Babys First Christmas!!

You had a great first Christmas and you were very spoiled!!!

We started off by going to Wisconsin the weekend before Christmas and celebrated with Grandpa and Grandma Kraemer, Ross and Sarah. Everyone was sick there but we managed to have a great time! You loved opening the presents and ripping the paper and eating it. You got some new books, toys, clothes and a sesame street car to ride on.
You got kind of sick on Saturday but you stayed a trooper.




We spent Xmas Eve and day at home at Rochester since I had to work every day but Christmas day. You were feeling pretty sick and fussy but we dressed you up and took you to church Xmas Eve night. You did pretty good but by the last half hour you did not want to sit there and we had to take turns walking around with you. On Christmas morning you opened your stocking from Santa and a few toys we wrapped up for you.


The weekend after we went to Waseca and celebrated with grandma, Matt, Jodie, Ava and Cam. It was quite a wild household! You loved looking at Ava and Cam play. You got a bunch of new clothes and toys to play with. They will be taking up our living room. We may need to invest in a bigger toy box for you!

Eight Months Old- Dec 24th

*You weigh 21.2 pds, approx 27 inches long (You dont go to the doc until 9 months)
*Wearing 12 month clothes
*Wear size 4 diaper
*Almost crawling but still not really...your legs can do everything but you dont get how to use your arms
*Still sitting and grabbing for things, pull yourself on things
*Love bathtime and playing with toys, started to lean over and drink your bath water and cough and laugh
*Have been saying mama, or just ma a lot esp when upset
*Can hold yourself up on things with your hands but we have to put you there
*Still no teeth but you always seem to be teething
*Loving yogurt and getting better at eating puffs, you can pick them up and put them in your mouth
*Doing all cups at daycare for milk, we still do bottles at home though
*Still love to suck your thumb, and when you are trying to crawl youll often stop and suck your thumb
*You had your first Xmas and you loved ripping the paper and chewing on it along with the ribbons
*You are grabbing things, like hair and our faces; anything and everything goes in your mouth (You want to chew on everything, side of tub high chair..table out to eat
*You have perfected sitting and reaching past your toes to grab things..its funny to watch how far youll grab to reach stuff and you get mad when you cant reach them.
*Love being put upside down and love your jumper.
*Had your first case of bad diaper rash and were pretty fussy and crabby over Xmas. We brought you to the doc but nothing was wrong.

Mama? Avas recital

On Friday we went up to the cities to see cousin Ava perform at her big dance recital. We knew going into it it would be a little hard because it started at 630 and you typically need to get to bed by 7pm. We got there around 6 and were sitting in the gym waiting for it to start and you did ok but by the end of Avas first dance you were losing it. You dont really like to sit still and be held these days so I was afraid of this. Lee had to take you out and walk around with you to calm you down.

By the end you were pretty tired and not happy about going back into your car seat. You cried/screamed the whole way home. We swear you were saying Mama a few times. On Sunday as well when youd cry or get upset youd say it. I wish I could get it on video. You of course wont say it on command or non mad/upset. I guess you need your mama when you are upset. hehehe:) Too cute!

Grunter, scared

You have an angry grunting sound when you are really hungry. While we are getting your food you get all mad and ball up your fists. Even between bites youll make this grunting sound like you are so mad! We cant feed you fast enough. You are a chunker so I know you are getting enough to eat. You just have no patience when it comes to food. LOL

Weve discovered you hate the sound of the food processor..we tried to grind up some food for you while you were in the same room and you cried and turned beat red just as bad as you get when you get your shots. Poor baby! We try and do this when you are sleeping now.

First Thanksgiving-Nov 28th

We drove down to WI for you first Thanksgiving. We left early Wed morning so you could spend the day with Gma and Gpa. You slept most of the way there until we stopped in the Dells so mom could go to the Carters outlet store quick. hehe! I so wish we had one of those here but Id prob go there every week and buy you stuff. haha We got to Gma/Gpas around 1130 and had lunch and played for the day.

On Thanksgiving morning, we drove an hour away to Gpas sisters house on the farm for the first huge potluck. There were so many people there and most you were meeting for the first time. I was nervous how you would do with all those people but you did pretty good. You didnt really nap for very long but you didn't have any melt downs so thats good.

