Isaiah Jae 8 Months!

You know the times when life just flies right on by and you think you've done something, but nope, it just flew right by you!? Yup, that's what's going on over here. How this dude is 8 months is beyond me! And I was convinced I had most of his 8 month post prepped, but indeed, nope. Not even a template started. Oy vey!

Happy 8 Months Isaiah Jae!

8 Month Highlights:

-You are one easy going baby! You are so easy to take places, you can sleep pretty much anywhere, and you just go with the flow. We've gone to the mall a couple times after church for lunch and let sisters ride the carousel, and you just sit in the stroller and take it all in.

-You absolutely love your playmat and jumpy! You will play on them for quite awhile, and if Isabella or Aubs comes to entertain you, you will be on there for even longer!

-We had some nice weather this month, and spent time outside on the swing set, in the pasture watching the chickens, and going to a park. You love swinging!!

-You are one happy baby! You still have your serious moments, but we can usually get you laugh easily now. 

-You love your big sisters, and love watching them. Sometimes they can be a bit (or a lot overwhelming to you!) but most times you just giggle and laugh when they are all up in your business. 

-You've done so great with taking bottles from Mimi while Mama works, and breastfeeding on the days Mama is home. You are now wanting to hold your own bottle with Mimi. 

Sleeping: Overall I cannot complain in this department (you are the best sleeper we've had!), but you have definitely taken a bit of a regression this month during night time sleep. That being said, you've gotten more into a groove with naps, so there's a plus.

Bedtime is around 5 or 5:30 most nights, and we wake you to eat around 8:30 or 9 pm. Twice I've decided to just see what you would do without waking you, and you wake yourself around 9 or 9:30, so you still aren't ready to give up that dream feed just yet. You then wake up around 5:30 am, eat, and go back to sleep til 7 or 8 am (just depends on the day!).

You nap twice, usually for about 2-3 hours total. Sometimes it's a short 30 minute morning nap, and then longer 2 hour afternoon nap, or sometimes divided evenly. No two days are exactly the same. 

So yes, in short, you sleep a lot, to the tune of about 15-16 hours a day.

Eating: You breastfeed 5-6 times per day, taking both sides at every feed, and finishing in about 6-10 minutes. You have gotten quite distracted lately and pull off about 15 times before the let down which is super fun for Mama.

Food on the other hand is slow going. You pretty much make a puke face with every single thing we've given you, with the exception to apple sauce now. After about 8 tries, you will take some bites of it, occasionally enough to finish an entire 3 oz squeezie over the course of the day. Things we've tried: yogurt, scrambled eggs, cheese, avacado, butternut squash, peas, carrots, oatmeal, and just different things here and there from our plate. You definitely don't like things with texture, and only want things in finely pureed form. 

Isaiah Loves:
-Jumperoo

-Circle activity center

-Elephant paci (but you don't put the paci in your mouth), and elephant lovee

-Soft color blocks

-Music, singing, "dancing" on our laps

-"Flying" in the air

-Piano playmat

Isaiah Hates:

 -Being on his tummy

-Being tired or hungry (but pretty much that's the only time he cries these days)

8 Month Stats:

Height: 26 in (approx 2nd percentile)

Weight: 15 lbs (1st percentile)

*Wearing 3 month pants, and 3-6 or some 6 month onesies and shirts. 

*Still in size 1 diapers which fit well (trying to use the ones we got before he was born!!)

No teeth yet.

Isaiah's Firsts this Month:

-You are sitting for slightly longer periods of time, but still not long enough to play or do anything, you mostly just throw yourself back
-Still not rolling back to front, but hate your tummy enough to promptly roll from tummy to back

This Month in Pictures:

This was Mama's kermit the frog sweatshirt when she was a baby!!!

January 2019

Happy New Year! I can't believe how fast time flies with the littles. I know I'm going to blink and I will be helping out with middle school projects, or watching high school sports, or helping one of the little ladies get ready to walk down the isle, or snuggle their babies!!! I just wish I knew how to slow time down. Because as crazy as some days may be, I certainly am treasuring my time with them this little!

Here's a little recap of our month:

-We took advantage of some really great, sunny days, and had picnics outside, ran around with the chickens, and played on the swingset. Even nuggie got into it on the swing!

-The girls went to a free trial ballet class. What we learned: 
1.) Isabella was OBSESSED with it, and wanted to go every single day. She loved doing "pizza feet" but was upset they didn't teach her how to leap.
2.) Aubrey cried while going back to the room since Mama couldn't come (although this is really unlike her!) She then proceeded to sit on the side of the room the entire time, minus the last 3 minutes in which she decided doing yoga poses would be more fun. BTW 3 year old down ward dog is adorable!. 
3.) Mama learned the girls (mostly Bella) definitely need to take a dance class b/c she lights up when talking about it, but southern dance studios are no joke (and crazy expensive!). So we are signed up for the February ballet/jazz combo through the park district, and couldn't be more excited about it (Isabella excited to dance, Aubrey excited to "try again, and not cry", and Mama to save some $$$). 

