Dearest Boy: Month Nine

Dear Jensen,

Nine months big and things to do!

You just can't keep still anymore.  Daddy laments about how you used to sit in the crook of his arm for hours...or lay on his chest and sleep for hours.  Basically, he is sad that you don't do anything for 'hours' anymore, everything is only minutes long and then you're on to the next thrill!

 

You have become a scavenger of all things hidden.  If it is put away, you pull it out.  If it is concealed, you unearth it.  If I don't want you to have it, you definitely have it.

Finding your dad's baseball bat under our bed (kept there for late night noises such as raccoons) was the highlight of your little life.  If no one is watching you in the morning, especially during the time we are getting ready for work, you most likely are sweeping your arms under the foot of the bed trying to roll the bat far enough out to grab.  What comes next is usually you dropping it on your legs and crying, or hitting yourself on the head and crying.  It's a vicious, vicious cycle that you don't seem to want to break, no matter how many bruises and goose eggs you give yourself.

Your mobility has also wreaked havoc in the play area because you now have instant access to everyone's toys.  Your sisters just LOVE this!  No they don't, I'm lying right now.  They spend most of their time in the play area complaining about how you are IN THERE and TOUCHING their STUFF, MOM!!  It is exhausting trying to keep track of your shenanigans and calm their freak outs over how many Barbie shoes are currently in your mouth.

So far you haven't tried to pull anything apart or swallow anything small, but you definitely have tried to do both to many things that don't belong to you.  Specifically the items that are hanging out on the Tinkerbell table because it is just the right height for you to stand at and sweep your arms over.  This is kind of an awesome move, the arm sweep, because it looks like you are an angry executive trying to make a point to an underling.  The underlings in this scenario are your poor older sisters who just can't get their stuff hidden fast enough from your grubby little fingers.

The thing is, you are mighty cute.  This makes all the touching, grabbing, stealing, and general tomfoolery a little less annoying.

But someday, you'll be bigger - just as cute - but bigger, and your sister's won't be as forgiving of you constantly touching their stuff. 

So go ahead, play with their toys and put things in your mouth while you can because when you are twelve and I am fish-hooking your mouth to dig out some dog food, I won't be laughing and neither will you!

Love,

Your Mama

Dearest Boy: Month Eight

Dear Jensen,

Over half a year has passed in your little life and it has gone by so quickly!  

You are very, very curious about the world around you and what it tastes like.  I swear, there isn't much in our house that you haven't either put in your mouth or put your mouth on.  When your oldest sister was your age, I was way more cautious - first babies make parents nervous - so she wasn't allowed the same leeway you are given.

With Ilsa, it was too hard to keep track of her and what she had put in her mouth so we just decided that she was building immunities with her oral 'exploring'.

Now it's your turn and honestly, I just don't care unless it is harmful, poisonous, or something of mine.

This is just one of the wonderful things you'll find about being the third child!

Not too many days ago you began to attempt a slow roll.  This is the next step following getting on your knees and rocking, which happened last month.  Now you have found that you can flip your arms about and roll from one side to the other.  You don't go far and you don't go fast, but you are moving and to you it is the thrill of all thrills.

The new found freedom is making it harder for you to sit still while being held.  This part of you growing up makes me sad because you are my last baby to hold and cuddle and you DON'T WANT IT SO KNOCK IT OFF, LADY.

This is a hard stage for you because you like that you can kind of do things yourself, but you also want help, but not a lot of help, just a little.  No, don't pick me up because that is too much help, but don't leave me on the ground because I want to get over to the tv remote and can't do it without you.  Rock and a hard place, kid, with screaming thrown in for good measure.

Your temperament is still quite easy-going, but you are exploring your voice a lot more with shrieks and squeals and growls.  The growls are very interesting and so very boy - a noise I'm not used to quite yet!  But it sure is funny to you so you will growl and growl until you make yourself cough.

On top of that, you have discovered the D sound and set yourself on repeating da-da-da or duhduhduhduhduh until you get bored of it.  I'm not sure that you are specifically saying dada, but if I ask you to say it, you look around the room for him so you have the comprehension part of it down.

