Zeke is 8 months old

Zeke turned 8 months old on Sunday, January 17th. I keep catching myself thinking he's still a tiny baby, but he's quickly turning into a big boy with all his new tricks and skills. 

• Zeke is a growing boy! I realized his 9 mo. clothes were getting short when it got COLD a few days ago and all of Bo's old 12 mo stuff was for summer. Oops! So, I used his Christmas money (thanks Aunt Dawn!!) and got him some 12 mo winter clothes, so he is all set. 
• He is in the same daily routine as at 7 months. He is up around 7, awake for 2 hours, naps for hopefully 1.5 h, then is awake for about 3 hours, naps for 1.5 hours (again, hopefully....sometimes it's 40 minutes), then is awake for about 3.5-4 hours before bed. Bedtime depends on nap length, but is usually around 6:30-7. 
• He cries a few minutes before naps and usually nurses to sleep at bedtime.
• Night sleep is still hit or miss. Some times he wakes just once around 3 and sometimes he wakes before midnight and again in the early morning. Blah! 
• Nursing is still going well. He eats when he wakes in the morning, after nap 1, after nap 2, and bedtime. I will occasionally give him one side between nap 2 and supper if supper will be late for him.
• Speaking of solids, he is doing great! He has tried strawberries, cheese, black beans, and I'm sure more new foods this month. So far, the only thing he hasn't liked is roasted broccoli. I happened to get a video of him with the broccoli. Pretty funny! 

• Here's a video of Zeke eating roasted carrots, sweet potatoes, and green beans (and a bonus of Mae 'cooking' too). 
• He's eating lunch and supper right now. I'll try to add breakfast by 9 months. 

• Meal time is obviously a messy experience, so he heads to the sink or bath tub after he eats. He LOVES the water! He will laugh when I pour it over his head and splashes a lot. Here's a video of Zeke in the sink and in the bath tub. 

• Zeke loves to be outside and has really started to enjoy swinging. Here's a video of him swinging. I love his giggles! 

• Zeke is a busy boy! He is pulling up and beginning to cruise along the furniture and will let go and stand for a few seconds. He is crawling FAST and is pretty much into EVERYTHING.

• Taking the monthly picture was a little difficult this month because he wanted to get down and go! 

• Zeke is beginning to clap on command and will hold his hand up to wave when he sees himself in the mirror or when you say "Hey Zeke!" and wave at him. 

• Independent playtime is still going well. He will fuss when I put him in, but settles and plays fine as long as he doesn't see me. He will stay 20 minutes just fine. I always put him in the play pen in the morning so I can get breakfast and get dressed, then through the day as I need to, but usually just once more for a few minutes. 

• My boys! He loves when anyone talks to him, but especially Bo. He smiles so big at him. :)

All of the kids at 8 months old. I can't get over how much hair Zeke has compared to the others! 

Baby Zeke at 2, 4, 6, and 8 months. Growing so fast!

Zeke is 7 months old

Zeke is 7 months old! I can't believe it! He seems like such a big boy now that he's on the move. 

• Zeke weighed in at 17lb 15oz at his 6 mo check up and was 27.5 inches long. That's 55% for weight and 80% for height. He's pretty much where I figured he would be at this point, despite being so big at birth. Most babies are expected to double their birth weight by 6 mo, but thankfully none of my giant babies did. :)
• He's in 9 mo clothes and outgrowing the rest of his size 3 diapers. 
• Zeke is in a good little routine. This is into one of my favorite baby stages! Zeke wakes for the day around 7-7:30. I wake him by 7:30 if he's not up, but he usually is. He stays up about 2 hours, then naps for 1.5 hours. Then naps again around 2.5-3 hours after the end of the first nap and sleeps 1.5 hours. He will occasionally do a 2 hour nap. He dropped the 3rd nap right around 6 mo, so we are back to an early bedtime around 6-6:30. 
• He cries a bit before his naps and cried HARD a couple of days when he learned to pull up, but he's back to the normal fussing before sleep now (phew!). He goes to bed without a peep because he's worn out!
• He's still nursing well. He nurses first thing in the morning, after both naps, and at bedtime. I started back waking him to eat at 10:00 because he was waking up soon after I feel asleep and that's obviously pretty annoying. ;) He will usually wake early morning (5ish), nurse again, and sleep until morning. 
• Zeke is all over the place now! He will crawl from one room to another and go after anything he wants. He does come when I call him though. Ha! Here's a video of him crawling around. He sticks his tongue out a lot. ;)

• He also started pulling up soon after 6 months. He had a few falls and bumps, but he is pretty steady now.  
• We started solid food soon after 6 months. It took a week or so for him to figure out how to swallow, but he's gotten the hang of it now. He has liked everything so far....green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots and broccoli (roasted), cheese quesadilla, pizza crust, banana. He has had some purees too and likes them. 
• I've finally gotten in the habit of putting him in the high chair at least once a day. Occasionally I'll have him eat twice. It's a bit more work and I'm trying to adjust! 

