Boone at Twelve Months Old

This is Boone at Twelve Months.  This is the twelfth (and last) installment in the "12-month onesie" series.  Hooray!  Now I can go back and edit / clean up all the photos of Fenn and Boone and get them framed.  I'm pretty proud of myself for seeing this project through to the end.  If you would like to see all twelve of Boone's photos, look over in the right-hand column of the blog under 'More Photos of Fenn and Boone' and click on 'Boone's 12-Month Onesie Photos'.

Wow!  It has been a busy month for Boone.  First of all the obvious... he turned ONE!  And he is a full-fledged walker now.  He was starting to take a couple of steps last month.  By late April, he was taking 8 or 9 steps at a time.  And by the time of his birthday party on May 8th, he was walking all through the house.  So he was just a little ahead of Fenn with his walking, because Fenn was only walking a little by the time he turned one, but was a full-fledged walker by Christmas a couple of weeks later.

Something kind of funny that he does is when we put him in the Johnny Jump Up bouncer thingy, he will get the thing spinning around and around and around.  The whole time, he'll be looking down at the floor.  And when he gets it to stop, you can tell he's dizzy!  I really need to get that on video sometime before he stops doing it.

We're having major issues with real food.  He is just not interested in eating anything with any kind of texture... no lumps or bumps.  So we're still having to feed him baby food.  Even some of the stage 3 baby foods have too much texture for him.  And it is driving us crazy because trying to feed him textured foods is miserable.  He shakes his head and bats his hands at the spoon the whole time.  It ends up being a big 'ole mess!  And we're really ready to get rid of all the baby food.  We are starting to have a little luck with teething biscuits, though.  Oh, and strangely enough, he doesn't seem to have a problem picking up a doggie treat from Petey's bowl and putting that up to his mouth!  Of course, they do look very similar to his teething biscuits!

On the other hand, things are progressing when it comes to getting rid of formula and bottles.  We're on our last container of formula and when it's gone, he'll be on 100% organic whole milk and drinking it cold from a sippy cup versus warm from a bottle.  We've been gradually increasing the proportion of milk to formula for several weeks now.

Boone did have his first taste of ice cream over the weekend.  And he apparently liked it because he kept coming back for more!

As far as playing, he has started stacking things like blocks and cups.  However, he seems to get more joy out of knocking things over... especially when it is something Fenn is trying to build.  He also likes throwing things... anything he can get his hands on.  And he actually has a pretty good throwing arm.  Maybe his cousin Jesse can teach him a thing or two about pitching.  One funny thing he does is when he's about to get his nighttime bottle.  If he has a paci in his mouth as I'm about to sit down to give him his bottle, and he sees his bottle, he'll yank the paci out of his mouth and throw it across the room.  Once he sees his bottle, that's it!

I don't have his 12-month pediatrician stats yet.  That appointment is not until next week.  But he weighs just over 23 lbs. now.  I know this because I have taken him to the doctor once a week for the past 3 or 4 weeks now.  We've had 2 bouts of pink eye and another ear infection.

Lastly, Boone completed his first swim lessons.  Well, sort of.  He did great and loves the water.  Just like Fenn last year, he never cried one time.  He was going under water during the very first lesson.  But, he missed 2 out of 5 lessons.  The first one he missed because of his birthday party.  Then we were going to make it up another day, but he had pink eye.  Then he missed the last lesson over the weekend because of having pink eye again and an ear infection.  So I only have photos from the very first lesson.  But I'll be sure to get lots of photos of him at the pool this summer. 

Boone at Eleven Months Old

This is Boone at Eleven Months Old.  This is the eleventh installment in the "12-month onesie" series.  Just one more to go, and I'll be done with this project.  Well... except for coming up with the money to have all the photos from Fenn and Boone's first year matted and framed.

Boone is just barely starting to take some steps.  Just one or two small steps at a time.  We expect to have a full-fledged walker by the time he turns 1.

I don't think I've ever written about something really sweet and special Boone does.  It is completely unique to him, as I don't recall Fenn ever doing anything like this.  It happens when you're holding Boone on your hip.  And let's say you're doing something else or talking to someone else and basically not paying attention to him.  He will decide he wants your attention.  And to get that attention, he'll lean forward and/or around and cock his head to the side so that you can't help but notice him.  And he'll have the sweetest little smile on his face.  And once you turn to look at him, he'll giggle.

And when falling asleep, at night or just for a nap, he likes to play with my hair.  Usually, he is pretty gentle, really just twirling my hair in his fingers.  But sometimes he tugs a little too hard and it actually hurts.  But I still think it is so sweet.  He'll also caress my face and neck area as he's falling asleep.  And speaking of sleeping, he sometimes sleeps with his eyes partially open.  His eyes will be moving back and forth and sometimes we're not really sure if he's really asleep or still partially awake and aware of what's going on around him.

If you want to see all of Boone's onesie photos from throughout his first year, look over in the right-hand column of the blog under 'More Photos of Fenn & Boone' and click on the link to "Boone's 12-month onesie photos". 

Boone at Ten Months Old

This is Boone at Ten Months.  This is the tenth installment in the "12-month onesie" series.  If you are unfamiliar with what I am doing, I take a photo of Boone each month (on or around the 15th) in a plain white 12-month onesie.  I also did this for Fenn's first year.  Once I'm done with all of the photos, I'll have them matted and framed together.  There will be one of Fenn's first year and one of Boone's first year, each with 12 photos.  If you'd like to see all of their 12-month onesie photos, look over in the right-hand column of the blog under "More Photos of Fenn and Boone" and there is a link to "Fenn's 12-month onesie photos" and to "Boone's 12-month onesie photos".

As you can see by the date of this post, I'm a little late with it.  I actually did take the photo a couple of days after the 15th.  But I have been really busy and haven't had a lot of time to blog lately.  Funny how that is now that I have 2 kids!

