11 months

So I realized I did a terrible job keeping up with documenting Nolan's first year on this blog. I don't know where the last 11 months went! I had every intention to keep up with every little thing he did so I would be able to look back and have this to remember it, but time just got away from me.

I'm still struggling to believe my teeny tiny baby turned 11 months old. I've started planning his 1st birthday party. Stephen and I have started thinking about what we want to do with him for his actual birthday to celebrate his special day with just our little family. As much as I hate to think about it, it will be here before I know it! I don't know how. I still feel like it was just yesterday that I was uncomfortably pregnant and getting impatient for his arrival.

At first, when he was a newborn it seemed like he stayed in the same phase for a while. Now he changes everyday. Every single day he discovers something new or hits a new milestone and it never ceases to amaze me. I enjoyed him as a snugly little baby bundle, but so far this is definitely my favorite stage. He actually interacts and listens when I talk. I can tell he's starting to remember people besides just Stephen and I. It's cute to watch his little face light up when someone comes to visit him or we go visit someone he recognizes.

His developed an attachment to his blankies. He has two that are interchangeable, thank the Lord, but one of them has to be with him at all times, especially when he's sleeping. So far, we've been able to limit the blankie to only riding in the car and not actually going places with us or being outside, but I imagine it's only a matter of time before that changes. He LOVES to read. Books are his favorite of his toys and pretty much how we spend our days. He picks out a book and brings it to me and shakes it at me until I read it. Then when it's finished he either insists on rereading that book(we have about 6 that we read over and over) or goes to get me another. He has to sit on my lap and turn the pages for me. He started doing that at about 9 months old and I still think it's the cutest thing ever.

He still loves to eat. He eats three meals a day and an afternoon snack. We've yet to find a food that he doesn't like, but he is getting a little more choosy. He eats anything you put on his tray, but if you watch him, he's careful about which bite he wants. He'll feel around with his little fingers til he picks the exact right bite. He's down to just three 4oz bottles a day. One before morning nap, one before afternoon nap, and one before bed. His doctor said he drinks so well out of a sippy cup I could get rid of the bottles all together and just switch to milk in a cup, but I'm surprisingly sentimental about that. I feel like that's my last piece of baby. I'll start weaning him off completely closer to his birthday, but for now I'm just going to enjoy our bottle time snuggles a little bit longer.

He is in to everything. He crawls all over the place and cruises around the furniture. He's starting to get braver and more confident about taking steps, but he's still not quite ready to take off. He loves to explore though. It makes it hard to go places right now because he wants to be taking off exploring everything. He won't just let you hold him anymore. He's a squirmy worm! Since he won't walk just yet, that makes being in public places where he can't crawl on the floor a little more tricky.

He loves to take walks in his stroller. I take him and Natty every morning after breakfast and now he's learned the routine. This morning while I was putting on my shoes, he crawled over and stood up by his stroller and waited to be buckled in.

 His favorite thing right now though is animals. He loves them! I've never seen a baby this young get so excited by seeing an animal. He loves to watch them on tv or movies. If it has an animal(cartoon or real life) he will sit and watch and make his little excited gasps and squeals as long as its on. He loves to see animals out on our walks. He points and gasps until he can't see it anymore. We've started walking over to the PetSmart right in front of our house and letting him check out the animals there too. It's probably his favorite place. We stop in front of each cage and watch the different animal and make the sounds it makes. We can't wait to get him to the zoo! I will have to video that because he will be in his little heaven! We've talked about taking him for his birthday, but it's still so hot we may have to wait a couple more months for it to be enjoyable.

I know most people say the reality of parenting really hits them when they leave the hospital alone with their baby for the first time, but that wasn't the case for me. I still felt prepared at that point. I was excited and anxious. I couldn't wait to get home and just have our little family time. For me, the reality sank in around 4 months old.

I was home with Nolan and Stephen was at work. We had decided we were going to start trying to spoon feed baby cereal because he could sit up so well. It was in those first few attempts with the spoon that reality set in. I realized, I think for the first time, that it was our responsibility to teach this tiny little human EVERYTHING. We would have to teach him to eat, then to feed himself, to use the bathroom, to take a bath on his own, every little thing. At that moment, that thought seemed completely overwhelming. I had never really thought of it in those terms before and it was a little scary.

