one year.

on august 18th, my baby boy turned one year old. one.entire.year.old. i can't believe it! this has, by far, been the best year of my life.

md, you have changed the game. my life has been made so incredible because of you. you are amazing. in each and every way and i've never had more fun. ever.

your ONE YEAR stats:

weight: 19 lbs - 5-10%
height: 29 3/4 inches - 50%
head: 18.5 - 50%

you aren't a big guy, but you sure are a cute one. you take after both daddy and i. we were small babies too.

we've been living with mamo and pa for a few months because we've moved back to san angelo and are still trying to sell our house in san antonio. you love them! they love you too! it's fun to see you getting so close to some of your family.

you stopped nursing completely about 3 weeks before your birthday. it was wonderful and sad all at the same time. you're such a big boy though. you sleep through the night. your bedtime isn't as exact as it used to be, but you still sleep from about 8:30-8am. the bad side of that is that you've started fighting your second nap. you aren't that big, little boy. :)

you crawl everywhere, stand, pull up on things and have started taking steps. you will really only walk to mamo or me though. we don't mind. :)

you've also started randomly throwing up. :/ we don't like it, but you don't seem to be too bothered by it. it usually comes after some coughing. you just have a sensitive gag reflex, the doctor says. it's gobs of fun. not. what is fun, though, is that one time, you threw up on daddy and he was frozen still. you actually made him throw up a little bit too. made mommy laugh!! oh, i'll probably tell that story your whole life long.

you say words: mama, dada, mamo, jules, dog, laney, hi!, bye-bye, i love you, boo (tthhhh), diaper (die-do) and tickle (ducka, ducka, ducka, ducka).

you make the cutest scrunched up-sniffy nose face ever. you do it any time someone does it to you, someone laughs with a nose-sniffy sound, or you want attention. it's the cutest thing ever.

you patty-cake.

you eat everything you see, but you have a special place in your heart for bread. like whoa.

you give the dogs their treats.

you carry your diapers to the trash.

you still love bathtime and love to drink milk from bottles.

you, absolutely, love ellie and grayson.

you wave bye-bye and blow kisses.

you steal my heart every second of every day. i am so very proud that you are my son. i love you like crazy, md.

9 months

your ninth month of life has been fun. i think each new month is my favorite.

you chose today, your bday to start crawling forward!!! you've been going backwards and sideways for a long time. today you just took off like you've been doing it for ages. so cute! you've also been pulling up on everything like crazy. ottomans, tables, mama's legs...whatever! daddy and i are both so proud of you. i'm sure our life is only getting more crazy from here.

you talk a lot. you laugh a lot. you point and smile and giggle. your daddy is quickly becoming your most favorite person. if he puts you down and walks away, you cry and cry. i'll take this chance to remind you that boys are supposed to be "mama's boys". i do and will continue to fully expect you to conform to that stereotype. i'll also teach you this very important saying, "if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." keep that in mind, my love.

you still give super sweet kisses. sometimes you even give them without being asked for one. cutie! you love to kiss my nose. which, you know is a nose, btw. when asked, "where is mama's nose?" you point to it with your little finger. smart guy!

your nine month stats:
weight: 18.6 lbs - 50%
height: 28 3/4 inches - 50%
head circumference: 18 1/4 inches -75%

totally in awe of your daddy. you watch him wherever he goes.

gettin' ready to move forward!

following in the footsteps of your cousin, gray, you love playing with spoons and tupperware.

you're starting early in your love for electronics. if my computer is open, you're going for it.

we've spent some good time at mamo's and you are completely in love with her.

bathtime is still fun. especially now that you get to sit up all by yourself. such a big boy!

we love you and are looking forward to a lifetime more of this!