Once again, it has been a really busy month for Boone.  In a previous post earlier this month, I wrote about how Boone started walking with the help of a push toy.  At the time, he would only walk a few feet at a time.  Now only a couple of weeks later, he is pushing his walker toy and Fenn's Mickey Mouse ride-on truck all over the house.  He is definitely living up to his name (as in 'Daniel' Boone ~ even though he's not a Daniel) and is quite the explorer.  He is fearless and doesn't mind going to other rooms in the house all by himself.

Another big new skill for him is clapping.  He started clapping last Saturday (March 20th).  So cute!  He has also mastered the more difficult skill of squatting down and then standing right back up.  That one takes a lot of strength and coordination.  And he has also started standing without holding onto anything for as long as 3 or 4 seconds at a time.  We really think he'll be walking on his own within the next few weeks.  If he doesn't, we'll be surprised.

As far as talking, he hasn't said any real words yet.  But he jabbers all the time.  I wonder what his first real word will be???

He absolutely loves bathtime.  Sometimes, I'll have him sitting on my lap while I sit on the side of the bathtub and start filling his tub with water.  He'll use all his strength to try and lean over toward the water.  And once he gets in, he has a blast.  He moves around, splashes, stands up to get toys, puts his hands and head under the running water, gets on his belly, lies down on his back, and puts his mouth in the water and blows bubbles.  Just like we did with Fenn, we have always just dumped the water right over his head.  He doesn't seem to mind at all.  We're thinking he'll be ready to move out of his inflatable tub and into the full bathtub soon.  After we let him get used to that for a little while, we think it will be time to try a bath with Fenn.  I'll definitely be photographing and videoing that event!  We also look forward to getting him into swim lessons in a few more weeks.  I just need to sign him up for his class.

The other night, Boone discovered the pots and pans I keep on an open shelf under the cooktop.  He pulled off one of the frying pans and started pushing it all over the kitchen, picking it up and banging it along the way.  Apparently, he is not bothered by the noise at all.

Boone and Fenn have started playing together more and more here lately.  Fenn will run through the house from Boone, and Boone will follow him.  Fenn seems to think it is pretty funny.  Fenn also does a great job of making Boone laugh.  Sometimes they'll both get their giggle boxes turned over on the way home from school in the afternoons.  Boone also does a great job of holding his own against Fenn.  Fenn likes to stand right in front of the tv sometimes.  Boone will crawl over and stand up next to Fenn.  And if Fenn pushes Boone a little to try and get him out of his personal space, Boone will push right back.  This is both good and bad ~ good that Boone can hold his own, but bad because he has also already gotten in trouble at school for pushing his classmates.

I told you it had been a busy month!  Now it is time to get serious about planning all the details of Boone's first birthday party on May 8th.  We're having it a week early because we're thinking of leaving for vacation the weekend of his actual birthday.

Boone at Nine Months Old

This is Boone at Nine Months.  This is the ninth installment in the "12-month onesie" series.  This has been a HUGE month for Boone.  The biggest thing is that he became mobile.  First he started crawling right after he turned 8 months, then he started pulling up to a stand, and then he quickly started "cruising" the furniture.  Fenn has one of those Pottery Barn Anywhere Chairs in the family room, and Boone has even figured out how to climb up into it.  The other big event for him was his baptism on Valentine's Day.  {Check out that post below this one.}

He is quite a little character.  I'm seeing more and more of what his personality is going to be like.  At first, we really thought he was very similar to Fenn in that respect... laid back.  Which he still is laid back and easy going.  But now we're seeing a more mischievous side to him.  For example, if he is holding onto something he doesn't want you to have and you try to take it from him, he has this totally devilish little laugh and a twinkle in his eyes as he clings to it with all the strength he has.  I can see now that he's going to be a handful.  I am also getting a tiny glimpse of what he's going to look like as a little boy, as he is starting to lose that 'baby' look and looking more like a toddler.  At certain angles, I see more and more of Dan in him.

He has this funny thing he does when drinking his bottle.  He'll hold on to it with both hands, with the nipple in his mouth, and roll it back and forth.  I think that shows pretty good dexterity to be able to do that and drink at the same time.  He is starting to learn to drink from a sippy cup.  Sometimes I can tell he is actually getting something out.  And sometimes I think he is just playing with it and only chews on the spout.

He went for his 9-month check up yesterday (on the 17th).

These are his stats at 40 weeks (or 9 months) old:
Weight: 21 lbs. 7.5 oz. (65th %)
Height: 28.75" (67th %)
Head: 45 cm (41st %)

Compare this to his stats at 27 weeks (or 6 months) old:
Weight: 18 lbs. 2 oz. (58th %)
Height: 27.25" (74th %)
Head: 43.6 cm (42nd %)

As usual, you can see all the "12-month onesie" photos by looking over in the right-hand column under "More Photos of Fenn and Boone" and clicking on the link to "Boone's 12-Month Onesie Photos".  It is kind of fun to see them all together.  If you don't know what I'm doing here, I got the idea from Martha Stewart.  I put Boone in the same 12-month sized onesie as close to the 15th of each month as possible and take a photo of him on the same blanket.  At the end of the year, I'll print all the photos and have them matted and framed together.  I still haven't framed Fenn's, but at this point, I'll do them at the same time so I can be sure to get the same mat and frame.

Boone at Eight Months Old

This is Boone at Eight Months.  This is the eighth installment in the "12-month onesie" series.  Boone continues to learn and grow at lightning speed.  He's not quite  crawling yet... but oh so close!  He figured out how to get from a lying down position to a sitting up position.  And that lead to being able to grab onto the rail of the crib, pull up on his knees, and look over the top.  He has been pretty proud of that accomplishment, too!  He also got his first two teeth on January 1st and 2nd.  Just like Fenn... one came in one day, and the other one came in the next day.

As usual, you can see all the "12-month onesie" photos by looking over in the right-hand column under "More Photos of Fenn and Boone" and clicking on the link to "Boone's 12-Month Onesie Photos".

