9 Months Old!

Dear Michael,

 

Today you are 9 months old!   You are growing up right in front of our eyes!  You are still the happiest baby I know and I couldn’t be more proud to be your Mommy!  Your Daddy and I laugh every day at the silly things you do and we rejoice when you achieve new milestones. 

 

Here are some of the high-lights from this month:

 

 

Sizes: 

 

·       Clothes: You comfortably wear size 12 month and 18 month clothes.  I can still snap a 9-month onesie, but we’re cutting it pretty close.    For PJs now, we’ve moved beyond the typical “jammie” footie sets and now I pretty much dress you in a t-shirt and loose pants.  It’s warm enough down here now that it’s ok if your arms are bare at nighttime.  You wear a Halo brand sleep sack to bed (size X-large for growing room!) and this is a 100% cotton sleeve-less wearable blanket that keeps you just warm enough. 

·       Diapers:  During the day, you wear Kirkland Signature size 4 diapers, and at nighttime you wear size 4 Huggies Overnights—this is a fabulous diaper and it does a phenomenal job!

 

Milestones:

·       Furniture cruising

·       Rapid crawler (you are so very fast!)

·       Super-fast speed racer in the walker!

·       You can easily pull yourself to stand

·       Your bottom two teeth are officially in & gleaming and are very noticeable to others!

·       You can say “Buh-buh” and wave “bye-bye”

 

Eating:

 

·       You eat three meals a day:  Oatmeal for breakfast, a fruit for lunch, and a meat/veggie combo for dinner.  Your snacks include Puffs broken into teeny-tiny pieces (we’ve had a couple choking incidents and your poor Mommy’s heart can’t take it.  So, we break the star-shaped Puffs into 5 or 6 pieces so that choking is a non-issue.  I still think you might end up being the only kid in kindergarten who brings a lunch consisting of baby food!)  We also give you ice cubes and fruit chunks in your mesh teether. 

·       You are able to drink water and diluted juice from a sippy cup.  You find it easiest to get water and juice out of the travel sippy cups (without all the fancy valves). 

 

Favorite Foods: Banana and mixed berry  or apple/pear/banana combo.

 

Least Favorite Food:  Baby food chicken by itself.  We pair this with a veggie in order to get you to eat it without making a terrible face!  

 

Favorite Toys (that you’re supposed to have): 

·       Steering wheel/dashboard toy:  You LOVE LOVE LOVE to press the horn.  This toy says “Beep! Beep! Out of the way!” when the horn is pressed.  I’m not sure I’m too fond of it.  I believe it’s teaching road rage at an early age.

·       Green car at Grandma Chip’s house:  Once again, you’re a horn honker!  You will lean with one arm out of the car, and honk the horn with your other hand.  Somebody’s been watching Daddy drive.

·       Winnie the Pooh laptop at Grandma Dana’s house: This toy has remained a favorite for months!  You especially like to pull the butterfly button to hear the whooshing sound.

·       Walk-behind Musical Station from Grandpa Mike:  Although you can’t walk behind this yet, you stand in front of it and mash all of the musical buttons.  You treat us to beautiful music every day.

 

Favorite Toys (that you’re not supposed to have):

·       Remote controls

·       Cell Phones

 

Favorite Toys (that you think you’re not supposed to have):

·       Wireless Computer Keyboard

·       Random plastic plates, and measuring cups, and dishtowels

·       Shallow cardboard box that we placed in the living room.  You crawl in and out of it and put your toys in it! 

 

Favorite Things that are not Toys:

·       Your pup-pup Akuna.  You love to feel his soft fur!

·       Grandma Chips’ dog, Delilah.  You practice saying her name “Wi-wuh!” over and over and over.  I remind you that “Delilah lives at Grandma Chips’ house.” 

·       Burp cloths.  You choose to snuggle with these soft little blankets during your naptimes and at bedtime.  We call them the “Mommy blankies” because we use them during feedings, so they smell like Mommy.

You recently started throwing back your head when you laugh and it's SO funny!  It totally cracks me up! 

You get a little over-zealous sometimes when you practice waving "bye-bye" and you rapidly swoosh your arm while your eyes get really big!  I say "fastfastfastfastfast!" when you do this and you laugh.

You are quite the charmer!  You will give "googly-eyes" at cashiers, and my co-workers, and to family members!  You give a little coy smile when I see you giving "googly-eyes" and it's so cute!