Clearly we have some learning to do : )

-We took advantage of the great mall about 5 minutes from church and went with some friends for a little lunch (Hello hardness when doing Whole 30!), a carousel ride, and of course several escalator rides. Always a good time with friends, and even better when it tires 2 of 3 littles out so much they conk out in the car, and then proceed to nap at home! Holla!

-We had our first chicken injury, and sadly, our first chicken loss. Our neighbors 2 dogs chased and I'm assuming killed one of our girls ("Pumpkin/Buffy"). 3 went missing after the chase, 2 came back home, and one never returned. That being said, one of the girls ("Stripes") who was in the mouth of the small dog ended up just getting a small bite injury, and I also noticed she had bumble foot. So we quarantined her, did chicken foot surgery, and after a week quarantined in the crate on our porch, she was ready to get back with her friends. I was certainly surprised at how attached I am/was to these chickees and losing my favorite was not easy.  

-The girls absolutely love dress up together. Almost daily they put on a costume, and are no longer Bella and Aubrey, but become whatever princess or Doc of the day they become!

Isaiah Jae 7 Months!

Oh my, to say we are obsessed with this little man is an understatement! He is truly our cherry on top, our grand finale. Our lives have been forever changed, and we can't even imagine life would be like without him!!

Happy 7 Months Isaiah Jae!

7 Month Highlights:

-You LOVE your jumpee, even so much you've fallen asleep a couple times in it!

Different day, different nap in the jumpy

-Christmas this year was super fun, even if you are oblivious to it all! You were a great sport about taking a lot of pictures though with sisters! It was easier to get you to smile in most of them, than it was to get both girls to smile!

-We went to the MCA Christmas pagent, you did great sitting through it all 

-Your cousin Emmalynn has come over several times and you don't know what to think of her yet. We are excited to see the two of you grow up so close in age.

-We had some really nice sunny days and spent a good amount of time outside on the swing set or in the back yard. You LOVE the swing and will just sit in there/swing the entire time big girls are out playing!

-This is precisely how you feel about eating. Every single time. Not amused. 

Sleeping: You hit a growth spurt/sleep regression for about two weeks this month (at 26 and 29 weeks), which meant less naps, several middle of the night wake ups, and an earlier wake up in the morning. Now that we are over that (thank you!!), bedtime is anywhere between 5 to 6:15 or so, depending on how long your naps were. You then sleep til about 7 am. Mama still wakes you up around 9 pm for a dream feed to get you through til 7 am. 

Naps are still rather unpredictable. You go down in the morning around 9 or 9:30, and some days sleep for 2 hours, other days it's 45 minutes. Then the rest of the day is kind of up in the air. When you take a shorter morning nap, you do usually sleep for an hour and a half in the afternoon. Otherwise, if it's a long morning nap day, you take shorter cat naps twice before bedtime. 

Eating: You eat 5-6 times a day (during your growth spurt weeks, it was consistently 6 times a day), usually sometime in the 7 am hour, 11, 1:30 or 2, and then right before bed which can mean sometime between 4:30 and 5:30. It takes you still only about 6-10 minutes, and you eat on both sides with the exception to the first feed of the day (although this last week, you've been taking both sides in the morning as well). Mama is able to pump pretty much the volume you eat while she's at work which has been nice (about 20-22 oz/day). 

Food on the other hand is a different story. Foods we've tried so far: oatmeal, avacado, carrots, bananas, black beans, sweet potatoes, apple sauce, and various things off our plate you seemed interested in. Foods you've liked: pretty much none of it. Occasionally you will take a few bites, but really you spit way more out than swallow.  

Isaiah Loves:
-Jumpee
-Catepillar toy
-Piano play mat (you LOOOOVE this!!)
-Having your head rubbed
-Being held and jumping in your lap
-Elephant paci...you play with this more than you use the paci, but you love it as you fall asleep
-Penguin musical toy
-Laying on our shoulder and being rocked before bedtime

Isaiah Hates:

-Eating food!
-Sitting still when being held
-Tummy time

7 Month Stats:

Height: 26 in (10th percentile) - I don't think you shrunk in the last month, obviously I'm not the best at measuring height : )

Weight: 14 lbs 12 oz (3rd or 4th percentile)

*Wearing size 1 diapers still, size 3-6 and 6 month clothes

*Teeth: still none, you started hard core teething this month!

Isaiah's Firsts this Month:

-Reaching arms out to be picked up (27 weeks)

This Month in Pictures: