2011 in iPhone photos

I take at least one photo everyday on my phone. The quality of the images aren’t always the best. Depending on the light they can be grainy. Sometimes they turn out blurry. But, I am able to capture moments that would disappear if I tried to grab our “real” camera. This is the highlight reel of my 2011 in iPhone photos…

 

6 months

Max is 6 months old!!

Here are his stats at 6 months old:

• Weight: 16lbs 13oz (34%)
• Height: 27 1/4 inches (74%)
• Head circumference: 17 inches (31%)

Quick facts about Max at 6 months:

• He eats 32-38 ounces of formula per day.
• He has been eating rice cereal 1-2 times per day.
• He started sleeping in his room all night one week ago.
• He is wearing 6-9 month clothing  and size 3 diapers.
• He can sit up unassisted. (for the most part)
• He is a finger/hand chewer and drools a lot. (no sign of teeth though)
• He continues to be a laid-back, easy-to-care-for baby.

• He adores his big sister and she adores him.

If you missed Max’s 5 month update, click here.

Hopelessly Behind – the month (or two) of maladies

I’ve never gone blogless for so long before. At least I don’t think I have. We’ve had a lot going on and much of it revolved around doctor appointments and surgeries. Don’t worry, the kids are fine. Mark and I are falling apart though. haha

First, I had surgery on my finger (9/26). Maybe you noticed for the last two years I had a strange bump on my right ring finger? I finally had that removed and wore a bandage over the 6 stitches for two weeks.

A few days before that I went in for a normal teeth cleaning (9/21). That led to 4 or so weeks of appointments. Each week, they upgraded (down-graded?) my tooth and what it needed. I went from filling & fixing a crack to needing a crown to needing a root canal (which I had half of one) to needing a tooth extraction. It was not fun!

Mark and Max experienced colds awhile back. One night in particular was a rough cough night for Mark and he woke up the  next morning convinced he had a hernia. Well, a trip to the ER proved him right! He didn’t need emergency surgery but went in the next week (10/26) for out patient surgery. For some reason, we both thought it was a simple out patient procedure and he would be back to work the next day. Oh how we were wrong! He was basically on bed rest for an entire week and ordered by his doctor not to lift over 10lbs for 4 weeks. It has been quite a recovery process.

And poor Raelyn has gone a few rounds with a bad diaper rash. When I say bad, I mean BAD. Red, bumpy, raw skin. I think we finally (after 2.5 weeks) have it under control.

And that, my friends, is why you haven’t seen me around these parts lately. I have some catching up to do so please stay tuned!

5 months

Max is 5 months old!!

Quick facts about Max at 5 months:

• He eats 5 0r 6 bottles at 7-8 oz per day
• At night he sleeps in 9-10 hour stretches.
• He is wearing 6 month clothing  and size 2 diapers.
• Sometimes he tries to sing along with me when I sing his bedtime songs. He melts my heart.
• He has a smile that is contagious!
• He tries holding his own bottle and has been successful a few times. (Mostly with daddy.)
• He has the cutest bottom lip pucker ever!
• He is growing up way to fast.

If you missed Max’s 4 month update, click here.

43/52 your turn, mommy

42/52 weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

4 months

Max is 4 months old!

 

Here are his stats at 4 months old:

• Weight: 14lbs 10oz (43%)
• Height: 25 1/2 inches (68%)
• Head circumference: 16 1/2 inches (39%)

Quick facts about Max at 4 months:

• He eats 5 0r 6 bottles at 6-7 oz per day
• At night he sleeps in 7-8 hour stretches.
• He is wearing 6 month clothing  and size 2 diapers.
• He hates tummy time and has started rolling over to avoid it.
• He likes to nibble on his fingers.
• He still likes to hang out in his bouncy seat watching Raelyn.
• He is spending a little more time in the exersaucer playing with the attached toys.

If you missed Max’s 3 month update, click here.

21 months

Raelyn is 21 months old!!! Here are a few noteworthy items from the last month.

• She loves to pretend that Sheba is chasing her. (When really Raelyn is doing the chasing.
• When we sing head & shoulders she helps Max by pointing to his head and toes.

 

• She won’t go to sleep without her quilt and getting tucked in.

• She undresses her baby doll at least once a day. At least she puts the clothes in her washing machine.
• She says “la” for ladybug, “dah” for dog, and “buh” for Sheba.

41/52 num, num, num

Max rolls!

On Monday, Max rolled from his tummy to his back for the first time. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to coax him to roll over and on this day I put him on his belly and he just flipped right over without any help or coaching.

Unfortunately by the time Mark got home from work, Max was too tired to show off his new skill. So on Tuesday I pulled out my phone and took a video to send to Mark. Yay, he did it again just for daddy! (He needed a little coaching from mommy this time around.)

We’re so proud of you, Max!

40/52 sweeping leaves

We’ve had beautiful fall weather and have enjoyed spending time outside. Raelyn especially enjoys sweeping the leaves into a pile on the deck.

39/52 banana breakfast

Raelyn has a banana with her breakfast almost every single morning. I think it’s safe to say this is her favorite fruit.

38/52 cool dude

How cool does Max look in his hat and sweater vest?!? I say, super cool. :)

37/52 daddy’s helper

Raelyn helped Daddy install a latch on the cabinet door. I don’t think she understood that she was installing a device to keep her out of this cabinet. :)

3 months

Max is three months old!

Quick facts about Max:

• He has slept through the night a few times, but isn't consistent yet. Hopefully soon!
• He holds Sophie the Giraffe if you place her in his hands. He even tries to chew on her ears.
• His head control is coming along and we continue to do tummy time each day.
• He has started to enjoy the vibration mode on his bouncy chair. It seems to calm him if he’s a little fussy.
• He loves watching Raelyn play and run around.
• He really gets his arms and legs moving around during his play time.
• He is eating 5-5.5 ounces every 3 hours during the day and has been taking one bottle during the nighttime, usually about 3am.
• He weighed in at 12 pounds 5 ounces earlier this week.
• He is wearing 3-6 month clothing (needs 6 month sleepers for length) and size 2 diapers.
• He loves his new jungle play mat!

20 months

This past month I’ve  been keeping notes about some of the new and/or cute things that Raelyn does so that I wouldn’t forget. Here is a compilation of those facts & stories.

• She won't eat an English muffin if I cut it into pieces.
• She scoots herself down the stairs, instead of needing to be carried. Yay for mommy!
• She waves bye-bye to the tv before bed and naps. (And now basically to every object in the house to delay sleep.) Also to the vacuum when I say, "all done" after sweeping the floors.
• Early in the month, she waved bye-bye when the nurse came into the treatment room at Max's check-up. (same nurse who "made" Raelyn scream while getting weighed the week before.)
• She really enjoyed her first pickle!

• She likes to "help" load and unload the dishwasher and is especially good at pushing in the drawers and closing the door. I have to remind her not to climb though.
• When she sees me yawn she imitates and then she runs to get her picture book and opens it to the page with the baby yawning.
• She figured out how to use a straw! But she has a hard time getting the last of the milk and wants to tip the cup. She hands it to me and I say, “hold it straight.” Apparently she can’t hold it straight while standing up, but if she lays on the floor she’s a pro! :)

• I caught her trying to use her empty sippy cup to "feed" Max.
• She often gives Max hugs &  kisses on her own accord.

• When I say "all gone" or “all done” she lifts her hands and shrugs her shoulders.
• She signs I love you by crossing her arms across her chest.
• When Mark was out of town and I was on the phone with him she kept signing I love you over and over again. She really misses him when he travels.
• She wants music playing all day and will get the tv remote if there isn't music playing. (we keep the tv on a classical music channel much of the time)
• She is very interested in photos right now. She especially loves looking at her baby photo album and our wedding album.
• She likes looking at her reflection in the fireplace glass and waving. (And now she also looks at her reflection in all of the kitchen appliances too.)

• We had our first time of playing dress up. She loved it!

• She has started randomly pulling her pants down.
• She has a favorite book before naptime & bedtime: On The Night You Were Born. If I try to read another book she gets very upset. At naps she wants that book read and then her "bible lesson".
• One day I was doing something in the kitchen and I noticed in my peripheral vision that she was standing near Sheba “talking” to her. I turned to watch not wanting her to notice I was watching. What I witnessed was the cutest thing EVER! (Back story: since Raelyn was a tiny baby I’ve been rubbing noses with her and saying “Noses”, what some would call an Eskimo kiss.) What I saw was Raelyn put her hands on Sheba’s face and then she rubbed noses with her. After that, she stepped back and signed, “I love you.” I think it’s obvious how she feels about her dog.