Luckily for us, he was a pro eater. He took to spoon feeding like a natural and never looked back. I realize now that it's not so overwhelming. He doesn't need to learn everything all at once. He will learn, I will learn, we will all get there. Parenting is a crazy adventure. I have spent the majority of the last 11 months feeling tired with a mix of several emotions all at once depending on the moment. I know this roller coaster isn't for everyone, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Nolan Evan: 4 months old

I know I say this every month, but where is the time going?!? Our big boy is already 4 months and growing like a little weed!

 Size:According to his doctor's visit this month he is 13lbs 13oz and 25.75in long. That puts him at the 85% for height and 25% for weight. Big boy! He also had to get all of his 4 month shots this visit :( But he took them like a champ!

Milestones: I feel like he has changed so much from month 3 to 4. He is doing so much. He mastered rolling from back to tummy and now flips right over any time you lay him down. He's attempting to scoot, but still struggling with that one. He's really started "chatting." He loves to babble and blow raspberries and will just chatter with anyone that will chatter back with him. He has really good neck control and is trying so hard to sit up by himself. He loves to stand with help and will not let you hold him like a baby anymore. Too big for those little britches!

We celebrated Nolan's first Christmas and New Year. We definitely enjoyed all the family time! Christmas Eve we went to the 4:00 service at Woodbine UMC then to dinner at my parents, then home to bed so santa could come! Christmas day we spent at home. We enjoyed a couple hours celebrating with our little family after Nolan woke up. Then GiGi, Aunt Brittany, and Uncle Shawn came over for Christmas breakfast. Later in the afternoon Grammy, Poppy, Noni, Pops, Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Carl came over for supper. It was a nice day and this spoiled boy got wayyyy too many presents! He was cute and actually did help tear some of the wrapping paper off of his presents.(Of course then it went straight to his mouth!)

Eating: He's still only eating 4oz and still eating every 3 hours. We started rice cereal at about 3.5 months and by 4 months he had eating with his spoon down pat. He seemed to enjoy it so we've started adding single produce purees with his rice cereal twice a day. We started with carrots which he seemed to like well enough. Then we tried bananas, squash, and pears. So far he loves all of it, and is quite the eater! I usually do food at his second morning feeding and with his "dinner" feeding.

Just this morning he started this new thing where he says "ahhhh" as he opens his mouth for the spoon. The funny part is he started opening his mouth wide and saying "ahhh" to let me know he was ready for another bite as if I wasn't moving fast enough. I was cracking up. I don't know where he figured out how to do this because I've never told him to say "ahhh." We had to show Daddy at dinner and he managed to get a good video of it.

Sleeping: He usually takes a 2 hour nap in the morning an hour after first waking up. Then we try to go for 2 hours awake and one hour nap for the rest of the day, but this rarely goes perfectly. In the evening we read stories after dinner and then he still loves his bath between 6:30 and 7:30. I think that's his favorite time of the day! After bath it's jammie time and a bottle. He falls asleep by the end of his bottle and we move him to his crib for the night. He's usually down for the count between 7 and 9 sometime. How long he stays asleep is still a coin toss. For the last month nights have been rough. Usually 4-5 wake ups and he has been restless in his crib and ending up back in his bassinet.
His doctor said to let him sleep on his stomach if he wants now that he can roll all the way over so I'm hoping that will help!


Now the good part! The picture overload:

Nolan Evan: 3 months

I'm a week late in posting this(story of my new life), but our sweet baby boy is 3 months old already! Some days I just stare at him and wonder how he's growing up so fast! Stephen and I were playing with him last night and agreed that just recently he's really starting to look like a baby and not a newborn anymore. He is so much fun, but it also makes me sad! I'm already starting to forget what it was like when we first brought him home. I need to get better at blogging more so I can remember these things.

2-3 was a big month. He's weighing over 12 lbs and is already over 24 in long.(Won't know exactly until his next check up in January). Nolan started sleeping in his crib this month too. He really pretty much did this on his own. If it were up to me, he would still be in his rocker in our room where I can see him. One night at bed time he just cried and cried so Stephen laid him in his crib just to see what he would do. He got quiet and laid there for a few minutes and just fell asleep on his own. Every night since then(except when he was sick) he has slept in his crib.