I love you so very much!  You are such a sweet baby and it's an absolute joy to be your Mommy!  Your Daddy and I just LOVE being your parents! 

I love you forever, Little One.  Love, your Mommy


*Pictures to come!  (My phone has reached it's full capacity on picture storage, so I have to rearrange some pictures and move some pictures to the computer so that I can take more pictures and put them on here!)  

 

8 and a Half Months Old

*Sorry this post is a bit late.  We've been slightly distracted around our home for the last couple weeks.  (More to come on that later).  Michael turned 8 months old on April 28, 2013.  This post was actually written on that day, but it took me this long to upload it.  :)

Dear Little Michael,

Today you are 8 months old!  I absolutely can’t believe it!  J

 

You are so so SO fun to be with!  You are developing the sweetest, funniest personality and your Daddy and I love every single minute with you!

 

This month, you’ve tried some new things and have achieved some more milestones.  Here’s a little recap:

 

Sizes:  This is actually a little tricky.  You still fit into size 3 diapers (and depending on the brand, they either fit quite well, or they resemble a skimpy swim suit bottom).  In an effort to be frugal, we are using up the last of our Kirkland Signature brand size 3 diapers  (an awesome diaper brand, by the way) and we are also making use of some leftover size 3 diapers that your Grandma Dana had in stock for you.  We will use these size 3 diapers during the daytime until we run out of them.  We went to Costco yesterday and bought Kirkland Signature size 4 diapers for you to wear during the daytime once we exhaust our size 3 supply (approximately 25 size 3 diapers remain).  At nighttime, I splurge and put a size 4 LUVs diaper on you because supposedly “Luv’s Don’t Leak.”  However, *insert throat clearing sound here* we’ve had some early morning leak throughs which have required a diaper change, PJ change, and sleep sack change.  So…. We’ll use the remaining LUVs we have for nighttime diapers until they run out (approximately 8 LUVs diapers remain), and then we’ll switch you into the Kirkland Signature size 4 diapers and we’ll give them their moment to shine.  If we find that they don’t hold up as well as the LUVs for overnight diaper-wearing, then we’ll invest in some more LUVs—maybe size 5 and we’ll keep on rolling.  J

As for clothes, you fit comfortably in size 12 months onesies.  This is due to your LONG torso!  Your waist is still small and you can still wear size 6-9 month pants (which you don’t have very many of, but we use what we have). J  You can still fit into size 9 month onesies, but it’s a little hard to snap them since their length is almost not long enough to cover your whole torso and snap around your diaper.  (PS, how’d you like all the added emphasis in that sentence, huh?) J  For PJs, you fit into 12 month and 18 month footie pajamas.   Your feet are actually getting a little too big to fit into the 12 month footie part of the pajamas.  So, I will be doing some strategic removal of the little bootie parts of PJs in order for you to get some more mileage out of the actual pajama part of the outfit. 

 

Eating:  This month, we’ve tried some Stage 2 ½ from Beechnut baby foods.  The stage 2 ½ foods have a slight texture to them.  You have enjoyed some of the new flavors like Banana and Mixed Berry (that one is actually quite fabulous).  You did not enjoy some of the more odd flavors like Corn and Green Peppers (I can’t blame ya, kid.)  J  We have tried some new “snacks” in your mesh-teether food holder.  (For all the readers who don’t know what this is, it’s a little mesh sack that is attached to a little plastic handle that Michael can hold onto and try new foods.  The mesh allows him to gnaw on the food which aids him in his teething process.  The mesh also allows me to feel comfortable giving him a snack, knowing that it’s being essentially pureed through the mesh—meaning he won’t get too big of a bite and risk choking (which is a total fear of mine). )  So far, this month, you have tried a small slice of frozen peach, a chunk of honeydew, a piece of ripe banana, and a baby-teething cookie.  You have enjoyed all of these snacks!  You gnaw on it a little bit, then you wave it around in the air, then you gnaw on it some more, and you always grin in the process! J

 

Sleeping:  You still wake up once a night.  Last week, that was upped to 2 times a night for 2 or 3 nights when you were going through some teething pains.  Your Daddy and I are attempting to get you to sleep through the night.  I will be glad when this happens!  But, I really don’t mind getting up and rocking you while you nurse in the middle of the night.  It’s extra bonding time as far as I’m concerned.  Howeverrrrr, it would be nice to get a few nights of good resting—for both you and me.  J

