Dear Lox,

Oh my sweet boy, you are SEVEN months old (yesterday) so naturally I’m just now posting you SIX months update!

We knew we wanted you but we had no idea how much we needed you. WE are just soaking you up and are SO glad you are here and that we get to be your mommy, daddy and Sissy!

Your daddy has used the word “cherish” more in the last 6 months than I think I  have ever heard it used in my entire life. He was MUCH more anxious and cautious with every little thing with Lola (and still is) but he says with you he just realizes how quick the baby stage flies bye and I always see him squeezing you a little tighter and rocking you a little longer…. 

Here is some of what you are into now:

You are officially sitting up on your own now! I swear putting on some weight helped! That skinny little bottom didn’t stand a chance!

You close your eyes when you smile, like really smile and when  you get excited you get so wiggly you seem to almost surprise yourself and kind of jump around sporadically!

You also wipe nd rub your eyes when your waking up and stay in the same position as your sleeping in sometimes when I pick you up to hold you after nap which gives mommy all the heart emoji’s!

If you don’t stay in the same position you have the cutest stretch after a nap! I know that sounds ridiculous but it’s SO true! You poke your belly out and point your toes while making the biggest smile!

You have THE BEST fat kid chuckle… it seriously makes me Lol.. not just like “lol” like “LLOL” !

However, your daddy and Sissy get the best laughs out of you and you gave daddy the BIGGEST smile today when he got home!

You have started to notice anytime your left alone or we are out of sight and you DO NOT like it.

You  LOVE one on one conversations and have THE cutest voice… the “term” you babble most often is “bbbbbbah bbbbah bbbbbbah” I need to post a video of it to remember bc it appears attempting to spell it out does not give it justice!

I always say as soon as you make/find a new noise that’s all we’re going to hear for the next 30 minutes because you get so proud of yourself you just do it over and over and over again!

You also have a shrieking scream that we love to call your pterodactyl call- its the cutest thing!

One of my FAVORITE things I have noticed in the last month or so is you and sissy in the back of the car gigging and squealing! I’m seeing you two interact in your on little way (I admit I think it’s partially because I’m forced to not interfere as I’m the one driving) and it just really shows me what a gift you have been to our little family and for Sissy to have a brother!

At night time you have for the most part stopped nursing at night. You have zero patience and just want your bottle by that point! You can take up to 8 ounces at bedtime now!

Even during the day you are SO distracted, especially when Sissy is around you just want to do what she is doing! I think that’s partly why you haven’t gained enough weight lately- you just have very little interest in eating unless it’s a bottle or baby food! So since our last appointment (when we dropped to the 5th percentile we have been giving you a bottle after EVERY nursing feed and as of today you are moving back up… Hallelujah!

Your only in the 10th percentile and we would like to get back up to 25th but you gained 18 ounces in 3 weeks and prior to that you had only gained 12 ounces in 2 months!

Here you are at your “first” 6 month check up: 14.6 lbs

Here you are at your “second” six month weight check: 15.8 lbs

Oh and speaking of which, you hold your own bottle which you just think is THE coolest thing! You sure have been getting a lot of practice with it lately!

You LOVE being outside and even if you miss your naps you don’t seem to mind- it calms you just like it used to do for sissy!

You are recognizing one sign for now- “Eat eat”! Oh yes, you stop and then start getting so excited! The excitement last a few short seconds until you are OVER ready and want something in your mouth!

Your naps are touch and go… I’m still working on trying to keep them over 45 minutes. You love getting in your bed but with dropping sissy off and picking her up (both fall RIGHT at your TWO nap times) so they are usually about 45 minute snoozes!

A lot changed between 6 months and 4 months so since I’m not as FREQUENT with these updates as I was with Lola here’s a glimpse at our favorite things (and not so favorite things) with you at 4 months!

 

I will say four months is hard to “paraphrase”… Some days I thought you were completely over the reflux and other days it was worse than it had ever been!

I literally remember sitting in the car just dreading feeding you because I knew it would start the cycle of crying and spitting up… it was so awful, so frustrating, so messy and oh so sad!

On a positive, you got to start eating real food and experimenting with a sippy cup! You loved real food and literally knew what to do after your first or second try!

You also got to practice sitting up more which you LOVED in sissy’s old exerciser… bless your heart through… it was pink and purple!

You started to really be able to be entertained by different things with noises, different textures and colors!

We also found the cure tot hat whole screaming in the car thing you decided to do one day around 3 months old…. we moved your seat next to sissy and BAM!

No more tears!

Your smile is too big for your face- and we can’t stand it!

You also started looking away when you smile!

You have dropped your swaddle for bedtime (around 4 months I think)  but mommy still wraps your bottom half up for nap time! I was making it a HUGE deal in my head and prepared myself (and daddy) for this whole fiasco of how it was going to go down…. you didn’t care… you just fell asleep!

Your so tired by the end of the day you really don’t need much rocking or anything really, bless your heart your just ready to snuggle or be put straight to bed!

You have found your hands and oh do you love your little hands! You love putting them in your little mouth too! We always joked that you were praying for us because you love holding them together and it just matches your personality (at this stage at least)!

When you were fussy at 4 months  you LOVED being in the bjorn with mommy or daddy as long as you were facing outward!! You had a harder time sleeping out places but I got a couple extra naps out of you with lovie, pacie and the bjorn while out and about!

Here you are at your 4 month check up! Such a big boy or so we like to think! You were 25% for weight and height and head! You ended up going right back 3 days later for a nasty couch sissy got from school and passed down to you!

We just adore you sweet Lox! We could eat you up and slow down each day just to get some extra cuddles with you! You LOVE watching sissy play and she is responsible for about 90% of your entertainment…. She agreed with me today that she is your best friend!

I have to say my favorite moment thus far has been hearing the giggles coming from my back seat when I’m “forced” to leave you two alone and it just happens…. It’s like your both learning and figuring each other out and having the best little conversation without saying anything at all.

Happy six months Lox, technically seven but who’s counting! We are all just soaking you up!

Love always,

Mama and Daddy

Uncle B is Home and Trick or Treat!

Oh yes, you read that right! Uncle B made it back just in time to go Trick or Treating with Lola!

He brought Lola and Lox the CUTEST presents from Ukraine (his last stop) and Lola is obsessed with her little “family”!

Would it be too much to say he wins the award for “who flew the furthest to trick or treat with my kid” lol

Ok what about “who flew the furthest to meet Lox” lol either was we were SUPER happy he is HOME (for now)! Just in time for all of Lola’s favorite holidays!!

We didn’t actually factor in that whole jet lag thing…. sorry Uncle B, one mode around here.

Go!

Double the excitement this year since sissy got to announce “her” baby in her belly last year and this year she has “her” baby to dress up!

Happy FIRST Halloween Lox!

Sissy went to school that morning as a witch!

She was SO excited!

Sweet baby Lox ran errands with me and Gigi and Uncle B to find daddy knight attire since that’s what sissy wanted him to be!

How flipping cute is my little mummy man!

Lola must have asked me a million times that day if it was time to trick or treat yet! She was dressed and ready to go (make up and all- done by her of course)! Gigi even got her one of those bun scrunchies to make her hair a fancy bun like cinderella!

We ended up picking Lox’s outfit based off comfort lol He was so snug and cozy as a little shark and loved having a bottle on the go in his stroller hanging with the big kids!

Lola was so over mommy taking pictures- she was ready to go!

Her and Jadyn had SO much fun! They would run to each house and knock on the door while ringing the doorbell 5+ times while screaming trick or treat… and Jadyn would scream MORE while handing them her basket!

I carried a basket too (for my phone) and Lola soon started handing them my basket after handing them hers so “mommy could get candy too” her bag was SO heavy by the end of the night I had to carry it!

The best part was Uncle B and Mr. Henry found a dead snake in the road at the end of the night! Sissy was in heaven!

School has taught Lola all about months, seasons and days of the week but this girl is not trying to hear that it’s now November and Halloween is OVER….

I have  feeing by next year we may have to start putting our tree up November 1st so that she will it Halloween go!

I can’t lie, I love it!

She was in such a sassy little mood so Daddy had a little photo shoot with me and Sissy… oh that girl!

I think she has really found her way and her balance with sharing me and Lox and she just LOVES school now…. she has been such a sweet happy girl lately, even more than before.

She thinks she is SO grown and tells me everyday “mommy look how big I am then promises me she will stay “just this big”!

Most nights I have SO much I want to get done for MYSELF when they finally go to bed.. I get maybe 2 hours before falling asleep myself but once in a while it’s nice to just lay with my girl.

Fall

It’s officially been cool out for a handful of days and we have skipped all the adorable posts that I have yet to be written to say:

HELLO FALL!

I have to say since I have had Lox I have dreamed of his first fall and winter, when I could bundle him up in cozy hats and blankets and snuggle him (since he is WAY more snuggly than Lo was- literally- he even puts his bottom up in the air when he buries his face in my shoulder!)

Anyway, October 1st came and our boxes come down, we have been dressing up everyday since and Lola LOVES it!

Here are some of her wardrobe changes this year lol

Her Cinderella dress is her favorite so far and I don’t want to jinx it but for now she says this is what she wants to be for Halloween!

Brother is still undecided- the sole basis of his costume will likely be based off the weather!

The square has had tons of activities and with Lola we have hit them ALL up if they had the least bit to do with Fall, Halloween, pumpkins, scarecrows… you name it!

I love her love for Halloween (and would you look at that little arm around me playing in my hair- its her new “mommying” thing she does to me)!

Brother was getting the hang of standing at 5 months and just loved to show off!

Sister decorated the yard and porch PRETTY much by herself this year- well with me of course but she was in charge!

I always dreamed of this Southern Living Fall decorated front porch with symmetry and wreaths and pumpkins of different sizes staggered- but I guess those days will have to wait because sissy likes Frankensteing, vampires, witches and skeletons! I can’t really complain, it’s what I have always wanted and she is JUST like me when dcorating- a control freak so we have been battling it out but I know she wont want to decorate with me forever… so she wins 90% of the time!

She is so proud of her “spooky porch” and tells me everyday “mam I love our spooky porch” and corrects others if they call it “pretty”.

Gigi came and helped us with our first batch of pumpkin bread and Lox always has to be in the middle of everything!

Thankfully this also helped us get out on a date night! I’m always SO tired and just ready to sit down, especially since we have yet to go on  date without first feeding them both and putting them both to bed before leaving and with Lola can be several HOURS! So we never leave until around 9pm and ALWAYS debate just “doing it another time”… Somehow, this man talks me into pulling it together and just getting in the car and from there we’re good!

The minute Gigi left and got home I think she sent 2 or 3 Halloween care packages in the mail for Lola!

The following weekend Taytay came to visit and we took Lola to the square to see the Chalkfest and she LOVED it! She also wore her giraffe outfit and matched one of the scarecrows! 

Then there’s this cutie that’s just along for the ride!

We literally raced home from our big day to rest up for that evening!It was a practice run at trick or treating and Lola was SO excited to finally see OTHER kids in their costumes!

Oh yeah, mom of the year here forgot her fairy wings for her cute fairy dress Aunt Taytay got her!

She didn’t even care thankfully, nor did she care about the events or games she just said “more candy”!

We got out as much as possible to enjoy this weather so here are a few of our favorites! Also, is their anything sweeter than a bundled up baby!?!?

We also had fun trying on outfits for our sweet Lox! Lola absolutely LOVED that! Oh and she also developed a new obsession for Day of the Dead make up styles so Pinterest became our best friend! By the end of most days she just looked pretty scary with black make-up melting al over her face!

We even took sissy to an (accidental) last minute trick or treat festival with a petting zoo! We were supposed to be going to cosco but spotted it and made a quick u-turn! Thankfully er usual Sissy was already in costume!

It was a double win!

I just LOVE this age and how excited she gets about the holidays! More up soon on our final decisions for Halloween Day and Trick or treating…. yes, two different things! lol

I’m just going to leave this classic right here.