One Month Old

Boston at one month old...

weight: 10 lbs 15 oz (79th %)

height: 20.25 in (83rd %)

head: 38 cm (74th %)

- Boston is still only sleeping 2.5-3.5 hours at a time at night and 2 hours at a time in the day. Now that we know he is getting fat and happy, he really should be pushing those nighttime feedings further apart... but so far he doesn't seem able to do that. I'm anxiously awaiting the day though! 

- In the night, he is so good about letting me nurse him, change his diaper, and put him right back to bed. I am typically only out of bed for 20 minutes. 

- Between 4 am and 7 am are the hardest hours for him (and therefore me). He does so much grunting, whining, and struggling to sleep through those last few hours, so a lot of mornings I end up feeling like a zombie by 7am and wishing for another couple of hours of sleep!

- His thighs are getting nice and gushy! 

- His eyes are looking a little lighter blue each new week and I'm hopefully they'll stay light like Grace's and Ryan's!

- Boston loves: his mama, being around his siblings, to be cradled and held, to stare at the ceiling fan,  listening to his mobile music, and laying in a nice warm bath. 

- Boston hates: being cold, being forgotten, being in his carseat, going longer than 3 hours since a feeding.

- Tricks: starting to do a short baby laugh, smiling several times a day, super big loud burps after nursing!

- Boston has the absolute worst "freak out" cry that this mama has ever known. It's awful and it goes from zero to "I'm going to stop breathing and burst a blood vessel" crazy in a matter of seconds. The big kids end up covering their ears. It usually happens while he is in the carseat so I often have to pull him out of his seat as quick as I can at the grocery store, or when we are stopped to get gas in the car or something, just to get him to calm down. The only other thing that works is to hold his hands close together near his tummy, which seems to help him feel secure and able to calm down easier. 

- He is liking his binkie a lot more these days and that makes things easier on me! 

These two boys definitely look a lot alike! However, I see so much of Grace in Boston's features as well. They have the most similar head/face shape and profile. His eyes and mouth are so much more like Grace's than what Logan's looked like at that age. Grace is on the left, Boston on the right for comparison.

Another fun comparison is between all three of our kiddos...

Grace, Logan, Boston all around 1 month. 

 Logan and Grace seriously adore Boston and want to be with him every second. They frequently get into fights about who gets to sit closest to him, who gets to hold him next and how long their turn was, and anything else they can argue about it when it comes to time with Baby Brother.

He is getting big so fast. I need time to slow down! I'm trying to soak up every part of this baby phase. Even when I get up with him multiple times at night, I try not to wish it away. It's hard to be in a place where I want sleep so badly but I also don't want to rush through this special time either.

 We sent our loved ones this cute announcement. 

 Some brand new smiles from this sweet boy.

We love you, sweet Boston!

End of May & End of School

For Mother's Day, I told Ryan I had been wanting a new necklace with all 3 kids' names on it. So we ordered this sweet necklace and I LOVE it! I love my babies.

Ryan got our vegetable garden built and planted! It has been a fun project for all of us to help work on and it's doubled in size just in the last couple weeks.

We planted lemon cucumbers, regular cucumbers, tomatoes (2 types), squash, zucchini, sweet basil, pesto basil, sweet red peppers and jalapeño peppers. Also Logan planted a strawberry plant he got from school and Grace planted a sunflower plant from her class as well.

Grace's Kindergarten class plus two others went on a field trip to swim at the public pool and play at the park next door. She had a great time, and especially loved riding in the school bus.

Hannah, Grace and Emma

These are pictures that Grace's teacher, Mrs. Dailey, took of her in each season next to the same tree. It's so fun to see how Grace grew and changed, as well as the tree's colors. 

Summer

 Fall

 Winter

 Spring

Grace hasn't had a hair cut since before Christmas sometime. Her school had a bad epidemic of lice running through it during the winter months, so we kept it long so she could always have it pulled back. I finally took her to get it cut the other day though. This is the before and after (plus I flat ironed her waves a little bit). Isn't she the cutest?!

Here's another one... First day of Kindergarten and last day of Kindergarten!! She had her sweet, round baby-face before and now she looks so grown up... sniff 

She got all 5's on her report card, meaning her teacher felt she is "advanced" in all areas. We're so proud of our smart girl!! Mrs. Dailey also wrote great things about Grace:

I'll just be honest: Kindergarten has been a bit rough for us. Grace was surrounded by kids who were full of att.it.tude! And she picked up a lot of that. I also realize that she was with a sweet, fun, very complimentary teacher who praised her all the time. Then she would come home to real family life which isn't constantly rosy and fun. We have had a lot of head-butting and frustrations since starting school. I have heard from a lot of moms that this is common and normal. I hope and pray Grace and I can continue to be friends and always be close! There's still so much more I can be doing better and I know I have a lot of work to do to. I have high hopes that the summer will help us reconnect. 

Grace brought home bag loads of art projects she had done. I asked her to let me take pictures of her favorites:

Grace watering our plants (I love the details in her shirt, which is exactly like her actual shirt!)

Her favorite singer is my favorite part. 

This girl loves making butterflies and rainbows. 95% of the time she sits down to do some artwork, it involves one of those two things. :) Cute girl!

 She painted herself and the ocean.

 Logan also finished up his Tiny Tots preschool/play group. First day and last day:

His class got to have an end-of-year park day at Bille Park. They did hula-hoops, playground, planted seeds in little pots to take home, got a treat from an ice cream truck, and had parents join them for a lunch picnic. At the end, they sang a few songs to us. They sure are adorable! 

Logan and his two ladies from church: Audrey Kambourian and Teal MacKay.

Logan is still too young to start Kindergarten this coming fall, and he is even a few weeks too young for pre-K. There are only a couple of preschool options in town and they're really more like day cares and SUPER expensive. I don't feel right about any of those options. We will probably put him into another year of Tiny Tots. It isn't very academic, mostly social and fun, but he has really enjoyed his time there. I will work on academic things with him at home as well, but he will be super ready for Kindergarten when the time comes. 

Stay Small Forever!

***Since this little guy insists on growing SO DARN FAST and chunking up within a few short weeks, I don't feel bad about posting a gazillion pictures of him. I want to be able to remember how little he once was.***

Things about Boston at 2-3 weeks old:

-his umbilical cord finally fell off

-first few REAL baths!

post-bath at 12 days old and hating it:

16 days old (still hating it):

22 days old (finally enjoying his bath more):

-he HATES getting into an out of the bath still, but that's typical with most babies

-his newborn clothes are officially getting too small/too short (like this one pictured) and I had to pull out the bigger sizes 

-his feet are too long for most newborn footy pajamas

-giving us more "sleeping smiles" and enjoying lots of cuddle time

-nursing every 1.5-3 hours in the day, and every 2.5-3 hours at night

-can be laid down in his bed for a nap (or at night) while still awake and goes to sleep on his own. He doesn't need to be rocked like I did with the other kids. He's such a good baby in the sleeping department (not the length but the ease)!

-not great at sleeping between 4 and 7am... He grunts, whines, and wakes up more between these hours. I usually end up putting him in the swing and hoping he will last until 7am when I'm a bit more ready to wake up. 

-prefers to be held by mom, and especially prefers to be held up on my shoulder 

-he enjoys listening to the song on his wind-up mobile, especially while having his diaper changed. He even turns his head towards it and goes totally still listening to the music

-still has to be convinced that he likes his binkie. It's worth it to me to keep "convincing" my babies until they love them, because it makes life SO much easier for their first 2 years of life.

 A picture of all 3 of my kids at about one month old. Logan left, Grace right, Boston below.

17 days old and I had to officially dress him in 3 month clothes to fit his long arms and body. He is growing WAY too fast for my liking!

 -already showing love for his siblings! I often ask them to come talk to him and keep him happy while I cook. He likes to listen to them near him and watch what they're doing.

 A few more of sweet, tiny Boston in this stage: