Holt: 6 Months

HALF A YEAR.

Excuse me. WHAT?!?!?!?

Yes, it has already been half a year with our little love bug. He is in such a fun stage right now! To be honest, I have loved every stage, but he has become so much more interactive and he is really curious about things and laughs at random things and it is just so FUN. Little bits of his personality are starting to shine through, which I LOVE--he is laid back, very curious about everything (sometimes I feel like I can literally see the wheels in his head turning), he's a little ham, plays well by himself but yet loves to cuddle and play with others too.

He has most definitely found his voice this month! Some days it's just a constant stream of laughs and goo-goo-ga-ga's and I am loving it.

He hit a milestone this month of recognizing distance. We went through about 1.5-2 weeks where anytime I put him down to play and walked away, he freaked out. I'm talking screaming and tears running down his face. It broke my heart. I checked the "wonder weeks" app (AWESOME by the way--check it out) and he was right on target for recognizing distance from mom and dad---meaning, he figured out the concept of "missing" me when I walked away and it scared him. He was pretty attached to me for those 2 weeks. We went about 7-10 days where things were getting back to normal and then last week, he regressed a little bit. He became real clingy (to me especially) and was pretty cranky. I think he might be teething because he had either the paci or his hand or SOMETHING in his mouth 24/7. His gums are not swollen, no fever, no runny nose, no teeth breaking through. So, who knows.

We have also reached a stage where he HATES being put in the car seat. Actually, he just hates being confined, but he has started protesting and straining against the seat buckles in the car seat and throwing a FIT. Once we get going in the car he is usually ok--he will look out the window or talk to himself, but man! It is a challenge to get started.

We aren't crawling yet, but he's close! He rolls everywhere---one minute he's on the rug and the next he's halfway across the living room. But lately, he has started really trying to crawl towards something (like his bottle) and gets really frustrated. In fact, he starts pushing himself backwards by accident and then gets pretty mad. To be honest, it's comical and I usually end up laughing at him, poor little guy, but it will be interesting to see at what point he figures out how to use his legs to push himself forward.

We had a big trip this month to Little Rock to celebrate some birthdays with Daniel's family. It was so fun because both of Daniel's brothers and their families came too so all 9 of the Lowery cousins were together for the first time! Three of those, including Holt, were born within 6 months of each other. Sean & Kimberly had Hazel in June, we had Holt in August, and Ben & Rebekah had Sutton in December.

Weight: 14 lbs. 4 oz. (3rd percentile)
Height: 27 inches (60th percentile)

Favorites: *looking in the mirror *talking, laughing, cooing *peekaboo *the color red *laying in his crib and talking to himself

Milestones: *sitting up with support *recognizes when I walk away from him *picking up toys/smaller objects and shaking them to make noise *reacts to his mirror image *plays peekaboo by lifting the cloth over his face and taking it away *reaches for people *close to crawling *teething--still no teeth though

Sleep: He has done extremely well in this department! I would say he slept through the night completely about 95% of the time! WooHoo! He goes to bed between 715-730 and sleeps all night, waking between 530-600. EARLY for this non-morning momma, but I am not complaining at all! It is SO NICE to finally see my husband in the evenings again. Holt also still takes 3 naps a day, ranging anywhere from 30 minutes-2 hours long. It just depends.

Feeding: Still doing great here too! I nurse first and then feed him a 4 ounce bottle--except at bedtime, I just give him an 8 ounce bottle which lasts him through the night. During the day, he eats about every 3-3.5 hours or so. We also will start solids this month so I am excited to see how that adventure goes!

And now I'll leave you with adorable pictures of my son :)

"What you looking' at?"

Soaking up snuggle time with my little man

running errands with mom and dad can wear you out! 

Date night for mom and dad at the Razorback basketball game

talking and cooing

such a happy baby!

trying to figure out this crawling thing

tummy time action

morning giggles with daddy

2nd date night for mom and dad to see Tim Hawkins

Stylin' in our Sheriff Woody pj's from Aunt Hannah and Uncle Kirby

First time in a high chair at Panera

Morning bed-head

Talking to that baby in the mirror

Loving the walker!

Meeting our new cousins---Hazel(8 months) and Sutton(6 weeks)

All the Lowery cousins---9 so far!

My sweet Holt----words cannot express how much your daddy and I love you. You light up our life! You are at such a fun age right now--exploring the world around you. You are so curious about everything! I love watching your little personality come out. You are also such a ham---you are always smiling and laughing and love being around people. Never forget how much you are loved.

Holt: 5 Months

Happy New Year!
We celebrated Holt's first Christmas this month! You can read all the details about that here

Today also would've been my grandpa's 75th birthday. It's hard to believe it's been 6 years since he passed away. I miss him so much and wish he could be here to meet my husband and now to meet Holt, but I know that he would be so proud of me and of my family and that makes me happy. It's neat that Holt gets to celebrate one of his "month birthdays" on my grandpa's birthday--it feels like a small piece of him is celebrating with us. :)

I can't get over how big he is getting. To compare his other pics starting at one month, check out my Instagram! Plus, you can click on the hashtags under the picture (#seeholtgrow) and it will show you all of them side by side. 

Weight: 14 lbs (10th percentile)
Height: 27 inches (85th percentile)
*these are complete guesses as we do not have a scale at home*

He has definitely gained weight back this month! (I'm sure you can tell by the adorable double chin in the pictures). I'm guessing around 14 lbs because we are in size 2 diapers all the time now.

Milestones: *Reaching, Reaching, Reaching---for everything! *Rolling from back to tummy *Teething--no teeth yet, but swollen gums and chewing on everything *Talking and laughing more and more *Sitting up with help *Graduated to Size 2 diapers *showing signs of wanting to crawl

Sleep: He slept through the night about 50% of the time! And then Christmas week hit and then immediately after he got a cold AND hit a growth spurt AND hit the developing-milestone-interrupted-sleep stage because he was trying to figure out how to roll from his back to his tummy. Christmas week, he woke up about twice a night, but usually went right back to sleep. The week after Christmas though---WHOA. He didn't nap well, he woke up 3 times a night, and at least one of those times (every night) he was up for 2 hours SCREAMING. Absolutely nothing would calm him down--we tried everything from paci to bottle to singing to walking to patting….everything. It. Was. HORRIBLE. Now that he has figured out and conquered rolling from back to tummy, things are slowly starting to get back to normal.

Favorite Things: *He got a jumper for Christmas and is loving it! (Momma is too) *Music--he particularly loves when Daniel sings to him *Chewing anything and everything *Bottles---the kid goes ballistic when he sees one *Reading books *Sophie (our dog)--he is becoming more and more intrigued with her. I'm sure they'll be best buds one of these days

Feeding: We are having to supplement with formula at every feeding. At first, I was REALLY torn up and emotional about it. I literally grieved for a couple of days and was depressed that my body could not sufficiently meet his nutritional needs. But, I eventually came to peace about it, knowing that I was doing the right thing for my baby. I still nurse at every feeding (except bedtime) and then I offer a bottle after that. It has been working really well--he is gaining weight and it allows other people to feed him which frees me up a bit. My goal is to continue to breastfeed at least until this summer--so we will see! Next month we start solids (as long as the pediatrician gives the ok) and I've been doing TONS of research! I'm leaning towards Baby-Led Weaning (or Baby-Led Feeding) and just doing purees when needed. Any comments, advice, or suggestions would be helpful!

Holt's First Christmas

My boys :)

sugars

loving the jumper!

Holt with my grandparents

Tuckered out on Christmas Day

Mary, Joseph, and Jesus (read more about this on my Christmas post)

Holt with Daniel's grandmother

Christmas baby

Meeting cousin Hazel

watching bowl games with dad

favorite

tummy time!

playing with our friend Declan

Holt's First Christmas

The most wonderful time of the year!

I have always loved Christmas. The magic of it and spending quality time with my family, but most importantly celebrating the miraculous birth of my Savior. This year Christmas became even more special because we have Holt.

I'll be honest though, it was also the most exhausting Christmas I've ever had. Trying to work around Holt's schedule (which we ended up just throwing out the window and winging it all week because otherwise I would blow a gasket) and praying he would take naps and be in a good mood and sleep well and not be cranky is TIRING.

Parenthood--1
Me--0

Can I get an amen?

Despite that, it was a joy-filled week spent pondering the love and mercy of my God to send his Son down to become a baby so that one day he could die on a cross as a living sacrifice for my sin. I also pondered and wondered about Mary (Jesus' mother). I relate more to her now that I too am a mother--what was it like to knowingly carry God's Son and become his mother? I wrote a post about the song "Mary, Did You Know?" to express my feelings and emotions about what she must have gone through.

All in all, Holt had a great week! He is such a social baby---it is so fun watching his little personality starting to come through. He loves to be held and interacting with people. He just smiled and laughed and talked to anyone and everyone. We haven't hit the separation anxiety stage yet, but I'm hoping it will be pretty mild since he seems to love people so much.

It's also hilarious to see the differences at each family gathering. On Daniel's side, Holt is the 8th out of 9 grandchildren (so far). It's always loud and chaotic and fun with a bunch of littles running around. On my side, Holt is the first grandchild and great-grandchild (on my dad's side, but not my mom's) so ALL the attention is on him. Which, of course he absolutely loves!

Here is how our week went:

Monday---Daniel worked and then we drove down to Conway to have Christmas with my mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law (they spent Christmas in Texas with his family this year so we did ours early).

Holt and RoRo are best buds

Holt and Melly

Presents!

The pig teether was a huge hit

First Christmas as a family of 3

Uncle Kirby, Holt, and Aunt Hannah

Tuesday--We drove to Daniel's family and spent all day doing Christmas at his parent's house and then his grandparents and extended family.

Favorite

Holt, LaLa, and cousin Hazel

Holt met his cousin Hazel for the first time! They are 2 months apart

Holt with his great-grandmother Ruth

Obligatory Santa picture---he really isn't crying, I just caught him in the middle of talking

Wednesday (Christmas Eve)--Christmas at both of my grandparent's houses. One in the morning and one at night.

Figuring out how to unwrap a present at GiGi's house 

Mimi, Holt, and Poppa

Thursday (Christmas Day)-- REST day! We stayed at my parent's house all day recovering and resting from all the fun activities.

Everyone was tuckered out

Friday--(AM) we went back to Daniel's parent's house to see some of his aunts and uncles that were in town. (PM) we had our last Christmas celebration with my extended family on my dad's side. We act out the nativity story (complete with costumes) and Holt got to be Baby Jesus! (This is special because I was Baby Jesus 25 years ago when I was his age).

Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus

the whole cast

Saturday--saw some of our best friends from Louisville who were in town and then headed back home.

Crazy busy, but fun week and Holt was a champ!

We also had a little Christmas photo shoot with my aunt who is a photographer. Tough job, but someone has to do it :) These are some of my absolute favorite photos of him:

And that was our Christmas! Until next year...