11 months

My Silly Stinker!!


Weight: 18 lbs. 6 oz.


Well I can't believe my little stinker almost a year old. Three more weeks! He's moving and grooving all the time. One of his favorite things to do is dance. In fact, during dinner he'll start his dancing to let us know he wants music played while we eat. It's so cute and funny. And I love the fact that Drew loves music. He can regularly say "Tyson", and calls every dog he sees Tyson. He's said "Trevor" and "What's that?" Still no "mommy" or "daddy" or "Starr."

He still has trouble in the weight department. I try to give him fattening things like pizza and french fries and he spits them out. He will eat green beans and peas like there's no tomorrow. He'll eat bread, and just about any type of fruit I give him. I think the one food he'll eat that's "bad for you" are cheesy poofs. I'm going to start doing some whole milk this week just to see what he does and hopefully he'll take to it really easily and can start gaining more weight. Sometimes he'll eat rice and tortilla. I guess I just don't know what else to do and when do I start, or can I since Drew has a weight problem, putting something on his tray and he has to eat that and if he doesn't then it'll be there later. I love that he's a healthy eater, don't get me wrong, but I just worry about his weight.

10 months

Weight: 18 lbs. 2oz


Well, I'm late again posting his monthly update. Oh well better late than never. Drew and I have had a fun and interesting summer. We've learned a lot about each other and I've leaned things about myself. One big thing I've learned is that I am not stay at home mom material. I hate to say this but it's true. I've enjoyed being at home with Drew for the summer, but I've very thankful I have a job to go to everyday and an amazing babysitter who takes care of my sweet boy. Maybe it's just tough this summer. I think next summer will be easier. With Drew taking two naps a day still it limits the times we can do things and his naps are the complete opposite of our friend's naps.


Drew is walking everywhere. It was amazing to see him so wobbly at first and within a few days he was off on the go. He knows that he can still get some places faster by crawling, but for the most part, he walks everywhere. He is still quite the lover and loves to hug us and the puppies. His new thing now is to walk backwards to where ever I'm sitting and sit on my lap even if only for a few seconds. I love hearing his little laugh when we play or when the dogs do something he thinks is funny (like sneezing.)


Weight wise, we're still in the 5th percentile, but at least he's gaining weight each month. We've taken out baby food for breakfast and have yogurt with a waffle, banana, or cheerios. Lunch is still baby food, and for dinner he usually eats macaroni and cheese, with a vegetable. He wants to eat all his vegetables first before anything else. And I question if he's truly my kid every night because the kid LOVES peas. He would probably eat peas all day if I let him. But he'll also eat carrots, and green beans too. We've tried tomatoes a few times and it's touch a go. Sometimes he'll chew and swallow the tomato and other times he'll chew it then spit it out. I've tried pizza and spaghetti and those aren't winners yet. Both of those are tomato based so maybe he really doesn't like tomatoes. Mike gave him a little bit of meat from our spaghetti sauce and that didn't go over to well either. We'll get there though.

9 months

Height: 28 and a half inches (60th percentile)
Weight: 16 lbs. 10 oz. (5th percentile)


Well, I can't believe it but baby Drew is almost 10 months old now. I'm a little late on posting his 9 month update. He amazes me every day and I'm super excited to get to spend the summer with him. I'd like to hopefully take him to the aquarium or zoo as well sometime before school starts.

When we went to the doctor, he wasn't very happy with Drew's weight. He's below the 5th percentile for his age. I promise we feed him. He's actually eating a lot lately. We have to go back in a couple weeks to do another weight check. He's still eating baby food for breakfast and lunch. He takes a bottle at breakfast, snack, and bedtime. And a sippy at lunch and dinner. Hopefully we'll start seeing results in the next month or so.



He is crawling every where and pulling up on everything. He can walk almost the length of our living room which is probably about 12-15 steps for him. It's scary and exciting all at the same time. He loves trying to get Tyson and Starr, and for the most part they let him. I'm really working on how we pet the puppies and not hit them. Drew has done really well so far with understanding "No." He doesn't listen every single time, but for the most part if we say no to something, he'll move away from whatever he's not supposed to be doing.

He loves being outside. I try to take him outside to play or for a walk every day. When I go to let the dogs in, he'll cry once he realizes we're not going outside. I knew I'd end up having a kid who loved the outdoors because I hate them so much. Especially in the summer. I'd so much rather be in air conditioning.

8 Months

8 months old (16.02 lbs.)

Well baby Drew has been up to a lot since the last post. He's crawling like a maniac and keeping up with all the other kids at the babysitter's. He's also gone from crawling to sitting up in the same motion. It's amazing how they just know how to do it one day out of no where. Drew has also decided it was time to start pulling himself up into a standing position while grabbing onto things. We're in trouble in the Thomas household!

One bad thing that has happened so far in our 8th month is the first ear infection and prescription medicine. He's been a bit pitiful. I hate hearing his hoarse cough in the middle of the night.

Once his sickness is over, I'd like to start giving more real food for him to try like real green beans and cooked carrots. If you have had success with a type of food for your baby's first, I'm taking any and all suggestions. I get a little nervous as to where I should start. We're still working on the sippy cup. He doesn't get a whole lot of liquid from it yet, but I'm continuing to give it to him everyday in hopes that one day he'll really grasp on to it and drink what he's supposed to.

I'm very excited for these next two weeks to pass by because my dad is coming home from Afghanistan and he'll be meeting Drew for the first time in person! Be prepared for pictures of the two of them together at last. I expect a few tears to be shed as well.

7 Months

Can you believe my little guy is 7 months old already? He's learning and growing so much every day. We're "talking" more with la, la, la's, and ba, ba, ba's. He continues to love to stand up. He can now get into the crawling position by himself, start rocking, and then he goes belly flat. I have a feeling he may really start crawling this week. And I bet it'll be on one of the days that both Mike and I will be on our little vacation. We've been using a sippy cup at dinner and it's still going so so. He definitely prefers a bottle. He's doing really well with his rice rusk crackers. Drew has to go back to the doctor this week to get a weight check. I hope he's gained what he's supposed to, otherwise I'm not sure what the doctor will want to do.

6 Months

Weight: 14 lbs. 11 oz. (10th percentile)
Height: 27 inches (70th percentile)


Well, I can't believe it, but the big man is actually 6 months old!! He did a great job at his check up. Got 3 shots. Cried for about 30 seconds and then he was done. the doctor said he's meeting all his milestones. Drew can sit up on his own, grasp things, move objects from hand to hand, hold his head up, and make simple "La, la, la" sounds. The doctor wasn't so thrilled about Drew's weight. He's at/or below the 10th percentile. We have to go back in a month to get weight again. The doctor said he's eating great when I told him how many ounces/bottles he has a day, as well as cereal and baby food. He did suggest using formula to mix the cereal instead of just water. So we'll see if that helps.

He's talking more and more and also loves screaming. I can tell he wants to move so bad, but can't quite seem to get the hang of having his head, shoulders, and butt in the air at the same time. Once we put the butt up, the head goes down. It's a work in progress.

We've tried all the fruits and vegetables for stage 1 foods and Drew ate every single one. He did not like peaches. He LOVES apples and pears. I'm excited to start trying stage 2 foods with him as well as trying the sippy cup in the next month. We'll see how it goes. We've also had our first tooth pop through!!

Drew is sleeping great through the night. Now the past 3 mornings he's been waking up between 5:30 and 6:30. One morning I was able to get him to go back to sleep, the other 2, not so much. Not sure why he's waking up so early. Usually he'll sleep till at least 7 or 7:15.

Ending on a positive note...my brother is coming home from Iraq in about a week, and I should see him within the month. I'm also very excited that he gets to see Drew because the last time Cody saw him was the day Drew was born when Cody just happened to be home for his R & R.

5 Months Old

Well, I can't believe it, but the big man is 5 months old. Crazy how time flies. Some exciting this that Drew has been doing are eating rice cereal. He's done a great job with it. He eats it during lunch and dinner. We started only eating it at dinner for a couple weeks and then added it to his lunch menu. He eats it like a pro. And even got upset with Krisi (babysitter) today when she wasn't quick enough. He's also staying up a little longer after feedings. As long as he has the boppy around him he's getting really good at sitting up by himself and playing with toys. Before I know it, he'll be crawling around the room.