 

Napping:  During the weekdays, your naps can be hit or miss and this is totally ok!  During your weekdays, there’s a lot of stuff going on and you never like to go down for a nap without a fight! Some days, you convince yourself that you really can stay awake and keep playing with toys until you get your second wind! J  You usually end up taking a morning nap and a shorter afternoon nap.  Once your Daddy and I come home from work, you cuddle up against whichever one of us is holding you, then you stick your thumb in your mouth and grab your blankie with your free hand and you hum to yourself.  It’s at this time, that we will put you in your crib and after less than 5 minutes of louder humming mixed with some tired whimpers, you are asleep!  This evening nap can last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half!  On Saturdays and Sundays, you are still a nap king.  Sometimes, you take 3 or4 naps a day on the weekends!  Like Mommy and Daddy, you take the opportunity of the weekends to unwind and recharge.  J

 

Favorite toys and past-times:

·         Baby Einstein Activity Balls—you bang them together and chase after them if they roll away from you!

·         Fisher Price Musical walk-behind toy—Although you cannot push it and walk behind it yet, you sit in front of it and create beautiful songs by banging on the saxophone, guitar, and piano buttons and turning the pages of the music book. J

·         Baby Einstein Piano—you still love this toy—so much so that we actually had to change out the batteries on it because you play with it so much!  You love to press the instrument buttons.  You pick one (violin, piano, or horn) and you keep pressing that same button until either your Daddy or I say “Son, pick a different button.”  J  Because all we hear is “vi-vi-vio-vi-vi-vi-vio-violin.”  J

·         Your Winnie the Pooh laptop.  You crawl straight for this toy at your Grandma Dana’s house and I say “Are you gonna do some work on your laptop?” and you smile as Pooh says “Colors and shapes and numbers too…”

·         Hanging out with your uncles!  You LOVE to be around them and they can always get you to smile in the blink of an eye!

·         You LOVE going for walks in your stroller!  You wiggle your toes to feel the breeze and you would rather remove your hat than leave it on.  This means, when you go for walks in your stroller, you have to be lathered up with sunscreen since socks and hats never stay on too long. J

 

Milestones:

·         You are a lightning fast crawler now! 

·         You can pull yourself up to stand! 

·         You attempt (sometimes) to take a couple steps.  You have learned to land on your bottom, since you’re not quite ready to walk.  This is fine with me!  I wasn’t expecting you to be so mobile so soon!  J

 

Every day and every stage is my favorite! I love seeing you grow and learn and play!  You are such a joy and your Daddy and I are so very pleased and blessed to be your parents!

 

 

*Pictures to come soon!

7 Months

March 28, 2013

Dear Michael,

You are seven months old!  I can’t even believe it!  You are sweeter than ever and it’s such a joy to be your Mommy!  When I’m at work, I count down the hours until I get to come home again and be with you and your Daddy and puppy!  Sometimes after you go to sleep at night, I’ll look at all the pictures of you on my phone and I think about going in your nursery and waking you up to play some more because you’re just too cute for words and so much fun to be around! 

I am so thrilled and so blessed to be your mommy.  You are my sweet bitty boo and I love you to pieces. 

 

This month, here are some of your “stats” (P.S., I’m borrowing some of this template from your Aunt B.)  J

Favorite toys/pastimes: 

 

• Baby Einstein Piano
• Pop-up toy
• Baby Einstein activity balls
• Winnie the Pooh "laptop
• Engaging in Louisiana Culture (ie, watching Duck Dynasty and Swamp People reruns with Mommy) :)

 

Watching Duck Dynasty

 

Sizes:  Size 3 diapers and size 9 month and 12 month clothes.  You are so long that it’s hard to find footie-pajamas that fit you.  So, you fit best in 12 month PJs, and 9 month onesies and pants. 

