28 Months

He can count to ten on his own and sing his ABCs.  He's counted all ten of our fingers without missing any numbers but he definitely doesn't have a 100% accuracy rate when it comes to counting most things.  He's getting there, though!

He recognizes and can name a few letters:  W, T, O, P, C (totally random, I know)

He consistently knows the colors green, red, blue, orange, grey, black, and white.  It's really just been in the last week or two that he's finally "getting" it.  He still struggles with yellow.

His favorites things lately are running laps with Daddy when he gets home, playing with the Lego blocks he got for Christmas, playing with his train table from us and train set from David, reading books, playing hide-and-seek, watching Super Why, playing with his stuffed animals (dog he named Rocko, polar bear, and panda bear), and playing with friends and family.

His sleeping is much less consistent lately.  Starting around Thanksgiving and until the beginning of the year he was waking up 2-3 times every night and coming into our room.  He's finally getting better but it took a LOT of work, tears (mostly on his part), and sitting outside his door in the middle of the night.  Most nights now he only gets up once and goes right back to sleep when we walk him back to his room and he usually sleeps from 8 to 6:15.  His naps are anywhere from 1 hr 15 mins to 1 hr 45 mins.

West Conversations:

I think the biggest change the past few months has been in how much he's talking.  We have so many back and forth conversations and he's using lots of expressions.  It's so fun!  Here's a sample of some of the things he's said lately... I think they paint a better picture than any additional explanation I can give.  (Note the attitude he's developed lately... definitely something we're working on!)

Kayla:  West, how are you feeling?
West:  Very well.

West:  Mommy, play in my rice tub with me.
Kayla:  Sorry babe, Mommy can't right now.  I'm working on the computer.
West:  Sorry, Mommy, but you have to.

West, in response to being told to stop doing something:  You don't tell me that.
Kayla:  I am the mommy and I CAN tell you to stop doing that.  You have to follow directions.
West, in the most serious and firm voice while shaking his finger at me:  You are NOT the mommy.

West, completely out of the blue:  I do not have a big attitude.
(Can you tell he hears that lot?)

West, after barely getting "hurt":  Ouch.  I got hurt.  A brownie will make me feel better.
Kayla, while laughing:  Oh really?  Can mommy's kiss make you feel better?
West:  No, mommy's kiss can't make me feel better.  Only a brownie can make me feel better.

Kayla, as we're driving to a friend's house:  Jones and Jacelyn will be there.
West:  And a cookie?
Kayla:  No, I don't think they have any cookies.
West:  Well, you think about it.

Kayla:  How about we put your pants on, West?
West:  How about, no.

Kayla:  West, stop arguing with Mommy.
West:  I'm not arguing with Mommy!
(Seriously kid?)

West: Sorry Charlie

West:  Oopsy daisy

West, while eating some animal crackers:  This one looks like a bear.  Bears say "roar!".  And dinosaurs say "roar."  And lions say "roar."  And Papa says "roar."  Nooooo, Papa talks.

West, while picking out a book before nap:  Hmm, let me try to think about what is my favorite..."

West, crawling into bed with us one morning:  Hi guys.  I love you guys sooooo much.

West:  Mommy, can you please play blocks with me?  It would make me soooo happy if you play blocks with me right now.  Please??
(I kid you not.  The kid has got the adorable-and-hard-to-say-no-to begging down pat.)


Here are some pictures from a walk we went on earlier this month.  I'm making a renewed effort to take more pictures of our family and day-to-day activities since I was slacking horribly on that at the end of last year.  I'm making it a goal to get my camera out at least weekly... of course that doesn't mean I'll post them weekly!  ;)

Practicing his big brother responsibilities

 I asked his to stop running and smile at the camera.  This is what I got of course.

 And he was off again in a flash.

 Exhausted little boy needed a quick break.

22 Months!

SUCH A BIG BOY!

He's gone through another little growth spurt and now weighs in at 25 pounds!

In the last couple months he's gotten 6 new teeth - 4 cuspids/canines and 2 of his two-year molars.  Can't believe that he only has two more baby teeth left to come in!

He's officially in a big boy bed!!  After crawling out of his crib repeatedly mid-June, we took the front off his crib so it was a toddler bed, then put a full mattress down on the floor, and now the full mattress is up on the box springs with no rail.  I'm not going to sugar-coat it - that first week was ROUGH.  What normally took 10 mins for him to fall asleep for a nap took 1-2 hours.  But we finally got through that tough transition and now he's doing great with it!  Brad and I love laying in there with him and having little conversations before he goes to bed.  It's awesome.

He's a pro at jumping with both feet off the ground and landing on his feet.  He can also do front rolls/somersaults.

Pretty soon I imagine we're going to give potty training a real shot.  We have been putting it off because of the big transition to a big boy bed and with our upcoming vacation (both of which would likely set him back if we had already started), besides the fact that I just know it's going to be a lot of work and I don't want to set ourselves up for failure if we try it too soon.  But we're thinking he's ready because he always tells us when he goes #2, if he's diaper-less he'll say he has to go potty and hold it until we can get him there, and he's really hated wearing diapers lately.

SOME OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS

He still loves counting, but now his thing is to repeat "4, 5, 6" over and over.  It drives Brad crazy!!  Despite Brad's best efforts, West refuses to start with the number 1.  Brad will ask West to say "one" and West will say "2, 3, 4, 5, 6" but absolutely will not start with 1.

He regularly says 4 word sentences now and it just blows us away that we can have back-and-forth conversations with him (toddler-style, of course - haha) and he'll recap parts of his day or tell us things he wants to do.  For example, he'll tell us he wants to "ride four-wheeler with Grandpa" or "sit David's lap on airplane" (all of course in his language that most people wouldn't understand).

He uses adjectives a lot more to describe things.  He calls things silly, fun, loud, and even gross.  For example, he tried some lettuce today and spit it out and said "gross," and the other day he was talking about riding a train and said it was "fun" and went through a "dark tunnel."

He tells himself "gee jah" (good job) all the time, whether it's after picking up toys or helping us out in some way or successfully climbing up onto our bed.  The funniest is when he tells himself good job after something we do not want him doing or he shouldn't do... he'll do it and tell himself good job and then walk off with a smile on his face (for instance, after jumping on Brad's head).  :)

He's getting some basic manners down and it's adorable.  He regularly says "please" and "thank you" without us prompting him (most of the time), when he bumps into us he says "sorry", when he says goodbye to people he says "Have a good day!" and he even says "excuse you" when trying to get around or passing someone.  Yes, you read that right, he says "excuse you" instead of "excuse me" and it's so embarrassing!  I'm always working on it with him because it sounds so rude when we're in a store passing someone and he says "excuse you" to them!!  And yes, that has happened at least a dozen times I'd say!  The best I can get him to do at this point is say "excuse-you me" which is at least a little better.  Funny kid.

He's also getting more opinionated with what he does and doesn't want.  For instance, if I'm singing a song he'll say "No Mommy, no mommy" until I stop.  Or when we're getting him out of his car seat he'll tell us to "scoot back" so we can get out of the car by himself.

He has to tell anyone he sees exactly what he's doing or what he has, and he'll keep repeating it until they acknowledge what he's saying.  Whether it's a friend at our house and he brings 15 different toys up to her and tells her what each of them is, or it's the check-out lady at Target and he's telling her that he has a dump truck.

He has freckles!  He's actually had them for several months, but I don't think I've ever mentioned it on the blog.  They're so freaking cute.  Seriously.

His favorite things are pretty much the same - being outside, reading books, playing in water (whether it's the hose, sink, or bath), and anything related to dirt or trains.  He also loves playing with his buddies Ti-Mace [that's Titus and Mace], Eye-is [Silas and Atticus], baby Yi [Elias], Parpeh [Parker], Jah [Jack], Jones, Yuke [Luke], Dayee ["uncle" David], Marma Dee, Papa Dohnie, Papaw Tenny, and our new retired neighbors Steve and Linda, just to name a few.  :)  He's pretty social though, and becomes fast friends with pretty much everyone he meets.

****

I've been slacking big time on taking pictures of our family.  :(  Here are some pics from the last day the crib was in his room and we got the full size mattress.

This was how he slept for almost a week - the front of his crib taken off so it was a toddler bed, and couch cushions on the floor.  The cushions weren't so much because we were worried about him getting hurt, but more because we didn't want him rolling off from such a large drop and waking up.  

Not only was it his last day with the crib, but also with his chair.  I was embarrassingly emotional about it because of all the sweet snuggles and memories we've had in that chair!

Showing off his monkey in front of his new big boy bed!  For the first few days the mattress was on the floor, then we moved it up on the box springs.  

I found the most perfect quilt at T.J. Maxx that matched the navy and green color scheme I was going for.  I put it on for the pics but it hasn't been on since then.  :)  Since it's summer, a sheet is all he needs!

Obviously one of the first things you need to do when you get a big boy bed is to start rearranging the pillows with your teeth.  Duh.

 Can you see his freckles here?

Here's the same shot zoomed in. Can you see them now? He's got about a dozen or so on his face and some on his arms as well. :)

20.5 Months!

Well, we're way behind on monthly updates but here's what West has been up to lately.  :)

We've lost count on the words he can say, but I'd guess well over 200.  He finally started saying two-word sentences this last month or two and has really taken off.  You can tell it just clicked - now he'll say "Mommy Dada Papa Grandma mower" all in one breath (this is usually what he says he wants to thank God for when we pray.  Yep, gotta get that mower in there.).  It's so fun because we feel like we are really having conversations with him lately!  Our baby is growing up!

After his wake-up time had slowly inched its way all the back to 6:15am and he was averaging about 2 hours less sleep per day than he was getting just a few months ago (from 7-7 and 1.5 hr nap to 8-6:15 and still only 1.5 hr nap) we decided to hang some blankets over his windows until I can make some blackout curtains.  (Hey, when you're desperate for your toddler to sleep longer, you'll do just about anything!).  We don't know why we didn't do it sooner.  The first week of having them up he was sleeping from 8 until 7:30 or 8!!  And bonus, his naps were 2-3 hours!  I think he had a lot of sleep to catch up on.  This week I think he's getting evened back out, sleeping from 8 to 7 and 2+ hour naps usually.  We'll take it!

We're getting him used to the potty and it's going really well.  He's peed in it several times now and has even gone #2 a couple times.  We're not really training him yet (definitely don't think he's got the bladder control down yet), it's just something he enjoys doing so we try it out a couple times a day or whenever he asks.

He has really been so much fun - it's been awesome seeing his personality emerge more with each passing day.  He's such a little character!  And he's really been pretty easy on us too, as far as disciplining and throwing fits and such.  Several months back were rough in that department - like we didn't want to do anything fun with him because he'd want to do it a million times and have a meltdown if he didn't get to - but it's definitely been easier.  We can reason with him better, give him choices on things, and he typically follows directions the first time we ask (this is always a work in progress but we see SO much improvement).  God just knew we needed a little breather and encouragement before we hit the terrible twos!  ;)

His favorite things lately:
Dirt
Any and all machines that do anything with dirt (which is convenient for him since we typically pass through 3 work zones when we drive to Liberty - one way!)
Mowers
Reading books - especially books about "dirt" or "ashee" (translated = "machines")
Sesame Street and Dinosaur Train
Spotting airplanes in the sky
Birds
Golf
Babies
Being outside (as if you didn't notice the theme already going there!  His only major meltdowns are when we bring him in from outside.)

Funny things he's been doing:
He LOVES holding babies and will wrap up anything resembling a baby (even a plastic dinosaur) in a blanket and hold it on his lap.  He started doing this after holding one of the babies in our small group.  It's absolutely precious.

He'll jump on us or tackle us and then immediately ask "alrigh? alrigh?" (translated = "are you alright?").  Then he'll do it again.  And again.  ;)

He knows what he wants and now that he has the vocabulary, he'll tell you what it is.  (E.g. "Sit, read" as he tosses a book on me and climbs on my lap while I'm working on the computer).  We love that about him, but we're working on teaching him how to wait for things and that sometimes he just can't have what he wants.

About a month ago he learned the word "play" and it is probably one of the cuter and more heartbreaking words he says.  Cute when it's the very first word he says when he wakes up in the morning... heartbreaking when it's bedtime and he has to go "nigh nigh" or when Dad is leaving for "wohk".  The way he says it even is especially cute/heartbreaking - he turns a one-syllable word into 3 syllables, really dragging out the plaa-aa-aay with a soft, high-pitched plead to it.

When Daddy gets home at night he hits this crazy hyper stage that I very rarely see during the day.  It's like he saves up all this energy for his limited time with his dad so that he can go ALL OUT.  I've heard this same thing from so many other families, but it's still just so fun to see it happen every evening in our house.

