7 month update!

Everett has had a lot going on since the last update, here's a short rundown:

• he loves to stand, all the time
• he's started walking along furniture
• he really enjoys eating his solid food
• he's cutting his first two teeth! (3/2)

At Everett's 6-month well check, Everett was weighing in at 16 lbs 10 oz and measuring 26" tall, both #s are in the 30+ percentile. We were concerned about Everett's dropping in the growth charts, but the doctor said there wasn't anything to worry about. While we were at the appointment, Everett was very active (squirmy, trying to roll around, bouncing) and the doc said that if he was like this all the time (which he is), his calorie burn must be very high. Everything else with the check up was okay, he got another round of booster shots and a flu shot.

The little boy is now very mobile. Everett can crawl super fast when he's on the carpet (and slides all around when you put him on the wood floor) but it seems like the only reason he crawls is so he can get over to something to pull himself up to standing. Everett would rather be standing and bouncing than doing anything else. The moment he wakes up in the morning, he stands at the foot of the crib and waits for us to come get him. If we sit next to him on the ground, he'll crawl over so he can pull himself up on our knees. And now that Everett's standing, he's also started walking along furniture, check it out:



(it's funny that Everett tries to climb the ottoman, he does that a lot)

So all those calories that Everett burns zipping around, he does a good job replacing with his solid foods. Everett gets really excited when you put him in his high chair and will sit with his mouth open and reaching for the spoon, it's like you can't shovel the food fast enough. Fruit-wise he's eating apples, bananas and pears and with veggies Everett's eating sweet potatoes, green beans, peas and carrots. His favorites are peas but he'll eagerly eat anything and doesn't appear picky. Our freezer is fully stocked with a bunch of pureed vegetables, and next week we'll be starting squash, peaches and mangoes. Everett loves to eat so much that it's fun to make food for him :)

And finally, Everett's first two bottom teeth are coming in! I've been checking for teeth for the past couple weeks now, and yesterday morning I finally felt some teeth and sure enough, there are two little white lines starting to poke out through his gums. Everett hasn't been overly fussy, so hopefully his new pearly whites aren't bothering him at all.

It seems like I say this a lot, but I really can't believe how fast Everett is growing. Eric and I were putting away EJ's clothes that he's outgrown, and the outfits were so tiny - it's amazing to think that our baby was ever that small!

Here are some pictures of our little man, enjoy!

03/03/2011 update

Everett is standing!

I still owe everyone Everett's 6-month update, but I don't have time to write a blog right now. Instead, here's a video of Everett pulling himself into a standing position - I wasn't expecting this for another couple months!

Everett vs. Rice Cereal

Everett had his first taste of rice cereal this weekend... unfortunately he didn't take to it.

He was really excited to sit in his booster seat:

He was excited to see the spoon coming towards his mouth and wanted to help me get it there faster:

But once he got the rice cereal in his mouth, something weirded him out. The expressions Everett can already make with his eyebrows cracks me up:

And then whatever was on the spoon ended up on his chin:

We tried again a couple more times this weekend with the same result. Could just be a texture and flavor thing... who could possibly be excited over tasteless, watery rice cereal? Maybe next weekend we'll try bananas or peas. For now we'll be sending Everett off to daycare with the rice cereal, maybe his caregiver will have better luck (but I doubt it).

Everett caught his first cold at daycare. Besides have a really runny nose, he seems to be his regular, happy, screeching self. He's getting really, really close to crawling. He spends a lot of time rocking back and forth on his knees, and he can turn himself in circles to get to his toys, which makes for fun video clips of Everett:



3 more days til Everett's 6-month birthday. Can you believe it?

01/23/2011 update

a day at the park...

We had some perfect weather this Saturday, low 70s and sunny, so it was time to take Everett to the park. We were also excited to bring the little boy outside because he's finally able to sit up by himself for long stretches of time. The link to all the pictures is below, lots of repetitive shots - it's easy to get camera happy with Everett! It was hard to get Everett to look at the camera because he was so excited looking around, but here are a couple good ones from our outing:


We're guessing now that Everett can sit up pretty well that he'll be crawling soon. He's now able to get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth without getting anywhere. I tried unsuccessfully to capture a picture for evidence, the moment he saw the camera he would flop onto his stomach and assume the "superman" position. Everett is still more likely to push himself backwards with his hands, but we noticed that he'll now propel himself forward with his feet if he puts his face on the ground. Once he gets mobile, this little guy is sure to get himself into some trouble. Here's Superman:


Everett has now been at daycare for 2 weeks. The transition was rough for all of us. After the first couple days, our daycare lady was telling us that Everett was extra difficult - didn't like to be put down, couldn't entertain himself, cried and fussed all day, etc. At first I was thinking, not my child, she just must not know how to handle him. Then when we had Everett full time last weekend, we discovered that the little guy is acting up, going through separation anxiety - though we're not sure if it's a phase or a result of being at daycare. Everett used to be able to play by himself for short bursts of time, but now if you turn away from him or step away for a couple seconds the little guy starts crying and screaming his head off. Thankfully the second week went a little smoother, and the daycare lady is willing to be patient. Hopefully Everett will adjust soon.

11 more days til Everett is 6 months old - can you believe it? We're going to start him on solids next weekend, can't wait! Should make for some good pictures. :) Everett's still on a liquid only diet, mostly breast milk but I've had to supplement with some formula since I can't keep up with his huge appetite. It will be nice when the solid foods become a bigger part of his calorie-intake so I won't have to be such a slave to the pump, it's so much work!

Alright, here are the rest of the pictures for your viewing pleasure. Usually I edit out all the repeats, but there were just too many cute ones and I'm feeling a little lazy tonight. Enjoy!

2011-01-15 Everett

5 month update - Everett's first Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope everyone had a good holiday, we certainly did! We spent our Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day with our friends and family, eating well and watching holiday movies. Christmas morning, our little family started our first traditions - present opening and a fancy homemade breakfast (ie, not cold cereal for a change). Thanks to our very generous loved ones, Everett had many gifts to open. While he was too young to understand what was going on, we were able to get him to rip away at the wrapping paper - though he spent more time trying to eat the packages than open them. :)


Everett then celebrated his 5-month birthday the day after Christmas. Everett started rolling over from back to stomach about 2 weeks ago, and for a while forgot how to go from stomach to back - but now he can roll freely in every direction. Along with being able to roll onto his stomach, we felt safe letting Everett sleep on his stomach - which coincided with him sleeping much better. With very little training (crying), on a good night, the little boy is now sleeping 11-12 hours a night with usually only one wake up at 3 or 4am to eat, with a final wake up time from 6 or 7am. Naps took a little more patience, but now EJ is usually able to soothe himself to sleep in 5-10 minutes, and then stay asleep for 1 to 1.5 hours, 3 times a day. It's amazing how much more we were able to get done during the day when you don't have to carry him for all his naps. I feel much more relieved that Everett can nap by himself now since he's going to daycare.


It's amazing to watch and see how much he changes every day. Everett has taken a lot more interest in his toys, especially things that rattle and spin. He is able to entertain himself for longer periods of time, and even enjoys tummy time now (finally!). He's constantly grabbing at things and turning things over in his hands, followed by chewing on stuff. It's usually not too much trouble, except for when Everett tries to grab and suck on his toes while we're giving him a bath! EJ's not ready to sit up by himself, but he is preparing to crawl. He can push up onto his hands and knees and will push himself backwards. If he wants to get to a toy, he'll roll or pull himself sideways. Looks like we're going to have to baby-proof the house soon!


We're looking forward to 2011 with our little boy, the new year is sure to bring a lot more exciting changes as Everett gets older!

12/27/10 update

19 week (belated 4 month) update

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the delay in updating... I've been back to work for a month now and the catching-up never seems to end! While I'm sitting here at my desk, I'm constantly reminded throughout the day of how I am super jealous of Eric who is on leave and gets to spend his mornings like this:


and spending his days with our cute, giggly little boy. (It's cute how often I find them doing striking similar poses, even in their sleep - Everett really is Eric's "mini-me") . Eric's been super-dad to Everett. He's so patient with Everett, and he finds new ways to make him giggle and laugh every day. Eric's staying home with Everett until the week after Christmas, at which point I'll be home for the week and Everett will then start daycare on January 3rd. It's coming up so fast!

Everett had his 4 month check-up last week and he's weighing in at 15.2 lbs and measuring 25 inches tall. EJ got his 4mo booster shots and Eric said he handled them like a champ and only cried a little bit. He's back to the 50th percentile for both height and weight. They say on average that babies double their birth weight by 6 months and triple it by one year. Everett is ahead of schedule, but not gaining weight as fast as he did the first 2 months. Lengthwise, I knew my little baby was getting bigger, but it's getting really obvious now that he's grown 6 inches since birth. His feet almost hang over the side of the rocking chair while I feed him, and his 3 month pants fit more like capri pants now. Everett is just starting to wear his 6 month clothes now, although the tops are a bit baggy and the pants are a little bit long - he just looks a little bit asian ghetto stylin' :)

Everett still hasn't learned to enjoy tummy time, and is lazy about flipping over although he can do so more easily when he puts his mind to it. He's starting to prepare himself for flipping over from back-to-front, he gets about half-way there and would be almost over with a kick of the legs. Now that his upper body is getting a lot stronger, we have him doing more activities sitting up, like in his Bumbo:


The first time we put him in this chair, I just laughed and laughed he looked so funny. He's not comfortable sitting in there for long since it's more of a padded bucket than a seat. After a couple minutes he'll start arching to push himself out.

What he does love is to be in his jumperoo. He'll jump and squeal with happiness, spin around and play with all the toys... it's a good babysitter:


Except he's not quite tall and heavy enough to touch the ground... so we had to modify the set-up a little by putting a box under his feet like this:


Yes... that's a box of kitty litter. I did find another box that was better suited later on :)

The days have gone by fast the last month. We've all taken turns being sick a couple times this past month. First we all had a stomach bug, which thankfully Everett only seemed to get a mild version which resulted in him refusing to eat as often as he should for about 5 days - but he never got dehydrated, thank goodness. And just this past week, we've all had a bit of a cold. Everett's nose went from being runny to being very stuffed up - so much so that we had to aspirate his nose every time he needed to eat, but luckily his appetite wasn't affected. Sleep-wise, Everett went from sleeping 7-8 hrs continuously to going to bed at 9pm-ish, waking up at 3am, and then again at 6am... it's been rough with me being back at work full time and having to wake up twice early morning to feed him. The doctor said we could try and wean him off the 3am feeding when Everett gets closer to 6 months of age.

It's also been a busy month at the house. Eric has been working on the weekends to wrap up our new wood floors, they're almost done! We spent Thanksgiving at my grandmother's care home in Escondido to celebrate with my aunts and uncles on my Dad's side. We also put up our Christmas decorations this weekend, went and bought a tree and strung up some lights and garlands. We're sad that this will be our first Christmas away from our family in Illinois, but also excited to be starting a new tradition with our new little family. Christmas pictures will be the next update! Until then, enjoy these photos:

update 12-06-2010

Happy Halloween!

My Uncle Mark says I looked like a carrot instead of a pumpkin :)