First Birthday Pictures

On the 14th, it was a gorgeous day and I decided it was the day for Paxton’s birthday pictures! I dressed him in his precious birthday outfit and we went outside to snap pictures of my sweet little man! {I’m so glad I did because his birth day was cool and dreary and outside pictures wouldn’t have turned out good!}

Even though he didn’t stay still for more than 5 seconds and I didn’t get the one shot I wanted of him sitting on his bottom and looking at the camera (learning to let go of expectations!) but I managed to get some really wonderful shots of him!

Love, love, love this shot!!

He adores flowers! He is so amazed by nature!

Love this one too! I did put him on his back and he actually stayed on his back for a minute and I was able to get some cute snapshots of him!

Serious little boy! Look at those little lips!

Eleven Months

I’m behind…way behind, that’s why I’m posting Paxton’s 11 month pictures 1 week shy of his first birthday! Life has been crazy these past few weeks with the purchase of our home and moving but my dream of celebrating Paxton’s first birthday in our home (with a yard!) has came true! {Not to mention, an 11-month-old keeps any mama busy!}

This month’s milestones:

*Talking:

“ight”=light

“ock”=block

duck

mama! {Yes he’s finally saying it but only when he’s “in distress”!}

dada and daddy {Yes, the kid is saying daddy all the time!}

“gulk” = milk

hi

*Standing all by himself for about 30 seconds. He doesn’t stand unless he’s “tricked” though…once he realizes he’s standing, he eases himself down! This little daredevil is too afraid to walk for some reason! I’ll suppose he’ll walk when he’s ready!

*Has figured out how to turn around and ease himself down from the couch! It’s precious to watch!

*We’re still nursing! We’re definitely going to reach (and exceed) the goal of nursing to 1 year! He nurses in the morning and before bed and 2-3 times during the day.

*Is so loving! When we pick him up he’ll sometimes “love” us by patting us on the back. He also loves his stuffed animals and other babies in the nursery by patting them. I adore this…I just melt when he does it!

*Wants to eat anything I eat. I have to share all of my food!

*Wearing 12 month clothing mostly these days with a few 18 month items!

*We’re now on the final setting on our Bum Genius and all cloth diapers! I have moments when I’m afraid he’ll outgrow them but I know his growth is slowing. We’re now stuffing with an insert and doubler and then at night he sleeps in a Bum Genius cover with BG insert and a Flip insert…we’ve had no leaking problems!

*His big thing now is chugging water from his sippy cup and then opening his mouth and letting the water run out. It’s both humorous and annoying.

*Teething! He has 2 brand new shiny white teeth on the top! Thankfully we’re through this round of teething!

*His hair continues to grow and grow and grow! I trimmed his bangs a few days ago!

*Adores his books still! I hope he continues his love for books and reading!

*Loves carrying around his little farm animals that make noises. One day he noticed them on the top of the book shelf and asked for them (via pointing and grunting!) and he’s been playing with them daily ever since. He has a cow, pig, dog and horse and they each make their respective sounds! He grabs them by the neck and crawls around with them.

*Absolute joy! He provides so much laughter and humor to us. He also is a great test of patience!

Boys Intuition

I’m calling it boys intuition! This afternoon Paxton pointed to the tractor on his dresser so I got it down for him and he started “driving” it around!

I’m amazed at how much of a little boy he is becoming and even more amazed at the boy things that just come natural…like pushing a tractor around!

I know this has to make his daddy, grandaddies and great grandaddies so proud! {And it makes me so excited about the possibility of buying a house with a little land so he can “farm” outside…or at least push his tractors around in the dirt and help mama in the garden!}

Vroom….

He is enjoying his tractor!

Crash…both baby and tractor!

What a cute little farmer!

And here’s a message from Paxton himself:

j                      k  b                    Ωmm

{That means I love you very much grandma’s, grandpa’s, aunts and uncles! Come visit soon!}vz

Ten Months

Last week (on the 16th) Paxton was 10 months old! He’s really no longer a baby but is more like a little boy. It is simply wonderful watching him grow and learn!

This month’s milestones:

*Cruising & walking with us. He is a professional cruiser these days and holds onto our hands and takes a few steps. He’s not quite brave enough to take any steps by himself though!

*Standing for 15 seconds! If we put him in the floor, he’ll sometimes stand for 10-15 seconds before realizing he is standing up by himself and decide to sit down! It’s quite funny to watch, I suppose he’s just not ready to walk.

*A professional crawler! This kid can move fast! I love watching him crawl around so much. In fact, I’ll be a little sad when he does start walking because crawling babies are so adorable!

*Talking! ‘Dada’ was the word for a few weeks. He is making a ‘ba’ sound and ‘ma’ sounds too! I’m looking forward to mama!