We gave you some mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes mashed up, and some green bean casserole(which was your fav) haha. Mine too!!

After, we got back in the car and drove a half hour to Lees gpas house for the second huge family potluck. There weren't quite as many people there as usual but still quite a few. You got to see a lot of people again and they were amazed at how big you have gotten. We stayed and had dinner and then after we put you in your pjs and took off for home. You slept the whole way and woke up once we pulled into the garage. I got you back to sleep pretty quickly but you woke up around 11 or so screaming. I had to get you to sleep on me first and then put you in your crib and you slept till morning. I think you were just overtired and overstimulated from all the people and driving.

Meeting Santa-Tuesday Nov 26th

We took you to the mall in town to meet Santa Claus for the first time. We went before Thanksgiving to beat the mad rush and crowds. We got there and there was only one person in line a head of us and no one behind us. The workers and Santa were a little weird, you kinda just stared at them. Since no one was there we got to take several pics until we got a good one that we liked. We finally were able to get you to smile and got an adorable pic!

Afterwards, we went home and put up the Xmas tree and decorations.

7 months old-Sunday Nov 24th

You are 7 months now! Time is flying by way too fast. You are getting so much more fun each day and learning so much. You are growing like a weed!

*You are around 27 inches long, and weigh (we measured you at home, you dont go back to the doc till 9 months)
*Starting to wear 12 month clothes and sleepers, you could prob wear the 9 month shirts but the pants get really short on you.
*You have perfected sitting up on your own and playing with toys on your own which is nice
*You eat solids three times a day(oatmeal and a fruit for breakfast, rice cereal and veggie for lunch, and a fruit and veggie for supper) and usually have 4 bottles(around 6 ounces, 8 oz before bed). We give you a sippy cup with water each time and you love it. You can pick it up yourself now too. You like to just chew on it at the end though.
*Still sleeping through the night good. You'll usually go to bed at 7 but some nights you only make it till 630 or so if you are crabby.
*You can pretty much put yourself to sleep for the most part..usually within 15-20 mins and you are out. You'll talk to yourself and sometimes whine a little.
*You love your jumper, even when you come out of it you like to jump on us in our arms. LOL
*You said da da a couple times we swear but havent said it since.
*Still love baths, weve given you a couple just sitting up in the actual bathtub and you do fine, its just hard to wash your hair.
*You have been having mysterious hives/rashes that disappear but they seem to be getting better; we thought maybe the pampers cruisers diapers but were not for sure.
*You love to eat and you fuss and shake and grunt to be fed, we cant feed you fast enough! When you are hungry you are hungry!
*You are completely on formula now, weve used up all the frozen BM. You seem to do fine w/ it and over thanksgiving we gave you a couple bottles at room temp and you were fine with it.
*Sophie the giraffe is still your fav toy, you like to chew on anything, wash cloths etc.
*Started to play with toy car, ring stacking toy, fire truck..more interactive toys.
*Liking books a little more, grabbing at pages.
*You love to be sung to, Xmas songs esp-We Wish You a Merry Xmas
*We've given you a few puffs but you dont really get it yet. well break them apart and hand them to you. Still hard for you to pick them up.
*We've moved you up to size 4 diapers, you could prob still wear a 3 but we didnt want to buy another huge box of them. We've switched to pampers overnights at night and they have made a huge diff you were waking up soaked every morning without them.
*You'll nap at day care from like 845-1245 or so..not sure how bc at home youll maybe nap 1-1.5 hour tops. Usually around 830 and 1. Sometimes youll take a cap nap bt 4-5 as well.
*You arent crawling but you can tell you want to..you roll all around and then get up on your stomach and kick and get mad. You get up on your knees too..if youd just move fwd you would be crawling. haha You usually give up though.
*You are still quite the thumb sucker..both hands. Whenever you get tired you suck your thumb for sure but just other random times too.
*We put away your playmat and I think well put away the swing too. You havent used it in a long time. You def perfer to be on the ground playing and arent really into being held in our laps.
*You still like patty cake, farmers horse, airplane, so big etc..You like to play peek a boo now where well put your taggy blanket on your face and then youll pull it way. Youll blink as we go to put it back on your face. haha

Sitting

You are getting better at sitting by yourself more and more each day. You do better if you have a toy to focus on or grab. You still will sometimes lean to either side or go back down onto your back. We keep working on it though!

