Merry Christmas!...I'm 6 months old!

Trace spent his first Christmas in Grand Isle, LA. We spent the last few days toting him from one family’s house to the other’s, including visiting a few friends in between. It wore us out, and it’s made him completely exhausted. He skipped a feeding yesterday to catch up on his sleep and has slept almost all day today. As tiring as it was, he had a great Christmas. He had so many gifts that we couldn’t bring them all home with us. He was held and loved on by everyone; so much that I don’t think he had any floor time, except for a few diaper changes. He loved chewing on wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows. I’m sure he’s seeing stars from all the cameras flashing, and his cheeks probably hurt from all the smiling and “hamming it up” that he did for the grandparents. He is so loved.

Today, we took him in for a visit with Dr. Bankston. He’s grown so much! He is now 16.3 lbs. (55%), 28 inches long (75%), and his head circumference is 17 inches (50%). No wonder our backs hurt! Dr. Bankston said we can start working more foods into his diet. Ernie got real excited and went to Babies R Us to buy all sorts of new foods for him. So far he’s had all the 1^st food veggies, like sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas, & green beans. He started applesauce last night and will be going through all of the fruits in the next few weeks. If no allergies arise, we’ll start mixing it up with things like garden vegetables, turkey, and chicken & rice. In the next couple of months, we can also start introducing soft table foods like mashed potatoes & grits. Also, he’ll start drinking a little juice & water, while learning to use a sippy cup. This should be fun!

Trace turns 6 months old today. I’m so filled with emotion over this because it’s been a wonderful 6 months, I’m sure the best 6 months of my life to this point; but it makes me so sad to think that in just 6 more months, he’ll already be 1 year old. The time really does pass by so quickly, as any mother will tell you. We spent 9 months before his birth preparing and trying to fast forward our lives to the point of his arrival; and now, I just want to hit pause for a moment and enjoy this time with him. But unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. We just have to slow down our lives enough to try to catch every moment that we can (and try not to blink) as he sprouts up like a weed and explores new things every day.

Veggie Time

It's peanut butter, jelly time....not quite yet, but it is sweet potato time! For Trace's introduction to the world of vegetables, we selected the ever-tasty sweet potato (our choices weren't aplenty -- sweet potato, carrots or squash).

Last Saturday, during LSU's victory over Tennessee in the SEC Championship, Trace ate his first sweet potatoes and enjoyed them much more than rice cereal. He's eaten them for five days now, and since he's shown no allergic reactions, sweet potatoes are now going into his feeding rotation. Tonight, we get to move onto either carrots or squash. Hopefully he takes to these just as easily.

We ordered a Bumbo online the other day to help teach Trace how to sit up, and it's taken him no time to start enjoying his new seat:

We hope the seat also become part of his feeding routine, as his bouncy seat (see pic above), has been visiting the washing machine quiet often lately.

It's such a fun and exciting time watching Trace grow and learn about the world. Teething is starting and he has a speck of a tooth coming in on his right side. Pretty soon, his gummy smile will be filled with little teeth. It's crazy to think that in a few weeks he'll be 6 months old. Time sure does go by quickly.

So Big!

Trace made 5 months on Wednesday. It’s hard to believe, I know; but we are reminded each day of how big he’s getting when we get him dressed and he can’t fit his outfits; when we have to carry him around with 2 hands, when both of our backs hurt from holding him; and when we feed him cereal each night. Yes, he had his first serving of rice cereal a little over a week ago; and he’s starting to get the hang of using a spoon, just like a big boy!

He didn’t like it at first as you can tell by the pictures (he had very little patience for waiting in between bites), but he’s gotten much better and neater. Last night was the first night we fed him without both of us needing a bath afterwards. He’s doing so well that I think we’re ready to start vegetables by this weekend. It should be fun.

