Baby to Toddler in a blink of an eye!

Suddenly, as if time didn't move fast enough already, my sweet baby boy turned into a very opinionated and wild toddler. Gone are the days of my little baby quietly playing with his toys or napping/going to bed on a perfect schedule. It's so funny, and sad, to me how fast he changed! Even his appearance is different! He looks like such a little boy now! He is learning all kinds of new tricks and, as I said in his monthly post, developing quite the personality. He wants to be outside all of time time, even though the weather is not that nice yet. He gets mad when you bring him in from outdoors! Last night he took the most consecutive steps yet - 5 in a row! We were able to get most of it on video on Darren's phone but it's terrible quality which makes me sad! Before last night the most he took was 3 and that was at daycare so we didn't get to see it. I love that he is growing up and becoming his own person, but I also am so sad about it! An example is that he can now drink his bottle without assistance from us. We just prop him up and hand it to him and he'll drink the whole thing. However, I can't seem to put him down! I don't want to just prop him up and let him eat! I want to feed him! It's my 5-10min guaranteed snuggle time and I treasure it! I never thought that I would be the type of parent who gets sad watching their baby grow, but man, it's killing me! Luckily, haha, I only have two months until I have another baby to hold and snuggle. But, Clayton will always be my FIRST baby. He'll be my "baby" forever!

I can't wait to write about all of his new developments in his 11 month post next week! Until then you will just have to wait to see all of the crazy things this kid does now-a-days! ;-) Here's a photo to get you by.. hehe

My baby is growing up!

Our life lately has been a whirlwind! But, it's been so exciting because Clayton has been changing so much! First of all, he can now sit by himself! Granted it doesn't last a horribly long time, but he does it! He is best if he is leaning forward slightly and putting his hands on the ground or on his legs. He is definitely getting better at balancing himself though, whether it is when he is sitting, in an exersaucer, or being held on our hip.

He is still trying to crawl but getting nowhere. That's ok with Mommy! ;-) He hasn't figured out how to use his arms! He will scoot on his tummy with his legs and  go after toys or whatever we place in front of him. He also can turn in all sorts of directions... but just not much movement forward!

Lastly, we decided to forgo the rice cereal because he hated, and I mean HATED it, lately. We moved him to the Stage 1 veggies and fruits! So far we've tried sweet potatoes and green beans! At first he made a horrible face, but then he liked it and ate his whole bowl! He still prefers his bottle though. You can tell that he gets either tired of eating from the spoon or frustrated that it is not filling him up fast enough. We have tried feeding him before and after his bottle, before it's time for a bottle, you name it! The kid is just particular and likes his milk! =)

Another new development that just popped up, literally, today was that he has two new teeth! His bottom two center incisors just poked through today! We knew he had not been acting like himself these past few days, but we had no clue that he was working on two new teeth! You can see the pearly whites poking through his bottom gum. Poor kiddo! He hasn't been fussy at all but he's been sleeping a lot more and he's not been drinking his bottle as well. Normally he pounds down all 7 ounces without a problem, but he barely drinks 6 these past few days.

Lastly, for the past four weeks he's been sleeping upstairs in his crib by himself. He sleeps from about 8pm to 7am, and it is glorious! Some mornings he wakes up earlier, but we can usually get him to fall back asleep after his bottle for a bit. Makes it so nice for us!

I can't believe that my baby, BABY, boy will be half a year old in just a couple of weeks. Where does the time go? He is the sweetest baby ever. We are so incredibly blessed. People tell us all of the time that we don't know how lucky we are! =) Love him to pieces!

Starting Solids!

This past Sunday we started Clayton on his rice cereal! He did a great job! At first he was mad because even though he drank his usual 6 ounce bottle, he was still hungry and the rice cereal was not fulfilling him fast enough. However, he still did great! He impressed us by leaning for the spoon with his mouth open and getting the spoonful down in two bites! He really has been doing great!

Yummy!!

After the first night of rice cereal I thought for sure that he'd sleep through the night, or at least longer than 10pm to 4am. So, we carted ourselves upstairs and we slept in the guest room while Clayton slept in his crib. This was by far the worst sleep I have had since he was a week old. I was up every two hours. If I wasn't checking on him then the monitor was going off and waking me up. He did ok and slept his normal until 4am. Last night we were so exhausted that we brought him back downstairs into our room and his pack n play. I really hate that his room is on the second story and ours is on the first. I wouldn't ever build my house this way but the family who did build its kids were all grown up.... so it made sense!

First official night in his crib

He ate more of the cereal tonight so I am hoping that with each passing night he'll eat more and more and it will fill him more and more. Just have to find a way to break him of his 4am habit! I don't know if you can do that though! Oh well! Another new mom thing to learn and figure out! ;-)

On a ROLL!!

13 weeks 6 days old, and Clayton rolled from back to front! I'm so proud of him! He uses all leg and stomach muscles, so it's pretty entertaining! The first day he rolled over, he rolled a total of 13 times! We're not bragging or anything, but we think he's amazing! We were so impressed when at 12 weeks he rolled from front to back, but he since then quit. However, now apparently he has moved on to bigger and better tricks! ;-) hehe...

Now you can't leave him anywhere on his back without him rolling over. To make matters more interesting, he doesn't like being on his tummy that much... so as to why he constantly rolls over, we're not sure! ;-) I was able to get a bit of video today of him rolling! He's so cute! Just flips right over!