Friday, January 17, 2014

Jase: 7 Months!!

December 19- January 16

You turned 8 months on January 8th!! I know everyone says time flies, but I cannot even believe how quickly it has started moving since you came into our lives! There is no “pause” button so I am soaking up every minute I can with your sweet self.

Weight/Height: We finally have you weighing 20 lbs! Woo hoo!! We also used Daddy’s measuring tape to measure you the other day, and you are 28 inches head to toe. I know we have some height in my biological family and on your Grandma’s side of the family, so you are probably going to be a pretty big dude. You are already in size 12 months- 18 months clothing because you are so long. You are outgrowing your clothes so fast…& you have some giant hands and feet. I might have an idea where you got those hands…(Do we have another pitcher in our future?)

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Health: We give God ALL the glory for your health. What a praise. We have prayed since before you were born for your health, & God has most definitely blessed us in answering that prayer. We make sure to thank Him for that daily.

We got your 6 month shots this month – a little behind schedule- (according to Dr. Sears delayed vaccination schedule) & the nurse was really slow sticking you. It wasn’t the same nurse this time. (We have a favorite.) You cried longer than normal after- about 15-20 seconds or so, and I could tell the injection site was tender for the next day or so. Nothing some extra snuggles, a warm bath, and massage couldn’t take care of though. You seriously have such a high pain tolerance. (The doctor even commented on it after your circumcision.) Your daddy is a man’s man for sure, but I’m pretty sure you get the pain tolerance from me. Just sayin’!

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You still have crazy bite marks on your thumb. I think you’re going to have scars! You only suck your thumb when you’re going to sleep & will not take a paci. No wonder though with that mouth full of teeth you have!

Sleep: We had a tough few weeks while you were teething. You typically sleep through the night, but there were a few nights you woke up 4-5 times in the night. Wowsers! I knew you were cutting teeth (although I didn’t know you were getting 4 at once! Bless your heart!!) so I would comfort you if I could tell you needed it. Sometimes I let you soothe yourself back to sleep and you did like a champ. We traveled a few times this month though, & being in a cabin or condo with other people was not the time to let you self-soothe. I let you sleep on my chest so we wouldn’t bother the others (which you and I BOTH loved), and it only took ONE nap of CIO when we got home to get you back on schedule. Daddy was home from work  the day we did the CIO & I didn’t know if he’d be able to handle it. (He’s more of a softie than me!) He asked me about 10 times if he should go get you, but I held strong. After about 45 minutes, you finally crashed….and you have been back to my perfect napper ever since. You are still on a great schedule and only get off occasionally during teething or a Wonder week, but you adjust back really quickly because we have worked so hard to be consistent & keep you on a routine. Being off for any reason makes me appreciate the schedule even more. I do NOT like not knowing what to expect. Plus, getting enough sleep myself makes me an even better mom to you. Thankful things are back to normal.

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You seriously LOVE your hymns cd you listen to at night. When I lay you down after your ‘bedtime’ routine, you usually cry about about 6 seconds and then crash. If you wake up before your naptime is over, you play contently in your crib.

You are so tall that I’m going to be cautious about your crib. It won’t go any lower and you are already as tall as the rails. (In fact, time to put the teething guard back on….you’re starting to gnaw that thing like a beaver.)

I keep waiting for you to drop that final nap, but you still need it. As long as you need it, we’ll keep it. Right now you nap from 10:30-12:30, 2:30-4:15ish, & take a 30 minute cat nap around 6:15. You’ve missed that last nap a few times and have been fine- I really just play it by ear and pay attention to your cues. But you usually want that nap. If you get even the least bit fussy, I know you’re sleepy because you are truly one of the happiest babies I’ve ever been around.

Nursing/Eating: Buddy, you seriously “got it” overnight. You are finally eating more of your food than ends up in the high chair, and it just clicked with you how to drink water from the sippy cup. We are giving you ‘nursery water’ that has some added flouride (the pediatrician recommended- they called in a prescription, but I decided to just give you the water instead). You have eaten SO many new foods & love to eat everything we eat. You always want to be a part of meal time! We tried eating out once, & you threw a mini fit till we shared our food with you. Definitely inspiration to stay on our A game with the healthy & clean eating. (You pull off your own bib. You DON’T like wearing a bib.)

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We are still doing Baby Led Weaning and I am SO, SO thankful we stuck with it. Like I said, it seriously clicked overnight & you are an awesome eater. It is so easy because you just eat what we eat. You  do occasionally eat “Sprout” purees if anyone else is watching you though. (The grandparents are a little nervous about you choking, which I totally respect, so you eat purees with them. You always say “mmmmmmmmmm” after every bite!) Sprout is by far the best brand of baby food I’ve seen if you’re into purees and organics.

One of your favorite foods for breakfast is cinnamon raisin Ezekial toast with organic, whole milk yogurt spread on with cinnamon mixed in. And oranges. YUM!! Did you know I ate an orange almost every single day you were in my tummy?? You even like Brussels, and yes, turkey burgers…

We had a tough couple weeks with nursing. You were cutting FOUR teeth at once (you have 8 now!! Whoa!) & my milk supply was really struggling for about a week. After some intense work & lots of prayer to get it back up, we got that all ironed out and back to normal. I’m going to do a post on that soon to help out other mamas.

What Jase is up to: Crawling like a maniac! You are seriously all over the place and we are working on boundaries. You immediately want to go to the hearth, the stairs, or the outlets when we put you down in the living room.

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Laughing. Your laugh is so, so funny & brings me such joy- I can’t even explain. You think your Dad is HILARIOUS. Funny, one of my favorite things about him too.

Waving bye bye. SO STINKIN CUTE.

Saying “mama” “dada” & “bye bye”. Not sure if you actually know what they mean? But you are definitely making those consonant sounds for sure. You also love to say “pa pa pa” like you are blowing out air. Grammy has been working with you to say “Grammy” for months now, so I’m sure that’ll be sometime soon.

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Grinding your teeth. Kelly says it’s totally normal, so we’ll just trust her. Kinda makes my spine shiver though. I try giving you something to chew on and that distracts you temporarily.

Pulling up on everything!! It won’t be long before you’re taking steps.

It’s no surprise that as much as you love music, your piano is one of your favorite toys.

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Independent play time…dude, you are rockin it. You could entertain yourself all day. You seriously are the easiest baby. You spend 15-20 minutes in your pack n play in the morning after I nurse you & we do our devotion and say prayers. That allows me to get breakfast ready for both of us. Any other time that I have to do something in another room, you hang in there contently. And if Dad & I work out, you will swing in your swing for 30-45 minutes contently watching us.

You are the BEST little traveler!! (We are heading to Texas again soon & I’ll see if I’m singing the same tune after that flight.) January 2 was your first time seeing snow. You could care less...but you were adorable in your little bear suit! Blowing bubbles on the car ride home…

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You have definitely outgrown your car seat. Time for the big boy car seat!

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Diaper rash. You started pooping legit ‘terds’ this month. (I’m sorry if that’s TMI.) It was so strange to see that in your diaper, but another sign you were actually ingesting more of your food. We went to the mountains for a weekend, and you had 2 days where you went every single time you ate. And buddy, you were stinkin the place up! Shew-wee!!! (You think it’s funny when I tell you how stinky you are and say ‘shewwww-weeee’ in a funny voice while changing you.) You developed a raw spot on your little booty, so I used our homemade diaper rash cream and let you air out a few times. You peed on your tractor Grandpa got you for Christmas.  Oh, and you peed in the pantry floor right after I snapped this pic of you going after our gingerbread bars.

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Wiggling!! I have never wrestled an alligator, but I think after learning to change your diaper and get you dressed, I might have a pretty decent shot. You HATE being on your back and the second I lay you down you flip to that tummy and start bookin’ it. I have to give you a toy or something to entertain you because my methods of distraction are no longer enough.

You also have a head full of sweet, blonde fuzzy hair coming in. It is so soft & not gonna lie- I’m PUMPED you’re going to be a little blonde haired, blue-eyed cutie!! Your facial features are so pretty too. You have big, full lips. A sweet little nose. Big, beautiful blue eyes, and some majorly long eye lashes. I think my favorite is this precious dimple you have on your cheek though…..ahhhhhh, MELT!!!

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You have also started riding in the front of the grocery cart and you LOVE it. You love when everyone talks to you….and you are quite a people magnet. I love that you are such a “people person” already- but occasionally you get a little clingy and just want me.

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Teething. One new tooth broke through on the bottom left (1/13) and we discovered the other three (other side on the bottom, and on both sides of the top) on 1/16. You aren’t really fussy when you’re teething. Biggest thing I’ve noticed is it messes up your sleep. I’m assuming that’s because you don’t eat as much because it hurts, and you don’t sleep as well because you don’t have a full tummy. It also makes sense why your urine smells stronger- you’re slightly dehydrated because you’re not getting as much milk. We have been using a cloth, but you got this toothbrush from Santa and we started using it this month. You LOVE it!!!

You also started wrapping your arms around our necks and laying your head on our shoulder. That is our FAVORITE thing yet!!! Your head on my shoulder and this sweet little sigh you let out when you’re sleepy INSTANTLY melts my heart.

Post-Partum: I feel awesome!! I’ve only been getting in a couple workouts  a week, but we have been BUSY BUSY with business. What a blessing.

Thoughts: Baby Jase- you are so very SPECIAL. I cannot even describe it, but I have an overwhelming sense- I just absolutely KNOW God is going to use you in such a mighty way. I pray for you daily. I cover you in prayer & God has been doing a work in my own life so I can be the kind of wife and mother I need to be so I can raise you to be the warrior God is calling you to be. You have a special, MIGHTY calling on your life and I cannot wait to see it come to fruition. You fill mine and your dad’s heart with such incredible joy- it’s truly indescribable. And I know your grandparents all feel the same way about you. Everyone who meets you falls in love with your sweet presence. I love you, my angel baby. So thankful God blessed us with YOU.

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6 comments:

Unknown said...

So cute! You should do a 40 week picture of him...to show how much a difference from 40 weeks in the tummy to 40 weeks old out of the tummy looks like!

Unknown said...

So cute! You should do a 40 week picture of him...to show how much a difference from 40 weeks in the tummy to 40 weeks old out of the tummy looks like!

Nikki said...

Danielle he is so stinkin cute! I just cant with his facial expressions to much!

Ashley said...

So so sweet!! So glad I was able to finally hold your precious boy. Xxoo

Jenn @ Bliss to Bean said...

Oh wow...time is flying!! I just love your little videos!! He is so handsome!! You are doing such a great job mama. Lucky boy!

Anonymous said...

Hi Danielle,
I love reading your blog and think you have some wonderful and inspiring posts! I know you and your husband are all about eating healthy and ingesting as few toxins as possible. I just wanted to suggest that you might check into the dangers of fluoride. I noticed that you are giving Jase "nursery water" per the recommendation of your doctor, but many studies suggest fluoride is toxic to the body. Harmful effects including reduced fertility, reduced IQ, and thyroid damage. I just wanted to pass this information along...

http://www.naturalnews.com/030123_fluoride_babies.html#

http://www.cheeseslave.com/top-10-dangers-of-fluoride/