This month you have grown leaps and bounds in every possible, wonderful way.  Though you have a hard time conquering some of these major milestones, you certainly never give up trying.  Sometimes being stubborn is a good thing!

Although you now can get yourself where you want to go, I will always be around to help you get up the harder steps.

Love,

Your Mama

Dearest Boy: Month Seven

Dear Jensen Lou-Who,

This month marks the introduction of smiling and subsequently closing your eyes for the camera.  For every good eyes-open picture you give me, I also get four eyes-closed pictures.  I'm thankful for the digital cameras and camera phones because if this was 1985, I would have an entire roll of what appears to be a blind child.

A blind child who has a bird's nest growing on top of their head.

You have always enjoyed bath time, no doubt about it, but now you have figured out that you can move around in your little tub and drive your mother nuts.

It is extremely difficult to keep a hold of a soapy baby who feels a desperate need to pull the drain stop out of the bottom of the tub.  Believe me - I've tried and I've failed!  And just when I think you are going to sit nicely so that I can rinse you, you hop up and try to throw yourself over the edge of the tub onto the bath mat.

I realize that the pictures I've taken make it seem as though I let you do what you want, but that was a one-time thing so that I could document your glee.  I had one hand free at all times to catch you and sit you down...I swear.

This seventh month of your life has been pretty great.  You are such a happy boy and love to be where the action is.  Usually that is in whatever room your big sister's have made a colossal mess in which doesn't matter to you as you are bound to add to the mess.

As is tradition with my children, you are in love with the brown rubber door-stop in your bedroom.  You wait until I am busy doing something that doesn't involve you and hurriedly crawl down the hallway to dislodge that disgusting wedge from under your door.  I have practically hammered it under there in hopes you won't be able to wiggle it out, but you always do.  It's kind of gross, but keeps you entertained for another five minutes of cleaning time!

 You are still sporting those two bottom teeth with no signs of any other guys coming in.  I feel like this is a good thing because teething babies are SO MUCH FUN to be around.  When your teeth started poking through last month, you decided to bite everything - mostly me - and slept so poorly that you spent most nights in our bed, robbing us of sleep as well!

I love ya, kid, but I love sleep more.  Ask Nana and Papa, they'll back me up!

Baby cakes, you are the best little ray of sunshine that I could ask for each day.  You make everyone around you smile and your giggle is music to my ears.

I am hanging on to these days where you can be with me all day long because I know how fleeting this time will be for us! 

Now, let's work on getting back to being "just friends" instead of "bunk mates".

Love,

Your Mama

Dearest Boy: Month Six

Dear Jensen,

This month you grew a mustache. 

Look at you - you were just as surprised as we were that it happened! 

Okay, so you didn't really grow any facial hair, but you changed in so many other ways and are really starting to look less and less like my tiny baby.  Sniff.

There is an extra chubbiness to your cheeks that I can't help kissing.  You know, mama's don't have very much time to snuggle babies because at some point, you realize what we're doing and start pushing us away. Your sisters both give me the "ew, yuck!" and try to wipe off my kisses (mostly Ilsa) if they are unexpected. I guess I have to start giving them advanced warning, so they can run away from me.  Good thing you can't do anything more than roll - and not very fast, at that!

You have discovered how fun your tongue is and started sticking it out for a good portion of the day.  I appreciate anything that will entertain you while you are awake and luckily, your tongue can't fall out of your mouth so that I have to pick it up every 30 seconds like your other toys.  Your motor skills are getting better and better, but holding onto toys isn't one of your strong suits.

Late this month we figured out the reason you were sticking out your tongue and biting everything that came within inches of your mouth - two teeth!

I wouldn't even say you were especially fussy while those two little guys worked their way out, but you were not your normal, smiley self either.  With you, I decided to try some natural teething pills, which seemed to work, and I'm glad we have numerous frozen teethers to keep your gums chilled, because the biting thing was getting painful for all of us.  You even bit your own fingers and toes pretty hard a few times and realized that the little white nubs in your mouth were actually hard, sharp weapons!
 

