Life with Cam: 10 months

Gah, this squishy smiley guy has brought so much fun (and chaos to your lives) I cannot believe he has only been a part of our family for 10 mos...how did we ever live without him?

This last month FLEW by. I cannot believe we are only 2 short months away from celebrating this big guys first birthday. Longest, fastest year of our lives ;) 

I have no idea how much he weighs now since we won't have a doctor's appointment until he is one, but the last time I stepped on the scale with him he was getting close to 20lbs. He has definitely chunked up this month...his cheeks and thighs are bearing the brunt of his extra quarantine pounds :) 

We are still in size 3 diapers and using up the last of what I purchased. I will be buying size 4 when we run out. He is wearing 9-12 month clothes depending on the brand. 

We officially had our last nursing session this last month and I have to say...I am not all that sad about it. He was a great nurser in the beginning and it came very easily to both of us, but as he became more aware and mobile his interest waned. It was frustrating to say the least...At the beginning of this month I was only nursing him first thing in the morning, before nap, and bed and then giving him bottles the rest of the time....I slowly weaned down to morning/night and then night...and then poof mama is a free woman ;) He is still getting pumped breast milk for one bottle a day and then formula for the rest. I made it a year + with Benny and just assumed I would do the same with Cam, but neither one of us was too excited about it so this was the best decision. 

His interest in nursing and bottles may be lackluster, but this kid LOVES his food. He eats anything and everything we put in front of him...even bell peppers and onions. His favorites include strawberries and cucumbers...but he is not all that picky. 

We have worked REALLY hard on pushing this kids wake time to 6AM or later...and I am happy to say we have made some progress. 6AM is still far too early in my opinion, but it's better than 5AM...so I suppose we will take it. He goes to bed around 7 and is usually up around 6...and luckily he is waking up a little happier these days...so even if it is early it's not a horrific cry ;) 

Naps have been pretty consistent. He goes down around 9/9:30 and sleeps till about 11 and then goes back down again around 1:30/2 until 3:30/4. We have random days where his naps are shorter or longer or a little bit different, but being stuck at home has helped us keep a pretty consistent schedule.

He has 4 pearly whites and I have to say the top 2 didn't seem to bother him as much as the bottom 2....which I am grateful for. 

He was a much happier and more content baby this month...thank goodness. He loves his big brother, being outside, crawling on EVERYTHING, and pulling things over on himself. He is a wild one, and looking away for just one second is never a good idea :)  He is still a huge fan of his Papa and each week we get together for dinner and Cam cannot keep his eyes off of him. My dad loves this of course and he also loves that Cam is tolerant of his picking and poking at him. 

He isn't walking yet, but it is definitely not far off. This kids needs and wants to move, move, move. 

He HATES...I mean HATES having his diaper changed...especially in his room on the changing table. He will scream and cry and wriggle around trying to get away. I have to change his diaper downstairs and give him a toy to keep him busy otherwise it's a frustrating venture for both of us.

Overall it's been a much happier month for all of us...he is still so very different than his happy go lucky always content big brother...but that is the beauty of life...everyone is different...and while he has been a little harder, his personality no doubt brings a smile to all of our faces and adds so much to our family. We sure do love this little guy so much. 

Life with Cam: 9 months

This month's picture was an adventure, to say the least. I usually take at least 100 photos trying to capture a good one...but after just 3 photos this smart boy discovered that the letters come off of the letter board. I am not quite sure how I am going to successfully get photos for the next 3 months 

It is insane to me that we are 3/4 of the way to 1 year with this guy. I feel like the last 9 months have simultaneously dragged on forever and gone by in the blink of an eye. It's been a chaotic year for our little family...Cam's first year will definitely be one to remember. 

Our little 5lb 5oz little guy is now weighing in at 16 lbs 6 oz and is in the 5th % for weight...which doesn't seem all that impressive, but when he was below the 1st % for several months, he is HUGE ;) He had a major growth spurt when it came to height and went from the 9th % at his 6 mo check up to the 37th % 

He is still wearing size 3 diapers and can fit into some 6 month outfits, but they are a little bit short. He is most comfortable in 6-9 mo and quickly filling out his 9 mo onsies. 

Eating hasn't changed much...he still isn't super interested in nursing, and I am continuing to nurse him in the morning, before afternoon nap, and before bed...and he gets a pumped bottle and a formula bottle. He doesn't always finish all 5-6 oz of his bottle, but he makes up for those lost calories with table foods. He is a BIG fan of food and prefers the stuff he can feed himself. Strawberries are probably his very favorite...but honestly, he eats anything and everything so I can't say he has a favorite. 

He loves snacking on puffs and his teething crackers...but would prefer Ritz crackers to anything else. We have started giving him a water bottle (he likes big bros Camelbak) and while he can get the water out, he spits most of it out. 

Sleep is pretty much the same. He is sleeping through the night, but waking up MUCH earlier in the morning than I would prefer...we are talking 5:30/6:00. I am already up, since I get up early to workout and have some "me" time before the boys wake up...so it's not a huge issue...it just makes for a cranky baby because he is super tired before his morning nap. I do my best to push him to 8:30/9 for the morning nap so I can sync up the boys afternoon naps and so I can end that second nap around 3/3:30. I have tried lots of different things to try and get him to sleep longer, but it just looks like he is an early riser. I have tried leaving him, hoping he will go back to sleep or just chill until I am done with my workout, but he is a screamer and that ear piercing scream is far from relaxing. He wakes up in the mornings and from both naps this way...and it's a delight ;) 

Naps have been hit or miss the last few weeks. He was napping 1 1/2-2 hours in the morning and afternoon, but the last few weeks he has been taking super short morning naps (45 mins) and afternoons have been an hour or so. It has made for a fussy/whiny baby and an exhausted mama. 

We thought he was teething the last few weeks because he was drooling a lot, chewing on things, had a fever, and was super fussy...but we have yet to see any new teeth. 

He is a big fan of his big brother and loves to wrestle and roll around on the ground with him. He loves pulling up on anything and everything and his favorite past-time is getting into things he shouldn't be messing with ;) He is VERY quick and VERY busy. We had to buy a cage (baby playpen) for his safety and our sanity. He does NOT like being caged.

This month was kind of a rough one as far as things go. He wasn't nearly as happy and easy going as usual. He wanted to be held a lot, but then when we picked him up he immediately wanted put down. I couldn't really find anything that he enjoyed doing...the only time he was settled and content was when we were in the car or stroller...so needless to say we went on a lot of walks/runs and car rides. 

He is trying very hard to keep up with big brother so he is crawling like crazy, pulling up on everything, transferring himself from one object to another, and taking steps (while holding on) I feel like it will be no time before he is walking. 

He isn't a big fan of books...which breaks my heart. We have tried getting into a routine of reading to him at night before bed and all he does is squirm around and try to climb out of our laps so he can get down and explore....this is so night and day from Benny....who still wants to sit in my lap and read for hours. 

It's so crazy how different two kiddos can be...and how different the experience of their first year has been for me. I have found that while I love baby snugs...I am not super crazy about the baby stage. I find myself not wanting to wish away time...but really looking forward to seeing who he becomes as he grows. I said it all the time with Benny...but each new stage/phase was always my favorite. I love seeing them grow up, learn new things, and watch their sweet little relationship grow. So, while I am sad that time is going so quickly...I find myself so excited for these next ages/phases to come.