William is 9 Months Old

William is down right happy to be around and is content to do whatever.  He really rolls with the chaos of our life and doesn’t take a smile off his face with whatever we throw at him, well most of the time! 

William is down right crazy about his brother and sister!  He loves trying to keep up with them and this month with his crawling and standing he is becoming more able to participate in their play.  A couple weeks ago, while I cleaned up from dinner (Mike was on a work vacation) the three of them were sitting outside and Elin said “let’s make a circle” it was about the cutest thing I have seen. William is starting to babble and “talk” more and more.  His play is no longer silent and is filled with strings of vocal play.  The latest favorite is using his bottom lip to blow raspberry sounds. He also still uses a specific sound to for me or to tell us he needs help.  He has a lot of “ahs” and “ab ab abbas.”  He just started to wave “hi” with lots of prompting.  It is fun to hear hi long strings of babble and the stories he tells us.

He has spent this month perfecting his crawling  and has started to cruise along furniture and loves his ability to get around and go where he wants.  He also loves to play in a kneeling or semi kneeling/bum siting position or with her legs off to the side.  He's still getting the hang of walking behind toys, but when he is up and moving he is as happy as can be.  He loves to go to the back windows watch outside…with the grass finally growing in a bit better he is now able to go outside and crawl around too. 
He is able to get down from standing without just needing to let go and plop.  Such a relief and make makes his standing and cruising along furniture much less dangerous.  Another big step in the movement world has been him mastering the stairs and going up them.  This makes it a little more difficult around here and sooner than later we have to get the baby gate installed!

This month William really took off with eating.   He has even started to get mad when the spoon is not in his mouth fast enough!  He likes a few of the baby food pouch blends we have tried and will eat the whole pouch if you let him.  I would say that he gets about 75% in his mouth and the rest is a big mess as he likes to help with his spoon!  We have started to give him soft finger foods and he thinks they are ok.  Most of what we are eating I am able to cut smaller and try to give to him, he seems to think being like us in this respect, is the best!   William continues to have a rash or pimple like spots around his mouth, nose and sometimes eyes.  I had tried to put a little dairy back into my diet (to my stomachs dismay) and started to notice that his face also got worse.  Nothing I tried topically to put on it helped and I thought that maybe it was his teeth that were affecting his skin…so we will see if taking dairy out again will be the trick we need and if it comes back when he starts cutting more teeth.  He now has 6 teeth his four top middle and his 2 bottom.

William is still taking between 2 and 3 naps a day. Which are pretty flexible depending on how the day is working out. He takes the longest naps when he is in our bed and typically sleeps 2-3.5 hours. He has gotten into the habit of taking his 3rd nap when we put the kids to sleep, and then wakes up when the big kids are asleep and comes to get some alone play and Daddy and Mommy time. This happens a few nights a week and then a few nights a week he goes to sleep and stays asleep, needing to be snuggled after his initial 45 minutes-1 hour nap alone.  If he doesn’t do that mini nap he happily hangs out with Mike and I until he if ready to go to sleep, about 9 or sometimes, gasp, even later.  It is a lot of fun for us to have our littlest guy to play with.  He doesn’t mind the extra mom and dad only attention!  After he goes to sleep he then wakes for the day between 7 and 8 a.m.   He still wakes at night to nurse and sometimes there is a “bad night” with a lot of wake ups, but for the most part he grunts “awake” nurses and is asleep after his belly is full. 

William had his 9 month doctor appointment a few weeks early, so that he and Thomas could both be booked at the same time!   We saw the doctor on the 7th and William was 27 inches long (25%) and was 17.1 lbs (20%). 

William is 8 Months Old…

Once again I am writing and wondering how the time has gone so quickly and we have moved on to the next month with William.  With the addition of time, William’s personality continues to develop and we enjoy learning more about who he is every day.   William is a charmer and loves to flash big grins at anyone and everyone.  Every once in awhile he will meet someone who he is unsure of and then he will let you know it with the cutest sad face we have ever seen.  The most recent time this happened was at Elin’s ENT visit, the doctor was obviously too close, and William wanted nothing to do with it.  He screamed something fierce and then would tuck his head away hoping that the doctor, who was extremely enduring and pleasant, would quickly disappear.  When he hadn’t the screaming and crying would continue and the cycle continued until the said doctor was across the room.   Otherwise he is really a pretty chill little dude.   He really just loves being around and with us.  He is very good about vocalizing his needs and his fuse is a bit longer than we remember with Thomas and Elin.  He also looks at the for their cues, so as long as they are ok, he knows he should be too. 

William loves his big brother and sister so much!  He lights up when they are in the room and always wants to be doing what they are doing.  They get so excited any time William is doing something “for the first time.”  Helping him out is something they both love doing.  Honestly trying to keep them from smothering him with too much love and attention and “giving him space” is a big thing right now. 

William is a mover just like Thomas and Elin were.  After several weeks of being able to rock on his hands and knees and take a single arm forward he is crawling away.  We are all so proud of him and this has allowed him to get where he wants to go much quicker!  He is so close to pulling himself up and tries to do so on the couch or ottoman.  The kid has a twinkle in his eye saying I need to keep up with Thomas and Elin!  

William has 4 teeth now!  His top left middle and 2nd incisors came in and his right side doesn’t seem far behind.  He has still been trying different foods although he is not quite sure they are suppose to be in his mouth.  He still likes nursing and is happily doing so. Sleep is still something he is good at, unless his teeth are bothering him.  Most nights he takes a quick cat nap while the big kids go to sleep and then when the house is quiet he gets his own time with Mommy and Daddy.  He then goes back to sleep between 9-10.  His schedule is pretty flexible and really depends on what is happening that day.  If we are out and about he will try to take a quick morning nap, so he doesn’t miss the action.  If we are home he will usually get a 2 hour morning nap in.  In the afternoon he typically has a long 2-3.5 hour nap, which if we are home is nice for me to get stuff done and the big kids to get some mama only time. 

Things he really likes are: baths, crawling, swinging, his brother and sister, the cats, snuggling and getting kisses. 

William is 7 Months

Hard to believe that seven months have already passes with William in our lives.  I have a hard time remembering what life was like before William was born, although I know it was far less chaotic.  Nonetheless, it has been a wonderfully chaotic 7 months that have flown by.  The lack of sleep, busy schedules, and constant movement of at least one of the kids makes the days fly by.  As much as I will time to slow down, and give me more time with my baby baby (and last baby baby) it isn’t happening, so I am savoring every single second, every middle of the night feed, every day as he learns something new and changes.  As excited as I am to see him gain new things, it means he is leaving his babyhood quickly behind, and with a few more blinks we will be celebrating his 8, 9 and then 1 year “birthdays.” 

William is a happy go lucky guy with a really chill and content disposition.  He rolls along with our family and the busy lives we lead.  If we have had a busy morning or day he will get frustrated with the in and out of the car seat, but that is about the only thing that makes him really mad.  Overall his car seat isn’t a torcher chamber any longer, he will even joining us here and there singing our favorite songs!

William is learning new things everyday and he’s really becoming more engaged with all of us.  He knows where his brother and sister are all the time and lights up when they are playing with him.  He has giggles and smiles for them and if they get to close he will open mouth bite kiss them or grab their hair.  You can see in his eyes that he cannot wait to be running around and playing with them.  It is fun to see how they are starting to develop their relationships together.

William is trying to crawl and is getting closer by the day.  He has gotten the back half of his body stronger and the minute you put him down on his tummy, he pops up into a crawling position.  He does downward facing dog and will lift up his legs and knows how to move them forward.  He is now propelling himself forward and can roll and turn in a circle to get to most things.  He is consistently rolling from tummy to back and back to tummy.  When he gets to a couch or obstacle he will try to pull himself up to stand, he has the thought there but needs lots of help to get up.

   

He is a chatter box and in the rare moments that Thomas and Elin are not yelling, screaming or crying playing, through the house he loves to talk to us.  He cracks us up with his stories, bubble blowing, squeals and screams.   Smiles, his smiles are priceless and if there was one thing that I would say is consistent with the guy it is his ability to brighten your mood.  He loves to smile and flirt with others.  He now has his 2 bottom teeth and it looks like the top 4 are not far behind.  Pretty soon his gums will be filled with teeth!  He is not a huge fan of baby food yet. He has had bites here and there of bananas, avocado, sweet potato and has tried some puffs. Takes a few tastes and then he is done.  He does thing that drinking water from a sippy cup is the best big boy thing ever. 

He loves being wrapped on my tummy or back and if he's tired, teething or feeling crummy that is where he spends most of his time.  I can wrap him on my back, hand him a small toy and then we can power through a big kid activity, cooking, or running around.  You learn more with every kiddo, but I wonder where this was when I had Thomas...it would have been fantastic!
William has figured out that the good life is being held a lot.  He still has a pretty flexible schedule but is generally taking 2-4 naps a day.  Most often he takes his morning nap while we are out and about In the car, while wrapped, or if we are home he will lay down sometimes in the bed.  The afternoon nap is typically where it is at and he usually sleeps a good 2-3 hours needing possibly a quick renurse back to sleep in the middle of the nap.  At night he is sleeping next to me or if feeling crummy in our arms for most of the night waking maybe a few times or possibly sleeping through the night.  With him so close I don’t ever really wake up and check to see what is happening with his sleep.  So as long as we both feel rested in the morning, I feel like it was a good night! 

William doesn’t have another doctor appointment until his 9 month well baby.  He did have an appointment this month to receive a vaccine and thought it was about the crummiest thing ever.  Poor guy was in a good amount of pain after and wouldn’t move his leg at all for the first day.  If we accidently bumped it or made it move he would sad face and then whimper or cry a bit.   He wanted lots of snuggles!  We gave him Motrin to help take the edge off and some other homeopathic stuff that was suppose to help deep tissue pain.  That night I took a bath with him and some Epsom salt and helped him wiggle it a bit.  When he woke up all was better and his leg moved again.

William is 6 Months Old…

If it is even possible the last 6 months since William was born have flown by sooo fast!  It has been crazy busy, slightly chaotic, always busy and more wonderful than anyone could have ever told us.  Seeing our 3 kiddos grow and change and learn together has been amazing.  William is in awe of his brother and sister and is so incredibly loved and smothered by them!  They both always want to be with him, touch him, kiss him, and hold him while he is awake.  The other day I found Elin had snuck into our room while he was napping and when I scooped her up she said “awe Mom it is just so hard to wait for William to wake up!”  Without a doubt this little squish has completed our family and filled our hearts where I didn’t know there was a void to fill. 

William is getting wigglier by the day.  He is now sitting by himself, rolling from tummy to back (still needs help back to tummy) and moves himself around in a circle.  He can also move himself backwards and squeals when he can’t get himself to go forward.  He has found a new love for his toes and loves to check them out.  His hands are always in his mouth, if not his hands it usually is something else.  He is reaching and grabbing for everything and seems pretty pleased with his new “big boy” status and being able to go into the exercaucer. 

William is a pretty content little guy and we are seeing more and more of his personality emerge.  He has a pretty long fuse, so if he starts to get upset he will squeal and tell you about it long before he gets to the crying stage.  Some large noises (toilet flushing in public restroom, kids or parents being too loud) have started to scare him, and if scared he still has the cutest saddest cry every.  He is starting to vocalize/scream to talk and get your attention.  He has a particular shriek he uses to call for me.  I love that I have figured out that this sound is him wanting my attention, and he is also really excited about it.  We have been playing a back and forth game with hid and seek with this shriek too.  He is also playing some back and forth games with his tongue and will stick it out at you.   Smiles are never hard to come by when William is around, he has the most contagious smile and loves flashing his gummy grin.

William still doesn’t have any teeth, but I swear he is working on cutting the bottom 2.  I could be crazy, but it looks and feels like they are right there under the gum line.   He has just started to show an interest in food.  I will be honest his 6 month mark snuck up on us and we have yet to really think much about giving him food.  At this point with Thomas when we introduced food his reflux spiraled out of control  again, so I have been really hesitant to try on that front as well.  We have given him a few small bites of banana here and there and he seems to wonder what we are doing.  We will probably try pears or sweet potato next and go from there.  He is a great eater and will nurse thought the day (I think every 2-3 hours) and then sometimes is up every 2-3 hours at night or sometimes it’s a 6-7 hour stretch, as long as he eats and goes right back to bed, I’m not going to complain!

William was 15 lbs and 4 oz and 26 and 1/4 inches long.  It was also nice to have him in as he and the other two kiddos have been sick with colds.  The doctor noticed he had a slight ear infection and wanted us to start ear oil and wait and see if it resolved before antibiotics…two sad baby wake ups (after nap and after he went to sleep) and we started antibiotics.  His doctor was otherwise impressed with where he was developmentally. 

Thomas Starts Preschool

After taking a year off with school Thomas is again enrolled and loving preschool!  We did a lot of work for him on our end to make the transition to preschool as successful as possible.  On many mornings, and a few afternoons, you could find Thomas and Elin in “school” at our house. 

We all talked a lot about what our thoughts were on school and that it was really important to help our brains grow and develop.  After doing a little research I narrowed down some preschool choices and made appointments to go and visit.  Thomas and I went together to the visits.  The first school, a Montessori based program, was a bit to strict for Thomas and I.  We couldn’t run fast enough out of that quiet, eerily no chaos place.  It was the oddest “school” environment I had ever seen, and it was most certainly not for us.

We then went to Apple Creek preschool and it was lovely.  The teachers were welcoming, the kids were smiling and having a great time and best of all Thomas didn’t sink his body into mine and try to hide!  His body language instantly relaxed and he was ready to jump in, and did, with another boy at a sand table.  

I really liked the classroom set up, the philosophy, that we had friends who had been through the program with both a child with special needs and one without, that all the teachers were either teacher educated or working towards an education degree and that the time was not 5 hours, but rather 2.5 to begin with the ability to add in a extra 2 hours with the stay and play option.  This way we could slowly transition Thomas into his classroom and to the longer days. 

Since starting Thomas hasn’t looked back. He is making new friends, learning so much everyday and the transition has been everything Mike and I could have hoped for. He always has stories to tell us about school and he is loving writing and having special pens/markers to write with.  We are so proud of our little guy and cannot wait to continue to support him as he learns and grows.

William is 5 Months Old

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time seems to have gone even faster than with Thomas and Elin, then again maybe not, Nonetheless William is 5 months old.  I am trying to soak in every last ounce of his newborn squishy snuggly baby-babyness that I can, as it is all quickly seems to be fading.
The littlest big guy continues to be a very smiley happy little guy.  He cannot get enough of his brother and sister and always has smiles when they are around.  I swear he is watching them and planning out how he is going to start moving so he can keep up!   Which brings me to the fact that this guy is wiggly!  He is rolling from his tummy to his back like crazy and has started to scoot around on his tummy.   He's figured out how to kick his feet, grab his toes and get toys to play with.  He has also found a love in chewing and sucking on his fingers.  All this chewing and drooling has had us wondering about teeth, but so far we still just see him flashing his gums!
These days William is a chatter box and will here and there tell you how much he likes something with a great baby giggle and laugh.  He is using his back sounds of his voice and loving playing with the different tones and rising and falling inflections.  If only we knew exactly what he was thinking and saying as the stories he tells seem quite interesting.  I could spend all day listening to him talk to me, his Daddy, his siblings or the random object/thing he seems particularly delighted by!

William had a 5 month checkup with his doctor as we never got to see him at his 4 month appointment.  He was 26 inches and 14 lbs 9 oz.  We are going to start doing his reflux medicine 2x a day and I'm going to continue to stay dairy free, seeing here and there how he tolerates it and if I can add it back into my diet.  His doctor was very pleased with both his growth and developmental milestones.