Nine!

Been looking at this boy a lot and I seriously get overwhelmed at times with the love I have for him. Jaime and I went through a lot praying for the opportunity to be parents and we don't take one single day for granted.
He is 9 months old today! I was pregnant for 9 months and it seemed to take a long time, but now that Corban is 9 months, it's gone so fast!
We had a doctor's appt today for his well baby appt. Corban weighs 18.04 pounds, he is 28 inches long, and his head is...well, it's just perfect! So, he's grown almost 9 inches since he was born! Doctor G said he is looking good and meeting his milestones. He babbles, has mamitis (aka stranger anxiety) , plays games ... all the things a 9 month old should be doing-and more.
Corban will probably be walking soon. He was pulling up on his crib before he started crawling, so he has gotten pretty good at it. He walks around everything, and can stand on his own for a couple of seconds before falling. He also likes to climb on top of things and sit down. Pretty cute. This morning he climbed up his step stool and was holding onto the top of his crib! He also dances...a lot! He loves music and drumming on things. The daycare ladies get a big kick out of it!

Speaking of daycare, he has some good buddies there. Besides Marisol, the owner, there is a boy named Augustin. Every morning Augustin patiently waits for Corban to arrive, then he runs and gives Corban 2 balls to play with. One for each hand. They both get all smiley and excited. Augustin will not give the balls to anyone other than C. Augustin is 1 and a half. His other buddy is a cutie pie 3 year old named Kai. Kai will hold Corban's hands and dance with him-all the kids are so sweet and precious. So thankful God put Marisol into our lives.








Oh, and today, Corban's bottom left tooth poked through! His grin is too cute.




Some comparison shots:
9 days



9 weeks



9 months

Peek-a-Boo

We have been playing this with Corban for months and he loves it-really cracks him up. The other day, I was at the end of the bed, and Corban was standing on the other side of the headboard. I grabbed the top of it and squatted down. I look up to him peering over with a huge grin and I pop up and say, "peek-a-boo!" he laughs and I do it all over. Next thing I know, he is slowly descending below the headboard with a smile from ear to ear. Then, he comes back up and his eyes are so wide-he squeals as I say "peek-a-boo!" Then he did it again. He was impressive! It made us both laugh. Next, we go into his nursery and as he stood by the ottoman, he picked up a blanket and pulled it clumsily up to his face and then lowered it again. I said "peek-a-boo" and he was thrilled, like , "oh she gets it!!"

Labor Day Weekend Sept 3-Sept 5

So, here we are a few weeks after the fact-but some big things happened that weekend and my goal was to have them written about before Corban's 9 month blog. Well, in an hour and a half, Corban will be 9 months, so here we go- goal achieved.

It was a big weekend! On 9-3 Corban and I went to the Farmers Market to visit Daddy. Then, we went to a birthday party. Corban seemed pretty tired, so we came home to nap. He didn't nap. So, we played, but he was a little more serious than usual. He finally napped, but seemed a little more sensitive when he woke up. Well, he cut his first teeth! His top two! Poor little angel face. He had a slight temp, and cried pretty hard when we put him down for bed. He's never acted that way, and we just felt terrible for him. Jamie went to the store for teething gel, and humphreys #3 tablets. We fixed Corban up and the next morning he was back to himself.

Look, Teefers!!!




Then on Monday, Corban started clapping for the first time! Jamie and I went to go see a movie while his Papa watched him. When we got back, I was standing in the kitchen with him and he started clapping! I was so excited. Now he randomly practices clapping. Like while nursing back to sleep in the morning, he practices in slow motion. Awww, love.

Watch Mammy and Grandpa-I can clap!

Eight!

2/3 of a year! Amazing :o) He is our babbling, crawling, cruising ray of sunshine. Everynight we thank the Good Lord for our precious boy.

Since our 7 month update, I've returned to work, and Corban has gone back to daycare. He has continued his early to bed, early to rise routine. This is fine with us!! It works for him and seems to keep him pretty stable. Plus, it gives Jaime and I some time to catch up, relax, and then go to bed. We're tired too!
Corban has changed quickly in the last month. Right before returning to daycare-he started crawling!! He was just a few days over 7 months. Now he is 8 months, and he is FAST! At the time he started crawling, he had also been pulling himself up on his crib-and on other things. Now he pulls up on everything, cruises around the furniture-and can carefully pick up objects off the floor-and stand back up with them. He is quite the explorer and gets so tickled when he crawls after us out into the hallway. He can hardly contain himself when he sees Haley ,even more so now that he has become mobile. She has learned to run from him! He just laughs and keeps in hot pursuit :o) In the mornings, he wakes up , smiles, kisses and squeels. He is so happy. Such a sweetie.
He is great with finger foods now-and hasn't turned his nose up at anything really. Although I don't think peas are his favorite. Who can blame him?! So far he has had-watermelon, pears, carrots, butternut squash, yellow squash, sweet potato, peas, whole beans, a little bread, yogurt,parsnips,broccoli, organic apple cinnamon cereal, puffs, avocado, peaches, plums, apples, and bananas.
Jaime and I have been going to church on Saturday nights now-since Corban naps during the time we would go on Sundays. It's been a nice way to end the week. There is a band and the leader is great-super voice! Corban goes to the church nursery now and so it's sort of a nice time for mommy and daddy time.