He loves 'counting' things.  He usually just repeats 2, 4, and 6 while he's counting - just gotta work on those odd numbers now!

The first time he really tried jumping with both feet off the ground he landed on his bottom and we all laughed.  Well, you can imagine that now he thinks that it's just hilarious to jump up and land smack on his bottom every time.  Good thing his tailbone is still rubbery!!

All of these pics were taken on his 20 month birthday while he was telling me some big stories.  :)

One and a Half!!

Last Thursday our little guy turned 18 months old!  Crazy!  He is such a blast and is always cracking us up.  Some things are so much easier (like eating and being on such a predictable routine) and some things are getting more challenging (like him throwing fits and us learning the most effective way of disciplining him), but it's all part of this awesome journey.  :)

Always Learning Something New

He was really slow to start talking - only saying a couple words when he turned one and only gaining a couple words a month for a while after that - but his language has really taken off these last couple months.  He says about 70 words now and can make the noises for a sheep, cat, horse, cow, duck, snake, bee, lion, monkey, and bird.  Besides thank you and all done, he isn't combining two words yet but we're sure it'll happen soon.

Our Quirky Little Guy

He's still a huge climber and he loves jumping from the couch to the ottoman and back. 

When he gets mad about something he runs to the other side of the room and slams his hands into the wall.  It's actually kinda hard not to laugh.  ;)  He also covers his mouth with his hands when he's hurt or upset and it's absolutely heart-breaking and adorable at the same time.

He's obsessed with the washing machine ("ash ee") and asks multiple times a day for me to hold him up so he can look inside it, especially when I'm doing a load of laundry.  Last week we had to take our big comforter to the laundromat to use the commercial front loading washer and he was in heaven getting to see all the cycles through its glass door!  

Reading is still one of his favorite things.  He still brings a book and blanket over and makes himself comfortable in your lap, no matter what you're doing.  His favorite book right now is "Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse!" that he recently got from Grandma Dee and Papa Johnie and he claps every time we get to the last page.  

He hollers "Mommy, Mommy" whenever he's looking for me in the house, and then I holler back "Weston, Weston" and he just giggles and hollers my name some more and then I holler is, and so on.  It sounds weird but it's one of those little things that make me smile and that I don't want to forget.

He loves spotting dogs, cats, birds, trucks, and school buses from the windows and car.

He can close doors now by pulling them closed with the door knob.  He also locks them, which has led to him being locked in rooms a couple times now.  Thankfully the house came with a little pin thing on top of each door frame to unlock the doors.  :)

He pretends to sleep by snoring and laying still (though he keeps his eyes open) and then he'll pop up and "wake up."  

Growing!

West had his 18 mo check up yesterday and the dr said he looks great.  He is 32 inches tall (25-50th percentile - same as the last couple appts) and weighs 22 lbs 12 oz (25-50th percentile, which is a jump from last time!).  It was so awesome to see that he's in a new percentile range.  At his smallest, which was about a year ago, he was down to the 5th percentile, and he's just been slowly but surely climbing the charts since then.  It's taken a lot of time and patience but it's so relieving to have those rough days behind us! 

His favorite foods are waffles (with butter, yogurt, or cream cheese), Grapenuts, all types of berries, apples with peanut butter, yogurt, corn, green beans, carrots, pasta, black bean and cheese quesadillas, pretzels, Goldfish, and Spaghettios with meat balls.  He eats best at breakfast and lunch but usually not so great at dinner, though I hear that's pretty usual for a toddler.  Not only is he eating better, but he's also increasingly open to trying new things.  We can't wait for summer when fresh produce will be cheaper and we can start grilling out again!  He loves his milk and typically drinks 24-30 oz a day.  I talked to his dr about cutting back on milk but she said that as long as he doesn't often drink more than 32 oz a day, he should be ok and that whatever we're doing seems to be working for him to gain weight so keep at it.  

For the most part he's wearing size 18 mo shirts and 12 mo pants (and some of those are still big around his itty bitty waist).  He's now in size 4 off-brand diapers during the day and size 5 Pampers Baby Dry diapers at night, but he's soaking through those most nights so we're going to have to try some heavier duty overnight diapers and hope that helps.  

Ever since he went down to one nap a day (maybe when he was 13 months??) he would sleep from about 7pm-7am and take about an 1.5 hr nap.  Just last week he started waking up earlier.  We held our breath and hoped the time change would straighten it out or that maybe he was waking up hungry because he had a  little stomach bug for a few days.  It's hard to say if this week has been better since he's had some soaked diapers that may have been the culprit, so we'll see.  I think his schedule will also change a bit because we'll probably be keeping him up a little later now that since it's light out so late.  We're hoping he'll either sleep in a bit (fat chance since he's pretty much always woken up a 7) or nap a little longer to make up for it.


Weston John, we love the joy you take in being a big helper and love how adventurous you are.  You think you're a big boy and that you can do all the things that we can and there's no slowing you down, even when we want to.  ;)  Your smile, kisses, and pats on our backs while giving us hugs melt our hearts.  We love you to pieces and thank God for you daily!!

16 months!

He can say dada, mama, dog, cat, up, done, hot, amen, no, diaper, hi, shoes, and he's started saying milk, more, bath, book, and TV (yes, we are quite ashamed of this one... we only have it on for not even an hour a day during the week but he always wants it on, and will even say TV, point to it, and then get the remote to try to turn it on!). Of course we're probably the only ones who can understand most of those words when he "says" them. :)

He really understand the word "no" and says it all the time when he doesn't want something.  It started out so cute but I can tell it may get old very quickly... like when we're trying to get him to eat something... ;)

Some of his favorite things are playing out at his sand table (on cold days we just take our little space heater out there and we're warm enough with sweatshirts - it's great to still be able to get "out!"), playing with all his new toys from Christmas (guitar, Leap Frog learning laptop, remote, truck, Sock-Monkey-in-a-box, tractor, and piano (they are seriously all hits!!)), coloring, reading books (when we picked him up from the nursery after church on Sun they said he just wanted to sit and read the whole time!), getting stuff in and out of the pantry, playing with Dad, and "helping" Mom out with whatever I'm doing.

He also loves brushing his teeth - he'll climb up onto the toilet (seat down, of course), grab his toothbrush from its cup and set it on the counter, then grab his toothpaste and pretend to squeeze it onto to the brush, and then brush his teeth.  He wants to do this every time we go in the bathroom.