• Zeke really loves the bath now and since he's eating food once or twice a day, he needs a bath every day! Here's a video of him splashing in the tub. Bath time is short because he tries to stand up/move around too much. I bathed him without the baby tub once, but he's not ready for that yet!
• He now can ride in the wagon and Cozy Coupe! Arabelle and Mae were especially proud. Here's a video of Zeke in the car. 

• Zeke has totally stopped spitting up (YAY!!) and still drools a lot (no teeth). 
• He has started putting his hands together some, so I bet he will be clapping soon. He smiles so big when you say, "Yay Zeke!!". Here's a video of him practicing his clapping. 

• He is doing really well with independent playtime as long as he doesn't see or hear me and he does fuss a minute when I put him in the playpen. Having the other kids around doesn't bother him though. He goes in twice a day for 20 or so minutes. I'll put him in other times during the day if I need to take Mae to the bathroom, etc. 
• Getting a picture of Zeke in the chair this month proved to be much more difficult than in the previous months. I knew this was coming!

• The other kids just had to join in. 

Mae Baby

I am always asking Mae "Who's my baby?" and she answers with "Nae!!!!", but she certainly is turning into more of a little girl and not much of a baby. I guess she will always be my baby girl, no matter how old she is. :)

Catching up with a few pictures and videos here...

Mae grabbed this pail the other day and said, "Bye! Work!" and blew a kiss and ran away, then turned around, ran back, and said, "Home!". Ha! 

I put a pillow in her crib a couple of weeks ago for her to sleep on and she LOVES it!

She really loves the park now and is pretty independent. I figure once she's old enough to go and play with Arabelle and Bo, then the baby boy will be old enough to need help on the playground equipment. ;)

She LOVES taking a bath and splashing all over the place.

Her language has really exploded lately. She'll try to repeat anything you say and strings together 2-3 word phrases. 

Earlier this week, we had played outside after lunch and when we went out to play after nap, a bird had pooped on her swing. She was APPALLED at the mess, so after I cleaned up the swing, she got in it and wouldn't stop talking about the 'bird poo'. We were all laughing so hard!

Arabelle and Bo were blowing bubbles for Mae today and she loved it. 

And here's Mae watching herself in the video and just being funny and cute. :)

I can't believe she'll be 2 soon!

Mae is 18 months old!

Mae is 18 months old! She was a year and a half back on Nov. 20th. I can't believe how much she's grown and changed since her 12 month update!

• Mae still has a good little routine going. She wakes for the day between 6:30-7 and when she's awake, she will let you know! She'll sing or call "Dada" or "Mama". She takes a good nap around 1 (sometimes 12:30 if we have to be somewhere earlier in the afternoon) and sleeps for 1.5-2 hours. She's in bed around 7-7:30 and goes right to sleep without a peep.
• She finally has more teeth! At 12 mo, she just had the two bottom teeth. Now she has 4 on top, the 2 bottom, and all 4 of her one year molars. 

• She's a bit pickier of an eater now days. Favorites are cheese, almond milk, any fruit, pizza, green beans, chili, and any kind of cracker or cookie. 
• She has really started saying a lot in the last month. Well, she's always been a talker, but now I can understand much more. :) She likes to point to herself and say, "Nae", then point to everyone else and say their name. She also knows a bunch of animal sounds and if you ask one she doesn't know, she'll just growl.
• Mae loves to play this game where she acts like she doesn't know where Jared is, then I play along and then she'll point him out and laugh and giggle. 

• She is still fitting in a few 18 mo. outfits, but mostly all of Arabelle's old 24 mo or 2T outfits fit just right. 
• At her 18 month appointment she weighed 24lb and 14oz (75th percentile) and was 33.5 inches long (90th percentile). She's a healthy growing girl! 
• Mae still loves to go outside. Jumping on the trampoline is one of her favorite things! She always wants to ride in the wagon or stroller and slide too. She's gotten pretty good at digging in the dirt with Arabelle and Bo. 

• She still loves to play the "go night night" game where she pretends to be asleep and I wake her up, then we switch. 

• She also really loves her baby dolls right now. She will 'shhhh' them and pat their back, then throw them over into her crib and say "shhhh" and leave the room. Ha! 

• She's been going to pre-school on Monday and Wednesday mornings and LOVES it! She's always ready to go, grabs her backpack, and waves goodbye. When Jared takes Bo on Fridays, Mae will get her backpack and cry at the door after they are gong. Poor girl! 
• She likes to look at books and do anything that Arabelle and Bo are doing. 

Mae is such a sweet girl with a fun personality!