Thursday, September 24, 2015

Hello Fall

This week we said goodbye to summer and said hello to fall. In honor of the changing seasons, Samson's nap times have changed and he went from five bottles a day to four, without too much difficulty. However, in a cranky moment pre-naptime on Monday, he head-butted my face and surprised me with a bloody nose. How sweet. He stayed up TWO hours past his bed time on Tuesday, just so he could watch The Voice. By Wednesday, we were ready for an extended morning with Aaron before he had a late evening of travel to Ohio, and then got lucky enough for grandma & grandpa to come by for dinner. Samson was extra sweet for grandpa and fell asleep for him in just a few minutes. Today after Aaron left for work, I ventured out with Samson & Cash to soak up some of this beautiful weather. I picked up a new Toasted Graham Latte from Starbucks and we all went to the park for a walk. I know I say this often, but this is my favorite baby stage yet. Samson is so much fun and he loves exploring, especially with his brother Cash by his side.







Monday, September 21, 2015

Samson : 8 months

Age : 8 months

Height : 28 1/2" (totally guessing)

Weight : 18 lbs (ish)

Clothes : 6-9 months

Diapers : Charlie Banana & Size 3 Honest diapers

Eating : 6.5 oz/5x a day, 2-3 "meals" a day. Loves: puffs, yogurt, apples, bananas, and pumpkin. Hates: spinach.

Sleeping : Goes to sleep at 7:30 p, wakes up at 7:00 a. Some nights he wakes up several times, but on good nights he wakes up once & goes back to sleep easily. Takes a 90 minute nap in the morning and one to two shorter naps in the afternoon. He's getting better about napping in his crib now that we have given him a blanket to snuggle.

Pacifiers/Soothies : MAM pacifiers and a mint green knit blanket at nap time & bed time.

Milestones : Crawling better every day, standing, saying "da-da," "ba-ba," and lots of babble (no ma-ma yet!), pulling himself up to stand from a seated position, napping more often in his crib. Can I get an Amen!?

Likes : Being on the move. Rubbing soft blankets against his face. Snuggling just about anyone, favorites are always mommy & daddy. Playing with Cash and his toys. Trying to chew on everyone's shoes (and feet). Eating food of almost any variety, but finger foods are his favorite... and the messiest. Playing outside in the grass and going on adventures in the stroller.

Dislikes :  Spinach, sometimes I can sneak a tiny bit in to a big bowl of fruit puree. Laying still for diaper changes. Being told "no-no," he obviously just ignores us. Hanging out for long periods on his own when it's obvious that someone should be holding him ;)
31 weeks
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34 weeks


Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Favorites : Month 6 & 7

Happy Baby Happy Puffs - With the exception of the occasional sliver of fresh fruit/veggies I give to Samson when I'm making his baby food, these are the first "solid" he has eaten. At first, he was not interested at all. We gave him a few weeks before we tried them again and it was amazing to see him chew them right up. I sometimes forget that he is always watching and always learning. He likes feeding himself like a big boy, I like that they are natural and organic, Cash likes that he chucks them off the high chair tray at every meal. Winner.

Munchkin Disposable Changing Pads - We were gifted a few boxes of these at various baby showers before Samson was born. Our diaper bag has a built-in changing pad, which until recently we used for all our out of the house diaper changes. I got a sweet new mom car and have a special spot in the back of the "trunk" that is dedicated to on-the-go diaper changes. I have these stashed with an back-up supply of diapers & wipes so that I am always prepared. These are so handy and help keep things nice & clean.

Infantino Cow Teether - We all know and love Sophie the Giraffe, but this cow is just as fun! It's soft and squeeky, just like the teether by Vulli. As far as I can tell, Samson is nowhere near getting any teeth, but he loves chewing on these teether toys. It's a bit less expensive than Sophie, and if you'd rather, there are other animals to choose from.

MAM Night Pacifiers - Glow in the dark pacifiers. Life savers. Almost all of of middle of the night wake up calls are due to a lost pacifier. We've learned to keep a few pacifiers in the nursery just in case, but when the lights are out, we need all the help we can get. Even if you have to get on your hands and knees and dig for it under the crib in the middle of the night to retrieve it. Most brands have them, but these are Samson's favorite pacifiers.

Old Navy Jammies - These are hands down our favorite pajamas right now. Samson is tall and slim and these manage to fit him really well. He's wearing the 6-9 month size right now and still has plenty of room to grow in them. The fabric is really soft and breathable, which helps our sweaty little guy from getting too hot. They stand up nicely to stains and stain remover (LOTS of experience here). They have built in mittens, which are awesome for newborns, but I'd imagine they would be nice for older babies too in cooler weather. The down side is all the snaps. Heavens, I'm getting good at snapping while Samson wiggles and rolls, but would a zipper wouldn't hurt.

The Honest Company Diapers - We use cloth diapers all day long, but we love having disposable diapers on hand too. We recently switched to Honest Co. diapers and we have been really happy with them. Samson wears a disposable diaper to bed every night, we keep a few in the diaper bag and always have an emergency stash in the car. They are super absorbent and they hold in as much odor as any other diaper. We love that they are made with safe/gentle products, which compliment our cloth diaper routine really well. They are reasonably priced when compared to other name brand diapers, they are super cute and they are delivered straight to our door ya'll. Love them.

O Ball Rattle & Roll Car - A gift from his cousin Annalyn, this car is one of Samson's toys. It's easy for him to pick up and play with. It makes lots of fun noises, the best sounds of course come when it's thrown from his high chair or accidentally smacks it against mommy or daddy's face. Wild child.

Little Blue Truck - I love reading this book to Samson. Plenty of rhyming and animal noises keep him slightly more interested in listening to me read than gumming on the pages. However, it's a board book and it can definitely stand up to his drooling and toothless-chewing. Plus, it teaches valuable life lessons like how you shouldn't be a jerk. Hopefully, he listens. We're trying to raise a Godly little boy here guys.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Samson : 7 months

As of last week, Samson is actually 8 months old. In true procrastinator style, I wrote this update a little more than a month ago & then took the next 6 weeks to add the pictures. Hopefully, I won't wait another month to get caught up on things, because Samson is doing some pretty amazing things that need to be documented!


Age : 7 months

Height : 28" (this is a guess!)

Weight : 17 1/2 lbs (ish)

Clothes : 3-6 months & 6-9 months 

Diapers : Charlie Banana cloth diapers and Honest Co. disposable diapers in size 3.

Eating : 6.5 oz/5x a day… and anything he can get in his mouth. Usually has 2 “meals” of about 2.5 oz of homemade fruit/veggie purees a day and some puffs to snack on.

Sleeping : Not nearly as awesome as before. Still goes down at 7:30, but wakes up a few times before Aaron & I go to bed and then usually once more before we wake up. A nice long nap in the morning is followed by a shorter one in the early afternoon. Periodically, he takes a mini-nap about the time Aaron gets home from work. It is next to impossible to get him to nap in his crib though... so he usually ends up relaxing in our bed while I read or check on some blogs. 

Pacifiers : Back to the MAM pacifiers because he loves holding on to the little button on the front. Side note: if you are the parent of an infant who likes to chuck their pacifier out the side of the crib in the middle of the night, get some glow in the dark pacifiers, they are life savers!

Likes : Snuggling mommy and daddy. Eating in any capacity. Long walks in the stroller. A breeze in his hair. Taking toys out of his toy basket and putting them back in (he does this all.day.long). Playing with Cash. Playing with Cash's toys. Crawling every where, specifically under things like his crib and the coffee table. Cords and outlets (scary). Playing with mommy's hair and daddy's beard. Bath time in the big boy tub. 


Dislikes : Other babies, birds, tasting Cash's dog toys (so gross), when momma can't keep it together & make his bottles right this second, being dressed and being changed because he's being held back from crawling all over the place, loud noises when he's tired (this includes laughing), and ever since he started taking baths in the big bath tub, the first 2 minutes of bath time typically elicit some big cries.
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