 

Eating:  I feed you in the morning sometime between 4:30 and 5:30.  Sometimes you wake me up (that would be the 4:30 time frame), but sometimes it’s the opposite and I wake you up (ha) ;) around 5:30 after I’m finished getting ready for work.  You wake up between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning ready to start your day!  You get a bottle for breakfast.  For lunch, you get a jar of baby food (a fruit of some kind) and a small bottle.  In the afternoons before I get home, you get another bottle.  Then I feed you a little bit after I get home.  You eat half a jar to a whole jar of baby food (usually a veggie or a meat/veggie combo) for dinner.  On most nights after dinner, I put an ice cube in a mesh teether and give that to you to gnaw on while Daddy and I clean up dinner.  I feed you before you go to bed.  You typically wake up once a night (holla!) somewhere between 11:30-2:00, and I feed you a little bit then.

Sleeping:  Well, as mentioned in the paragraph just above this one, you usually wake up just once a night and I am totally okay with that! J  Your bedtime is around 7:30, but you have been so active during the daytime these last several days that you tire yourself out and you end up nodding off around 6:30 while playing with your toys!  It is so funny!  You will be playing with your toys, and then all of a sudden, you’ll lay your head down and put your thumb in your mouth.  You’ll lay quietly for a few seconds, and then you’ll pop back up and bang on your toy piano, or pop-up toy, or rattle to “jolt” yourself back to awake-ness.  But after another 3 minutes or so, you’ll slowly lay your head back down and put your thumb back in your mouth.  Your Daddy and I know to scoop you up, put your PJs on you, and place you in your bed.  If you are super tired, you won’t even protest.  If you’re not as tired, you will usually cry for less than 10 minutes.  On the other nights when you don’t ‘put yourself to bed’, we will get you dressed in your PJs, we’ll read a story, and then tuck you in and zip up your sleep-sack.  We turn on your mobile, and the Twilight Turtle, and the AngelCare (I can’t break myself away from it yet!).  Within 10 minutes, you are safely in Dreamland.  You always wake up so happy and that makes my heart burst with joy!  On the weekends, I try to get a picture of you when you first wake up. 



 

Falling asleep while playing with toys.

 

Waking up on Saturday!

 

 

Waking up on Sunday!

 

 

Naptime:  Naps during the daytime are hit or miss, kinda.  You kinda make up your own nap schedule. For the days during the week when you choose to nap for 30 minutes or less, you make up for on the weekends.  You are a nap King on Saturdays and Sundays!  Maybe it’s because your Daddy and I are in the easy breezy “It’s the weekend” mode, and you sure catch on to it quickly!  This past Saturday and Sunday, I was able to nap while you did and we each got a good hour nap in on both days!  That makes for a happy baby and a really happy mommy!



 

After our nap on Saturday!

 

 



Developmental Milestones:

--You tried your first “Puffs” cereal snack on Saturday!  I was curious as to whether or not you could “pinch” something with your thumb and forefinger so I decided to try your skills out by putting one Puff on your highchair tray.  These cereal snacks dissolve when wet, which makes them ideal for beginner eaters.  You have really been drooling lately as you continue to prepare for the arrival of your teeth—so you have been gnawing like crazy on everything, including your fingers which makes them very slobbery.  Needless to say, by the time you rolled around the Puff in your hand while trying to get  it into your mouth, it was nearly dissolved.  You weren’t quite sure what to make of the texture, but you certainly impressed me with your lightning fast ability to pinch that Puff and grasp it in your hand.  Once the Puff reached your mouth, you mashed down on it with your jaw and I was impressed again!   I had read on the Puffs package that ‘babies should pinch the snack with thumb and forefinger and mash on the snack with their bottom jaw to chew it.’  I was amazed that you could do those things!  You are growing up so fast!

--You made forward motion while in a crawling stance, ie, you crawled forward today for more than one movement!  Your grandparents have been working with you during the daytime, and Daddy and I work with you on the weekends.  Daddy discovered an interesting object for “bait” to get you to crawl—the TV remote!  Your Grandma Chips found another object for “bait” and this is the object she used today to encourage you to crawl for a long distance.  What is that object you ask?  Why, and xbox controller of course!  J  We are so proud of you and your abilities!  I, however, know this means that we will soon be on the chase as you are on the move. J

 

I love you forever and ever, little boy.  You are so sweet and I LOVE LOVE LOVE being your mommy!

I am excited to see you learn new things each day.  Although it’s hard to accept how quickly time slips by, I focus on making sure I live in the moment and appreciate each minute I have with you, and Daddy, and puppy. J  I love you always    Love, Mommy

6 Month Photo Shoot: Wonderful Springtime!

On Monday afternoon and a little bit today after we got home, Michael & I spent some time taking pictures for a Spring photo shoot!  Here are some of my favorite pictures! 