He imitates us all the time, whether it's our laughing or excitement or even our coughing and sneezing.  He'll actually "sneeze" into tissues and "wipe" his nose.  He's also learned to say "oh man" while covering his mouth - he does it when he's unhappy about something (like when I'm changing his diaper) or sometimes when he's just being silly.

His favorite foods are Grapenuts, yogurt (both by itself and with granola), apples, bananas, carrots with hummus, crackers with peanut butter, and spaghettios.  He'll finally eat a couple bites of chicken every once in awhile now, which is a huge achievement!!  I feel like we really had a breakthrough this month with his eating - he's trying more things instead of completely refusing something if it's new.  He's still hit or miss in that one day he'll like something and the next day he won't, or one day he'll eat really well and the next day only want crackers, but I imagine that's just part of toddlerhood.  :)

He uses both a fork and spoon really well.

We're really struggling right now with him throwing everything.  As in, chucking his new keyboard across the room, throwing his fork down off his high chair... basically throwing as hard as possible anything he can lift.  We understand it's got to be a hard concept for him to grasp - he can throw a ball and we applaud that but then he can't throw his book?? - but we think he's smart enough to start learning.

His schedule is pretty much the same as it was in his 15 month post (which you can read here).

His receptive language and thought process just blow us away sometimes and remind us that he really is getting older!  A few funny stories to illustrate that point:

When Brad was taking a shower the other morning, immediately after he turned off the water the shower door started to open. When he looked down, West was standing there opening the door and handed him a shower towel. Apparently he had gone in our closet, picked out a shower towel, and then waited for him to turn off the water to come hand it to him.

We started using a time out chair a few days ago and he already puts himself "in timeout" for things he knows he shouldn't do (like throwing toys he shouldn't) before I have a chance to do it.  

The other day a ball rolled under our car in the garage when we were out playing and instead of trying to reach under to get it, he walked across the garage, got the broom, and went back over to the car to try to get it out with the broom, all because he had seen me do that once the week before!  

That same day when we were out in the garage I pulled out one of our fold up outdoor chairs (you know, those red and black ones with the cupholders...) to sit in, as opposed to the bench by his sand table.  As soon as I sat down he walked over to me, pulled my hand so I'd stand up, and then proceeded to crawl up into it himself!  Oh, and he didn't stop there... he then proceeded to ask for his milk and when I gave it to him he set it in the cupholder and just lounged back!  

He's really getting more hilarious each day, and while some things are SO much easier than this time last year (i.e. eating, schedule, etc) there are always new challenges (like actually raising him to be polite and follow directions and not have meltdowns when we're grocery shopping!).  All in all, though, I think we'll keep him. :)

The many faces of West... taken on his 16 mo bday

15 months!

New things and fun quirks:
He can say dada, mama, dog (dah), cat (at), up (ah), done, hot (ot), amen (ahmee), no (na na na while he's shaking his head), diaper (dita), hi, and shoes (shehs).

He still signs for more, milk, eat, and all done.

Goes 'ahh' after taking a drink of milk and 'mmm' after eating food.

Can point to his nose, chin, mouth, eyes, hair, and belly.

He's obsessed with opening and closing doors, so much so that he evens wants us to lift him up to the doorknob so he can pull them closed when we go from room to room.

He sometimes answers our questions by nodding or shaking his head.

He loves grabbing our hands and pulling us all over the place.

He gives kisses.

He loves playing outside, talking on the phone, reading books, coloring, spinning in circles, climbing on anything and everything, and running and playing with us (especially peek a boo and chase)

His schedule:
He's been on just one nap a day for a couple months now and is doing great.  He wakes up at about 7 and we have breakfast first thing, then a snack at about 9:30 or 10, lunch at 12, and then nap at about 1.  He naps anywhere from 1 hr 15 mins to 2 hrs.  We eat dinner when Brad gets home at 6 and then he goes to bed at 7.

His eating:
So everyone who knows Brad and me will laugh when we say this - but man our kid is a picky eater!  He's had some ups and downs in the last two months - one stretch where he'll hardly eat anything followed by a few days where he wants to eat all day.  He's also had a few different bugs so we're sure that affected his appetite.  We are just trying to go with the flow and not get too worked up when he's not eating as well as we want (though I still take him to get weighed once a month).  Some things that were favorites before he'll hardly touch now, like cheese, pastas, and chili.  Some of his favorites now are bananas, yogurt (plain or greek), any sort of crackers, toast, peanut butter sandwiches, grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, green beans, pinto beans with cheese, and raisins.

His growth:
He now has 12 teeth all the way in!  The last of his four "first" molars first showed up just over a month ago actually, but they've been slow on coming all the way in so it was a rough few weeks.  Hopefully we'll catch a little break before the next round.

He had his 15 mo appt today.  He weighs 20 lbs 10 oz (right under the 25th percentile) and is 30 3/4 in tall (25-50th percentile).  He screened just at a 2 yr old level.  He had to get 4 shots. :(  His doctor says he looks great!

13 months! (just 2.5 weeks late...)

So this is SUPER late, but I actually wrote 90% of it before and a couple days after he turned 13 months, I just never finished it.  So now I'm finishing it, but only writing things he did at his 13 mo birthday.  :)

What he's Learned and Funny Quirks:
Stuffed animals/blankets - he loves tucking a stuffed animal and/or blanket under each arm while he's sleeping, and lately when I go in to get him up from a nap or in the morning he'll pick out which one he wants to bring with him.  Some times he keeps picking things up, and then when I pick him up out of the crib he'll point at anything left in the crib so he can have it too.

He's learned how to spin in circles and loves doing it!!  When he first started he could only spin in one full circle before falling over or stopping, but now he can do 3-4 full circles without falling!  He can also back up really well.  It's so funny to watch.

He can point to my nose, eyes, and chin.

He loves reading books.  He also loves climbing up into the chair in his room and reading books there by himself.

He loves his little pumpkins that he picked out at the pumpkin patch.

He got really confused when we taught him the signs for "milk" and "eat" and for awhile almost completely stopped doing "more" and "all done," but we're slowing getting them all straightened back out.

He's proving to be very slow to talk.  While he does say "mama" and "dada" all the time, he rarely does it when we ask him to, and he doesn't say any other words yet.  We thought he had a couple last month, but he's stopped saying them.  We're not too worried about it, though we are excited for him to start talking.

