Josephine Louise – 39 Week Update

07/12/2016

I’m just a couple days away from my due date (July 15) and so far Baby JoJo is still hanging on. My last day of work was Wednesday and I’ve felt so much more patient and relaxed since my leave started. I think that feeling of trying to tie up loose ends everyday “just in case” and also that disappointment of “I guess I’ve got to go to work tomorrow after all…” was causing more stress than I realized. I’m using this potential week or two before she’s born to visit with friends who came in from out of town (check out #sistermomsonthefarm on Instagram if you’re curious!), hanging out with my sister and her kids who are coming to visit this week, and spending as much time as I can hanging out and playing with Ali and Zay: swimming, going to the park, walking at the mall (it’s too hot to walk outside!), swimming some more… And also making sure the nest is ready for our new little chickie to be welcomed home.

It seemed like my last update was some grumbling about things going wrong… particularly breaking my toe which led to waddling/limping and then some crazy back pain. I’m happy to report that my toe is 95% better. It’s still a little tender, especially if bumped, but I can walk pretty normally. I did 4-5 weeks of physical therapy for my back pain and I’m feeling significantly better than I was a few weeks ago. I’ve got a lot of stretches and exercises to work on, now and after the baby is born. Overall things are going really well. I’m very ready for labor to start and to meet our littlest lady face-to-face, but I’m also feeling patient most of the time. Isaiah was 5 days past his due date so I’m preparing myself for that possibility. Five days past Jo’s due date would fall on Ali’s 5th birthday, July 20. She goes back and forth between wishing for that and wanting to keep her birthday her own. She’s been hoping and praying for a baby sister for a long time so either way Josephine’s arrival will be a gift to Ali, as well as to the rest of us.

39 weeks:

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38 weeks:

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37 weeks:

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36 weeks:

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35 weeks:

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Here’s how Jason nests: He’s working his butt off with two careers (realtor and touring musician), and he then does gigantic landscaping projects (like building a retaining wall) as a way to decompress after a stressful day. Not to mention he’s also picking up a lot of my slack inside the house with cleaning and helping with the kids and groceries and things like that. He’s a rockstar! I am so thankful for him and all he does.

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Father’s Day 2016:

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This little guy takes after his daddy in a lot of ways! He’s currently a big fan of vacuuming and a sweet friend sent him a special one of his own in the mail.

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Ali is so excited about her baby sister! She hugs and kisses my belly several times a day and tells me how much she loves Josephine already.

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Practicing with a baby doll…

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Lots of hanging around together.

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Popcorn movie nights (when Mommy is too tired to do anything else!)

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Jason and I celebrated our 13th anniversary on June 14 by going to Josephine the restaurant for dinner. It was really lovely!

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Josephine Louise – 34 Week Update

06/06/2016

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It’s been 10 weeks since my last update on my pregnancy with little Josie Lou or Baby JoJo or whatever nickname I’m trying out at any given time. We’ve both grown a lot. I hope she’s not hurting the way I am. I was reading the other day about what happens to your abdominal muscles when you’re pregnant, which is pretty fascinating. But also that it takes time (duh) and certain exercises (oops…) to regain your core strength after having a baby. After Isaiah was born my lower back was still hurting for much longer than I expected and I certainly hadn’t regained my ab strength. Then I got pregnant again. No wonder 1. my baby bump popped out so quickly, 2. I look like I’m 4 weeks further ahead than my last pregnancy despite my fundal height measuring right on track, and 3. my lower back is very unhappy with me. Project regain core strength is set to begin 6-8 weeks after Jo is born. In the meantime, I’ve been waddling around trying to make the best of it and enjoy my pregnancy.

When barefoot and pregnant goes wrong…

Last week while I was bringing in the outdoor cushions in our courtyard before a storm—yes, barefoot and pregnant—when I accidentally stubbed my middle toe on my right foot really hard on the corner of the concrete step. Ouch! I’ve never had a stubbed toe hurt so bad. In fact, I’ve broken toes once or twice and it didn’t hurt that bad. Two days later my foot look like this and I still couldn’t walk on it.

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Time for an X-ray. The NP confirmed it is broken (the third bone in, the proximal phalanx) and set me up with buddy taping and a splint (lovingly known as “the boot” around here). She says it’ll be healed up in about 6 weeks…which comes out to a week before my due date. I went from waddling to hobbling. It’s been…ROUGH. I’m really trying hard to keep a positive attitude but some nights I just sit in the shower and cry from the pain and exhaustion. And the pregnancy hormones, obviously…

A little recap of my weekly #martinababybump updates on Instagram, weeks 8-32:

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Last week at 33 weeks:

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I’m now 34 weeks.

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I’ve been doing a lot of this lately…attempting to rest while also giving my kids supervision and opportunity to play. I had been going for walks every day but now swimming and hobbling are my only forms of exercise. The latter is surprisingly exhausting.

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My fingers have been swelling, especially out in the summer heat and humidity, so I’ve removed my rings from now until whenever I can get them back on. After Isaiah’s birth, I couldn’t get all my rings back on for at least 8 weeks.

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I’ve been nesting as much as I can manage. I took advantage of some sales and a coupon and got a big delivery of diapers the other day, two boxes for Zay and four for JoJo.

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With the $15 in gift cards I got with my order, I got a new changing pad cover from the Oh Joy for Target collection. I love the colors.

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An outtake of my weekly picture from 30 weeks. Ali wanted to be in it with me.

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Other than the aches and pains I’ve already grumbled about, my pregnancy is really going well. I have much to be thankful for: Every check up Josephine is measuring on track, strong heartbeat, moving around lots. My blood pressure and pulse are always fine. My blood tests and urine tests have been good. My weight gain is good for where I started (technically underweight). I’ve gained almost 30 lbs. so far. I’ve been having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions. The other night I had so many I was inspired to start getting some things together to pack my hospital bags. I’ll also need to pack bags for the kids to go to Grandma and Grandpa’s for a few nights so I don’t want to leave too much running around for the last minute, in case things go quickly. My labor with Isaiah was 24 hours so I’m praying for much faster this time. Also, how about 5 days early instead of 5 days late. Is that too much to ask?

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Isaiah Jason – 12 Months

04/29/2016

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Isaiah Jason,

I can hardly believe you are one year old already. This has been the fastest year of my life! It’s hard for me to put into words how you have changed me. You are not my first child, my first newborn or my first baby boy. But you are my first biological child, the first I carried in my womb and felt kicking and hiccuping for months, the first I pushed out into the world after 24 hard hours of labor, the first I’ve nourished with my milk. You look so much like your Daddy, especially your strawberry blond hair and your bright blue eyes. But I see glimpses of myself in your smile. Your first word was Mama at only 4 months old but you captured my whole heart long before that. You truly are a Mama’s boy and the way you look at me with adoration just melts me. But you also love your Daddy something fierce. You run at him when he gets home, diving into his legs and refusing to let go, you follow him around the house, studying his every move and you cry when he leaves. You have a sweet relationship with your big sister Ali. You watch her dramatic performances with smiles, giggles, clapping and mimicking. I have a feeling you’ll be one of her biggest cheerleaders for many, many years to come. If you wake up before her you go straight to her door and call for “Al-ah!” I pray that you two are always good friends. FYI, she is convinced she is going to marry you. In just a few months you will become a big brother to a baby sister. I know you don’t really understand what is coming but I pray everyday that you will have generous understanding and gentle love for your little sister when she arrives in July.

I know I’m biased but I am so impressed with you, Zay. Not only did you start talking early, you started moving early. You were sitting up at 5 months, pulling up to standing and crawling at 7 months and walking at 9 months old. Considering that I got pregnant with your baby sister when you were 5 months old, I am very appreciative. You have a kind and gentle soul. You love hugs and kisses. You are a busy little boy but you check back in frequently, grabbing and hugging our legs. You are quick and curious but you are also a very good listener. You love playing in the bath and tolerate me dumping water over your head. You are loving the swimming pool as much as I thought you would. Your favorite “toys” are empty water bottles and sticks, followed by actual toy cars, balls and blocks. You have a particular fondness for your Snuggle Bunny that you sleep with and recently have started carrying around the house. You are a good eater and seem to especially like meat. I have a feeling you’ll be eating more than your big sister before too long. You are tall and perfectly chubby, with big hands and feet. I recently started putting you into some size 5 Converse sneakers that I’m pretty sure your big sister wore when she was two. You still fit some 12m clothes, but mostly 18m now. You have six teeth. You have a full head of hair that I’ve trimmed twice around your ears.

I recently looked back through my journal from when I was pregnant with you and it was fun to see how much I could already tell about your personality from then. I prayed certain blessings over you just about everyday and you are just the way I had hoped you would be. You are a perfect addition to our family, a gift to us all, and I can’t imagine our lives without you. God knew exactly what He was doing when He blessed our family with you, Isaiah Jason. Happy 1st Birthday, son.

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Stats: Off the charts for height at 32.5″ and in the 85-90th percentile for weight at 24.3 lbs. Wearing size 5 shoes and 18m clothes. He’s almost exactly the size Alianna was on her SECOND birthday!

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Big sister really wanted to get a photo with her favorite brother:

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Ali made this sign to say Happy birthday from “Ali Mom Dad”:

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We celebrated Isaiah’s first birthday with a backyard cookout with the grandparents, and one aunt, uncle and cousin. It was a beautiful night. Zay loved the burgers, mac & cheese, fruit, and his first cupcake.

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Highlights from the past month:

First Easter egg hunt

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Easter 2016. I LOVE this picture!

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Knocked out between church and lunch.

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This boy loves sticks!

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He loves the courtyard (me too!) and finds his way here and climbs up on the bench to sit every time we’re outside.

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He loves his toothbrush and baths.

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Isaiah Jason – 11 Months

04/02/2016

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Isaiah Jason is now 11 months old. At the beginning of March we learned this little big boy is going to get a baby sister in July. We named her Josephine. Isaiah is walking steadily and quickly now. He’s a sweet, funny, snuggly little guy who loves to play and explore. He’s a big fan of swinging and finding sticks. Zay loves to feed himself finger foods and refuses almost anything on a spoon now (except my homemade broccoli cheddar soup – he loves that!) He’s showing signs that he’s ready to move to one nap but Mama isn’t quite ready. I’ll be starting a slow transition over the next month. He will also be starting a transition into a full size crib (from a mini crib) as his room is getting to converted into a double nursery that he’ll share with his baby sister later this year.

I can’t believe my baby boy will be ONE later this month!

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Here are some highlights (and one low point) of this past month:

The day they found out they’re getting a little sister.

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Dealing with a bout of strep throat. Boo!

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Walking everywhere now.

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He loves playing in the bathtub.

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Yay! Swinging!

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He’s getting FAST!

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Devouring some homemade cheese pizza and offering to share.

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I love his sweet personality and sense of humor.

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All this action is tiring for a little body.

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Josephine Louise – 24 Week Update

03/25/2016

I’m long overdue for a blog update on my second pregnancy. Back at my 20-week ultrasound we found out we’re expecting another little lady in July. She’s growing along perfectly, praise the Lord!

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We let big sister Ali be the first to find out the news by opening up a gift bag with new t-shirts for her and Isaiah and a little baby girl dress. She was/is so excited! She kept saying all along that she hoped and thought it was a girl. She happily exclaimed, “I win!” since the girls now outnumber the boys in our family.

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Shortly after finding out the news I started searching through my storage tubs of baby clothes to see what little girl things I kept from Ali. Not a lot. Plus she was a pretty big 2-month-old when she joined our family so I never really had any newborn girl clothes. But I did find these adorable shoes that were given to us by my sister-in-law but Ali’s feet were already too big at the time. I’ve been holding onto them for 4 years hoping someday I’d have another little girl who could wear them.

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I also got a big bag of hand-me-down clothes from my nieces. A few items here were originally Ali’s, then passed to two of my nieces and now they’re back for our youngest daughter to wear. Fun!

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A little recap of my weekly #martinababybump updates on Instagram:

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I’m now 24 weeks.

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We’ve decided on a name! Josephine Louise.

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I sent Jason a list of 6 names I liked, what they meant and why I liked him. This is the only one that he loved from my list. Joseph is my favorite character in the Bible (the old Testament one). It means “Jehovah increases” which is perfectly fitting for her and for this season in our family. It’s not just a physical reality as our family has quickly grown, it’s a promise for the future. Louise is my middle name and it means “renown in battle.” Josephine is a not-too-common, sophisticated, old-fashioned name with tons of cute nickname potential. Jo, JoJo, Josie, Joey, Josie Lou, JoJo Louise. We’ve been calling her Baby JoJo so far. I pulled out this pretty fabric that I bought back when I was expecting Isaiah, before I knew he was a he, and I’m excited to make something for Josephine out of it.

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Isaiah Jason – 10 Months

02/26/2016

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This was a big month for Isaiah! He started walking on February 16th at 9.5 months. I would be sad about how early he started if it weren’t for my 20w pregnant belly that’s getting bigger by the day. The less I have to carry him, the better… Ten days later I’d say he’s about 60/40 crawling/walking. I’m surprised how much he seems to enjoy walking and will stand up and start even though he can crawl faster. He’s steady and calculated with his steps. Zay has enjoyed a few warm playground play days and he loves the swings. He’s babbling and talking a lot. He definitely knows Dada, Mama, Ali/sister, BaBa (bottle), Bye-bye, Up, Ma (more), Duh duh (doggie), Na na (no, no), Ah da (all done), Yeah. If we say, “Are you sleepy, Zay-Zay?” he’ll lay his head down. So cute. It’s really fun to see him learning and growing and conquering new things everyday. He’s been going to sleep easily at bedtime and nap time again after a brief period where he would cry when I laid him down (separation anxiety I assume). Thankfully that’s going well now after I started implementing a few new techniques. We still wake him up for one last late night bottle before we go to sleep for the night. If we skip it (like I tried to do last night…) he’ll wake up hungry in the middle of the night. Zay is a sweet, delightful guy with an adorable toothy grin. Big sister Ali plays so well with him and they make each other laugh a lot. He adores everyone in his family and vice versa. This past week I set up a full size crib in his room in the very beginning stages of converting his room into a double nursery, making a space for his little sibling who will share his room. He’s 23″ pounds and tall. He’s wearing size 4/5 shoes depending on the brand. He has 6 teeth.

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Some photos from the past month:

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Isaiah Jason – 9 Months

02/06/2016

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This photo and update are a bit late (he was 9 months old on January 26) because we were in Florida. Isaiah is now crawling super fast and cruising along furniture. I thought maybe he’d take his first steps in Florida but he hasn’t yet. He’s back to sleeping great at night and taking two solid naps. Zay loved the beach sand and splashing around at the pool. He just cut his 5th tooth in the past week and the 6th should be out any day. He’s feeding himself finger foods now and finally getting the hang of chewing without gagging. His favorite things so far are mac & cheese, puffs and scrambled eggs. I’m looking forward to introducing him to a lot more table food in the coming months. Isaiah adores his big sister and vice versa. He’s babbling a lot of baba, mama, dada, alla (Ali), sssta (sister), bye-bye, wee-wee (?), pish (please…we’re trying to teach him “more please”). He claps, waves, gives high fives, blows motorboat and fart sounds with his mouth. He’s a fun kid and he makes us all laugh every day. He’s also the best snuggle-bunny.

At his check up today he weighed 21.7 lbs. and was just shy of 30″ tall. He’s a big healthy boy!

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Some highlights from the past month:

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Nutter Butter – 1st Trimester

01/08/2016

I haven’t blogged much about my second pregnancy (or anything else lately for that matter…) so I thought I’d do a recap of my first trimester as I’m now 13 weeks along. I found out I was pregnant with our little Nutter Butter baby on November 6. It was a Friday afternoon and Jason was out of town. I texted him a picture of a positive pregnancy test and he called me right away. Surprise! Later I went to the store and bought another 2-pack of tests. Just to be sure…

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My first ultrasound was at about 6.5 weeks. We could see the baby’s heart beating but he or she was a little too small to measure accurately so they had us come back 2 weeks later. Also, at this point the ultrasound tech saw “a flicker of something else” that our doctor said could be an identical twin. Or could be just an ultrasound blip. Because it was so small it was hard to tell for sure.

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After a really long 2 weeks while we tried not to think too much about the possibility of identical twins, we saw a healthy 8.5 week old singleton on the ultrasound. Phew! Twins would have been fun but…we are already looking at having two little ones pretty close in age.

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This is how I announced our new addition to social media:

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8 weeks. My belly popped out really quickly, probably because my abdominal muscles were still stretched out from having a baby in April.

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I was super tired early on in my pregnancy, which I think had a lot to do with breastfeeding and sleep regression from Isaiah as my milk supply waned, combined with normal early pregnancy tireness. I’m now completely done nursing Zay and he’s been sleeping much better the past several weeks as we transitioned him to formula. I had some nausea earlier on too, just in the evenings and when I was hungry. Now that all of that has passed, I’m feeling quite good. This pregnancy has seemed easier than the first one and I think there are several factors: I’m more distracted with my other two so I’m not thinking about my body and my baby quite as much, my body has done this before so it’s not all new (my journal from 13w last pregnancy was complaining about my belly skin stretching and feeling so tight…not at all this time!), and in general I just know what to expect so I’m not obsessed with learning new information or tempted to worry about every little symptom this time. Life is moving forward quickly and I’m thankful that all is going well. At my 12w OB check up this week they did a full work-up of tests and everything came back normal, thank God. I also got to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. In just a few more weeks (March 1 to be exact) we have the 20w anatomy ultrasound, which is when we’ll find out whether we’re expecting another girl or another boy. I’m so excited for that!


Isaiah Jason – 8 Months

12/30/2015

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It’s been a busy month! Zay is now crawling fluidly and quickly. He is pulling up to a stand and cruising along furniture. All of the standing has led to more falling and he’s frequently getting bumps and bruises on his head and face, poor guy. He’s sleeping much better now after a little regression that I think was due to my milk supply dropping. He’s now drinking mostly formula and eating a wide variety of baby foods. Not too many finger foods yet as he hasn’t quite figured out chewing and not gagging. But his first tooth on his top left has came all the way through. The one next to it is so close and the one below it has cut through. He had a short bout of roseola virus in his 7th month, including a 103+ fever for over 24-hours. Daddy and I took turns holding him all night long through the worst of it. He’s babbling lots of words. In addition to dada and mama, he’s saying things often that sound like Alla (Ali), sister, baba (mama? I’m hoping he learns to tell me he wants milk soon), I-got-it! (not positive on this one but he says it often and it seems in context!). If we say “No, No, Zay-Zay” he shakes his head no. He can clap and play peek-a-boo and has an awesome laugh when he’s tickled. His newest tricks are buzzing his lips like a motorboat and giving kisses. His new mobility is keeping us on our toes and leading to a lot more “No-no!” but he’s such a fun, sweet, easy-going guy. Typically 6-9 months is my favorite baby age but he’s rushing through my favorite stages and I can’t believe he’s already cruising. I’ve decided I won’t be mad at him if he starts walking early because my belly is getting bigger and it will be harder to carry him along with his younger sibling as the months go on. I guess he’s doing his part to get ready to be a big brother. Isaiah is wearing 12 month size clothes and is 20.5 lbs.

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Isaiah Jason – 7 Months

12/03/2015

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Isaiah turned 7 months old on Thanksgiving. With all the festivities I was a few days late taking his monthly pictures. In that short time he started crawling! He is also pulling up to a stand (more often than not that means face planting into things). He’s clapping, playing peek-a-boo with a piece of fabric over his face, going from crawling to sitting up, starting to wave, feeding himself puffs and devouring whatever baby food we put in front of him. He’s over 19 lbs now and tall. He’s wearing 12 month size clothing. Because he decided to get mobile right after we put up the Christmas tree he’s going to be spending more time that he would like in baby jail (AKA the pack n play) and his bouncer/gym. Zay is a very happy boy and gives the best snuggles, especially when he’s sleepy. Speaking of sleep, he’s regressed a bit and is waking up more often at night. I’m trying my best to figure it out and get him back to sleeping better because Mama is tired! He’s a such a sweet, easy-going guy and hardly complains about anything so I’m trying to be gracious about his middle of the night demands. He’s babbling a lot; occasionally Mama and hi but mostly Dada (or “DerDer”) all day everyday. It’s fun to see his relationship differences with each of us. He loves Jason and gets really excited to see him and knows he’s the fun guy. If anything is wrong, especially at night, no one other than Mama will do. He reached out his arms for me for the first time the other day and melted my heart a little more. And his big sister Ali, his “kissy sissy,” he loves to watch. He smiles and laughs at her antics. I’m sure he’ll be following her around soon. A few times lately she’s thrown a dramatic fit about something and he laughed and clapped his hands. Good show, good show!

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