Nine months in. . .

nine months out!

Curtis's biggest news is that he's starting to scoot all over the place. I'll try to get some video up soon. It's too cute. (At least this momma thinks so).

As promised. . .

I took some pictures of Curtis!

Eight months seems to be my magic age to get nice portraits of my kids.

It was a warm afternoon, Graydon was sleeping, Bella wanted to play outside, Curtis was in a good mood, etc. I decided to go for it. If this had been more planned, Curtis would have been wearing a nicer outfit. But since this was spontaneous and all of Curtis's clothes were in the bedroom where Graydon was sleeping, we had to make do. Such is the life of the third child.

I'm hoping to open up an Etsy shop in the next few months to sell crochet hats that I make. The money I make will go into our Disney World fund. Anyway, I wanted to get some photos of a couple of the hats. They are actually more Graydon-size hats, but he is less than cooperative with the camera lately (always).

Curtis isn't exactly mobile yet, so he really doesn't have a choice.

Doesn't he look like he's about to jump out from behind the tree to sneak attack someone with that stick.

You wouldn't believe the time I had trying to keep grass/dirt/twigs out of his mouth.

Two days later, I put up a black sheet in the kitchen to get these shots.

And here are my other two babies when they were eight months old.

Bella's was taken at JC Penney and Graydon at Portrait Innovations. 

I'm just as pleased with mine. 

And I love how much money I saved!

Eight months old!

This is what Curtis's new smile looks like.

Open up wide! I can't get enough of it.

This little guy is mad-teething lately. His gums still feel gummy, but there's definitely something in the works.

I found a cute owl idea and decided to make one for my little teether.

He went to town.

Happy eight months, sweet boy!

Seven months old. . .

. . . and looking like a 9-monther. At least that's what our pediatrician said.

Curtis at 7 months

We have a tall boy on our hands.

I don't know. To me, he doesn't look a day over six months. ;)

Curtis at 6 months

Or maybe I'm just in denial that my baby is growing up.  

Firsts

Curtis finally gets to taste something besides milk.

The lazy side of me just wanted to wait until we got back from WI.

I think he likes rice cereal!

Green beans and peas are another story.

Look who's sitting up on his own!

This started just a couple of days after we got back from Wisconsin.

Yay Curtis!!!

As of yesterday. . .

. . . this little guy is FIVE months old!

We had him in for a check-up a couple of weeks ago and at that point he was:
height:  27 inches (95th percentile)
weight:  15 pounds, 5 ounces (50th percentile)
head circumference: 17.25 inches (75th percentile)

He's all over the board as far as proportions go.  His weight percentile dropped in these past couple of months.  It's probably due to the fact that he spits up A LOT!  All of my kids were spitters, but I think he may take the lead.  I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that he spits up about half of what he takes in.  Good thing I'm nursing. . . or we'd be wasting a lot of formula (and money).  All of this spitting up has earned Curtis the nickname "Ralphie".  (As in, Curtis 'ralphs' a lot).  We  can thank Andy for that one.  Our pediatrician says that, as long as he is gaining weight and seems happy, we don't have much to worry about.  Curtis will also be starting cereal soon, so that should help.

On a happy note, Curtis is sleeping through the night!  I'd say he's become more consistent with it in the past few weeks.  He sometimes takes a little while to actually fall asleep, but once he's down (usually around 8ish) he'll be asleep until somewhere between 5:30/6:30am.  After I feed him, he'll continue to sleep until 8ish.   

He rolls over both ways, though seems to roll to his tummy more often (and then gets stuck because he forgets that he can roll back).  He continues to be a happy, smiley little guy and so laidback.  He loves sitting in the exersaucer and sometimes in the Bumbo. 

Now if I could just figure out how to get time to move a little more slowly, we'd be set.

After I took Curtis's teddy bear picture, I thought we'd try to get a good picture of the brothers.  I don't really have one.    

And I still don't. 

Exactly one year ago today. . .

. . . I found out that this precious life was growing inside of me. 

Exactly four months ago today, I saw his sweet face for the first time. 

How I adore this little boy. 

8 years of marriage, 3 months of life

Two days ago, we celebrated our eighth anniversary.  (A sneaky little lady made her way into our photo). Some friends from church came to watch all three kids which allowed us to go out for a nice dinner. We talked, over coffee, about our eight years and all that we've been through together. It's been a great ride and we're looking forward to more of it!

On the same day as our anniversary, this young boy turned three months old!  He giggled at me for the first time today.  I just love being his mommy.  

(Please try to ignore the fact that he just spit up all over himself.)

Check-up Time!

2 months old!!!

There was a newborn baby in the office at the same time as us today. I couldn't help but take a peek at the tiny thing. It really put into perspective how much Curtis has grown already. He now weighs 13 lbs. 2 oz. (75th percentile) and is 25 in. (95th percentile). Not a newborn anymore.

He did great when I woke him up from a nap by stripping him down to the diaper to get weighed. He was fine with the doctor poking and prodding him all over and even showed us a few grins. But when that nurse came with the shots - he screamed his little head off and turned shades of red that I'd never seen him in before. Poor baby. It broke my heart.

Shots aside, the check-up went great and we have a healthy little guy on our hands.

One month!

Can it really be one month already? It feels fast and yet it feels like he has been a part of our family forever. Curtis is a pretty happy baby and if he were my only child, I don't think he'd ever cry. He loves to be held and will lay content in my arms. I talk to him and sing to him and he just looks up at me. He smiled at me two days ago. I think there were a few half smiles in the days leading up to it, but this one was deliberate and directed at me. It lit up his whole face. And mine too.But there are times when he does cry. Times when he just wants to be in Mommy (or anyone's) arms but can't because I have to change Graydon's diaper or put him down for a nap, or just give him some attetion. That is hard. I feel so torn and don't want any of my kids to feel slighted.But when Curtis gets upset, he's pretty easy to calm down. It usually involves just picking him up and holding him. . .

. . . which I love to do. :)