Hailey's 1 Month

Hailey's first month of life has just flown by.  Our transition hasn't been too difficult due to the wonderful amounts of help we have from Nana and Grandma.  Jacob seems to be adjusting well to having a baby sister. He mostly ignores her but occasionally wants to "hold sister".   Unfortunately the doctor doesn't think she has been gaining quite enough weight so we are going to have to work on the eating thing for a while.  Here are Hailey's 1 month stats:

- weighed in at 7lbs 10 oz. so as I said before, I'm having to concentrate on my eating skills
- 21.5" long - I've gained .5" since birth.  Mom and Dad weren't really too sure about my birth measurement so it's hard to have an opinion about this
- I eat about 3 oz.  It's hard to really tell since most of the time I'm nursing off of Mom but when I do take a bottle it's 2-3 oz.
- During the day I still eat, maybe have some wake time, then sleep. I eat about every 2 hours. In the evenings I like to cluster feed and eat almost every hour to hour and half.
- I typically go to bed around 11pm and then sleep until around 4. Then I take a bottle and sleep until about 7:30.
- This first month Grandma or Nana have been giving me my middle of the night bottle allowing Mommy to get some solid sleep time.
- I really mostly enjoy diaper changes and baths! Mom doesn't know what to think about this since my brother hated them so much.
- I tend to fall asleep during tummy time.  I think once they will let me, I'm going to sleep on my tummy. 
- I was able to celebrate my first Thanksgiving.
- I have played with my brother, been to parks, gone to church, eaten at fun restaurants, and met lots of new friends.
- We are still waiting on my passport but are hoping it arrives soon

This whole month Hailey has been one spoiled lucky girl having tons of people around to hold her and cuddle.  Sadly, Grandma left right before her 1 month birthday but she still had Nana for a couple more weeks.  Hailey also has a great big brother who loves to hold her and show her all her toys.  She loves to lay on the jungle gym mat while Jacob shows her everything it can do. I'd say we've had a pretty good first month. 

All About Jacob: 16 months

The last couple months of Jacob's life have just flown by.  With all the changes in our life and everything we've been doing to get settled it just seems as though time is going quickly.  I can't believe my little boy is 16 months old!

Jacob has adjusted very well to living in Qatar.  Of course, he doesn't seem to care too much about where he is as long as he has Mom and Dad and gets lots of play time.  He was very excited to see his toys and his chair when we arrived.  I think whether he knows it or not, he was happy to sleep in his own big comfy bed too!

Since being in Doha we have battled two sicknesses.  The first one he brought with him from the US and was a stomach bug.  It was the first time Jacob has ever been stomach sick in his life!  I have to admit, I wasn't very good at responding quickly.  My poor boy was so uncomfortable.  The other sickness came in with the sand and he had a runny nose, and terrible cough.  When it wasn't getting any better after a week and a half I finally took him to the dr.  She gave us some medicine and and little inhaler and at last he started getting better.

When Jake turned 15 months old, I decided it was time to no longer have the pacifier with him during the day.  I just decided the paci would be for nap and bedtime only.  He really didn't have much problem adjusting.  I could tell some times were fussier than before and occasionally you could see him reaching down to try to find it!  Now he knows before he reaches for me in the morning to put his paci down in his bed.  He typically has 2 pacifiers in bed at a a time so in the morning he will suck on each one for a minute and then put them both down and reach for me. It's so cute and he's so smart!

His coordination and skills have changed drastically.  He is now running around the house and easily getting on his scooter thing and riding around the house.  His new favorite game is to stand in his little chair and walk off the edge.  Sometimes he falls, sometimes he doesn't, but either way he thinks its hysterical. He also enjoys riding his trike by standing on it!  Little daredevil.  We enjoy taking Jacob to the park and letting him run and play.  We also have a little back yard with a slide and a baby pool. 

Jacob loves watching cartoons.   We've had to really keep track of how often we let him watch just so he doesn't end up thinking he should always get to watch tv.  He loves "Tom & Jerry", "Bugs Bunny", "Daffy Duck", and "The Flintstones".  The only times we watch at home is when we need him to sit still or we want some cuddle time.  Although, it is really nice to be able to use the iPad during a long adult conversation dinner.

Jacob knows what he wants and when he wants it!  This means we have entered the stage of mega fit throwing.  It is taking us and him some time to learn how to deal with it and we still haven't fully figured it out. Other than that, he is still a super sweet loving boy.  He gives kisses and hugs and loves to sit in my lap.

The favorite foods of the moment are anything pasta, especially mac and cheese, turkey sandwiches, quesadillas, and pizza.  He isn't a fan of most meats at the moment unless they are really mixed into the food like beef lasagna.  He will eat a chicken quesadilla if the chicken is in small pieces.  Jake still eats almost all fruit and most veggies and he still eats a TON of food.  Recently the dr told me he is in the 10% in weight!  Where does all that food go?  We are now using a plate so that he learns to not throw plates of the table and he is starting to try to use a fork.  He is only successful 10% of the time but at least he tries. He currently has 12 teeth to eat all that food with!! I can't believe he has so many teeth.  He has all 4 front top and bottom and 2 molars on top and 2 on bottom.  

Bed time is typically around 9 pm.  Most nights we start with a bath and then get his pj's on and brush his teeth.  He loves trying to brush himself but I make sure to brush first then give him the toothbrush.  Micah and I take turns reading him a couple of books, rocking him, and signing to him, before laying him down for the night.  He is still a great sleeper and eventually falls asleep and stays asleep till about 8am.

Recently I haven't taken as many pictures as usual but seem to have taken more video.  So here are some links to our favorite videos of Jacob the last couple of months. 

Playing with Dad

This is How I Roll

Hide and Seek

Talker!

8 months

Jacob’s Stats:

Age: 8 months

Weight: 17 lbs. 8 oz

Length: ??

Eye Color: deep blue

Hair color: blonde

Eating Schedule: 5 oz 3 times/day, 6-8 oz morning and night. Solids at lunch and dinner

Sleeping: Jacob naps two-three times a day.  His first nap is in the morning and his long nap is from around 3:30pm-5:30pm.  Sometimes he needs one more cat-nap to get through the day happily.

Clothing: Jake is in some 6-month clothes but has started wearing his 9-month clothes as well. 

New Activities: Month 7 brought lots of changes.  Jacob became able to put himself into sitting position, started army crawling all around the house, and even trying to pull up. He has started eating solids more frequently including carrots, sweet peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, avocados, and pears.  Jacob loves to laugh and play.  He is great at playing by himself with his toys. He is still the happiest smileiest baby ever.

As I said before, pictures are getting harder and harder to come by.  He is way too interested in his sign and doesn't want to be put in his bed if its not nap time. So we just do the best we can!

This is what pictures in the bed look like now

Are we done yet?

6 months

6 months

December 16, I turned 6 months old. That's right, I've been on earth half a year. So far it's been pretty awesome. This past month I had my first Thanksgiving, traveled back to the USA, started cereal, and began practicing sitting on my own.  I also met Santa and had time to hang out with Nana and Papa. It's been a pretty great month.

Jacob’s Stats:

Age: 6 months

Weight: 16lbs

Length: 26.75"

Eye Color: deep blue

Hair color: Ash blonde

Eating Schedule: 6 oz in the morning and evening  5 oz every other

New Activities: I'm starting to sit on my own but not quite there yet. I roll all over and it's hard to keep me on a mat. I make noise a lot and love laughing at Gizmo.  I still smile all the time and am a very happy baby.  I'm starting to learn how to eat solids but I'm not very good at it yet.  I love textures and feeling them with my fingers. I particularly love rough texture and scratching my nails on them.