We have our first Parent/Teacher Conference at school tomorrow. (Isn’t that crazy!?) He’s not in trouble or anything; the teachers just like to meet with the parents once a semester and talk about the child’s development. I’m sure she’s gonna say that he’s not completely on track for a 5 month old. But I’m okay with that and so is his pediatrician, considering he was born a month early. Trace is showing signs that he’s ready to start rolling over and sitting up. He presses down on his feet and picks his whole body up, but he’s still not sure what to do after that. He scoots around a lot by pushing on his feet, almost as if he’s crawling backwards. He also lifts his head and his body just enough where it looks like he might be doing crunches, but not quite sitting up yet. My other favorite thing that he does is he’s starting to give hugs and kisses. When you hold him, he wraps his arms around you tight and when you bring him in close, he wants to suck and/or lick your face. He’s so much fun!

Geaux Tigers: LSU Homecoming

For LSU's Homecoming week, the day care center has some activities for the kids to get into the LSU spirit. Each day has a dress up theme, such as silly hat and socks day:


There was also a homecoming parade for all the kids at the center. Trace joined Ms. Crystal and Andrew in representing the Pandas class. Here's a few pictures of Trace helping to lead the parade in his "decked-out" in LSU spirit stroller:



Here's Trace with his Nanny Mikelle:

Happy Halloween!

Trace had his first Halloween Party at school yesterday. He dressed up as the world’s cutest giraffe I’ve ever seen. All of his classmates dressed up too. It was so adorable seeing a classroom full of babies in costumes. He also made ghost footprints and there were lots of food and door prizes. He had such an exciting day that he crashed at the party.

Tonight we are taking him to a Halloweenie Roast at our pastor’s house and Trace will go Trick-or-Treating around the neighborhood with the other kids. I’m sure Ernie will find a place for all the candy he collects!

Trace also wanted me wish his buddy, Cooper, a Happy 1st Birthday!

P.S. Trace is being dedicated at our church on Sunday, November 4th at 6:30PM. Everyone is invited to attend: www.ringcommunity.org. Let me know if you need directions.

Four Month Check-Up

Trace had his four month check-up today, and he's doing great. He's growing well (13 lbs 4 and 3/4 ozs, 24 1/2 inches long) and once again showed he was a tough little guy when given his shots. A small cry when the shots were given, soon turned to a big smile when it was over. After having an ear infection this past weekend, his ears looked cleared up as well. All in all, it was a good visit.

The doctor talked to us about when to introduce solid foods, and it looks like anytime between now and his six month check-up, we could do so. Since Trace hasn't shown any problems sleeping (about 8 hours the past few nights!), there isn't a rush to introduce rice cereal. But we'll try it soon enough, followed by orange or yellow veggies, then green veggies and lastly fruit. Its pretty exciting to be at this stage and get to see how he reacts and what kinds of foods he likes. It'll also be really messy since our doctor is against feeding rice cereal in a bottle. She said it'll take about a week for him to realize and get used to eating with a spoon. This is going to be fun.

A few weeks ago, we stopped feeding Trace during the night and he adjusted well to that. Then last week, we decided it was time to move him into his own room, and he has done great with that as well. We have been so blessed with a happy, healthy child. I know its not supposed to be this "easy" (used loosely since there have been some rough times), but Trace is a great baby and he has made us first time parents' job a lot easier that some have it.

Here's some pics of Trace from the past couple of weeks:

Trace with his favorite toy, his giraff:

Trace is ready for the winter:

Its a tough job, but somebody's got to do it:

Sleepy time...

Well, we did it. We got Trace to sleep through the night…sort of. On our first night’s attempt, we fed him and put him to bed a little after 10PM. He went right to sleep and then woke himself up at 12:50AM. I knew he couldn’t be hungry yet, because he usually waits 4 hours. So, we waited the 45 minutes like the doctor said…okay, maybe it was 30 and then Ernie got up and changed him. He went right back to sleep and didn’t wake up again until 4:42AM. (We were supposed to wait until 5AM, but I just couldn’t take it anymore.) Granted those 30 minutes of crying were excruciating and heartbreaking, but it seems to have worked. He also got his arm loose and scratched his face a little bit. But overall, so far, so good.

