7 Months

Happy 7 Months little Munch!

It was such a fun month with you and I feel like you grew up way too much!

Some highlights from this month:  

You started crawling...well let's be honest. You started the ghetto crawl a week before you turned 7 months.  On your 7 month birthday, you started getting pretty good at the crawl and now there's no turning back.   

You learned how to sit up after laying down or crawling.  This makes playing so much easier and more fun.  If you want a toy, you will crawl or roll to it, then sit up and start playing with it.  Right when you turned 6 months old, we heard you in the crib "talking" and when we looked in the video monitor you were sitting it.  You know love to sit up in the crib and grab the rails.  I'm afraid pulling up in the crib will be very soon.

You started babbling a lot more.  Your favorite word this past month was DADA.  Don't worry that we have been practicing mama since you were a few weeks old.  I 

know you love me and will hopefully say my name before you go to college.

You got your first 2 teeth!!  Most babies get their 2 middle teeth first, but not you.  You have 2 front "side" teeth, and we call you the little vampire.  

You tried puffs and a real banana for the first time this month.  You loved the banana but you're still trying to get used to the puffs.  Not sure why you don't love them, but hopefully this coming month you will. 

You started swim lessons and have done so well!  We go every Saturday and meet up with your buddy, Austin.  You have gone underwater like a champ and look totally relaxed when you are floating on your back.

You have perfected the bottle hold and insist on holding it at every feeding.  I'm not complaining, less work for me!

You wenting "swinging" for the first time.  Daddy hung your swing in our backyard and you love swinging on the random warm days this past month.

Your favorite toys/activities are still: standing at the activity table, jumper, toy laptop, stroller rides, "walking" while holding our hands and eating every toy you can shove in your mouth.

You still love solid foods.  I usually try to puree whatever I'm cooking for dinner.  I put a little to the side before I add all the spices and extras.  On Sundays, I cook a bunch of fruits and veggies and freeze them for the week.  When we don't have time to thaw food or are in a rush, you usually are happy with a jar or pouch of any organic baby food.  Greek yogurt has been a big hit with you this month.  When we put you in your high chair, you get so excited and open your mouth (like a bird) and wave your arms in the air.  This next month, I would like to start giving you more food off my plate.  I have to admit that I'm a little nervous, but I'll suck it up and go for it.  Since you have 2 very sharp bottom teeth, I'm sure you will learn how to chew things up.  You do great taking your bottle in the morning and at night but sometimes you are quite difficult with your 2 "day" bottles.  Sometimes you wiggle around and would just rather play.

don't judge the pink spoon 

You are still sleeping pretty well.  When we put you to bed, you either fall right to sleep or stay up talking and rolling around for 10 minutes.  Since you learned get up into a sitting position, you sometimes wake up in the middle of the night.  You just sit there in your crib and talk.  Sounds cute but its actually not when its 3am.  I'm the mean mom that just lets you talk and fuss until you go back to sleep.  Sorry buddy, I do love you though.

You are still a pretty easy going baby.  You are starting to get a little more demanding during playtime when you want to stand.  I keep saying you really don't want to crawl, you would rather just start walking.  We'll see how the next month goes.

  

7 Month Stats:

Weight-not sure

Length-29 inches (I measured you with our tape measure so its not official)

Clothes-We have gotten out some of your 9m clothes b/c you are getting so long

Eating-morning bottle, cereal & fruit for breakfast, 2 bottle during the day, dinner's usually a meat/veggie/starch and a night bottle

Naps-napping twice a day (usually 1-2.5 hours each)

Night time-6:30pm-7:00am



We love watching you grow and seeing your personality begin to develop.

Happy Birthday, Deedee!

Today would have been Deedee's 88th birthday.  Our sweet grandma passed away on January 21st after being in the hospital for a few weeks.  I have no doubt she is already barking orders and planning a party with all her family in heaven.

Deedee (as we called her) was always our "crazy" grandma and provided us with a lot of laughter.  But truth be told, I am like her in so many ways.  She was the best bargain hunter, hands down.  When I would visit her in Ohio, we would go garage and estate sale hoping every Saturday and boy would she haggle.  She knew what she wanted (even if it was junk) and made sure to get a good deal.  

Her sense of style was a little different than ours, but boy did she make a statement.  If she could have bedazzled every pair of shoes she owned, you better believe she would have done it in a heart beat.  She loved costume jewelry and my very patient dad would take her shopping ALL.THE.TIME so she could add to her collection.  She once bought me a Vera Wang wedding dress when I was probably 18 years old.  It was nice of her, granted a little early, but I soon realized it was a size 2 (which I was born larger than a size 2) and had a stain on it.  Nice thought, huh!
Every Christmas we would get RANDOM presents that Deedee had shopped for throughout the year.  She would buy presents, wrap them and forget what she bought us.  It was a secret game that my sisters and I liked to play...who will get the best gift from Deedee this year.

A few of my favorites included: kimono, snowman & Christmas tree dickies, stripped sweater dress, poncho winter coat, NASCAR jacket and tarnished serving spoon.  Yes, these were all so funny but we knew she gave them out of love.  Even though we laughed at all these random gifts, she made sure to give some really meaningful ones as well.  Deedee wrote down a few of her recipes that loved  so I would have a recipe card with her handwriting, her secret pound cake recipe, her engagement ring and wedding band and an old handkerchief to have on my wedding day with a handwritten note in case she wasn't around.

I brought Anderson to meet Deedee when he was 2.5 months old.  She didn't understand who he was, but it sure made her happy to hold a baby. Deedee always held a special place in my heart and I really loved her crazy self.  We always had a good time dancing, shopping or just being us.

Deedee, we love you and miss you daily.  In honor of your birthday, I will buy a pack of teaberry gum and eat a moon pie! 

Little Shrimp Class

Back in October (right when we moved back to NC), I started researching different places that offer swim lessons for babies/kids.  I knew I wanted him in swim lessons before he turned 1, but wasn't really sure if it would be a "fun" experience or not.  My mom had each of us in swim lessons when we were really young...all under the ages of 1, I think.  I'm going to attribute our love for anything pool, lake or beach to those early swim lessons.

I talked to my friend, Whitney, to see if she and Austin wanted to join us for lessons.  Of course she was already researching and we decided on a class together!  The first week, I was a little nervous about the whole experience.  Being the neurotic new mother that I am, I wanted it to go perfect...getting there on time, no messy diapers in the pool, no fear of the pool, minimal crying, lots of smiles and of course meeting lots of new friends.  Thankfully the good Lord gifted us with such a great experience.  

We showed up a few minutes late thanks to the wrong time being posted on the website, but we jumped right in and joined the rest of the class.  Anderson's face was a little stunned when we got into the pool because it wasn't as warm as his bath.  But he did great the entire class!  No tears, a few smiles and he was very relaxed the entire time.  Whitney and I had fun with the boys in the pool while our husbands were on the pool deck snapping pictures.

We've now been to 3 lessons and each week gets better.  I might be having more fun than Anderson but that's no surprise.  This past Saturday was "under water exploration"...aka we get to dunk our kids!!  I have been so excited about this lesson because I wanted to see his reaction and get him used to going under.  Thankfully Whit was just as excited as me and I think we were the first ones to dunk our kids when the time came.  Austin and Anderson did AWESOME!!  I think I pulled Anderson underwater at least 6 times during/after class and there wasn't a single tear shed.  Either he was in shock (potentially) or the dumping water all over his head during bath time paid off!  At the end of class, Miss Beth and Mr. Dean came by to see our little fish.  Anderson showed them how he could go under and float on his back.

Regardless how the rest of the swim lessons go, I think this has been a fun "winter" activity for us.  I have even noticed that he kicks and splashes more during our bath time.  Apparently he is getting something out of the swim lessons!  
I know he will be in the pool a ton this summer with us, Miss Beth or Ellen and I really want him to be comfortable in the water.  You never know, he might just be floating around the pool all by himself this summer. HAHA!

Here are a few pictures from the first lesson- please disregard me in all the pictures.

Happy after the swim lesson!

Christmas #2

Well, looks like I forgot to write about Christmas #2.  I better do it now while it's on my mind or I will forget again and never do it.

We headed to Clemmons December 26th to start the Gibbs Family traditions.  My parents hosted all the West girls, husbands and kids for drinks and appetizers that afternoon.  It was so fun to get all the babies together, meet baby Charlotte for the 1st time and catch up with my sweet friends.  Gus wasn't feeling well so Meg didn't make it over to the house.  It took longer than normal to get some decent pictures of us and the kids, but it was well worth it.
That evening, Em's family arrived and we began my birthday celebration.  We all hung out at the house, ate pizza, drank and ended the night with birthday cake.

Making the same face as Aunt Tara

 Maggie was so sweet with the babies

 Anderson is about to eat Charlotte

 Abbey with her babes

 West Girls minus our Megs and Gus

 Caught Miss A stealing a piece of candy off the cake

The next morning we woke up and had "Christmas morning".  We had a delicious breakfast, opened presents and took lots of pictures.  I have to say, Christmas is so much more fun because of the kids.  I love seeing how excited they get when they open presents.  Anderson loved all the paper and toys but then was done and ready for nap time.

Anderson is so excited about more presents

 Poppy and his grandbabies

We spent the rest of the day playing with toys, hanging out and then helping with dinner.  John and Mike fried a turkey during the afternoon and it was a big hit with the family.  Let's be honest, Lora and John really cooked most of the dinner items and they were OH SO DELICIOUS!  

 Abby feeding A for the 1st time

 indoor jungle gym...Abby is yet again rubbing Anderson's bald head

 Anderson loves Uncle Greg

 After dinner, we attempted to play Mexican Train Dominos but it was a disaster.  Not naming any names (BETHANN), but it was taking forever and apparently we had all consumed too many adult beverages.  Game night ended early and we all went to bed.

 favorite picture from Christmas...please notice Bones' face

We headed back to Huntersville the next morning to unpack more boxes.  Em was nice enough to come and help unpack and work her organization magic.  We also got to have some girl time at Ikea and shop without the kiddos.

I was sad to see Christmas end because I love hanging out with my family.  But thankfully we took a million pictures and mad a lot more memories.