What I Want to Remember (6 Months)

Holy cow, Tristan! You are 6 months old! Half a year old. I don't know how this is possible, but this is the reality I'm faced with. Fastest 6 months of my life. No joke.

You had your 6-month check-up and shots today. As you age, it gets harder and harder to watch you get shots. You just stared at me with your big blue eyes, wanting to be held, and after the first prick, you were just so upset. The second I picked you up, you calmed down, though. And, Sister was comforting you as well, telling you that the next time she gets a shot, she will be brave to show you how to not cry.

So, what have you been up to this month?

Well, you are talking. A lot. You screech so loud, all the time! You have an opinion about everything, and you especially love talking on your changing table. Oh, and after we feed you a bottle and burp you, you just lean on our shoulder and loudly tell us in our ear what's on your mind.

You are pretty good at sleeping. While teething (which you're going through right now), you are up three to four times a night. Nothing a binky can't fix, though. Typically, though, you wake up between 3:00 and 4:00 wanting a bottle. Then, you pretty easily go back to sleep. However, if you wake up around 5:00 for this feeding, it's tricky, because you are starting to wake up for the day, so getting you back to sleep takes more effort.

Then, like clock work, you take your morning nap exactly two hours after you wake up. On the dot. Your other naps throughout the day aren't as consistent. You get at least three naps in, and they vary in length and time. I'm just letting you tell me when you need to sleep. I can count on you to fall asleep in the car, though. Car rides are not nearly as painful as they once were.

You despise tummy time, which is likely why you are not rolling over very well yet. You've only managed to roll from your tummy to back a handful of times. The doctor wants to see you rolling over, though, since the back of your head is supposedly getting flat from laying on your back so much. I think you were born that way, but I'm not gonna argue because I do agree. You need to start rolling. Come on, baby boy!!!

Part of the reason why you're not too mobile yet is because you are quite the chunky monkey. You weigh 20 pounds, 14 ounces (75th to 90th percentile) and you are 28 inches long (90th percentile). You have Popeye arms and Arnold thighs. LOL! Daddy likes you call you a beast, and I think that suits you just fine. :)

You love your sister so much. You think she's the greatest thing in the world and everything she does is just so wonderful. You just watch her all the time. If she's in the room, your eyes are on her. And, more times than not, you have your silly little smile on your face. She makes you smile and laugh so much.

Daddy also makes you laugh so hard when he rubs his head on your tummy. Wow! Your laughter usually comes out in loud screeches. You also make funny coughing noises when you're excited. Those noises usually match the typical Tristan look that says, "I'm so happy!"

You love to bang toys now, and throw them! It seems like you may be left-handed like Daddy and Sister, because most toys end up on the left side of you. You throw with your left hand and bang with your left hand. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Your hair is coming in thicker now, and it looks to be staying blondish. Sometimes it looks golden blonde, sometimes more brown. Either way, it's much lighter than my hair. And your eyes! Oh, your eyes! They are blue and they are going to stay that way. Deep, royal, sky blue. I could stare into your eyes all day long. (And just between you and me, I do spend a lot of my day doing just that! Shhh!). :)

It's been a wonderful six months, Tristan Nathaniel. You make me smile so much. You truly are a happy, vocal, caring baby. You love to cuddle, you love to touch our faces when we talk to you, you're patient when we don't quickly meet your needs, you give Sister confidence because you are always encouraging her with your stares and smiles, and you have just filled this family with so much joy.

I can't wait to see what the second half of your first year of life holds...

What I Want to Remember (3 to 5 Months)

Because I never got around to posting "What I Want to Remember (3 to 4 Months)," I'm just going to combine his fourth and fifth months of life into one monster post. :)

I'll start this out with your 4-month stats. My, you are a growing boy! You weighed 18 pounds, exactly, and your length was 25-3/4 inches. You are growing so fast. According to Baby Center, you are in the 50th to 75th percentile in length, and the 75th to 90th percentile in weight. I beg to differ, though, because I think your weight should be off the charts. You are a solid boy, but I guess your weight is "normal."

Ella was 3 pounds lighter and 2 inches longer at the same age, so you definitely have a stockier, huskier build that Big Sister. Ella does have a lengthy physique, though. She's not necessarily tall, but she has long, slender arms and legs and a long, slender stomach. You have Popeye arms. No joke. Your forearms are huge!

You have found your voice. Wait, let me rephrase that. You have found your SCREAM! You love to screech. You have such a happy screech.

You have also found your laugh. It is the cutest, happiest sound in the world.

I feel like you are happier than most babies. Of course, I realize I'm biased, but honestly...you are smiling and laughing ALL THE TIME. Ella was never like this. Ella was a much more serious baby. In fact, I went through videos of her during this age, and I only have two videos of her laughing and one of her coo-ing. You, on the other hand, too many to count.

You love to talk, especially when laying on your changing table.

You wake up every morning between 6:00 and 7:00, and you just carry a lengthy conversation with yourself about who knows what. I just lay in bed and listen to you on the monitor, smiling to myself, thanking God for such a happy boy.

You are now eating cereal three times a day. At first, you hated it, but now you eat like a champ. We have you on a pretty good schedule. I feed you at the table when Sister eats her breakfast, and then early afternoon after you wake up from your nap, and then we feed you around 7:00 at night. You drink formula between those meals. I don't know what's "normal" for a baby to be eating at your age, but I just listen to you, and I think you know when food is going to come, so you don't freak out when you're getting hungry because you understand your schedule and know to wait it out.

The only time you fuss/cry is when you're tired, and that's an easy fix. When home, I just lay you in bed, tuck some covers around the lower half of your body, give you the binky and leave. When you're tired enough, you are able to self sooth yourself to sleep. I hardly rock you anymore. I just lay you down when it's time to sleep and you fall asleep.

I think much of this is due to the fact that you are no longer binky-handicapped. It wasn't until you were maybe four months old that you finally began to understand the art of sucking the binky, and ever since, car rides have become much better. I only let you have it when we're driving or when it's time to sleep. When we're just hanging out at home, I don't let you have it. I'd prefer for you not to get too attached to it.

You have two bottom teeth that sprouted around the same time.

You love to gnaw on your thumbs, but you don't really suck.

You LOVE LOVE LOVE to jump in your jumper. That is definitely the best money we've spent on you thus far (other than the thousands of dollars to bring you life!). During the morning, you literally stay in there for an hour straight. You work yourself to exhaustion and then you let me know you're ready for a morning nap.

You typically take three naps a day. Morning, early afternoon and evening. You like to take little cat naps here and there, too.

You love to kick, and still aren't the biggest fan of tummy time. You rolled over from your tummy to your back one time, but that was a fluke deal because you haven't again since. You are just kinda a blob. You don't roll and you don't move from where we put you. But, oh, put you in the jumper, and you go to town! And, you only jump on your right leg. Silly boy! :)

You are just such a joy. You are everything I dreamed of, and more! You and your sister complete me in a way that I cannot describe. God created me to be your guys' mom, and God created you guys to be my children. We're a perfect match! A match made in Heaven. :)

What I Want to Remember (2 to 3 months)

My dear, sweet boy...you are growing up so fast. For your three-month birthday, Daddy and I bought you a jumper. You have always loved standing and bouncing around on our laps, so we knew this would be the perfect fit. Needless the say, the second I sat you in there, you were nothing but smiles. (Then again, you're usually nothing but smiles).

And, you gave me a very special gift yourself. You slept for eight hours straight last night! 8:30 to 4:15. Your sleeping habits fluctuate so much. Some nights you only wake up once, some nights three times. And, there's nothing we do differently beforehand. It's only the first waking that you're hungry. All subsequent wakings you just need help falling back asleep. I wait to see if you can fall back asleep on your own, but usually it turns into a cry.

Your eyes are still blue. Some moments they look bluer than blue that they are almost purple. Other moments they look slate gray with only a touch of blue. My fingers are still crossed that they stay blue because I would love to have a blue-eyed boy.

Aside from your eyes, you have been showing off a cute little dimple on your left cheek! Both cheeks have a kind of dimple look to them when you smile, but you have a sure "dot," if you will, on your left cheek. Your smile is the cutest on the block and makes me melt every time.

Your personality is really beginning to shine. You are forming opinions in things that you like, don't like, etc. You love to be held so you can look around. You cannot stand when we cradle you, unless we're standing and bouncing while doing so.

Your screams are LOUD!!! I always thought Ella was going to be the louder child, but wow, when you get in the mood for some screaming, you put Ella to shame. Most screams are just your way of letting us know you want to be held. STAT!

You are really getting into a routine. You have a clear time mid-morning where you want to nap and then you have a clear time during the evening (and when we're lucky, it's during our dinner time) that you want to nap. You're ready to sleep by 8:00 and, lately, you've been getting very, very grumpy at night. That could be why you're sleeping better...you get yourself so worked up right before you hit the hay.

You're pretty much a cat napper, though, and you cat nap throughout the day, other than a couple longer naps.

Overall, you are still a very mellow baby. Sometimes you just lay on the ground and kick forever, without a care in the world. You love to be held, but you don't mind who holds you or how. You let your big sister carry you around all the time (under close supervision) and basically treat you like her little doll, and you just stare back at her and smile.

You let out your first laugh a couple weeks ago, and to no surprise, it was at your big sister. She was making you punch her face and you got the biggest kick out of it.

I just love listening to you talk. You love to talk when you're tired. You're all swaddled up and you just stare up at my face and talk to me. What about? I don't know, but I listen for attentively and talk right back at you. And, when you're really playful, you love to talk to us while drinking from your bottle. You start smiling and then give us a conversation of cute little coos. All with the nipple in your mouth and formula dripping from the corners of your mouth. These are some of my favorite moments with you.

As for how big you are, I have no idea! But, you are comfortably wearing 3 to 6-month clothes, and even some 6 month outfits. You mainly wear 3-month clothes, though, but they are getting tighter by the day (literally). You're going to grow up and look just like your daddy. You pretty much already do!

I've had a wonderful three months with you, and I'm falling more and more in love with you each and everyday. You're my little miracle and you have blessed me more than I deserve. I love you so much.

What I Want to Remember (1 to 2 Months)

Oh, Tristan. You are growing up way too fast. I knew that would happen, and it stinks! You're such a happy boy. It's hard for me to remember Ella at this age, but both Daddy and I cannot recall her being as happy as you are. (Don't tell her we said that!). You smile all the time, and you go days without crying. Well, unless we ignore your efforts in telling us what you want, that is, then you let it all out. But, if we see what you need and give you what you need, no tears are shed. You're really very mellow. I've said that from the beginning and you haven't proven otherwise...yet.

So, what I want to remember during this month is:

• Your smile! Your amazing little smile. You love to show it off all the time now and it melts my heart every time. When you smile, I smile! How can I not look down at that huge grin and not? You are just too cute.

• You have a screech noise that is really cute that usually means one thing...I'm tired. Either that, or I'm hungry, but usually it's, "Get me comfortable in your arms and let me fall asleep...NOW!" I'd like to think there's a "please" in there, but this noise is pretty demanding. :)

• Your hair is ever-so-slowly coming in. It's dark-ish. Not quite as dark as my hair, but not nearly as light as Daddy and Sister's hair. In the sunlight, it looks auburn, as do your eye lashes, but your eyebrows are clearly blonde. So, your guess is as good as mine as to what your "true" color will be when you get older. Same goes with your eyes. Some days they look more gray than blue, some days more blue than gray. I'm still holding out hope that you'll have blue-ish eyes like Daddy, but you'll be my handsome little guy no matter what!

• You are happiest in the morning and right before bed. I call it your "play" time. I put you on a blanket in the middle of the family room and you just go to town, pumping your legs and arms to and fro, cooing, smiling...it's my favorite time with you. You're just a happy clam. But, as if you're on a timer, you eventually get fussy and it's time to move onto your favorite activity...being held!

• Your grunts are extreme, and sometimes quite embarrassing. People who hear it think you're going potty, and I usually just go along with it, but really, I know you're just "talking."

• You are sleeping better though the night. The first stretch has been consistently 5 hours long. It feels so good to sleep that many hours straight, so keep up the good work little man. However, after that, you are unpredictable and rather difficult. You kinda go back to sleep after your first feeding, but within an hour, your grunts start. You're not grumpy, you're just waking up and moving around. So, I listen and doze off, then listen some more, and doze off. Once the grunts escalate to a point that I know you'll be crying soon, I get up. Sometimes you fall back asleep before you hit that point, so I play the waiting game. So, we do another feeding, at which time you hardly eat anything. Nothing worth waking up for, especially since your diaper is always fine. And this is when Mommy has to be very patient with you. You just don't want to go to sleep after this feeding. So, usually, I bring you into bed with me so I can get a little bit more sleep. However, lately, you don't even want to do that. You just want to be awake! Rise and shine at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. It may seem like a good idea to you, little man, but you'll see someday that it's really not. So, to not keep Daddy up, you and I go in the family room and I try to get you to lay on the couch with me, and when that doesn't happen, I put you in your swing and I lay next to you. This time of the morning is called "trial and error." Eventually you fall back asleep, but that's at the time Sister is about to wake up. You little turkey!

• You are really starting to look at faces, rather than aimlessly at walls. I love when you recognize my face and give me a big ol' smile. You also turn to our voices, even Sister's voice, and it makes me so happy to know you're becoming familiar with us.