Here's one more photo.  Taking these monthly photos is not so easy any more.  While I'm up on the ladder, Boone decides he doesn't want to lie on his back any longer and rolls over.  Then I have to get down, put him back on his back, climb back up the ladder, and try to take more photos.

Boone at Seven Months Old

This is Boone at Seven Months.  This is the seventh installment in the "12-month onesie" series.  He seems to be changing so fast these days.  I can hardly keep up.  I'm actually getting scared of what he's going to be like in another couple of months.  He seems to be much more active than Fenn was at this age.  He rolls around all over his crib during the night.  He has already started assuming the "butt in the air" position when sleeping {much sooner than Fenn did}.  When playing on the floor, he gets in a "semi" all-fours position on his elbows and knees and rocks back and forth.  He has even pushed up on his hands a few times and held the "all fours" position for a few seconds.  I can tell he is desperate to become mobile.  Something funny we have noticed about him is that he has figured out how to get our attention when he feels we're ignoring him.  Recently while eating dinner, we had Boone in the swing (which is close to the dining room table).  I got up to go in the kitchen for something and walked in front of him {without acknowledging him} and then walked back by him again {once again without acknowledging him}.  He actually started doing a fake cough to get my attention.  It was so completely obvious that it was a fake cough!  I'm getting the impression he's going to be a little actor.

He had his surgery on the 5th of this month and did great with that.  If you didn't know about it, you would have had no way of knowing from being around him.  Other than sleeping pretty much the whole day, he was back to his normal, happy self within a few hours after the surgery.  And mommy and daddy did okay with it, too.  The worst part was having the nurse take him away from me to take him to surgery.  But I knew he was in good hands and would be okay.  One thing we learned from the whole experience is to trust our instincts at all times.  We had an immediate negative reaction to the doctor who was on call the day Boone was due to be circumcised the day after his birth.  For some reason, she was in a mood that day or something.  The nurse assured us she wasn't normally like that and was very well liked and respected by the nursing staff at the hospital.  And she seemed fine later on when she came back into my hospital room.  But we should have gone with our instincts and scheduled Boone's circumcision for a few days later with a pediatric urologist. 

As usual, you can see all the "12-month onesie" photos by looking over in the right-hand column under "More Photos of Fenn and Boone" and clicking on the link to "Boone's 12-Month Onesie Photos".

Boone at Six Months Old

This is Boone at Six Months. This is the sixth installment in the "12-month onesie" series. He turned 6 months on the 15th, but I decided to wait and do the post this week so I could include the stats from his 6-month check-up today.

These are his stats at 27 weeks (or 6 months) old:
Weight: 18 lbs. 2 oz. (58th %)
Height: 27.25" (74th %)
Head: 43.6 cm (42nd %)

Compare this to his stats at 18 weeks (or 4 months) old:
Weight: 15 lbs. 11.5 oz. (61st %)
Height: 25.5" (65th %)
Head: 41.5 cm (26th %)

Boone has changed a lot over the last month.  Still no teeth, but he continues to drool like crazy and keeps his fingers or whatever else he can get hold of in his mouth most of the time.  And he loves it when I rub his gums.  Something that I think is kind of funny is when I'm changing his diaper and wiping him off with a diaper wipe, he gives me the biggest grin.  I guess he just likes how it feels.  He's been rolling over both from tummy to back and from back to tummy for the last couple of weeks.  And he has even been rolling over and sleeping on his tummy some at night.  Just like with Fenn, it worries me a little, but I'm still letting him do it.  Of course, I do check on him every single time that I wake up at night.  He actually started rolling over in his crib a couple of months sooner than Fenn.  By the time Fenn started doing it, he was already really good at rolling himself back over to his back.  But Boone still hasn't perfected the skill of rolling back over to his back.  He starts screaming if he can't get back over.

Another big change for Boone is that he is sitting up now.  He had started "tripoding" just a couple of weeks ago.  And when sitting up, he would lean forward and then could straighten himself back up pretty good.  But he wasn't really sitting up for any length of time without assistance.  But then last Friday, we took him for his 6-month photo session and he surprised us.  We wanted to get some sitting up photos, but figured we would have to keep our hands within a few inches of him to catch him when he started to fall.  We just knew Rebekah would have to snap a picture or two quickly and then we would have to grab him.  But instead, he sat up for pretty long periods without us having to help him.  He is still pretty wobbly, and he does much better with the Boppy pillow behind him because it gives him something soft to land on if he leans back and falls.  But we are amazed at how quickly he went from not being able to sit up to being able to sit up for as long as 30 or 40 seconds without falling over.  Another thing he is doing is that when he is on his tummy, he pulls his knees up under him and then pushes off with his feet.  He's showing quite a bit of strength when doing that.  And that is what he usually does to get himself to roll over from his tummy to his back.  It makes me wonder if he'll start crawling pretty soon.

In the last two or three days, he has started talking more.  He's doing the "bah bah bah bah bah" thing, with a very exaggerated mouth movement.  It is kind of funny looking because it reminds me of someone trying to talk without their artificial teeth.  And over the weekend, we pulled out the "Johnny Jump Up" and put him in it for the first time.  He loves it and quickly figured out how to make himself bounce up and down.  And last but not least, he officially has his first ear infection right now.  We found out when we took him to the doctor today for his 6-month check up.  His doctor and I were both completely surprised about this finding.  Other than being sick the prior weekend with a virus (that's another story!), he has been acting fine.  We certainly never would have guessed that he had an ear infection.  But when his doctor looked in his left ear, there it was... bright, bright red.

The "other story" I'm referring to above is that last weekend, we were heading to Birmingham for my brother's wedding.  On Thursday I picked up Boone at school and he felt really hot to me.  I checked his temperature when I got him home and it was over 102 degrees.  The next morning, we were packing to leave and kept checking his temperature periodically.  Around 12:30 p.m. and only about an hour from getting on the road, we checked and it was 104.3.  We got him in to see his doctor around 2:00 and were told it was just a virus that had to run its course.  No reason to cancel our trip.  So we got on the road a lot later than we had planned.  He ran a fever the entire weekend and because of me being sick myself, and then worrying about Boone, and having him sleep with me each night, I was completely exhausted.  I didn't take the first picture at the wedding.  I didn't even take my camera into the church.  I am so disappointed about that.  I had been looking forward to the weekend for a few months and had planned to take lots of pictures.  Instead, I only took a few pictures of Fenn at the park and of Boone in the bathtub.  They had a photographer at the wedding and we got a family photo taken.  So I'm looking forward to seeing the proofs from the wedding and reception soon.  Congratulations to Greg and Tanya!  And welcome to the family, Tanya and Polly!  We now have another niece.

You can see all of Boone's 12-month onesie photos by looking over in the right-hand column of the blog under "More Photos of Fenn and Boone" and clicking on the link to "Boone's 12-Month Onesie Photos".

Boone at Five Months Old

This is Boone at Five Months.  This is the fifth installment in the "12-month onesie" series.  It has been a busy month for Boone with lots of "firsts" happening for him.  He loves playing with his feet and it seems like he always has either a finger or a foot in his mouth.  He's drooling like crazy, but still no teeth.  We know they're in there somewhere and expect to see those lower teeth soon.  He has already started having some restless nights, and from our experience with Fenn that usually means they're teething.  He went on his first real vacation which included meeting some horses and going to the beach for the very first time.  Actually, he also met his Uncle Todd and cousins Seth and Jesse for the first time on that trip.  He had already met his Aunt Angie because she was here when he was born.  He also had his first taste of solid food and was immediately trying to take over possession of the spoon.  He gets angry if you don't feed him fast enough, and he hates it when I wipe off his mouth with a cold, wet paper towel.  He still hasn't started rolling over.  But we think that's partly our fault.  He doesn't get as much floor time as Fenn because we have to constantly worry about Fenn sitting on him or dropping a toy on him.  Fenn is mostly very gentle with him, but it's hard to explain to him that he doesn't need to put too much of his weight on Boone.  Because of that, we can't just put him on his playmat or down for tummy time unless we're going to be right there beside him for the majority of the time.  We used to put Fenn on his playmat and then could move in and out of the room doing things like putting away clothes, cooking dinner, etc. and he would entertain himself.  So we feel bad that Boone doesn't get that same opportunity and are working on doing a better job of putting him on his playmat.  Boone is such a great baby and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have two really easy babies.  We were sure we wouldn't be so lucky with the 2nd baby, but we are.  Boone loves his big brother and watches him all the time.  And Fenn does a great job of making him laugh and smile.  We can hardly wait for Boone to get big enough to play with Fenn.  Although those first few months were really difficult to get through, we're going to be so glad to have had them so close together.

You can see all of Boone's 12-month onesie photos by looking over in the right-hand column of the blog under "More Photos of Fenn and Boone" and clicking on the link to "Boone's 12-Month Onesie Photos".

Boone at Four Months Old

This is Boone at Four Months. This is the fourth installment in the "12-month onesie" series. I did actually take the photo last week on his four month birthday, but decided to wait and do the post this week so I could include the stats from his 4-month check-up today.

These are his stats at 18 weeks (or 4 months) old:
Weight: 15 lbs. 11.5 oz. (61st %)
Height: 25.5" (65th %)
Head: 41.5 cm (26th %)

Compare this to his stats at 9 weeks (or 2 months) old:
Weight: 12 lbs. 14 oz. (75th %)
Height: 23.5" (69th %)
Head: 38.9 cm (27th %)

Something kind of new that Boone is doing now that I just love is when I'm holding him in my lap, he'll turn his head and look back at me and then smile. He'll hear me say something and realize I'm right there behind him and decide that he wants to see me. He has also become very curious about the world around him. A few days ago we went to the mall to get out of the house on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I sat on a bench and gave Boone his bottle while Dan and Fenn walked around the mall. This guy came over and sat on a bench across from us. Well Boone just about got whiplash turning his head to see what that guy was doing. And then he wouldn't stop staring at him. So funny! Oh, and Boone has also recently discovered his feet. He grabs onto them and pulls them toward his face all the time now. Be on the lookout for cute "Boone holding his feet" photos in the near future.

Speaking of photos... I'm a little disappointed in this photo. It was later in the evening than I would have preferred so I didn't have as much light coming in through the windows. Because of that, a lot of my photos were blurry. We had just gotten Fenn down for the night and Boone was ready for his bottle (translation: He did NOT want to have his picture taken.). Oh, and I cut off his toe. I meant to take some more photos the next day, but just didn't get around to it. So I'll just have to accept the photos I got. Don't forget... you can look over in the right-hand column under "More Photos of Boone" for the link to see all of his 12-month onesie photos.

Boone at Three Months Old

This is Boone at Three Months. This is the third installment in the "12-month onesie" series. As you can see in the picture, Boone has really started filling out. His face is getting very round now. He's really strong and is doing a great job of holding up his head. In fact, when I got to his school the other day to pick him up, he was sitting in one of those activity discs. I was really surprised because we had not tried putting him in anything like that at home. Just another example of how things change with your second. By the time Fenn was 3 months old, we had already been letting him try the Bumbo seat and doorway jumper thingy. These days, we just don't have the same amount of time. Thank goodness he is a patient baby, because Lord knows he is having to be patient with his mommy and daddy. Boone... mommy and daddy are so sorry you don't always get as much attention as you deserve! {We'll just say it now so he can see this when he's older.} Everyone told me that's just what happens with any children that come along after your first. Maybe that's what is wrong with me... I'm the third in my family. {Insert smile here.}

Anyway, the big news is that Boone rolled over! I didn't see it, but last weekend when we were at my parents' house, my dad had him lying on the sofa. He said Boone started staring at something on the back of the sofa and the next thing he knew he had rolled himself over... all the way to his belly! He hasn't done it anymore since then. But that seems really early to me. Fenn didn't roll over (as far as we know about) until he was 5 months old. In fact, it happened on his 5-month birthday. Maybe Boone is just that strong and is going to do a lot of things sooner than his big brother. Or maybe being on the sofa helped him roll over.

