Half a year…It has gone by amazingly quickly. Starting solids seemed so far away and here were are with a third baby eating. But let me back up and tell you about what Leo has been up to in the last month.

First – Leo finally got his first tooth. I think I see a second bottom tooth getting ready to pop out.

Second, and way less fun, he got his first tummy bug. Jack and I caught it next, then Gigi, then Audrey. He handled being sick like a champ though, and kept a smile on his face the whole time.

The third new thing in his little life was our first couple of nights away from each other. I had a quick trip to California and Leo stayed behind. So hard to be away from a nursing baby who still wakes in the middle of the night. Needless to say, we were both very happy to be reunited.

We have his 6 month check-up Tuesday for official stats and shots. He seems long so I am curious to see how much he has grown. He gets up into a crawl position and rocks, but he gets too excited and collapses to the ground to do a swimming motion.

We celebrated my birthday this weekend. Leo loved hearing Happy Birthday being sang. While he didn’t get to share in the dessert, he got his first taste of oatmeal. (It was a hit!) Kids are all so unique but I am going to try what I have before with foods, and keep my fingers crossed that Leo is as much of a pleasure to feed as his siblings. We’ll be sticking with what we have before will be a mix of baby oatmeal, a couple of purees of veggies, and mostly whatever food we are eating cut up so that he can feed himself. Jack and Audrey think that Leo being old enough to eat is hilarious!

Happy 6 months, sweet boy! We love you!

Hello, there! Our happy little boy has shared in lots of fun over the last month, including celebrating Jack’s 5th Birthday (Leo completely lit up with all the singing) and celebrating Christmas (with trips to Rossville and Effingham, and meeting Santa).

Santa was really good to Leo with an interactive train, Sophie the Giraffe, and plenty of new books. Leo was thrilled and “played” with his train for a really long time Christmas morning. He loved being right in the middle of Jack and Audrey opening presents and playing. I can already see how much fun Christmas mornings with three kids is!!

He also experienced his first snow (didn’t seem that impressed), and started daycare last week. I absolutely adore the teachers in his room. They also cared for Jack (after we moved to West Lafayette) and Audrey. We load all three kids up in the morning now to go to the same place. J & A love brining Leo along. 🙂 Despite his super happy personality, Leo is doing a lousy job of napping. He doesn’t seem to want to shut it down but I am hopeful that he will get better about napping each week. (also hoping that nighttime sleep starts to get more predictable!)

In documenting what Leo is like this month…You know those babies who just want to be held and just relish every cuddle? Yeah – that isn’t Leo! Haha! That boy wants to move! He doesn’t fall asleep cuddling, and he really prefers to be held facing out so that he can keep tabs on his siblings. He is great on his tummy, and tries to “swim” to get places. When he figures out how to get his knees under himself we are in trouble. We have put him in his highchair a bit at dinner time so he can hang out with everyone and he seems to love being a part of everything. We are still holding off on food for about another month.

Physically he seems really long and lean, maybe a bit more so that Jack at this age (check out Jack here). And unlike his older siblings, Leo doesn’t have teeth yet! It is so strange to me and Matt to have a nearly bald, toothless 5-month old (although it surely isn’t to most parents).

Leo is really, really funny though. He loves to smile and laugh. Matt and I talk often about what kind of big kid he’ll be like. Our prediction is always on the go, and always smiling. Looking forward to seeing how his personality continues to develop over the next month!

The happiest baby I’ve ever met is 4 months old tomorrow! Leo smiles from the moment you tell him “good morning, baby!” until you put him to bed. (Although he is louder and crabbier in the middle of the night).Since last month Leo has:

• Been my date for cousin Kelli’s wedding

• Made his first trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s in Effingham for Thanksgiving. 
• Relished being the “center” of his siblings’ attention every chance he gets

Leo’s most notable change in the last month is that he rolls both directions, and loves hanging out on his belly. His four month appointment is later on this week, so I’ll make sure to come back and update his stats (I love being able to look back at his trends). He is still in 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. What are we looking forward to in the next month? Seeing Santa (tomorrow!) and celebrating his first Christmas! Jack is going to share Leo’s wishlist to Santa. 🙂

The baby is 3 months old this weekend. Leo is a smiley, talkative, easy-going little man.And, oh my! He is just SO happy. His face is almost always in a smile. Leo is getting so big! He is comfortably in 3-6 month clothing, but no doctor appointment this month for stats. He is starting to get better stretches of sleep too. He isn’t consistent yet, but has had up to 4.5 hours of sleep at night. Even on nights with lots of wake-ups he goes back down to sleep fairly quickly. He loves people! Leo loves hanging out with Jack and Audrey, and seems to try his hardest to make sure he gets to be a part of their bedtime book and songs. He is a chatterbox and loves to have full (loud) “conversations” with us, especially one on one. 

Leo also has to started to “play” more with his toys, especially his crib mobile, playmat, and stuffed elephant. He also started rubbing his head this month (like he is really thinking about something).  He probably was pondering the whole Halloween thing. How cute is he as the lion in Wizard of Oz? He made it out to a couple of houses with Jack and Audrey, before he declared “there’s no place like home” and went home to bed. 🙂

At his 2 month doctor appointment yesterday, Leo weighed in at 11 lbs 1oz (34th percentile) and 24.5 inches (90th percentile).  Long and lanky! He still is comfortably in size 0-3 month clothes. And his eyes are still a very pretty blue. I know baby’s eyes can change color (maybe up until 2 years old), but Jack and I might be the only brown-eyed people in the family.

Eat:  Let’s start with one of his strengths. 🙂 He is a great eater…and certainly enjoys eating. He has had a couple of bottles and has done really well with them. (Thank goodness!) I decided I had better not wait as late to introduce a bottle to him.

Sleep:  Well this might be his “needs improvement” area. I can’t help but compare the kids, and he is not the worst sleeper we’ve had (eh hmm…Jack) but he isn’t one for long stretches of sleep yet. For the most part he is up every 2 hours at night. Still. But the good news is that he is usually up for about 20 minutes and goes back down. He naps 2-4 times a day, of totally unpredictable length, but lately his naps have been as long as two hours. (Long naps have been amazing for me getting work done during the day!)

(Leo thinks Jack is hilarious!)

Interesting odds and ends:

He still gets hiccups all the time, especially after he eats.

He is super smiley and does lots of coo-ing

Leo totally knows Jack and Audrey’s voices and immediately lights up when he hears them.

He went to his first Purdue football game over the weekend, and was really happy to hang out on me the whole game. It was a beautiful day to be outside together! Next week, Leo will have his first flight. Matt, Leo, and I are traveling to Kansas City for 24 hours for a good friend’s wedding. Wish us luck!

Leo is one month old! In the last month, he has nearly seamlessly been incorporated into our lives, and is solidly in our hearts.

He didn’t have a one month appointment, but our scale at home says his weight is up from his birth weight of 7lbs 13oz to 9lbs 13oz.

Personality

He is a really sweet baby, and started giving us real smiles right at four weeks. LOVE it! And he seems to be a pretty physical little guy, and has given us a couple of rolls from belly to back during tummy time.

He loves being held and someone talking with him. Audrey is particularly sweet about sitting on the floor, “reading” him books. He cranes his neck to check her out and seems to be very content with their time together.

Sleep

Leo is hit or miss with sleep. Some nights consist of two stretches over three hours, with a quick diaper change and eat before easily falling back asleep. Other nights, I am getting a chance to hang out with him more frequently. Ha! Naps are similar. Some days he wants held for his haps, and other times he is happy to nap swaddled.

Eat

Leo is a great eater! He seems to nurse a bit quicker than his siblings did at this age, but he is another baby who likes to eat often. Now that he is the third to do this, it is somehow reassuring. His frequent-ish eating (maybe 10-12 times a day?!) mean that he is hardly ever over-stuffed and rarely spits up.

And just for fun – here is a comparison of all three kids at one month (Left to Right: Jack, Audrey, Leo).  What do you think?  Do they look alike? Poor Leo! Audrey used up all of the hair and cheeks!

What’s different the first month a third time around?

I already am reminiscing about the first couple of weeks of having Leo home. He was not an overly sleepy baby, but was very happy to sleep for good stretches IF he was in our arms. As soon as his back would hit a surface he was awake. So Matt and I took turns holding him for two hours at a time, before having Leo eat again, and switch holding parent. A third time around I truly understood that this was nothing to be worried about. He wouldn’t need to be held forever and we would eventually get more sleep. There is nothing like holding the new little person you’ve been waiting to meet for months. It was so much easier, but quicker this time. Happy first month, Leo!

Audrey turned one year old October 17^th – and I am just now getting around to documenting some of the fun things she is up to lately.

Here were her stats at her one year appointment -Height and weight:  21 lbs 4oz and 31.5 inches (73% for weight and 99% for height! ) For comparison she was 8 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches at birth.

Food:  Audrey is a great eater! There are very few things she won’t eat (I’m looking at you, carrots), but her favorites are avocados, bananas, clementine oranges, peas, green beans, black beans, string cheese, cottage cheese, oatmeal, and all meat from fish to chicken to (especially) red meat.  She always wants to eat food other people are eating, as evidenced from her kale chip face below.  

Teeth:  8 adorable baby teeth

Photo credit:  Kim Davis Photography

Party tricks:  Signing milk, hungry, more, and banana.  Clapping, waving, blowing kisses, spinning in circles and dancing to music.  She especially likes the song “If you’re happy and you know it” and is adorable with her arms up “hooray!”

Words:  dada, momma, and daa means Jack.  Hooray! (always with her arms), hi, byebye, and head.

Likes: Chasing Jack as fast as she can, giving hugs, music, reading books and turning the pages, anything outside, clothes and shoes, bathtime.  She loves cars.  One of her favorite birthday gifts was a pink dump truck.

Dislikes:  Jack taking any toy away from her.  She is feisty and doesn’t give in easily!

(Tinkerbell & Peter Pan for Halloween)

Personality:  She has the sweetest personality – and is such a hugger and cuddler.  She is so friendly too and loves telling people hi.  She giggles and loves to play.  She is so reasonable, and seems to understand explanations.  But she is no push-over…she’s strong and assertive and let’s you know what she wants.

To say we’re in love with Audrey would be putting it mildly.  Happy first year, sweet girl!  We’re so happy you’re part of our lives!

Photo credit:  Kim Davis Photography

Lots and lots of new stuff in the last month.  Most notably – Audrey is walking! (and walking quite well)  She is a very controlled walker – deliberate, but not overly cautious.  And she is really fast!

Oh guys, I just adore her.  She is so affectionate and loves to give hugs and kisses.  Last week I got home late and she gave me the best squeal and nearly ran to give me a kiss.  It was the most enthusiastic greeting I have been given in some time.  She is so independent and really can play along side Jack or by herself well, so her cuddles are especially endearing.  And when you ask her for a hug, she wraps her arms around you and is a complete cuddle-bug!

She loves waving and clapping.  She can sign for “drink” and loves communicating with us.  She says dada, mama, and Jack (daak) and seems to use “yeah” in the right context.  She seems to love waving and saying “hi!” Like her brother, she really enjoys music and having songs sang to her.

We have started giving Audrey her bath with Jack and both kids love the extra company.  Jack likes to ask about Audrey’s teeth – she has six now and is working on two more.  

Audrey had her second flight in the last month for a trip to Kansas City.  I loved getting to introduce her to friends and she traveled really well.  She also went to Memphis to visit Godmother, Mira, and her husband and kiddos.  She was in heaven getting to play cars sitting by all of the big boys.  The adults were outnumbered that weekend so I somehow came home with no pictures.  Good memories though!

Next time I check in I will have a one year old!  What will Audrey be up to next?

Wowza, wowza! We’re in the double digits, folks.

The last month has been a really good one!  We had a trip to Effingham for one of Matt’s cousin’s weddings – beautiful and fun celebration. Plus lots of good time with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Tina.

This month has also brought along increased playfulness.  Audrey loves her little red car, cars and trucks, her stuffed giraffe and anything of Jack’s.  She bobs and claps to music, and has days where she is in a nearly constant giggle.  What a joy!

Our independent girl has gotten a bit cuddlier.  She give kisses and hugs very often when she takes play breaks.

She eats pretty much everything we eat now, which makes dinner time pretty easy.  She still nurses around 6 times a day, and I’ll have to admit I like that it can buy an extra hour of sleep most weekend mornings.

Audrey cruises along furniture, and has taken a couple of steps on her own.  She can crawl up the stairs on her own and is quite the climber.  I’ll be ok if she decides to wait on the walking for just a bit longer.

I think this will be another big month. Lots of travel and more milestones to come.  Have a wonderful week!

9 months – equal time on the inside and outside for our little girl.

This has been a really fun month full of big milestones.

Audrey moved into her own room in the last month…I’ll admit I miss waking up to her sweet little talking.  (I think Matt was afraid I’d try to room with her until she leaves for college!) I also had my first few nights away from her.  I traveled to a conference for a few nights and she got extra special time with her boys at home.  Unfortunately, this has coincided with her mommy phase. She needs me in her site at all times – equal parts flattering and confining.

She waves “hi” and “bye bye” really well.  And her giggling…oh, she has gotten silly and even sweeter over the last month.  She loves to jabber to us and laugh.  She loves peek-a-boo and gets a kick out of being the one to hide.  Audrey has started clapping in the last week, and we all love it.  She is just such a happy baby.

Audrey so far is a very easy eater.  She usually has one puree a day and does table food for the rest of her exploring.  Favorites right now are peas, sweet potatoes, cheese, avocado, banana, and scrambled eggs.  She had her 9 month appointment on Friday and is 99th percentile for height (30.25 inches) and 67th percentile for weight (19 lbs 4 oz).

She plays with toys more than I remember Jack playing at this age, but I think it is because she can sit playing beside him and loves to be busy like him.  She is a fast crawler, pulls to stand and loves to climb.  She loves to tease Jack by climbing in his toddler bed to grab his stuffed animals.  I can see my refereeing starting already!

Happy 9 months, sweet baby girl!