Happy 1/2 Birthday Baby Boy!

Happy 1/2 Birthday handsome man!
I cannot believe that you are half a year old!
This month has been interesting to say the least - just when we were comfortable in our routine (ha, I mean the routine that we had been on for a LONG time), you threw us a MAJOR curve ball and definitely kept us on our toes trying to figure you out.  
You taught us a great lesson - expect the unexpected.
Sure, it's something we KNEW... but we've been so spoiled by your predictability - I honestly didn't know what to do when you decided it would be fun to change things up (sleeping and eating).  For a couple days, I felt lost and it really brought me back to those first few days after you were born.
It was probably a good thing you threw us this curve ball, because it made me realize that you are still very much in control and will do things how and when you see fit.

Baby Stats
Sleep:  We had about a week of terrible sleeping however that was short lived and you are now back to your great sleeping ways.  You sleep right around 12 hours at night, and take a couple of naps during the day.  You have been taking a long (2 hours) nap late morning and then a shorter (35-50 minute) nap in the early evening.  Sometimes, you flips the times!
Daily Routine:  The only major change in your routine has been bedtime - it is now 9pm.

Feeding:  We've had to play around with feedings a LOT this month.  The ideal goal is 24 oz of formula, however you LOVE  your solid foods - so it's been, on average, between 18-22 oz per day.  
Right now you eat a 6 oz bottle and 2 oz of cereal (mixed with 2 oz of formula) shortly after waking up.  Sometimes before your nap you get a snack of fruit and yogurt.  You then eat another meal between 2-3pm which consists of a 6 oz bottle, and a combination of fruits/veggies/protein.  You eat dinner around 530-6pm, which is a fruit/veggie and protein (if you didn't have one at lunch).  At 8 pm, you drink an 8 oz bottle and 2 oz of cereal (mixed with water)
There have been a few nights this month where you have flat out refused a bottle and end up going to sleep after only having cereal and an oz or two of formula.  Thankfully, this hasn't affected your sleeping TOO much.I've learned to just accept what you are eating, and while I understand that formula is the most important thing nutrition wise, I cannot force you to drink it!
You have also enjoyed trying to feed yourself.  Beside the mum mums, we introduced you to cheese puffs and yogurt melts.While you don't always get to eat them, you are working on picking them up.

New Foods:MangoParsnipsChickenTurkeyAcorn SquashCauliflowerYogurtCheese puffsYogurt melts

Weight:birth - 7 lbs 6 oz2 weeks - 8 lbs 10 oz4 weeks - 10 lbs 4 oz6 weeks - 11 lbs 1.5 oz2 months - 12 lbs 8 oz3 months - 14 lbs 12 oz (at home estimate)4 months - 15 lbs 10 oz5 months - 16 lbs 10 oz (at home estimate)

6 months - 18 lbs 5 oz

Length:birth - 21 inches2 weeks - 22 inches4 weeks - unknown6 weeks - 23 inches2 months - 23.75 inches3 months - 25.5 inches (at home estimate)4 months - 25.75 inches5 months - 27 inches (at home estimate)6 months - 28.5 inches
Head Circumference:birth - 15 inches2 weeks - 15 inches4 weeks - unknown6 weeks - unknown2 months - 16.25 inches3 months - 16.75 inches (at home estimate)4 months - 17 inches5 months - 17.25 inches (at home estimate)6 months - 17.75 inches

Diaper Size:Pampers Swaddlers Size 3
Clothing Size:Although some 3-6 month stuff still fits, we are slowly filtering in the 6-9 month clothes, except for sleepers (you've been in some 9 month sleepers for a while now)

Hair Color:birth - brown and quite a bit more than we were expecting1 month - brown - you are almost completely bald on top!2 months - brown and it's finally growing back3 months - brown with a nice bald spot in the back4 months - Still brown but lightening a lot - I think it may end up being a dirty blond.5 months - lightening a lot.... brown to dirty blond6 months - dirty blond - it has lightened a TON

Eye Color:birth - dark blue-grey1 month - starting to lighten but still blue-grey 2 months - dark blue3 months - Still dark blue-grey4 months - "sunburst" - you have a brown inner ring (most days) with blue-grey outer ring5 months - bluish grey6 months - blue grey (YAY - it looks like we got our blue eyed boy!)

