Trey - 8 months!

Our big boy is 8 months today!  He is sweet, smart, and quick!  This month has brought a lot of "firsts" for Trey, and I'm loving this age.

Firsts:
Plane ride (to NC and SC)
Time at the beach
Taste of chocolate (accidentally)
Fourth of July

Weight:
Bobby weighed him 2 weeks ago and he was 21 lbs.  He is in 18 month clothes, although his 12 month pants still fit sometimes and he can still wear some 12 month clothes that haven't been put in the dryer.  Still in size 4 diapers.

Words:
Still just Mama and Daddy, although he's added the consonance "ruh" and "nah."  Mama usually means that he wants to be held or is hungry, but I'll take it :o)

He's getting better at clapping.  He's also getting more hair that is very blond and sticks straight up.  Love.

No separation anxiety this past month, which is nice because he loved being held by the grandparents on our vacation.

He likes anything he can put in his mouth!  Gia's doctor tools are a favorite thing to chew on.  At the beach we had to keep his pacifier in his mouth because he kept eating fist-fulls of sand!

At the end of this month he started loving loud noises when he watched my dad hammer together some supers for his bee hive.  Such a boy!

He most definitely loves his mama, but is also super excited to play with Daddy.  Gia can make him smile all the time except when he's tired or really hungry.

He's become a water-bug.  He LOVED the beach and the New River, and now he sits by himself in the bathtub and splashes around.  

He nurses 5-6 times a day, usually including a middle-of-the-night feeding (sigh), and he eats about 12 oz of real food (4 oz 3 times a day).

At the end of his 7th month, he started to show signs of crawling.  He will get on all fours and rock back and forth, and he's even gotten up on his toes like a bridge.  Gia crawled at 9 months, so it looks like he's on track with her, maybe a little ahead.

No teeth yet!  I'm actually glad about this.  The dentist says that the later they get teeth, the better, and until he gets teeth he can't bite me when nursing!

Father's Day 2014

Our kids have the best daddy in the world, in my bias opinion.  He just lights up when they come in the room, and they light up when he comes in the room!  He is fun, patient and thoughtful.  He tries to give both kids one-on-one attention on special occasions and when just playing in the living room.  He teaches them the Word of God and shows them what a Christian man should look like.  He's everything I always hoped and thought he would be as a dad.

Jim Bob Duggar has a great quote that we like to adopt into our family as well, and that is that our kids are our hobby.  Yes, we have other things that we do, like Ultimate Frisbee and blogging, but we like to do things with our kids.  When we go on dates, we're always thinking, "Gia and Trey would love to see this!"  The thing I admire the most about Bobby as a dad is just the fact that he enjoys his kids.  What he wants to do most in the world is just relax with us and play with his children.  He loves them the way my dad loves me.

And, they make an awfully cute group for a photo!

Trey - 7 months

My goodness, where did the 6th month go??  I think time is going by faster now.  This past month has been the most fun so far with Trey!  He's really showing his little personality and starting to talk to us and interact more with Gia.


At his 6 month appointment, these were Trey's stats:
Weight:  20 lbs (80%)
Height:  28.5 in. (92%)
Head:  94%

He's a big boy!  It's getting harder for me to carry him around for more than 10 minutes at a time.  He's in 12 month clothes, but his thighs are sometimes too tight for the outfits that button around the legs!  

His hair has really grown this past month.  Looks like it's going to be more blonde than Gia's, and his texture seems to be more like mine when I was a kid.  He has 2 cowlicks beside each other on the top/back part of his head that form a natural fohawk... so, I guess his future hairstyle is already planned!  He has slimmed down a little since becoming more active and using the jumper a lot, but he still has those chubby cheeks that I love!

Trey is definitely a different personality than Gia.  He gets very excited right after he eats, and he loves to be around his family.  Gia makes him laugh ALL the time, and he is a smiley baby at home.  When he's around large crowds, however, he mostly studies the people around him rather than interacting with immediate smiles.  Although some people think he is always serious or unhappy, this is not the case.  He's just not as initially bubbly with people outside the family.  I'm okay with this, because it makes me feel special :o)

He now rolls from belly to back, back to belly, etc... and he is starting to scoot a little.  He amazes us with his ability to see something he wants, aim right at it and grab it in a second!  Gia was never this way, so it's a whole new ballgame of keeping things out of his reach.  I'm going to have to baby-proof my house a little better than we did the first time around!  

He sat up before 5 months, but I would say that he has mastered that skill now.  He can catch himself when he's falling and push himself back up, and he can go from a sitting position to his tummy when he wants to get around.

This boy loves. his. food!  He is up to 2-3 meals a day, usually polishing off 3-4 ounces per serving!  He is still nursing 6 times a day, with the occasional supplement of a bottle.

Today, as I'm writing this a couple days late, on Father's Day, Trey said his first word: Daddy.  Of course.  I'm with him 24/7, but "daddy" gets said first!  It was okay, though, because it was a really cool Father's Day present for Bobby.

Trey will take his first airplane ride this month, so we'll see how he does with it!  He usually only takes the pacifier at nap time, but we'll probably be using it on the plane.

Trey sleeps from about 10:30pm to 7am.  This varies, depending on the day and the feedings, and sometimes he gets up at 5:30 for a feeding, sometimes he's up at 6:30 for good, and sometimes he goes back to bed after the 6-7am feeding and sleeps until around 10am.  We're not a very scheduled family, so he seems to pick up on that and likes to mix things up for us.  And it never fails that on a Saturday night before church on Sunday, Trey gets up in the middle of the night for a feeding.  Little stinker.

I can't even say enough about how sweet Trey is and how much I love his personality.  He snuggles, but is very active.  He's curious but rarely gets upset when we have to take things from him.  This Italian mama loves that he likes to eat.  He absolutely adores his big sister, and they get along really well,  He even tries to hug her back when she hugs him.

Oh yeah, and he gives kisses when asked!  We'll ask for a kiss, and he'll open his mouth, grab our faces and plant one on our cheeks.  Best. Thing. Ever.

We are continually falling in love with you, little boy, and we can't wait to see how your personality develops over the next couple months!  I would just ask that you would wait a little bit before walking so that I can prepare myself...

Daddy-daughter dates

Every Friday for the past year and a half Bobby has taken Gia out for a Daddy-daughter date.  It has been a precious time for both of them and a sacred time that Bobby sets aside out of our crazy schedule.  Gia is a routine child (she gets that from me), so she likes to go to the same coffee shop every week to get her hot chocolate, cup of whipped cream, and a doughnut, and they play and talk about whatever interests her.

Tonight Bobby took her on a special date to Chick-Fil-A.  They do a daddy-daughter thing every once in a while where the girls and their dads dress up, eat together, and take a horse-drawn carriage ride.  Bobby signed them up to do this tonight, and I took the opportunity to get a mini photo session with them.

They had a great time and took some pictures of their date:


The carriages were driven by two brown horses, Gia told me :o)

Each girl got a rose and a little Chick-fil-a cow.  Gia got a strawberry milkshake because she had just eaten lunch not too long before.  They also had a photo booth set up for the dads/daughters, and Gia & Bobby took some fun photos in there.

Gia turned 3!

Wow, my little girl is 3 years old!  Bobby keeps teasing me by telling me that she is no longer a toddler, she's a "little girl."  I refuse to believe it.

This year has been full of changes for our family: planting a church, Trey's birth, my surgery, planting a church... yep, I said it twice.  And amidst all of these life changes, Gia has faced each one with grace and joy.  She loves our church and has adjusted so well to our crazy schedule.  When Trey was born, there was no sign of jealousy.  She loves him and kisses him and makes him laugh everyday.  She's the perfect big sister for Trey. 

Gia's language took off around Christmas, and now she speaks clearly (mostly) and has so much to say!  She loves to describe the things she loves and hates, and she is up for pretty much any kind of game or activity.  We go through fazes of stubbornness or disobedience, but we work with her through these times and she comes out of them.  She's learning obedience and self-control daily, and although she does have the stubborn streak, she is also very eager to please us and show love.

Gia can count to 29 (with some help with the teen numbers), identify many numbers, and count backwards from 11.  She can spell some words, knows many of her letter sounds, and can write her name... although you can tell a toddler wrote it, she can do each letter.  We try to expose her to different words and books and activities that will help her vocabulary and knowledge of the world grow so that she will excel as she learns later in life.

Gia has her appointment at the doctor on Monday, but I'm guessing that she weighs around 28 lbs.  She needs 3T pants for the length, but still barely fits into 2T around the waist.  Thank goodness stores have started to include those built-in belts!  She wears size 7 shoe.

Her hair has grown SO much!  I am having so much fun doing different things with it, and making bows to match every outfit.  I think we're going to get a trim to shape it up, and then let it grow.  I love how it softly curls halfway down, and I don't want to cut it off.

So, right now she's learning how to use kind words when feeling frustrated with having to share, and we are balancing trying to teach her to stand up for herself while having kindness and putting others first.  It's a fine line!

Frozen, Veggie Tales and Doc Mcstuffins are her favorite shows.  She also still likes Daniel Tiger, but we don't watch it as much anymore.  Spaghetti and meatballs are her favorite, along with ice cream.  She also loves humus!  And that girl still has 3 sippys of milk a day!  She loves "Wagon Wheel" and Elmo Radio, and "Jesus Loves Me."  And dancing is her absolute favorite thing.  I think we might put her into dance lessons in the Fall.

Her bedtime routine:  Jammies, brush teeth (she takes a turn, then we brush them), read 2 stories in our bed, pray (she prays, then we pray for her & Trey), shadows (which started out as shadow puppets on her bedroom wall but has now turned into Bible story time), then, if she has done all of this without fussing, she gets to put a sticker on her chart and try to earn a treat.  I never thought I'd do positive reinforcement this way, but for this particular thing, it works and I like it.  Then we put her in bed and say, "Nana loves you, Papa loves you..." and we include Grandmama & Granddaddy, Uncle Josh & Aunt Kelly, Brother Trey, Nola, Mama, Daddy, and Jesus.  Then, when Bobby tucks her in, he says, "Night night Gia.  Don't let the bedbugs bite!"

She's still scared of dogs.  Loud noises scare her, too.

Nana taught her, "When you're finished with something, what do you do?"  "You put it away!"

The scariest moment we have experienced with her this past year was thinking that we had lost her a block party our church put on.  I thought Grandmama had her, and she thought Granddaddy had her, and he thought one of the volunteers had her, but in fact she had walked completely across the park to the playground.  This was completely out of character for her to do, and there were some people around who didn't make me feel completely comfortable in the area, and we completely panicked.  My world stopped.  It was the worst 30 seconds of my life.  She was safe, and Bobby went to get her, but it made this "safe" mama even more protective!

There are SO many stories I could tell about our sweet Gia.  But some important things are that we have been teaching her more and more about God and the Bible, and we have been learning her love language and focusing on spending special time with her to build our relationship.  She feels deeply loved by her family and friends, and although she's got a little bit of drama, she is a happy girl who loves people.  We hope this year to grow her mind and her character to develop her into a creative, caring, academically curious, sacrificial, kind girl who will seek to encourage others, be content in her circumstances, and learn how to look out for the underdog.  Above all, we pray that she will love Jesus and live her life for God's glory. 

We love you, Gianna Grace!  You are an absolute joy and blessing in our lives as well as many others.  We are so proud to be your parents!  Happy birthday!

Trey - 6 months!

Oh, my sweet little boy is half a year old!  I can't believe how fast this past month has gone!

Size:

We haven't gone to the doctor yet, but his weight on the home scale was about 9 lbs 5 oz.  He's still chunky, but I guess he's slowed down in his weight-gain.  I'm a little sad about this, although I know it needs to happen so that he isn't 30 lbs by the time he's one!  But, he still has those cute rolls and cheeks!  Trey is wearing 9-12 month clothes (9 month pants, 12 month tops).    Cuh-RAY-Zee!

Personality:

Oh my goodness, he is everything I thought a sweet baby boy would be.  He loves to snuggle and be tickled.  He only fusses when he's tired, hungry, or needs a diaper change.  Trey laughs the most when being thrown in the air, when Gia dances in front of him, or when Nola walks by.  He LOVES his sister and his dog!  And he gets super excited when Daddy talks or walks in the room.  However, I like to think that above all else, he's a Mama's boy :o)

New things from the past month:

Trey began sitting up at the end of 4 months, but this month he has been doing it all the time.  I still put a pillow behind him because he tends to get excited, rock back and forth and then tip over.  His new toy is his jumper, which is an awesome way to work his legs, entertain him and give Mama's arms a break.  His favorite toy is a puppy that my friend Donnell gave him.  

He puts everything in his mouth!  No teething as of yet, but that seems to be a theme for my kids... they get their teeth late, which the dentist told me is actually a good thing.  And he doesn't bite me, so the later the better!

Eating:

Still usually nursing 6 times a day.  Mostly my milk, occasionally a few extra ounces.  I got lazy with my water this past month and he was drinking like 3-4 supplemented bottles a day, but I got back into drinking water, and now we're good.

Trey started eating solid foods this past month.  He has tried apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, green beans, mangos and bananas.  His favorite is probably apples and bananas.  He doesn't care much for peas, but this boy doesn't really turn down any kind of food.  He eyes our food when we eat, moves his mouth in the eating motion and follows our forks with his eyes!  It's too funny!

Sleep:

You're killin' me, Smalls.  His sleep is very random: sometimes a long nap and short one, sometimes 2 short ones, sometimes just one long one.  At night, he will sleep 9 hours for a couple nights, then get up at 5am for a week straight.  Last night he went down at 11:30pm, got up to eat at 4am, and then again at 7:45am.  So, I just never know and I have to grab sleep where I can get it!

Relationship with Gia:

So. Sweet.  There is much love going around our house these days.  Gia loves to give Trey hugs and kisses, and she has realized that Trey lights up and giggles when she talks to him, so she loves to entertain him.  She helps me change his diaper, feed him and bathe him.  He gets incredibly excited when she is around, and he talks to her a lot.  When Gia has her hair done or puts on a new outfit, or does something new, she says, "I'm gonna go show Trey!"  Which isn't to say that she doesn't sometimes snatch toys from him, but overall, they love each other.

 In this picture, Trey was falling over on Gia, and she kept saying, "Trey, don't fall on me, Bud!  Ah, Trey, you're falling on me!"

Other random facts:

We are working on getting Trey's skin under control.  It looks better, but still flares up.  He also scratches his face quite a bit, no matter how short I cut and file his nails.  Trey loves other kids, and doesn't mind being held at all by strangers, although after a while he wants to come back to Mama.  And if he's tired, he wants Mama.  And he usually wants Mama to feed him milk, especially right before bed.  Just in the past week or so, he has started to have a "fake" cry  that means, "pick me up" or "pay attention to me."

Trey, we love you so much!  You are a cutie and a great baby!

 His "model" pose :o)

Nana is here visiting us, and Trey loves her!  He's almost as big as she is!

Jesus is God

Last night, Gia found a cross necklace that I had hung around the door handle.  She asked to wear it, and has been wearing it ever since.  I told her that the cross represents Jesus.  This morning when Bobby went to get her, she asked if she could put on the necklace.  Then she said, "Daddy, is this necklace for me or for God?"  Bobby explained that that the necklace was Gia's, but the cross was about God/Jesus.

It was amazing to me that she asked if the necklace was for "God" because I know that I told her it represented "Jesus."  In her almost-3 year old mind, she has realized that they are one-in-the-same.  She associates them together and interchanged God & Jesus.  I am just amazed at all that she hears and understands, and how she is starting to verbalize it.  It makes me very excited for future theological conversations!