Monthly Newsletter: Month Six

Dear "Big" Monkey,


You are such a big kid! You are six months old and already such an over achiever. In only six short months you've already grown to the size of a one year old. Literally. You are wearing 12 month clothing already and only one inch away from the 18 month sizing. We took you to your six month check up and you weighed in at 18 pounds 9 ounces (70th percentile) and 29 inches long (97th percentile). You grew an astounding 3 inches in 2 short months!

Your brother decided that you need all his night time cuddly things. So he piled them on top of you. hehe.

You had two big physical accomplishments this month. The first is that you are rolling over from back to stomach, which means every once in awhile I have to go in to your room and roll you back over because you roll in your sleep and wake up mad. Silly monkey.


The second is that you are sitting up, and you are doing so well too! We've even put you in a high chair a few times when we go out to eat.


Your eyes are turning brown for sure, though are still not quite there. You've got your momma's long eye lashes. Your hair is staying reddish brown and a little coarse. You are just perfect. And I'm not biased at all.


We also took you on your first big road trip this month. We went to visit your Uncle Kenny for the first time, a three hour drive. We were worried about how you would do sleeping in a new place, you are such a creature of habit, but to our surprise you did great! And we had such a good time visiting Uncle Kenny!


It's amazing that I'm still learning new things about you, but everyday you astonish me in some way. Like when you are sleepy but just DO NOT want to close your eyes, you let me cradle you (yes, let me) and you take your soft, sweet chubby little hands and just play with my face, rubbing my checks and grabbing my lips. It's one of those moments I'll always treasure.


Another moment that I will always hold very dear is the newest trick I've learned to calm you down. You can be screaming and crying full force, bright red faced and if I cradle you and kiss you very softly on the eye lids, nose, forehead and cheek you just stop. You breathe slowly and have even fallen asleep. It's beautiful.


Love Always,
Momma

Monthly Newsletter: Month Five

Dear Little Monkey,


Oh, little one, you are a handful now! Literally. You just keep getting bigger and bigger, you've skipped right over the 6-9 month clothing size and gone straight to the 9-12 month sizing, mostly because of your height.



You have also decided to protest the bottle and will eat only directly from the source, me. We've tried to let your grandparents spend some time with you, but you simply refuse to behave for them! Apparently the only thing that makes you happy in their presence is being walked and bopped around. You are definitely a Momma's boy.



The best thing (for all of us) was that you started sleeping through the night around this time! You appointed 6:30 as your bedtime, and sleep straight through to 6:30 a.m., only to eat and go back to sleep for another 1 to 2 hours. The bad news is that you aren't much of a napper during the day. I'm lucky to get a total of an hour and a half of nap out of you, and that is usually divided into 2 forty-five minute naps.



Your fifth month saw your first Christmas, and it was a BIG one. We had a total of 6 Christmas celebrations in just 5 days, 3 of them in 1 day! But, again, you were a trooper. You did get a little fussy at bedtime for a few nights, which by this point, was not like you at all. But after the hustle and bustle died down and things returned to normal, you were once again sleeping peacefully.




I only hope you know how loved you are, I do everything I can to make you happy, but feel a little insecure sometimes about my abilities to do so. I know it comes with the territory of being a parent, but it's a hard reality, knowing I'm responsible for the type of man you will grow to be. You would think having been at this for two years now I'd be a little more secure in my abilities, but I have a feeling I'll always feel like a novice when it comes to you two boys. Please just know, I do the best I can, and can only hope my best is enough for you and your brother.


With all my love,
Momma

P.S. DROOL BABY!!

Monthly Newsletter: Month Four

Dear Louie Bear,

I write this, with the best of love, and you are actually over five months old now. So, I'm going to have to think back to all that you were doing at four months.


I do remember one thing, DROOL! We thought your brother was a drooler and joked we could water the lawn for a week, but you my friend, you will not be out done. We could water the whole BLOCK with the drool you produce. And you love to blow bubbles with it all too. You are quite the raspberry blower :)


Your fourth month of life did see you learn to smile. And I got to learn what makes you smile. You love for me to sing the ABC song from your brother's favorite show, Super Why. I'll have to get a video of it, so you can see (hear) exactly what I'm talking about.


You had your first Thanksgiving celebration this month too. You were quite a good boy, even though it was a busy busy day. You got to meet quite a few new people, and handled it all with grace, not crying or making a fuss until you were tired or hungry.



We started a bed time routine this month too. I knew you were getting ready to start sleeping through the night, so I knew it important to do now. Your bedtime routine consists of: Momma rubbing you down with lotion, putting on your jammies and zipping you into your Halo blanket all while singing the same four songs (You are my sunshine, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Hush Little Baby). We then sit down and ready our Momma's Little Monkey book, eat and rock and then you lay down to sleep. You are still waking up twice a night, but you eat pretty quickly and then go right back to sleep without a fuss.

At your four month checkup you got an A from the doctor. The only concern she had is that you preferred looking to your right, so we left with strict instructions to MAKE you look to the left. That was harder than it sounded, YOU REALLY like to look to the right. So, we are working on it.

You weighed in at 16.6 pounds, and 26 inches tall. You are in the 80th percentile for weight and 90th for height! Big Monkey is more like it!

You are such a precious gift, an amazing joy in our lives and I can't believe I'm lucky enough to call you my son.


Love,
Momma

Monthly Newsletter: Month Three

Dear Louie Bear,

Yes, you were given an equally embarrassing nickname. I was calling you this, to Dada's chagrin, even before you were born.


You have had a much busier start to your life than your big brother did. You are a little monkey on the go! We do a lot of shopping together, most of which you sleep through, but every once in awhile you will ride in the cart or your stroller and watch as things whiz by or just stare straight at me, I tell you all the things were looking for.



You've been rolling over since you were about 6 weeks old, and are just recently starting to protest tummy time. You do however love to play in your exerciser and your jumper, you've got the strong legs to prove it. I'm watching you as I type this, playing in your exerciser, looking at the sun and smiling. Just like your older brother, you love the star on the mat too, but you aren't as vocal with your love, you just stare wide eyed in amazement at it's changing colors.


My favorite thing you do is the one eyebrow raise. Sometimes, instead of a smile your eyes get real big and you raise just your right eyebrow, as if to say, "Are you for real?" It's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen!



For your first Halloween you were a monkey (imagine that). The costume was adorable, and you did really well in it, not fussy at all!


You are a big monkey, weighing in just a little over a week ago at 15.9 pounds, already doubling your birth weight. You are even already wearing clothes in the 6-9 month sizing, mainly for your long length more than your weight though.


You definitely look like your Dada. Everyone says so. It's funny, but you and Colin look a lot alike, but he favors me, I'm so looking forward to watching you grow and see how you change.

That brings me to my favorite part of the day. When you wake up. I hear you cooing and talking to yourself, asking me to come get you, I bend over your crib and you see my face and give me the best biggest smiles when I say "Good morning, Lucas." I love your bright morning smile, it's one of the best parts of each day for your Momma.


When I was pregnant with you, I truly worried how I could hold enough love for you and your brother, if I really was capable. It only took seeing your beautiful face on that day 3 months ago and I knew I was. I am capable of so much love, and I try to show you everyday.

Love,
Momma

Monthly Newsletter: Month Sixteen

Dear Colin,

A few days ago you turned 16 months old. Your sixteen month was almost an uneventful one, the biggest news we have this month is those teeth! You've gained 2 more now, up to 12. You go 2 of your top molars, and it was hard work for them to come in, you were cranky and cuddly (so that last part isn't so bad).

Your favorite thing continues to be books. Bringing us books, climbing up in our laps and reading them over and over. I love how when a word intrigues you, you will look up at us and study our mouth to see how it comes out and then try to form the word too. Two that come to mind are "lumpy" and "bumpy."

Another large milestone is that you've switched from two one-hour naps to one nap in the afternoon. Now, that nap can last anywhere from an hour to three. It's a crap shoot, I never know. But, at least you are napping, and without complaint now.

One fun highlight from this month: Dada was in a particularly good mood one Friday afternoon after work, and heated the hot tub so we could get in for a swim. You had a blast! You also remembered your swimming and breath holding skills you learned last summer.

My favorite part of the past month is your new skill in saying, and waving, bye bye. You say it to the check out ladies at the stores, to Gramma and Grandpa when they drop you off back home, and to anyone Momma is talking to on the phone. But when you tell Momma "Bye bye," at night when she tells you "Goodnight," and wave your little hand. That is a moment that melts my heart. For those moments, I'm grateful, and anxious for more.

I love you,
Momma

Balloons!

Hehe.

Walkin' with Dadda.

Swimmer boy!

He loves to play with Momma and Dadda's shoes, and put them on.

Mommy, you're silly!

Mmmm, snack.

His best friend, blanky.

Big boy dining chair.

ELMO!

Balloons and Elmo? This must be heaven...

Sorry Uncle Kenny...

He loves his fries, I had a hard time explaining to him that this was a toy, not a real fry, he got very frustrated.

Monthly Newsletter: Month Fifteen

Dear Colin,

A few short days ago you turned fifteen months old. I say short, because these days seem to be flying by. You are growing up so quickly right in front of us and I just want to remember every piece of every day I have with you.

This month, I'm going to let the pictures tell the story.

You and Henry are pretty good friends now. And that cool shirt is from Uncle Kenny.


We played outside, A LOT this month, the weather was beautiful!



Play, Play, Play! You are in constant motion!


You got really sick (ran a temp of 104.5!) last week, this is you while you were sick, watching Sesame Street one morning with your Elmo doll.


A mini slideshow: You love to put things on and off, pull things in and out, and just learn how stuff works in general. Here you just wanted to put the lens cap on the camera!







Always smiling!



More play, play, play!



No more pictures Momma! Bye Bye!

This is one of the many points in our lives together when I will be learning from you. This time I've learned I need to stop worrying about the future and simply enjoy what you're giving us now. So what if you can't walk yet, you can put a diaper on your head and laugh about it.

Love,
Momma