Lucky Number Seven

Because sometimes the fuzzy hair photo has to win, even if mommy couldn't get the lighting right.

A lot has changed in this seventh month.  The most important being, Ash can stay sitting up.  This is pretty much my favorite milestone.  (I consider sleeping through the night more of a miracle than a milestone.)  Shortly after he turned six months old, we took a road trip to Montana, home of the amazing photographer Marianne Wiest.  My Ashy boy still had zero interest in sitting up, but I had a heartfelt conversation with him about how much cuter his six month photos would be if he could sit up and then this happened...

and this....

and as if my heart could take much more, this too...

High five Baby Ash!  You did it just in time and Marianne Wiest, I am in a hurry to buy a home, just to have a place worthy enough of these awesome photos!!!  Thank you.

So what else has been going on this seventh  month?

Well sometimes my little boy's eyes look like this...

Blue with little earthy, brown continents in the center.

And then twenty minutes later, they look like this...

Sort of a wet stone color?  Then one day he had one blue eye and one very green eye, which was awesome, but I didn't have my camera and they changed before I could get home.  So the jury is still out, but I won't be one bit surprised if they turn out brown after all this.

Since I am posting about eyes, I need to give a shout out to his long lashes.  Little boys always get so lucky.

Oh wait... and what's that bib and orange goop all over his face?  That's right, we started solid food this month.  Which is kind of a funny name for super liquidy, pureed baby food, but whatever.  Ash was not as interested in at as River was at this age, so I probably could have held off, but I was hoping the extra calories would curb the appetite of my Super Nurser!  Slowly... meaning it took from the beginning of the month, till the end of the month... it has.  Gerber and Beechnut, my nipples and my sanity thank you.

A picture of Ash's first meal... hmmm... maybe pears weren't the best choice for a photo op?  Well, he seemed to enjoy them at least.

Well, carrots show up better in the pictures, but don't seem to be as big of a hit.

We timed the solid food introduction right before our Montana trip.  This helped tide things over in the car, so we could make it a little further between nursing breaks.

Which reminds me... Ash got to go to Montana this month, meet his friend Cable, sneak some bites of ice cream, attend a movie premier and go hot-tubbing for the first time.  He randomly also decided to sleep for five hour stretches while we were there, but stopped as soon as we got back home.  I think he was letting me know his moving preferences in a not so subtle way.

Andrus, Cable and Ash

 Hot tub first!

Fun fact about Ash... he has an indented tongue.  (Like his earlobe)  Someone told me this means he is tongue tied.  I don't know about that for sure yet, but I think it is so sweet.


So about the sleep, here's more detail then you'll ever want to know, but since we moms forget these things so quickly, I want to document it for my own sake, should I be blessed with more rugrats.  (Is there some kind of run-on sentence competition I can enter?)

Have I mentioned that I decided I am not bad at sleep training, just really excellent at nursing!!!

Sleep has been a doozie, but we finally made some progress this month.  After returning from Montana, Ash was up to his old habits of waking every 45 minutes to nurse.  I was hoping solid food would be the magical cure, but it wasn't going to be enough by itself.  Clear back when Ash was two months old, I stopped nursing him to sleep before naps, but every time I tried to stop nursing at all before naps, he just stopped napping.  I would hold out for two weeks and finally cave.  I decided to try to cut the nursing before naps out again, since I could feed him solid food and know he wouldn't be hungry.  I thought this was an important step in breaking the sleep/boob connection.  The first two days he didn't nap at all, but then.... he did!  Miracles do happen.  This was step one in my sleep bootcamp.

I also tried one more time to reintroduce the binkie.  Then this happened...

Not exactly what I was going for.

After wrestling it away from River, this was the best I could get from Ash.  Oh well.

Moving on.... I decided that if I was going to go through the ringer of sleep training, I was going to unswaddle him now and not have to redo everything in another month or so, when he was more of a roller and then I HAD to stop swaddling him.  I put him in a slumber sack and his arms are free.  Since the binkie was a no go, I introduced a couple lovies instead, hoping he would take to one and he actually did.  He picked River's first stuffed animal Kiss Kiss.  It is so cute seeing him light up when he holds it.  That was step two and three.

