month six

Merry Christmas my little six month old baby boy! You are so much fun these days. You love to be held, you love playing with toys, you love food (you had your first veggie today - squash) and you love tags. You have been doing a lot of talking lately. I swear you say 'hi' and we've heard 'dada' and 'mama' a few times, although we both realize it's not being said to us, just at us. And just lately you have started to talk using a lot of little 'words' instead of just cooing. Then you'll stop using sound but still move your mouth like you're talking. I've decided it looks like a movie with subtitles. :) It's adorable.

I'm going to try not to compare you to your brother, but there is one thing I'm excited about and it is that you seem to like food, just like he did. It was such a relief to not have to worry about making sure Andrew had enough to eat and I'm hoping you continue along that path and continue loving all the food we start introducing you to. It only gets better!

You're starting to drool quite a bit and you put EVERYTHING in your mouth so I wonder if you'll be showing us your first tooth before long! I guess I'll just have to wait and see what kind of good stuff comes this month!

Love you more every day. Your mom.

month five

Life just keeps getting better and better for you. You're starting to be a little more independent/mobile which gives you more freedom, and I think you like that. You love spending time in the exersaucer, you're grabbing some toys, and you roll a few times in a row - just enough to move off your blanket and get frustrated, but it's a step in the right direction! You're working on sitting up - you should have that mastered in no time, and you seem to be trying to work on your crawl position as well. On top of that, your medicine dose was lowered again! There is a chance that the medicine can make you a bit antsy. I didn't think it was, but every time they lower your medicine dose, you seem to get a bit calmer. I'm guessing it's a little from the medicine and a little from just getting older. Whatever the reason, I'm glad to see you're a pretty easy going little guy.

You started daycare and don't seem to mind it too much. It's fun to pick you up and see your face light up (I love you too!). This picture is after your first day - I was glad to get such a big smile from you! It reassures me that things are going okay.

We celebrated your first Thanksgiving with the Dyk family. Grandma hired a photographer to take a picture of the whole family. It's hard to get us all together at the same time so those pictures will be pretty special. I can't wait to see them!

I'm making sure to enjoy the time while you're still my little baby. It can get tricky because I am definitely looking forward to the time where we don't have to have you tested so frequently, but I love all the things you're doing now and need to remember slow down and enjoy this time while I have it. I think I'm doing okay, but even so, time is sure flying by (for the most part).

Thanks for being such a fun little guy. You are so much more interactive these days and you really enjoy having someone to talk with. Luckily for you, you have me, dad, and Andrew to help keep you entertained.

I love you to pieces! Love, your mama.

month four

Seriously?! I can't believe another month has already come and gone... That happened too quickly. Well that means you're four months old today. I must say you're the perfect addition to our family. We always knew we wanted to have another baby - I'm glad we got you - you have definitely completed our family!

This month I would say that you've fallen in love with your brother. You laughed for the first time - it was because Andrew was jumping off the couch toward you. He can make you smile, he can get you to stop crying, and as you can see in this picture - you seem to enjoy watching him. I hope you will grow up to be best friends. Having a brother or sister is something I never experienced. I was happy being an only child growing up - but seeing you guys together kind of makes me feel like maybe I missed out on something pretty cool.

I'm happy to report that all your checkups (and you've had quite a few in your short life) have come back absolutely wonderful. You're doing great and continue to grow and keep up with all the milestones. I'm so glad we have such wonderful doctors around us - with them and all the prayers from our friends and family - I know you're in great hands. It's nice to be able to worry about that part of things less and less as you continue to do so well.

One thing that is a bit of a bummer for the next couple months is the fact that you are too young to get your flu shot. The swine flu (or H1N1) is spreading like crazy and it is recommended that everyone get a shot. We are on the high-priority list since we have you but even with that, we have yet to be able to get the shot because there isn't enough of the vaccine. Hopefully we'll get that taken care of soon, then the main worry will be sending you to daycare. Although our daycare is pretty great and I know they will do their best to keep the flu out of there! It is stressful to me though and I will definitely be happy when this flu season is over!

Other than the flu, we have been enjoying a beautiful fall. I don't have any great pictures of you playing in the leaves because it's been too wet. Since you can't sit up yet, it didn't seem right to plop you down on them just for a picture... Don't worry though - next year you'll be able to play in the leaves for sure! Get excited.

Looking forward to another wonderful month!

Love mom.

month three

The first thing people have been saying about you when they see you is that you're charming! You have the biggest smile and you love to show it off. You're so sweet and I'd definitely have to agree that you're a little charmer.

You are starting to take a big interest in things recently. You love grabbing your blanket and pulling it to your face. And you love to watch your brother. Andrew has been a pretty good big brother so I can see why you'd like him. You really like it when he dances or sings to you and he likes it when he is able to make you smile. I hope the two of you grow up being friends - even though it'll probably make things harder on me and your dad because you'll be able to work together to talk us into things!

It won't be long until you're rolling over. And then you'll be crawling. Then walking. And before I know it, you'll be two! Okay. I'll slow down and enjoy the cute, lovable guy you are now instead of worrying about you growing up too fast.

Thanks for choosing me to be your mom. :) I love you.

month two

You're starting to grow out of the newborn phase already. It's wonderful that you're growing, but to see you stretch out, and notice your hands is exciting but a little sad at the same time because it means you're already growing up!

This month brought good news that your medicine is working! We haven't had a follow up appointment with Children's yet, but your blood work came back great! It was such great news I had to call your grandparents and aunts because I knew they would love to hear the good news too!

As far as life with 2, you've made it pretty easy on me. You're a GREAT sleeper once you fall asleep - getting you to fall asleep is the tricky part. You get so sad and you cry harder when you're tired than you do for anything else. Luckily it usually just takes me holding you with a cozy blanket and rubbing your eyes or cheek and you're out within a few minutes.

You're not real interested in working on neck strength. Tummy time, which is supposed to be the time you practice holding your head up, is instead used for resting. You've even fallen asleep a couple times! Oh well, I'm trying to get creative and find other ways for you to practice. You'll get it soon enough.

As far as melting my heart, you've got that figured out as well. You have been holding my hand/finger/arm lately and I absolutely love it! If you're holding my hand, I won't move my hand until you do. Not a phone call, an itch, or hunger will make me move! And then there is your smile!! You have the biggest smiles and lately it has been pretty easy for me to make you smile which has been so much fun. You're starting to smile more for other people too, so I will take that as a sign that life is treating you pretty well so far!

Thanks for being my sweet bug,

With love, Mom

month one

I'll probably say this a lot, but wow, time flies! We spent a whole month getting to know each other but it feels like we just brought you home the other day. I'm so glad you joined our family - I'd say our family is (perfectly) complete now!

So far you have been a very easy going little guy. The main reason you cry is if you need your diaper changed. It took a little while for me to catch on to that, but now that I have it figured out, life seems pretty good. You're a great sleeper too. In fact, I have to wake you up to eat more often than not. You're starting to get on a little bit of a schedule and it involves being awake in the early morning (too early) and again in the late part of the morning. I try to use that time to hold you and work on that all-important tummy time.

The first week of your life was a little traumatic for us. When we found out you had hypothyroidism, it really took us some time to grasp what that really meant. It makes me sad that you have to take medicine for the rest of your life, but if that's all it takes for you to be happy and healthy, it really isn't so bad...

I promise to treat you as an individual and to make sure you never feel like you're being compared to your brother. I am so happy to have two boys, and each of you holds a special, yet different, place in my heart. I hope to give you what you need to always be happy and to feel loved.

I've enjoyed our first month together. Not only getting to know you, but also watching Andrew get to know you. I am looking forward to everything that is ahead of us - watching you grow, watching you as you take your first steps, and watching the bond between you and Andrew. At the same time, I sure hope you don't grow up too fast. I am enjoying this time and know it will be over before I know it. I will try not to blink so that I can enjoy every moment - big and small!

Love, mom.