5 Months

Holden is already 5 months old! He officially turned 5 months last Sunday, May 24th but he just had his well-baby checkup and shots today. He weighs 18lbs. 5oz and is 27.5 inches long. He is doing soooooo much better these days (oops, don't want to jinx it). Pooping is slowing down again and it's the right color. Still a gassy boy and sometimes it seems pretty painful. If only he would sleep better. He has started to fight sleep lately. He knows when it's time for bed and he either grunts, moans and cries or he just squirms all around and tries to eat the chair and babbles away. Once I finally get him down, which is around 8:30 or 8:45 these days (used to be closer to 7:00 but I think because it's so light outside he thinks he should still be awake) he sleeps anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours (if I'm lucky). After that it's up about every 1 to 1.5 hours and sometimes less than that. The Dr. said today that he is the size of an average 7.5 month old so I should start feeding him like a 7.5 month old. Therefore he really wants me to start mixing fruit, such as pears, applesauce, bananas, or peaches with his rice cereal and work really hard at getting him to eat some. He wants me to try giving him small amounts all day long instead of at just one sitting. He thinks this will hopefully help him sleep longer. My fingers are crossed because I'm exhausted. Also, I'm doing my best to get him down in his crib each night and keep him there most of the night. But by the time 3:30 or 4:30 rolls around, I'm so tired I usually bring him to bed with me. Dr. wants me to try as hard as I can to not bring him to bed with me. I'll do my best. :)

My big smiley boy!

A few of Holden's favorite things right now:

- Loves to scream. Seems he is finding his voice right now and he belts it out. Cracks me up.

- Loves to put anything and everything in his mouth.

- Enjoys his exersaucer (but only for about 10-15 minutes).

Sitting up like a big boy - but it only lasts about 30 seconds before he topples over.

Sitting in the stroller like a big boy. He loves being able to look out at the World. It's so funny though, he holds on to the straps for what looks like dear life!

He can't get enough of my water bottle and my mom's.

Loves dogs! He could sit and watch Tyson and Mylee forever. He talks to them and pets them (well, actually it's more of pulling their hair and ears than it is petting). Here he is with Bailey, Auntie Megan and Uncle Erich's dog.

He just adores his sissy. She cracks him up.

He really likes sitting in his Bumbo. I call it the poop chair because he poops in it 90% of the time.

The swing might be his all-time favorite thing right now. He just chills in it until eventually nodding off to sleep. I love how he holds on with that hand even while sleeping!

Now my parent's know what to do if he gets fussy. Notice the hand holding on again!

Some of Holden's dislikes right now:

- Doesn't enjoy his changing table like he used to

- Does not like to get dressed. He throws a little fit when I put his shirt on.

- Really dislikes the bath. He does ok for the first few minutes, but seems nervous the entire

time until finally he can't take it anymore and let's me know it. Continues to cry until he is

dressed and nursing.

- Kinda over his indoor swing and bouncy seat. He'll last a few minutes in each.

- Not a fan of going to sleep.

Today I took Adi to the fair. We got there right when the gates opened and checked out all of the animals first. Wow, there were some really cute little animals, but it sure did stink and I wore flip flops and got sawdust all over me. Oh, and at one point there was a pig on the loose and it ran right behind me, scratched my leg a little and got my shorts wet. Kinda crazy. Then we walked around and checked out some of the buildings until finally the rides opened up. Adi had a blast on the rides and the weather was warm but definitely manageable. Holden did amazing! He loved watching the rides and he loved sitting in his stroller like a big boy!

Ok, so Adi really wanted to go on this crazy thing. You climb up the "web" on the left side and then slide down the big slide. I didn't think she would be able to make it up the web, but she climbed it like a champ!

Chillin' like a villain

Having a great time

A very sleepy girl on the way home. Holden was also asleep. :)

Stitches

We had our first trip to the ER for one of the kids. On Tuesday night we went to my parent's house for dinner and to visit with Jill and Gavin. It was beautiful weather with a nice breeze and we all sat outside and enjoyed it. The kids played on the swing set and we played a little baseball. Holden loves to swing in the infant swing that they put on the swing set. He gets so relaxed. I wish we could put one in our backyard but we don't have anywhere to hang it. We headed home around 8:00 and both kids were already in their pj's. I remember thinking that I might actually get to bed early...the perfect ending to a wonderful night. Wishful thinking.

I told Adi to brush her teeth and then we would read and go to sleep. When it was time to get the books down, Adi told me she wanted to surprise me and told me not to watch, so I went back to the couch until she was ready. Usually she pulls her chair over to her bookshelf to get a book or she tells me which ones to get down. Well, this time she decided to stand on her foot board and while pulling out the book she slipped and fell off hitting her forehead on the edge of her bookshelf near the bottom. We heard the crash and then the scream. Lance and I both ran in there to see the damage. When Lance picked her up she had blood pouring out of we thought was her nose but after running her out to the kitchen and looking closer, we realized it was a nasty gash on her forehead. We both looked at each other and said we have to go (to the ER). I grabbed a towel and she held it against the cut and I ran Holden down to our neighbor Jen. Meanwhile Lance was running around the house in circles not really knowing what to do while blood dripped everywhere. We zoomed to the hospital and then sat and waited an hour to be seen by the Dr. My parent's came and relieved Jen from watching Holden and cleaned up all the blood. Our poor baby girl ended up with 8 stitches and had to get 7 shots to numb it. She screamed when she got her shots but once it was numb she did just fine getting the stitches. She does not like her stitches at all and can't wait to get them removed, which we have to do on Sunday.

Rice Cereal - Take 2

I tried giving Holden rice cereal again and this time went much better. He actually ate some of it! Sure, a ton of it dribbled out every time he swallowed but he did get some down. He had fun, too. He kept grabbing the spoon and sticking it in his mouth. Unfortunately, it did not help him sleep any longer. :)

Holden and Emerson

Holden has a new girlfriend! While Kimberly was in town, I took Holden out to visit. We put the babies on the floor together and they had fun rolling all around and checking each other out. They both wanted to put everything in their mouths and each wanted whatever toy the other had - even if it was the exact same toy. Oh, and Emerson is two months older than Holden but they are almost the same size. Actually, we think Holden is bigger around but I think Emerson is a little longer.

They look like they could be brother and sister!

Another Long Weekend

We had yet another very busy and fun weekend. Holden was a trooper the whole time but he was pretty wiped out by Sunday afternoon.

Open House

So it all started on Thursday night when we headed to Adi's Open House at her school. She showed us around her classroom and all of the artwork and activities she has done. It was really cute.

Here's our princess on our way to the school. Forget the classroom, she couldn't wait to get outside to swing

Friday Night

Adi had a t-ball game Friday night. Brad, Jill and Gavin came, along with the usuals - grandma and grandpa. Lance played in a golf tournament that afternoon with Mac (Lance's buddy/Kendal's dad/the other coach of the t-ball team) and they had to leave before finishing and just barely made it time for the game to start. After the game we all headed for pizza at Mt. Mike's. Adi had a little surprise waiting there...Evan! Erich and Evan came up for the weekend and met us at pizza. Adi was so excited. (Oh, the frog is whole other story: each child in Adi's class gets to take Hoppy the frog home for a weekend and they can take him everywhere they go and document it. They then share all about it when they get back to school. It was finally Adi's weekend.)

Adi and Hoppy ready for story time

Saturday

On Saturday morning I took Adi and Holden over to grandma's so Adi and Evan could play for awhile. Grandma made them chocolate chip pancakes in the shape of Mickey Mouse!

Then we headed to Kimberly's parent's house for Rilyn's 3rd birthday party! They had a bounce house, which Adi and Evan had a ball playing in. It was a great party and the kids had so much fun.

Here's Bubba chillin' in the baby swing.

Evan and his new buddy Dominic (Allison and Reece's son) eatin' some cupcakes together

We had to leave the party early because Adi had another t-ball game at noon. This time they played the Rebels and Adi did great.