How he Naps/Sleeps:
His naps have been pretty hit or miss lately - if he takes a morning nap he may not take an afternoon nap, even if I cut the morning nap short (like 30-45 mins)... which then means he only takes a 30-45 min nap all.day.long.  So instead of fighting that we're transitioning to one nap a day.  Our goal is to take the nap from 12:30-2:30/1-3ish, but we have to ease into it first so I may put him down as early as 11:30 depending on the day.  It's getting better every day.  :)  This also moves his bedtime up to 7, so he sleeps a solid night from 7-7:30 usually.

How he Eats:
As of the day before he turned 13 months, West is officially, completely weaned!!!  He was a champ about it all and handled the transition (which took place slowly over the course of 4 weeks, dropping a feeding per week) really well.  At first he wasn't quite drinking enough milk, but now that he's officially weaned he's doing better - some days better than others, but most days he drinks 16-20 oz, in addition to always having about an ounce of cheese and some yogurt every day (the kid loves dairy!).  

How he's Grown:
He weighs 19 lbs 14 oz and is 29 3/4 inches tall.  Wearing 12 mo in most brands, but I have to roll the pants up around his waist so they fit better. ;)  He got his first molar in on 9/25 and is working on 2 more [update: these actually came through on 10/16].

Here are some pics I took the day before he turned 13 months:

He still likes sitting in weird places.  Add a salad spinner to the list of baskets, bowls, drawers...

 You know when you see this grin that he's up to trouble...

 The trouble, in this case, is him climbing up onto the chair to read books.  If that's all the trouble he gets into then I'm happy.  ;)

 Pulling his socks off with his teeth... apparently more fun than using his hands.

Silly boy.

 Digging in his ottoman for some toys. 

 Saying "Hi Mom!" from the top of the stairs.  

 We just happened to be on our way down when Brad walked in.  I was able to catch West's reaction to seeing his dad... ah, it melts my heart!

12 months!

What he's learned:
It's so awesome to see him understand things we say.  For instance, when we say "Let's go downstairs/outside" - he'll go stand in front of the steps; "Let's go brush your teeth" - he'll head towards the bathroom, "Do you want to read a book?" - he'll go pick one out.

He says "ubba" for "up," "meh meh" when he wants something (and he's usually pointing emphatically at whatever it is, too).  We really think he said the word "book" the other day - he was pointing to something in his room when we were in the living room and said something just like "book" and then grabbed a book and brought it to us!

He can now run, dance, blow kisses, and he loves throwing balls.  He's not so good at playing actual "catch" yet, as he often just walks it up to us and hands it to us when we ask him to throw it to us, but we're working on it.

He is such a climber!  He can scale the ottoman, couch, and chair in his room, to name a few.  And he's figured out how to use pillows and what not to give himself a little boost.  Oh, and he can officially climb into the tub all by himself.  He likes to keep us on our toes, that's for sure.  ;)

In addition to climbing, he has the strangest fascination with sitting in odd places.  He's always emptying out various baskets/drawers around the house and sitting in them, as you can see here.

He has loved watching his first year slideshow as I've been working on it.  Whenever he hears the music he comes and sits in my lap and watches so intently.  He usually laughs or looks at us and smiles at the video clips.

I covered a lot of his other favorites in this post here.

How he's grown:
His 7th tooth made its first appearance a few days before his first birthday.

At his 1 yr check-up he weighed in at 19 lbs 9 oz, which put him at the 25th percentile, and he was just shy of 30" long, putting him at about the 50th percentile.  He's moving up on the charts which is SUCH a relief!!!  Developmentally, he screened at the level of a 16 mo old.  He received 4 shots (3 scheduled vaccinations and also his first flu shot) - one in each arm and leg.  He didn't cry at all for the first 3 but he let us have it when he got the 4th one (we had to wait a few mins because of a mix up).

A couple things that concerned the doctor were that he still has a heart murmur (she first discovered it at his 9 mo appt) and he's more bow-legged than what would be considered normal.  She wants us to see a pediatric cardiologist and orthopedic specialist just to make sure everything is ok with both.  We'll keep you posted.

11 months!

Whoops, I started this post several days ago but forgot to finish it!  Here's what West has been up to this last month...

What he's learned:
He's getting great at signing the few things we've taught him - more and all done - and even signs them to communicate to us instead of just signing them when we first say them.  He also loves clapping - all we have to say is "yay!" or "good job!" and he'll start clapping for himself.  (A little vain but oh so cute!)  Also, if he sees people clapping on TV he'll start clapping.

He's becoming more interactive with us besides signing, too.  He likes handing things to us when he's playing, and he also likes grabbing our hands and getting us to do whatever he's doing.  Sometimes he'll even just walk up, pick up our hand, and give us a high five.  And he now gives us hugs.  Too fun!

He's really starting to imitate us and the every day things we do.  For instance, when I let him hold my phone he holds it up to his ear and starts jabbering and also when he gets ahold of the remote he points it at the TV.  How awful is that?!  You'd think we just watch TV all day every day, but let me assure you I only watch the morning news every now and then and that's all.  (well, with the exception of the Olympics - when they were on I was watching it throughout the day... maybe that's ruined him!)

He's getting so close with "mama" and "dada" .  He definitely knows what those words mean - when Brad gets home and I say "Dada's home!" he gets a big smile and heads over to the stairway, and he can sometimes point to me when Brad asks "Where's mama?" and vice versa.  Grandma Dee thinks he's trying to say "bear" because when we play Baby Bear with him he'll say "ba ba."  He's also close to saying "up" and he can sometimes imitate us pretty closely when we say "all done."

He has finally figured out how to go down stairs, though it does take him forever and I'm always right there on the step below him.  He also knows how get off of higher things like the bed, ottoman, fireplace hearth, etc by sliding down on his belly with his feet first.  And yes, we're always there right next to him when he's on the bed and ottoman (weird I know but he absolutely loves sitting up there!).

What he loves:
His mom and dad - I don't know what's gotten into this boy the last couple of weeks, but he has become a little more cuddly!  Before he would have nothing to do with snuggling up against me, but since I taught him how to hug he wants to do it all the time!  And when I pick him up now, a lot of times he'll lay his head down against my chest.  It's pretty awesome, I'm not gonna lie.  :)

Sat mornings in bed - ever since he was little, whenever we've had lazy Saturday mornings we bring him in bed with us after I finish nursing him and we just hang out for a bit (what usually happens is I get done nursing him and then we go wake up daddy :) ).  He just loves it because he has all of our attention and is usually cracking us up the entire time.  We're usually repeating the phrase "Man, this kid is awesome."

Pushing and pulling things around - tables, chairs, baskets, toys, you name it.  Nothing is too big or heavy for him, in his eyes.  :)

Climbing - on anything and everything.  If I'm sitting down next to the ottoman, I know I have a short window before he's using me as a ladder to get on top of it.  He can also almost climb into the tub - he's so close and if we actually let him keep trying he'd probably make it (we obviously don't want to do that...).

Playing with anything new or new-to-him, and he almost always prefers non-toys to toys.

Baby Bear book - this will keep him entertained for longer than anything!

Outside - he absolutely loves being outside and exploring, and now that the weather is cooling off we plan to be outside a lot more!

How he sleeps:
Naps have been a little more hit or miss lately for some reason.  There have been a few days in the past couple weeks where he will entirely miss either his morning or afternoon nap after we try for an hour and a half or so to get him down.  For the most part though he's still taking two approx 1.5 hr naps a day.  Maybe he's getting close to being ready to drop his morning nap???  I sure hope not!  Although at this point I'd rather have a solid afternoon nap than struggling with him to take two so-so naps.

At night he's doing great.  For the longest time I would feed him twice at night - once before I went to sleep  (he usually wouldn't wake up for this, and if he did he'd be right back asleep in a minute) and again in the middle of the night just to tank him up with additional calories (often times I'd wake him up for this one too). A couple of months ago I dropped that middle of the night feed and just in the last week or two I finally dropped the last nursing before I went to bed.  I knew that I needed to slowly wean him off of that before I started the actual weaning process, so that he'd have to time adjust and make up those calories during the day.  I was worried how he'd do - he'd never gone that long without eating and I just felt like I'd be starving him - but he hasn't missed a beat.  Since then he's maybe only woken up twice in the middle of the night, and after a couple morning of waking up a little earlier, like 6ish, he's back to sleeping until 7 most mornings.  So thankful we have such a good sleeper on our hands!!

How he eats:
He's pretty finicky with eating solids - he may love something one day and then have nothing to do with it the next, but that's all part of the adventure, right?  ;)  He usually loves cheese, bananas, beans, any sort of pasta dish with red sauce, and bread and butter.

The sippy cup is going much better.  While he still doesn't like drinking breast milk out of one, nowadays he'll chug water from them, so at least we know he CAN drink from them.  I've given him whole milk a couple times now, too, and he doesn't seem to mind it at all, so hopefully it'll be a smooth (as possible) transition when I wean him.

How he's grown:
Two weeks ago I took him to get weighed and he was 18 lbs 6 oz.  YEAH for finally breaking the 18lb mark!!!  He's actually moved up a bit on the growth charts too - he's more solidly between 10-25th percentile instead of between 5-10th like he was for quite awhile.  Good news!

He's still on the Prevacid 15 mg solutabs and we're still monitoring his weight at least once a month, and will probably watch it closer once I start weaning him to make sure he adjusts well.



We can't believe that his 1st birthday is just around the corner.  On one hand it feels like he's been part of our family for forever and we can't really remember what life was like before him, but on the other hand it's hard to believe that he's going to be so old that he'll be a "toddler" instead of "baby."  And while I acknowledge that every stage has been more and more fun so far, and my love for him will inexplicably continue to grow exponentially, I just can't imagine loving him more than I do in this moment so I want it to stay exactly this way forever.  I'm sure every mom has felt this way, and I know someday I'll look back at this and laugh at how I thought it couldn't get any better.  :)

10 months!

We can't even begin to describe how much we love this kid and how much fun we have with him everyday.  He's just incredible - he has the most infectious nose-wrinkling grin, the best jabbers, the funniest faces, the most adorable belly-holding waddle, the sweetest coos when he wakes up, and the hands-down best laughs.  (Maybe we're a little biased.)  We did nothing to deserve this little guy as our son, but are so thankful to the Lord every day that we get to be his parents.

Ok, we'll stop gushing.  :)  Here's what all he's been up to this last month.  


What he's learned:
He can give high-fives and sign "all done" most times when he's finished nursing or eating.  We're still working on him doing that to actually communicate that he's all done, instead of just doing it when we say "all done," but it's a start.  We're also still working on him signing "more" but he's only done that once so far.  He is also pointing all the time, which is pretty stinking adorable. 


He makes a sort of fish face where he opens and closes his mouth over and over.  He does it all the time!

You can see most of these things in this video here:

Walking is his preferred method of transportation.  He hardly ever crawls anymore.  We thought when he first took steps that he'd still prefer crawling for quite some time, but walking was his go-to way to get around pretty soon after.  We don't put shoes on him at home but we do when he goes outside (most times) and when we go somewhere we know he'll be walking around (like the Royals game).  We bought his first real pair of shoes - some "trek" shoes with a covered toe and flexible sole, but the sole ended up being too bulky for him and he didn't do so well in them.  Thankfully some friends lent us a pair of Robeez shoes with a soft sole and he gets around pretty well in those.  This video here is actually of the first time we put him in them.  It was the night before we went to the Royals game and we were testing out our different shoe options for him.

Another new thing he loves doing is this quasi-headstand/pre-somersault/yoga downward dog sort of move.  You can see it in the video above as well, about 20 seconds into it.

He opens cabinets and drawers like he owns the place.  When we try to block him from getting into something he even tries to move our hands, smart little guy!

We're working on playing catch and he thinks it is so much fun.  Throwing still needs some work; most of the time he doesn't let go when he's making the throwing motion OR he gets all excited and just runs the ball right to us.  :)

It's amazing to see him imitate us; often it happens at times we don't expect it at all.  For instance the other day we were playing on the floor together while laying on our backs.  I raised my legs up in the air and started kicking them, and he followed suit and did the same!  It was too funny, especially since he couldn't hold them up for long but kept trying.  A couple minutes later he was standing up and I did it again and he started bouncing up and down while standing.  Too funny.  Also, the other day I said it was time to pray before lunch and he folded his hands and started jabbering.  Total coincidence I'm sure but it was still a powerful reminder of what they can pick up from even a young age.

What he loves:
He loves pulling everything out those kitchen cabinets he's allowed in.  This includes measuring cups, cake pans, colanders, cutting boards, plastic trays, etc.  I'm torn because while I don't like putting it all back several times a day, it does keep him pretty well entertained when I'm cooking or cleaning in the kitchen.  And I'm sure before we know it he'll be able to "help" me pick up.

He still has a frustrating fascination with the fireplace hearth, electronics, and blinds, so I feel like we battle those things pretty often.  In addition to those, he's learned how to pull up the vent covers around the house.  He hasn't seemed to have made much progress with the word "no" since we started sternly using it a few months ago, and we're consistent with what things we use it on.  For now we still sternly tell him no and move him away from whatever he's getting into/onto that he shouldn't.  He'll catch on soon, right??  Just around the corner???  sigh.

His other favorite toys/playthings (in no particular order):  swimming pool, activity table, any kitchen item, his vtech Rhyme and Discover book, any ball, ring stacker, hairbrushes (I think he just loves pulling them out of my bathroom drawer and hitting them against things), and brooms (you read that correctly).  He's really so curious about everything new he comes across- whether it's a new basketball, book, hair dryer, or pan- and new items are typically his favorite items to study/play with until he moves on to the next new thing (either by choice or by force).  :)

How he sleeps:
His schedule is pretty much the same as it was in his 9 month post - he takes two 1.5-2 hour naps a day and eats about every 4-4.5 hours.

He's finally to the point where he doesn't cry at all when we put him down for most naps.  This is a very welcomed stage because putting him in the crib and walking away when he's crying is no fun for any of us!  (Granted, he never cried for very long, but even just a few minutes is hard.)

How he eats:
He is doing great with solids!  Well, as long as they are finger foods anyways; he's not a fan of being spoon fed.  His favorite foods are any berries (strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries), bananas, sweet potatoes, cheese, cheerios, and graham crackers.  Some new additions that he likes are hummus, pasta, black beans, and deli meat.  He doesn't mind steamed peas, carrots, corn, and he's definitely not a fan of browned ground beef, broccoli, zucchini, or squash.  Of course there's more but that's what I can remember off the top of my head.  It'll be fun to see how his tastes change over time.  

He's still not a fan of the sippy cup so we tried a couple different options.  One is a cup with a straw (below on the left)  and the other is more of a toddler cup with a lid that has a little bit of a lip where he can drink out of (on the right).  The one on the right is actually for 24+ mo kiddos, but since he does better drinking out a real cup than a sippy cup we thought we'd give it a shot.  Turns out he does much better with both of those than he does with a traditional sippy cup.  He drinks a little better with the toddler cup than the straw cup, but he can't lift the toddler cup up to his mouth and drink out of it on his own yet (we have to hold it up there for him).  Hopefully we can get this figured out soon... my goal is to wean him around his first birthday but he has to be able to drink out of a sippy cup before we can do that.  The clock is ticking!

Yes, I included pictures of cups, only because it's easier for me to show a pic than to describe with words.  :)

How he's grown:
Two weeks ago he weighed in at 17lb 12oz.  We're really hoping for a big growth spurt here soon - come on West!

We tried taking him off of the Prevacid 15 mg solutabs a couple weeks ago since most reflux babies outgrow it by about a year, but it did not go so well.  His feedings cut almost in half and he started spitting up a LOT, poor guy.  So he's back on it again and we're hoping we can get back to what his feedings were.

9 months!

Here are some highlights and tidbits from the last month...

Things West has learned:  

We've got a walker on our hands!  Well, he's taking steps at least.  He took his first real steps on May 25 - he only took two but they were very steady.  Since then he's just kept practicing and practicing and can walk 5-8 feet before falling.  We'll try to post a video soon.  (Update: see a couple of videos here.)

Twice now this week he's stood up from the middle of the room without pulling up on anything.  (Update: since I first wrote this on his 9 mo bday, he's done it a lot more!)

He shakes his head when we tell him no, even when we're not shaking our heads.  He went through a stage when he loved shaking it all the time, but now it's usually only when we tell him no.  I guess I did it often enough while telling him no and he caught on!

He can finally read books (sometimes) with me without just trying to put them in his mouth the whole time.  He even turns the pages and points at things on the pages sometimes!  Of course, he still just wants to eat them a lot of times.  

West is getting better at waving.  Often when we say hi and wave at him, he'll raise his hand up in the air.  He doesn't actually wave it, but at least he raises it!

He can open drawers and cabinet doors.

He is 'talking' all the time, but we're still not sure if he knows who mama and dada are when he's babbling.

When he's into something or has something he knows he shouldn't and we see him, he will actually take off crawling in the other direction with it as fast as possible!  Little stinker!    

Things West loves:

He still loves his walker and has figured out how to scoot it around whatever he runs it into, so he can use it walk all over the house.  It's so fun to watch him because he really seems like he prefers using it to walk to get where he wants to go over crawling.  I can't say I blame him - bare knees on a hardwood floor... I'd want to walk, too!

He loves being outside, where he bear crawls in the grass (he apparently doesn't like his knees on the grass, so we try to put him in jeans but most days lately it's just too hot for that!), plays with the water hose, and tries eating the mulch (ugh, I wish he didn't find it so fascinating!  I'm constantly snatching it out of his hands before he can get it to his mouth.).  He's been in little kiddie pools twice last week - once with his cousins and once with our neighbors - and he loves it.  We're planning on getting a little one for him soon.  (Update: we got him one last weekend and he LOVES it!)

He still loves baths and can almost pull himself up and over to get into the tub!  He's such a climber.  Also, he's figured out how to flush the toilet, so of course now he wants to do it all the time when he's in there.  Combine that with his affinity for unrolling the toilet paper and pulling trash out of the trash can, and you can understand why we still keep the bathroom doors closed at all times.  :)

Things he loves that he shouldn't love:  He is obsessed with electronics - our phones, remote controls, computers, etc.  He's always climbing up on the hearth so he can stand up and bang on the glass fireplace screen - I feel like all day I'm telling him no and pulling him down!  For some reason he loves getting my hair brushes out of the drawer in the bathroom and chewing on the handles.  He always wants in to the fridge and dishwasher - wherever he is when you open them, you know you only have about a few seconds before you have to close them!

How West eats/sleeps:

We transitioned him to a 4 hour schedule/routine at the beginning of his ninth month and it is going great (meaning he eats every 4 hours during the day).  He wakes up about 7, naps from 9:30-11ish and again from 1:30-3:30ish, and then goes to bed at about 8.  I usually wake him up to nurse him before I go to bed at 11 or so, and he usually sleeps through the night from there.  He does sometimes wake up and cry for just a second or two at 5 or 6, but puts himself back to sleep most times.  On the three hour schedule he was on for so long I had to try to force an extra nap in there and he always fought it, and I had to wake him up from naps early to feed him, so this schedule is much more age appropriate.  The only reason we had held off for so long was to keep an extra feeding in there for his weight, but we've been monitoring it every 2 weeks and he seems to have adjusted well to it.