We also tried baby food for the first time tonight. We started with carrots and Drew loved them!! He didn't make any weird faces (which actually disappointed me a little bit) and ate half of the jar. He probably would have eaten more had I let him, but I wanted to take it easy his first time on baby food. We'll probably try green beans Friday or Saturday. Maybe I'll get my sour type face on that one!

A giggle, giggle here, a giggle, giggle there...

This is a video of my cousin's little girl making Drew laugh. This is the first time he has ever hard giggled like this. We were cracking up right along with him.

4 Months and Rice Cereal

4 Months Old

26 "-90th percentile
13 lbs 8 oz- 35th percentile

Well, the little man is 4 months old. Can you believe it? He's changed and grown so much. I love hearing his little giggle and seeing that smiling face. We've even been able to do a little schedule tweaking in the last couple days. We've dropped the little evening nap he was taking which was only for 30 minutes every night. And just tried to extend the times he's awake between feedings which make the naps a little longer sometimes and extends the times between feedings.

We also tried rice cereal for the first time yesterday and I don't think Drew is a big fan of it yet. We're gonna keep trying at dinner time each night until he gets the hang of it. I think I'm just gonna do rice cereal at dinner time for about 3-4 weeks and then slowly move to baby food. Here's a video of baby Drew eating the cereal.

This new mommy needs help.

So I have a question for all you moms out there. Drew will be 4 months old tomorrow and I had thought about starting rice cereal this week since I'll be home the rest of the week from school. Is this too young? We were going to stick with rice cereal for about 3-4 weeks and then introduce baby food around the end of January. He was doing really well sleeping through the night about 3 weeks ago, and ten all of a sudden, the last 3 weeks he's been getting up 1-2 times a night. We don't have to feed him or anything, we are able to just walk in and put the paci back in his mouth and usually he falls back asleep. Sometimes we have to go in a 2nd time about 5 minutes later, but then he falls asleep. I thought it might have been teething, but I've tried orajel before bedtime and also tylenol and he still wakes up. So maybe it's not being quite full enough? Anyway, let me know what you think about starting the cereal this week!! This new mommy needs some answers!

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures done and I have to say, they turned out really well. We only got these two done, but I love them!

Our perfect little present!

The first family picture!

3 Months Old

Supporting my mommy's home state!



I can't believe the little man is already 3 months old. Time has absolutely flown by. We don't go to the doctor again till after Christmas to get more shots, but I may be making an appointment this week. Drew has been fighting his bottles for the last week and it's getting very frustrating. He may eat an ounce and then turn his head quickly which makes the bottle pop out. He'll cry and then suck on the bottle for dear life once it goes back in, turn his head again about 3 seconds later and cry and repeat the cycle. I have no idea what's going on. He was doing great on 5 ounces every 3 hours and then all of a sudden, he barely eats 4 and it's a struggle to get him to eat that four.

My stepmom and stepsister keep trying to tell me that I need to go longer between feedings and that he's not hungry every 3 hours. Well we've tried that. Even after he sleeps through the night, sometimes 10 hours, he still fights the bottle. So it's not that. We tried different formula yesterday and that hasn't helped either. My stepmom says he's probably teething. He is drooling a bit more, but not a lot, he blows a lot of bubbles, but he's not more fussy than normal. So I just don't know. He's also been having major diaper explosions. For 4 days in a row he has exploded out of his diaper. I mean up the back and everything.

If you have any advice on what to do to help ease the frustration of Mike and I and/or help Drew not fight his bottle, it would be greatly appreciated.

His smile makes me melt...

This little man right here just makes me smile every time he looks at me with those big blue eyes!!

Ahhh....sleep...

Well, we've had major success two nights in a row. Friday night Drew slept from 9-7:30. And he wasn't really crying when he woke up at 7:30 either. Just talking to himself. He did the same thing last night, but slept till 8:00. Mike said when he went into get him, he had rolled over onto his back and was just looking around. Drew is also "talking" a lot more as well. He's such a good little baby. He's moved on to eating 5 oz at each bottle. I also can't believe how long he is. He could more than likely wear 6 month clothes for length because those start at 24", he just wouldn't fill them out all the way.