8 months old

well, today you are 8, EIGHT!, months old. i can't believe it. i think each new month with you is my favorite.

right now you are so super duper fun! you laugh a lot. you smile all the time. you sit so well and are in the beginning stages of crawling. if you see a toy you want, or your mama, you lean over and reach as far as you can without falling over. sometimes, you go all the way to your belly and finally kick your legs out behind you. ah! so sweet. sometimes i sit you in a certain spot only to return and find you a foot or two away. hmmm...wonder how you do that you little scooter you.

although you've loved it for some time, you've finally figured out what your jumparoo is for. well, almost. you're not full out jumping yet, but you finally have some leg bounce and sway going.

you got a new highchair from our friends, mike and angela, just a couple of weeks ago. you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner there. you're most favorite thing to do in that chair though, is throw things to the floor and then look for them. fruit and oatmeal for breakfast, a fruit/veggie mix for lunch, and a meat/veggie dinner with a veggie side for dinner. you can eat. plus-you love to sample what we're eating or eat your puffs all by yourself. when you're hungry and whiny you say, "mama...mama...."

you've been waving bye-bye for a while now and it's just so stinkin' awesome! of course, you never do it when i'm trying to show you off. you pooter.

if you want someone special, you reach your little arms towards them as far as you can. melts my heart into a big ol' puddle, i'll tell you what.

your sleep schedule seems to change quite a bit and that drives me crazy. don't you know i thrive on schedules and consistency?! geez. for now, you have returned to napping twice a day. 10:30am and 2:30pm each for 1.5-2 hours. unless, of course, your dad is watching you. then you sleep for like...oh, i don't know...a year. seriously, if you're gonna nap for 3.5 hours for your second nap of the day, do it when i'm home and can nap with you. don't let daddy think i have the easiest day on the planet. i thought you were supposed to be on my side. anyway, you still have a bath before bed each night unless something totally messes with the schedule and you're up really late. i put you down at 8pm and you sleep until about 8am, still waking at 5am to eat. i think i could probably train you to cut out that feeding, but it's my favorite. you nurse longer than you do during the day and then you cuddle with me while i hold you in the rocking chair. gosh, i love you son.

you show excitement by clenching your fists, tightening your whole body and letting go with a ...war cry?...low, belly shriek?...grunt...i don't even know what to call it. it's great! you're great! :)

i almost forgot your kiss! for a couple of months now you kiss on request. aunt sarah compares it to a little birdie asking for food from it's mama. it's open mouth but oh so sweet. occasionally you'll kiss me without me asking for it. sigh...be still my heart.

happy 8 months baby, i love you!

proud of your new "elevated" position in the house.

and tonight, in honor of your 8 month bday, some birthday suit pics of your first independent sitting bath in the kitchen sink.

look at those arm muscles. seriously, what baby has muscles like that?!

the money shot.

8 months in your rocker. gettin' big!

you're so cute when you're excited!

month 7

you, my darling child, are more than half a year old, now. whew. it's been a whirlwind. a beautiful, crazy, nonstop whirlwind.


at 7 months, you love baby mum mum's. they're a rice cracker that you love to feed yourself. i look at you in your chair eating your cracker and you smile the biggest smile. i think you are very proud of your independence. so cute! you eat everything else i offer you too. one of your other favs is sucking on a slice of apple, with supervision of course. you also drink water from mine or daddy's glass with excitement. i got you your first sippy cup the other day and you love it! you haven't mastered the art of holding it, tipping it and drinking from it all at the same time yet, but you'll get it.


you're great a sitting up and playing with your toys. you still have the occasional tip over but with great aim. your head usually lands perfectly on top of a hard and hurtful toy. :/

the best attempt you could give me at crawling...ha!

you've been taking one nap a day. ONE NAP A DAY! it's been a good 2.5-3.5 hour nap, but still...ONE NAP A DAY! nighttime is usually 8pm-8:30am with a wake-up-and-eat intermission at 5am. not so bad darling boy, not so bad.

as we've expanded your eating repertoire, you've started to get a tiny bit picky. well, honestly you still eat just about everything offered to you. you've just started to not love peas. you also hate chicken noddle and mac and cheese. i'm sure you'll like the adult version later, but the stuff out of that jar is just apparently gross! you love everything else though!

one thing i really love about you right now is how excited you get over the small things. for instance, if i'm holding you and walk up to the hutch above your dresser, you look at it with such excitement. you start kicking your legs, reaching out, grinning and breathing hard. it is so cute!

some adjectives i'd use to describe you right now: super-duper sweet, flirty, cute, mamattached, blond, tall, skinny, fun-loving, laid back, curious, and so many more.

going for a walk in the great outdoors.

and boy, do you love your mamo. i'm pretty sure she loves you too.

happy month 7, my baby. you make life worth living.

half a year old!

i cannot, cannot, cannot believe you are SIX MONTHS OLD! holy cow! where has time gone?!

month 6 has been great fun.

you sit, you eat all kinds of baby food, you L.O.V.E. your drool towel. it has the same calming effect as your sassie. you still love bathtime, you love your own bed, you love singing, snapping and clapping (all done by mama or daddy, of course). your favorite song is "the abc's". you usually kiss me when i ask for one and you shake your head no. although, you don't know what on earth that word means. you smile at anyone who talks to you and giggle at the super special people. you've had a sort of attachment to me this month and sometimes cry when you see me leave the room. you've spent your first two stays in the nursery at church and do great there. people still comment on how deep your eyes are. it seems you look much deeper than surface level. wowzers.

you sleep from 9pm - 9am with a short wake-up for eating between 5 & 6am. when you fall asleep after nursing in the middle of the night, i just pick you up and hold you for a long time. these days, you don't really sleep unless you're in your bed so i don't often get the chance to hold you. i soak up those quiet, still times in the rocker in your room. they are so sweet and i know they'll be gone all too soon. i love you, child.

6 month stats:

height: 27.5 inches - 75%
weight: 15 lbs - 20%
head circum: 44.5 cm - 50%

all that to say: you're a tall, skinny guy with a cute tush!
well, the stats don't say that, but i do!

first pic of the post:

your birthday suit!

look at that hiney!

this isn't the first time you've cut yourself with your super sharp nails, but it's definitely the most visible. ouch! no matter what i do to those nails, they're sharp little boogers!

cute when you cry...

and when you sit.

your 6 month rocking chair picture. gosh, you're getting big!

and curious.

month 5

i've been working forever on your 5 month slideshow, michael david. it's killin' me!! i usually like to post individual pictures but being so far behind has kept my posting motivation to a minimum. i figured i'd upload slideshows of your past two months and move right along. your 6th month post is due in 14 days! :( i finally had to put the pics in two different slideshows and post them both on here. whew. i finally got them both made and saved (after 4 attempts and hours of frustration).

your fifth month of life has been so so fun for me! we celebrated your first christmas in which santa brought you a blue bumbo. sitting in that thing is just about your most favorite thing. you also started to love your play mat. you pull toys towards you all the time. you love to chew on your burp towel (which is more often used for your excessive amounts of drool). if you so much as glimpse the towel near you, you grab it, pull it to you and stick it in your mouth. it's pretty cute.

your hair has really started growing back in and it's a beautiful blond color. it looks amazing with your incredible blue eyes. jenny explained them perfectly when she said they looked so "textured". man, they just take my breath away sometimes. i put your hair in a mo hawk. it's stinkin' adorable.

your bedtime routine has been the same for as long as i can remember: bath, eat, swaddle, bed. all i have to do is put you in bed and you fall asleep on your own. you stay asleep until around 4 or 5. i feed you then and you go back to sleep until around 9am. sometimes it's earlier, sometimes later. it's nice. you also take great naps in your bed. you're like your mama, i guess. give me my bed and my fan and i'm happy. the best part of you sleeping, though, is when you wake in the mornings. the monitor in my room starts lighting up as you start talking to yourself. you entertain yourself with squeaks and giggles. you squawk and squeal, and twist your head back and forth. when daddy or i finally sneak up to your room and turn off your music and fan, you get so quiet. we peak over the side of your crib, you look around for just a second before your eyes meet ours. you break into the sweetest smile in the world. oh, md, we are so in love with you.

update on sleep: the past 4 nights, you've been going to bed at 9pm. you sleep until 5 or 6. you eat and go back to sleep until around 10am. my fingers are crossed that you just keep getting better at sleep. :)

oh sorry, back to christmas...we met the family in san angelo for christmas. with us, pa, mamo, uncle lando, aunt sarah, ellie, gray, uncle mattie, aunt mush, laney and jules, we had a pretty full house. we happened to open presents right at your nap time. you were swaddled and sleepy while daddy held you and i helped you open presents. you were much happier in your bed just a little while later.