Boone's eating and sleeping patterns haven't really changed since last month. He's still taking 6 bottles a day. We give him his last bottle between 7:30 and 8:00 (depending on what time we get Fenn down for the night). And then we get Boone down between 8:00 and 8:30. He sleeps, on average, until around 4:00 a.m. and sometimes until almost 5:00. He loves sitting up with some assistance and watching everything going on around him. He especially loves watching Fenn. He smiles and laughs at him all the time. And Fenn really seems to like that.

Remember, you can look over in the right-hand column of the blog under "More Photos of Boone" to see all the "12-month onesie" photos to date.

Boone at Two Months Old

This is Boone at Two Months. This is the second installment in the "12-month onesie" series. He's growing so much and his personality is coming out more and more. He smiles a lot and now coos at us, too. He especially likes it when we sing to him. He really starts talking then! We are now down to only one feeding in the middle of the night. We give him his bedtime bottle between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. and then get him to bed shortly thereafter. He has been sleeping until around 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. Come on Boone... you're so close. Just a couple hours more so mommy and daddy can sleep all night! He is really easy in so many ways. Just like with Fenn, we usually put him to bed still awake and he goes to sleep on his own. Having our kids sleep in the bed with us is just not our thing. We value our sleep too much. But that's not to say we'll never let them climb in bed with us, because that can be really sweet. We just don't want to make it a regular, all night thing. Boone went to the doctor for his two-month checkup yesterday. He had to get his first round of shots. But he was a trooper and only cried for a few seconds. Three sticks in the leg is enough to make anyone cry.

These are his stats at two months (or 9 weeks) old:
Weight: 12 lbs. 14 oz. (75th %)
Height: 23.5" (69th %)
Head: 38.9 cm (27th %) Dan actually thinks the nurse didn't get a great measurement

Compare this to his stats at 3 weeks old:
Weight: 9 lbs. 12.5 oz. (71st %)
Height: 21.5" (70th %)
Head: ??? (39th %)

The little stinker gained 3 pounds in 6 weeks and grew 2 inches! It is hard to believe he is already two months old. If you want to see how he has changed over the last month, look over in the right-hand column of the blog under "More Photos of Boone". There's a link to his 12-month onesie photos. His face and legs have filled out a lot more over the last month.

Boone at One Month Old

This is Boone at One Month. This is the first installment in the "12-month onesie" series. If you're not familiar with what I did with Fenn, click on the link to Fenn at One Month Old to see his first photo. I saw this idea on Martha Stewart one morning shortly after Fenn was born. You take a picture of the baby in a 12-month onesie each month (in Boone's case, it will be on the 15th of each month) on the same background. At the end of the first year, you'll have 12 photos of the baby in the same 12-month onesie. Then you have the 12 photos matted and framed together. It is a good way to see how much they've grown from month to month. If you want to see Fenn's twelve photos, look over in the right-hand margin of the blog under "More Photos of Fenn". There's a link to his 12-month onesie photos. I'll set up another link for Boone's photos and add them each month.

It has been a busy and exhausting first month. First of all, as you can see from the last blog post, Boone spent his one month birthday in the hospital. I actually took this photo of him on June 15th in his hospital room. If you look closely at his right ankle, you can see his hospital ID bracelet. But luckily they removed the IV earlier that morning, so at least that's not in the picture. We're down to only one middle of the night feeding, but Boone still has not slept through the night. Fenn did it at around 6 or 7 weeks old, so we hope that means it will happen soon. He's a really good baby, but probably not quite as laid back as Fenn. It looks like (unfortunately) he got the Osborne temper. He gets mad when he's hungry or wants to be held... and has to wait for what he wants! I'm sorry to say that after three weeks of nursing exclusively, I gave up and started pumping and supplementing with formula. Like I said in an earlier post, he was a grazer like his big brother, and it was taking way too long to feed him. I needed some time to spend with Fenn and some time to rest or get a shower. A tired mommy doesn't make for a good mommy. Forget the advice about sleeping when they sleep. If you have any other children, that just doesn't apply any longer because they're not necessarily going to cooperate and sleep when the new baby sleeps. I will pump as long as I can, though. Anyway, as soon as I made the decision to stop nursing, I instantly knew it was the right decision for me. I know nursing is a beautiful thing, but it just wasn't working for me. I immediately felt relieved. Since nursing was taking so long, by the time I was done feeding him I was ready to get up and hand him over to someone else. I was never able to just sit and hold Boone and enjoy him. Now I can do that... now I can hold him and talk to him and smile at him. And guess what... he smiles back at me. He started smiling at us (I mean real smiles that weren't related to gas) around 3 weeks of age. That's two or three weeks earlier than Fenn smiled at us. If you'll look at the photo here, you can see a little smile. He has a really sweet, precious smile. As I get more photos of him smiling at us, I'll post those. As for Fenn's reaction to this new little being in our home, he seems to be adapting pretty well. He is really interested in Boone and likes to go in his room and look in his crib. He'll stand there and tell you "up", wanting you to pick him up so he can see in the crib. And I've already caught him trying to figure out how to climb up on the side of the crib to see Boone. He is also showing an interest in helping us with Boone. A couple of times, he has stuck Boone's pacifier back in his mouth.

So that's our first month with Boone. One quarter of it was spent in the hospital, and the rest of it is kind of a blur because we've been so exhausted. But we made it through it and can already see that things are settling down a little. Life is good! And we are truly blessed!

Fenn at Twelve Months Old

This is Fenn at Twelve Months. This is the twelfth (and final) installment in the "12-month" onesie" series. {Be sure to click on the "12-Month Onesie Photos" link over in the right-hand column underneath the heading "More Photos of Fenn" if you want to see all 12 photos together.} I normally post this right around the 10th of the month, but this time I waited until now so that I could include the information from Fenn's 12-month visit to the pediatrician this morning.

These are his stats at 54 weeks:
Weight: 23 lbs. 9 oz. (57th %)
Length: 30.75" (73rd %)
Head: 47 cm (64th %)

Compare this to his stats at 41 weeks old:
Weight: 21 lbs. 14 oz. (67th %)
Length: 28.25" (44th %)
Head: 46.4 cm (77th %)

It's funny that he actually dropped down from the 67th percentile to the 57th percentile for his weight, because everyone who sees him comments about what a big boy he is. He's not fat, he's just solid. At the same time, he had quite a growth spurt, jumping from the 44th percentile to the 73rd percentile! So it looks like he might be tall, or at least taller than mommy and daddy.

I was looking back at the post I did for his 12-month onesie photo when he was 9 months old. At that time, he had 5 teeth. In three months time, he got 7 more teeth. By the time he was 12 months old, he had the first 8 teeth and all 4 of his first molars. And Dr. Herron said the gums are thin for one of his upper canines to come in soon. We're worried that since he's been early for all of his teeth so far, he'll be cutting those 2nd molars about the time piperbean #2 comes along. That should be fun!

We're having lots of fun (and getting really exhausted) chasing Fenn around the house now. He's completely mobile and walks all over the house. In a matter of two or three weeks, he went from taking about 6 or 7 steps at a time to taking off and walking down the hall, turning around, coming back, walking around the island in the kitchen, and back into the den. One of his favorite things to do is open and close cabinet doors and bedroom or bathroom doors. Let me clarify... He doesn't really close the doors all the way (since he can't reach the doorknob), but he'll push it so that it's partially closed and then open it again. We are slowly getting the cabinets in the kitchen baby-proofed. We've had fun watching him try to open cabinets or drawers he was previously able to open. He'll stand there and keep jerking on the door or drawer and then finally give up and look for one he can still open. Then once he finds one, he starts pulling things out (like his Yogurt Melts, Fruit Snacks, or anything he can get his hands on). Over the weekend, before we baby-proofed the cabinet where the trash cans are kept, he managed to get in the trash and pull out a plastic applesauce container. He was so proud of himself walking around the kitchen with it. Something else he's able to do now is climb steps. One day recently, Dan was playing with him in the downstairs den. Before he knew it, Fenn had walked over to the stairs and was starting to climb them. Dan stayed behind him and let him do it just to see how far he could get. And he made it all the way up.

As for talking, I think we can safely say that Fenn's first word is ball. He also knows bath and bye-bye. Of course, all three of those words sound kind of similar. But he definitely knows the difference. If you mention anything about getting a bath, he starts repeating the word and looks toward the bathroom. He has finally learned how to wave (while saying "bye-bye") and how to blow a kiss. He still doesn't call us mommy and daddy (or ma-ma and da-da), but he makes the sounds. He just doesn't associate it directly with us yet by calling out for us. However if you say ma-ma or da-da, he'll look at whichever one you mentioned.

I'll finish up by telling one funny thing he did the other night when we were feeding him. I had cut up some grapes for him. He doesn't love grapes, but he'll eat some. Then I went and got some blackberries (which, by the way, are one of his favorite things). I was about to give him a piece of one, and then noticed he still had some grapes in his mouth. I told him to chew them up, but by this time, he had already spotted the blackberries. So he did what any smart toddler would do... he opened his mouth and let the half-chewed grapes fall out and leaned forward (with mouth wide open) to get a blackberry!

Fenn at Eleven Months Old

This is Fenn at Eleven Months. This is the eleventh installment in the "12-month onesie" series. I'm having a really hard time believing he is 11 months old. Only one more of these posts to do, and we're done with the little white onesie. It is stretched about as tight as it can go... and has been for a while. Good thing this project is almost done, because it is getting increasingly hard to get a picture of him. I used to be able to lie him down, climb up on my stool, and snap away until I thought I had some good ones. But now I'm barely able to get one picture before he crawls away. He apparently thinks it's a game because he laughs hysterically. I actually had to have Dan help me take this picture. I suppose I'll do this same thing with the next baby. But this time, I'll buy the Carter's brand of onesie instead of the Gerber brand. The Gerber one just happens to be what I found first, before I knew any better. But it runs smaller than the Carter's brand. I think we would be able to see more differences from month to month with the Carter's onesie.

Once again, it has been a busy month for Fenn and for us. Fenn has been trying all sorts of different foods here lately. He devours zwieback toast. He's been eating this for a while, but really loves his Yo-Baby Yogurt and Earth's Best brand cereal bars (both organic). I decided to get domestic on Halloween and baked some homemade (from scratch... where I even had to sift the flour) Pumpkin Bread. Fenn absolutely loved it! It was the funniest thing watching him shove the pieces into his mouth. That day, I also made some Halloween sugar cookies (not from scratch ~ just the pre-made dough in the tube). We let him try them and he really liked those, too. The next morning, we got up and went to Waffle House for breakfast. No surprise here... he loves waffles. I can't think of the rest, but he has tried a few more new foods over the last month. He seems to like most anything and is a really good eater. Two more things I forgot about that he LOVES: Cheese, Broccoli, & Turkey Whole Wheat Quesadillas and Blackberries.
He seemed to take all the new experiences in stride. He loved going to the pumpkin patch, the hayride, and trick-or-treating for the first time. And he had a great time at his very first birthday party. It was for his friend, Ella Kate, from daycare. But we had one new experience we were not counting on until he was at least two years old. We had to take him to the dentist! On Tuesday night of last week (Nov. 4th), I discovered that his left upper central incisor was broken off at an angle and had a pretty sharp point on it. Of course, our first reaction was "When in the world did this happen?" You would think he would have cried when he hit whatever it was that caused his tooth to break. But we could not remember anything from the last day or so, and daycare had not reported any major accidents. I was only able to narrow it down to having to happen either Monday or Tuesday. I may have missed it one night, but I would not have missed it for more than that. Or, I suppose another option would be that it happened a while back, but only weakened the tooth, and then the tooth broke off sometime that day. Anyway, we found a pediatric dentist and got an appointment for the next day. I took him by myself because Dan had an appointment with a client he couldn't change. The appointment went surprisingly well. I sat in the dentist's chair and held Fenn in my lap while the dentist examined his tooth. He fussed a little about having someone look in his mouth, but not much. Then they decided they wanted to get an x-ray. Since I'm pregnant, one of the dental assistants had to hold Fenn. Once again, he did great and was fine having a complete stranger hold him. He protested a little more because they had to hold his mouth open and try to keep him still for several seconds. Not an easy task with an 11-month old. What are you going to do... tell them to "Be still."??? The dentist decided to wait about 10 days before filing the sharp edge off of the tooth. He was afraid of causing any more trauma to the tooth and nerves than had already occurred, thus possibly causing Fenn to lose that tooth. So in the meantime, Fenn is living with a sharp tooth. We go back next Monday to get it filed down. After that, all we can do is hope it is not damaged enough to cause him to lose the tooth. We can get it fixed at some point (i.e., a cap or veneer), but that's a decision we'll make at a later date when he's a little older. It would be an outpatient procedure, but they would have to put him under... which mommy and daddy aren't sure they want to do. Otherwise, he'll have to live with the crooked tooth until he gets his permanent tooth. They took a picture of him at the dentist (something they do for all first timers). They're supposed to send me a copy, but I haven't gotten it yet. I was hoping to have it by now so I could post it. He was all smiles, though!

Remaining on the topic of teeth, Fenn's left lower first molar broke through on Sunday, November 9th. The kid is only 11 months old and has 9 teeth! He is still not walking on his own, but does occasionally stand for a second or two without holding onto anything. So I think he's still a little ways from taking that first step. He has started moving and grooving to music. So cute! He'll bounce up and down to the beat of the music... well, sort of. He definitely likes music, though. And right now, his favorite toys are books, books, books, and balls. Did I mention that he really loves books? Sometimes he'll sit down on the floor with a book and just flip the pages for a while. And one more occasion went by that was really hard for mommy. November 2nd marked one year since we lost Cole. I still cry about him and miss him so much. Oh how he would have loved Fenn!

Fenn at Ten Months Old

This is Fenn at Ten Months. This is the tenth installment in the "12-month onesie" series. (Don't forget, you can click on the "12-month onesie photos" link to the right to see all of the monthly photos.) I have quite a few stories to tell about the new things Fenn is doing now. First of all, I have to mention he has ALL 8 of his first teeth (upper and lower central & lateral incisors). AND he is working on BOTH of his lower first molars. Both gums are really swollen, and his pediatrician could actually see the left one under the gum on Monday. We barely even noticed those first 8 teeth coming in. But he's having a tough time with the molars... and so are mommy and daddy.

Fenn is very much into tossing, crashing, dumping, and banging his toys around. I suppose that's a boy thing. Or, do all kids this age do that? He is getting better and better at walking with assistance. And he's even getting more brave about letting go and reaching for something else to hold onto. If we don't watch him very closely at all times, we have discovered that some interesting things end up in his mouth. On more than one occasion, we have caught him chewing on one of our flip flops. Ewww! And the other day I found him near Petey's food bowl... and he had a piece of dog food in his mouth. Nice! The bowl was actually empty, but he found a leftover piece on the floor.

And I have to mention I'm a little worried about what his future career aspirations will be. It seems he is a bit of an exhibitionist. When I am changing his diaper, I'll undo the velcro tabs but leave the diaper in place (as a precaution against getting sprayed) while I grab a wipe. Now think about this... Chippendale dancers and "break-away" pants. Fenn will reach between his legs, grab the diaper, and yank it out from underneath him... and then toss it to the side. Hmmm..... we'll have to work on putting a stop to that.

He had his 9-month pediatrician visit a couple of weeks ago.

These are his stats at 41 weeks:

Weight: 21 lbs. 14 oz. (67th %)

Length: 28.25" (44th %)

Head: 46.4 cm (77th %)

Compare this to his stats at 26 weeks old:

Weight: 19 lbs. 1 oz. (77th %)

Length: 27" (71st %)

Head: 44 cm (57th %)

Oh, and on a different topic, I have to tell about what happened to me yesterday. I was taking Fenn for a walk (trying to keep him occupied). We were only about a block or so away from the house, on another street.... where what did I see??? An older gentleman (think of Hume Cronyn in the movie Cocoon), possibly in his eighties, was standing on the front porch of his house wearing absolutely nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist. And he apparently wasn't concerned about me walking by, because he just stood there in all his naked glory (well, naked plus a towel).

Fenn at Nine Months Old

This is Fenn at Nine Months. This is the ninth installment in the "12-month onesie" series. Just to sum up Fenn's 9th month of life... he now has 5 teeth (two upper central incisors, two lower central incisors, and the left lower lateral incisor), he went on his first boat ride, went swimming in a lake, started crawling, started pulling up to a stand, and has even started moving from the ottoman to the sofa or a toy while in the standing position. It has been a big month for our bean.

Fenn at Eight Months Old

This is Fenn at Eight Months. This is the eighth installment in the "12-month onesie" series. Check out how tight the onesie has become! And we have 4 more of these to do. (Be sure to check out the link in the right-hand margin to see ALL of his "12-month onesie" photos together.) We went to the doctor on Friday for a re-check (after his 2nd ear infection in less than a month), and Fenn weighed 20 lbs. 14.5 oz. There have been lots of big changes over the last month. Some highlights are: He holds his arms up to be picked up. It's not a big gesture yet (like indicating he wants you to pick him up). But when he sees you approaching him, he'll put his arms up to make it easier. Still not crawling yet, but he can now hold the crawl position. And he'll do the little "rocking" motion... so it's close. For now, his methods for getting around involve maneuvering around on his belly, rolling over, and scooting across the floor on his bottom. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he sleeps on his tummy now. And he loves to stand up (with assistance, of course). But over the last week, he has started trying to move his feet. So he definitely knows that's going to be the way to get where he wants to go! He sits up like an old pro now and moves from a sitting position to his tummy with ease. And when he's flat on his back, he can almost get up to the sitting position without help. If he's leaning against a pillow, he can get in the sitting position without a problem. His newest forms of communication involve the "Baa Baa" sound and shrieks/screams of joy. The kid definitely has a set of lungs on him. He is fascinated with Petey; watches him intently whenever he's in the room. Oh, whenever he sees the TV remote, he grabs for it and trys to play with it. As I mentioned way back in June, he got his left and right Lower Central Incisors shortly before he turned 6 months old. Well, last week we noticed his left Lower Lateral Incisor has broken through (Thursday, Aug. 7th). And the right one is bulging and shouldn't be too far behind. Also, his right Upper Central Incisor is just a couple of days from breaking through. We can see a little bit of white, but it hasn't broken through as of this morning (Monday). And, the left one is also bulging and shouldn't be far behind. So right now, he has 3 teeth. But he'll probably have 6 teeth within the next few weeks.

A couple of sweet things he's doing right now... When I arrive at daycare to pick him up, he'll smile as soon as he sees me. The other day, I was looking through the door (glass french doors) and he was playing on the floor with Will and Charlotte. He looked up and saw me through the glass and gave me the sweetest little smile. Another thing is when Dan is on his way home from work, he'll call to let me know he's on his way. I'll put the phone up to Fenn's ear so daddy can talk to him. He'll smile as soon as he hears his daddy's voice and then will have this serious look on his face (like he's concentrating on what daddy is saying). Then he'll smile again, pull his face away from the phone, and then look into the phone as if he's wondering how daddy got in there! I just love watching him grow! (I usually only put in one "onesie" shot, but I kind of liked this other one, too.)

Fenn at Seven Months Old

This is Fenn at Seven Months. This is the seventh installment in the "12-month onesie" series. Once again, he has been a really busy little bean. Over the past month, he has celebrated Father's Day, started a new daycare, gone swimming in a big pool for the first time, eaten "puffs" snacks for the first time, had his first "boo-boo", had his first ear infection, gone on his first plane ride, and gone on his first family vacation. He hasn't gotten any new teeth yet, but we know those two top teeth are lurking up there somewhere. He is a drooling machine these days! He gnaws on EVERYTHING he can get to his mouth and has become obsessed with his tongue. He's an old pro at sitting up now. He loves to stand up (assisted, of course). And he loves bouncing and jumping in his "race car" exercise disc and his "johnny jump-up". No real words yet, but he's definitely experimenting with different sounds. He loves looking at himself in the mirror (check back later for some cute pictures of him ~ they'll be in a different post.) And he just smiles the biggest smile when he sees a photo of himself, mommy, or daddy. One more thing... he loves to give kisses. He has to be prompted, of course. But I'll say "Give me a kiss" and then pucker up to lean into him, and he'll start leaning toward me with his mouth open. When I kiss him on his cute little mouth, I'll get a little surprise... he'll give me a little tongue action! Now where did he learn to french kiss?

I put a link (over in the right-hand margin) underneath the heading "More Photos of Fenn" to all the photos in the 12-Month Onesie series. It's fun to see them all together.

Fenn at Six Months Old

This is Fenn at Six Months. This is the sixth installment in the "12-month onesie" series. That onesie is getting tighter and tighter. We may be breaking out the crotch extenders in the next couple of months. Thank goodness it is made of stretchy fabric. Over the coming months, don't worry if he looks a little uncomfortable in it. I only put this onesie on him when it's time to take his monthly photo. He doesn't have to wear it for long. As you can see from all the recent posts, Fenn's 6th month of life has been extremely busy. And he has changed so much. He's sitting up by himself, he lunges forward to reach his toys when sitting up, he changes objects from hand to hand, he has two teeth, and he "talks" all the time. His favorite phrase these days is "Day Day DAY Day Day". But he hasn't started associating the "da da" sound with his daddy. A couple of times recently, I think we've even heard the "mmm" sound coming out of his mouth.

To sum up the last month, Fenn has rolled over several times; celebrated Mother's Day, Mommy's 40th birthday, Daddy's 44th birthday, and Mommy & Daddy's 3rd anniversary; had out-of-town visitors; been to 2 neighborhood parties; had 8 hot women in his room at one time; had his first swim; gone on his first hike; tried lots of new foods; started sitting up without assistance; and gotten his first two teeth.

Fenn at Five Months Old

This is Fenn at Five Months. This is the fifth installment in the "12-month onesie" series. I can hardly believe he is 5-months old now. Still no big events or milestones to tell about. He seems to enjoy his "tummy time" a lot more now because he's so much stronger. When his pediatrician put him on his tummy, he arched his back and held his head up high. She said he was right on schedule with where he should be. When he's on his tummy, he talks a lot and he moves his feet like he's climbing. He needs to work on his upper body strength before he's ready to get in the crawling position. He is SO close to sitting up all by himself. We know it is just a matter of time until he does. Also, we think he must be teething... at least it is beginning. He drools a lot, puts everything in his mouth, gnaws on our fingers, sometimes runs a low-grade fever, and has even started having some loose poopy diapers. (Sorry if that's too much information! Seems like we talk about poopy a lot now that we're parents.) One thing we're loving is that he doesn't seem to spit up as much now. Some days he spits up a lot, and some days he spits up just a little. Fenn eats rice cereal in the early evening now and is getting better and better at eating from a spoon. A lot of it ends up on his chin, but I just scrape it off and put it back in his mouth. I think it's time to buy one of those mats you put under their highchair! And he LOVES his bathtime. We now have his bathtub in the guest bath and bathe him in there (instead of at the kitchen sink). He sits up and kicks his feet in the water. We just dump the water over his head and he never complains. Maybe he'll be a swimmer.... he has the perfect name, Fenn.