Right after your 9 month checkup, we began sleep training. The pediatrician suggested that you were waking up so often because you were falling asleep in our arms and panicking because you were no longer in our arms. We began immediately. That night, we switched our bed time routine by feeding you then bathing you. After bath time, we said goodnight, placed you in your crib, and left the room. The first night you
Your first Thanksgiving was spent at Chris and Melissa's. You ate smoked turkey, spiral ham, sweet potatoes, and broccoli casserole. You definitely ate until your hearts content, and entertained Melissa's family by crawling around, reacting to the dogs, and babbling.
You love stuffed animals right now. Boomer and Gumbo are your favorites. You give them loves, talk to them, and get so excited when you see them in your red car (where mom loves to "hide" them). You grab gumbo by an ear and crawl or walk with a walking toy.
You also love blankets. You normally sleep cuddling it. The blankets we are currently using are your monster blanket and the fleece ones my Aunt Donna made.
You wave bye bye pretty regularly now. Sometimes you wave bye bye while playing with toys, but you almost always wave bye bye when I leave for work or when we leave somewhere.
You can make the sign for milk. Although, sometimes I can't tell if you are just waving bye bye. They are pretty similar.
We took you to the aquarium this month and your favorite was the jellyfish. You kept reaching out for the glass and squealing. I think the penguins swimming in the water was your second favorite. For lunch we ate at Cafe Masperos, where you ate a good amount of my red beans. I'm so happy you love red beans like I do. You had a mini melt down at one point because we weren't feeding you fast enough. Next, we took a stroll around Jackson Square where I stopped and fed you and you quickly fell asleep in the stroller. As Travis and I continued walking in the French Market, you stopped traffic with your cuteness. Many people pointed and commented how cute you were. I definitely agreed, especially since you were sporting your Osh Gosh overalls - one of my favorite outfits on you.
You can stand by yourself for 30 sec or more. This usually occurs when you are focused on something and don't realize you are holding on to something. You are strong enough and have the balance to stand by yourself more often, but you like the security of holding on to objects. I've watched you think real hard about taking a step without holding on to an object, but you wind up falling to your knees and crawling.
Our new way of practicing walking is hanging onto mom's pants and walking with me. A few times, I put your feet on top of my feet and we walked together. You will also walk holding one of our hands, but it's not your preferred method of walking.
You are in a convertible car seat (Racaro brand) in my car - still rear facing. I'm so glad I don't have to hull around your car seat back from day care everyday.
We brought you to your first parade - Christmas in Lockport. You got quite a few stuffed animals and toys. Lots of candy and mardi gras beads. You were taking in all the flashing lights. I'd love to know what you were thinking. You weren't afraid, and a few times cracked a smile and clapped. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, after all, you are a Mardi Gras baby.
You shake your head yes and no often. I truly think you understand the questions we ask you and respond accordingly. Many times, it's quite funny after some of the questions you ask, but I seriously think you understand. Take today for instance. I asked you if you were hungry, wanted a nap, or wanted to play and you responded accordingly with a head shake. It definitely helps me out figuring out what you want.
We celebrated Christmas with the McClain family. You did very well not messing with the Christmas tree or presents. You touched the tree a couple of times and pulled off a bow on a present. (I was very proud of how well you listened to me.) I think you had a growth spert during the weekend because I felt like all you did was eat. You ate lots of food: chicken, carrots, pancakes, blueberry pancakes, wild rice chicken soup, 5 chick-fil-la nuggest for lunch (oh my!), cherrios, ham, potatoes, squash...seriously...lots of food.
Friday we brought you to Noonie's preschool where you sat in her lap as she finished the Bible story. She then paraded you through out the school and all the teachers thought you were adorable.
Saturday we had dinner with some family friends. You entertained everyone as you ripped up some newspaper and proceeded to place the paper in the compartment of your car. You would put the paper in and out, and it was really neat to see your little hands work. Travis and I also snuck out the house for a couple hours and did some shopping.
Sunday we celebrated Christmas. I fed you pancake bites most of the morning as you crawled around messing with bows and paper. I would start to rip a present open, and you would tear a piece off. You would sit up with your piece of paper and were content. I would grab your attention again by showing you your new toy. I think your favorite was the Pete the Cat stuffed animal. A close second would be your tonka truck - which you proceeded to push around the living room. Other presents: v-tech push and pull car, trucks, books, monster tooth-fairy pillow, OU jersey onesie, Pete the Cat onesie, toy cell phone, and a dinosaur suitcase. We had a great weekend. You loved on Noonie and Poppa a lot and even "helped" them with the cooking.
Favorite moments: watching you sit on Noonie's lap as she finished the Bible story to a 3 year old class, watching you and Poppa dance in the kitchen, seeing your face light up when I pulled out Pete the Cat, and
You are such a happy baby. As I think back on this past month, I see your smile - showing those ever growing chompers and the cutest little dimple. I hear your laugh - the hearty kind and the squeals. I love the excitement you have seeing me walk through the door at day care or hearing daddy when he comes home. You drop everything you are doing and crawl as fast as you can towards us smiling all along the way. I love how you crawl up to me and pull yourself up using my pants and hold on and look up at me with those huge eyes. Oh what a blessing you are. I am so thankful. You melt my heart.
For future reference:
Sleeping: You nap twice a day totaling in 2-3 hours. Times: 10ish am and 4ish pm. Bedtime routine is dinner, a little family play time, breast fed, bath, bed. This occurs at any time between 8 and 9 pm. You sleep through the entire night, waking up around 7 am. You may briefly wake up - but you resettle shortly all by yourself.
Eating: Morning feeding at 7 am, 1 jar of food at day care - sometimes given veggies and/or snacks, 1 bottle 5 oz at day care, eat a snack with me at home, eat whatever we are eating for dinner, breastfed before your bedtime routine. You still eat anything - except apples (sometimes) and scrambled eggs.
Thank you, God, for choosing me to be this little fella's momma.
Love you, Logan.
Peace, Love, and a hungry growing boy,
-Miche
