9 months old...

Weight: 19.5 lbs

Length: ???



Nap Time: C has two naps a day and still sleeps between 1 and 1 1/2 hours.



Castello Di Amorosa



Bed Time: Little man goes to bed around 7:30 after his bath, story time and prayers. He loves bathtime, splashing and playing and chewing on his toys.  He's not so thrilled when mommy washes his hair because I always get water in his eyes (daddy is better at it).  He still sleeps on average 11-11 1/2 hours a night. He typically sleeps until 6:45!



playing with tupperware



Food: I still make our baby's food (at least his fruit) and we've introduced him to meats.  He likes eating ground beef but doesn't like the pre-made baby food meats (I think it might be the texture),

Nursing: Sweet boy still nurses every 4-4 1/2 hours 3 times a day, we've successfully weened him off the late afternoon feeding (HUGE thanks to the mommies who gave me advise on how to do it-he still won't take a bottle but drinks the formula out of a sippy cup like a champ)!

"peek-a-boo" figuring out how to pull himself up.

Skills: As I mentioned in our last post C began to crawl last month, and hasn't slowed down since!  He has started to cruise (walking with the help of furniture and his train).  I think he'll be walking by his 1st birthday.  Needless to say he keeps me on my toes and I love watching him crawl around the house.

we have a tooth!

Language & Fun Facts: C has cut his first teeth!  The first one was the lower center left, followed quickly by the right one.  "Mama" has been added to his repretoire (along with "naw naw")!  C has also been shaking and nodding his head.  He also can clap now when he hears the word "yay!"  He wears 9 month, and 9-12 month clothes.  We also have found a new church home and he especially loves when we pass the "peace" where he gets to meet and give hugs to the people of our church.

Castello Di Amorosa sheep

For Thanksgiving, Brandon's parents and sister, brother-in-law and niece all came for a visit. It was a fantastic time and so much fun seeing each other and seeing the cousins interact! It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the kiddos grow. While they were here we enjoyed a huge turkey dinner (made by your's truly) with dessert made by Brandon's mom and sister, smores and wine tasting at a Napa winery. It was a quick but fun get together.



with grandma and papa

too cool!





fall to crawl...

 The Tellez Trio has had so much fun ringing in Fall here.  We went to a pumpkin patch with other squadron families a little bit ago and picked out C's first pumpkin (it's little and cute-just like him).  We had an amazing time and plan on doing it again next year!  The weather here has been awesome: high 60s-low 70s...it's so nice to be somewhere where we're not in shorts and t-shirts well into fall!  Tonight is C's first Halloween and I think Brandon and I are more excited to see him in his costume than he is.  (Look out for pictures from tonight in a later post!)  In other exciting news our little boy has started to crawl!!  He took two knees forward and decided it would be faster if he just rolled to his blocks.  He's also been pulling up to his knees and even to his feet!  Look out world, our little munchkin is mobile!  As for Brandon and me, we're getting to know more people  and exploring the area.  We still haven't been to Napa, yet but we plan on going soon.  We've even found a church (where we'll hopefully get C baptized)...slowly but surely we're making Vacaville our home.

  

8 month recap...

Where has the time gone?  Oh wait, we didn't give a 7th month recap last month because we were in the middle of our move from South Carolina to Northern Califonia.  I'll post more about our move and new place in a few days but for now here's  our little monkey's recap for (gasp) his 8th month!

Weight: ???

Length: ???

Nap Time: C has two naps a day and sleeps between 1 and 1 1/2 hours, which is great for mommy so I can get some things done around the house!

Bed Time: Little man goes to bed around 7:30 after his bath, story time and prayers.  He sleep on average 11-11 1/2 hours a night.  He typically sleeps until 7!

Food: Our little food connoisseur has graduated to 2nd stage foods and we'll be introducing  meats sometime in the near future.  He seems to love practically everything though he's still not sold on avocados-maybe we can mix it with apple juice.  I've also been experimenting with making my own baby food using wholesomebabyfood.com and a new cookbook I bought called Baby Love.


