Lincoln James: 5 Months

happy new year's eve! my little man is five months old today and i cannot even believe it for one second. this post is a little bittersweet for me, as i go back to work on monday.

i'm so lucky to have spent 5 months with my little guy, especially because i know not every new mama gets that much time with their little one before having to go back to work. there have been a lot of hard, long days and nights, but i wouldn't change a single thing. i wish i could stay home with him indefinitely, but for now, heading back to work is what's best for our little family.

another month and so many milestones. little man is growing by leaps and bounds. he's weighing in at 16 lbs and is 26.5 inches long. he is almost sitting up all on his own, we fed him solids for the first time, and his little personality (and temper) is really shining through. we celebrated his very first christmas, lincoln was baptized and now we're about to celebrate his first new year's eve and once again it's been an awesome month full of many ups and downs.

we hit the 4 month sleep regression hard and still haven't recovered. if there are any seasoned mama's out there who have any suggestions, i'm all ears! he was sleeping so well, in 6-7 hour increments through the night, and almost from the minute i hit post on his 4 month update, he stopped sleeping. he was impossible to put down, would wake up every hour and a half and there were so many nights where he ended up in bed with me. it was almost worse than the newborn stage, because i had become spoiled with getting the evening to myself and then getting a decent amount of sleep before only having to wake up once to feed him. it's slowly getting better, he's sleeping in 3-4 hour stretches again, but it's definitely not as good as it was, and i'm definitely feeling the effects of being sleep deprived.

the sleep regression has been hard, but little man also started suffering from MAJOR separation anxiety. for a while, i was the only one he wanted, and if i left even for a short period of time, he would cry and cry and cry. he's getting better, but i'm still the only one who can really calm him when he's really upset, and i'm getting major anxiety about how he's going to handle daycare. my mama heart is breaking at the thought of leaving him on monday and having him cry and cry and cry with strangers. i'm secretly hoping he'll surprise me and take to it super easy, but i know deep down that when i pick him up monday evening, i'm in for some major tears (his and mine both!) i've been sleeping with his little lovey at night so come monday, i can leave it with him at daycare and he'll at least have the scent of me. again, if any seasoned mamas out there have any ideas on how to make this transition easier (for both him and me) i'm all ears!

enough of the bummers though....this month has also been so much fun! little man loves to laugh! especially at his daddy when he's making silly noises and it's just about the best sound ever! he is rolling like a champ (back to tummy), still hates tummy time (but is getting better!) and absolutely loves his exersaucer/bouncer. his giggles are the greatest when he's jumping up and down in that thing.

we fed little man solids for the first time as well. it was awesome! we started with whole grain rice cereal and he was not a fan. after a few days of trying that (with no success) husband and i just went straight to steaming and pureeing veggies for him. we started with carrots (he loves them!) and then moved on to sweet potatoes (which likes but not as much as carrots). as he gets the hang of eating, he is getting super excited about eating and it's so fun to watch! next up we're trying avocado! i can't wait to keep trying new foods with him, and you may even see a homemade baby food post in the near future.  we're not giving up on the rice cereal yet...we'll probably try it again now that he seems to have the hang of eating and see if he likes it any better.

finally, we celebrated little man's first christmas. it was truly the best christmas yet. we're so lucky to have a healthy little boy and be surrounded by friends and family. while the little guy didn't quite understand what it was about this year, i know next year will be extra special as he's able to grasp more of what the holiday is all about.

the sunday after christmas, little man was baptized. it was a simple, small ceremony with just our immediate family and was another great family memory for us. and, as my dad likes to say, little man isn't a "pagan" anymore, which he couldn't be happier about.

such a wonderful, bittersweet month for my little man. time really is going by too fast, but i can't wait to see what he masters next. i'm the luckiest mama in the world, and he truly is the best boy.

some quick stats:

height:  26.5 inches

weight:  16 lbs (up 1.8 lbs from last month!)

hates: tummy time, and being away from his mama ;0) 

loves: his exersaucer/bouncer, carrots, and giggling up a storm! 

head: little man has pretty good head control and can even sit up for short (3 seconds) spurts of time

eats: we started solids with lincoln this month! he's had rice cereal (doesn't like), carrots (loves!) and sweet potatoes (likes)

sleeps: we are slowly making our way out of the 4 month sleep regression....would love any tips from other mamas!!!! 

Little Man's First Christmas

i can't believe christmas is already over! the anticipation and build up gets me every time and then the day goes by way too fast.

little man's very first christmas was perfect. we spent christmas eve at nana and pop pop's, a tradition. we started the day with the children's mass on christmas eve and then rushed home to get everything ready for nana's christmas eve party. after the party and everyone had left, we opened presents from family and then went home to tuck little man in and wait for santa to arrive on christmas day!

while i know he doesn't understand much this year, it was still so much fun to open presents with the little guy on christmas morning.

i started a new tradition this year, where on christmas eve we get a christmas box filled with matching jammies, a christmas movie and christmas book and then snacks and hot cocoa to watch our movie with. i can't wait till next year when he'll really start to understand.

i hope you all had just as wonderful of a christmas and santa was extra good to you!

here are photos from our christmas :)

Merry Christmas!!!!

hope you're spending your holiday surrounded by loved ones! 

have a very merry christmas!

Holiday Lights at the Gaiser Conservatory!

spokane has a number of great parks around the city and manito park is probably one of the best! every year, at the gaiser conservatory inside manito, the friends of manito decorate with holiday lights.

husband and i have never gone before but thought little man would enjoy seeing all the christmas lights so we made our way over friday evening before the lights were taken down for the season. on our way, we decided to call nana and pop pop and see if they wanted to join! and seeing as nana will use any excuse to hang out with our little dude, they were totally game!

here are some photos from our evening:

"Santa! I know him!"

two very exciting things happened yesterday....daddy came home for the holidays!!! and little man got to meet Santa for the first time!

i have to say, it was a success! no tears for our little guy who happens to be dealing with a heavy dose of separation anxiety. (although secretly, i would have been a little giddy over one of those classic screaming child/santa photos....i guess there's always next year ;0p)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

when husband and i moved to portland right after we got married, we started a little family tradition of cutting down our very own christmas tree. we kept up the tradition this year, by taking little man up to green bluff and dietz family christmas tree farm to cut down our first tree as a family of three.

little man was so excited he fell asleep! maybe next year he'll stay awake for the whole trip ;0) 

either way, we had so much fun and here are a few photos from our day! 

my favorite time of year has officially begun!