9 months...

We have had a wonderful month with Watson - I cannot believe he is 9 months old!  To think that he is only 3 months away from his first birthday is unbelievable....time truly does fly by! 

Weight: 20lbs 13oz
Height: 29 1/2" - he has grown like a weed since his 6 month appointment! 
Size diaper: 3
Eating: We are transitioning from 4 to 3 bottles a day (8oz each).  We are also in the process of introducing finger foods...slowly :)  I am hypersensitive to him choking on anything so it is a slow process, but he is loving absolutely everything he has tried!  Avocado, sweet potato, mango, carrots, banana, etc.  He was a little iffy on peas at first, but he is getting the hang of them now :)  For breakfast he has a baby food fruit.  For lunch he has a veggie and a fruit...one or both of which are finger foods.  For dinner he has a baby food veggie (sometimes with a meat) and finger food veggies. 
Sleeping: 1-2 naps a day around 1-2 hours each....sometimes 2 1/2 hours or so if he only takes one nap.  12-13 hours at night...this boy loves his night time sleep!

We unfortunately spent way too much time at the doctor this month.  Well really just last week...but it seemed to have lasted forever... Watson came down with a double ear infection, stomach virus, and fever virus...All.  At.  The.  Same.  Time.  This had us at the doctor, after hours, and ER...twice.  One of those ER visits was for a 104.6 fever and the other was for W to get fluids for dehydration.  If any of you have ever had a dehydrated baby you know how scary that is - oh how I hope we never walk down that road again!  Praise God he is feeling MUCH better and back to his normal self again!! 


W is loving his toys still - especially books and plastic Easter eggs...who knew?!  He also really, really loves playing in this large box...

He has officially perfected the army crawl and is FAST!  I read that some babies never crawl with their tummy off the ground if they prefer the army crawl.  We shall see!

Lately he has started pulling up - on everything!  He gets so proud of himself when he pulls up and stares at us with this sly grin until we look over at him and acknowledge that he pulled up.  His curiosity gets the best of him all the time...but especially now that he is pulling up.  He wants everything on the ottoman, side tables, couch, chair...everything :)  Needless to say our house seems to be becoming more and more bare every day!  

This past week he started clapping and is so excited every time he does it.  Kind of like with pulling up...he keeps clapping until we say "Yay!" and clap with him...which is always followed by a big grin. 

 

Speaking of grin...we still have no teeth!  I love his little gummy grin, but I am ready for some teeth to pop through because poor baby is definitely in the process of getting them.  This is made very evident by the amount of drool and fussiness that we have experienced over the past week :)

As far as dislikes...really the only thing this boy dislikes is being alone.  We can always count on a good cry when he is put down for a nap or if we walk out of the room for even a second.  Lately at night he has fallen asleep with his bottle, but he will wake up an hour or so later and realize he is alone and start screaming....which often results in one of us going back upstairs to put him back to sleep... We are trying to let him cry it out some...but I'm just not always the best at that...

We are loving the warmer weather - Watson really enjoys being outside, so I can't wait to get him down to the lake and beach soon!  Graham and I have been spending a lot of time working on the outside of our home lately.  I'll do a post about that once it's complete - but we look forward to spending more time out there now that it is warm and pretty! 

Easter...

Watson's first Easter was not exactly the way I had envisioned...  Saturday night I got his outfit all pressed and ready to go, Graham and I had planned to get up early enough to look at W's Easter basket with him, get ready for church, and get there early as we knew the particular service we were going to would be packed.  W went to bed and I got his (and Graham's) basket all put together and set out on the table...and went to bed excited to spend the next day celebrating the resurrection of Christ and spending time with our family.



