Nine Months of Fun

It has been a month full of changes in our house! A lot of things have been going on, a lot of them with you learning how to crawl!! And you are so proud of yourself :) You’ve discovered and entirely new world now that you can get around yourself and you love it. You laugh with every scoot you make around the house and it’s absolutely adorable. You haven’t figured out how to pull yourself up to a sitting position yet so you get mad when you fall over, but you’ll get there. But now that you can go places, your favorite puppy doesn’t quite like you as much anymore. Mommy and Daddy have even been replaced by you trying to get to Loretta or her toys before she does. It’s quite entertaining actually. Loretta will leave her toy somewhere but the second she she’s you trying to race over to it, she charges back and carries it away. And then you proceed to chase after her. As fast are your little inchworm self can go, at least!

 

Some new things this month:

-You have teeth! You have two bottom teeth and your top two are starting to come in also! But those first two, mixed with getting your (late) 6 month shots, were horrible. You had high fevers and were in such pain for a week. I hated it. But it seems like so far at least, these two teeth aren’t causing any trouble!

-You have no sense of consequence. You will leap off the couch not realizing you can hurt yourself! If we had carpets, I would let you just fall, but hard floors hurt and I’m not ready to let you get hurt yet :)

-Within a week you got two teeth, learned to crawl like an inchworm, and started pulling yourself up on the couch, toys, and coffee table. You have even tried letting go a few times! You think you are big or something….

-You’ve started wanting to share your toys or food with us. It’s very cute, even when we don’t want a bite of your messy smashed up food in your hands

-You love to read and sing songs. Your favorite songs right now are Itsy Bitsy Spider (because you get tickled) and the ABC Song in sign language. I have started singing the ABCs in sign language to you and you love it! You’ve even started swishing your hands around like you are trying to sign as well. I love it.

-A couple weeks ago you didn’t want to go to sleep, so we were up when Daddy got home. I think you are going to be a sports kid like your Dad! He put on WWE wrestling and every time it went to commercial you started crying (10/4/13).

-You are definitely my kid. You love ice water! You prefer ice cold water over room temperature water any day.

-Every time we replay a video of you for you to watch, you start mimicking yourself. Love it.

-You’ve discovered a new sound! But I can’t really describe it. It’s sort of like spitting, but not really. You also get a kick out of sticking your tongue out now

-You said Dada! You haven’t associated it with Daddy yet though. (10/13/13) But still exciting. You’ve actually stopped saying mama, baba, and dada recently. You would just rather scream and make other noises :)

-I was showing you pictures of when you were born and when you saw one of Daddy holding you, you smiled real big, looked at Daddy, looked back at the picture, then back again. You are so cute. And smart. :)

 

I think every parent gets a bit of nostalgia as their kids grow up way too fast, and I am sad that these 9 months have flown by and your first birthday is approaching before we know it. But more than being sad, I love every single milestone you hit and anticipate every new stage because every change brings a new sense of fun and excitement to our lives. You are an amazing little boy and I love watching you grow and become your own little person. Attitude and all!

One thing I want you to remember as you get older, and one day look back at these letters, is that family is important. Family will always be there for you, even when your world seems like it is falling apart. If you keep God and your family close to your heart, you can conquer anything. When your world is crashing, remember God knows what is going on and He will always bring some sort of good out of your pain and heartache. Just rely on God and lean on your family. 

One day you will learn of the Lifetime movie we are living as I write this letter. And one day you may have to live through your own Lifetime movie. Just remember what is important and you will get through it. God doesn’t give you anything you cannot handle. If you are going through a seemingly impossible struggle, just know that means God knows you are one tough cookie and can handle more than others. I love you, son. Remember that.

At your 9 month appointment you gained about a pound and are now 18 lbs 10oz but you are still the same height. You've also had a stuffy nose all week and we discovered you have a double ear infection. Yet again! 