Nursing: Sweet boy still nurses every 4-4 1/2 hours (he's moving more toward 4 1/2 hours here lately) for about 30 minutes.

Skills:  WOW! C has added a ton of skills since the last post. He can roll to sitting on his own and can pull up to his knees and loves to stand on our landing by holding on the the railings (I think he loves the landing because he can see everything on the main floor from the front door to the family room).  He also loves to stand behind his train.

Language: Everyday has a new sound or consonants.  He has been saying "dada" a lot but uses it with Brandon and with me, so we'll see if he starts to use it for Brandon only in the future.  He has also discovered pitch and volume.  And he is definitely having fun with the volume!

 Fun Facts: The "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is C's favorite song, every time we sing it he starts to smile and giggle (all the more reason to sing it).  He is in 6-12, 6-9 and 9 month clothes.  I also gave him a couple more haircuts and he now has zero brown in his hair...he's a true toe-head!  He has so much fun at the park and has discovered a new love for swings and slides (with daddy).  Little man is so much fun, we've been enjoying all the new experiences with him!

Halloween Costume...

Brandon and I are trying to figure out what will be C's first Halloween costume.  Any thoughts?

Happy Half Birthday to C!

Weight: 18.5 lbs
Length:  27 inches

Nap time: C is on a three and a half hour schedule and naps three times a day for 45 minute to 1.5 hour stretches, depending on the nap. Though because of teething (albeit not active teething) some naps are rougher than others.

Bedtime: Baby boy still sleeps 10-11 hour stretches, but has started to sleep in to 7:30.  We're not sure if it's a growth spurt or a new talent.

Food: He loves orange foods!  Carrots, sweet potatoes, peaches, and nectarines (with banana).  He also likes peas and avocado.  I've been making some of his food and he seems to like the pears and peaches I've made, though not so much with the peas...looks like we'll be turning to Gerber for those.

Nursing: C is still nursing and is on a three and a half hour schedule.

Skills:  Little dude has begun scooting and can roll over like it's nothing.  Some new skills are that he can now sit-up mostly on his own (with the help of his boppy pillow), can hold and bring a sippy cup to his mouth and can rake at toys he wants to play with and bring them to him.  Mommy and Daddy are working with his grasping skills by putting small baby food items in front of him.

Language: C loves to tell us stories.  He has also repeated several "words" like nigh-ye-eye, dahga, and eh.  We're still trying to figure out what those could mean but it's fun to hear!

Fun Facts: Our son is still in size 3 diapers and wears 6 month, 6-9 month and 6-12 month clothes (depending on the brand).  We've recently packed away lots of his jammies and outfits he no longer fits into and it makes us nostalgic to think of him when he wore those clothes only 6 months ago.  He is in the 95th percentile for his length (he's longer than 95 percent of other boys in his age group) and in the 75th percentile for his weight.  If he keeps at this rate, mom and dad will have to stock up on food from Sam's on a weekly basis!  Recently I gave little man his first hair cut.  It was beginning to get in his eyes so I just took about 1/2 and inch off the top.  

 

At the beginning of August the three of us took a trip to California to house hunt for our eventual move.  I'm not going to lie and tell you I wasn't a little nervous to take a 5 month old on an airplane.  Memories of children and babies crying for an entire flight plagued me and I was scared C would be "that" child.  But we were so proud of C when he did amazing on all the flights!  He was happy the whole time and flirted with all the stewardesses and ladies who passed by.  Everyone commented on how happy and good he was.  Mom and Dad couldn't have been prouder.  He even adjusted pretty well to the time changes to Pacific time then back to Eastern.  

Last weekend we took little man on his first beach trip.  He was awe struck and enjoyed squishing the wet sand in his toes and watching the water lap at his feet.  We can honestly say he will have touched both coasts of the US!

Teething...

Can it be? Little C is teething already?  It started a week ago when he woke up almost every hour and just couldn't be put down.  We eventually fell asleep together on the couch.  Sure enough he has two tiny bumps on the inside of his lower gums, a runny nose and is (sometimes) inconsolable.  I've heard that if adults were to go through the teething process we would need to be put to sleep because of the pain.  That makes me so sad but glad in the fact that our kiddo won't remember it later. 

