New Talent

Crawling became his thing about ten minutes after I posted the last update.  Perfect timing man!

Botanical Gardens

Palm Tree of death. 

I would love to know why this sign was necessary.  

Location: Wahiawa 

Cost: Free

Needed: Good walking/hiking shoes and bug spray

9 Month Update

Remember  J's one month and two month updates?

Stats: 

Height: 30 inches (97.04 percentile)

Weight: 20 lbs 5.8 oz (63.30 percentile) 

Head circumference: 18.31 inches (88.38 percentile) 

General Updates: 

-Bedtime is improving though Saturday nights are the worst, which stinks because we have to get up really early on Sundays. 

-He is progressively getting better with solid foods. 

-He tummy scoots everywhere and is beginning to get into everything.  Baby proofing is on the agenda this week.  (I literally just saw him crawl, for like 5 seconds.  It must be just around the corner.)

-His favorite thing to play with and eat is paper.  I don't get it.  Sometimes I just give him magazines to rip apart to keep him entertained.  It works well until he decides to eat them.  

-Still a people person but is getting a bit more shy around them.  

-I think we are up to 6 teeth trying to come in on top. 

-He is a champ at teething.  No increase in drooling, no illness, no fevers.  A win for the amber necklace. 

-He has had to take the bottle a few times recently and hasn't had any problems doing so. 

-He has begun to show much more affection for his dad.  Crying when he sees his dad but can't have him.  Smiling like crazy when he comes home from work.  Hubby is eating it up, of course.
-He has started, what I have termed, breastfeeding contortionism.  He stops eating, moves into some strange position, then goes back to eating.  Not sure why.  It is almost as if he wants to see what the strangest position he can eat in is.
-Doesn't much like having his teeth brushed or diapers changed.  Glad babies hate and love things in cycles.  This too shall pass!

7 Month Update

I am late!  This kid is already 8 months old.  How is that even possible?

Stats:

No current stats.

General Updates:

-Bedtime is a roller coaster.  Things were beginning to improve, then the hubby's schedule changed and it all went downhill.  It sometimes takes me two hours to get J to bed.  Some nights I can barely stand it.
-No new teeth but I think his two front teeth will be coming in soon.
-He still doesn't love texture so though I wanted to skip purees we haven't been able to.  He is doing better and has eaten some food that isn't pureed (mostly fruit) but I keep having to remind myself not to rush him.
-He pulls himself into a standing position so well and walks like a champ when we help him.  He loves to stand.  LOVESSSS it!
-Some days he refuses to be on his belly and other days he will army crawl with the best of them.  The two things he can't help but stomach scoot to - paper and technology.
-He still loves making loud and obnoxious but oh so cute dinosaur noises.
-He loves to chew paper and cardboard (life would be so much easier if we could just let him eat it) and I feel like it is a constant battle now to keep things away from him (he may or may not have broken a plate at a restaurant....woops!)
-He hates the sound of the blender.  If the hubby isn't home, I usually can't use the blender because he has to be held while it is on.  Time to get a new blender.
-He is still a people person and likes to have someone right beside him about 99.9 percent of the time.
-He doesn't cry in the pool or the ocean but does cling to us like crazy so I haven't quite figured out if we are  traumatizing him or if he likes the water but is also a bit scared of it.
-He is transitioning into 9 month clothing.  So excited for this.
-He often says what sounds like mama, but we can't figure out if he knows what it means or if it's just another noise.  Only time will.
-He gets so excited when we leave the house but also gets so excited when we get back to the house.  We could literately walk outside for one minute and he gets excited going in and out.
-I am convinced this dude will never ever ever nap well.  Sigh....He actually naps better for daddy than he does me.  Double sigh...
-He has begun to show more affection for his daddy.  It is so cute.  He smiles so much when daddy comes home from work.
-He still loves sleeping with us but we make him sleep at least half the night in his crib.  One night he kept sleeping on my neck.  I actually had a dream I was slightly suffocating.  I happen to be paranoid about my neck so it was rough but kind of funny at the same time.
-When I ask him for kisses he opens his mouth really wide and bends down.  One time I asked him for kisses and he stopped moving around and just started looking at me.  Then he put his hand near my mouth and kind of rubbed my face for a bit and then bend down and gave me the juiciest kiss ever.  It was so cute.
-He likes to bite knees.  Now sure why but man it hurts.

Neighborhood Beauty

Now that I take daily walks with J, it has reawakened my awareness of the beauty of the area we live in.

Resting Face

The picture above is a perfect representation of what J looks like when we go on walks. Looks like he's having fun, right?  Not!  I trust that he would whine if he hated it, and he always seems excited to go, so the only conclusion I can come to is that he will always look like this when he isn't smiling.  I have the same problem and it doesn't bode well for his future.  Poor kid!  Good thing he is so cute.  So now you know, if he ever looks like this around you, don't feel bad, he doesn't hate you.  He is just resting those facial muscles. 

Hungry Much

We hit up the North Shore one morning and hit traffic on the way home which made for a decently long car ride.  J (I think this may become his official blog nickname) was unusual hysterical on the way home.  I tried to calm him but it was to no avail.  Finally, he gave up and played with his toys while getting very drowsy.  A few minutes later I turned away from the window and found him asleep, with a book in his mouth.  Apparently he was either very sleep deprived or very hungry, or more than likely, both.  Promise I took care of his needs as soon as we made it home.

BOFM365

One of my goals this year is to improve my spiritual studies.  Some years I am better than others, but it is something I have wanted to work on for a while.  No more delays!  I am grateful that I found a tool to help motivate and remind me daily - BOFM365.  It is an Instagram account that tells you daily what versus to read, with the end goal that its followers, thanks to the daily reminder, will read the whole Book of Mormon in a year.  I actually just read the whole book a little over a year ago but I love the idea of doing it again, taking it slow, and doing it with hundreds of other Mormons.  My absolute favorite part is reading peoples' comments afterwards.  A prompt is given each day and the discussion that follows is often enlightening, thought provoking, and encouraging.  I have even gone as far as to write some of the comments down so that I have them to ponder on again in the future.  Because the scriptures are being split up across the whole year, the daily reading is small, which is great for people who struggle finding the time to read.  It's also a great start to a longer study session.  Basically, what I am saying is, everyone should consider participating, by yourself, with a friend, or with your family.  And if you don't have Instagram, they are also on Facebook, so no excuses. 

Christmas Time

My sister and brother-in-law both came to visit us this past Christmas.  Having multiple guests gave us a good excuse to drop many of our responsibilities and just have fun.  We hit up the beach multiple times, did some snorkeling, enjoyed shave ice, played games, drove around the island, etc.  It didn't feel much like Christmas but it was still an enjoyable month.

 Ward Christmas party Santa! 

Chilling near the Disney Resort.  

 Like most babies, he enjoyed the wrapping paper the best. 

 Quick stop at the temple. 

 Another beach visit. 

 Someone outgrew his bathing suit top overnight. 

 Of course, in Hawaii, they dropped a pineapple to celebrate New Years Eve. 

 Taking a break from hiking. 

Where we went snorkeling the first time.  Gorgeous but crowded.  

Yum!  

Portraits Part Two

As I stated in my previous post, I had my sister Laura take some time off from her vacation to take some quick shots of my little dude.  She has so much talent!  Even though no planning went into them, the lighting was off, Jack was tired, and the bed was unmade, I think the pictures came out really well, especially considering they haven't been edited at all (maybe I'll get to that eventually).

He gets huge bags under his eyes when he hasn't had enough sleep. 

Poor dude! Always having to deal with mom's shenanigans. 

All done! 

Little Mister Portraits Part One

When my sister Laura was here, I threw my little dude on the bed one morning and had her take some shots.  The bed wasn't made, the lighting wasn't perfect, and the pictures haven't been edited, but I still love how they turned how.  

A New Talent

He can't get up on his own yet but he sure does love to stand while holding on to things.  The other night he was sitting on my lap on the couch.  Before I knew what was happening, he had wiggled off my lap and into a standing position by holding onto the couch.  Then he proceeded to let go and try to stand on his own without the help of the couch.  Needless to say, that didn't end well.