He is turning into a mover! As you can probably tell by a lot of the pictures this month he does not sit still anymore!(Hence all the blurry limbs.) He is constantly rolling and scooting. When he goes on his belly for tummy time he pushes up with his arms and holds his head up the whole time and kicks his legs nonstop. I have a feeling he will be really scooting within the next few months. Apparently he already scoots a little in his crib because every night he ends up with his head where I had laid his feet to start with. I love watching him sleep on the video monitor. He just looks so little and peaceful. He's also getting really good at sitting up. He doesn't want to lay down anymore. He either wants to be on your shoulder or for you to be holding him up on your lap. He is taking everything in and is way too busy to lay down, he wants to see it all.

He has also become quite the chatterbox! He loves to babble. He will hold full "conversations" with me. When we're playing he looks me right in the eye and babbles and if I babble back he will talk back to me again and again as if we understand each other. It is hysterical! He's also just recently started sticking his tongue out on purpose with me. It's adorable now, I'm sure when he gets older I'll regret that little trick!

Stephen got his first real giggle this month. He was laying in his lap talking with him and he started tickling his feet with his beard and he got a couple of very loud distinct giggles. He's still pretty sparing with real giggles but he lovesss to smile and gets excited really easily.

Nolan had his first Thanksgiving this month which unfortunately for him also included his first emergency room trip. Poor sweet baby got his first cold and was just miserable all day screaming out in discomfort and nothing really made him feel better. He was so congested. We spent the afternoon with my family where he either screamed or slept and then went to Stephen's family's house for dinner. He was sleeping for a long while so I thought he might be feeling better until he woke up from his nap choking and having trouble breathing from all the congestion. Since his pediatrician's office wouldn't be open until Monday we decided to take him to the pediatric ER. We were in and out pretty quickly but unfortunately it was no help. They said it seemed viral and we would have to just wait it out. Poor little guy also started teething at the same time so we had almost a week of just being miserable. He ran a fever off and on, was so congested, and his teeth were bothering him. Tylenol, extra snuggles and sleep were the only things that helped. He didn't really want to eat because of his teething so I put one of the nipples from his bottle in the freezer and gave it to him really cold with his next bottle. Now that's the only way he will eat is if it's cold! ( I know this sounds strange for a baby)

I don't even pretend to have a routine anymore. I just try the best I can to keep him on a schedule but just kind of follow his lead. He's still only drinking 3-4oz with every feeding so he's still eating every 2.5-3 hours. I'm slowly starting to attempt rice cereal with a spoon. It's taking some work and he's not all that interested, but I would like to start single baby foods next month so this is the first step. I'm still exclusively pumping and bottle feeding(have not had to supplement with formula at all). It's not easy, but it's worked for us, and I recommend it to anyone that wants to try it!(Also, I'd be happy to share any info and secrets I have about it to anyone interested or thinking about trying it, just email me!) He's usually awake for 2 hours to eat and play and then will sleep for an hour. But even that sometimes changes and he only sleeps for 30-45 minutes or for up to 2 hours. So I really just never know. He's gotten  lot better at night since moving to his crib. He generally sleeps a 7-8 hours stretch when he first goes down and then he wakes up to be changed and eat and falls right back to sleep. Unfortunately I never know how long he will sleep after that. Sometimes (when I'm lucky) it's another 3 hours, sometimes it's only 1. Usually if I hold him he will sleep longer. Stephen says I'm creating a bad habit so I try not to, but some days this momma just needs a little more sleep herself!

We're so excited for this upcoming month and his first Christmas! I know he won't remember any of it, but I'm looking forward to starting all of our family holiday traditions. We're also pretty excited that in Nolan's first year our Florida State Seminoles finished their season undefeated and headed to the final BCS championship game in the number one slot. We'd like to think our little good luck charm had something to do with it! ;) My goal is to have him doing the chop by the game. He'll be 4 months, I think he can handle it! Now to the good part. I'll overload you with pictures from the last month: