10 Months Old!

Happy 10 Months to my baby boy!

I can NOT believe he is almost a year old! It's just unbelievable how fast it's gone by. It seems like just yesterday I was looking at my newborn and now I hardly remember what that's like! ahhaha! Soon enough I'll be getting a taste of that again.

At 10 Months:

-Tate is almost walking. He transfers back and forth between objects easily but doesn't have the confidence yet to go for it. He walks easily with his walker and has a lot of control.

-He is getting so heavy! It is really hard for me to carry him now. Especially putting him in the carseat.

-He still absolutely loves to be outside.

-He loves horses and has already gone for a ride with his Papa.

-He only wants big kid food! If he sees anyone else eating he will throw a fit if he can't have it. He isn't picky at all.

-He has 2 bottom teeth and his front 2 top teeth.

-He's still wearing between 12-18 month clothing. I think he might be slowing down on the growth spurt.

-He loves to horse around. He's a rough and tumble little boy.

-He likes to go to mother's day out to see his friends. He's pretty social and I love that he has time with kids his age (plus, it gives me a little breather and time to get stuff done :)

-He sleeps from about 8-6...ugh, I hate the early mornings but usually he does pretty good until about 8 or 9 and then it's definitely nap time.

-He takes about 2 naps a day, one at 8/9 am (2 hours after he wakes up) and then in the afternoon around 2/3 pm. Sometimes he sleeps for 30 minutes and other times he sleeps for close to 2 hours! You just never know with this kid.

-He gets about 3/4 bottles a day.

-He doesn't like being in the carseat. This worries me for the big trip we have planned for Christmas to Ruidoso. :-\ hopefully, he will surprise us and sleep or be happy the whole way there...happy thoughts haha

-He LOVED Thanksgiving! He ate lots and lots of food and was pampered and spoiled by the whole family. Who wouldn't love that?! haha

-He likes to unroll toilet paper and to open and close doors.

-He actually has gotten really good at petting and being soft with animals.

He's beautiful! Those eyes will melt you in an instant. I'm so lucky to be his mommy. I feel so blessed to have this experience and watch him grow and develop into the little boy he's becoming. Each day I think about what he'll be like when he gets older and what he'll be interested in. I'm so excited to see how he'll be with his new brother/sister in about 6 months :-) I love him so very much. Sometimes when he's a grouch or he's been fussy all day I get really frustrated but everything is so worthwhile. The sound of his laughter is the best sound in the whole entire world! I couldn't love him more! I'm so blessed! Happy 10 months old, baby boy!

Big News!

Well, it's official, Tate is going to be a big brother!

This took us by surprise, again..hahah! But what an amazing surprise and blessing! We found out the first week or so of October and I haven't wanted to say too much until I made it past 12 weeks. Well, here we are at 14 weeks and it hasn't necessarily been an easy journey. I feel like in this picture I look pregnant!

First, we found out our insurance-yes, the one we pay $400+ a month for, does not cover maternity! UCK! So, to have a baby, without any complications during pregnancy or delivery, would be about $10,000! That about knocked the breathe out of me. Why do we have health insurance if this isn't even covered?! The most important time in a woman's life and it isn't covered?! Ridiculous.

Then Trevor and I came down with the stomach flu/bug. It was miserable. I don't even remember the last time I was that sick. I started throwing up at 8 PM and then puked every 30 MINUTES until 6 am. Luckily, Victor and Trish (PaPa and Gigi) were able to watch Tate while we recouperated. I had to go to the doctor the next day and was so sick and hurt that I cried most of the day :( My ob/gyn did an exam and was worried that I might have an ectopic pregnancy because of pain and tenderness in my stomach and back. If that was the case I would've had to have emergency surgery to remove the baby. I had to have bloodwork and an ultrasound and after 4 hours at the doctor I was told it was just a stomach virus and that I was severely dehydrated but the baby looked good. I went home and rested for the next day and a half. By the end of those couple of days I couldn't wait to get my hands on Tate. I missed him so much. Victor ended up getting sick, too, a couple of days later.

But enough of the bad stuff, we are beyond excited!!!

During this pregnancy I've had a lot less morning sickness but still have the fatigue. I don't think it would be as bad, but chasing around a hyperactive, busy boy like Tater is exhausting! I didn't really have many food cravings the first time around and I'm still not. I've wanted queso and tortillas from Rosas, pickled ocra, and buffalo wings and TONS of fruit-yummmy.