*Still signing ‘more’ and ‘milk’! His favorite sign of course is ‘milk’!

*He’s eating just about everything we eat! Since we’ve been eating much healthier (more vegetables) he eats dinner along with us most of the time!

*Still nursing! We’re slowly weaning though, he is nursing about every 4-5 hours during the day and there have been many days when he’ll go about 6 hours.

*Teething. Thanks to this he’s been up during the night quite a bit and nursing during the night but we’ll get through it! It looks like his top teeth are going to make an appearance sometime soon!

*Bedtime is around 7:30-8:00. We’ve started a bedtime routine and read him his “Go to Bed Book” almost every night!

*Wearing 12 month clothes these days and has a few 18 month items in his wardrobe!

*Bum Genius Diapers are on the second setting but we’ll be moving them to the third setting very soon. He does wear them on the third setting at night since it’s stuffed with 2 doublers!

*When he wears disposables (twice a week to church) he wears a size 4. {We’ve mastered cloth diapering on the go! Love the savings!}

*Still loves pulling books off of our bookshelves! Other favorites include going through bags and drawers! Fun times!

*Mastered drinking out of a sippy cup!

*Makes huge messes! I’m amazed at the size mess that someone so small can make!

*Taking naps most days! He usually takes a 10:30 morning nap and a 2:00-3:00 afternoon nap! Nap time is nice for mama!

*Needs to be watched almost all the time! {That’s one reason why I’m posting less…it takes about 5 seconds for him to get into something!}

* Plays quite well by himself at times! He’ll “read” and play with his baby lap top and stuffed animals or pull diapers off of the changing table! Of course at other times he wants to be held constantly!

*Comes a runnin’ (via crawling of course) when he hears me open the laundry closet! He loves, loves, loves turning the knobs! It’s adorable!!

*Loves bath time! He just splishes and splashes! He also enjoys having his hands washed in the sink!

*Needs a haircut! His hair has gotten long! I really wanted to wait until he was 1 before we got it cut but now I’m trying to just wait until he’s walking. I know once we cut it he is going to look like such a big boy!

100% Boy!!

Mr. Adventure!

Nine Months

Somehow Paxton is 9 months old! He has now been in the world longer than he was inside of me! {That makes pregnancy seem so long!}

What a joy he is! It seems like every single day he learns something new and it’s so much fun as his parents to teach him and watch him learn and thrive!

This month’s milestones:

*Cruising- He’s quite the little cruiser these days! He also walks quite well when we hold both of his hands. It’s precious watching him “walking”!

*Talking- He babbles all the time! “Dada” is his main word right now but over the past couple of days his vocabulary has really expanded and he’s been babbling all kinds of things!

*Sigining- We’ve been working on the signs “more” and “milk” and he’s finally got those down! I love that we’re beginning to communicate! Now I frequently see him signing “more milk”! This boy loves nursing and eating!

*Growing- He weighed 20 pounds 2 ounces and was 29.5 inches long at his 9 month check up! {For comparison, he was 18 pounds 5 ounces and 28.5 inches at his 6 month checkup.} I honestly was surprised he hadn’t grown more but I suppose he’s slowing down a little! He’s in the 90-95th percentile for height and 25-50th for weight.

*Beginning to eat table foods! We’re starting to share our foods with him from our plates. We typically will give him vegetables and teeny tiny bites of meat. He loves anything we give him from our plates. And he has no issues letting us know when he wants something we’re eating…he’ll grunt at us!

*Still nursing- He nurses about every 3-4 hours during the day still. It is demanding but so worth it to me!

*Wearing almost all 12 month clothes these days! There are a few 9 month items in his dresser but they’re getting small! {This is partially why I was shocked that he only grew 1 inch in 3 months…his clothes indicate more growth!}

*Still have his Bum Genius diapers on the second setting but I think they need to be moved up soon. {This makes me a little sad as well as a little scared…what if he outgrows his diapers before potty training?!}

*One of his favorite things to do these days is pull books off of our bookshelves! His room has his board books only but the bookcase in the living room contains “real” books. I’ve been surprised at how gentle he’s been with them, he’s not ripped a page…yet! I frequently tell him “be nice to the books” when he’s playing with them.

*Loves when his daddy comes home! He shrieks and lights up when daddy walks through the door. It is the most precious thing ever!

*He’s becoming a little helper! He’ll help me with laundry!

*Plays “Peek a Boo”! What fun that is!

*He “growls” which has earned him the nickname Paxasaurus! It’s so cute!

*He is into everything and quite the adventurer! The toilet lids are kept closed and the bathroom doors are closed all the time! We also have to watch him almost every waking minute because he quickly gets into things!