Well...in the middle of the night, Watson woke up crying, coughing, runny nose, fever...never a good combo with a little boy that has gotten croup and ear infections often lately.  We knew that we would not be making it to church in the morning but hoped to make it to mom and dad's for lunch with the family.  Poor baby grew progressively worse throughout the morning and day...landing us in the after hours that afternoon, ER that night, dr's office Monday morning, and ER Monday night.  A double ear infection, fever virus, and stomach virus got the best of our baby and he in turn became dehydrated (which is why we were in the ER Monday night).  It was the scariest thing...oh how I pray that we will NEVER be in that situation again!  Praise God that after getting his fluids, some zofran, and his antibiotic, he was doing better and after several days, he was finally back to his normal, happy, smiling self!  So...not how I planned on Easter going, but silly me for thinking I could plan something out :)

Graham was so sweet to let me go to lunch at my parents that afternoon (this was before Watson got really bad) so I was able to get some pictures with my family which I am always thankful for.  I was also able to spend some time with both of my grandfathers which is always special time for me.

My uncle Mike, Dabado, and Mom

 

About as typical as it gets...

I love my mom for many reasons,but this is one of those...

   









This is probably my favorite picture of the whole day.  How beautiful is she?!

 The day before Easter our neighborhood had an Easter party for all of the kids - Mel and her family joined us for it, and there was even a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny!

8 months...

Well...we officially have a little boy on our hands who loves to get in to EVERYTHING and is extremely ACTIVE!! For instance, typically his monthly pictures go so smoothly...he just sits there and smiles and wha-la! Cute Pictures! Well...just take a look at how our photo session went this month...

My days consist of chasing Watson all over the house, pulling him away from cords, blinds, bar stools, the trash can, the fireplace...everything! Don't get me wrong, he loves his toys, but not as much as he loves everything that he can't play with :) I am typically extremely tired by the end of the day, but I would not trade it for anything in the world. I love our little active boy so much...he is a pure JOY to Graham and myself!

Included in him being so active...one of his most active spots is the changing table! Makes changing a clothes or diaper pretty interesting.

Size diaper: 3...have had to start using the overnight diapers for nighttime due to his waking up soaked every morning. If anyone has any tips or ideas that work for wetting through a diaper at night, please let me know!
Size clothes: 9 months, some 12 months
Eating: W has decided he is not into his bottles as much any more for some reason. We offer 8oz three times a day (breakfast, lunch, bedtime) with a 4-6 oz bottle in the late afternoon, but he rarely finishes a bottle any more. He has gotten much better with his sippy (though still definitely not perfected..) but at least he is getting some more water through that. He eats baby food (stage 2) for breakfast (1 fruit) and dinner (2 veggies). Still loves everything he has been offered!
Sleeping: 12-13 hours at night, 2 naps a day that are around 2 hours each

This month W is...
-Waving hello and bye bye
-Army crawling
-Going from crawling, to sitting, and back to crawling
-Getting up on hands and knees and rocking back and forth
-All about his books and his toys (especially this bumpy ball we got him)

-Very social...has no problem going from person to person, but has to keep his eye on mommy and daddy

-Loving this beautiful weather and time outside...especially when that includes bubbles or the park!

-Saying "da-da-da-da" all day with an occasional "ma" thrown in
-Would rather crawl through the bottom of his exersaucer than sit in it...but still a favorite toy :)

-Absolutely loves riding in the buggy (or as Graham corrects me...the "cart") at the store. He smiles and waves the entire time...so precious!



Words cannot explain how much love fills our hearts for this little boy. I am almost daily blown away by the fact that Christ loves Watson..and me..and Graham..infinitely more than my heart can even begin to understand. Wow. Wow!

Loving time with Papa...they even dress alike :)

The day that Watson turned 8 months, my little nephew, Hampton, had to have emergency surgery for a condition called pyloric stenosis. We are so thankful that they found it when they did, but continue to pray for his recovery. He is doing much better, all things considered, but poor little buddy has had a rough go so far in his short 6 weeks of life! My sister has been super-mom, though, and shown so much strength and peace during everything...we are so thankful to God for granting her and Reynolds exactly what they need when they needed it most!

