Nicole and Brandon

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Blake - 4 Months

Blake, you're 4 months old already! You are such a happy, laid back baby and we love you to pieces! Here's a look back at the last month:

4 Month stats:

Weight:

15 pounds, 5.5 oz (49th percentile)

Height:

25.75 inches (77th percentile)

Head circumference:

16.5 inches (60th percentile)

Memories from weeks 13 and 14:

-Grandma bought you a "popper" toy (one where you push down and the little balls pop around) and it scares you into crying when we push it.

-You rub your eyes a lot. I think you may have allergies. :(

-You have officially had small laughs (no belly laughs yet) but only with Grandpa, you stinker! We get lots of coos and squeals out of you though.

-Lots of smiles, ALL the time! You even smile at strangers.

-We visited daddy at work and met some co-workers; you were very friendly.

-You love to "talk" to yourself in your crib before going to sleep at nap time.

-You smile at me every time you see me. Melts. My. Heart. :)

-You had your first dip in the lake. You were not a fan. It was pretty cold. Then you passed out under the umbrella tent on the beach.

-When you notice Zoey you like to smile at her.

-You are able to grasp toys now and really like to grab the monkey on your playmat. You're also swatting at things so we have to be careful if we're holding you and food or drinks!

Memories from weeks 15 and 16:

-I like to share the good, bad, and the ugly on here. Well, I'd say you had your first "ugly". One night you started wailing right before I was going to feed you (because I picked a booger out if your nose). You then screamed for 25 minutes WITHOUT stopping. You were so upset that I stripped you down to make sure you weren't hurt. You wouldn't even take the breast which scared me a little bit. Finally after you were calm for a bit you nursed. I still don't really know what caused the complete meltdown. :(

-I've seen you staring at your feet a few times but you haven't truly discovered them yet.

-Mommy packed away all of your 0-3 month clothes :'(. It was very sad for her but you've been in 3-6 month for a while now.

-You love sucking on your fist and fingers and like that thumb! Daddy was a big thumb sucker so we'll see if you are too.

-You still like the pacifier when you want it but more often than not you reject it. Maybe we can wean you super early and let you enjoy your fist??? Wishful thinking I'm sure.

-You've been practicing making sounds, squeals, and coos a lot lately! You'll even practice different cries. You'll sound like you're crying but when I look over you'll give me the biggest smile! You also have a new whiny cry where you cry without opening your mouth. You like to use that one in the car. Your squeals are getting louder and you just love to talk to yourself. We've gotten small giggles out of you but no belly laughs yet.

-You love anything soft that you can grab and pull to your mouth and rub against your face. This obviously includes blankies, but also burp cloths, bibs, and you even grab at your onesies and try to pull them to your mouth.

-Sometimes when you squeal while blowing spit bubbles (which is still totally your thing) one of the bubbles will get huge like a bubble gum bubble. It's hilarious!

-I'm trying to get a nap schedule going. I follow your sleep cues as best I can. They seem to be around the same time every day so nap times in the crib are happening now. You usually take 1 long nap in the morning and 2 short naps in the afternoon/late afternoon and a cat nap in the evening.

-You haven't rolled over on your own yet, but I think you are staring to try. I better watch out!

-You have the cutest new habit! When you are done nursing, you pull yourself off and give me the biggest smiles. I love it!

-You love the TV and we try to keep you from watching it. But if it's on, you will twist your head as far around as you can to try and watch it. Little stinker!

-You officially are a "hair grabber". You love grabbing my hair and you even grab daddy's hair when you can. You got Zoey's fur once and make her squeal in pain. :( You have a tight little grip!

-You really enjoy "talking" to me. Lots of coos and squeals. You like to mimic me. It cracks me up because your eyes stay serious while you're "talking" away and sometimes your eyes show surprise at the high pitched sounds you can make! Haha! Here's one of your talking faces:

-We've officially dropped to five feedings a day...very exciting! I believe we started this around the beginning of week 16. Our new feeding schedule is flexible but you usually eat around 9am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm, and 10pm. So much easier than those first weeks!

-And finally, you enjoyed your first 4th of July! Mommy was a little bit afraid that the fireworks would scare you, but you sat on daddy's lap and just watched them calmly. Zoey on the other hand decided to growl and bark after every firework. I guess she was just letting them know who's boss. Ha ha!

We love you so much Blake! Could you please stop growing up so fast!?

And as always, some pictures from the past month:

Chatting with Grandma

Meeting all your future girlfriends:

(And now "Aunt" Allie is expecting too!!!)

Chillin' in your rockaroo

Such a happy boy!

Strange picture of me...but I cherish these bedtime snuggles so much. (It's the only time of day you will snuggle)

Those toes though!

HOT summer days at the cottage

Silly faces!

And the best smiles!

Sending daddy "we miss you" pictures at work :)

Watching the baseball game with Opa!

Meeting famous football players :)

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Blake - 3 Months

Blake, you are 3 months old! I'm already nostalgic of your newborn days because you are such an alert baby now! No stats this month because we don't have another appointment until you're 4 months old. But, you weighed 14 lbs, 2 oz at breastfeeding group today!

We had some formal 3 month pictures taken at Target today. Nothing super fancy (because let's be honest...who can afford a fancy session every 3 months???) but I love them! (Thank you Groupon!)

Memories from weeks 9 and 10:

-You survived your two month shots but got a fever of 101.3 that evening and you were quite cranky for a few days. Mommy felt bad for you. :( You were chill at the appointment though.

-Your hands are your new favorite thing to chew on (well lick really). I haven't seen you actually look at your hands yet (as of week 9) but maybe you have when I'm not looking.

-You've been more fussy in general lately. It's not terrible, I think you're just starting to "wake up" to the world a bit more and that's a good thing!

-Zoey half jumped on you when daddy said "Up" and it scared the crap out of us and you! He was referring to the movie "Up" but Zoey took it as her cue to jump into his lap. She's just such a good listener, haha. You were fine by the way. ;)

-You really love looking at the toys hanging from your playmat.

-For a couple of weeks whenever we were in the car or going for a walk with the stroller you HATED it when we'd stop and immediately start crying if you were not asleep. This got a lot better after week 10.

-Grandma had to take you out of the church service early when you started crying last week.

-You really are such a good baby! You wake up smiling and go to sleep smiling most of the time! A lot of the fussiness passed with week 9.

-You love blankets. You like them over your hands so you can pull them up into your mouth and drool on them. :) If you're sleepy, I can put one in your hands and you will almost immediately fall asleep.

-We started bottles and use one almost every day, still exclusively breastmilk. The bottle sure does make going out more convenient. You were pretty messy with that at first, but have gotten the hang of it now. We use Tommee Tippee bottles.

-Your hair never really fell out or thinned (that I noticed), but it seems to be growing now. I've especially noticed this on the top of your head where it looks like you're growing little spikes of fluffy hair. (Week 12 Update: it is thinner now where your head rests when you're laying down)

-You had your first epic meltdown in Target. NOTHING grandma or I did could stop your wailing. After about a half an hour grandma got you to go to sleep in her arms but we could not put you down. Eventually I just had to take you home.

-You met your 96 year old great grandpa for the first time! He gave you a little stuffed dog. :)

-The crinkly elephant toy is your favorite. Unfortunately we left it at Aunt Billi's campsite. We'll get it back!

-Whenever you're near me when I blow my nose you smile. It's so cute!

Memories from weeks 11 and 12:

-You officially discovered your hands and love to stare at your fists...and then suck loudly on them!

-You are trying so hard to laugh and it's adorable. You squeal and make other noises and mommy is always ready to press record trying to catch that first true laugh. We can't wait little man! You are SUCH a happy baby!

-You joined mommy and daddy on their 4 year anniversary trip and you were pretty good! People loved you everywhere we went and said what a handsome baby you are!

-On the trip you went "swimming" for the first time! We put your legs and butt in the hotel pool. You didn't like it very much because it was pretty cold but you didn't cry you just fussed a little. We took you out after like 15-20 seconds because it was so chilly. I'll still consider it your first swim, you were in your cute swim diaper after all! :)

-You go right to sleep at night without any fussing. You seem to actually like being swaddled now, or at

least it calms you. We are down to six feedings a day so after the 10:30ish feeding you are down typically until about 8 the next morning. You've always been a great sleeper.

-Nicknames I've heard people call you:

Mommy: Blakey-Blake (I better drop this one before your too old), Fussbucket (sorry!), Buddy, and Baby. Oh, and Little brother when talking to Zoey. ;)

Daddy: Blakey-Blake, Champ, My Prince

Grandpa: Scooter

-We had a big poop incident at a restaurant. You pooped all over grandma VZ's lap. Somehow you missed most of your own clothing but left a puddle in her lap. Poor grandma. It was so bad that grandma, grandpa, you, and mommy were all in the women's bathroom together trying to clean up. Grandma tried to wash her shorts out in the sink but it was too messy so she had to wrap grandpa's coat around her legs and walk out of the restaurant that way. Luckily you're so cute no one minded too much. Aunt Judy was there too. None of us will forget this story for a long time!

-You are officially in size 3-6 clothes. You can still squeeze into 0-3 but why make you when we have so many cute outfits waiting?! ;)

-And just in case I want to reminisce someday, this is your feeding schedule right now: 8:30ish am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm, and 10-10:30ish pm. I love this schedule the most so far!

-When I pull your blanket off of you in your swing your arms slowly rise like a zombie's and then you stretch. It's adorable every time. Here's a picture of you on the changing table doing it:

-When I put your bib on to nurse you get really excited and start shaking your little arms and fists, ha!

- You love it when I sing the "Star Spangled Banner" to you while buckling you in your car seat. What a little patriot you are already! :) "The Ants Go Marching" is still the only song that will calm you down. :)

-Daddy celebrated his first Father's Day with you. He was so proud!