I'm not sure how long teething will take but I've heard it can take months (gasp!) or just a week.  So far C's teeth are still tiny bumps under his gums.  I hope it happens sooner rather than later, but he seems to be doing pretty well.  Some days are worse than others and he seems to be in good spirits.  We've tried just about everything from frozen washcloths and teething rings, to vibrating teeters and mommy fingers (he likes to chew on them).  Somethings work some days and other days I have to get creative.  On the whole though, he doesn't seem to like the frozen items...I think they make his hands cold.  I just need to remember, this will pass and eventually those little pearls will make their appearance.  Until then, baby tylenol and mommy's and daddy's fingers are ready to help him through this next stage of his life!

5 months!

Weight: 17.5 lbs
Length: 
Naptime: C is on a three and a half-hour schedule and naps three times a day for 45 minute to 1.5 hour stretches, depending on the nap. We've done away with his 6 pm nap and he seems to be doing great!

Bedtime: "Little dude" goes to bed around 8:30 each night and sleeps until 6:45-7 the next morning.  He loves bath time and has graduated from his baby tub to lounging in the bath hammock in mommy and daddy's tub.
Food: Our boy has begun SOLIDS!  His first taste was on July 12th where he tried rice cereal mixed with breast milk.  Frankly it looked more like soup than cereal, but he seemed to like it.  Two days ago he had his first taste of avocado and seemed to like that, too.  Hopefully this means he won't be a picky eater!
Nursing: C has been moving toward a three and a half-hour schedule (but sometimes reverts back to the three hour version).  I've just been going with the flow and figure he'll let me know when he's ready to go for longer stretches.

Skills:  Baby boy has begun to sit on his own, albeit supported with his hands in front of him.  He's also been grasping for objects and can figure out how to get one that's too far away.  It's amazing to watch the wheels turning!  Rolling has become an effortless task for him and he can push himself up to straight arms.  He's also discovered his toes and man, they must taste good because he's always chewing on them!

Language: C still likes to "talk" a lot (I think he got that from his mommy) and has started introducing new sounds to his repertoire. 
Fun Facts: Our little Casanova has discovered kissing!  Well, baby kissing, he likes to suck on daddy's and mommy's faces.  We've also begun putting him in his activity jumper (like an exersaucer) and he seems to love it!   Also his "dorsal fin" (the bit of hair that constantly stuck up on the back of his head) has started to lay flat.  Over the week of July 4th the Tellez Trio made our way to Maryland to visit oma and opa and C's great aunt and great uncle.  He did an awesome job on the drive to Maryland and back home...we couldn't have asked for a better drive!  It was a great time and “Little man” seemed to enjoy the extra snuggles.  He also got to see fish for the first time at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.  He is still in size 3 diapers and still sports his 3-6 and 6 month clothes.

4th Month in Review...

I am amazed at how quickly this month has passed!  Wasn’t it just a couple days ago that I was blogging about “little man’s” progress in his 3rd month?  Well, this past month has been very exciting (babywise)…maybe not so much for our single, sans kids friends out there, but exciting nonetheless!

Weight: 16.5 lbs

Length:  26.25 inches

Naptime: C is on a three-hour schedule and naps four times a day for 45 minute to 1.5 hour stretches, depending on the nap.  His “favorite” nap is the one following his “lunch” feeding at 1 pm, his least “favorite” is his morning nap.  We follow the E.A.S.Y. guidelines (eat, activity, sleep, you by the Baby Whisperer).

Bedtime: Our “little man” now sleeps a whopping 10-11 hours a night!  The beginning of the month while Brandon was on a mission, I decided C was ready and able to sleep through the night (apparently 11 lbs. are the magic number-something he passed in his second month).  So, for a week I worked to help him learn to self-soothe, which would eventually help him sleep through the night.  Nowadays, Brandon and I wake with a little more spring in our steps around 7 am.

Food: None yet.

Nursing: C is on a three (give or take a few minutes) hour schedule and now nurses for 30-40 minutes, to make up for the milk he’s not getting after bed time.  He still hasn’t taken to the bottle.

Skills:  “Little dude” has a plethora of new skills!  Aside from sleeping through the night, he’s also able to roll from his back to tummy and from tummy to his back.  In addition he’s also become rather grabby-but in a good way.  He’s been reaching for and grabbing his various toys and adult fingers.  His neck muscles have been getting stronger allowing him to keep his neck steady when in his Bumbo chair, which he’s been able to sit in for longer periods.  All-in-all our boy is becoming stronger and more aware of his surroundings.  C has also become quite the ham (probably because the mamarazzi is always snapping pictures).  He loves to smile at the camera, cell phones and people! A bonus to the loads of smiles is the giggles!  While Grandma (Brandon’s mom) was here for a visit she got C to crack up…it was awesome and he has been a hoot to hear.

Language: Baby boy is still quite the chatterbox and is adding more and more consonant sounds to his repertoire like “la”, “da” and “bwah”.

Fun Facts: “Little man” is now in size 3 diapers and Brandon and I bought our first box of diapers since his birth last weekend!  The pile of diapers Brandon got from his Diapers and Beer party (thanks to Lauren and Zach) lasted us four months!  Anyway, I digress; C still wears 3-6 and 6 month clothes.  I still file his nails and some weeks it’s as often as 2 times a week.  He likes being on his tummy during tummy time and gets so frustrated that he can’t crawl yet-the legs move like crazy but he just doesn’t have the strength yet, though that may change in the coming month(s).  He has become a wiggle worm and has coined his infamous “happy wiggle” (we’ll try to get a video of it).  His favorite toy has become his “Sophie” giraffe, which he gums and sucks on like crazy.  A new development in his car seat is that we’ve removed the infant seat pillow…he now has more room and seems to complain less about being in the seat.

This past Sunday was Brandon's first Father's Day.  It was a relaxing and wonderful day with C and Michelle, steaks and a cigar! :o)  As a gift we gave Brandon a homemade photo book and a gift certificate to a "barber spa" in the local area.  Brandon will receive a hot shave, hair cut and a one hour massage (his first).  Well, that's all for now, stay tuned for more updates!

Go to Sleep, Close Your Eyes...

Sleep is such a wonderful thing, especially when it's a full night of it! A couple weeks ago while Brandon was on a mission, I decided to help our 3 month old learn to sleep through the night.  Truth-be-told, I was dreading it.  All the books I had read said to expect at least 3 nights to 2 weeks of crying?!  But, after doing the zombie shuffle at 1:40 and 4:00 am that morning; I had decided that our 15 pound baby was ready and able to sleep through the night (plus mom was dead on her feet).


So, armed with techniques from my sis-in-law and the books, I was ready.  I opted to teach him my way, a combo of a couple different ideas and a little of my own thrown in for good measure.  Instead of starting with night sleep as his first intro into the "Cry It Out" (CIO) method, I decided to use his first nap of the day.  I follow the Baby Whisperer's Method of E.A.S.Y. (Eat, Activity, Sleep, You), so before each nap little fella had about an hour of activity before hand.

For naps and night sleep I used to rock our little guy to sleep and place him in his crib.  With the (as Brandon calls it) Michelle Method; I still rock him but not to sleep.  I rock him for a set amount of time (depending on the day) or until his eyes get heavy--which ever comes first, then I lay him in his bed, with a kiss and "mommy loves you".  If he wakes before his next feeding I let him cry until he goes back to sleep, this is supposed to teach him to self-soothe (which he does by cooing or sucking on his hands).

Letting my baby CIO was heartbreaking.  I would do anything and everything to keep myself busy so I wouldn't go "save" him.  I did try verbally soothing him, but found it made him madder and cry longer.  When it was time for his next feeding (I kept the times flexible so he could get some good sleep if he had cried) I turned off his music (for naps), opened his curtain and let him wake himself.  I also made sure I was there before any cries escaped.  This is the rocking "schedule" I followed.
 