Also one more thing. You were playing with Loretta on our bed the other night (aka not going to sleep) and you rolled of and face planted. Scared me so much! But you eventually got back to yourself with seemingly no damage. That is two head injuries in 6 months, son. Is this a foreshadowing of what our future holds??? Boys..... :)

Here are some pictures of the pumpkin patch and playing in the leaves! And of course your 9 month photo :) We also got some professional photos done. So lots of photos this month!   

8 Months

This past month has gone by so fast. This entire summer has gone by too fast! Since it rained practically the entire summer, it’s like we didn’t even have one. We did finally get to go to the beach though! We made a trip down to Savannah with most of the family before Uncle Montez left for boot camp. You didn’t like it though, and with me being from California, I was slightly saddened by that! But maybe next year :) It’s like you were afraid of the water coming toward you. When we stopped in Hilton Head on our way back home, you started to enjoy the damp sand though. You started digging in it with your hands, but then started crying when Daddy pushed your hand away when you tried to eat it. Overall though it was a fun and semi-relaxing trip for us all.

You are 8 months old and I still can’t believe that I am a mother to someone; to you. My precious, sweet child, whom I love with all my heart. You never really know how much you can love someone until you have a child. I pray that you and your future wife will be able to have this blessing of parenthood as well. 

This month......

 

-You and Loretta are best friends. And you’ve discovered just how fun it is to throw her toys (with help of course)

-You can scoot backward and in circles on your belly and you (finally!!!) figured out how to roll from your back to your belly! The other day I sidecarred your crib to our bed and you thought it was the coolest thing, and of course wouldn’t go to sleep because you were playing with the slats of your crib and crawling all over me. But while playing you finally figured out how to roll. We are getting there.

-You can go from a sitting position down to your belly. Haven’t quite figured out how to coordinate your arms and legs though when your legs are up under you.

-Daddy taught you how to turn the lights on and off

-On August 2, 2013, we were sitting at Gi-Gi and Pimpa’s kitchen table watching a movie and nursing. Daddy was sitting next to us and you waved at him! Whenever I would tell you to wave at Daddy you did it again. It was the cutest thing.

-This month you learned TWO syllables and love to say them, especially while going crazy in your door bouncer. You repeat over and over again, “mamamama-babababa-mama-baba”. And even though you don’t associate “mama” with me yet, I still love to hear you say it :)

-You love to play with ice. Every chance you get you will still your hand in a cup of ice water and grab an ice cube. Maybe that means you will enjoy the snow since it’s supposed to be a cold winter this year!

-One thing I’m not so proud that you learned lately is you like to pull at my tank top and snap it back. So as payback I started snapping your onesie on your neck :) Too bad you actually enjoyed it….

 

This week you were a little model! I submitted your picture to a local casting agency and you were chosen to be a baby model for the next Buy Buy Baby catalog.

 

This weekend Uncle Montez left for boot camp. I know you are going to miss your Uncle Tez. You just love him so much. We won’t get to hear from him until Thanksgiving! 

You are a growing boy and I cannot wait to see what else you learn

I love you,

Mommy

 You didn't like it :)

 I love this boy!

 Daddy and Aunt Brittany say if you had a facebook, this would be your profile picture :)

 haha

you weren't very happy with me

I need to figure out a better system for the chalkboard...you just like to play with it

My 7 Month Old Baby Boy

Since you turned 6 months, it’s like you are growing and changing even more every day. This past month has flown by! You are getting more and more of your little personality, anger and all. The other day we were in the car and all the sudden you start screaming out of anger. For no apparent reason. It really threw Daddy and I off because we never heard you scream like that before. I also think you are going to be a rough little boy. Even though you don’t crawl or anything yet, when you are laying in bed with Daddy and I, or on the couch with me, you are always “crawling” and scooting your way over the top of us and love to “wrestle” (as much as a 7 month old can wrestle). I just love you so very much, Trenton! I am amazed every day that God gave us you to take care of and love on. You are such a miracle.

