grabbing little bits of food from your tray and placing them directly in your mouth. Mommy always thought that you would choke if you were given such solid food, but you’ve adapted quite easily. Cheerios are your favorite snack food– you eat handfuls at a time! Also, you now have two bottom teeth, fully emerged and ready to chew. This has made breastfeeding you…not so fun at times!

Sleeping: Vacations aside (you don’t do well when your schedule is messed up!), you now are a WONDERFUL sleeper. 7pm-7am at night, a 1.5 hour nap at 9am, and a 2 hour nap at 1pm, plus sometimes a tiny half hour nap at 5pm. You always sleep with your blankie, white noise and a pacifier. You move all around your crib as you sleep– everytime Mommy comes in, she finds you facing a different way, on your back, on your tummy, rolled up next to the side, etc.

Our Favorites: Your strawberry blond hair is getting long enough in the back that you are developing some seriously cute little curls! They stick out every which way after you’ve been sleeping, which is totally adorable. Also, your BIG BLUE eyes are the cutest thing ever. You get comments day and in and out about how pretty they are. In fact, you pretty much get tons of attention,wherever you go. Just last week, Mommy and Grandma were eating lunch at Panera Bread. You had at least 5 strangers at other tables, watching your every move with smiles. On one of our plane rides, two boys across the aisle couldn’t stop talking about every little thing you did. Universally speaking, people everywhere think you are ridiculously cute. Mommy thinks it’s because your smile lights up your whole face.

The Cone clan

Also, you got to visit your entire family this month, including your Uncle Keith who had never met you! You got tons of love and attention. It didn’t matter whether you were screaming or giggling, you had someone there to dote on you.

With Uncle Keith

With Uncle David

One thing’s for sure, lil Buddy: you’ll never lack people who love you dearly.

Love, Mommy

8 Month Letter

Dear Love-Bug (your newest nickname),

Whew! This month has been full of changes, that’s for sure!

your cute face and your reddish hair

Sleep: You have changed the most in this area of your little life (Mommy’s a fan, no doubt about it!). For the past 3 weeks, you’ve consistently slept 7pm-7am STRAIGHT. You’ve only woken to nurse a handful of times, and even then you fall right back asleep once you’re done.

And your naps are consistent as well! Mommy never thought she’d see the day. You nap at 9am and then again at 1pm. Mommy nurses you, swaddles you, sets you in the crib with your white noising blaring, and walks away. You hardly ever cry– usually, you’re asleep within minutes.

Yes, you’ve definitely turned a corner. The “sleepless wonder” has finally seen the light.

Food: You are a pro at nursing– usually, you can finish in under 7 minutes! Mommy notices just how long and tedious it is when she has to pump artificially using her machine, because you are so much better at it! Since Mommy has been on a mission to put weight on you, you “nurse on demand” instead of on a schedule. Usually, this means before nap, after nap, repeat, and then every 1-2 hours in the afternoon/early evening, especially since it’s been so hot and you’re often just thirsty. When Daddy feeds you a bottle of stored milk for dinner (so that Mommy can teach piano lessons), you always down 4-5 ounces.

waiting *not so* patiently for your breakfast

And then there are the solids. You eat 3 large meals a day, consisting first of a fruit or veggie and then 4 tbps. of oatmeal mixed with breastmilk. Mommy pumps an extra bottle every evening so that she can add 1-2 oz. of milk to each of your meals. It may not seem like much, but that’s an extra feeding a day, when all is said and done!

And the extra food is really starting to show. While you wouldn’t be considered “chunky”, especially when compared with other babies, you have definite bulk, with at least a few rolls around your wrists and thighs (although your tummy has stayed surprisingly firm!).

Speaking of firm, your poop is FINALLY starting to solidify. Mommy loves being able to just “shake” your diaper over the toilet before adding it to the dirty diaper laundry. You no longer get constipated (it was really touch and go there, whenever we fed you anything other than prunes!).

rice cakes!

Your favorite foods are bananas and peaches. You tolerate green beans, carrots and avocado. You do NOT like lima beans. You detest anything with meat (we only tried the once!). Mommy gives you organic rice puffs after some meals, just to give you some practice using your “pincer grasp”. You also drink a small amount of water each day from your sippy cup.

Play: You are now sooo much fun to spend time with. Mommy and Daddy were just talking about how much we look forward to each day with you. Your favorite time of day is right after breakfast, at around 8am. You have so much energy, it’s incredible!

standing on the furniture

Although you hated it back in May, you now love playing in the pool with Mommy and Daddy. You sit in your floaty toy with a sun shade and just chatter away, usually as someone is floating you around. You even allow yourself to be dunked, all without protest! Whenever we hold you in the water, you immediately go into “swimming position” and start to kick (although you’re always kicking, so this isn’t such a big deal).

2 of your favorite toys

ALL boy

You have many favorite toys. Mommy keeps them all in a soft bucket in the living room, and every morning you have fun dumping them all out. Hopefully, someday soon, you will also learn how to put them back in 😉

Personality: You are so determined. You go after the same object over and over again, no matter how out of reach. You are tenacious in a way that definitely scares Mommy. You know how you like things, and don’t want to settle for anything less. You are often too “busy” exploring to notice Mommy, but when you do interact, you are so full of joy and love. You love to discover. You love to be comforted when your discoveries encounter gravity.

Mommy was blowing soap bubbles, and you couldn't get enough!

Milestones: Your crawl has taken shape, even though you slightly favor one knee when pushing forward and around. You can turn on a dime and are gaining speed on a daily basis. You stand on the furniture unsupervised for long periods of time, walking several feet in either direction.

on your knees, crawling around!

No teeth…yet! You’ve been teething quite a bit lately, however, so we’ll see! No words yet either, although you are almost always chattering and singing. You still have your signature “screech of glee” that can drown out anything!

Favorites:YOU LOVE SALSA!!! We feed you spoonfuls of the stuff whenever we are at a restaurant. How cool are you? Eventually, after 6 or 7 bites, you start to wimper as the heat piles on, but that’s okay. Even Mommy doesn’t like too much spicy stuff. Seriously, we think you are the coolest kid ever.

Claire is still your favorite amusement. As long as she is nearby, you are fascinated. The other morning, she came up to sniff your face (she usually doesn’t let herself get this close since you pull her hair!). Surprisingly, you stayed completely still, in quiet anticipation. After a second or two, she gave you two “puppy kisses”, one on each cheek. You were absolutely delighted, and looked over at me with a face of pure joy. I hope that you two are going to be great friends.

BEST: Your relationship with Daddy has really blossomed this past month. He’s been putting you to bed by himself since you were just a few months old, but now you’ve really accepted it and submit easily. If you’re having a rough night making it into the land of sleep, Daddy rocks and sings to you. It’s really the sweetest thing.

And you love to play with him. Love love love it. He walks in the door after work, and you light up and start squawking. Mommy never gets that kind of energy from you! It’s like you just saw your favorite buddy. He has so much fun with you and looks forward to each evening you get to spend together while Mommy works. You’ve started saying, “DADADADADADADADAAAA” all the time. While you aren’t trying to call him specifically, Mommy has a feeling that your first word isn’t going to be what she so desperately hoped.

Mommy and Daddy have given up a lot to take care of you these past 8 months, but even if things were only HALF as good as they are, it would still be worth every minute.

Love, Mommy

7 Month Letter to G

Dear G,

My sweet, sweet “Baby-Love”, as I’ve taken to calling you. I’m afraid that your mommy has a big time crush on you. She can’t stop thinking about you, can’t wait to spend more time with you, and, of course, loves to kiss you any chance she gets! Your mommy has never known a love like this before.

I think you look like Mommy here...

Nothing better summarizes this last month better than the word “action”. In fact, one of your new nicknames is “The Hummingbird”. When you are awake, you do not.stop.moving!!! Rolling all over the living room, inching forward on your tummy…some of it is downright hilarious! We placed you in your crib the other day (unswaddled– most of the time, you can break out of it within seconds anyways), and you grabbed your ankles and proceeded to roll like a ball, all around the perimeter of your crib! You are still so so very strong. We can now stand you up next to furniture and you will hold yourself up, even venturing a step or two!

Havin' fun, loving life!

So many expressions

What a cutie-bug!

Your schedule is finally somewhat predictable. You wake up, nurse with mommy (you are usually sleeping right beside her after your 4am feeding, so this sometimes happens before either of you are fully awake!), hit mommy in the face a few times to wake her up, play and giggle with mommy for a few minutes, get a diaper change, eat some oatmeal, and play independently on your play-blanket with toys while mommy gets her own breakfast. Usually, by the time she gets back, you’ve transferred from sitting on to your stomach, where you’ve proceeded to roll/crawl over to something of interest. Mommy knows she needs to baby proof in the immediate future…You are so very good and playing by yourself, finding ways to make your toys do things they weren’t built for, pulling, yanking and throwing. You’ve taken such a huge leap in your development, both in dexterity and ingenuity!

Crawling over Daddy

After 2 hours to the minute, you are ready for your first morning nap. Since Mommy is almost always tired, she joins you, nursing you (both) to sleep. Your next nap, which happens between 12-1pm, usually occurs in Mommy’s Mei Tai wrap while she does chores. You very much like being next to Mommy as you sleep– you visibly relax and calm down the moment you get close again.

Asleep, with the swaddle blanket NEXT to you...

Speaking of which, you used to be a “mommy-only” type of boy, but now you also get HECKA excited when you see your Daddy! He comes home from work, and you immediately transform into a wiggly, shrieky wild boy! It’s like you know he wants nothing more than to play games with you! And you guys do play– for hours and hours. He has all sorts of ways to make you laugh out loud.

Playing with Daddy

But nothing beats how happy you are when all 3 of us are together. The other night, we all went grocery shopping. Daddy held you like you were an airplane, zooming down the aisles, back and forth. You LOVED IT! Every so often, you would look over at Mommy, as though you were checking in with her in between laughing spurts. Sometimes, as we hover over you adoringly, you take your time, scanning each of our faces in turn, a happy contented smile on your face. One thing is for sure– you KNOW how loved you are.

This month you also met your Auntie Autumn for the first time! You guys hit it off right from the start. She couldn’t stop talking about how cool you were, saying you were “so cute, it hurts!” She put on Mommy’s Ergo carrier and rocked you to sleep in it, which was really special. She also took over changing many of your diapers, giving Mommy a bit of a break from all your poo (sooo much lately!). She showered you with so much love and attention, I’m afraid you got a bit spoiled! 🙂

Love at first sight!

One of the biggest things we’ve learned from parenting you this month is that you love life, and, if we slow down and spend time playing with you, we’ll love life as well! You have that great of an influence on Mommy and Daddy. You are so very worth all the time and effort, and this just keeps getting better and better. 🙂

Love, Mommy

6 Month Letter

Dear G,

Officially scared. How can you already be 6 months old?? That’s half a year!!! Everyone told us that time will fly, but now, we actually believe them.

Playing games w Daddy

Whenever Mommy tries to name all the things that we love about you, her heart overflows with emotions. How would Mommy and Daddy go about describing just a few things that we adore?

Mommy’s taken to singing you this song she made up:

(sung to the tune of “Edelweiss”)

“Greg-or-y, Greg-or-y,

Every morning you greet me.

Small, but strong,

Not-very-chubby or long,

I will love you for-ev-er!”

Sometimes, Mommy gets tears in her eyes when she sings it. You don’t notice– you’re too busy moving.

Mommy feels that this song basically sums you up at this time in your life. You are sooo strong. Your grasping reflex has turned your fists into two iron claws of destruction. Add onto that nails that grow at the speed of light, and you can inflict pain at will. If we get you near anything of mild interest, your fingers have grasped it within the blink of an eye. It’s dangerous to have you around anything sharp or hot, because you WILL find a way to grab it! This also means that Mommy can’t hold you on her lap while she’s eating anymore– you’ve dumped her dinner off the table on more than one occasion. If Claire is anywhere within arms reach, you manage to grab and twist her fur. She doesn’t like it, but so far she hasn’t acted aggressively towards you. We are trying to keep a vigilant eye on you two, until we can teach you proper doggy manners.

Eating one of the toys you ripped off of your exersaucer

Because you were so small at your 5 month-supposed to be 4 month– appt., we’ve taken the Dr.’s advice to start feeding you solids. Every day, Mommy grows more convinced of the fact that you will eat anything that’s set before you. Anything. She puts a spoon in front of you, you open wide and help bring it to your mouth. The first couple bites on the first day or two, you shuddered a bit when you tasted things. But that didn’t stop you. You still opened wide. Mommy didn’t use the” 3 day rule” of waiting in between foods, but she paid close attention to your every poo and slight diaper rash to make sure you weren’t allergic to anything. She can’t say you love one food more than another, because, like she says, you’ll eat ANYTHING! So far, you eat: sweet potatoes (first food!), bananas, avocados (mommy feeds you lots of these to fatten you up!), prunes (trust me, you need these often), apricots, apples, and brown rice cereal.

Prunes!!!

Now that Mommy’s increased her milk supply with the Dr.’s help, you are a much happier baby. You go down for 2-3 naps a day, settling down for bed somewhere in between 8-9pm. 95% of the time, you start out the night in your crib after Daddy has rocked you to sleep. When you get up for your early am feeding (between 4-5am), however, Daddy brings you to Mommy in bed, where you nurse while she lays down. Once you’re done (sometimes during!), you fall back asleep until you’re up for good at 7:30am. Usually, mommy lets you chatter away beside her while she tries to get an extra 15 minutes or so of snooze time. You let her know when you’re ready for her to wake up by rolling over on your side to pull on her hair or face.

You and Mommy, taking a nap together

Once awake, you have a pretty consistent morning routine: Morning nurses, then morning diaper change. You are seated at your Bumbo chair with a bib, where you eat one jar of solid food mixed with a tad bit of cereal and 2 tbsp. of pumped breastmilk. Then, Mommy puts you to play in your exersaucer while she makes her own breakfast and does a few chores around the house. Most of the time, you are beyond excited to play independently, checking every so often to make sure Mommy’s nearby. Within an hour, you act sleepy, so you are put you down for your first nap.

Acting sleepy...time for a nap!

Our morning routine is about the only thing consistent in our day. 3 days a week, Mommy takes you to piano lessons with her in the afternoons. The other 2 days, you go to Aunt Courtney’s house to play with Jonathan and Topher until Daddy comes to get you when he’s done with work. Saturdays are “Play Day with Daddy”, because Mommy teaches piano lessons. Sometimes, Daddy has to work and Aunt Juju takes over.

In the front seat

One of Mommy’s favorite things about you is your sweet sweet personality. You love giving kisses, and you love being kissed. Sometimes, Mommy takes her time in the morning, kissing your little cheeks, your nose, your neck. You giggle constantly when you’re kissed on the chin. And you always initially wrap your arms around Mommy when she picks you up, especially after she’s been gone for a while.

Pulling Mommy towards you to give kisses

One of the weirdest things you’ve learned to do is unlatch a nursing bra. Yes, your secret has been exposed. Someday, when you’re 16 and read this, you’ll be traumatized, I’m sure. Mommy has woken up on more than one occasion in the morning to find that you have not only scooted back next to Mommy, but you’ve also already “helped yourself” to your morning nurses. As a result, you now reach down the shirt of any female and start groping around, looking for a bra to unlatch. It’s hysterical. And kinda freaky. 🙂

When Mommy asked Daddy what his favorite part of this month has been, he said “G’s laugh”. It’s true. Daddy can send you into fits of laughter and shrieking with all of his games. In general, you are pretty noisy. Your “chatter” is full of tons of syllables and half words, and you love to be imitated. Sometimes, you’ll “talk for a few minutes, then look over at Mommy and Daddy expectantly to see if we heard you. We smile, say a few words back, and then you get visibly excited and go right back to your chatter, as though we’re having a conversation!

Games in the mirror!

Someone told Mommy at church today that “it only gets better”. With you, lil G, that doesn’t seem possible at the moment– we love so much about you, right here and now, just the way you are. Keep being the special, full of personality guy that you are, because we are really enjoying the ride!

Love, Mommy

5 Month Letter

Dear Lil’ Man,

I am in utter disbelief right now. How can you already be 5 months old? This last month has flown by faster than any of the others. Perhaps we are finally used to each other and how we fit into each others’ lives.

So full of joy!

I do feel as though we’ve grown closer this last month. I feel very in synch and in touch with all of your little needs and desires. I think it’s because you are not afraid to communicate what it is you need– you have a distinctive “hungry” cry, which stops and starts frantically, a teething cry which breaks Mommy’s heart because it’s more of a whimper, a scared cry which starts in your eyes and works its way down to the corners of your mouth, and the “CPS SCREAM”, which is when you are Mad As Hell. Usually, once you get to this point, you are so upset that nothing can make you stop. We just have to wait it out. The cries are so guttural, Mommy thinks you sound possessed. You also have “shrieks of joy”, that are your attempt at letting the whole world know just how excited you are!

Giggles

But we really have grown closer, you and I. When something frightens you, I love that you immediately glance over to me, as though you’re asking if you should be scared. If I can make eye contact and laugh, you usually brush it off. But if I’m not convincing enough, or if I’m not in the room, you will usually dissolve into pitiful crying. It is so sad to watch, and even sadder to be the cause of. One of my piano moms blew a raspberry on your tummy, and the sound was really scary for you! She felt awful for making you cry. Other things that scare you: rustling chips bags, loud sneezes and coughs, Claire’s barking and any loud “boo!”s. Daddy’s startled you on more than one occasion, but only because his voice is so much deeper than Mommy’s.

What a little doll face!

You are also looking to me for comfort in so many other ways than just food. One night, when you were teething, the only way I could get you to sleep through the pain was if you were right next to me, my cheek touching yours. Whenever Mommy’s hand or cheek is touching yours, you get so much calmer. One of the nights when you were sick with your chest cold, Mommy held you the entire night, afraid that you would stop breathing. It was so painful to watch you struggling to breathe through all the “gunk”– definitely the most helpless Mommy’s felt in a very long time.

Rolling over to play with toys

You’ve really made leaps and bounds in your accomplishments this month. For some reason, you woke up one morning and decided not only to roll over, but also inch forward on your hands and knees. The latter looks more like someone without legs, dragging just their torso along the ground. Lately, Mommy’s been having a hard time keeping you ON your tummy during tummy time– you’ve discovered that once you roll over, there are toys dangling above your head to play with! It took Mommy at least a dozen tries to get a picture of you on your tummy before you rolled over. Just this morning, Daddy put you next to Mommy on the bed and returned a minute later to find that you had rolled a few feet! We’re going to have to be more careful now, that’s for sure! We’ve tried standing you next to furniture, and you’re doing quite well. Your sitting position doesn’t quite transition into all fours just yet– it looks more like a face plant!

Such funny expressions!

Startled by the camera flash

You’re still Mommy’s “go everywhere” baby, although she’s trying to make sure you at least get 2 long naps in your own crib. You have about 4 piano homes that you frequent while Mommy gives lessons. You have girlfriends all over Southlake– certain students of Mommy’s who you pay extra special attention to with lots of giggles and smiles. One girl has taken to serenading you with her recorder for the whole hour! Mommy calls her the “Pied Piper”.

Your "Aunt Sydney"-- one of Mommy's piano students

Although you remain pretty small for your age (you barely fit into just a few of your narrower 3-6 month clothes, although the legs and feet on your 0-3s have become very very tight!), your face has grown drastically this past month. Your reddish/blond hair has really come in, making it look less and less like your trademark “mohawk/mullet”. And those eyes…not only do people stop me wherever I go to say, “what a CUTE baby that is!!”, but they always comment on how pretty your big blues eyes are. Strawberry blond hair with blue eyes…those girls better watch out!

Playing with Mommy

Playing in your doorway jumper from Grandma

You LOVE to play, mostly in the mornings. Daddy has taken to getting up early with you on Wednesdays and Thursdays, both so that Mommy can get a few extra hours of sleep and so that he can have some one-on-one play time with you. Sometimes, you guys are out there cackling and giggling so loud, it wakes Mommy up! You love to pull his face towards you and play with his beard.

Where are you going?

Bath Time has become a little odd. You are either actively trying to use the sink faucet and counter to climb OUT of the bath, or you sit there, legs high up in fetal/froggy position. You have yet to really “relax” and play. Not the “spa” type 🙂

You are incredibly stubborn. Never does this come out more than when we are trying to put you to bed. When you decide that you will ONLY fall asleep while being held, we know that you are actually quite comfortable and COULD go to sleep, if you chose. We’ve agreed to try small amounts of “crying it out”, mostly for only 5 minutes at a time (and only after you’ve JUST been fed and diapered). It’s hit or miss, at this point– you’ll either immediately decide to fall asleep by self-soothing, or you’ll get SO MAD you break out of your swaddle and even your sleeper! Mommy comes back in after just a few minutes, and you are almost completely naked. You sweat so much when you’re angry that your clothes and swaddle are DRENCHED, and there is a huge puddle of sweat underneath your head.

So strong...

But we are getting on a better sleep schedule. You still go down to sleep between 9-10, sleep for 4-5 hours, eat for a few minutes, sleep for another 4 hours, and then it’s up every 2-3. During the day, you usually have 2 long naps, accompanied by plenty of short half hour cat-naps. Mommy hopes that this month she can regulate your nap cycles even more– you’re just such a different boy once you’ve had enough sleep!

With Grandma

Aunt Brooke

We are also working on having you sleep full time in your crib. For the first few months, Mommy just felt that it was cruel to both of you to have you sleep by yourself in another room, seeing as you were both together for 10 months! Going from a nice, warm womb to a cold dark lonely room was too much for her to bear 🙂 Now, however, she sees sleeping in your own room as a sign of your growing independence. Mommy definitely wants her alone time every now and then– and that’s definitely what she needs at night in order to be a good mommy throughout the day.

Everyone except Grandma Coco and Aunt Emily

You spent one week this month with Mommy visiting family in California. It was so nice to have 3 aunts, 1 cousin, 1 uncle and 4 Grandparents to hold you, not to mention countless friends. Your Aunt Brooke and Emily, along with Cousin Rachel and Grandpa Cone all babysat you one night so that Mommy could go on a “date” with her best friend, Tess. Cousin Rachel really stepped up– she knew EXACTLY how to handle you once you got upset, getting out your teething medicine and undressing you (for some reason, getting you naked almost always calms you down!). You hardly had any alone time– someone was always entertaining or loving on you. Your Aunt Julie in Texas has also continued to be a huge help. She watched you while Mommy and Daddy got coffee and listened to live music at Bon Giorno. She also helps fill in on occasional Saturday mornings, when both Mommy and Daddy have to work for a few hours. Daddy says, however, that he really looks forward to having you all to himself on Saturdays while Mommy teaches, so we try not to have a substitute babysitter unless really necessary.

While it sometimes seems like you are just being difficult out of spite, you quickly remind Mommy of what a sweet and loving heart you have, from your cuddles and baby kisses in the morning, to the adorable baby talk/singing you are always engaging in. It gives Mommy some of the greatest joy she’s ever known when you wake up from your naps, such a smiling ball of sunshine.

Keep it up, little guy. We fall in love with you more and more every day!

Mommy