As far as eating solids, there's not been much change since this post here.

How West has grown:
He's in size 3 diapers.  While I bet he could still squeeze into size 2 diapers, he was soaking through them within a couple hours so we made the step up.  As far as clothing, it's tough to say since brands vary so much.  For the most part, he's in 6-9 mo.  Carters' 6 mo onesies still fit him but are getting a bit snug (mostly snug in length), and their 9 mo ones fit him but are baggy (they fit him in length but are big around his skinny waist).

He got his top two front teeth when he turned 8 months and he's working on the top two side ones (lateral incisors??) as he's turning 9 months.  At least he's spacing them out for us!

He had his 9 mo check up today (which was why I held off on posting this) and he weighs 17 lbs 4 oz and is 27.25 in long (both of which are 10-25th percentile, though much closer to the 10th than 25th so I don't know why they don't just say 10th).  I was a bit disappointed but his doctor was actually pleased with it.  She was also really impressed with his development because his score was equivalent to a 13 mo old!  The best part of this check up today?  No shots!  Yippee!  :)

*See all of his monthly pictures here

8 months!

How is it possible that our little guy is 8 months old already?!  Technically, 8 mo 1 wk since it's taken me a week to get this posted. ;)

Every week he's learning new things and developing new quirks that just crack us up and make us gush unashamedly.  Yep, we're those parents.  I mean, how could we not be?  Have you seen our kid?

He's babbling all the time now, and it is just the sweetest thing.  Well, sometimes it's the loudest, not-so-sweet thing, like when he's squawking like a pterodactyl.  But sweet coo or grating screech, we love it all. :) He says babababa, dadadada, mamamama, and tatatatata.  Mamamama is the latest one.  The funniest so far has been when he whispers tata when you whisper to him.  So.darn.precious.  We think he's still just babbling for now and doesn't actually associate the "words" with meaning but we're sure that's right around the corner.

We're working on waving.  Sometimes when we wave he'll "wave" back by raising his hand and moving his fingers a little, but most other times he just smiles, throws both arms up and back down and carries on with whatever he'd doing.

He loves standing!  The ottoman is perfect because he loves standing up next to it and banging on it and also cruising around it.  He also loves standing in front of the fireplace.  He'll see his reflection and get really excited and put both arms up in the air.  He can stand for a few seconds without holding onto anything before he falls down.  Thankfully he always fall onto his bottom and not face first!

In addition to cruising on furniture, he loves walking with the walker we got him last week.  He gets so excited and happy when he's pushing it around!  When a wall or piece of furniture gets in the way, though, oh boy... he can get pretty pathetic (especially when it's close to nap time and he's tired!).

West loves baths (see pics on this post here) and really the whole bathroom in general.  We have to keep the bathroom doors shut at all times because if they're open, he'll be in there playing with the toilet paper, banging on toilet seat, playing with the toilet brush, getting into to the trash, etc in no time.  Same with the dishwasher and fridge - the second either of those are open he makes a bee-line for them!  He actually used to be that way about the pantry too, but after I "gave him" the bottom two shelves he's really not too interested anymore.  Figures.  :)  He also has a cabinet with plastic things and a drawer with his spoons, bowls, cups, etc that he can play in while we're in the kitchen.  Keeps him entertained for awhile while I'm cooking or cleaning up, but most of the time he'd rather be held so he can be a part of the action.  When that's the case, I throw him in the high chair and scoot it up next to whatever I'm doing and he's usually pretty happy.

Another of his favorites is rough housing.  He is the happiest when we're down on the floor with him rolling around - he loves climbing on us and "attacking" us.  He does have a biting a problem that we need to work on, though.  Ouch!  He also loves being "chased" and "chasing" us.  He can go pretty fast for such a little guy!

Speaking of biting, he has his two front bottom teeth and one of his top front teeth just broke through on his 8 mo birthday.  For this most recent one we had a couple rough nights, a runny/stuffy nose, and some overall fussiness.  Poor guy just wan't his happy self, but is coming back around.

He's still pretty picky when it comes to solids.  We've tried traditional jarred baby food, homemade pureed veggies, mashed bits of what we have for dinner (like grilled zucchini and summer squash), diced bananas, plain full fat yogurt, puffs, graham crackers, vanilla wafers, ritz crackers, bits of pasta... and he still may only eat a few bites at a time (when he's not gagging).  He's just not interested.  He does best with graham crackers and plain yogurt but that isn't always a guarantee.  But the majority of his calories and nutrition come from milk still so we're just viewing solids as practice for now and not stressing out about it.  We figure he'll catch on soon enough!

He's still on a flexible 3-4 hour schedule during the day.  Really it's more of a routine than a schedule - he wakes up and I nurse him, then he's awake for a couple hours, then goes down for a nap, then I nurse him when he wakes up, etc.  If he only takes an hour nap, he's more on a 3 hour schedule, but if he naps longer it may be closer to 4 hours between feedings.  The way this routine loops, he usually gets 3 naps a day - mid morning, mid day, and late afternoon.  In our opinion he's a little too old for this sort of schedule and we think he'd do better with two longer naps a day, but we've been trying to keep him closer to 3 hours between feedings to get in more calories during the day.

I took him to get weighed the day after his 8 mo birthday and he weighed in at 16 lb 11 oz, which is close to the 10th percentile.  In the last four weeks he actually gained a little better than what would be expected - he gained 13 oz and the expected range was 4-12 oz, so we were pretty excited!

Little quirks we love:  how he shuffles his feet when he gets excited, how he sleeps with his bottom up in the air, how he shakes his head back and forth all the time, how he loves being outside, how he pants through gritted teeth/gums and wrinkles his nose when he's excited or determined, how he can always reach just a little further than we think (and thus always seems to reach what we think is out of reach), how he used to run into our legs with his head when he wanted to be picked up (now he reaches his hands up), how he loves watching Brad mow from the windows in the living room, how he gets so excited and crawls so fast towards Brad when he gets home from work... we could go on and on but I think this post is long enough already... ;)

Happy 8 mo birthday Weston!  We love you more than we can express and you make every day so incredible!!!


*See all of his monthly pictures here