DAY 1: Rock for 20 minutes or until eyes are heavy

DAY 2: Rock for 15 minutes or until eyes are heavy

DAY 3: Rock for 10 minutes or until eyes are heavy

DAY 4: Rock for 5 minutes

DAY 5: Rock for 3 minutes

DAY 6: Rock for 2 minutes

DAY 7: Rock for 1 minute


On the first day, after rocking our little man for 20 minutes his eyes were heavy and I put him down for his first nap of the day.  He was still awake when I put him down and he fell asleep without a peep.  Half an hour later he woke himself early and cried for 20 minutes until he fell back asleep.  I did this for each nap of the day.  His night sleep was the same, I rocked him for 20 minutes and put him down awake but drowsy.  He fell asleep really well.  Then he woke at 3:40 am and cried.  I stood by my video monitor the whole time and I'm not ashamed to say I had a few tears of my own.  He fell back asleep at 4:12 am and slept until 7:40!


The following days only got better and easier.  The second night and the following nights baby boy slept until morning!  Brandon was amazed when he got home and said it was like coming home to a completely different, happier baby.  There are still some days where he wakes early from naps or during the night but after a couple minutes he's back to dreamland.  I'm sure there will be nights when our fella will revert back to waking every few hours, but we're going to enjoy him sleeping for 10.5 hours while we can!  Ahhh, sleep...welcome back old friend!

3rd Month In Review...

**Because I don't have the time I used to, to blog weekly(ish), I've decided to borrow an idea from a friend of mine and blog monthly about little man's progress.**

Our little dude is 3 months old on the 18th! Here's a recap of his last month...

Weight: around 17 lbs.
Length: around 24.5 inches (we'll know for sure at his next well-baby check next month)

Nap Time: Our little guy takes anywhere from 3-4 naps a day. They typically range from 25-45 minutes but here lately (to mom's delight) have become 45 minutes-1.5 hours!



Bed Time: He had a few nights where he slept for a whopping 7.5 hours, but his typical night is 5.5 hours a feeding then back to bed for another 3-4 hours. He also had a couple nights two weeks ago and currently where he wakes every 2 hours because he's going through a growth spurt. C goes to bed around 9:00-9:30 after his last feeding.

Food: None yet.

Nursing: Baby boy nurses 7-8 times a day, every 2.75-3 hours. He's become a better nurser and only takes 20-30 minutes to fill up. He still doesn't want anything to do with a bottle but we'll keep trying.



Skills: Has discovered his hands and loves to look at them and suck on them. He is also doing an awesome job with tummy time! He can prop himself up on his arms and look up 90 degrees! He has taken to putting everything in his mouth...a way to investigate toys and anything he can get his little mits on. A few weeks ago he showed us a new trick, rolling over. He did it once unassisted (probably to show us he can) but has since used the help from mom and dad.



Language: Little man has also become quite the chatter box and will carry on full "sentences" with mommy, daddy and his toys (especially peacock).

Fun Facts: C is in size 2 diapers and wears 3-6 and 6 month clothing. He smiles when Brandon or I talk to him and can track us as we move about the room. At the beginning of the month daddy got him to giggle and he has done it more and more as the month has progressed Mom is still scared to trim his nails so they get filed every week! Little man loves to be in the baby Bjorn and loves all the compliments and smiles from people who pass by. His reflux seems to be getting better...when he burps either no spit-up follows or very little (though if you had asked me last week I would have had the opposite to tell you); he is still taking his medicine. He still loves to be swaddled and especially when mommy calls him a "baby burrrrito". C has also taken to splish splashing in the tub and enjoys getting mommy and daddy all wet (sometimes they way little boys can)!








(thanks for the idea Stephanie!)

This past Mother's Day was my first and I got to spend it with both my guys! C and Brandon got me a bouquet of tulips and a Sweetgrass basket (something I've been wanting for years) and took me to a Mother's Day brunch. It was a great day!

Well, that's all for now...we'll post new updates when we can...love to all.