7 months update

Sam turned 7 months on September 5th. During this month, he started officially babbling with baby noises, but also kept the pterodactyl screeches. He tried some more solid food like avocado, steamed carrots, bananas, pasta, and mashed pouches of food combinations. He started holding on when we were holding him. Sam continued to enjoy playing sitting up, often with his boppy behind him. He played with his piano walker and in the exersaucer, as well. He mastered spinning from sitting up to down on his stomach. He found his feet and loves holding and bringing them to his mouth.



He had his first beach day on August 26th. We arrived midday and while he liked the sand alright, and seemed most indifferent to the water, he did not care for the surprise of waves. He took a hot nap under an umbrella and we headed home. His other big trip of the month was to visit his Great Grandmommy with his cousin Isaac. Sam had two teeth break through 2 days before turning 7 months. He also started to army crawl and giggle at the dogs. It's adorable. Lastly, with the arrival of his teeth, he started playing with his tongue more. It seems like he will be able to roll his tongue and flip it over. 

 Sam loves being read to by his daddy, in particular.

And, of course, we have our monthly picture!

And here are a couple outtakes from Kristin's photo session.  Sam tends to go after the sticker on the chair, unless of course we try to stop him...

6 months update

On August 5th, Sam turned 6 months old.  It's been a fun month and he continues to change all the time.  He continues to love the dogs and "talk" to them in his high pitch screeches.

 

At 6 months, Sam had already grown out of nearly all of his 3-6 month clothes.  He was wearing mostly 6 month, 6-9 month or even 6-12 month.  He was still very smiley and active.  One of the funniest things we noticed was the new faces he started making.  This is just one of our favorites.

 

6 months was also a milestone because Sam started sleeping primarily in his Pack'n'Play in preparation for the crib someday. No matter where he sleeps, he still tends to wake up a couple times a night trying to eat.  It's a work in progress.  K and I also discovered that, like so many kids out there, our boy sometimes likes the box more than whatever toy actually came inside.
 

Sam started to try out rice cereal and other solid foods like Mum Mum bars this month.  It's amazing how much more difficult it can get when he tries to "help," but we're learning.

Our little boy did have a 6 months appointment.  We got his measurements again while K showed off her skills keeping a very tired Sam happy.  A very short morning nap and shots is a rough combination for a 6 month old it turns out.  Not to mention the fact that they didn't have the normal combo shot and Sam was giving an oral vaccine as well as 5 separate shots in his thighs.  Here was his 6 month numbers:

Height: 27 inches (67%)              Weight: 19 lbs 8.4 oz (85%)              Head Circ.: 17.75 inches (93%)

Sam also came to our tournament in Winston Salem.  He was very good playing under the tent most of the day.  With the help of his trusty Boppy, he was able to sit and play with his toys all by himself for a good while and even took a good nap or two!  And of course, we'll leave you with his latest monthly photo:

 

5 months...finally

Ok, so it's been awhile.  Apparently blogging isn't your first priority after you become a parent...who knew?  This is just a quick recap of the last few months.  We'll start with month 5.

So no appointment this month.  Sam has started sitting up for short periods of time.  We usually use the Boppy to help him out a little.  He is still really interested in most dogs and often tries to "communicate" with them.  This communication is usually a bunch of really high pitched screeches.  He also really enjoys trying to blow raspberries.  The only other noticeable change was that he really became aware of faces in June.  If anyone picked him up, he would start playing with their mouth or nose.  And of course, here is our monthly pic of our little man:

And of course, here are his previous months to compare:

 

 

4 months

Our little boy is getting so big! 

  

He turned 4 months old last week and we headed back to the doctors office.  We got his measurements and then it was time for the dreaded shots.  Luckily Sam was only upset for a few minutes afterwards.  Having his mom there to pick him up right away certainly helped a bit.  These were his measurements:

Height: 25.75 inches (79%)          Weight: 16 lbs 15.4 oz (81%)          Head Circ.: 17 inches (91%)

Last week, we also got to see our friend Melanie and her daughter Micah.  Micah is only 3 weeks older than Sam, and it was obvious they hit it off right away!