Favorite toy/entertainment:You still enjoy your lovey and giraffe, and lately your munchkin teether ball has been a life saver!  You love spending time in your door way jumper as well as your Baby Einstein jumper!  
Nicknames:Monkey Doodle, Burrito, Stinky, Pumpkin, Punky, Punky Butt

Funniest Moment:The funniest moment would have to be when you learned to blow raspberries... with cereal in your mouth. Boy was that fun to clean up!You are fascinated with the things you can do with your mouth and the noises you make!

Favorite Moment:Hands down, my favorite moment was after you learned to sit unassisted, you started reaching for us to pick you up.  Melts my heart each and every time... it's even better when I pick you up and you nuzzle your head in my shoulder.
Milestones:Sitting - you no longer need to support yourself on your hands! Using a sippy cup

Firsts: First New Year's Eve/DayTooth - left central incisor

Baby ESP Stats


I began tracking the daily happenings (really because preggo brain became baby brain and I couldn't remember, for the life of me, when the last time you ate or had a diaper change) our last night in the hospital.  My record keeping has been tremendously helpful getting to a point where we have a pretty reliable schedule.  I'm probably the most forgetful person in the world, so it's nice to look back and see when the last time something occurred.  I never intended on tracking things so long, but then it turned into a game of "how long can I do it". Well, I have succeeded in tracking for 6 months straight!
Here are our stats from birth to 6 months:


Bottles:
Total bottles - 788
Total bottle amount - 4,353 oz
Average feeding time per day - 1 hour 35 minutes
Total feeding time - 12 days 6 hours 26 minutes
Average bottle amount per day - 23.5 oz
Average time between bottles - 3 hours 56 minutes


Sleep:
Total sleep - 112 days 21 hours 52 minutes
Average sleep per day - 14 hours 38 minutes
Average night sleep per day (defined as 9pm-9am) - 10 hours 36 minutes
Average nap sleep per day - 4 hours 2 minutes
Average nap - 1 hour 9 minutes
Average awake period - 1 hour 55 minutes
Longest sleep - 13 hours 5 minutes


Diapers:
Total diapers - 1,339
Average diapers per day - 7.2
Average pees per day - 7.2
Average poops per day - 1.5


Medicine:
Mylanta - 102 doses
Gas Drops - 36 doses
Tylenol - 32 doses
Eye drops - 24 doses
Amoxicillin - 20 doses
Nizatidine - 11 doses
Omeprazole - 262 doses


It absolutely blows my mind to look back at these numbers!
I don't know how long I'll continue to track but, to me, it's fun to look back and see the changes.

Baby boy,
Where HAS the time gone?  Daddy and I recently looked back at some old pictures and cannot believe how big you have gotten.  While I'm so excited to see the changes every day, it's sad at the same time.  There are SO MANY changes happening.  Just 6 months ago you were this teeny tiny helpless newborn that didn't do much, and now you have such a big personality, much more independent, much less helpless and doing so many things - like trying to crawl.  It seems like I blink and you are doing something else new.
I'm so excited to see what you come up with this next month....

love you - to the moon and back!

here are your official 6 month photos:

 

It's like Christmas...

...All over again!

I finally made the jump into the DSLR world.
I've been eyeing cameras for a LONG time - probably driving my hubby NUTS - but that's ok!
I've been trying to decide between the Canon T2i or the Nikon D3100, and finally decided to just buy one.
SO today, we went to Costco and while I fully intended on getting the T2i, the increase in price ($80 from last week) quickly made me choose the D3100, and...
I LOVE MY DECISION!(So far, and despite me being COMPLETELY lost on all the features/settings) 
So what have I been doing all afternoon/evening?
Yup, that's right - playing with my new shiny toy... and probably annoying Brycen!
With the increased speed, I was FINALLY able to capture a full smile from my baby boy:

It's been so long since I've used "manual" settings (like high school 35mm camera days)!
I'm so excited to start practicing and finally be able to capture great photos!

Secrets of a first time mom...

5 months into this mom business, and I feel like I should share some of my MUST have items! While some of these are things I'm SURE we could live without, I wouldn't want to! (they are in NO particular order!) 

Lamaze Lion - they call him Logan the lion, but who in their right mind has LOGAN the lion?  In our house, he's Leo (totally original, right?).  Brycen LOVES this thing (this stays home at all times) 

Bright Starts Giraffe - this is another one that Brycen absolutely loves and is in our diaper bag at ALL times. 

Munchkin Teether Ball - Now I'll admit, it sorta looks like a torture device (to me anyway), but this has truly been a teething life saver.  There are lots of different textures, and it something that he can easily handle/hold on to. 

Angelcare Monitor - I'm paranoid... while pregnant, I read NUMEROUS stories of parents that had lost their babies to SIDS (1 a little too close to home!).  Now I totally understand that if it's going to happen, there is really little I can do to stop it... but I wanted to be as prepared as possible.  This has given me the peace of mind I want need (despite a few false alarms).  This is also one way we determined that our furnace was having issues (since it has a temperature readout).  And I plan on using this for a long while - after all, what better way to know if your toddler gets out of bed when they shouldn't? 

Infantino Swift - this isn't by any means the best carrier on the market, but for what I need it for, it does the job and well!  It is extremely light weight, and after a little adjusting, quite comfortable.  Brycen also loves being in it, especially forward facing so he can look around! 

Gerber Puffs - food... enough said!  Ha, when we are out and about and Brycen gets fussy, we give him some of these and he's instantly happier (for a little while at least)  

Slumber Buddies Frog - we could NOT live without this thing!  It plays music and white noise which has been crucial in getting Brycen to sleep quickly and calmly.  I definitely do not think he would be the great sleeper he is without this thing!  The stars and moon that it projects (in 3 different colors) are also a hit, as he LOVES to contort himself into strange sleeping positions in order to get the best view! 

Summer Infant Swaddleme's - these were honestly a life saver through the first 2 months of life!  We felt like we were putting him a straight jacket every night, but he slept so much better. 

MAM pacifiers - these are the only pacifiers he has REALLY liked (despite my hubby's thoughts). 

Infantino Twist and Fold Activity Gym - again, another lifesaver!  Brycen LOVES being on the ground playing by himself... many times he prefers this over being held.  The toys that come with it are great and for a good long while, the mirror was the biggest hit! 

Cherry Supreme Mylanta - weeks 2-6 were quite possibly the most stressful time of Brycen's life.  He was diagnosed with Reflux and despite various prescriptions, until we figured out the RIGHT one, the only reflux relief he got was from Mylanta. 

Zebra Security Blanket - affectionately known as "Lovey".  This too goes EVERYWHERE with us... we actually have 2 - one in his crib and 1 on the go.  Apparently, it makes a good chew toy too!



New Year... New "Goals"

I waited a few days to post my resolutions goals for 2012 because (to be honest), I wasn't sure WHAT I wanted to focus on this year...
Sure I can do what it seems EVERYONE does for the New Year and say "I'd like to lose weight". Of course I'd love to lose more weight (who doesn't?)...but this year I wanted to work on ME (in a broader spectrum). That's why I chose the following... To: LAUGH a little louder; SMILE a little bigger; LOVE a little deeper; and walk through life a little SLOWER!

New Year's Eve

One of my fondest childhood memories is that of my grandparents house on New Year's Eve!  It was always a grand occasion, and it ended with us banging pots and pans on the deck at midnight!  Now that I have my own child, and New Year's parties are NOTHING like they used to be... I decided to do the same thing with my son that I did... years ago....
Now granted, it wasn't outside on the deck (it's chilly out), and it wasn't midnight (more like 6:30 pm), but still...

And how totally UNPLANNED it is that his bib just happens to say Grandma's Little Guy!

And because my husband would do anything to make Gram smile...

he insisted on doing the following at midnight:

2011 was a fabulous year... 

I cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!

Happy New Year's!