Friday, December 26, 2014

8 Months



Weight - Probably still around 22 lbs? He's been moving so much more, which I know can mean a stow down in weight gain, but her certainly seems to be growing a lot!

Height - I'm pretty sure he's gotten even taller! This boy is always growing. 

Head circumference - Won't know until 9 months also. 

He's still fitting into his 12 months clothes, though they are starting to feel a bit shorter. No rush to move into the next size :). 

Likes:



Life is fantastic with an 8 month old. Evan is just so much fun at this age, though a bit of a handful. His favorite right now is definitely pulling up and climbing on anything and everything. Boxes are a big hit, as are stairs, the couch, the crib, his box of toys, and anything else that hits that sweet spot of height. 

Don't mind me, I'm just pulling up on anything I can!

He gives such amazing smiles when he's doing this, as if he's just so proud of himself. He also is moving incredibly fast now, heading towards places he shouldn't be, like the fireplace or the stairs. He's already taken a number of tumbles, so we're pretty thankful he has his new helmet to keep him safe. We definitely need to install the gate at the bottom of the stairs (we have one at the top already), as Evan can crawl up at least 4 stairs on his own. 

Stairs are the best!

Ergo is still on our *like* list - for stroller workouts and family hikes. We've been trying to do a hike almost every weekend, which if not a love for Evan, is at least something he's tolerating. 

Evan also has a newfound affection for his glowing seahorse. Its a fun toy that I play every time I put him down to sleep for nap or bedtime, and it plays lullabies while it's belly glows. Lately, he has loved finding it on the floor of his room and turning it on and off.


Food is a last thing we'll add to the like list. We've finally started really expanding his food experiences. Banana is still his favorite, though he's been pretty happy with everything he's tried. He also likes sweet potato, cucumber, bell pepper, yogurt with banana and applesauce, peas, and probably a few others. We're close to being able to just give him some of whatever we're having for dinner - hopefully we'll get there by the next month report!

Dislikes



Evan has been a much happier baby lately, so I feel like there isn't a ton to go on this list!

Except sleep. Evan hates sleeping more than 3 hours at a time. And this is getting pretty old. We've been working on sleep training still, and keep making progress, only for Evan to get sick or us to go on a trip, and go back to waking every 1-2 hours. Mama is tired.

He also isn't wild about being told "no" - though what kid is. We've been working on it mostly with the fireplace - just a stern "no" and "down" and putting his hands back on the floor. Eventually he gets the idea and has started doing a very dramatic cry for about 4 seconds until he moves onto playing somewhere else.


Evan has grown increasingly attached to his mommy lately, as well, which has made things a bit interesting in terms of me going anywhere. He definitely knows his parents now, and if we're both gone, he'll definitely look for us. He will also crawl after me if I leave the room, which is pretty darn cute, even it it makes it difficult to get any baby free time.

Lately, diaper changes have also been on the negative list. In general, Evan's grown out of arching his back, so now he only does it during diaper changes. He is basically trying to buck himself off the changing table. I read somewhere that babies dislike changes at this age, so even having a diaper or clothes changed can be upsetting. It reminds me of how he was as a newborn.

Strawberries...yuck!

Food wise, he only has really disliked super sour foods - not very good strawberry, plain unsweetened yogurt, and raspberry. We'll definitely try strawberries again once they are in season, and the banana in the yogurt has made a huge difference. 

Important Events:


Baby's first Thanksgiving! Evan had a wonderful time celebrating with my whole side of the family, our neighbors, and his Oma. He even got a bit of good food - mashed potatoes, cranberry and sweet potatoes. He also "ran" his first 5k - Ed wore him in the Ergo for the race and he even got a race medal!

Climbing presents? Why not!

Evan also started his first Christmas season! He loved all the ornaments on the trees and has been enjoying lots of Christmas music. 


So, so special to be sharing this with him. 

He also is now in his second (and final!) helmet. This one is for 3-4 months, since his head will be growing slower now that he's older. It's definitely coming in handy with all of his crawling and climbing, and funnily enough we get comments in public from people who think we put the helmet on him so that he doesn't get hurt when he's crawling around. Definitely not the purpose, but a nice silver lining. 

Successes:

I can help you decorate for Christmas!

Ed and I have really settled into life with a baby. I no longer have that desperate need for breaks that I had in the beginning (though they are still quite nice) and even though I'm still desperately tired, I feel like we can still function well and do everything we want to do. Evan is a very happy baby, which makes for happy parents. 


It's amazing how much better he's gotten at crawling in the past month - he now is super speedy and crawls all over the house (and up on top of boxes and up stairs). He's really doing so great with all his physical therapy stuff. His PT isn't even worried about his torticollis now, because he is obviously turning his head easily in both directions. We're now just working on encouraging crawling (rather than practicing standing/walking) since the more crawling, the better, developmentally. 

Evan is now 100% in his bedroom, which is fantastic (though, to be fair, he joined us in bed a number of nights when he was sick, and when his room was too cold). We love having everything for him upstairs - it's just so much easier to be organized when we don't have to share our bathroom or closet with him. Evan really seems to love his bedroom, too, which is lots of fun. We play up there a lot now before and after naps. Now we just need to get him to stay asleep. 


And of course, it was a definite success that he was all smiles meeting Santa for the first time :)

Mommy Successes:

My biggest success is that I ran a 5k over Thanksgiving! It was my first race in over 3 years and it felt fantastic. All of my stroller workout groups have made a big difference, and I'm much faster than I used to bed. My time was 32:41, a 10:32 pace. I'm really proud of that, and have already signed up for a 10k at the end of January. I'm even entertaining the idea of a Half Marathon in August, but I'm trying to take it as I go. In any event, it feels fantastic to be in shape again. 

Daddy Successes:


Ed continues to be the best at making Evan laugh, and there is nothing sweeter than a house filled with the sound of those baby giggles. 

Best Moments:


Probably decorating for Christmas with Evan. It's so special to be sharing the holiday with our little boy - we love him so much!


Saturday, December 13, 2014

Look Alike

I found this picture when I was back at my parents over Thanksgiving. It's the first time I've really felt like Evan looks like me!

(Ashley and I when I'm about 9 months and Ashley is about 3)

(Evan visiting Santa)

Love this super sweet boy!
 

Thursday, December 11, 2014

My Wild Thing

Evan got his new helmet last week! It took about a week to get our permanent decals, but they finally came in on Tuesday. 


I knew I wanted to stay with our book theme, so we went with "Where the Wild Things Are"


Once again, Blingyourband delivered, and did a fantastic job on the decals.


Even better, he included an extra page of the decals, which meant that I got a bit of extra flexibility, like using two moons and extra trees.


This helmet will be with us for the next 3-4 months, so I'm glad we love it so much!




Monday, December 8, 2014

Christmastime is Here

Christmas with a baby...


Everything takes about 4 times a long to accomplish, 


but is a million times as sweet.


This is, hands down, my favorite time of year, and it's so fun to start new family traditions. 


I really enjoyed sharing all the ornaments with Evan and telling him their stories, even though he's too young to really understand.


We've been listening to holiday music almost non-stop, and the boys have even been creating their own. 


Our tree may be a good 4 feet shorter than last year, but it's just as perfect and pretty as it's always been. 


Yes, Christmastime is here, and it is wonderful.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Sedona: Little Horse Trail

This was probably my favorite Sedona hike to date.


I wanted to find a hike that wasn't too challenging, but that would give us some great views.


Little Horse trail definitely didn't disappoint.


It was a four mile out and back trail that would take us to the Church of the Holy Cross, a beautiful building built into the rocks.


Evan was in a great mood, and happy to be riding along with his daddy. 


In less than a mile, we got our first view of the church, which I was happy to see wasn't too far up the rock face. For some reason my recollection was that the church was up pretty high, so I was glad that there wouldn't be too much elevation gain in our future.


Predictably, the little boy fell asleep about halfway through the outbound journey. 


We really enjoyed the views - the rock formations were just spectacular.


Sometimes hiking in Sedona makes you feel like you're on another planet.


Soon the trail brought us right up against the rocks, and the church suddenly felt a lot closer.


Once we arrived at the church, we "hiked" up the church pathway to the building itself.


And after a little over an hour, we were there!


The church was much small than I'd always imagined, but it was pretty special to finally see the inside. And the views couldn't be beat.


We stopped for a quick snack break,


After which we had a much happier little boy :)


We took a few last moments to soak in the amazing view.


And, Ed humored me asking someone to take a family picture of all of us.


And then it was time to head back down again. Evan slept the whole way back, and Ed and I got to enjoy a wonderful hike, talking just like we used to, but with the added happiness of having our sweet little boy along for the ride.


Perfect end to a perfect birthday celebration. Happy 34th, honey!