Happy 2nd birthday!

To my amazing little boy!

CJ, there is never a dull moment with you! We love you so very much! 

Walking!

I have so many other milestones to go back and update about, but this one is a big one!  CJ took about 8 steps in a row on April 26th, from me to his dad, after being coached to do it.  He hadn't repeated that many steps again after that, instead he would only go one or two before dropping down to crawl.  Tonight however, we were hanging out in his room before I put him to bed and he was playing. He stood up using the wall, caught my attention and took 5 steps with the biggest grin on his face!  He was so proud of himself.  I stood him up and he did it a few more times for me.  I was able to capture some video on my phone.  I think we are very close to having a full time walker now! 

Happy 1st Birthday to my Bouncing Baby Boy!

Happy 1st Birthday CJ!

You are so very loved!

Tooth #2

CJ has both bottom teeth poked through now.  He's been a drooly boy today. 

First tooth!

Just like his big sister did, CJ likes to chew on my fingers. She had her first tooth by 6 months old so I expected that he would too. When six months past and he didn't have any yet, I would ask him every day "where are your toofers?".  Because he was chewing my fingers every day I could feel his gums every day and didn't even feel a bump.

On Tuesday, he was chewing on my fingers and I finally got to exclaim, "CJ! You have a tooth!  His bottom left tooth broke through.  I'd noticed on Monday that his gum was really swollen and red and he had been cranky the last week or so but it still surprised me to see that tooth come through.

Another first down!

6 months old!

CJ is 6 months old already!   He weighs 16lbs 6oz, is about 26 inches long and is wearing mostly 3-6 months clothing.  He's a solid big boy!

He finally started rolling succefully and purposefully from his back to his belly on November 5, but I didn't manage to catch it on camera.  He still really doesn't like being on his belly, so he quite often will just roll back over again right away.  A few times he's tried to pull his knees up underneath him though. He may crawl earlier than his sister did.  

He dressed up for his first Halloween, during the day as a mummy and for a quick tour of our neighbours in the evening as a dragon. 

Despite all the drool, there is no sign of teeth yet.  I really thought he'd get some early, following in his sisters pattern, but he's past the age where she got her first tooth now.  I'm kind of glad he has no teeth still, because biting mommy while eating is one of his favorite games.  As for solids, he kind of regressed on them.  I didn't give him any on our two week vacation, and he hasn't seemed interested in eating solids since we've been home.  He barely tolerated rice cereal again, actually gagged on oatmeal on November 1st. We tried mashed potatoes on Nov 3rd, but didn't seem to care for them.  Same reaction with yams on November 7th.  I think I'm going to give him bananas again because he did like those and then try carrots.  I also bought melting baby cookies, so I'll see what he thinks of those too.  He still loves drinking water from an open cup. I ordered a couple of special no spill cups that aren't sippies, so hopefully they work for him.  I'm resisting giving him a sippy cup since he is still exclusively nursing and I don't want to confuse him with anything that acts like a bottle.  I'm sure he'd be okay with one since it would only be water, but I haven't wanted to chance it yet.  If the other cups don't work well, I'll get him a sippy. 

We went to Disney World from November 11-25th. He did amazingly well.  The flight down was a bit rough because he wasn't feeling well. I didn't figure that out until about halfway through.  He had been fussing and crying most of the flight up to that point and I ended up standing in the isle with him.  Then he threw up three times in about a 30 minutes period and fell asleep. He slept for most of the rest of the flight, including the entire descent. He was so good the whole trIp, really only fussing or crying when he needed something.  He got to go swimming a few times, but only in shallow water.  He hated the life vests, so I couldn't take him into any deeper areas. He also got to go on several rides in the different parks. I love watching the wide-eyed wonder of children taking in all the sights.  Disney is like sensory overload.  We went to an interactive show based on the Beauty and the Beast movie, and the talking armoire was in it.  CJ got so excited every time the armoire spoke.  He would stick his arms straight out and wave them and would nearly hyperventilate with huge eyes and a huge grin on his face.  It was so funny, he had everyone near us laughing.  The flight home was great, because he slept the entire 6 hours, only rousing slightly to latch on to eat.  I kept him under the nursing cover the whole time so he didn't have to wake up at all and he wasn't disturbed by anyone. 

Since we've been home, he settled back into his normal routine nicely.  He is such a content boy most of the time.  

His next big milestone will be sitting up on his own.  He can get a few seconds at a time right now, but no more than that before he either pushes himself backwards or topples sideways or forwards.  He wants to sit though, because when he's on his back, he is constantly pulling himself into little baby crunches, lifting his head and shoulders right off the floor. 

There are a few other things he can do right now.  He babbles a lot and says Mama, though I don't think he knows what he's saying yet. He knows how to play peekaboo himself, by pulling off a cloth or blanket he puts on his own face.  He'll giggle when I ask "where's Colby" and say "there you are!".  He reaches for the toys he wants and can pass them between his hands.  He puts everything in his mouth and he can also put his own soother back in his mouth. 

He seems to be growing so fast, and we are so busy that the days just fly by.  I'm sad my little, bitty newborn has gone, but I'm excited to see who he is becoming. :)

5 months old!

It seems that I only manage to get around to updating once every two months.  Thank goodness I take lots of pictures so that I can remember the milestone dates, because I've been awful at recording them. I'll try and remedy some of that in this post.  

First in the milestone department is exclusive breastfeeding - we finally got there!  We went on a vacation (more about that later) and CJ started to nurse better while we were away. He had his last bottle when we got home on August 30th and he has been exclusively breastfeeding since then.  He plateaued in his weight for about a week afterwards and then he started gaining quickly.  He put on 23 oz from August 30th to September 28th. I've met all my nursing goals so far, so I am setting a lofty goal this time... 1 year. I am really hopeful that we will be able to make it to a year of breastfeeding.  

As I said, he put on 23 ounces in a month. He is 15 lbs 8 oz now and is about 25 inches long. He is nearly bigger than what my daughter was at one year old.  He jumped from the 6th percentile when he was born up to the 23rd percentile.  It's amazing how big he is now.

The next milestone is rolling over. CJ rolled over from his belly to his back for the first time on August 23, did it every time he was on his tummy for about a week and then stopped.  He decided he hated tummy time again and just lays there and cries each time I put him that way instead of rolling over.  He rolled from his back to his belly on October 7th, but it wasn't exactly purposeful. He had a toy and when he clutched it to his chest he turned to his side and the momentum made him go the whole way over. We've been working on getting him to sit on his own but he throws himself back almost every time, so it will be a while before he gets that, I think.  So far his favorite way to be is standing. He also loves to jump in his jolly jumper. 

We started him on some rice cereal for the first time on September 20.  It was hit and miss with whether he'd eat it for the first few days, then he decided he liked it.  I made him some chicken and he ate that well enough. He's has also had some banana, which he seems to love. I plan on making carrots for him next.  

As I mentioned before, he also went on his first vacation. We took a road trip to Washington, and went into Idaho to go to Silverwood. He did really well on the trip.  He went swimming for the first time and seemed to enjoy it. He also went to his first baseball game.  While we were away he started to breastfeed better, and went a day here and there without needing a bottle.  After we got home he kept up with his improved nursing, and we are now exclusively breastfeeding.  I can't describe how elated I am that we did it.  I now fully understand why some moms give up. 

Up next is another major milestone for CJ. He will be going on his first airplane for his first trip to Disney World!