Darn Rash

We are now on week 2 of this mysterious hives/rash whatever you want to call it. It is driving us bonkers! Daycare doesn't seem to think its a big deal but I dont feel that its normal. Ive tried just about everything I can think of. Nothing has been new for you besides formula, but you had been having that before this all started.

It seems to be worse after youve been laying down and then after an hour or so it disappears. This weekend I am going to try using Luvs diapers vs Pampers to see if it makes a diff. I used one last night and you didn't really seem to be broken out. Fingers crossed that it is this!

Darn Pampers Crusiers! I loved Pampers bc they didn't leak and they seemed to fit well. Maybe its just the Cruisers type. They make sensitive ones I know but they are way spendier. We will have to test this out.

Poor baby even though you don't itch or touch it. I think it bothers mom more than you. Just cant stand seeing it on you.

Transitioning to Formula

This past week we started doing partial formula/BM bottles. You seemed to take them just fine. I think the first one Theresa gave you, you kinda made a face but you ate it. You seem to eat them just fine now. We still have quite a few frozen things of BM so well continue to use those up at home before well do 100% formula bottles.

With all the solids you've been eating you are drinking way less in bottles. You dont really want one right when you wake up either. When we put you in your high chair to eat you get so excited and kick your feet and want to eat so fast and make the cutest sounds. LOL You sound like we never feed you!

First word??

Last Friday night you started to say da da. You kept saying it and then I was giving you a bath and Lee walked in and you said da da. We keep trying to get you to say it and sometimes you will. Too cute! You are so fun with all your giggles and smiles for us:)

Allergic reaction

On Monday you had your 6 month shots along with the flu shot and you were fine the rest of the day an into Tuesday. On Wed you woke up with a few red hives, on your face, shoulder and leg. You didnt have a fever or seem upset so we sent you to daycare and they eventually went away. It reappeared on your face a little but that was it.

On Thursday I got you up and took your pjs off and your hives were huge and red and everywhere. I got you ready and took you to urgent care. They looked at you and said yep allergic to something. I think its the flu shot personally but they think it may be from a food. The only newer food we had given you this week were peaches. I stopped giving them to you for the time being. I just wish I knew what was causing it. I am scared to give you the second flu shot in a month but then maybe well know what was causing the reaction. We may have to try peaches again later to see if you react and that is in fact the culprit! Your rash today seems to be a lot better and down to a few blotches.

At least we were still able to dress you up so you could experience your first Halloween.

Just so hard seeing you like that. Even though you were still so happy!

Happy Halloween

Here are some pictures of your first Halloween. We carved you an elmo pumpkin and took pics of you with candy. Cant wait to dress you up like a lion on Thursday:)





You were the cutest lion ever!!!






Here are some pics of your pj day at daycare too. You were so cute in your skeleton outfit:)

Six Months Old

Oh my how are you half year old already! You are growing up so fast and learning new things everyday.


--You weigh 19 lbs 9 oz, 26.5 inches long. About 51% for height and 81% for weight.
--Wearing 9 month clothes for the most part, size 3 diaper
--Eating every few hours or so usually around 6-7 oz of BM, around 8oz before bed. We typically feed you cereal and a veggie at 6pm and then we go for a walk and then bath and jammies/bottle and bed at 7pm. Any later and you get too tired. You are eating cereal and veggie at daycare now too usually at lunch time sometimes at breakfast. On the weekends well usually give you oatmeal for breakfast.
--We give you a sippy cup w/ water at meal time and you love it. You spit alot of it out though.
--We are just finishing up our veggies, we have given you green beans, peas, 3 types of squash, sweet potatoes and starting carrots this week.
--You are really getting the hang of your musical jumper...jumping like a crazy baby.
--Rolling machine, discovered how to roll and roll from one end of the room to another.
--Mostly sleep on your side wedged up on the the back/edge of the crib. We had to turn off our motion sensor on our monitor because you kept setting it off and wed get false alarms all the time.
--Napping..you'll sleep around 4 hours at daycare and Theresa has to wake you up but at home we struggle to get anything more than an hour at a time. Youll fall asleep just fine but you usually wake up around that amount of time. Well get 1.5-2hours if were lucky.
--Still liking bath time but getting a little big for your baby bathtub; you love to chew on the washcloth.
--Still not sitting very well on your own yet..You will for a little bit and then tip over or face plant. We have been working on it.
--Love patty cake, peek a boo, and being flown up in the air for airplane. You like being sung too..have been doing grandmas horse/bouncing song.
--Love to spit and screech like a girl or like you are in pain like you are choking! Silly boy!
--Favorite toy by far is your Sopie the giraffe you chomp on her like crazy. You like your vibrating teether too. You put anything in your mouth..including our shirts and hands..burp cloths everything.
--Still drooling like crazy..not sight of teeth yet though. Im sure they will be coming soon.
--You've been sleeping through the night for quite a while usually from 7pm-640ish am. Sometimes you'll wake up around 5 and just chatter to yourself for a bit and fall back asleep. We usually just lay you down with the noise maker on and the humidifier going. Sometimes youll talk or cry for 10 mins or so and fall asleep somedays when you are very tired youll fall asleep eating your bottle.
--A few times you have woken up screaming bloody murder after being sleeping for a couple of hours. You dont really wake up but you just scream. Id just rock you and eventually youd stop and Id lay you back down. So sad to hear you like that. I hope you are not one to have night terrors when you are already.
--More blonde hair is coming in and it sticks up quite crazily.
--Ive just finished up pumping. It took quite a while. We still have a couple of boxes frozen in our deep freezer and then we'll start doing formula. I hope you will do ok. It is nice to have the time back and I prob would have gone a little longer but wanted to be done in time for a wedding this weekend.
--Love looking at yourself in the mirror..just like your mama haha
--Wore your first pair of tennis shoes.
--You get so excited to see us and kick your feet you are starting to cry or whimper like a dog if we leave the room and you cant see us. I think you are kind of a mamas boy but we wont tell daddy that haha.
--We packed away your bouncer and rock and play..you were getting too big. We will prob put your swing and playmat away soon too. You dont really like the playmat you just flip to your tummy and look around and bang your head on the toys. The swing we put you in from time to time but you dont really fall asleep in there like you used to.
--I cant remember the last time we gave you your paci...you just suck your thumb which is nice! I dont think Theresa gives it to you at daycare either.
--Working on reading to your more. Youll tolerate books earlier in the day sometimes before bed we can make it through one and then you want your bottle. hehe
--Not digging getting your picture taken anymore, you wont sit still or look at the camera or you'll give us the most serious face ever!

Solo Mama

Daddy was in NY for work Sunday-Friday so were all alone all week. Things went well and you were a good baby for mom. My only complaint was the darn motion dectecting baby monitor. It keep going off like every 3 hours so Id have to wake up and move you back to the middle of the crib. When dad got home we decided to shut off this feature. No matter how many times we move you you always roll to the edge of the crib and it would go off. Daddy then left early Saturday morning for WI for his best friends bach party.

Mobile Roller

On Thursday I went to pick you up from daycare and Theresa goes I did not know he could roll all over the place?!?!? You had rolled over and over and ran into a piano. Sure enough from the time I brought you home you rolled over and over until you'd run into something. You did this all weekend long! You were having soo much fun! So cute! Guess we should think about baby proofing! EEK

Apple Orchard/Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday we took you to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch. We were so excited to bring you. We have been going every year since we were dating and we were always one of only ones there without kids. It was fun to have one with us this year. I carried you around in the baby bjorn and you just loved looking at everything. We tried to get some pictures of you with the pumpkins and you would not look up at at us..you were too busy picking and staring at the grass. haha

Random Photodump

Photo with your daycare friends--August 2013

Famous Baby

Our Photographer from your newborn pictures facebooked me that you would be featured in a magazine titled Chic. We of course had to buy a copy to save for you. You are just the cutest! I cant believe how little you were at just one week old for the photo shoot.

Here is a preview of one of the pages in the magazine:

3 Month Photos

I got our cd back with your 3 month pics so I will finally post some from our little photo shoot. You weren't your normal smiley self but we still managed to get some cute ones: