5 Months and Growing

My Sweet Little Baby Boy :)

Seamus turned 5 months old on Saturday and I cannot believe how fast he is growing up!

Everyday is a new adventure as he explores the world around him.

He loves to go on walks and watch the trees and animals pass by outside.

He loves to watch Trixi (Grandma and Grandpa's Pomeranian).

He loves his newly found toes and feet.

He loves getting on all fours and trying to crawl (getting closer everyday).

He lights up our lives each and everyday.

This weekend Chad was out of town on a retreat for middle schoolers.

Seamus and I had the weekend to ourselves so we cleaned up and organized and then went to Grandma and Grandpa's house. While Grandpa played with Seamus I helped my mom and sister make key chains that they sell and donate a portion to relay for life. After several hours of trimming and sewing we decided to take Seamus on a little walk and then go to the local Mexican restaurant. We had a nice dinner and Seamus enjoyed some people watching while we were eating dinner. After dinner Seamus and I headed home and got ready for bed.

After a great nights sleep (he usually sleeps for 8-10 hours) we got up and had some breakfast.

Then YAY! Daddy got home from his retreat and we were so excited to see him. I love the way that Seamus' little face lights up when he sees his daddy and hears his voice. Words cannot describe the joy that I feel when I see the two of them together.

Life is so wonderful right now. God is so good! We are so thankful for all that we have and for our wonderful little family!

4 months Old

This is a little late :) Seamus turned 4 months old on April 15th and we went to the doctor for his 4 month check up on the 20th. He is getting so big!

Here are his 4 month stats:

Height: 26 1/2 inches (95th percentile)

Weight: 16 pounds 9 ounces (90th percentile)

We realized that he has already outgrown his Graco infant carrier. Luckily we another carrier that he

can still fit in as well as a convertible car seat. I really don't understand why they would make an infant carrier that

is only for infants up to 26 inches. I mean aren't most babies longer than 26 inches before they turn 1 year old and can be

turned around in their car seats. It just seems silly. Luckily the Graco car seat was a hand me down from one of Chad's sisters,

and we have the larger infant carrier that we received from the baby shower. So when it comes to registering/buying things the next time

around we will be sure to check the weight and height restrictions of whatever we buy. I would recommend to anyone that is expecting to

check the limits and go to the store and try out the strollers and look at everything before you register or buy anything.

OK, that was my little rant, now back to Seamus...

The doctor said that everything looked good he is a big boy and growing the way he should be.

He keeps doing new things everyday, he is still sleeping on his tummy, and sleeping SO much better than when he was on his back.

He is really trying to scoot on his tummy and reach his toys when they are just out of his reach. He also has the sweetest little giggle and loves to smile, laugh and flirt with everybody.

The weather has been so great lately we have been trying to get some walks in since Seamus loves to be outside and feel the breeze. I am so excited to take him to the beach this summer!

Here are some recent pictures:

On Friday we took a little family stroll and Seamus wore his shades since the sun was so bright! He is the coolest kid around!!

On Saturday we took a family outing to the grocery store and Seamus had his first experience sitting up in the shopping cart. He loved it, and this will make our lives so much easier for him to just sit in the cart!!

Sleepy Time

Recently Seamus has started sleeping between 6-8 hours at night. Every now and then he will still wake up about 3:00am or 4:00am. So I decided to try him sleeping on his tummy, he loves it! He loves to rub his little face on the sheets and nuzzle his little nose to get comfy. It has made such a difference in his sleep! Not only in the length of time that he sleeps but he also seems so much happier during the day, he it not only sleeping longer but he is getting better sleep since he is comfy. Now I know that a lot of people would gasp at the fact that my 4 month old is sleeping on his tummy and not on his back like American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. But they don't know my baby he is so strong and he can roll over (from tummy yo back) he has been trying so hard lately to roll from his back to his tummy and he is almost there just not quite yet. Just think about it... how do you sleep? I sleep on my stomach and when I try to sleep on my back it's just not as comfortable and I don't sleep as well. What do you think? How do you and your baby sleep?

Better Late Than Never...

So, I had planned on participating in 12 weeks to better photography when I first read about it on my friend Lindsay's blog. However, life got in the way and now everyone is beginning lesson 7 and I am just getting started with lesson 1. But as I said, better late then never! We got our camera as an early Christmas gift so that we would have it in time for Seamus's arrival, that was in December and I have really been wanting to learn how to use it and get the best pictures that I can. Having a little one really makes you want to take lots of pictures and since they move and grow so fast you don't always have a second chance at a great picture. That said, here goes the first lesson on basic aperture:

For this first picture I used a low aperture setting. I set my aperture at f4.5 and you can see that just the front rock is really in focus.

For the second picture I set the aperture at f8. You can see that the trees in the background are more in focus and you can also see some pine straw.

For the last picture I used an aperture of f22. In this picture you can see clearly all of the trees in the background as well as the pine straw.

I took all of these pictures at my parent's house on the new rock wall/patio that my dad has been working on. On to next week's lesson :)

Dinner Time

We started giving Seamus rice cereal about a week or so ago and he has really taken to it! I was feeding him the other day and we had to break out the video camera because he had lots to say during dinner!

I was very hesitant to start the rice cereal since everything I read said that you should wait until 4 months to start. There are too many reasons why the "experts" say you should wait and not enough to tell you what to do if your baby needs more food! I spoke with someone I work with who sees the same pediatrician we do and she told me as long as your baby has doubled their birth weight then you are good to start stage one foods. Seamus has always had very good head control so I knew that it would be no problem getting him to start using a spoon and sitting up a bit more. He wanting so much to eat during the day that I knew I needed to start giving him something that would stay in his belly :) Needless to say he enjoys his cereal and is a much happier little boy now that his belly can stay full!!

If you are questioning whether or not to start solids, ignore the internet, ask your doctor and go with your instinct. The Gerber website still tells me that Seamus is not ready for solids, and that the milestones he has hit (being a supported sitter) are not typical for his age (just over 3 months) and that I need to call them for assistance to find the right milestone group for him (the only one lower is newborn).

Through all of this I have learned that all babies are different, do not let a website tell you that your child cannot have reached the milestones that he has because of his age.

Crusin'

At one of my baby showers we received an awesome car activity walker. We have started putting Seamus in it every now and then and he LOVES it!

Seamus has discovered that he can bounce and use his feet to push the wheels and move around the room. He loves sitting up in it and looking around at us, the TV and anything else he can see.

He is one cool dude sitting in his little hot rod!

His smile just warms my HEART every time I see it!

He has developed the sweetest belly laugh and my little boy is quite the little flirt!

He looks at people, smiles and then turns and buries his sweet little face!

Oh so happy!

Snow Day

This past week I realized that I haven't posted in over a month...OOPS!!

On Tuesday we got to come home early from work and got to take some pictures of Seamus in the snow. They were all pretty similar, but this is my favorite!! I promise I will update more from now on!