• You are doing better in the car seat. You don't scream at the top of your lungs anymore, but you give this look like, "I really, really don't want to go in there." You usually fall asleep, though, and you have no recollection of where we went or how long we were out. Ah, the life of a baby. :)

• You are really starting to grab things now. You held onto your bottle, albeit with closed fists, but I'm sure you'll be holding it for good soon enough. You grab my hair all the time, and you have pulled some of Daddy's chest hair out. Owie! You're always holding onto our hands. If our hands are anywhere near yours, you find them and hold onto them for dear life. Even Sister complains that you squeeze too hard. That's my boy...strong from finger to toe! :)

• You wear solely 3-month clothing. Whenever Daddy accidentally puts newborn-sized clothing on, you are busting at the seams. Your cheeks look bigger than they already are! Speaking of which, you are finally getting rolls on your legs. The cute baby fat is inching its way onto your legs and arms. No more skinny frog legs. We're gonna have some thunder thighs on you in a bit! Nothing like a rolly baby! :)

That's all for now, son. I love you more than you will ever know. You have filled this family with so much happiness. We all had empty Tristan-sized spots in each of our hearts that you have abundantly filled. None of us can imagine life without you. You and your sister are our everything.

What I Want to Remember (0 to 1 Month)

I cannot believe that Tristan is one month old today! He is 1/12th of a year old! When I think of it that way, it makes me sad. I just know his first year is going to fly by. And, as a means to savor every moment with this little man, I plan on beginning a monthly blog series called "What I Want to Remember" where I will document the little things that I would otherwise forget.

What I want to remember about Tristan:

• His grunts. When he wakes up, it takes him a very long time to work up to a cry. He just grunts...and grunts...and grunts.

• His raptor noises. Do you remember the raptors from Jurassic Park? If so, picture that noise coming from a newborn baby boy. It is so funny! Aaron and I said, "He's raptoring it up." He mainly makes this noise when he's stretching.

• If he could be held 24/7, that would eliminate so much fussing and crying. He loves to be held. And, it doesn't matter who holds him, so if he's in the right mood, Ella can hold him while she watches a show and he would be totally content.

• The power of the boob. If he's fussy and clearly tired, nursing him puts him to sleep right away. And I mean, within seconds!

• I have to pump at night and then feed him pumped milk because he just falls asleep while nursing. It's an absolute pain, but this way, I know how much he's eating and he doesn't fall asleep while drinking from a bottle.

• His nighttime routine varies, but he typically goes to bed between 9:00 and 10:00, then wakes up between 12:00 and 1:00, stays up for an hour, then wakes up again between 4:00 and 5:00. This second feeding is the hardest because he is very awake and getting him back to sleep is near impossible. He's ready to start the day, but this mama is not! Actually, getting him back to sleep is not hard, it's laying him in his bassinet that is hard. The mili-second he feels his weight shifting to be placed in the bassinet, he starts grunting. Since this changing/feeding/rocking session is done around the time Aaron would usually be getting up for work (right now he's on Christmas break - he's a teacher), I just bring Tristan back into bed with me. He sleeps perfectly fine in my arms or right next to me. I just need that extra hour of sleep before Ella wakes up. And, then Ella climbs into bed with me when she wakes up, and although groggy, sleep-deprived and somewhat grumpy (I'm not a morning person until I get some coffee in me), these two blessings fill my heart with so much joy.

• He loves baths. He goes into them crying and comes out of them crying (if we don't get the towel around him fast enough), but while in the tub, he is perfectly content. I lay the warm washcloth on his tummy, and he's simply in Heaven.

• He has such a strong grip, and his arms are as big as his legs. I have a feeling he's going to have the athletic build that Daddy has.

• He's not a fan of the car seat, but loves car rides.

• I'm still not producing enough milk, so he's having to drink formula about 50% of the time. I either feed him or pump every 2-1/2 hours during the day, and then every time he wakes me up at night, but I still cannot make enough. This wasn't an issue with Ella, so I'm pretty bummed. Thankfully, Tristan can latch onto me and drink from a bottle without any nipple confusion.

• The most he's eaten during one sitting is 5 oz.

• Tristan does not like to be changed (clothes or diaper), but when he's not being changed, he loves his changing table. (Go figure!). In fact, one time, he fell asleep while waiting for me to change his diaper.

• And, last but not least, Tristan is binky handicapped. Ella was power sucking on her binky straight out of the womb. I have pictures of her at the hospital, perfectly content with that oversized binky in her mouth. Tristan, on the other hand, can't seem to suck it right. It goes in and then nearly all the way out, and then he quickly sucks it back in. It's actually really funny to watch. If we hold it in his mouth, the sucking soothes him and it helps him fall asleep, but if we don't hold him, it torpedoes out of his mouth. No joke! :)