We are finding new things that amuse you as you get older - the most recent is being upside down.  You like being dangled from your feet and Daddy is really good at that one.  Instead of sitting up in my lap, you like it when I turn you around and let your head hang over my knees.  You will lay like that for what seems like a long time and then figure out how to either flip over or grunt until I help you to sit up.  Of course, there is a lot of tickling done by me while you are laying in my lap and no particular spot that doesn't make you laugh - mostly your armpits and the bottoms of your feet.  Such sweet, soft, chubby feet!

Aunty Tresha gave us some clothes from cousin Peyton to pass along to you and these awesome alien pajamas were in the mix.  There is something about the transition from footies and one-piece pajamas to a shirt and pant set that makes time seem to fly.  Suddenly you are sitting on your own, looking more and more like a little boy instead of a wriggling, cooing newborn baby.  Not that you sit up for long or stay in one place for me to really reminisce on any of it, but boy is time passing quickly.

We went back to solid foods with you with more success this time around.  I stuck to my guns and made purees for you myself and you kindly ate everything I gave you.  The one snag seems to be mashed avocados, but I have given you far worse tasting (according to me) fruits and veggies and you have liked every single one.  Carrots, squash, plums, apples, sweet potatoes, bananas, peas, green beans, black beans, apricots, nectarines, peaches, blueberries, I'm sure I'm forgetting a few but you ate them all anyway.

You also still love to hold your own spoon, but aren't worried about it having food on it as long as the spoon one of us is holding is still feeding you.  I'm sure, like everything else you put in your mouth, it is just a new texture to try out and feels pretty good on those incoming teeth but it also helps to have your hands busy instead of swinging and smacking the food off the "real" spoon.

Jensen, here you are, half a year old and well on your way to being a very busy little boy.  It is an absolute pleasure to be on this journey with you and I am so very thankful to have a front row seat to see the joy that you bring to others!

Love,

Your Mama

Dearest Boy: Month Five

Dear Jensen,

Month five has been a whopper so far - milestones being hit and surpassed left and right!

You started showing the signs of being interested in everyone else's food, so we got some baby cereal and mixed in a little milk to see what you thought.  This also involved finally being strapped into the high chair and that was super fun good times!

The spoon was a big hit - the cereal was a flop.  I've tried it and I know it tastes a bit like cardboard mixed with dirt so I can see why you just let it dribble out of your mouth and down your chin.  But that's okay - there are so many more months ahead for you to try again and until then we will give you the spoon to chew on when we put you in the chair to keep you occupied.

Your good sleeping habits are becoming not-so-good as the days go by.  Is it because you know I will come in if you make even the tiniest of squeaks?  I'm not at your beck and call because I don't want you to be upset, I sleep light, like a ninja, because if you throw a big enough fit in the middle of the night you will wake your sisters and then I have three children to deal with instead of one.  Since you are a baby and don't understand that concept, you think you are in charge.  I guess you are.

I am trying to soak up this "baby" time with you because I know it goes by so quickly.  I might hold you during naps a bit longer than I need to.  I might let you put things in your mouth that don't go there just because you are happy and those noises are such lovely noises compared to the angry squawks.

Daddy has always loved having our babies nap with him, so you will always win there.  Just don't glance over and give me the "I win!" look because at some point, when you start squirming, wiggling, and kicking him, Daddy will hand you back to me and the fun times will be over because I put you in your own bed to avoid being bludgeoned.

We've been working on getting a routine going at work, since you have been here with us for a few months. That is probably one of the hardest things to do, as the work place really isn't set up for babies.  Sometimes it is hard for adults to adjust to the work place.  But that is another story for another time.

You are doing okay with morning naps between 9 and 10 and afternoon naps between 1 and 2, but the length of the actual nap is whatever you want it to be that day.  Some are as short as a half-hour and others as long as almost three hours.  It is tricky to plan out a work day based on your sleep patterns, so as soon as you are asleep, I have to tackle my most pressing task and try to complete it with minimal mistakes because who knows when you'll wake up!

Because you can roll all the way over, you want to be free all of the time - free to do what you want when you want.  You haven't figured out that rolling isn't getting you very far, but that doesn't stop you from fussing until we put you down on your play mat.  Like most other things, the fun on the floor is short lived and you want someone to pick you up once you have flipped over a time or two.

Sometimes, I use you as a paper weight because I can.

A big highlight of this month has been the giggling.  Oh, does that melt a mama's heart!  It doesn't matter what it is that makes you laugh, we will keep doing it to hear that sweet sound (so much better than screaming!) come out of your little body!

Another month has passed with so many things accomplished and so many more you are working on!

I love to watch you learn and grow and am so thankful that God gave us you, this unique little person to fill our lives with happiness and wonder.

Love,

Your Mama

Dearest Boy: Month Four

Dear Jensen,

Month four has been a doozy.  

You sleep a little more soundly these days, but your naps are all out of sorts.  There is a very finite window of time to get you to sleep in the morning and if that window is missed, that nap ceases to exist.  And then you look like this:

The pictures don't do them justice, but your deep blue eyes are getting a bit of brown to them.  It is very faint right now and mainly around your pupil, but it is definitely there.  Your dad is practically wetting his pants in excitement of a possibly brown-eyed baby.  He was feeling left out with these blue-eyed Norwegian girls we've been producing.  Finally, he got the boy he has always (secretly) wanted and people keep telling him that you look like he did when he was little.  So to make his life complete, could you change your eyes all the way to brown?  Maybe solve a little world hunger crisis and illiteracy while you're at it?  That's not asking too much, is it?  Good.

As is the tradition at four months, you got to visit Dr. Cook.  Boy did you ham it up for him this time - showing off your babbling skills and making a terrific mess out of the paper on the exam table.  I'm pretty sure you ingested a small piece or two, but you seemed happy about it and I never saw it again so you must have an iron stomach.

I wanted to be able to quote your stats here, but I somehow lost the little sheet Dr. Cook handed me before your appointment was over.  Several months later, at your next check up, I asked him for your four month stats and Dr. Cook happily scribbled them out for me again.  So here they are:

weight:  14 lbs. 14 oz.  (40%)

height:  25 1/4 inches  (50%)

head:  16 1/2 inches  (50%)

Your happy bath demeanor continues and you start to wiggle when we get into the bathroom and pull the shower curtain back.  It is a little harder to contain you in that tiny tub because you realize you can kick hard and splash big and wave your arms around which totally impedes my ability to wash any part of you.  Is this what mama octopuses go through when trying to bathe their young?  I suppose they live in water and their babies are clean all the time so it's a moot point.

The question most asked by anyone who meets you is - "does he always smile so much?"  Heck yes, you do.  You love an audience and will converse in babble talk with anyone that makes eye contact with you.  You go to sleep happy, you wake up happy, you are generally happy.  It's fantastic and Daddy and I are beyond thankful that this is who you are!

My one negative comment for this month is the groping.

I think the Man Code DNA is beginning to kick in and so you have begun to put your hand up or down my shirt at your leisure.  At first it was funny, then it started happening often enough for me to become a bit embarrassed (in public), and now you are just obnoxious about it.  As long as we are at home, I will let it slide (no pun intended?) but in public you could be a bit less handsy.  The picture above is tame compared to what your normal moves look like, but if you are nursing it is part of the routine and if you are happy and eating than I am happy for you.

Well, little boy, your world is changing and growing right along with you.  You totally dig the play mat and have attempted and almost accomplished a belly to back roll.

This milestone is right around the corner and that means more baby-proofing and actually having to have eyes on you at all times when not strapped into one of your various chairs.  I'm mentally preparing myself for the change, but kind of wish you could hold off a little longer and just be a lazy baby.

But I will take a busy, happy baby over a little lump any day if he looks like you!
Happy 1/3 birthday, buddy boy.

Love,

Your Mama

Dearest Boy: Month Three

Dear Jensen,

You are a sweet little ducky baby.  You've discovered a different kind of smile where you sort of stick your lips together and push them out like a tiny, flat duck bill.  

This is not the only kind of smile you have developed, but it is your favorite and mine, because the look in your eyes makes me think you are merely humoring us by doing it.  But no matter the expression on your mouth, your eyes give you away - the same big, expressive eyes that I saw when looking at your sisters at your age.

I took the leap and graduated you from sink baths to baby tub baths and you adjusted, after a time, that is.  Trying to make you comfortable in the progression from me holding you to you being propped on the bathing  "ramp" by yourself, I didn't think about how much of a shock placing you into the tub and letting go might be.  

You. Did. Not. Like. It. 

I can only imagine that you thought I was abandoning you and that there was no one who would help while you flailed about, teaching yourself to swim.  Suddenly, as soon as you stopped kicking and screaming, you looked from your left to your right and realized the little tub had sides you could hang onto, and so you did.  Problem solved.

Each bath after the first was a little less scary until you finally began to enjoy your quiet time.  Taking you out of the bath is still an horrific event, but this is something you will overcome as well.

You, like many babies, enjoy naked time.

Most of your naked time is during diaper changes, and it only involves your legs being bare, but HOLY HECK do you do a happy baby jig every time your pants come off!  It is becoming increasingly difficult to actually change your diaper and stay clean myself because once those Velcro straps are undone, your entire lower half turns into Bruce Lee doing a series of roundhouse and ball kicks to my arms.  The main problem with your lower half happiness is that a few kicks in you have created a breeze, and a breeze around the nether-regions of a naked baby usually leads to a mess.  I'm not going to lie, getting peed on by a baby is really not as cool as it seems, no matter whose baby it is.

This month we also introduced the beloved play mat, a lovely contraption that your sisters and a few other babies have logged many miles on in their early months of life.

We were so diligent about tummy-time and following the baby rules with Freya that she was probably forced to lay on mat much earlier than three months of age.  Ilsa, we were more lackadaisical and she probably didn't see it until much later.  With you, we thought bringing it out this month would be perfect since you have good head and neck control and seem to need more distraction and entertainment.  Plus, we want to give you a leg up on rolling/crawling/walking so that you can get away from your smothering older sisters a lot faster.

Your first trip onto the play mat was short lived when you put your face flat down on the ground and just screamed into the mat until Daddy picked you up.  I think you were telling us that tummy time will not be tolerated at this point in your life.  Not that you enjoyed laying on your back that much more, but I figured we could wait on any activities that involve you facing downward for now.

As much as I love the newborn phase - all snugly goodness and sweet smells - it is so fantastic to watch a baby develop their own personality.  Yours is just slowly peeking through, from your quiet morning observance to your angry squeaks and squawks when you are left alone for too long.

Just a few days ago, you started to turn your head toward the sound of your name.  I still can't help but call you Jensen John when I'm talking to you, a habit your sister's have picked up readily as well.  They call you a bevy of things, from Buddy to Mister to Jensey Boy (they made this up themselves) and no matter the nickname, you LOVE having them near you.  We are still working on the difference between being gentle and squeezing the baby (Ilsa), but every day it gets a little better.  If a mama ever needed good helpers, those two are perfect for the job whether it be fetching something from your room or just making silly faces at you or singing to you so that dinner can be made or a solo trip to the bathroom can be done.  It's the little things that make life so good!

The best part of month three is that you've learned how to laugh.  You have made a lot of other "excited" noises before, but there is nothing sweeter to the ears than the laughter of a baby!  The funniest person in your life right now is your Daddy, of course.  There is no one better at making strange noises to elicit little bursts of giggles from you.  He has always had a very expressive face, but his exaggerated contortions just crack you up! 

In another month, we'll go back to the doctor to talk about all of your physical and mental growth and boy has there been a lot.  I don't know if it is the same in other families, but taking children to doctor appointments falls on the shoulders of the mom in this one.  This is far from a complaint, as doctor visits end up being a mini-brag session and who better to share accomplishments with than someone who really truly cares on the same level about every dirty diaper, eating habit, and tiny milestone?  It is my one chance to show off the hard work I've put into making sure you have been cared for and loved from the moment I knew you even existed. 

Smiling or not, I think you make the perfect top to our family totem pole, little duck boy.

Love,

Your Mama