Happy Friday! My last update on sweet Leo was at 7 months and somehow the last 3 months have flown by in a whirlwind of milestones for both Leo and me.

Leo is a very fast and very efficient crawler. He pulls to stand and cruises along furniture well but if he wants something he quickly and carefully drops to the ground to crawl for it. None of Jack and Audrey’s toys are safe anymore.  He loves being with Jack and Audrey and follows them around, and is happy to be sitting near them while playing with his own toys or playing with his siblings.

Leo has continued to be the most smiley baby I’ve even known. But wouldn’t you be happy if you were greeted by sweet “hiii baby!” from two siblings every day? He is SO loved.

He giggles all the time, and loves to wrestle Jack and Audrey. He loves blankets, books, and bathtime – especially with his siblings. 

Right around the 9 month mark Leo started waving and, oh! I had forgotten how much fun new tricks like that are. He loves waving to his siblings when they wake up for the day. Speaking of sleep, Leo is doing better in that department (some days). He gets put to bed drowsy and falls asleep nicely around 7:30. Sometimes he wakes up sometime in the early morning (anywhere from 3:30-5:30) and goes back to sleep until just before 7am….other times he decides two wake-ups sound better. He smacks his bed to wake me. Ha! He takes two naps, and if we are home those naps are 90-minutes each.

Food is coming along well. I often think that he eats less than Jack and Audrey did at this age, but I question whether my memory is accurate. He mostly eats small bits of whatever our family is eating and his favorites right now seem to be sweet potato, peas, blueberries, bananas, cheerios, and cod. Even kale was a pretty big hit. He still likes to nurse around 6 times a day. 

Physically, he is fairly tall (85^th percentile) and right in the middle for weight at 18.5 lbs at his 9-month appointment. He has such pretty clear blue eyes, wispy light brown hair, and four adorable baby teeth.

We are enjoying his last month in Indiana before we move to Illinois at the end of the month. Hopefully I will be able to carve out the time for another update before this sweet and funny boy turns 1. 

Busy month around here! Matt has had travel to Michigan for a good part of the last month, my dissertation deadline is getting closer, and Leo has been busy learning new tricks. The biggest new trick is sitting. He wasn’t doing much pushing up to sitting right at 7 months, but within the last week he has been pushing up to sitting and is doing really well staying stable.

Food is going ok. We really liked starting the other kids on baby oatmeal, but oats and cereals haven’t seemed to sit very well in Leo’s tummy. He loves other baby food (purees like peas, green beans, and squash) and has enjoyed eating some of our table food like sweet potatoes, avocados, and banana. His pincer grasp isn’t quite there, so he doesn’t feed himself much of anything yet. He still likes to nurse 6-7 times a day when we are together.

Sleep is still a bit unpredictable. If he is home, he takes three solid naps a day. He still wakes twice a night…on good nights. Ha!

Play has been really exciting in the last month. He LOVES all of his toys, especially his baby piano and any vehicles that make noises. And any of Jack and Audrey’s toys are great motivation for him to move quickly. Speaking of moving, he does a bit of crawling on hands and knees but mostly does an army crawl. We are in trouble when he gets really mobile!

We are back from a wonderful time in Seattle.  I had a conference and the whole family came along.  We all had SUCH a wonderful time.  One of the best parts?  Jack’s first visit to the ocean!

Hi there!  Long time no talk.  Life has been good, and things have been busy.  Some great workouts, some good family time, and lots of fun.  We had a Purdue-Illinois game while Grandma Jayne, Aunt Tina and Uncle Brandon played with Audrey.

We’ve done lots of cooking and cleaning

And not too bad on sleeping.

Still, somehow, it has taken me a couple of weeks to announce our winners.  I wrote the names on pieces of paper and let Jack pick out two winners….and he selected Theresa and Jami.  I will be emailing both of you today to set pick a TRX training session or Well Fed 2.

Jack was born very close to Christmas and I was walking around in a fog of new mommy love and complete sleeplessness.  His second Christmas was celebrated after big changes of us moving, me finishing my first semester at Purdue, and on the heels of his first birthday.  We kept Christmas gifts pretty minimal that year, but he was absolutely thrilled with his Fisher Price lawn mower.  He pushed it all over for over for a good 8 months and it was a hit.

This year he is really getting into the Christmas spirit.  He LOVES Christmas music!  He has been fascinated with our Christmas tree, and gets very excited about Christmas lights.

Matt and I have been putting more thought into his gifts this year.  In thinking about a gift that would be meaningful to him I have been reflecting on my childhood Christmases.  I can clearly remember my favorite Christmas gift – my doll Martin.

Martin joined the Hathaway house around Christmas of 1988.  I remember coming down to the Christmas tree and seeing the doll in a carriage Santa had left for me…and thinking it was not a very pretty doll.  I was relatively unimpressed and moved on to other toys for most of the morning.  When I came back to the doll I decided to change “her” clothes (as all little girls enjoy doing) and was surprised to find that my baby was a boy!  (Anatomically correct doll for the win, Santa!)  After finding out that I had the unexpected, a little boy rather than the typical little girl doll, I adored my little baby boy.  He went on vacations with us, he got presents from Santa in following years, and my grade school friends definitely remember him.

Lucky for me, Martin still lives at my parents’ house and Mom was able to snap some pictures of him to send to me.  Do you think this little boy should come live at our house with Jack and Audrey?

Are you still rounding up gifts to share with your loved ones?  I’m partnering up with Coupons.com in The Good Stuff 2014 Holiday Sweepstakes.  Be sure to check it out!  They have gift guides including budget friendly gifts, gifts for enthusiasts and hostess gifts.  PLUS they have a chance to win one of three $100 Amazon gift cards or a grand prize $500 Amazon gift card.  The sweepstakes will run from 12/8 to 12/25.  Good luck!

One month ago we welcomed this little girl into our lives.  It is already hard to remember what life was like without her!

We just had our 1 month doctor appointment.  Audrey was 8lbs 1oz , 20.5 inches at birth and is now up to 10lbs 7oz (81%) and is 22.5 inches long (96%).  I am so excited about my big baby!

Personality

Audrey is smiling! She started smiling right at 4 weeks and it melts my heart.

She also has the funniest expressions – this is the Audrey frown.  Can you picture this look on her as she tells Jack he is gross in another couple of years?  Or, “Mom – are you really going to wear those shoes with that skirt?”

And she has such an even personality and really doesn’t fuss much.  When she cries waking from a nap all I have to do is tell her “Mommy’s here” and she seems to immediately calm down and wait for me to get her and change her diaper before eating.  Fingers crossed she stays this patient!

 Sleep

Sleep is going pretty well for a newborn.  She gives us some longish stretches of sleep at night (up to 4 hours) but more importantly, when she wakes up she gets a quick diaper change, nurses and immediately goes back to sleep.  I can handle wakeups when it isn’t hard to put a baby back to sleep.

Naps are ok during the day most days but other days she seems to only stay asleep if being held.  Although I don’t get much else accomplished those days, getting extra cuddle time in is pretty special.  I now know just how quickly these days go by and I am trying my best to be present and soak up this time with my sweet little girl.

And just for fun – here is a comparison of Jack and Audrey at one month.  What do you think?  Do they look alike?

Hello!  I wanted to pop in and share a guest post I wrote for my favorite maternity fitness apparel line, For Two Fitness^®

http://fortwofitness.com/blog/2014/08/fitness-during-a-second-pregnancy/

Enjoy!!

Jack was 5 months old yesterday.  We are all smiles here in the last month.  Jack has grown so much, and his personality is growing along with the rest of him.  His squeals light up my day, and I can’t help but smile every.single.time he giggles.    

We’ve had some great moments over this past month with Jack’s first non-friend/non-family babysitter (we all survived).   Jack also figured out how to get his feet in his mouth.  His first experience involved biting his toe so hard he left a mark.  No crying from him, but I saw him slowly put his foot down.  He also works hard to pull himself up to sitting.  He loves to do this in the tub and basically holds a V position with his little abs.  I bet he gets sore!!

One of the biggest developments this month is that he plays independently.  He is happy to lay on his playmat talking and playing with his toys for a good 20 minute stretch.  He entertains himself with squeals, looking at his hands, grabbing for things, and lots of kicking.

Sleep is going so much easier too.  We have a nice bedtime routine of feeding, singing and rocking.  We put him down in his crib around 8, awake, and tell him goodnight.  He usually falls asleep shortly after we leave his room.  He has a wakeup somewhere around 3am for another feed and then falls immediately back to sleep before waking for the morning around 6:45 or 7.  For his morning wakeup, he likes to slowly wake up and talk to himself before Matt or I go to get him.

Likes:

Kicking in the evening.  He likes to spend about 15 minutes bicycling and rapid-fire kicking.  He has such focus!  Bonus if he can have Matt’s stomach to kick against.

Watching parents eat and drink

Most music, especially if mommy or daddy is singing

Going for walks in his stroller

Putting weight on his legs while “standing.”  This always get a  huge, open-mouthed smile

Bath time

Funny noises and silly faces

Dislikes:

Bob Marley – I don’t know what it is but we have to get it off the radio immediately because Jack protests whenever his tunes come on.

Having his nose wiped

Crashing noises.  Matt got a huge frown and tears after dropping a bowl tonight.

I love looking back at how much he has grown and changed each month:

This next month will bring many more good memories and milestones.  I need to do some food research in the very near future.  Jack will be starting food soon!!