 

Michael can't fit into any pair of shoes that he has (minus the Under-Armour ones, which didn't match our color scheme for these photos) because his baby feet are too big!  So, although I attempted to squish his feet into these cloth shoes, he had other plans in mind.  Before I could even get one picture of him with the shoes on, he had them both off and in his hands!  Then quickly into his mouth as you can see.

 

Michael and Akuna are quickly becoming best buds!

 

Discovering a new sensation:  Grass!

I hope you have enjoyed them!

Much love, Reba

6 Months Old Already?!?

Time flies by so quickly!  I can't believe Little Baby P. is already 6 months old!  We are half-way through his first year!  So so hard to believe!  Michael learns new skills and hones existing skills as each day passes, and it's so fun to watch his progress.  But at the same time, I'm wishing that I could slow down time just for a moment because it's slipping by too quickly. 

Our little happy bundle of joy!

 

Grandma Chips took this picture on the day Michael turned 6 months old (February 28).  Look at all his hair!  I call him "duck head" because his hair is as soft as a baby duck's hair.

 

Happy to be sitting on his own!

 

Such a sweet big boy!

 

This is how I was greeted when I walked into his room on Saturday morning.  He was up in crawling stance and ready for the day's fun to begin!

 

 

Saturday night:  Chillin' out with Dad and Uncle Bryan as they watched a hockey game.

 

Sunday morning on our way to church:  Daddy and Baby share a laugh.  So sweet.

 

In our "big boy" carseat on the way to the doctor's office this morning for our

6-month old check-up.

Michael's 6-month old check-up was today and I took off work to be with him the whole day.  He weighs 19 lbs 6 oz. and is 28 3/4 inches long!  He is in the 90th percentile for weight, the 97% percentile for height and 50% percentile for head-size.  Very proportionate little boy! 

Michael is the King of Baby Pilates and works very hard on strengthening his abs to help him sit up nice and tall.  He LOVES to sit up at home and play with his toys on his "I Spy" quilt that his GG made him.  However, he refused to show off his sitting skills to the doctor today. :(  In fact, he cried and made a fuss when he had to lay on the paper-covered table to be examined.  He knows that with the help of adults, he can apply pressure to his legs and feet and stand-up so that's what he was trying to show the doctor today instead.  He was refusing to bend at the hips to sit down.  But Aaron (who got to come with us today!) was able to get Michael to sit when the doctor briefly stepped out of the room. 

Michael received his set of vaccinations and we also opted to have him get a flu shot.  He is just now old enough to get one, and we figured it is a good idea to be prepared.  With the extra shot thrown in there, that meant he had to get four shots today! :(  Two in each thigh.  But, he has EXCELLENT little chunky thighs for that!  He was a champ with his rotovirus vaccine (given orally), and he let out some cries as he got his shots, but his Mommy, Daddy, and Chicco (his toy monkey) were all right beside him to comfort him. :)  He fell asleep on the way home and Aaron delivered him swiftly to his crib for a nap-- where he is at this moment. :) 

As we've ventured out further and further into the baby-food flavor realm, we've discovered that we have a Beechnut baby rather than a Gerber baby (although he is way totally cuter than the baby on the Gerber jars).  He seems to enjoy the consistency of the Beechnut foods moreso than the textures of the Gerber foods.  Beechnut food is actually a little cheaper than the Gerber brand, so Aaron & I are totally fine with this!  Michael will definitely still eat Gerber food and we still keep some on hand.  It's better for travelling since it comes in plastic containers rather than glass jars like the Beechbut brand does. 

We have added to our repertoire of baby food flavors to include:

• Apples, pears, bananas-- LOVE
• Oatmeal and apples-- LOVE
• Sweet potato and chicken--  LOVE

We have ready in our pantry:  mixed vegetables; sweet potato & turkey;  apricot, pears, bananas;  apples, peaches, kiwi; mixed cereal and apples;  etc.  These will be making their debut this week! 

Michael receives a early morning milk-feeding, then a bottle for breakfast, then a bottle and half a jar of baby food for lunch (either a fruit or a veggie), and a milk-feeding in the afternoon, then half a jar of baby food for dinner (either a fruit, a veggie, or a veggie/meat combo) and a milk-feeding. 

What We're Looking Forward To:

• Mom's Marketplace Consignment Sale!!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this consignment sale!  It happens twice a year in Prattville (in early fall, and in early spring).  I stocked up on some baby clothes back in the fall.  My only problem was that I hung out in the 9-month old baby clothes section and kept picking out clothes in only that size.  Fortunately, Michael is comfortably wearing 9-month old clothes right now, but I know it won't be long until he outgrows those!  So, this time I am planning to stock up in clothes from size 12-month and up-- at least enough clothes to get us to the fall consignment sale! 

I also plan to look for an exersaucer or  jump-a-roo to help entertain Michael during the evenings while Aaron & I tend to housework and chores (ie, making dinner and unloading/loading the dishwasher).  Michael is no longer content to sit for very long in his high-chair when his meal is over.  And since he wants to be so mobile, he doesn't stay satisfied in his swing for more than a few minutes now.  So I think that an exersaucer or a jump-a-roo that I could put in our dining area would help to keep him entertained as we finished up our daily tasks each evening. 

Aaron & I also plan to start running in the evenings after work.  Although we have a stroller for Michael, it is not a jogging stroller.  We have read reviews on jogging strollers, and we believe that it is a safer option to use one of them to put Michael in while we run instead of putting him in our regular stroller.  However, jogging strollers are pricy pieces of equipment!  I am always down for a good deal and I know for a fact that Mom's Marketplace had a great selection of jogging strollers at their fall sale.  I am hoping that I'll be able to find a jogging stroller at the Spring sale on the cheap.

This consignment sale is "season-specific" meaning there won't be any Halloween costumes or Christmas outfits at the spring sale.  So I'm excited to search for fun spring and summer items like an Easter outfit and a swimsuit! 

Today I plan to take 6-month pictures of Michael and I'll post them just as soon as I upload them! :)  I meant to do that this weekend, but I got too busy playing and hanging out with Michael and Aaron and Akuna!  :)  

So, check back soon to see our precious 6-month old in his "Easter outfit" that I'm sure he'll outgrow before Easter (hence why I want to find a replacement at the consignment sale!) :)

Much love!  _Reba



The Reason for the Absence & "First Things First"

It's been a long time in the making, but I am back up and running in the blog world.  I will actually probably be surprised if I have any readers left!  An absence of nearly two months is not normal, and it might have even been long enough for people to stop checking in!  Hopefully not.  I do like to have people read this blog and be able to catch up with us.  However, I will admit, sometimes it's intimidating to come up with a witty way to present the happenings of our lives and to include pictures in the blogs as well. 

Part of this is our set-up here at the house.  We're working with a laptop that has a mind of its own and sometimes will randomly shut down mid-blog post.  Yikes.  It's happened quite a few times.  That being said, sometimes I'd get a whole blog post written and I'd attempt to add pictures, and then the computer would freeze, the blog post would be lost and it would be sans pictures to top it all off.  This pattern becamse very frustrating to a busy mom who looks at a computer screen all day from Monday through Friday.  And when I come home from work, I really don't want to stare at another computer screen for hours while it makes up its mind as to whether or not it's going to behave. So, I started slacking on the frequency of my blog updates. 

And then, one of the most awful things that could ever happen to a camera-happy new-mom happened to me on January 7 of this year-- right before I was going to do a big blog post about Michael's first Christmas, first New Years, first rice cereal experience, and four-month checkup.  What was the awful thing?  I dropped my iPhone (ie, my camera) in the toilet. Although after my intial gasp of "I can't believe I did that nor can I believe that this is actually happening to me," I retrived my phone, but before I could remember how to shut it off (because I was in panic-mode), the phone turned itself off and I felt like I had been hit in the chest.  My baby's pictures-- from birth through four months-- were on that phone.  Pictures, videos, precious memories of my little boy were gone. 

No big deal, you say, because surely, like a good new mom, I would have updated my phone to have everything saved on the computer and the iCloud right?  Right?!? Wrong.  I was just thinking earlier that day "Ok, now, later today I will need to do the update on my phone so that all of my pictures/videos/contacts, etc will be saved on the iCloud."  I panicked. I freaked out. I cried.  My sweet husband tried to tell me it would be ok.  I bawled. He tried to tell me that there'd be a way to retireve the photos.  I crumpled into a ball on the couch.  He helped me up and into the kitchen where we put the phone in a ziploc sandwich bag filled with jasmine rice (hey, it was all we had).  I frantically looked up on Google "what to do when you drop your iPhone 4 in water."  The first piece of advice this website offered?  "Back up your iPhone to the iCloud and don't drop your phone in the toilet."  I cracked a small smile before tears filled my eyes again.  The author of that jovial web post did not have a four month old baby whose life photos were locked inside a water-logged iPhone.  But I kept reading the column anyway and found some helpful tips on how to salvage the phone.  

Fortunately, in December, Aaron upgraded his iPhone to a Windows phone, and he kept his iPhone to use as an iPod.  He was therefore able to call Verizon and get them to transfer my number to his old iPhone so I could use it as a phone.  I then had to function with a phone that had all of his Contacts, and pictures.  The phone was then registered with my number, and anytime someone texted me, I had to play the "guess who this person is" game based on the context of the text message. :)  I also had the privilege of taking lots of pictures of Michael to beef up the picture supply that was on this phone.  It was only a week or so ago that we were able to pull my original iPhone out of the rice bag, and pray that it had enough life left to download all of the photos and videos to iTunes. Aaron successfully downloaded all 1,800 pictures and nearly 100 videos to iTunes.  Yes, you read that right. 1,800 pictures.  1,200 of which were of my son.  Now you see why it was so imperative to me to salvage the photos! :)

You might be wondering why I would not be able to write a blog post during this time.  Honestly, it was because it made me too sad.  This blog is about Michael, and for Michael, (and any other future Petersen children that come along).  It was too sad to not be able to post any of the pictures I had planned on posting pre-iPhone-swim. But now that the photos are safely stored on my laptop and in the iCloud and on iTunes, I am able to feel more at ease about posting again. 

So, how am I going to tackle the feelings of finding a way to be witty and fun for the blog?  I'm going to try a new approach.  I'm going to write some or all posts to Michael.  I think this will help me feel more at ease with accounting for the monumental moments in his life thus far. So, here goes. 


Michael,

You are nearly six months old and I cannot believe it!  When you were first born, I thought that these days and months with you would go by super slow.  But that is not the case!  These months have zoomed right by us! 

You've experienced a lot of "first things" these last couple months. 

We went on our "first family vacation."  The day before Christmas Eve, we took a trip up to see Uncle Keith, Aunt Bethany, and cousin! It was the first time that we got to meet your cousin.  He is so cute!  You were very interested in him.  He was too brand-new to notice you too much during that trip, but he sure likes to smile at you now when we see him during his visits to Grampa Bill and Grandma Dana's house. Our first vacation was a success!  On the way up there, Grandma Dana sat in the back-seat with you. You napped for about 2 and a half hours of the 3 hour trip!  Fabulous!  We stayed overnight and had a very nice Christmas Eve lunch the next day with Uncle Bryan, Uncle Keith, Aunt Bethany, cousin, Grampa Bill, Grandma Dana, and Great Aunt Robyn.  On the way home that evening, you slept for about two hours.  We were able to get home just in time to start your bedtime routine. 

The next morning was your first Christmas!!! You weren't too sure what to think of your stocking.  In fact, you weren't too sure what to think of the whole Christmas decoration deal.  You liked to look at the Christmas tree without the Christmas lights turned on.  If we turned on the Christmas tree-lights while you were looking at the tree, you would cry. :(  However, you did like opening your gifts.  You thought tissue paper and wrapping paper were wonderful crinkly toys that were meant to be tasted!  Later on Christmas day, we went to Grandma Chips and Grandpa Randy's house.  That night, Grandma Dana, Grampa Bill, and Uncle Bryan came up to Grandma Chips' house and we all played games and ate dessert. You were asleep by this time because you had such a busy day. 

The next day was Grampa Bill's birthday and he and Grandma Dana and Uncle Bryan came over to our house for dinner.

Later on in the week, your Grandpa Mike came all the way from Washington state to visit with you!  He got to stay at our house for a few days. You really liked getting to spend time with him!  While Grandpa Mike was here, you tried rice cereal for the first time on January 1st!  Grandpa Mike got to help feed it to you.  You really enjoyed eating "big boy food."  But, it made your tummy kind of upset, so we didn't feed it to you after the second night. 