I started at 123-ish pounds, when I got sick I went down to 122, and when I went in at 12 weeks I was at 124.4 pounds. I was kinda happy to see some weight gain. I want this baby to be getting all he/she needs to get big and healthy. I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl. I'm thinking it's a girl this time because my pregnancy has already been different-less morning sickness and more breakouts on my face. Either way, I will be happy. I'd love to have a little girl to dress up and play with but a little boy would be great for Tate to have someone to play and wrestle with. I'm getting more and more excited every day and I can't wait to see how Tate responds to a little tiny baby. It will be so strange to start all over in the newborn phase.

Happy 9 months, Little Man

Okay, I've decided I'm just going to post this even without a picture. I'm still working on that. Ugh...been so busy. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to put one up.

Mr. Tate is 9 months (on the 24th, so a couple of days ago)

At 9 months:

-Tate weighs 21.15 pounds (a little less from last time we went in because he is more mobile and active and has been a little sick), and 29.5". This puts him in the 75-90th percentile in both height and weight.

-Tate wants to be outside all the time. This is nothing new but his methods are slightly honed. He can swiftly maneuver out the doggie door within seconds! This is not a good thing for many reasons.

-He is pulling up on everything, including our legs! It's so cute to feel a little tug and look down and see little man trying to crawl up my leg to get me to hold him-although, slightly hindering when I'm trying to get something done around the house.

-He wants to walk but is having some difficulty. He stands on his tip-toes a lot, I think from being getting around in his walker, so he doesn't have as much stability. He'll get it down soon.

-He's getting ear infections, a lot! I hate it for him. I know how miserable they are and wish that he never had to feel that way. He is constantly tugging on his ears and has been on antibiotics 3 times in the past 2 months :-(

-He likes to play at the park in the sandboxes, in the tunnels, on the slide, and swinging. I can't wait til he can run around and climb all over the place; although, I'm not looking forward to the bumps, bruises, and scratches that come along with it.

-He is ticklish and sometimes gets so giggly.

-He wears 12-18 month clothing. Getting closer to the 18 month mark daily. He also still wears size 5 diapers.

-He doesn't like hats anymore :-( this is probably why he despised his Halloween costume.

-He definitely recognizes his name, commands like "no", different people's faces and voices, and bottles.

-He doesn't really favor any toys. He likes to play with cups, boxes, and general non-toy things.

-He can crawl really fast and likes to chase Kitty around. If we let him out of our sight he tries going for her food and water bowl.

-He likes to push around chairs and crawl in between them under the table.

-We have a schedule and when he isn't sick, he usually follows it and sleeps through the night. When he's sick it is a different story, but that's how it is for most of us. Usually we feed him dinner around 6-6:30, go for a bike ride/walk around 6:30/7, bath, get diapered, lotioned, and manage to get him into jammies before 7:45 and then a bedtime bottle at 8. I let him play until he is tired and then put him in bed between 8:15-8:30, I sit there while he is in his crib and talk to him gently and pat him on the back and give him kisses then leave, and he usually cries between 5-10 minutes and then falls fast asleep. I think it helps to have a routine and follow it so he knows what to expect.

-As for naps I try to put him down 2 hours after he wakes up. He HATES naps. I think he feels like it's a punishment. He gets really grouchy if stays up too long. I have to put him in the crib and close the windows and do what we do for night time. He cries a lot longer during the day but I know it's the best for him. I also put him down for another nap usually a couple hours after lunch.

-He is going to Mother's Day Out twice a week at our church. Each time he goes he does a little better. I usually pick him up early because he gets anxious if he sees other children leaving before him. I guess he feels like he's going to get left.

-He babbles a lot more. He is like Trevor and makes noises when he is concentrating on something.

-He also does something else Trevor did as a baby, he rubs his feet together when he likes the way something tastes. And on that note, he doesn't want baby food. It infuriates him to see us eating big people food and he wants what we have. If I know what's in the food, I'll usually just let him eat with us.

-He can drink out of a sippy cup but doesn't like to hold it for himself; although, I know he's completely capable because he does it while he's by himself in his carseat where I can't see him. He better get used to it because we are about to switch from bottle to sippy cup completely.

-He likes to eat bananas in the morning. He usually grabs a chunk and shoves it in his mouth. Sometimes he tries to load his mouth like a chipmunk with multiple pieces, silly boy.

-He is happiest at night, which makes us sad because we love to play with him but only have a limited time because we don't want him to stay up too late and get grouchy and tired.

-He is truly an amazing baby boy and I'm loving watching him grow and learn. I can't believe I'm blessed enough to be his Mama! Each day I pray that I can raise him and guide him to be a great boy/man with a good heart and strong will :-) I don't think we will have a problem with that second part.