2 Month Check-up

11 lbs. 4 oz (50th)
23 and a 1/2 in. (75th)



Drew went to the doctor on Tuesday and is doing great! We did get a little scolding because we put Drew to sleep on his belly. I know the back is best, but 25 years ago doctors were telling patients that belly is best. Oh well.

He's doing a really good job eating. He eats about 4 oz. every 3-4 hours. I get told every day by the babysitter that he's doing a good job. All the other kids there love baby Drew. The one little girl Sarah is mesmerized by him. In fact today when her mom walked into the door and bent down so Sarah could give her a hug, Sarah ran to baby Drew instead.

Drew smiles a lot after eating and seems to enjoy bath time. He likes to stare at the giraffe on his swing, and play on the floor on his mat. We're still waiting for that magical night when he sleeps through the night. Well I take that back, we're still waiting for the magical time when he does this on a consistent basis. He's slept through the night a few times, but it only happens about once a week. And for some reason, the nights he chooses to sleep through the night always happen to be Mike's night. Little Booger.

Happy Halloween

Well little man had his first Halloween and if I do say so myself, he looked pretty darn cute!





We go to the doctor tomorrow for our 2 month check up so we'll see what the new stats are. He's smiling and "talking" a lot more. He's still not sleeping through the night yet, but has had a few 7 hour stretches. Mommy and Daddy are very ready for little Drew to sleep through the night. I feel like I'm creating a Groundhog Day effect with him because for the past week we've done the same thing every night. Bath, bottle, the same book, and then bed. Here's to hoping for restful nights soon enough.

Success

We have had success!! Little Drew slept through the night last night! And I also slept 7 straight hours. I honestly can't tell you the last time I slept that long. Maybe in college. I was simply exhausted yesterday from my 2nd day back at work and also working a 10 and a 1/2 hour day with parent/teacher conferences. I just thought that I was so exhausted that I didn't hear him wake up (it was Mike's night), but then Mike heard him crying at 6 this morning and got up and told me he slept through the night. Here's to hoping for more non-interrupted nights.

Daddy's Little Speedster

We set Andrew in Mike's car the other day and he looks like he's wondering why we haven't given him the keys yet.

The Big Boy Bed

Well we've transitioned into the big boy bed. Drew's room is not very far from ours. We started out doing a couple naps a day in the crib to get him used to the smell and his surroundings. He did great at the naps. So we put him in his room at night time and he seems to be doing well with that too. He gets up every 3-4 hours like he normally does to eat. And then I can lay him back down and he usually makes a small whimper but then falls right back asleep. And yes, I know what you're thinking..."a belly sleeper!" Andrew does great on his belly. He sleeps longer and just seems more peaceful.

We've had a couple of good nights in the last couple weeks. A few nights ago he slept from 9:30-3:45, then woke up again at 8. And last night he slept from 10:45-2:15, then 2:45-7. I feel like I say this all the time, but I think we're working our way to a full nights sleep. It would be nice to start getting the full nights sleep soon since I'll be heading back to work next week.

Speaking of work...I'm pretty excited to go back so I can have my adult interaction again. And I love my job and I'm excited to actually get to know the kids. I was only with them for two weeks at the beginning of the year. I know they're ready for me to come back too. Andrew has been to the babysitter's twice for transition days and has done great.

My Little Smily Man

I love this little guy so much! Even through all the middle of the night feedings which cause mommy to go a little crazy sometimes because of lack of sleep. I know it's been 6 weeks, but I think I'm finally learning some things about him like how he doesn't really take all of his lunch time bottle...and that's ok. It's taken me a couple days to be ok with that. It doesn't change the length of his nap. He does great at night time feedings, pretty much sucking the bottle dry and then laying right back down to sleep without a peep. He's staying awake a little longer after feedings, but then I also know when he's tired.

I've been thinking about moving him to his room before I go back to school, but I don't think Mike is a big fan of that. I've got 2 and a half weeks before I go back and thought it would be a good time to attempt it. I don't think it'll be too hard, but I know it'll be different for him being a new place with a new smell. What is everyone's thoughts? When did you move your little ones into their cribs?