Friday, January 30, 2009

6 Months Old...officially!



Hey guys!

Angelo is 6 months old today...officially. It's been a crazy ride thus far and it's hard to believe that I was about 13/14 weeks pregnant at this time last year. I'm turning 30 tomorrow, which is a huge milestone for me. I've been thinking a lot about life and what I want for my son's future. I feel as though God has bestowed this gift of motherhood upon me for a reason. Apparently I have something specific to offer and I fully intend on finding out what that is.

Okay, enough of that sappy crap. On to the cuteness!

The Bubs is cutting his first tooth and it should pop any day now. His gums are swollen REALLY bad and I'm guessing that he may have a couple show up around the same time. He's a little fussy when he's in pain, but it's not that bad. I actually thought it would be way worse. I believe he's inconsistent with his sleep due to the teething and moving around in his crib. I used to sleep walk when I was a child and it's quite possible that Angelo may take after me in that regard. I sure hope not!

Angelo is all about reaching for stuff now. He'll go for anything, but mostly toy balls, draw strings on clothes, hair, food, his stuffed dinosaur or the hanging toys on his jumperoo. It's quite amazing to see him react when he gets what he wants and when he doesn't. He's now reaching for me when he's sitting on Dave's lap and I walk into the room. That's just adorable!

The crawling lessons are going fairly well. He can finally get up on all fours and stay there for a while. Then he'll try and make his knees jump, but hasn't figured out how to use his hands to move himself forward quite yet. He gets frustrated easily in that position and I feel bad for the boy. He just wants his stuff, damnit!

He's eating his solids about twice a day now, depending on how much time we have or what we're doing, but he still desires his bottle in a big way. It's as though the solids aren't enough, which is fine. I just don't want to make him fat. He's been trying hard to hold his bottle consistently, but gets easily distracted by our clothes for some reason. When I feed him, he's always trying to grab my glasses and hair, of course.

Now, on to me...

Dave and I bought a Nintendo Wii last week and we're officially in love. He got me the Wii Fit, which has allowed me to work out more during the day. I'm not into video games, but this thing is not only fun, but really gives me a great work-out and it's really convenient! It's also good for giving me something to do while the Bubs is awake, besides cleaning and laundry. He loves the colors and animation as well. Now I don't have to cram everything I need to get done while Angelo is taking his naps. I feel like I have more time to do the important stuff, thank God! So I'm losing weight and managing my time better...all because of a video game, LOL!

I've lost 3 pounds so far and I've only been doing this for a week. I'm soooo exited! I also received a good lesson in buying the right size jeans from my friend Nikki yesterday. Can you believe I was buying clothes that were too BIG? Yeah... I'm not really a 14/16, I'm a 12! Geeze, you'd think I would know this stuff, but when I was pregnant, I got used to buying super size clothing. I feel stupid...in a good way!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Big Boy Bubbas


"I think I need to be changed Mom, but please...don't take away the food!"


"Okay, I'm done with the camera!"



"Awww man!"


Bubbas at 24 weeks with his new truck



Angelo is now 24 weeks old! That’s 6 months since I’ve given birth to him. I can’t believe we’re here already. My son was 8lbs, 11 oz and 22 inches long. Next week we go in for his 6 month check-up and last round of shots until he turns 1. I’m guessing that he’ll weigh in at around 21 lbs and 26-26.5 inches long. I’ve been right so far when guessing his weight and length and we’ll see if I do it again this time!

As you know, we’ve got him sitting up on his own, rolling over and standing with assistance. Now we’re working on “the scoot” and crawling. He can get into position, but can’t keep it for very long. He can, however, use his arms to turn 180 degrees to either side when he spots something he’d like to grab. He’s not only doing this on the floor, but in his crib as well. Due to my child’s habit of rolling over and turning himself around in that thing, I decided to weave his crib bumper through every other bar so that he doesn’t get stuck or pull it over his head. It’s working out beautifully!
Bubbas is really into his solids now. He eats his stage one veggies and fruits within 10 minutes, without a problem. I found these rice wafers for babies that he absolutely LOVES. I give it to him as a little snack every other day or so. He’s eating one in the pics I posted. It’s so funny to see him self-feed. He gets all excited and once he’s gotten the wafer mashed up enough, he shoves it in his mouth like it’s candy.

I wish I had more to report, but that’s about all for now. I’ll be updating about every 2 weeks, as new things happen or when I want to share cute moments.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year - Bubbas Update

Daddy and Santa Bubbas

The new toy box

Angelo's favorite toy from Mommy and Daddy



Bouncing around this morning


Mommy and Angelo on New Year's Eve!




"I can sit up on my own now!"

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year's Eve! Angelo is now 23 weeks old and has grown a great deal physically and developmentally in the last two weeks. First of all, we've got him sitting up on his own and that has helped him find his feet! Yes folks, he sits up and then reaches down to grab his toes. From behind he looks like a Butterball turkey, I swear to God!

Second, he has graduated from the newborn bather to being able to take a bath in the tub with a little assistance. I put him in for the first time a couple of days ago and he went crazy. I used a little bit of his baby wash to conjure up some bubbles and he splashed around happily. It was so cool to see his eyes gleam with wonder as he popped the bubbles. I should've had my camera on hand because it really was a Kodak moment. Next time, I promise!

Christmas time was pretty busy with going to Michigan for a short weekend and then having Christmas #2 at Dave's parents' house. The kids got a lot of stuff and now I have to find room for it all. Time to purge the house of all our unnecessary crap! Angelo got some toys and since we didn't have anywhere to put them, Dave and I bought him a baseball toy box yesterday. It's really cute! I wish his room was bigger so we could put it in there, but it's sitting in our living room for now.

Bubbas is eating his solids really well. He eats the entire thing in about 10 minutes, which makes me wonder if level 1 baby food is big enough to fill him up. I don't want to give him level 2 yet because it may be too much and we'll have a lot left over, so we'll see how it goes. Formula alone isn't cutting it. This past week I noticed that a tooth is starting to break through his bottom gum. Right now it just looks like a little dot, but I know it's gonna pop up soon.

We went to my friend Nikki's house for New Year's Eve and had a blast. Angelo did really well with all the excitement and was able to fall asleep in his Pack 'N Play around 11pm. He must have been real pooped because yesterday he slept from 11am to 2pm for his first nap, didn't take his afternoon one and then went to bed at 8pm.

The Bubs is learning so much from those Baby Einstein videos. Right now we've got him watching the one that teaches babies their first movements, which includes everything from sitting up to dancing. I'm trying to get him familiar with the names of his movements so when I say it, he'll do it. For example, when I say "reach", he puts his arms out toward me. It's adorable! This latest video is really interactive between the mother and child so it makes learning a lot easier.

I was going through Angelo's clothes the other day and realized that he barely wore the outfits he had in size 3-6 months. Now he's in 6 and 6-9 months. We have a lot of stuff that's just 6 months so it looks like I'll have to go shopping again. Most of the "hand-me-down" clothes shrunk big time and aren't their actual size, which means that he's already grown out of them.

After separating everything, I noticed that he has A LOT of stuff and now I have to find a place to store it all. I guess I'll have to buy a tote or just put everything in a garbage bag in the basement. His closet is too small and because it sits on the stairway, there isn't a spot for storage, just a silly looking shoe rack we'll never use.

That's all for now! See you next week...

Cristin