Saturday, February 20, 2010

7 Months!

February is here, but January was a big month for Mr. P!

He had his 6 month appt. on 1/4. He was a trooper. He checked out to be very healthy. His Dr. thinks he is a pretty special guy :) He received 5 immunizations. He didn't care for that very much, but calmed down in about 5 minutes. He is still on the larger side, but he seems to be thinning out. His next appointment is not until he turns one. It is nice to be done with shots for a long time.

As far as his development, he is really starting to move. Gone are the days of sitting still in our laps or leaving him in the middle of the floor with a toy. He is rolling everywhere. He rolled back to tummy for the first time this month. He is starting to scoot and army crawl as well. He got faster and scooted more frequently as the month progressed. Parker scooted much sooner than Chase. He also started rocking on all fours at the end of the month. I think he is trying to keep up with his big brother :) He loves to hold things and bite them. Towards the end of the month he started to sit up really well. We put pillows around him because he still tips over, but he is getting pretty stable. This is nice because it keeps him off the back of his head. He is starting to be less clingy with me. He is getting better with other family members and friends holding him.

This month he started eating solids 3 meals a day. He LOVES food! We introduced peas, green beans, peaches, pears, bananas, avocado, and apple sauce. The only thing he turned down was the apples sauce. He just refused it! He majorly begs while we are eating. We do share with him. This is really the only thing he gets vocal about. He definitely lets us know he wants to share :) He is still nursing about 6 times per day. He also started drinking water from a sippy cup. He also sat in a high chair at a restaurant for the first time this month. He loved it and was pretty content.

On most days, he will take 2 naps. Sometimes he will take 3. His naps are usually only 30-60 minutes. Occasionally, he will take a 1.5-2 hours. He goes to bed usually at 6 PM. He wakes up twice a night to eat. He eats and falls right to sleep. He has started to wake up between 6 and 7. It is inching closer to 6. That is a little brutal.

Quick info:

*He is wearing size 3 diapers
*Mostly 12-18 month clothes
*Eating solids 3 time/day and nursing 6-8 times/day
*Weight=17lbs, 15.2 oz. (49th percentile)
*Height=27 3/4 inches (82nd percentile)
*Head=27 1/4 inches

Welcome 2010 and a Half Birthday for Parker!

Parker is a half a year old already!! I say this so often, but time is just flying by! The holidays have come and gone. We had such a wonderful time celebrating and reflecting on the birth of our Saviour. He is the greatest Gift that we could ever be given.

It was so nice to be able to have Abe home for 10 days in a row. His vacation started off very busy with a trip to Chico to celebrate with the Greens and Bertaina family. It is always fun to see all the cousins together. This will be a very rare occasion with the cousins spread all over the country and even one living in Italy.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve that we spent at home and finished off the evening with a Christmas Eve service at our church. We let Chase open up a gift (new pajamas)that evening. The next morning we opened gifts as a family (Parker was asleep for most of it). We opened gifts and then proceeded to play with all the new toys. Later that day we headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Green's house to celebrate as a family. Everyone was able to be there and we had a great time watching the kids open gifts and eating good food.

On the 26th, we headed to the Bay Area to celebrate with the Barney family. Parker got to meet his great aunts and great uncle along with my cousins. We had a great time!

Later on the next week we headed over to Aunt Betty and Uncle John's house to visit with the Kosmans and the O'Connors. It is always fun to visit with Dee and Joy and their kids. The kids seem to be inches taller everytime we see them!

As far as Parker's development this month, the biggest change was that he started to show a HUGE interest in food. He watched us eat and begged with his big, blue eyes. It is very hard to resist his begging. I was wanting to put off starting solids as long as possible because it was always such a battle with Chase. Chase had little to no interest in solids, and it was such a bother to get him to eat. However, when Parker started to get vocal with his begging I took that as a sign that his was ready. On December 20th, we started rice cereal. He LOVED every bite. He didn't even flinch or struggle with eating from a spoon. I was shocked! It was so fun to watch. Abe and I were laughing because enjoyed the food so much. Needless to say, we kept on feeding him the cereal and started sweet potatoes (puree and puffs) about a week later. He is eating solids twice a day.

Parker is taking 3 naps per day. He goes to bed around 6 and is now waking up around 7 AM. He wakes up about 2 times per night to eat and falls back to sleep. He usually wakes up around midnight and between 3 and 5 AM.

While Abe was on vacation, Parker went to my grandparents' house for an overnight (aka the Baby Spa). Grandma and Grandpa Green watched Chase overnight as well, so we could have a movie/dinner date. It is such a blessing to have so much support and help from family!! After I picked Parker up, I noticed that he was rolling around on the floor everywhere (tummy to back). Up until this point it was very rare to see him roll, but it just clicked one day. I also noticed him starting to scoot toward toys. It is amazing how quickly they will learn new skill.

Quick facts:

*Wearing size 3 diapers
*Wearing mostly 12-18 month clothes
*Eating solids 2 times/day and nursing 6-8 times/day
*Takes 3 naps per day and wakes twice/night
*Rolling frequently


While

5 Month Update

This month has been an interesting month in Parker's development. He was very sick the whole month of November. After some encouragment from my Grandma and parents, I called the Dr. again regarding Parker's congestion and cough. He was not getting better, and he sounded terrible. I was able to get him and appointment and brought him in. The Dr. first started talking to me about milk allergies and told me that I may need to cut dairy out of my diet. She then listened to his breathing and his lungs. She said forget what I said about allergies because he has Bronchialitis. She had us do a breathing treatment that lasted about 20 minutes. He did such an amazing job and sat in my lap without making a peep. The Dr. came back in to see if the treatment helped. It did help clear him up which confirmed her diagnosis. The next week he seemed to continue to improve. We are so grateful to have our little man feeling better. He didn't look or sound well for so long that almost forgot what normal was for him.

After his breathing treatment, we noticed considerable increases in his noise making. He started talking and babbling much more. He still doesn't talk as much as most babies, but that is ok. He is still serious and sober, but Chase is always able to make him laugh. They love each other very much.

He is VERY attached to me. He has started to cry when other people try to hold him. This is something new because Chase was not clingy as a baby. We have a special bond, and I am enjoying the baby snuggles while they last. All too soon, he will be more interested in playing than sitting in my lap.

He has started something new. We let him play with a protein bar while he was in his carseat one day. I needed to eat it, so I went to give him a different toy and take the protein bar away. He did not like that at all! He was very upset and started to cry. This was the first time that I saw him really have an opinion about something like that. It was almost comical :)

He is sleeping pretty well. We pretty much let him play for about 1.5-2 hours and then put him down for a nap. He still goes to bed between 6 and 7 PM. He is wakes up 2-3 times per night to eat. He sleeps until 8 or 9 in the morning. This is so nice. Chase and I are able to get up and get ready. We are then ready for Mr. P to wake up and play.

We celebrated his first Thanksgiving with lots of family. Everyone came to our house and brought the food. We had a nice day that included lots of snuggling with the newest addition to the family. We are looking forward to celebrating his first Christmas as well. The holidays are so fun!

Here are some quick bits of info about P for this month:

*He moved up to size 3 diapers
*He is still wearing 9 month clothes with a few 12 month and 12-18 months clothes
*He weighed 17 lbs. at his last appt on 11/22
*He wakes up at least 2 time per night and sometimes 3 to eat
*He is still eating 8-10 times per day