You had your first "belly laugh" on January 1st.  It was so sweet.  I was able to catch it on video.

At your four month check-up, you weighed 17 pounds, 3.5 ounces and were 25 3/4" long!  The doctor said we could start feeding you baby food as part of your dinner.  We were told to try yellow veggies, then green veggies, then fruits.  Baby food squash was the first baby food you tried.  You LOVED it!!! I totally took a "messy baby food face" picture.  :) 

So far, you have tried:

• squash  (LOVE)
• carrots  (LOVE)
• sweet potatoes (Did not like it at all the first time, but now you will eat them)
• green beans  (Like)
• peas   (Like)
• bananas  (Like-- when you tried them for the first time, you made such a funny face)
• applesauce (Like)
• pears  (Like)
• peaches  (Thumbs down.  Mommy and Daddy don't even like to feed these to you. Stinky!)
• prunes  (Tolerate.  Somehow, prunes always mean messier face and fingers.  And diapers)
• sweet potatoes & corn  (Really like)
• apple blueberry  (Really like)
• apples and cherries  (Like)
• pears with oatmeal and cinnamon  (LOVE)

 

Squash

 

Bananas

 

Prunes

 

Prunes

It's fun to feed baby food to you!  You say "Mmm!  Mmm!" and smile a lot. :)  We work on the sign language for "more" and you think it's so great when I move your hands to do the symbol.

You get half a container of baby food at lunch time, and half a container at dinnertime.  You totally know that sitting in your high-chair means you get to eat! That means, it no longer works as just a spare seat to put you in when Daddy and I need to run around the kitchen and do chores.  If you do not see food being put in a bowl for you when you are sitting in your high-chair, you start to get upset!  :)  We have to dance around the kitchen, and sing silly songs, or bop ourselves on the head with empty two-litre bottles (that's mainly your Daddy who does that) to make you giggle, laugh, and smile to forget that there's no food in front of you, or that you have finished up your food.  At your six-month check-up, we'll ask about when you're supposed to have "baby food meat."  I'm okay with holding off on this because I'm sure that "baby food meat" doesn't smell as nice as apple blueberry, etc.  :)

You now sleep on your tummy with your knees tucked up under you and your little baby booty in the air, with your left thumb in your mouth.  :) So sweet.

You have noticed Akuna for quite some time now, but recently, he has been the biggest motivator for getting HUGE amounts of laughter out of you!  If you see him playing with his doggie toys, you burst into giggles.  You try to call his name and it's the funniest thing.  It kind of sounds like an attempt at a screechy whistle/yell and you only do it when you can't see him.  When he appears in front of you again, your face lights up in a huge smile and you let out excited squeals.  You talk to Akuna quite a bit if he sits down right in front of your baby swing when you're in it.  You are more than willing to share your baby toys with him, but we prefer that you don't do that :)

 

Laughing at Akuna

You get a bath every night (schedule-permitting).  You sit in a little baby-bath seat.  You have just started splashing your legs in the water this week!  You are quite proud of yourself and we both get wet! 

 

You are nearly sleeping through the night!  Last night, you fell asleep at 8:00pm and woke up at 4:00am!  Woo-hoo!  That was a nice treat for me!  Usually, you wake up around 1:00am, and again at 4:00am or 5:00am right before I start getting ready for work.

You can sit up straight, but cannot quite get into that position on your own.  You are the master of baby Pilates, and will purposely lift your head and feet off the ground at the same time, with only your baby booty on the ground.  You want to sit up on your own so badly, and I know it won't be long before you can do it all on your own!  You roll over from back to tummy, and tummy to back.  This was something you just did one day and I was so surprised!  :)  I'm so proud of you and the milestones you've achieved!

 

"Who me?"

As a family, we made the decision to upgrade to a larger vehicle.  It was getting quite crowded trying to fit into our compact car.  You now have much more space to grow into since we've gotten an SUV.  You seem to enjoy the extra space. :)

You are so fun to be around!  I love holding you, cuddling you, reading stories, watching you play on your play mat, feeding baby food to you, bathing you, saying bedtime prayers, and being there when you wake up on weekends and off days.  You are such a joy.  We are very blessed to be your Mommy and Daddy!  I love you Little Baby P.   Love, your Mommy