Bubba had a great time. While he was in his car seat, a bird pooped right on the handle! It almost landed on his head! Too funny (and gross)!

After the game we all went to the Sierra Nevada Brewery for lunch. It was packed and we had a long wait, which was actually good because I had time to feed Holden and change his poopy diaper that happened while eating. After a bit of some fussing, he fell asleep and slept for almost the entire time we were seated.

Adi invited Kendal over to spend the night so after lunch I went and picked her up and took them to grandma and grandpa's to swim and play on the swing set. They had a blast. Afterwards, Lance took the girls to see the Hannah Montana movie. The girls were so excited and loved the movie, as did Lance! :) When they got home, which was around 9:15, I put them in their pj's, made them a nice little bed on Adi's floor and put on a movie. They were both passed out by 10:15.

Gavin loved this car

Mother's Day

I had a lovely first Mother's Day. Got up early with my Bubba boy and played with him for a bit. Lance and Holden got me really nice cards. Don't know what happened to my card from Adi though. :) Holden and I headed over to my parent's house for the annual Mother's Day Brunch and Lance met us over there after Adi's mom picked her up. Brunch was yummy and it was nice to visit with the family. The party was bitter sweet though because it was Brad's last day before leaving for the US Army boot camp. We are all going to miss him so much.

Cousin Amie playing with Bubba

First trip to the Coast

Holden took his very first trip of many to the coast this past weekend! We all had such a great time despite the rain and cramped quarters and definitely did not want to come home. Ate a ton, relaxed a ton and played games. My favorite night was our last night when we all played Spoons! I hadn't played that game in so long and it was so fun!!!

Here's our Moose seconds before leaving on our trip. He did so great on the drive over. We stopped twice for me to feed him and he pretty much slept the rest of the time. He only got really fussy the last 20 minutes of the drive and it was because he was hungry and probably tired of his car seat. With Grandma at Mary Lou's in Clear Lake. We had a nice lunch here but the wind sure was cold.

Lately he's very interested in what we are putting in our mouths and he loves bottles. He's always staring at daddy's beer bottle...

Holden's first walk on the old log road at Ward Beach. He really likes going for rides in the front carrier.

Sound asleep.

For some reason he is so relaxed in the carrier and usually falls asleep.

Cousins - Holden and Gavin (and Uncle Brad)

We had a couple of meals at The Wharf. On Thursday we were able to sit out on the patio with the heaters on. Holden slept for the first 20 minutes and then had a great time hanging out. Here he is playing with daddy.

After a nice nap (or right before - I can't remember), just chillin' with daddy and watching some baseball.

Grandpa put his glasses on him and he is trying to look down at them. I snapped this picture and when we looked at it we were all cracking up. The look on his face is hilarious!

Gavin-nator! I love this kid!

Some of the family playing The Farming Game.

Lance and my dad left Saturday evening and the rest of us came home on Sunday. We took our time coming home and it was so nice. Usually we are in such a hurry to get on the road and get home, but I have to say, I really liked breaking up the drive and taking it slow. Holden didn't do as well on the drive home either. He fell asleep just as we left the house but after stopping for coffee and gas and some other stuff, it took us an hour to get out of town and he woke up just before. He eventually fell asleep only to wake up shortly after because the road got bumpy. Then he decided he was starving so we pulled over at some recreation spot in Clear Lake so I could feed him. Then we went on to Lucerne (also in Clear Lake) and met up with Brad, Jill and Gavin for lunch. There's a park across from where we ate so after lunch we went over and played on the swings for a few minutes.

Holden started to fall asleep in the swing and did fall asleep right when we got back on the road. Unfortunately again he didn't sleep long and I think it was because Lorrelda kept coughing. We made another stop at a rest stop where I fed him again and then 45 minutes later we were in Chico. Holden and I pulled in at 6:25 Sunday night and he promptly went to bed.

We can't wait for our next trip with Gran, Gramps, Adi, Grandma and Grandpa in July!