This past month you got to see both sides of great grandparents! We took a trip to Mississippi to visit Daddy’s grandparents. You and I both had never met them, so it was a first for us. They enjoyed loving on you very much :) Also last weekend my grandparents and Aunt Sherry came to stay with us and bring Daddy his Studebaker. You had so much fun with everyone. Except you are VERY clingy to me….it takes awhile for you to warm up to others and you only like them when you are in my arms. You even started crying when I would set you 6 inches from me on the couch….it was pretty ridiculous actually….crazy boy. Even though it can be pretty difficult on us by how much you are attached to me, I am making a conscious effort to soak it all up because I know pretty soon you are not going to want to cuddle with Mommy anymore because there will be too much to explore on your own.

A lot of things happened this month:

-When you play with Loretta, you think it’s funny when she nibbles on your hands. You also love to grab her tongue when she tries to lick you. The other day you even grabbed her face and put her nose in your mouth. Gross…..

- You’ve gotten really good at screaming….and whining….oh goodness you are such a whiner…

-I fully enjoyed the growth spurt you were going through because you actually slept at decent hours during the night. But sadly you are back to being a little vampire baby and not going to bed until after midnight :(

-Even though you are only getting solids one meal every 2-3 days,  you are getting much better at eating and not choking, as long as the food is soft enough since you like to take big bites.

-For some reason your little “tick” you have is to always bounce your right foot. It’s so cute :) along with you always crossing your feet

-When you sleep, or nurse, you always have to have your feet up. I guess you are just a chill kid and like to relax :)

-One thing we are trying to work on is your incessant need to bite and pull while nursing. I am really dreading the day you get teeth because it is so bad already. I don’t want to quit nursing for at least another year so you and I really need to get on the same page about this, Mr. Trenton.

-You are Mr. Nosy and always have to look around and see what is going on. Which drives me crazy while nursing since you will nurse for 5 seconds, then look around; nurse for 5 seconds, then look around…I eventually just give up. You are so nosy that you refuse to nap when there is too much going on. One time you even started falling asleep in Uncle Montez’ lap; your head nodding off and everything. It was actually quite entertaining for the rest of us. And don’t worry, we got a video and we will show your future girlfriends J

-Even though you still can’t roll from your back to your belly, you are learning how to pull yourself and scoot while on your belly. You can even pull yourself up from a sitting position to a standing position. When we set you in a crawling position you sit there for awhile and have even started rocking a bit! You just can’t quite get yourself to that position though.

-One thing I love is seeing you and Daddy play together. I especially love when you are both dancing in the kitchen. THIS melts my heart every time. You really do have the most amazing daddy in the world. I couldn’t ask for anyone better to raise a family with.

I can’t express how much love I have for you, Trenton. I just hope and pray that as you grow, our love is evident in how we raise you and your future siblings and you will learn from us how to love others. You are already such a cuddle bug so I hope that doesn’t leave from you as you get older. You are such an amazing little thing!

This month we got some videos along with pictures :)

 The must adorable little bulldog around!

You are getting so big!

Trenton absolutely LOVES our neighbor kids. He attacks her with kisses :)

Trenton also discovered recently he can pull himself to get places

He also discovered just how fun it is to let his toys drop to the ground

To the Children of Tomorrow

There is so much wrong with the youth of our country today. In the past week there has been two brutal, senseless murders by teenagers, because “they were bored”. Something has seriously gone wrong in the way we, as Americans, have adapted to parenting. Instead of disciplining our children, we have let them walk all over us. Instead of being a good role model we are doing whatwe want, instead of putting our kids first and their well-being. As a parent, we are called to raise our children better than how we were raised, not worse. We are supposed to teach them how to love, how to succeed, how to be a good steward of what we are given, how to respect our elders. But instead, the children of today are rude, obnoxious brats who think they own the world and don’t need to respect those around them.

Well, as a parent of the children of tomorrow, your world will be different. Here is my vow, to my son, to my future children, to our future, to stand up and raise my children to be respectful, to love others, to be empathetic, to succeed in life, to love themselves, to feel accomplished and proud of who they are, to lend a hand when someone needs it, even without being asked.

If you are “bored”, I will teach you to go read a book, go play a game (not video games), go play a sport or an instrument, go invent and create something beautiful. I promise to teach you that taking innocent life is NOT okay. It is not your duty to decide who lives and who dies. Are you God? No. You are not. Only God gets to decide who lives and who dies.

I want your world to be different than my world. I want your world to be a safe place like it used to be. I don’t want you to be afraid to go jogging, afraid to go to the store, afraid to be home alone without a gun by your side. This is not how we should be living now. By changing the way we, as parents of tomorrow’s children, raise you, we can provide you with the abilities and skills to create a world that is a safe haven like it should have always been.

Hearing about the murder of the Australian baseball player in Texas and the 88 year old WWII veteran in Washington, it got me thinking back to four years ago, when someone that used to be close to my family was beaten to death by some teenagers in her home at the age of 81. Though no details of the Washington case has come out yet, all the teenagers involved in the other two cases were young black kids. While my son is biracial, he is still half black and can still, like any teenager, succumb to the defiant lifestyle of many kids today. I do not want my children to fall into the trap that so many young black kids fall into. And even if the kids we plan to adopt in the future are black, I want them to step out of that stigma and not contribute to that stereotype. My kids, along with everyone else, can be better than “the hood” if they truly believe it. My kids will make great things for their lives. They will not live in a world where they are considered criminals, just because they are black. I want to help them get out of the very unfair stereotype that is pushed on young black men. Granted, I was never a young black man, or woman, but I still have to power to teach my children that they are better than what the world thinks of them based on the color of their skin.

So my child, today I make my vow. I make it to you. To be the best parent I possibly can be so you can see by example how a truly good life should be lived.

Written August 23, 2013

Half a Year Already

Trenton,

This past month has been a huge month for you! Your little body has been going through a giant growth spurt, along with teething even more than usual so you have been sleeping a whole lot more. Which we aren’t complaining about at all :) But you have also been very whiny and clingy to Mommy, which I know makes Daddy a bit sad…but we both know soon enough you will want nothing to do with me and want to be just like Daddy, so personally, I am soaking up all this extra love now.

You had your first Fourth of July this month though! This summer has been a VERY wet summer and has been raining almost every day. And of course it rained the entire holiday weekend so we didn’t even get to go swimming :( Aunt Stephanie was in town though! And she loved all over you. We also went to a Braves game for the Fourth. Your second baseball game; but of course it was pouring the first half of the game. Luckily it dried up the second half and you enjoyed it. Although we had two really close calls with foul balls. Really scary moments for me! There were fireworks at the end of the game and you slept through the entire show except for the finale. But you enjoyed it. Once it was done you were looking around for more :)

Your new things this month:

-You give big monster hugs and kisses! You throw your arm back and then swing in for big hugs and kisses, which really consists of you blowing spit bubbles on our faces and necks. But it’s so cute and I love coming home to your giant monster hugs and kisses. The highlight of my day!

-You’ve been going to the church nursery on Sundays and I am sad to say you are “that” kid who cries in the nursery unless he is being held. You also don’t like it when other kids are crying. But you will get better.

-When nursing, you are practicing your acrobatics already because you always have to have your legs up by my shoulders. Even when you sleep in our bed, you have to have your legs up or you get mad. Silly boy….

-Lately you have discovered that you can fake cough and you think it is pretty darn funny. You also think its fun to scream now.

-You have figured out if you bang your toys down, they make noise. So guess what you have been doing lately? :)

-Your infant car seat doesn’t fit in Daddy’s car, so this month you got a big boy car seat! It looks very comfortable too

-Over the holiday weekend we started on solid foods! Your faces still are such a crack up, but you seemed to enjoy it! So far you have tried avocado, carrots, bananas, and broccoli. We have been doing a mixture of purees and large chunks for you to “chew” yourself. You do very well with both. Except you would much rather feed yourself with the spoon than have me or daddy feed you. You always grab the spoon and stick it right in your mouth. Smart boy :)

 Your first time eating carrot sticks

 Your first time having solid foods! Yummy avocado :)

-Since you have been going through this giant growth spurt, in just three weeks you went from your 0-3 month clothes fitting just fine with a good amount of growing room to fitting into your larger 6 month clothes! We just got you a bunch of summer 3-6 month clothes but now I’m wondering if you are just going to skip that size and go straight to 6-9 month clothes!

-One of my favorite new discoveries you have had lately is the discovery of your hands and that you have full control of your fingers. You just sit there and wiggle and wave your hands in front of your face like it is the coolest thing in the world. You are mesmerized and it is so cute. I just wish you would let me video it!

Your 6 month appointment was sadly a mixture between your regular checkup and a sick visit because you have not been feeling well this week at all :( It turns out you have a bad cold which caused a double ear infection. This is your first time being sick and we don't like it at all :( But even though you are sick, you are still a happy baby! You just want to play while being held instead of playing by yourself....You got a prescription for Amoxicillin for your ear infections and your first night taking it, I think it gave you a new-found sense of energy because you were up happy as can be from about 11pm to 3am! Mommy and Daddy are so tired....

We decided to postpone your 6 month shots because you are sick, but at your visit this time you shot up in weight! You only grew 1/4 inch in height though so now you are 25 1/4 inches tall and 14 lbs 13oz! Apparently you are a small little guy because according to the CDC charts you are only in the 9.75th percentile for weight and 14th percentile for height. Of course that chart is really geared toward formula fed babies and not breastfed. You are pretty normal to us :)

Trenton, when you grow up and are hopefully reading these letters, I want you to know just how amazing your daddy is. I'm sure there will be many arguments between all of us over the years, but you have the best father in the entire world. I hope you grow up watching him and learning how to be a real man from him. I pray you will learn from him how to treat women and your future wife and children. He is the greatest husband I could ask for and I am so very blessed to be called his wife. And you, my son, are the most precious gift we could ask for.


Love Always,

Mommy

Five Months!

This month has been a very busy month for us! So because of that I haven’t kept very good records of what you’ve done and learned this month :( We are finally getting settled into or new house! Daddy and I are so glad you are not mobile yet, because the past three weeks our house has definitely been far from baby proof. We got your room and our bedroom painted, along with the kitchen cabinets (minus the doors). For your room I just need to find some time when you aren’t napping to finish putting up your decorations.

You have changed so much this past month and are growing up way too fast! It seems every day you are getting bigger and bigger and learning something else.

-You love to play peek-a-boo with your burp rag. Except you are a crazy adrenaline junkie baby and think it’s funny to hold your breath and gasp like you can’t breathe. (I know I’ve posted about this before, but you are doing it more often!) It’s come to the point where you aren’t allowed to have a burp rag within reach unless you are supervised 100% of the time….

-Whenever a stranger or someone you don’t know tries to talk to you, you usually sit and stare at them for a long time and study them. You are pretty good at that blank stare thing. I think you get that from your daddy.

-You really love your door bouncer! You can even get so high both feet come off the ground. You like it so much that you still bounce even when you are crying...!

-When you have tummy time, you are finally learning to put your arms out in front of you instead of flailing at your sides. You are even playing with toys we put in front of you.

-Whenever you want to be picked up, you are learning how to put your arms out in front of you. You don't quite reach up yet, but you are moving in the right direction!

-You love your puppy. Whenever Loretta comes close you always reach out to her and try to pet her. Sometimes she will even lie next to you so you can rub her belly (and grab her paws and ears). You like to watch her play fetch too. The other night I had you on your tummy on the floor while I was playing with Loretta and you turned yourself completely around on your belly so you could watch too :)

-Rolling from tummy to back is getting easier for you, and you are even trying to get from back to tummy sometimes! Pretty soon you are going to be all over the place…..

-We have been working on your sleep schedule the past couple weeks and I am happy to report you are getting better at not go to bed at 2am! You are starting to sleep semi-normal baby hours, which is fantastic.

-You are also a very happy baby. You love to laugh all the time, and you even laugh now when tickled, instead of cry :) Your little laugh just brightens my day.

This past weekend was also Father’s Day! It was Daddy’s first one and you and I did a cute picture for him. He fell in love with it! Every year we decided we are going to do the same picture and we will be able to watch how much you change every year. We also took Daddy to a Braves game. It was your first game! And of course you flirted with all the ladies around us :)

Since you are always watching and grabbing for our food, we decided we will probably start with your first foods a couple weeks before your 6 month birthday. Because we have a long weekend for 4^th of July, we will probably start that weekend just so we can make sure there won’t be any allergic reactions at all. So that will be another fun milestone in a couple weeks!

I love you so much, Trenton, and I am so blessed to call you my son.

Four Months!

You are four months old! Every month you change and grow so much. It is such a joy to watch you learn new things. The past month we have coped with our new lifestyle of me going back to work. But Trenton, you really REALLY need to get on a better sleeping schedule. You are driving us crazy! During the day you can’t stay awake longer than 3 hours at a time, but at nighttime you will stay awake for 6+ hours! And those hours are always from about 8pm until 1-2am or sometimes later. And you are usually wide awake playing, not fussy. Which makes it really difficult when I need to get up at 5:30am for work…. But we love you anyways and one day we will figure out how to make you go down for the night at 8pm :)

We are also moving this weekend! We are finally getting a house and it’s a lovely house. It won’t be completely done when we move in, but our landlord is a friend from my Bible Study so we are all good with it. We will have a backyard and our landlord lives next door and has a pool and a garden that we can use any time. So this summer you will have lots of pool time!

Some changes this month:

-          You love it when Daddy covers your face with the burp cloth. For some reason you think its fun to hold your breath every time. We wonder if that’s a bad thing….we just say you are getting strong swimmer’s lungs maybe :)

-          You are starting to hold your bottle all by yourself!

-          You have started chewing on your fingers instead of your fists

-          And you are teething. Which I’m not too happy about, but you are. Your gums have been white and swollen the past couple weeks and we can feel a couple bumps where teeth will break through soon. You haven’t really been fussy or anything so we are happy about that.

-          You are so sneaky when it comes to the TV! We try to limit your screen time to hardly nothing but when it is on you will twist and turn, and even hang upside down JUST so you can watch TV

-          Sometimes when we are trying to put you to sleep, you will talk to yourself as you doze off in our arms. It’s pretty cute.
-You are such a little daredevil! I have a feeling you are going to be one of those "typical" boys who drive their mom crazy by jumping off everything and hanging from the ceiling fan, and doing everything we girls call stupid that boys do. At 4 months old you love to fly in the air, throw yourself backward when someone is holding you (sometimes when they don't expect it), hang upside down by your legs, and generally just hang upside down while laying in our arms or lap. Silly silly boy.....

-          Your motor skills are improving so much every day! You are grabbing things more and more, you focus intensely on something you want and then sometimes will lunge for it

-          Last night you were really focusing on Loretta and even lunged for her :)

-          You are able to sit up by yourself for a few seconds at a time! Though you still aren’t rolling over regularly

-          Your two new favorite games:

       o   One: Blowing spit bubbles. You absolutely love to spit

       o   Two: You put your binky in your mouth, bite down, then snap it out quickly so it makes a loud popping noise

At your 4 month doctor’s appointment, you weighed 12 lbs 14oz and are now 2 feet 1 inch tall. You grew THREE inches in 2 months! Your doctor said you didn't gain as much weight as you had been, but since you shot up in height that is understandable. We all keep thinking you are going to be a tall kid! You did get your 4 month shots this time though and you were not happy about it :( Last time you did pretty well, but this time you wanted nothing to do with anyone but me. Not even Daddy. When we got home from the doctor, you took a long nap and then didn't want to be held by anyone except me. You would play and laugh as long as I was holding you, but the second I tried to pass you off you would cry. We even had to give you some Tylenol this time because you were in pain :( But you are a tough little guy and we love you so very much!