Jake's First Halloween

Jake had is six month checkup on Halloween.

Poor kid got nothing but tricks this year.

He rarely cries so shots are so heart breaking for me.

He calmed down pretty quick though.

His legs didn't seem to get as sore this time but he did get a low grade fever and lost his appetite.

Now for some cute Halloween pictures!

JPC::6 Months

These have been some of the best and hardest six months of my life.

I absolutely love being a mom but it can be tough.

Extremely rewarding but tough.

This boy is a bundle of joy.

He is usually so happy and pleasant.

Stats from his six month appointment:
Weight: 18 lbs 10 oz. (64 Percentile)
Height: 28 inches (90 Percentile)
Head Circumference: 46 cm (98 Percentile)

This little boy isn't packing on the pounds as fast as he used to but he is definitely still growing.
I looked at the next size of pajamas and they looked so long but I put them on him and they fit.
I couldn't believe my little boy was that tall!

Now onto what the past month has entailed for Jake.

Sleeping

Not much has changed here.

He still sleeps almost 12 hours each night with 3 naps during the day.

He usually has one huge nap that is like 2.5 hours the other two are closer to 1.5 hours.

He wakes up super happy.

A few times he wakes up laughing.

I would love to get in his head and know what is so funny.

I mean is laying in an empty crib, in the dark, with white noise.

What is so funny Jake?!?

Feeding

He nurses 4.5 times a day.

Eats solids 3 times a day (Approximately 1-2 Tbls. per meal).
We just barely made it to the point where he will go 3-4 hours between feedings!

So far he has eaten: oatmeal, rice cereal, carrots, peas, green beans, squash, avocado, and bananas.

He hated green beans but we tried them again this week and he tolerated them.

 

He tolerates bananas but loves everything else.

We will continue adding new fruits and then hopefully start some meats.

We just barely started a sippy cup and he is a little obsessed with it.

He loves to do it by himself.

A couple times the water went down the wrong tube so he started coughing.

But he still wouldn't let go of the sippy cup or take it out of his mouth.

I have to literally pry it from him.

Silly Boy!

Playing

He loves his exersaucer.

He likes playing with his binkys.

He loves being tickled, chased, and wrestling with dad.

He stills loves when I sing to him and when we read books to him.

He just barely started sitting by himself (most of the time).

This and That

Still no signs of teeth but I swear one could come through any day now.

(I feel like I've been saying that for a month now.. haha)

He does the raking grasp all the time.

I think he feels like he can pick up anything he wants if he does it long enough.

He added the "Ba" sound to his vocabulary.

I think it is the cutest thing.

He has also started this really high pitched whine.

It is not my favorite so I'm hoping this phase ends quickly.

Sorry if this is TMI for anyone but I think it is hilarious.
If Jake is laying on his back and needs to poop he rolls to his stomach.
I don't know if the pressure on his belly helps or if he just doesn't like to sit in it but if I go in to get him from his nap and he is on his belly I know he's pooped (if the smell didn't already give it away!)

 

We love our little Wisconsin baby and look forward to many more month watching this cutie grow!

Anyone Else Have Mornings Like This?

Jacob usually wakes up super happy.

As soon as I open his door he is all smiles, kicking his legs and waving his arms.

Well a couple of weeks ago I went in to find him like this.

He appeared to want to stay in bed all day

Just grunting and sucking his thumb.

Well today its my turn!

Maybe it is the fact that I have a billion things to do

from packing for our move

 to cleaning,

from preparing a relief society lesson

to making plans for the ward temple trip,

and everything in between.

But all I want to do is curl up with a good book or movie and lounge the day away!

Who's with me?

But alas, I can't hide away in blog land forever.

I've gotta be an adult (totally overrated) and turn my to-dos into to-dones.

Maybe tomorrow I can hide from reality?

JPC:: 5 Months

My handsome little boy is 5 months!

I know I say this every time I write an update about him but time really does fly.

As fast as these months have gone at the same time it feels like we have had him in our family forever!

I love this stage that he is currently in.

He is sleeping great and is so interactive and playful!

Sleep

Jacob is still sleeping around 12 hours each night.

Although he has woken up a couple times this week because he got himself stuck.

