Eight Months

Jacob turned 8 months old on August 5th. It is hard to believe how fast he is growing up! On the 5th I attempted to get some measurements of him but I am not convinced they are accurate. If they are he did not grow at all this last month but instead SHRUNK! Haha. In any case, here is what I got: 16.2 lbs, 26.5 inches long, and a head circ of 45 cm. I believe he really weighs about 18 lbs now. We will find out in another month at his 9 month check up.

It hasn't been a very busy month for Jacob. He did start pulling himself up on things to a standing position so we lowered his crib mattress. He has since stopped doing that. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth but continues to just do the "army crawl."

He has started "talking" as well. Sounds he has mastered are "bababababa" and "dadadadada." He will occassionally throw out a "ya," "la," or "mm" sound as well.

We took Jacob to the zoo for the first time on August 2nd. At first he seemed less than impressed, then he started to like looking at the animals. I think his favorites were the fish and the bear.

We converted our old office into a toy room for him and he enjoys pulling all the books off his bookcase and all the baskets off his other bookcase. He also likes pulling all our DVDs off the shelf in the living room. I know it is a way of learning but it will be nice when that phase is over.

Not much else going on in his life right now. Enjoy a few pictures of him below.







first trip to the zoo


8 months old

Seven Month Update

Well, another month has come and passed. Unbelievable how quickly time goes now that Jacob is here. Here is a little snippet of what we've been up to the past month.

Jacob turned seven months old on July 5th. His measurements that day (taken at home, not the dr's office) were 17.2 lbs, 26.5 inches long, and a head circumference of 45.5 cm. He sure is growing!!

The list of foods he's tried is ever growing. I won't bore you all with it though. But it includes a ton more fruits and vegetables and he has even tried some chicken as well (yum!) He is now using a sippy cup, though he mostly just plays with it instead of actually drinking from it.

He continues to roll constantly but he no longer uses that to get around. He has started army crawling and getting quite good at it. He is getting faster and faster and it won't be long now before he really takes off. We're not ready for this!! He is sitting up now as well. He can't put himself in the sitting position but if we put him there he can stay there for quite awhile before he topples over. He is getting better at balancing himself too.

This last month, Jacob's Auntie Melissa and Uncle Brandon got married. Jacob did so well at the wedding and reception and looked awfully cute in the vest that Brandon's mom made for him. It matched the bridesmaid dresses :-) I was very proud of him for being such a good little guy.

We also celebrated our first Father's Day and his first 4th of July. For the 4th, we saw fireworks and went to a parade. Jacob did surprisingly well with both. We took him swimming for the first time as well. I did take a video but haven't had an opportunity to upload it yet (I don't really know what I am doing and Matt isn't home) but I will post that eventually. I thought for sure there would be screaming involved but he actually seemed to like it. He is going to be a water baby just like his dad. He was kicking his legs and trying to get the water with his hands. It was a cooler day though so we didn't stay in the pool very long. We'll have to try again soon.

We switched Jacob to cloth diapers at the end of June. We are using a brand called gDiapers. It is the first cloth diaper I have tried but I just love them. They are part cloth, part disposable. You can also make them completely cloth which we will probably do soon. We are very excited about them and he looks super cute in them.

He has started to boycott sleep which we've been told could be a sign of teething. We don't see or feel anything yet though. But it could be soon. I've been saying that for the last three months though so we aren't holding our breath!

Other than that, I don't think there is anything new in the life of Jacob. I felt like this was a big month for him but now that it is all out there, it doesn't really seem like all that much. He continues to amaze me every day.


look at how much I've grown! footprints at birth and footprints at 6 months

first time using a sippy cup

Jacob and daddy at Melissa & Brandon's wedding

Father's day

Look at me!

first time swimming

Baby's first 4th of July

This is the best way to start the day! 7 months old :-)

Puppet

Yesterday I pulled out the puppet and Jacob thought it was just the funniest thing ever. Here is a video of Matt playing with Jacob. (Don't mind Charlie barking/whining in the background. We locked him out of the room because he was so annoying. And that didn't help matters any.)

six month doctor appointment

I took Jacob for his 6 month doctor appointment this morning. He did really well.

They nurse brought me back and asked the usual questions about how he is doing and then took his measurements. He weighed in at 17 lbs even and was 26 inches long. His head circumference was 44 cm. He is the 25th percentile for length, 45th for weight, and 50th for head.

Then Dr. Wynalda came in and we talked about his eating habits. He said we should start feeding him two to three meals a day of solids. Meals can consist of as much or as little as Jacob wants so even when he only takes a few bites we can count that as a meal. He also said we can introduce meats to his diet now. I think we will stick with just the cereals, fruits, and vegetables for awhile longer though, until he has tried more of a variety of them. We also got the go ahead to start giving him water. He was very happy that I wanted to give him water and not juice. He said we didn't need to be starting any bad habits So we will probably introduce him to his sippy cup soon. I can't wait, as he is just in love with cups.

Then Dr. Wynalda examined him. He couldn't believe how calm and happy Jacob was. He said most babies are squawking at him by that point in time. Jacob just smiled and played with the little bracelet he gave him to distract him. He said he looked great and was doing really well. He had him sit up supported and pass the bracelet from hand to hand to make sure he was meeting all the physical developments that he was supposed to -- and he is!

After that, the nurse came back in and he got his vaccines. He got the rotovirus which he drank - and proceeded to spit up a good deal of it. Then he got three pokes in his legs. They were all the same ones he has had before at 2 months and at 4 months. He cried/fussed for MAYBE a minute when it happened and then he was back to smiling. When I went to check out the lady at the desk saw he was 6 months and asked me if he had shots. She couldn't believe that he had because of how happy he was! What a trooper.

We go back again on September 9th, at 9 months. He doesn't have to have any shots at that appointment


on our way out the door


getting weighed


17 lbs


getting his head measured

Jacob - 6 months

Hello all, I hope you are doing well. It's hard to believe that it's been half a year since Jacob came into our lives. The time is passing by so quickly! Here is a little update on what we've been up to the past month.

Jacob is currently 17.4 lbs and 26 inches long. He will go to the doctor for his 6 month check up on Wednesday, June 10th.

He's been doing really well with taking solids now. He opens his mouth for the spoon and gets a lot more of the food in his mouth now. So far he's had: rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, peas, prunes, green beans, and peaches. Prunes and peaches have been his favorite so far. He enjoys playing with his spoons and "helping" me put them into his mouth. He also has a fascination with cups. It is hard to drink anything near him because he is always trying to pull cups or pop cans out of our hands. We will probably introduce him to a sippy cup soon.

I mentioned in the last update that he had found his feet but they had yet to make it into his mouth. Later that day I found them in his mouth. He spent a couple of weeks doing this but is now mostly back to just hanging on to them. His fingers, though, are a different story! He continues to "talk" quite frequently. He also likes to "sing opera" as we call it. He is certainly testing out his sounds and his voice.

He has gone in a Johnny Jump Up for the first time (he doesn't quite understand what to do in there yet) and he has gone on the swings for the first time. He liked the swings so much that we bought him one for our backyard. He also went on his very first bike ride. We also bought him a pair of baby sunglasses. He looks like a cool little guy in them.

As far as milestones go, we have only reached one new one this past month. Just today he mastered rolling from his back to his belly. He did this for the first time overnight. I happened to check on him in the monitor in the middle of the night and saw he was on his stomach so we missed his first time rolling. I flipped him back over and he was back on his stomach when I woke him up this morning. He spent the morning rolling back and forth on the living room floor. I think he's pretty pleased with himself. No signs of teeth yet but I bet it won't be too much longer. Sitting up shouldn't be too much longer now either. He can sit unsupported for a couple of seconds at a time before he falls to one side. I can't believe how big he is getting!

Jacob - 5 months old

Hello all, it's that time again. I can't believe another month has come and gone and my sweet baby boy is now 5 months old! His unofficial measurements this month were 17 lbs and 25 inches long. His head circ was 43 cm.

As I mentioned in our last update, Jacob started on some solids. So far he has tried rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and peas. He has yet to get the hang of eating from a spoon. He usually looks surprised when we try to feed him and about 95% of his food ends up back on his bib.

He's been "talking" like crazy lately and he has learned to blow raspberries so he does that quite frequently.

He celebrated his first Easter and picked up a bug from a girl at church. He spent about two weeks with a cough and a few days with a nasty cold. He is feeling much better now though. Our little trooper was smiling the whole time!!

He also stayed the night away from mom & dad for the first time. He stayed at Grandma Kathy & Grandpa Jim's while we went to a wedding in Detroit. He did very well and slept the whole night for them.

He is very close to being able to roll from his back to his front and he has pretty much mastered rolling front to back. (Tummy time is officially out) We also bought him a little seat so he can practice sitting up. He LOVES to practice sitting and standing. His legs are very strong and with a little help in the beginning he can pull himself up from a sitting to a standing position. He has discovered his feet which are often in his hands now. He has yet to stick them in his mouth though! (I'm not sure with his big belly he could bend that much)

Jacob - 4 months old

Jacob turned 4 months old on April 5th. He went to the Dr on the 8th and he weighed in at 15 lbs 10 oz (putting him in the 60th percentile for weight), 24.5 inches (40th percentile) with a head circumference of 42 cm (40th percentile). He also received his second set of vaccinations at the appointment and did well with those. He goes back to see the doctor when he is 6 months old.

This last month has been busy as far as new developments have gone. Jacob is now reaching for and holding objects (rattles, small toys, burp cloths, etc) He reaches for everything in sight! He also developed object permanence which means he realizes that we have left. This caused him to start waking up again in the middle of the night. Luckily, our pediatrician had warned us this would happen so we were ready for it! We took that opportunity to unswaddle him at night and do a little "sleep training" with him. It took 3 days but he is back to sleeping through the night now -- unswaddled!

But probably the most exciting new development this last month has been laughing. He doesn't do it often but we happened to catch his first time on video! It is adorable. We can't wait until he laughs more often.

Since I am writing late I will tell you a little bit about what we have been doing since he turned 4 months. This will probably be repeated in the next email (sorry!) We have started him on rice cereal. Just tastes for now. He had his first taste on Friday and spit it all back out. We then gave him a bottle of rice milk last night which he spit up the entire bottle. I believe he just drank it too fast though. We will be giving him some sweet potatoes soon as well, I have already made some to freeze. We were given the go ahead to try both rice and oat cereal, as well as fruits and veggies. We plan to take it very slow though. He still will be receiving all of his calories from me, just having tastes here and there to prepare him for meals at about 6 months. We are excited!