As of right now, Sam absolutely loves to smile.  He is an extremely happy baby first thing in the morning.  He still wears size 2 diapers, is already wearing 6 month clothes, and has already grown out of size 2 shoes!  He started blowing raspberries this last week and it's really adorable since he hasn't mastered it yet.  It's mostly just blowing lots of small bubbles while making an "ooooo" noise.  Sam's eyes are still mostly blue, and he's getting a little more hair on the sides of his head now.  He's definitely getting stronger and tries to exert his own little will when we hold him.  Sam still likes to nap in his swing during the days, and sleeps in his rocker at night, only waking up one time somewhere between 2-5am.  He's definitely starting to notice the dogs and seems to recognize people he spends alot of time with, namely his grandparents (especially Mimi).  Last week, Sam also finally had the opportunity to meet his great-grandparents on Joey's side!  We also went to family dinner last Thursday where he met Kristin's cousin Ted and was able to hang out with her Grandmommy again.  For those keeping track, we'll leave you with his 4 month picture(s):

And previous months:

3 months

Our little Samuel turned 3 months on Sunday, and is 13 weeks old today!

He's moving from 3 month size clothes to 3-6 month, and is finishing up his size 1 diapers to move into size 2. He averages 6 diapers a day. At his 2 month appointment he weighed 13lbs 13oz (84%), was 23.25 inches long (62%), and his head circumference was 15.8 in (81%). We estimate that he's getting close to 16 lbs at this point.  

Last Monday April 28 at my (Kristin) Bible Study he rolled on the floor from his stomach to his back during tummy time. He has done it a few more times since then. His cradle cap has greatly improved (with anti-dandruff shampoo and using a comb. The first time I used the comb, it was really scary! It felt like I was scalping him). He continues to lose some of his hair, mostly in the sides of his head. For a while his top hair would stand up and give him a little baby-hawk. It also looks a little lighter in color. He'll occasionally reach up and grab his own hair. While I hold him, he likes to hold on to my hair for support, although he doesn't really pull it. Sam likes to be held a lot, but will play in his playgym, swing, bouncer, and bumbo. He makes more ooo noises, and more recently while he's nursing, which is kinda funny. He still likes to be bounced or be moving a lot. He enjoys standing all wombly like on legs. He kicks more than he grabs, but he's starting to hold onto a few toys. We can tell he continues to grow, get a little stronger, and smile and watch people a little more. His cousin #2, Isaac, was born yesterday :). We can't wait to get the 3 amigos together!

Here are the best couple pictures from our 3 month shoot (we'll pick the winner later):

And previous months:

Weeks 2-7 (In Review)

   So it's been a busy couple of months since Samuel entered our lives.  Luckily, I was able to get time off for a majority of the first few weeks, but it has certainly been an adjustment.  At first, Sam was waking up every 2-3 hours.  He slept for a couple 4 hour spans by the end of the first month.  Since then, he's actually slept for 6 hours a couple times.  Kristin generally wakes up to feed him at least once, if not twice a night.  We had so many friends and family come to visit us during those first few weeks.  Several of them brought really good food with them, as well.

Sam really likes to sleep in Kristin's arms.  He's spent a few whole nights in his rocker, but has spent several more sleeping safely held by his mom.  We've had a few days of seemingly non-stop crying, but one of those also lead to his best night of sleep yet at the time so we try to find the silver lining.  Most of the clothes he's been wearing recently were so generously lent to us by our friends the Snokes and Defishers.  It's such a blessing to have friends willing to help us out and provide clothes and good advice.

  A few weekends ago, we got to take Sam to his first wedding.  His Uncle Mike married Kirksey Ervin in Morganton, NC and the wedding was so much fun.  Sam only fussed once during the ceremony, but Kristin moved so fast when he started that hardly anyone noticed.  A quick change later and we were all back in time to watch the new bride and groom make their way down the aisle.  It was so great to see so much family during the occasion.










This week, we got a big surprise.  Sam's cousin Ian was born on March 25th at the same hospital where we had been just last month.  Even though Sam was only a little heavier when he was born, Ian just seemed so small!  It really made it easy to see how much our little boy had grown in the past 7 weeks.  Anyways, that's all for now, but I'll add a few more pictures.  Oh yeah, did I mention he's finally starting to smile!  Kristin says it's just a "social smile," and he doesn't actually think I'm funny, but I don't know... :)