Adam Jonathan: 6 Months

I'm slacking again! I know I will look back and regret not writing these posts like I should. I regret it with Evelyn. So, again, better late than never, right?

SIX months! Never mind that you are actually almost 7 months. Six months was a month of huge milestones and difficulty. You keep me on my toes, Adam. This was a difficult month for me, as I had in my mind that you would be a little happier by six months. I took you to a chiropractor in hopes that an adjustment would improve your mood, only to discover that you have a posterior tongue tie. Then we started our adventure of getting that clipped in hopes that it would improve your mood as well. The chiropractor said she thought it might be affecting your ability to relax, and, honestly, I agree. I've never seen a baby quite so tense.

While we waited for your appointment for your tongue tie, you hit a couple of milestones! On your six month birthday, in the span of about 10 minutes, you became mobile! I sat you on the floor to run downstairs and do some laundry. You had gotten onto your tummy - which you have been doing for a couple of weeks - when I left you and when I came back, you were sitting up again! Then, you got on your tummy again, and moved forward. You had been rocking on all fours for a little while, but you finally figured it out. So, in that short period of time, you started to crawl and then go from your tummy to sitting. So exciting!

You also started on some solid food and have taken to it well. We do baby led weaning around here, so you're not ingesting a ton, but you've managed avocado, banana, and butternut squash quite well!

You still don't really sleep. No, seriously, you don't. Our nights usually look like this: bed at 7-7:30, up at 10:30, 12:30 and 2; at which point you refuse to go back to sleep in your crib so we sleep in the chair or on the couch until you are up again at 6:30 (not to mention a few times in between) to play. It's been rough, but at this point, it's become normal.

Then you had your tongue tie clipped. You cried when they did it. You cried during stretching. And then it healed. And, let me say something, you're happier. I don't have nearly as many moments of not knowing how to make you happy. You may not sleep better, but just seeing you smiling more than crying is so worth it.

I've seen the light at the end of the tunnel and we're heading that direction.

So, six months: sitting, crawling, sitting back up, crib dropped, food introduced, sleep still sucks, but more smiles than tears. I love you through it all, Adam, forever and always.

Adam Jonathan: 5 Months

Just like I felt like it happened with Evelyn, I feel like someone has put time on fast forward. Something about 4/5 months and everything just seems to happen so fast. My itty bitty (relatively) baby is gone and before I know it you'll be crawling, walking, running, talking, graduating high school and I'll be left here wondering what happened.

I'm clinging desperately to these fleeting moments particularly now that our days seem to be more sunshine than storms! I'll say it again, Adam, you've been a tough kid! There are usually at least a couple of times during the day when I just don't know what you want or how to soothe you. But it truly does make your smiles and laughs all the more special.

Yes, we get some good laughs out of you occasionally and you are so ticklish!

I think I can officially say that you don't completely despise your carseat anymore (hallelujah!) and I can usually count on you taking a little nap while you are in the car.

{Riding home from our vacation in Branson}

You are so close to sitting without help and are scooting/rolling everywhere. You almost always roll yourself onto your tummy if I lay you on your back and while you are able to roll onto your back again, it's not as easy and you don't do it as often. I can't count on laying you down and knowing you'll stay put anymore.

You easily can grab at toys and get them to your mouth and we've even put you in the bathtub with Evelyn where you love to splash and play.

Your sleep still leaves something to be desired. I can't count on you getting up twice overnight and you usually seem to want to wake for the day at 5 or 6 am. Let me tell you something mister, this family doesn't do 5 or 6 am. I'm giving you the memo officially. We need to work on that. Fortunately, while you'll seem to be ready to get up and play at this time, I can often coax you back to sleep for another hour or two if I sleep in the chair with you. It's not ideal, but it works for now. I've said it before, I really don't mind getting up in the middle of the night, but you often don't want to go back to sleep in your bed and that's tough. This too shall pass, right?

{Sleep lines from your nap!}

You had your first real illness - Hand, Foot, and Mouth (aka the disease straight from hell) - and you were a little trooper. You didn't really spike a fever like Evelyn did, but you got the sores and your eating and sleeping were terrible for about a week. It was rough on both of us, buddy. I don't think either of us slept longer than a 2 hour stretch for  the whole week. Thankfully, you're healthy again!

You are SO NOSY! You love to watch Evelyn and the dogs and nursing you can be challenging because you seem to be so worried you'll miss something. I can usually count on a good nursing session if I go into your room and close the door with your noise fan on, but Evelyn doesn't care for that idea. So, it ends up being a daily battle. However, you do still nurse frequently (every 2-3 hours).

I'm so excited for what's to come, Adam.

Adam Jonathan: 4 Months

**Better late than never! I've had it written for a month and I just stink at getting the pictures into it...**

FOUR months buddy! If I remember correctly, this is when everything started moving super fast with Evelyn. It was like she was a baby that didn't do much but hang around and smile, to sitting up, rolling over, eating food, laughing, walking, running, going to college in a span of 2 minutes.

Don't go too fast though, okay? This past month has been fun and stressful. Let's get the stats out of the way first though. At your four month appointment you were 27 inches long (100%) and 16 lbs 12 oz (73%). Still a big boy! You currently fit nicely into 9 month clothes and don't show any signs of stopping.

You are still a bit on the fussy side, but your demeanor seems to be improving every week. You still love to be held and to look around. You also love to be outside, which is good because so does Evelyn!

Your sleep is definitely improving (although my day in the life post shows otherwise!) and you seem to be falling into a bit of a routine. You go to be sometime around 8 and usually wake sometime between midnight and 2 am. Then you'll be up again around 5 or 6 and if I'm lucky I'll get you back to bed for a little longer. Last week you had a day you slept until 8:30! You'll then take a morning nap about 1-2 hours after waking up and a nice afternoon nap. You usually seem to need a little catnap in the evening but it's harder to come by. We had to stop swaddling you last week because you started to consistently roll over. The first night or two were a little rough, but once you figured out that you can roll over onto your tummy and sleep you did great! Putting you to be has been much easier since doing that!

You've started to tripod a bit. I'm thinking you might sit up early like Evelyn did. You also found your feet! Evelyn never played with her feet, so this is a silly, exciting thing for me!

I love to watch you grow and change, but it's happening so much faster this time around. It's hard to believe you're closer to six months than farther away. Don't grow too fast on me, okay?

A Day in the Life

I've seen this done before by other bloggers and I thought it would be nice to have a real, full-day record to look back at in the future and recall what life was like at this point in time. So, here goes. I'm not picking any day in particular for any particular reason. I'm mostly a stay at home mom now so my days kind of blend together anyway! This was all done on Thursday, July 18. Evelyn is 2 years old and it's Adam's 4 month birthday!

11:30 pm - Adam is up. He's been asleep since before 8, which is typical, but we didn't swaddle him tonight since he's started rolling over. We'll see how the rest of the night goes. I nurse him and say a quick prayer before putting him back to bed.

1:14 am - Adam is up again. I nurse him and tell myself I'll wait until he's good and asleep before trying to transfer him. 

1:40 am - Fell asleep in chair (it's funny, I almost NEVER did this when Evelyn was a baby. Now, I have the hardest time staying awake during night wakings. Talk about sleep deprived), Adam leaked out of his diaper (finding a solution for diapering him overnight is a whole other story), change Adam, get him back to sleep, crawl in my bed. Feels so good!

2:40 am - Adam is up. Again. Sigh... I guess it's going to be one of those nights. Have a fleeting thought of just sleeping in the chair or on the couch. Let's see if I can't get him back in bed.

3:49 am - Fell asleep in the chair again. Back to bed for me.

4 am - Adam is up again. To the couch we go. Nurse Adam back to sleep. Praying he decides to sleep longer than an hour.

6:28 am - Good morning sunshine. We hang out in the couch for a bit (aka I keep my eyes closed as long as humanly possible).

6:54 am - Rob heads out the door for work so I finally decide to get up and change Adam's diaper. So. Freaking. Tired. I dream of dropping Adam's adorable, smiling little tush in Rob's arms on Saturday morning and sleeping until noon. It probably won't happen but a girl can dream, right? Nurse big boy and set him down to play for a bit. He found his toes the other day and is loving it.

7:09 am - head downstairs to continue doing diaper laundry I started last night (I've got some exciting news on this front to announce soon!). Cloth diapering 2 kids has definitely meant an increase in laundry, but I still love it!

7:16 am - assess the damage from last night's lack of sleep... me in all my morning glory. Just keeping it real! Splash some water on my face, put my hair up, and go sit for a bit to browse Facebook, Instagram, StlWed, etc. on my phone until Evelyn gets up. This will likely be the only quiet time I get all day. Hoping she sleeps until at least 8. But with construction going on to build more houses you just never know.

7:45 am - I get Adam down for a nap in his swing just in time to hear Evelyn awake in her room. I get Evelyn up and change her, then walk in the kitchen and realize that the trash smells terrible so I take it out.

8:20 am - I put Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood on so I can sit down and pump. Then I text my mom to firm up plans for swimming this morning. It's supposed to be in the 90's today and I'd like to beat the heat.

8:30 am - Done pumping. Get some breakfast for Evelyn and I (Cheerios and apples and peanut butter). Adam is waking up in the swing, but he's content so I let him be. Side note: I'm off dairy in an attempt to help Adam's tummy. It sucks. I'm attempting to like almond milk and chocolate almond milk, but it's just not the same. I miss my big glass of chocolate milk in the morning. I really, really miss it. And on mornings after a night like last night, I sometimes consider forcing myself to like coffee. Or drinking. I guess it would be too early for that though...

8:53 am - I finish breakfast and empty/load the dishwasher and put my pumped milk away while Evelyn finishes. Another side note: this is actually two days worth of milk. I pump every morning to manage my oversupply. Some days I get 20 oz (when everyone sleeps well) some days I get 5 oz. Depends on the day. I'll be attempting to wean myself off the pump when Adam is around 6 months old.

9 am - I clean the magnets and such off the fridge so they can take it away (it's broken) and move the loaner in, get my swimsuit on, and run a rinse cycle on my diapers. Adam is fussing again, so I change up his scenery.

9:15 am - Get Evelyn cleaned up from breakfast and (attempt to) get her swimsuit on. Adam is fussing again, so another change of scenery. I'd like to wait to feed him until right before we leave for the pool but I don't think he's going to last that long.

9:28 am - Adam is done. So I sit down and feed him while Evelyn dumps a bag of diaper samples on the floor. Whatever keeps her occupied.

9:32 am - Way too distracted by sissy to actually have a good nursing session but he's a little more content.

9:37 am - Sit down to put Adam's swimsuit on and find he pooped! Woo hoo! We've been having some poop trouble lately, so I get excited when he goes.

9:40 am - Mom and James arrive and we get the kids slathered in sunscreen.

10:00 am - Load up the ridiculous amount of paraphernalia it takes to go to the pool and head out the door.

11:45 am - Get home, feed Adam, change clothes/diapers, hang suits to dry and decide on lunch while the kids play for a bit.

12:30 pm - We head out the door to Arby's for lunch. Evelyn eats a ham and cheese sandwich and I have a French Dip. Nothing too exciting, but since we haven't left the house except to go to the pool for three days it was kind of nice.

1:30 pm - We get home from Arby's and Adam is way beyond ready for a nap. He screamed the whole way home in the car, through Evelyn's diaper change so I could get her in her room for a "nap" (lol), and through his own diaper change until I sat down and nursed him for bed. He konked out pretty much immediately.

1:45 - Adam is asleep and Evelyn is in her room, so I grab the laundry from downstairs and hang the diapers out to dry before sitting down to get started on this post.

2:17 pm - Adam is up, coax him back to sleep.

2:37 pm - Call Lowe's to try and figure out what's going on with the fridge issue. They are supposed to be picking up our broken fridge today and moving a loaner into the house until our new one arrives in a couple of weeks. Except they haven't called or come yet. Come to find out one of the delivery men cancelled our visit because he didn't have anything to deliver. They said they would call me back and let me know what's going on.

2:45 pm - I check on Evelyn to find her standing on her art desk turning the light on and off (oye) and with a poopy diaper. I guess quiet time is over. I get her up, change her, and give her a snack.

2:55 pm - Lowe's calls back and says they are on their way. Crap. I haven't emptied the fridge yet. So I go find a couple of coolers for the frozen stuff and empty it all onto the counters. My kitchen is officially a disaster area. I finish just as they are arriving. Evelyn is pretty fascinated.

3:40 pm - The old fridge is gone and the loaner is in place. Now I have to figure out how to get everything from our 22 cu. ft. fridge into this 18 cu. ft. one. I guess I needed to purge anyway. Nothing like being forced to clean the fridge out!

4:00 pm - I figured since it's all out, I might as well bag and label my milk to go into the deep freeze. Then Rob calls and reminds me that his mom is bringing his grandma and great aunt by to visit. Crap. Again. The house is a disaster and they will be here any second. Oh well. Not much I can do at this point since Adam is now awake (woo-hoo for a 2 hour nap!) and hungry.

4:30 pm - I finish nursing and changing Adam just in time for my mother in law to arrive with Rob's Grandma, great Aunt, and our niece. Evelyn is super excited to see Isabella and they immediately run off to play while everyone else dotes on Adam. Thank goodness he is rested/full/clean!

5 pm - Rob gets home.

5:30 pm - Our visitors leave and I coax Evelyn back inside. She really wants to ride her bike, but it's really just too hot. I bribe her with another snack. I try to clean the house up a bit more while we relax and play with the kids a bit.

 

5:54 pm -I get dinner started, while Rob entertains. We're having leftovers: Mini Meatball soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, and homemade calzones.

6:15 pm - Dinner is ready so we sit down to eat. In his perfect time, Adam starts fussing, so I get him down in the swing for a little cat nap and continue our dinner. Yummy!

6:45 pm - Evelyn needs a bath since we swam today, so I decide to take her in the shower with me. This is what we typically do, but as Adam's gotten older we've been doing more tub baths with them together. And since I've pretty much decided to give up on getting her to nap, we're moving bed time back from 8:30 to whenever she seems tired. She was pretty glazed over at dinner, so we get the process going. I love taking showers with her because it's one of the few times when we just quietly play together. She has her tub crayons and we talk to one another and sing songs. Love it.

7:10 pm - We're out of the shower and I get Evelyn dressed, her teeth brushed, prayers said, and nurse while Rob gets Adam in his pjs.

7:30 pm - Evelyn is in bed so I start working on Adam while Rob starts on cutting the grass. He's not always so easy and tonight is the second night we didn't swaddle him. He's rolling over now and seems to prefer his tummy, so that's what it ends up being.

8:11 pm - Adam is in bed so I sit down and work on this post a little more and start researching ideas for a little secret project I'm working on. :) What a busy day!

9:00 pm - Adam is awake. Coax him back to sleep.

10:00 pm - Join rob on the couch to watch a little Netflix while he draws on the tablet.

10:30 pm - Crawl in bed, praying for a good night's sleep but worried about Adam sleeping on his tummy.

Another long night was had as Adam was up at 10:45, 11, 3, and 6. And just for good measure, Evelyn was up at 4:15. Blah. This too shall pass and I comfort myself knowing that I get to start fresh everyday. Tired or not, I love being home with my kids and wouldn't trade it for anything.