Seven !

Our Lovebug is 7 months old today!




We spent Corban's 7 month birthday in Austin with family. He got to meet his Aunt Mandy, and his cousins Michael and Maren. We had a great visit. The plane rides went smoothly as he nursed, then slept.



At the airport



At the end of the ride, Corban earned his wings and got to visit the cockpit with Daddy





Meeting Aunt Mandy for the first time!



Katie came to see us too!!




We got to go visit little e and co



Then lots of fun family time


















He is loving picking up food with his fingers and trying to get it into his mouth. He is also just about to crawl. He gets on all fours and he inches forward a little, or he kind of lunges and then goes onto tummy. He hasn't quite perfected it, but boy is he close. I think it will be less than a week before our boy is mobile!

ElPasoMommies: Wonk Wonk Wonk ~ How to Train Your Kids to Ignore ...

ElPasoMommies: Wonk Wonk Wonk ~ How to Train Your Kids to Ignore ...: 8:54 AM | Posted by The Mommies Network | | Edit Post
It started with a trip to the grocery store. While I waited for the cashier to ring up my items, a mother behind me was delivering a soliloquy (only she didn't recognize it as such!).

"Suzy, you're not going to take that home."
"Suzy, you can carry that around but I'm not buying that."
"Suzy, you've been naughty. Why should I buy that for you?"
"Suzy, put that away. I'm not paying for it."
"suzy, everyone is looking at how much trouble you're causing."

And on and on and on...

I was so thankful when the cashier gave me my total. I was tired of this woman blathering on and I don't have to live with her! Poor Suzy. She is being trained to ignore her Mother. The more Mom talks, the less she hears.

Mom needs to learn rule number one:

Less Talk, More Action

Remember the Peanuts cartoons? When one of the adults spoke, all the kids heard was "wonkwonkwonkwonk". The more you lecture, threaten, warn, count to 3, etc... the less your child listens. Stop diluting your effectiveness as a parent with these non-actions. Use natural consequences as often as possible, and deliver the consequence calmly and swiftly. For example:

If your two year old won't stop running into the street, clearly explain to her that if she does it, she will be taken inside for the day. Then, when she does it (and she will, of course, cute little Scientist that she is!), calmly and without fanfare, escort her inside. Don't give her warnings or "another chance".

Toddlers and young kids don't understand an abstract concept like getting hit by a car... something they've never seen, felt or tasted. So talking about it until you're blue in the face is unlikely to do any good.

But what they DO understand is cause and effect. "If I do "X", then Mommy does "X"....EVERY TIME. Even young babies learn this. Ever noticed how excited your baby gets right before you feed him? He's learned that when you hold him a certain way, food is forthcoming. Our kids are smarter than we think sometimes.

Another example: Two siblings are fighting about a toy. Don't waste your time trying to figure out who is in the wrong, it's virtually impossible and just encourages tattling. The children will learn how to work out their own negotiations if involving the parent means unpleasantness. The toy is put up for a period of time. End of story. Toy squabbles will dramatically decrease almost magically!


Let Your Yes Mean Yes & Your No, No

Do what you say you will do. If you tell your child that acting up in the grocery store means no cookie from the bakery at the end of the trip, MEAN it. I'll never forget the look on my 2 year old daughter's face as she watched her brothers eat huge chocolate chip cookies while she went empty handed! Few things impress a young child more than you holding to your words, calmly and without a lot of emotion (that just makes you look like an idiot). Children don't respect you if you are always swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Decide what's important to you and expect those limits to be respected.

This rule makes parenting so much easier because your kids will stop testing you so much, which is just their way of saying "Do you really mean it?".

The flip side of this is that when you promise something positive, you had better make good on it! If you do this, your children will learn that you mean what you say.

{Originally posted on SaltLakeCityMommies}

Whoa, Half A Year!

Our cuddly boy is 6 months old now! So much is happening with him too. He reaches out to be picked up, he sits really well,he pats our backs when we hold him, he blows raspberries on my shoulder when I'm carrying him, he can support himself on his hands and knees, but his belly is still close to the ground. He looks like a frog when he does this. He also goes from sitting to on one knee and his hands-but then he gets stuck.

We had our 6 month appt today and the doctor said he's looking good. He is now 16.035 pounds (between 25-50th percentile), 26 1/4 in. (just under 50th %), and his head is 44 1/4 in. (75th %). He looks great!

He has now had organic green beans, sweet potato, banana, and avocado. We got this mesh feeder thing at Target, and he loves to have "popsicles" using any of the aforementioned items.

We had a great First Father's Day with Daddy. We gave him a backpack style carrier, and boy do these boys look cool! We also got to go visit Corban's Great Grandparents, his Mimi and Poppy, his Papa and Uncles B, C, and D, and his Mammy and Grandpa! It was a doozy of a day! But loads of fun!

Now, here are some pictures from our summer so far!