I know I went a little picture crazy with this post, but I had to include this one. I kept Abby while Hampton was in surgery and during lunchtime she was insistent on two things:
1. Having all three bunnies sit with her. 2. Wearing my necklace. She is a wonderful big sister and cousin - love her so much!

7 months...

Time has gotten away from me so quickly - I can't believe how long it has taken me to get this post up! The past month for Watson was taken over by sickness - it was a pretty pitiful sight to see! Poor baby got a double ear infection, and croup...twice! As is typical in our family, Watson has gotten sick, both times, on the weekend. We got to know the people at Children's After Hours Clinic pretty well in the course of 2 weeks! I firmly believe that seeing your baby sick is one of the most helpless feelings. He is definitely teething as well, so that has been lots of fun :) He chews on EVERYTHING. Seriously - I looked over the other day and he was chewing on our couch. I guess whatever works :) Teething rings have become our best friends. I still can't see or even feel any teeth, but he is working on it for sure!

Weight: 18lbs 6oz at 6 1/2 months
Size diaper: 2 - will be size 3 as soon as our next shipment comes in :)
Size clothes: Between 6-9 months. 6 month clothes are too small, 9 months are a little big. Poor thing either looks squeezed in to his clothes or like he hasn't quite grown in to them yet
Eating: 7oz 4 times a day, fruit in the morning, vegetable (or 2) at night (stage 2 baby food) Still loves all foods - really doesn't turn any down!
Sleeping: 12..sometimes 13..hours at night. Morning nap (1 1/2 - 2 hours), afternoon nap (1 1/2 - 2 hours). W has really gotten to the point where he has to have his naps or he is a grumpy little boy in the evenings!!


A few things I wanted to note about Watson this month:
- Loves bath time! We got a new bath seat which allows him to sit up in the bathtub (rather than recline in the little chair we did have)...and he LOVES it! It's so sweet to see him splash and have such a good time every bathtime :)


- He cannot stand to be alone...and let's you know it! W seems to be a social little boy...he cries..no, screams..any time he is the only one in the room...or just thinks he is the only one in the room. I feel like I have to sneak around the room if he is playing because as soon as he sees me walk by he just let's it all out...loud.

- Incredibly active! I'm giving him a couple more weeks to be fully on the move with crawling. He is doing a sort of army crawl now - up on his elbows and just kind of dragging his legs behind him. It's pretty impressive how quickly he can get from point a to point b though! It's so sweet to watch him around kids older than him - he makes it so clear just how badly he wants to be able to get up and run around with them! He absolutely loves time with Abby - they make each other laugh and it is absolutely adorable!


- Loves cell phones and remotes - he can have all of his toys around him and he will barely see a corner of the remote or a cell phone and he is instantly on the move towards it.

- Always likes to have his eye on mommy. Can't say I mind this :)

Loving his high chair..he knows it's time to eat as soon as I put him in there!

- Still VERY smiley! This boy is the happiest little baby I have ever been around...and I love i! He is incredibly content (as long as someone is in the room with him!) and laughs all day. If I have the tv on and he sees someone smiling, he always smiles back at them..it's hilarious :)

First trip to the park - he loved the swing!

Graham spent 9 days this month in Africa. During that time, my nephew, Hampton was born. Thankfully my mother in law came in town to help with Watson for several days - what a blessing that was!!! Watson actually got croup, round 2, while she was here..so it was a HUGE help to have her here during that time so that I could be with my sister when Hampton was born. Luckily the second bout of croup was not has bad as the first! I usually try to enjoy winter and the cold weather...but I have never been more ready for Spring in my life. The weather in AL has been crazy. 70's one day, 40's the next. In other words, everyone's allergies and sinuses are all messed up...including W's. We are definitely praying for a healthier next month!

Family picture and a sign we made for our friend, Maureen, who Graham was able to see while in Kenya.