your aunt mush has some kind of magic power over you. one afternoon, we were getting ready to head to town. she was holding you under your arms, sort of up in the air. your bottom was sitting on her chest and she had this little bump and sway thing going. i looked up at you and you were ASLEEP!!! you were hanging in the air, your head limply hanging down. you were so content with her bump and sway. also, one night i was exhausted (that week you were not sleeping well at all!) and fell asleep after i fed you. daddy had taken you out to hang with the family and i stayed passed out in the bed. you were very fussy and mamo told aunt mush to work her magic. she swaddled you, picked you and up and i don't know how, but you somehow ended up asleep in your bed in the room with me. i never woke up and you slept pretty well that night. she's amazing and i'm trying to convince her and uncle mattie to hurry and give you more cousins! :)

while we were in san angelo, you had your first tastes of something other than milk. your aunt sarah fed you rice cereal while you sat in your bumbo. you did so good! you LOVED it. i knew you'd been ready to eat something for a while. every time i ate something, you stared at the food with such focus. you watched the spoon or fork all the way to my mouth and back to the plate. you watched daddy and i drink anything. you were super ready! when we got home i tried other foods like green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots and butternut squash. you love them all! after we got through all the veggies that you did well with, we tried pears, applesauce, prunes (...ahem...) peaches (they aren't your favorite) and bananas. you are an amazing eater. uh...you must get that from your daddy...hehe:)

you are an awesome baby! you are so happy to be out and about or play with mama at home. i think you may be getting a little attached to me because you cry when i leave the room sometimes; however, our friends said that little attachment thing happens first around 6 months. you're there! you've also started teething a little more. when i first started trying to look in your mouth, you would turn your head and cry. with a little positive reinforcement, you now open up wide and giggle. you are so proud that you are making me happy and you think you play quite well at our game. smartie pants! when daddy comes home from work, your eyes twinkle and you stare at him with such awe. i think you wanna be just like him when you grow up. i'll be one lucky woman, for sure.

you love jules and she's even started letting you "pet" her in your way. you watch her at every opportunity.

i almost forgot...you're sitting! yes, for a few weeks now, you've been doing this perpetual sit-up thing. it's hilarious. while laying on your back, you lift your head and shoulders off the ground and do a sit up. you hold it forever. you have some pretty strong stomach muscles! i've tried sitting you up several times and you handle it well for a few seconds. you get excited and topple over. jenny came to see us this past weekend and would sit you up and play with a toy up in front of you. you would watch that toy high in the air and sit. even when she put that toy down, you'd sit. you're doing great. you love her too, btw. you little flirt. no matter where jenny went in the house, your eyes followed her. you would sit in the chair with her and lay your head against her. you'd just cuddle away, which you don't normally do. in fact, when you started laying your head on mine or daddy's shoulder just a few weeks ago, we got so excited! you love jenny and she definitely loves you too!

you're a sweet, growing boy and we love you dearly!

month 4

my computer has been broken so i am just posting your past two months of life. month 4 was a good month for you, md.

the most noticeable accomplishment in your fourth month of life was your new found hatred of your once beloved swing. your first three months of life were full of sweet, swaddled naps in that precious swing. hours were spent there. then...one tragic day, you cried and arched your back as soon as i placed you in there. i left you there for a bit, hoping you would remember your love for the swing. as your body slid lower and lower, i realized you would not. you never felt the same way again. the swing was moved upstairs and was replaced by a jumparoo. you love the independence of standing on your own, supported of course. your nap spot was switched to your bed. that's the good news. you sleep in your bed quite well. i put you down and you fall asleep on your own. sometimes, after a little conversation with yourself. it's too cute!

after a brief digression of forgetting to roll over, you came to your senses and picked it up again. you rolled from back to front and front to back. however, you so prefer back to front that sometimes you get to your tummy and forget how to get back over. man, do you get mad.

you experienced your first thanksgiving. you must have been a little bored because you slept right through the whole meal. you did enjoy your time with greg and sascha though.

you love your mama and daddy bunches. you also, love your pa, mamo and aunts and uncles on the henry side. you still haven't had the opportunity to meet your daddy's brother and sisters, but we're hoping sometime soon. you delight us all with the sound of your giggle. sweet boy.

you were the man at your 4 month appt and stopped crying very shortly after your 3 immunizations. as daddy held you, you acted as if nothing had happened. strong boy. :) your stats for the month were:

weight: 13 lbs 10 oz, 30th%
height: 26.5 inches, 95th%
head circumference: 42.5 cm, no clue what % that is

love you baby boy.