Now for the tough part.  I didn't feel like I could go from feeding him every 45 minutes, to not nursing him at all through the night, so I took away a feeding every three days.  I would stay up with him, right by his bed and pat him softly soothing him, but I would not pick him up.  It was a real leap of faith, because after the previous crying it out fail ended after three hours and me finally giving up, I didn't know if he would stop crying.  It sucked.  He let me have it, but I stuck with the plan and he stopped crying after two hours and all at once, gently fell asleep.  It was still a rough ride, but it felt better being in there with him and loving on him, then leaving him alone to cry in the dark.

*Please note crying it out worked super well for River, so I am not opposed, but every baby is different and Ash has no self soothing techniques, so this worked better.

The next night he cried for an hour.  He still let me have it, but it didn't feel so long and since I had witnessed the miracle of him sleeping without nursing the night before, it was easier to stick to my guns.  The third night he only cried for 30 minutes.  I was worried about what would happen the fourth night, since I was going to make him give up another feeding, but thankfully he started stretching things out on his own and quickly went down to just two feedings a night.  By the end of this month he could sleep unswaddled.  He would only wake four times a night, with two of those being soothed back to sleep in about ten minutes of soft crying and me rubbing his belly and the other two being nursed.  It might sound like a lot, but it is a huge improvement.  Phew... sleep training makes me tired.

Ashy loves TV.  This is his locked in face the second anyone turns anything electronic on... including the apple insignia when the ipad is loading.  He can't turn away.

Ash had his first day at a water park and I made him wear River's hat, since River refuses to wear it anymore.  It was super big on him, but ADORABLE!  Notice River then decided he would wear a hat.

Ash weighed 19 lbs 9 ounces and was 28.5 inches.  The weight gain has started to slow a lot.  He didn't even go up a whole pound this last month.

I swear he has retractable teeth.  No teeth have officially broke through, but he bites me so hard that I promise you they are in there.  Plus, have I mentioned his patented move, The Nipple Iron?  Any time he is frustrated while I nurse, like say my milk is a tiny slow at coming in, he clamps my nipple between his gums as hard as can and then pulls his head back as far as he can till it slides and snaps out.  Fun times.  He's been pulling this number since he was born.  He really is Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde.  He has a temper and I'm afraid I will need reconstructive surgery when his teeth do come in.

How could I forget my most favorite thing... Ash gives super hearty backslaps when you pick him up.  It is so cute.  It will make your whole day, I promise.  They aren't tiny baby taps.  If you pick him up and have him balanced on your hip, he will reach his arms around your shoulder and give you good-game back slaps.  They are the best.

He loves being part of the group.  Don't think you can set him down and walk away.  He wants to be with you and on whatever level you are on.  If you are on the couch, he can't be on the floor.  If you are standing, then he must be held.  He has a temper screech that demands it.

My chubby boy still won't put any weight on his legs.  At this age, River loved being in his bouncer and it would buy me some much needed hands free time, but Ash is not a fan.  To bounce, you must extend those dangly things below your bum and that is just way too much work.  This is the number one difference between River and Ash as babies.  River loved "standing" at just a few weeks old and by seven months, could stand up, if he was leaning against something.

Another difference between River and Ash, is that Ash lets me read to him.  At this age, River just wanted to eat the books, but Ash sits and listens to the whole story and gets excited by each new page.  This is helpful for the ocd tendencies I have about finishing a book you start.  River nearly killed me.


Well I love him, I love him, I love him...

This post is getting long.  I'll wrap it up by saying that Ash at seven months is pure JOY!

Here's my River Boy at seven months for comparison.

Adieu!

Six Months

I will do this post tonight, or so help me!

Ash at six months...

The first week into this month, Ash rolled from front to back.  Just once and never again.  He hasn't rolled from back to front, since he did it the month before either.  He did it and now he's over it.

Every time I think his sleeping can't get worse, it does.  Pretty much he is the perfect storm.  He won't take a binky or a bottle.  He is a super light sleeper.  He wakes up to any sound, which is hard, because Bear works nights, we are in a small apartment and Ash doesn't have his own room.  I'm pretty sure he is either a milk addict, or a mom addict.  Flattering yes, restful no

He celebrated Star Wars Day "May The Fourth" by being the most adorable baby in the galaxy.

Seriously... They do not come cuter than this people.  It almost makes up for the lack of sleep... almost.

He was part of the best Mother's Day present ever.

He is a lover of gravity.  If you sit him up, he plops to whatever side is slightly lower.  If you try and stand him on his feet, he just limp noodles to the ground, or tucks his feet up, so they won't touch the ground.  If you put him on his tummy, he lays his head down and complains.  He is a super strong baby, with absolutely no interest in change.

Just like his brother before him, he is awestruck into a complete trance whenever the tv is on.  That is pretty much the only thing that will tempt him to halfway roll over.

Ash loves to laugh and nothing is funnier to him than his brother.  He giggles at any face River makes.  If River even looks his way, he lights up and starts to laugh.  This works out great, since River loves to make people laugh.

He loves to pull my hair and has a special talent for getting at the tender ones on the nape of my neck.  It literally makes him squeal with delight.

He has reached for solid foods here and there, but is not interested in it the way River was.  He was happy to get his little fingers into some fresh cream I had on my plate.  I told him, now that he had that, baby food was going to be a huge disappointment.

He has thunder thighs, a super long torso, dimples above his lip and one hair on the top of his head that has started to curl.

At his six month wellness visit he weighed 19.2 lbs and was 28 1/2 inches long.  That puts him in the 75 percentile for weight and the 98th percentile for height and he was called by the doctor-"The most strapping lad I've seen in a long while."

He is a super vocal baby and has quite the spectrum of coos.  Some of my favorites are when he is complaining.  They are low and grumbly and make me think of a grumpy old man.

Ash loves our kitty and by love, I mean he wants to grab a hold of that fur so bad.

He melted my heart when he signed milk for the first time.  Yes, I get annoyed with how much I have to nurse him, but it is hard to turn him down now that he looks me in the eye and does the sign over and over again.  Sign language is such a fun way to communicate with babies.

His eyes are still blue, but they are filling with pigment.  I think I spoke too soon, when I said I thought they were going to stay blue.  Sigh... but it will be interesting to see what color they end up being.

I love this boy with my whole heart.  I have literally banged my head on the wall in frustration, while trying to soothe him to sleep, but this boy is a lover, I tell you and as you can see, he has me in the palm of his hand.

Oooops... forgot to add a picture of River at six months for comparison.  Here's my cutie pie.

Well... see you in a week, when Ash is seven months.

Mothers

I have had a million thoughts on mothers today and in my tired fog and desire to reunite with my pillow as soon as possible, I won't be able to sort them all out and record them.  I want to at least write one of them down before I sleep.  I'll sleep better if I do.

I was at church today and a woman shared a funny story about her husband at the beginning of her talk.  It was meant to be an ice breaker, but of course I end up in tears.

She recounted the following.  Her husband was about five years old and super angry with his mom.  He doesn't remember why, but he remembers being so mad at her.  He slammed the door of his bedroom, so she would know just how mad he was and then he sat down to write her a letter.  He started it and then immediately realized he would need his mom's help.  He opened up his door and in an angry voice, yelled down the the hall, "Mom, how do you spell hate?"

It made me laugh and it made me cry.  I know there will be moments in my life like this.  I never fully appreciated the sacrifice my mother made for me until I became a mother and I'm sure my children will be equally obtuse.

The idea of rebelling, railing, screaming, fighting and "hating" the very person that is holding you up and helping you in every way, made me feel close to my Heavenly Father and realize just how much like children we must seem to him, since we do the very same thing to him.  I love being a mother.  I love it for the everyday joys of innocent smiles and  also for the deep profound gratitude, closeness and understanding of my Heavenly Father it has brought me.  I truly wonder if there is anything that can bring you closer to the Creator than being a mother.

I know I am in the phase where a lot of things I say about being a mom are complaints and while I stand by the statement that motherhood is 100 times harder than you think it will be, I also know that it is 1000 times better than you can ever imagine.

I hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day... especially my mom Iris Lillie Fields... she's so wonderful that God named flowers after her.

Five Months

It happened again.  I didn't post anything between Ash's monthly update and I'm not even posting it on time. If I wasn't too tired to lift my hand, I'd slap myself.  Drum roll please... Here's Ash at Five Months!

He's 18 lbs!

His rolls are coming in fast and furious.

He is very vocal and his new noises make us smile all the time, especially River who likes to imitate his sounds.

He had a few "firsts" this month.

He really discovered his feet and they've been a favorite pastime ever since.  I love it when they suck on their toes.

He wore jeans for the first time.

He rolled over for the first time.  He did it back to front and I was only quick enough to catch the last part of the roll on camera.  (Speaking of rolls, did you count how many he has in the second picture?)  He only likes to roll over when he's naked.  I guess clothes are too heavy.

It was also the first time he wore overalls.  I just think they look so much older when they start wearing denim.

He wakes up every morning happy and then helps ease the rest of us non early birds out of our sleep comas.

He's in the grab everything phase... which has been quickly followed by the put everything in your mouth phase.  He's taken out entire shelves of picture frames, because I'm not used to him being so grabby.  Also, he might make me a baldy, because those wet little fists are taking out chunks of my hair anytime I forget to wear a ponytail.

We still get flipped off quite a bit, but he hasn't become a thumb or finger sucker.  I wish he had a soothing technique, because at five months, he's a worse sleeper than he was at two months and I am lucky to get 3 consecutive hours of sleep.  Here's the typical sleep... I use that word lightly... breakdown.

7:00pm Bed
10:00pm Ash wakes and I don't feed him.  I try soothing him in other ways.  None of them work and he ends up crying for a long time.
11:30pm I go to bed, because River has finally fallen asleep.
12:30 Ash wakes and I do feed him.  He falls asleep quickly after.
4:00 Ash wakes again.  I feed him and pray he'll sleep for 3 more hours.
6:10-6:40 He doesn't, so we're up for the day and I'm more tired than when I started.

He celebrated his first Easter and begrudgingly let me take a few photos.

He really has become enamoured with River and will look to find him in the room over anyone else... even me and I got the goods.  That's been my favorite part of this month.  Watching how Ash lights up whenever River is around... no matter how many times he gets accidentally bonked, or played with to roughly.

River sat up unsupported on his five month birthday and I was soooo hoping/expecting Ash to do the same.  However, you take away the support and you get a lot of this.

I guess five months was pretty early for River to have such great core strength and balance.  I think part of it was a result of the colic and his back always being arched from the pain.  It must have been building muscles, while simultaneously driving me crazy.  Ash is getting better each day though, so hopefully soon.

We are definitely seeing some ginger/red/strawberry/copper (whatever you want to call them) highlights in his hair.  It's so cute.  His eyes are still blue, but they do have a tiny ring of earthy brown in the center.  Speaking of blue eyed, ruddy cheeked guys with ginger tendencies...

We started noticing quite the resemblance between Ash and the world's best baby whisperer, Robert Andrus.  Bear started wondering if he should get a paternity test.  Robert would happily claim him and then steal him, so maybe we shouldn't go down that road.

We still call him Baby Ash, but he's getting so big, it might not be appropriate for much longer.  Although it's probably more appropriate than when I call him Ashy, Ashy Pants, Ash Potato, Cheeks, Chub Cheeks and Cheekies!!!  Maybe he'll end up being one of those big teddy bear football players with a cutesy nickname.  I'd be down with that.  Those guys are the best.  Just don be tackling my lil boy now, ya here!

River sitting up by himself on his five month birthday.