On another note, did I mention…THE LETTERS ARE IN! Not the original ones that we ordered, but we have letters and I’m excited. His room is finally complete. We decided to wait to have him sleep in his room, though. We figured sleeping through the night was a big change and we wanted him to be used to his surroundings. Maybe we’ll try that next week.

P.S. If anyone knows the whereabouts of the people from www.dimplesanddaisies.com, please let me know. The Better Business Bureau would like to speak with them.

Trace loves his giraff

Two Months Already

It’s hard for me to say, but our sweet baby is already 2 months old and is getting so big. He had his 2 month checkup and immunizations with Dr. Bankston on Thursday, and he has grown to 10 lbs. 1 ¾ oz. and 22 inches long. She said he’s in the 25^th percentile for his height and weight and in the 5th percentile for the size of his head. I asked if there was any cause for concern over it , and she assured me there was not. She just said that means he’s got a little head and that he probably gets it from his daddy. She added that as long as he’s showing progression in growth each visit then he is fine.

We talked to her about feedings, and she said when he gets to 12 lbs, which he should be in a month, then we can start skipping the late night feedings and have him sleep from 10PM to 5AM. Can’t wait! He took his shots well and only cried a few seconds. I was bracing myself for the worst, thinking that I might cry along with him; but he was done before we knew it. Overall, it was a good visit. Here are some pics of Trace with Dr. Bankston and silly faces he made while at her office.

Trace is showing all sorts of signs of development. He’s starting to hold his head up, and his new favorite thing is to stick out his tongue. He smiles a whole lot, and it’s so cute because his whole face lights up. It makes it really hard leaving him when we have to go to work each day. Speaking of leaving him, he started daycare at LSU last week, and he’s doing great. Ernie drops him off and picks him up everyday, and I go see him at lunch. He has two teachers, Ms. Krystal and Ms. Annie, and seven classmates: Aiden, Andrew, Addison, Devin, Kayleen, Ryann, and Seth. Their class is the Panda Bears, and they range in age from 9 to 18 weeks old. They’re all so cute. Here’s a few pics of Trace getting ready for his first day of school and with his teacher, Ms. Krystal.

This weekend we worked on getting Trace’s room a little more organized to be ready for when he moves in next month. Yes, we're still waiting on his nursery letters after placing a second order with another company, but that’s a blog for a different day. Here’s a look at his nursery for now. I’ll post more pics on the glorious day when the letters arrive…promise.

6 Weeks Old!

Tomorrow Trace will be 6 weeks old, its hard to believe that it has been that long. He is so awesome, and we are so blessed to have him. He went to the doctor last week and weighed in at 7 lbs 10 ozs, and they said that he's growth is great. He goes back again at the end of the month for his first round of immunizations.

It has been an adjustment for us, but I think we're getting the hang of it. After a few trips out of the house, its getting easier for us to go places. We're also figuring out the many different ways restuarants can accomodate a car seat. Every one is different, but we're catching on.

Trace was sleeping well his first few weeks, but now he is getting a little more cranky at night. The doctor thinks that he may be getting a little cholic. The main thing is that he wants to be held or sleep right next to us. He has his good nights where he can be put down right away, and some nights, he doesn't want to be put down at all. As tough as it seems some times, I'm loving every minute of it...even the baths he doesn't quite like (he's actually started to enjoy his bath time, this was one of his first ones):

On August 20, Day Care starts. Ashley will be going back to work after Labor Day, so we want to bring Trace in to day care a few times before so he can get used to it. We visited the center the other day and met his teacher. His name is up on the wall for his class already. We're excited and nervous to bring him, and his first full day will probably be tough on us.

Trace had an exciting summer with playdates, cruising around Baton Rouge, his first birthday party at the Duplechains for Uncle Josh, visiting the Ring nursery and loving on mom and dad at home. Below are a few pictures of how Trace has spent his summer.

His first playdate with Cooper:

Hanging out with the lady who brought him into the world, Dr. Harris:

Chilling at the house with dad and Parrain Jamie:

A playdate with Parker:

Going to the mall with Olivia:

Getting a little excercise on the Boppy: