Missing him

Lately I've been missing Greg A LOT!!

The closer it gets to him coming home it seems the more I miss him!

So in honor of how much we miss him, Mayson Pearl and I decided to do a little mini photo shoot for daddy.

I'm no photographer.

But thankfully the model was pretty stinking adorable!

So some of the shots turned out really cute!

Plus I discovered that if you give her a prop that she can either chew on or make noise with she's content to sit and let you take as many pictures as you want!

You better come home soon Gregory! Mayson's spare change jar is growing and I might not be able to stop her from heading out on her own to see you :)

 

Seven months

Sweet Mayson Pearl,

Is it even possible that you are SEVEN months old already?!

No doctor visit this month so I don't know your exact stats but the bathroom scale claims you weigh 16 lbs!

You are wearing size 3-6 months in clothes,

And you are still rocking a size two diaper.

Plus apparently you have really petite feet because size two shoes are still a bit big on you.

You drink 4-6 oz bottles every three hours or so,

And are up to two meals a day -

Fruit in the morning, a veggie in the evening.

When you are not busy blowing raspberries with a full mouth of food you are quite the little eater!

As for sleep, nap times are still short and hard to come by but you put yourself to sleep by 8:30 most nights and sleep until at least 4 or 5 in the morning before you need another bottle - after which you  promptly go back to sleep until 7 or 8. ( your momma is quite thankful for that!)

Now that you are officially 7 months old, we can look back and see all that you accomplished during your sixth month of life..

You can now sit up completely unassisted.

You love, love, love to stand and can hold yourself up for a little while without anyone's help. ( you still need help getting there though as you are not pulling up by yourself yet.

You are quite the champion teether with no real noticable fussing at all. 

You can now flash that dimpled grin to everyone and show off your TWO teeth!

You graduated to the big bathtub, with a little ducky assistance that is.

You celebrated your first Easter.

 Went on your first egg hunt.

Started learning to use a sippy cup.

Helped mommy pick out a house for us to live in when we move back to Florida.

Played on the beach.

And "swam" in your little whale pool for the first time!

 

This path month you loved...

bathtime

shadows

finding tags on all of your toys

paper

the tv remote - we bought you a toy one but you are still determined to play with the real one

any songs with hand motions (ie- Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, patty-cake, etc.)

pulling hair!

blowing raspberries

scooting and rolling all around the living room

petting the cats

your jumperoo

and

standing up 

You've hated...

naptime

getting sleepy

long drives where you are stuck in your carseat

and 

not getting your way!!!

You are now three times the size you were on the day you came into this world. Honestly that seems almost unbelievable to me!!! I'm sure it will be even more unbelievable for your daddy considering the last time he held you in his arm you were only an eight pound peanut!! Only one more month of stats to post until he gets to come home to you... his now little but BIG girl!

Half a year!!!

Mayson Pearl,

(Even as I type this) I cannot believe you are SIX months old!

My, oh my, how time flies.

You are now 14 lbs and 7 oz and 25 3/4 inches long.

You still wear a size two diaper

You've outgrown almost all of your three month clothes and are wearing almost exclusively 3-6 months now.

Plus you are finally sleeping through the night!!!!!!

You go to sleep by yourself in your crib around 8:30 and sleep until at least 5:30 which makes me one happy momma.

 I'm so proud of how determined you are to learn new things. 

Technically you should only be 4 and 1/2 months old but you don't let that stop you.

You are rolling over (and over and over again)!

Grabbing and picking up toys and passing them from hand to hand.

You are almost sitting up all by yourself  (in all truth you can sit by yourself but you only last for 30 seconds or less-  you always reach for something and go tumbling over!)  

You're quite the "talker" and string various sounds together so it really sounds like you are saying something 

You are wanting to get a hold of anything and everything in your reach and we can't trick you by hiding it out of your sight anymore- you've caught on to that game! 

So what were some of the first that you experienced last month?

First trip to Philadelphia and your first airplane ride.

First time at the park.

First time riding in the stroller like a BIG girl.

(you weren't so sure about it!)

 

First time fingerpainting.

You HATED it!    

 

 And you finally got to eat in an actual highchair.

I started out feeding you in your bumbo which didn't go well because you hate your bumbo. So I ordered you a highchair, which happened to take over two weeks to get here - so in the meantime you ate dinner every day in your carseat, poor baby!

 

Things that you loved last month:

grabbing and eating your feet

shaking your rattles

untying things

chewing on everything

reading your book that daddy recorded for you

holding my hands and standing

knocking your blocks over

practicing sitting like a BIG girl

rolling, rolling and rolling over again

trying to help mommy by feeding yourself

singing silly songs with grandma

playing with the mircowave (blame grandpa for this one!)

and

getting high fives

Things that you hated:

boarding airplanes

getting dressed

naptime

sweet peas

getting in your carseat (as soon as we're moving you're good)

having your nose suctioned or wiped

You are tons of personality packed into one tiny little package.

These past six months with you have been -

 90% wonder and amazement

10% overwhelmed confusion

But I'd gladly do it all over again in a second.

I'm looking forward to spending the second half of your first year with you

(and of course the many more years to come!)

You make my days...

brighter, 

messier,

louder,

funnier,

cuddlier,

and 

filled with more love than I could have ever imagined.

  

What's for dinner?

It's been about a month or so since we started baby food and Mayson is eating like a champ!

Wish I could say I was the super cool and hip mom who makes her own baby food-
but alas I am just not that chick!
 (And if you've had my cooking you'd understand why I don't want to subject Maysie to it quite yet!)

So far we've tried all of the Gerber brand stage one foods.
The only one she refuses to eat is green peas!!
She does fairly okay with green beans, peaches, bananas, pears and prunes.
She really likes sweet potatoes and carrots;
And she loves apples!

Now if only I could get her to lay off of the raw octupus we'd be good to go!

 

first trip to Philly

The weekend after our trip to Morehead city Mayson and I flew up to Philidelphia for a short visit.

So how was flying alone with a five month old?!?

 

We survived, lol!!

Mayson screamed her way through security.

(But in her defense who doesn't feel like screaming through security sometimes with the long lines, endless rules and possible frisking!)

Luckily she calmed down afterwards and was a perfect angel...

until we boarded the plane.

As soon as we stepped on board she started to scream!! And I mean the red faced, tears streaming down, high pitched wail of one very pissed off and angry baby.

If it hadn't been for the saint of a woman sitting next to me, the very understanding pasengers and the flight attendant's kind words I probably would have been crying myself.

As soon as the plane started moving though, she was a different child. (Thank you Jesus, lol!!)

The air pressure changes didn't seem to bother her and she played and eventually took a short nap... until we landed and stopped moving...

wherein she immediatly started screaming again!!! 

(The flight back was exactly the same - except insert really long lines and a grouchy old man who set across the aisle from us who immediatly upon boarding proclaimed "Oh joy! I have to sit next to that!" Lucky for him, and us, there were plenty of extra seats so he could move)

 

Our time in Philly was bittersweet.

I was glad that Mayson got the chance to meet lots of  her "Yankee" family but at the same time I was sad that her daddy couldn't be there with us. But other than missing daddy we had a fun trip!

 Which of course I didn't take a single picture of :(

 So a few stolen ones that Mimi took of Mayson and her cousin Hunter will have to do.

 

 

  

 

Morehead City

On February 23rd my brother ran in the Crystal Coast Half Marathon in Morehead City so we went as a family and made a vacation of it!

Surprisingly, the 5 plus hour ride down to the coast wasn't too bad. Squeezing four adults, one four month old baby and all of our luggage in one car was a little tricky, but other than a few tears and some really cramped up and achy knees we all survived unscathed!

When we finally made it to our hotel we were all a little excited to be free of the car, especially Mayson Pearl since it was her first hotel stay ever.

Even though it rained most of the time while we were there we had a good trip. 

Mayson enjoyed playing in the BIG hotel bed.

Grandpa ran in the 5K and Uncle Joshua ran the half marathon and finished 3rd!!!

Plus we checked out the local aquarium and Mayson LOVED looking at everything!

Five months

Sweet Mayson Pearl,

(Mommy's really slacking on this one!) because two weeks ago you turned five months old!!!

A few days before you were five months you went to the doctor and you weighed 13 lbs 6 oz

and were 24 1/2 inches long.

You're wearing a size two diaper.

And are finally fitting into some of your 3-6 month clothes; though quite a few of your 3 month sized outfits still fit.

You started out the month sleeping 6 hours straight at night, waking up once to eat and then going back to sleep...

But you must be going through a growth spurt because recently you went back to wanting to eat every 3 hours or so around the clock :(

You officially started "big girl" food!

We tried cereal which you hated;

So we switched to vegi's which you seem to like better.

Along with trying food for the first time you had many other "first" last month.

Your first time in your jumperoo.

Your first Valentine's Day.

Your first hotel stay.

Your first fever probably due to teething - only 100.3.

Your first non-well visit to the doctor - it turns out you have a blocked tear duct in your right eye.

And

Your first time trying to sit up. (So far you only last 30 seconds or less supported with your hands which is fine by me because you are trying to grow up to fast!)

 So what have you really liked this month?
"howling" with grandpa
spinning the frog and moving the beads on your jumperoo
standing up (with our help of course!)
jumping in your jumperoo
grabbing, picking up and chewing on your toys
Karen Katz books
snuggling with Miss Delicious
being naked
bath time
singing silly songs with grandma
and
giggling at daddy's creepy mustache on skype

What don't you like?
hats, bows, hoods - anything on your head
your bumbo
naptime
swing (mommy finally just packed it away)
and
sitting still for too long

You are growing and changing way too fast!!!
It's almost impossible for this momma to believe that when I write your next monthly post you'll be 1/2 a year old!!