He moves so much during his sleep now it is a little ridiculous!

Thankfully we can just move him back to the center and he'll go right back to sleep.

We had a rough week with naps (each one only being 45 minutes instead of 2 hours!).

So far it seems to have just been a one week phase.

We have also officially drop the swaddle.

I still use his swaddle blankets (leaving his arms out though) because he kicks off blankets and I'm too cheap to buy a sleep sack since these still work!

Feeding

We are still at 5 feedings a day but we started solids.

He eats them twice a day and so far we've tried rice cereal and carrots.

I'll admit I'm not a big fan of spoon feeding him.

He seems to like it though but definitely prefers carrots over rice cereal.

He is only eating a tablespoon (dry) at each feeding.

 Playing

He loves singing songs and reading books.

He enjoys playing with our faces and hands.

He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth and chews on it.

He loves looking at himself in a mirror (or the camera on the phone when we FaceTime).

He has adjusted to the exersaucer and loves spinning the little cylinder on it.

He likes being on his tummy and will roll from stomach to back and back to stomach to get toys.

He found his feet and is pretty obsessed with them.

At first he got frustrated because he couldn't pull them to his mouth.

But he has finally gotten enough muscle to do that and likes to suck on his big toe.

He loves when we say "Shark bait, oo haha"

He likes when I lay on my back next to him and we play together.

This and That

I think he is pretty close to getting his first tooth.

He has had a couple days where I could just tell his gums hurt.

Still no sign of teeth but that doesn't stop him from biting everything he can put in his mouth.

He does much better in the carseat now.

He has figured out how to kick the seat and that keeps him pretty entertained.

He has added "Huh" and "Ka" sounds.

I love when he does the "huh" sounds because he starts out really quiet and increases the volume when he feels like he got it.

The "Ka" or fake cough sounds are usually done to get our attention.

He is ready to start filming the next hit exercise video.  You can start calling him Richard Simmons Jr. (Obviously it hasn't helped him slim down so watch at your own risk!)

Basically he is my bundle of joy.

I feel so blessed to get to stay home and play with him everyday.

I love watching him learn and grow.

I looked forward to many more months with this cutie!

 (even if he doesn't have a neck)

End of Summer Update

So as I was looking over my last few posts I realized that pretty much everything has been about Jacob.

What can I say I'm biased and think he is the most adorable little boy on the planet!

But for those of you who are actually curious about what Ryan and I are doing besides filling our cameras with picture of Jake this post is for you.

Ryan

Ryan is enjoying his new job and is working on the inverters for the HVAC systems for trains.

(Yeah I'm a little confused just typing that hopefully I said it right!)

His schedule is fabulous and he is always home by 4:30pm (sometimes even earlier!)

He has been called as the Ward Mission Leader for our church and is working with the two sets of Elders currently serving in Oak Creek.

This calling keeps him pretty busy.

In fact I think he is even busier than when he was serving in the Bishopric in Madison.

He is also getting up early to play basketball with the Elders at 6:00 am.

Seriously he's crazy!

Alyssa

I'm spending my days home with Jake.

We play, we laugh, we eat and we nap.

 In our church I am serving as the Relief Society Temple Coordinator and a Relief Society Instructor.

I have a temple trip I've been planning this week for recent members to go and do baptisms.

The instructor calling is giving me a great deal of anxiety!

It is so stressful teaching adults.

Can I please go back to primary and just sing "Do as I'm Doing" tap dance style?

No?

Rats!

I guess I'll just keep trying and maybe some day I'll be able to teach a lesson without shaking like a leaf.

We also have been very busy because we are in the process of buying a house!

It is just a couple minutes from where we live now and should have all the paper work finalized next week.

If that goes through then we'll close the end of October.

It happened a lot faster than we thought but we are excited other than the fact that this will be our 11th move in 4 years.

Either we really like moving or we're crazy!

Because we are hopefully going to be this very large purchase for the next 30 years we have spent our date nights doing this like rotating the tires on our car at home.

Yup just pictures us in our drive way rotating tires by lantern light since we can't get started on a project like that until Jake is in bed!

Now, here is a picture of Jake because the mom in me can't write a blog post without at least giving him a shout out