Dear Friends, Well, it has been quite a while since I've last posted. Life has been unbelievably busy, and I can't believe how much has happened. Bopper has changed so much (and I hope to post some more when we have some time), but as a highlight he is crawling up a storm, standing up easily and cruising along like it's nobody's business. He loves big people food and if the world were made out of Cheerios he would be in Heaven. Other than that, we've decided that as much as we love DC, that it's not for us anymore. Hubsters received a transfer to his agency's Atlanta office, we put our home on the market, it went under contract in fewer than 5 days, and now we're looking for a home in the Atlanta suburbs. We think we have found the one.
We gave our realtor a list of 10 houses we wanted to look at, but this one wasn't even on the list because it's not on the market yet. A colleague of our agent is moving due to a work transfer and needed to sell her home on short notice. Our agent scheduled a showing and it was love at first sight. We put in an offer today, we're waiting to hear if it has been accepted. We hope it is because we're in love with the house. We're hopeful that our offer will be accepted (there's no other offer since it's not on the market yet); we should know by tomorrow morning. Since the home isn't even officially on the market yet, there is no link
to send you to a listing. We took some quick photos of the house today
when we went back so you can get a feel. Enjoy!
Front of the House and Cul-de-Sac
Entryway
Formal Living Room
Dining Room
Kitchen
Sunroom
Den
Stairs
Master Bedroom
Master Bath
Upstairs Hall
Bedrooms
Laundry/Bath
Hubster's Office Space
Garage
Back Patio (Sorry, forgot to take photos of the upper deck too)
Last week, Bopper decided that he had enough of this "just sitting around" thing. The world is too big not to be explored so he decided it was time to crawl. Sorry you have to wait to the very end to actually see the crawling. This is also a week old...he's perfected the crawling thing and is a little speed demon. Can't take my eyes off this one.
It's true, I'm supposed to be packing (more on that later), but I needed a break and I haven't posted in a while. Thought I would take a moment to catch up. Little Man loves bath time. He is almost too big for his baby tub and and quickly climb out of it if we are not watching. We'll have to move to giving him a bath in the regular tub soon, but so glad we caught this little gem: Little Man learns about splashing.
Yesterday I put Bopper in his crib with a book so that I could run into the kitchen to fix his supper. When I went back in I discovered that he was in the process of pulling himself up to a standing position from a sitting position. Boy, was I surprised at that. I wish I had captured in on camera to capture that moment. Well, he did it again this morning using one of his toy boxes, and I was able to get most of it, including the tumble that followed.
My dear friend, Laura, emailed last night to say she was thinking of me as she was looking at the photos her parents took during their recent Alaska vacation. Why would that make her think of me, you ask. Well, before Laura met Matt and I met Hubsters, Laura and I had each other (we've been sweet friends since our freshman year of college) and we took an AMAZING Alaskan cruise one year.
I miss Laura very much as we don't get to see each other often. I've been tardy in getting back to her email, so that is on the agenda today after Bopper has his breakfast and we take our morning walk. But until then, here are some fun moments from our cruise.
We had the pleasure of hosting my mom for about 9 week while I healed from surgery on my rotator cuff. During the last few weeks we had a good system down; she would play with Bopper while I made dinner. Well, since my shoulder is much better, my mom went home. Now it's up to me to figure out how to keep Bopper contained and entertained while I create dinner. The first attempt was to put him in the exersauser. That lasted for all of 15 minutes. Then I set out a blanket on the floor and surrounded him with pillows. He refused to sit, and just laid on the floor doing this:
Then he decided to find his toes. But it was the point when he rolled around and looked for the garbage can and the fire extinguisher that I knew this would no longer work.
So this was the final solution:
Don't judge me for containing my curious 8-month old with a laundry basket.
Bopper is a growing boy! So much so that it's too much for me to just carry him around the store. He squirms and squiggles and loves to look at everything. So, I put in him the child seat of the shopping cart for the first time. He loved it!
When Bopper was 7 weeks old we took a trip to Maine. We drove. It was a long two days. But it gave Hubsters and I a chance to talk about some of the things we would like to institute as a family. One of those things was family breakfast Saturdays, where the whole family sits down together for breakfast. We decided that this tradition, along with some others, should start when Bopper was 6 months old. Well, his 6 month birthday came and went and we didn't do any of these things because life got busy and we forgot. So we started when he was a hair over 7 months. Our first family breakfast included Grandma Bennett and pancakes!
Hubsters getting ready to make pancakes.
The secret recipe!
The first batch.
Bopper patiently waiting for breakfast to start and working on those sippy cup skills.
Mom and I took Bopper swimming for the first time last Wednesday. At first, he wasn't too sure about it. But then we put him in a floaty, and he LOVED it! Check it out!
The July 4th week was full of adventure for our family. We traveled to Hubster's parent's house in Blacksburg, VA. July 4, 2013 was not only the 237th birthday of America, but also the 7 month birthday for Bopper. I can't believe it has been seven months! A couple at church had a little boy two months ago who was 1 ounce larger than Bopper at birth, and when you compare the two today, the difference is amazing! Bopper is so big, and has learned so many things!
Bopper, from birth to seven months! My, how he's changed!
7 month birthday fun!
Bopper is probably about 20ish pounds (he was almost 18 pounds at his 6 month check up, so the 20 pounds is just a guess). He is firmly established on eating non-formula food. He LOVES broccoli (huge surprise there if you know me and my distaste of anything green) and carrots, apples, peas, pears, peaches, potatoes, string beans, and sweet potatoes and there are more to come! Welcome to the world of yummy tastes little one! There hasn't been a food that Bopper hasn't enjoyed. Now we are working on making the food thicker and transitioning to finger food and self feeding.
Bopper loves to sit and explore. His favorite thing to do is sit and pull all of his toys out of the toy box. He rolls over like its no body's business and has decided that he likes sleeping on his tummy (after a week of not liking it and not wanting to roll back onto his back and therefore screaming at 2 AM for Mommy or Daddy to roll his back over). Along with a birthday, we also had July 4th fun! Hubster's sister and her family came down too, so it was a full house. I have to say, her boys were smitten with Bopper, and Bopper was equally smitten with them. Even Uncle Ray got in on some of the fun!
"Uncle Ray, are you making fun of me?"
What would a July 4th be without a parade and fireworks?
Bopper wasn't too sure about the parade, and the firetrucks at the end made him cry, but other than that I think he enjoyed it. The parade even had a street sweeper as a part of the line up! Yes, small town America!
I was hoping we could take Bopper with us for the show, but by 7PM he is dead to the world and there is no way to wake the child up. So Hubsters and I, along with Sharon and her family enjoyed the show. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Cook for watching Bopper!
The festivities did not end there! Hubster's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at the end of December. Because Bopper was due to arrive on December 27, it was decided that the celebration would be postponed until the summer - which we celebrated on July 6 - and what fun we had. Not only did Bopper meet many of his distant relatives, but he did such a good job at the party. He didn't cry at all, even though we were outside all day. He even fell asleep in his new stroller without fussing.
I love the sound of Bopper's laugh. I love it even more when the house is filled with it. It warms my heart that Hubsters has the gift of being able to make Bopper squeal with delight.
I am trying not to be one of those moms who compares her child to all the other children. I know that babies develop at different rates, and some do things more quickly than others. I'm also a worrier. I worry about a lot of stuff when it comes to Bopper. I won't go into into the majority of it, but the other day I asked my mom if I should be worried that Bopper wasn't babbling. At both of his 4 and 6 month check-up the doctor asked us if he was babbling, and I said no. Then I felt like I was a bad mom because Bopper wasn't making babbling noises, or that something was wrong with him. I know, I know, that's my sin nature in me to start to worry about things like that when I know that I shouldn't Anyway, my mom said that I shouldn't worry about it. And guess what, that very same day at dinner he started babbling up a storm. I wish I had caught it on camera, but you'll just have to deal with his slight babble at lunch today. I love this boy! Babababababababa!
I'm a strong believer in teaching children to do things like cleaning and laundry so that it will help them become self-sufficient when they are older. It's never too early to start. Here, Bopper gets his first lesson in folding laundry.
Bopper has decided that he does not want to roll over. Instead, he has decided that he wants to be a big boy and sit up all by himself. Over the course of a week he went from needing support (see video) to sitting all by himself (photo). It is amazing how quickly he is growing and changing.
E has started laughing, but it's an elusive little sucker. What got him laughing yesterday most likely will not make him laugh today. Today Hubsters found the laugh and it's precious. We love E!
Just because I'm on the mend from shoulder surgery doesn't mean that Little Man doesn't stop growing. He's at the point where he is downing 8 ounces of formula like it's nothing, and he gets hungrier sooner. I had wanted to wait until he was 6 months old to introduce other food into his diet, but I don't think he (or Mommy or Daddy) will be able to make it that long. So, this morning at the ripe old age of 5 months and 15 days, Little Man had his first taste of non-formula food - baby oatmeal thinned down with formula. It was more successful than I had expected and so far so good. We'll see what tomorrow brings and then we'll add in some veggies in a few days.
Today is E's 5 Month Birthday!!! I took the pics, but I still have to go through them and post them. But, E gave Mommy and Daddy a very, very, sweet present today. He gave us his first laugh!
There are two things that Little Man enjoys doing: 1) grabbing things and, 2) putting things in his mouth. And they often go hand in hand (hahahaha - no pun intended). So a typical time of playing on the floor may go a little like this:
Oh, look, a fun thing I can grab! Let me reach for it.
Let me see if it will fit in my mouth...nom nom nom nom nom. Can I get the whole thing in my mouth? Let me try!
Well, I can't seem to get the whole thing in my mouth. Maybe I can get both my hands in at the same time instead.
Hmmmm, my hands don't seem to fit either. What if I tried putting the toy and my hand in my mouth at the same time?
Ok, that was unsuccessful too. What if I hung on to the toy with my right hand and put my left hand in my mouth? Oh boy, this is just too tiring.
I think I'll just hang on to the toy with one hand and and hang on to Mommy with the other.
It’s official.E has
turned four months old!I can’t believe
how much my life has changed over these last four months, but I can tell you
that I wouldn’t change anything.E is so
precious to Hubsters and me.We love him
so much.
Growing
In only a few short months, E has gone from a newborn to a full-fledged,
growing baby boy.It is amazing to see
him grow and change and learn new things.And when I say grow, I really mean grow.At birth, E was just under 7 pounds and about 19 inches long.The last “informal” measurements that
Hubsters and I did at home E was a smidge over 15 pounds and 24 inches
long!He has gone from drinking 1-2
ounces of formula at each feeding to guzzling down 6 ounces at each
feeding.And he burps…like a man! At four months he wears 6 month size clothing
and there is no end to his growing in sight! So much more has happened in the last four
months…here are just a few highlights:
Smiles
At 8 weeks, E started to smile.He is a very smiley baby and smiles all the
time.He especially lights up when
Hubsters comes home from work and has Daddy-time with him.E loves it!He just smiles and smiles and smiles.He also loves to smile at the quilt that we have hanging on his
wall.It has a rocking horse on it that
is many different colors.He just looks
at it and grins, which is great, except when I’m trying to feed him, because he
would rather smile than eat.So I have
to turn him in the opposite direction when I feed him in the nursery so he
doesn’t get distracted.I love to see
him smile.It makes me smile.It warms my heart to know that I can make him
smile.Now we’re just waiting on that
first laugh.
Sleeping
Not only is he smiling, but he is also sleeping though the
night!There was some magical moment
when he hit 13 weeks that he decided he could sleep for 9-10 hours without
needing to eat.This has been wonderful
for me now that I am able to get a full night’s sleep.With the exception of a few days here or
there, he has been really consistent with his night time sleep.Naps, on the other hand, are not his
favorite.He is at the point he is too
old for his eating and sleeping every three hour routine, but not quite old
enough to go every four hours.So I try
to stretch him out to every 3.15 or 3.30 hours, but some days it just doesn’t
work.He doesn’t fuss too much when I
put him down for a nap, but it’s the staying asleep part that he has trouble
with sometimes.
We have also successfully broken E from his swaddle!He went from using his miracle blanket to
using a Halo sleep sack.The switch in
swaddles was due mainly to the fact that E grew so much that he didn’t have
enough leg room in the miracle blanket.His legs hit the bottom and he was uncomfortable.So at the suggestion of my friend Jenn, we
switched.E has loves his Halo sleep
sack and it has helped us make the transition to not being swaddled a good one.Now it’s a happy night sleep for all!
Play Time
E is also awake for longer stretches.He can go about 1.5-2 hours before he starts
to get grumpy and yawn (his signal that he needs a nap).He is a joy to play with.He has started to unfurl his hands and grasp
at toys that are in hanging in front of his face.He has also started to try to hit his toys and
swats at them to make them swing.We’re
still working on those grabbing skills, but he’s getting there.
Tummy time is improving!He no longer screams his head off, but will enjoy tummy time for
15 minutes before getting fussy.I think
it’s because he can see the world in new way.He is very strong and holds his head up well.He has also discovered that he can roll over
from his tummy to his back.He has done
it on his own, but seems to forget how from day to day.Some days he rolls over, and other days he
just lays there until I roll him over.We’re working on it!Before you
know it, he will be rolling all over the place.Along with his continued fascination with kicking, he has learned that
he can stand and push himself up.He can’t
do it on his own, but if I hold him up and give him the balance support, he
will stand on his own.He LOVES it!He looks all around him and is using that
stepping reflex to learn to move those legs in the right direction.While it will be exciting when he learns to
walk, we have to learn to crawl first.
E likes to talk.Not
that I know what he is saying, but he is very verbal.He just babbles away and seems to make new
sounds every day.I tried to capture it
on camera, but every time he sees the camera he becomes quiet…I guess he might
be camera shy?Here is the best one I’ve
captured.
Other Neat Things
In just four moths E has visited 10 states and the District
of Columbia!That’s what happens when
you do a Virginia to Maine road trip.In
in case you are geographically challenged, here are the states he hit on the
trip:Virginia, Maryland, Delaware,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Maine, and the District of Columbia.Soon we will add North Carolina to that list when we go visit Hubster’s
aunt and her family.
One thing that made Maine a great visit was the opportunity for E to meet his great-grandmother, who passed away a week later. It was beautiful to see Grandma meet her great-grandson and to have four generations together in one room.
It has been a wonderful 4 months.Motherhood is great and exhausting all at
the same time.I never thought I would
be satisfied to spend hours upon hours just looking at my son and marveling at
him, but I do.
