Liam: Seven Months Old

Liam,

You have been such a joyful baby! You are actually making your Daddy and Mommy baby hungry! We definitely count our many blessings that we have you in our life!

At seven months old, you:

Love to shake your head and body. We like to call you Stevie Wonder!

You FINALLY LOVE bottles! YAAAAAYYYYY!!!!! This has made our lives so much easier! I don't have to stress leaving you with a sitter, your nana's or your daddy! Thak you, thank you, thank you!

We went to Palm Springs and I gave you watered down apple juice to try and keep you hydrated in the 90+ heat. You were not a fan of the juice, but were a good sport.

You swam for the first time in Palm Springs and LOVED it! We bought you a baby raft for you to sit in and you would fall asleep in it! People at the pool would comment on what a darling baby you were! You would sit in your raft with your baby sunglasses on and watch your Sissy or fall asleep. You would also just kick, kick, kick away!! I think it is safe to say that you and Sissy are FISH!

You also sat on the grass for the first time in Palm Springs. You were not a fan! You wouldn't get fussy, but you would sit like a statue! Sooo funny!

We finally moved your crib from our bedroom into the office down the hall. (Baby steps for your mommy!)

You are still NOT sleeping through the night! What's the deal? I think you want to discover the world at all times.

You think the sound of the paper on the Dr. office's bed is the funniest noise in the world. I have never heard you laugh so hard!

You have, unfortunately, outgrown your swing! Boo! You try to escape it and tip the seat over.

You bathe without your sling in your baby bath. Our tub is super deep, so the baby bath will be the safest option for a while. You love bath time!!

You are ALLERGIC to butternut squash. This is so baffling. I ate butternut squash weekly while pregnant with you. You tried it one night and broke out in hives from your bum to your neck within twenty minutes. It was pretty scary. We called the hospital for advice (and help). They are not allowed to give info over the phone and referred us to poison control. They were a true blessing! They gave us information and called back twice to check on you! (DO NOT be afraid to utilize poison control!!)

You finally started sitting in the shopping cart at stores. Oh boy! The very first time you did, you were in heaven and grinned from ear to ear!! You are a dream to shop with and I will take advantage of it as long as I can!

You visited the zoo for the first time and were mesmerized. Maybe more by the amount of humans you saw and not animals. But still! (Especially your Sissy!)

You gnaw on your poor fingers and they have started to bleed! Bandaids and 7 month olds don't really mix well.

You got your pictures taken and you LOVED the camera, the flash and the ATTENTION! You are a true HOLT!

You went to Disney on Ice and were such an angel. Thank you for tagging along so well for all of your Sissy's events!

Liam, We are truly blessed! You have shown us patience, adoration and more. You have taught us to love more deeply, be more patient and to just laugh! Your Sissy, Daddy and I are so in love!!

Liam's Six Month Pictures

We decided to try a new place for Liam's baby pictures. We LOVE Julie Burton Photography, but she was due to have a baby in the next few weeks and we also wanted to switch things up just a little. We didn't want to have every milestone picture look too familiar.

So, we tried out Fotofly in Draper. We LOVED the experience. The pictures turned out great and they were amazing with the kids. (We shot Avery's 4 year old pictures at the same time.)

I highly recommend this company!

Enjoy a few of my faves:

Liam: Six Months Old

February 14, 2013

 

 

Liam,

Happy Half Birthday Buddy!! Holy Cow! Where in the world have the last six months gone? It feels like yesterday that you joined our family at 5:34 PM. You have been through so so much in the short six months you have been here!

At six months old:

*You sleep in your crib! It's still in our room, but we have a goal to have you moved into your own room by April. (Daddy will be out of town most of March, so I'm not ready for you to leave me yet!)

*You still are not the best sleeper. What gives? I think you just want to experience the world and cuddle in the middle of the night! You are fighting to go to sleep by 6:30 PM. We keep you up until 7:30, then you're out! I have started dream feeding you (I feed you while you are asleep before I go to bed myself.) and it has eliminated one feeding in the middle of the night. You usually wake up around 2:30 to eat. (You wake up once or twice trying to find your binky. Once we give it to you, you turn your head to the left and fall right back to sleep. I wish you could put your binky back in yourself.)

*You only take two 30 minute naos now. But are a GREAT sleeper in the car!

*You are up at 7:30 and are such a happy monkey in the morning. (You must get this from your daddy!)

*You still HATE bottles! This is such a struggle! We have introduced you to a sippy cup and you love sipping ice water out of it! I tried sneaking warm breastmilk in it and you threw it across the room!

*You are out of 6 month clothing and in 9 month clothing!!

*On Valentine's Day you started babbling "WA WA WA WA!" It is the cutest!

*You and Avery have something figured out. She knows that if she does something naughty or annoying, you laugh hysterically, so she does it even more! Stinkers!

*You have now tried homemade pureed pears (LOVE!), apples (kind of love), peaches (can't get ENOUGH!), sweet potatoes (LOVE!), avacadoes (LOVE!) and oatmeal (LOVE!). You tried butternut squash and had an immediate allergic reaction. You broke out into hives all over your bum and back. I called the ER and they wouldn't help me over the phone, so we contacted poison control. They were so helpful and even called back later in the night to check on you! I gave you an oatmeal bath and you went to sleep after. So we won't be trying squash for a while! You also tried peas and loved them, but got really fussy two nights in a row after you ate them. We'll try them again down the road.

*You eat cereal in the morning, fruit or veggie in the afternoon and cereal and fruit or a veggie at dinner.

*You are totally teething because you have made mommies udders hurt! Plus, you have to be chewing on something constantly!!

*You can sit up on your own without the Boppy behind you!!! You try to push yourself into a crawl postion from sitting and faceplant. You are not a fan of faceplanting!! (You've given yourself quite a few bumps and bruises on your noggin from falling on your toys!)

*Since you have turned six months old, you have become a Fuss MONSTER! I think it is because you are transitioning into different phases. (Teething, trying to crawl, talk, etc.)

*We have started teaching you basic sign language: Eat, more, all done, milk, please and thank you. Avery is retaining it and trying to teach it to you too!

*You have found your voice! Boy oh boy you LOVE to make noise! Our house is VERY noisy these days!

*You think the paper that covers the beds at the doctor office is the funniest thing in the world. You laugh until you are in tears!

*You had your six month check up and your stats were:

    *17.9 1/2 Pounds which put you in the 47 percentile.
    *27-3/4" Long which put you in the 90 percentile.
    *Your head measured in at 80 percentile.

*You have finally figured to get from point A to point B, it is easiest to roll there!

*You LOVE LOVE LOVE reading books! You giggle and smile the entire time we read!!!

*If you're fussy, we stick you in the bath. This is your happy place!!

You are growing in leaps and bounds buddy! While I can't wait for this fussy and teething phase to pass, I still want you to stay my little baby! I can't wait to see you crawl and chase after your Sissy! (She can't either!!) Thank you for being such a blessing to our family. We love you!!

I'd eat my tootsies too if they were as delicious as yours!

You and Sissy are the best of friends.

I LOVE your gummer smile!

 

You LOVE chewing on anything. This face was courtesy of a magazine page. (Black ink.)

We LOVE you Buddy Boy!

One of the best pictures of all time!

Avery is not a napper! She started losing her afternoon nap once she turned three. Really the only time she will nap is in the care.

Sometimes I look in the rear view mirror and see this:

 

I think I laughe for a good hour! Thanks Avery!!

Liam: 5 Months Old

January 14, 2013

 

 

Liam,

Boy Oh Boy, you are growing up way too fast for your mommy and daddy! (I think Sissy likes it because she knows she can play more with you.)

You are blossoming from a newborn infant into a chubby little baby! I sure di miss having you snuggle with me all day long. Now, you want to play and experience the world. Not just your momma!

At five month's old you:

*Have tried more solids. You LOVE LOVE LOVE avacadoes misxed with the liquid gold. (Momma's milk.) You are still learning what to do with your tongue, but you will get the hang of it.

*You also had to try pear juice, prune juice and prunes. You get a little backed up from the solids, so we are now only doing solids once a day, rather than two.

*You had an Upper GI at Primary Children's Hospital for your reflux. Turns out...you DO NOT have reflux! Your innerds look perfectly healthy. We took you off of Prevacid and what do you know, you stopped projectile vomiting! You stil spit up, but you are not throwing up ounces at a time! I am so sorry you were on such yucky medicine for no reason!

*You are growing like a weed! You are almost out of your 6 month clothing! You have the cutest rolls that go for days! We love kissing those rolls and don't want to see them leave for a very long time!

You still are a cat napper. I think this is just your personality. You take a 30 minute nap around 9, 1 and 4. If you are in the car, you'll snooze the while time. I have come to learn to just drive aimlessly for a little quiet time!

*You go to bed at the same time as Sissy, 8 PM. You still get up at 11:30 and 4:00 to nurse. But then you are up for the day by 7:30.

* You are still in your bassinett!! (You moved into your crib a week after you turned five months old! Your crib is still in our bedroom until you stop nursing so much in the moddle of the night. I'm not sure why I am having such a hard time letting you move out of my bedroom, but I am! You're my baby and I want to keep you that way!

*You want to be active!! (That's an understatement!) You get so frustrated laying on your back. You'd rather be sitting in your exersaucer, your Bumbo, your high chair or being held! (In fact, you started sitting up on your own a week after you turned 5 months old!!)

*You LOVE the game Peek a Boo! Especially when Avery plays it with you. Liam, you just adore your Sissy! Your eyes light up whenever she talks or sings!

*You LOVE looking at ceiling fans and lights. Much to your daddy's dismay, I think you will be following in daddy's and papa's footsteps in the lighting industry. It's in your DNA!!

You are just a pure joy to be around! You are such a happy baby! You are perfect!!

Liam: 4 Months Old

December 14, 2012

 

Liam,

Another month has flown by! You are an absolute joy to be around! Your grin stretches from ear to ear and you hardly complain about anything.

At four months old you:

*Switched from Zantac to Prevacid for your reflux. The Zantac was not working and you have started to become more and more fussy after feeding. You're throwing up has grown in volume, so we are hoping this new medicine will do the trick!

*You REFUSE to eat from a bottle UNLESS it's being fed to you while mommy and daddy are both gone. You will take it from Nana Teri or Nana Vickie or Aunti Smash, but if you sense momma's BITH (Boob in the House), you would prefer the real deal.

*You have not had a drop of formula. We have been pretty blessed with my supply thus far! I started some supplements from Lactation Station to help my supply and it has!

*You and Sissy have the same bewitching hour. 6PM! You want to be held and snuggled on!!

* You have the same bed time as Sissy too! 8PM! We have made a nice nightly routine. We have dinner, watch a family cartoon, Avery gets in the shower while you get in the tub, we get both of you lotioned up and oiled up (we put DoTERRA Digestzen and Lavendar and both of you kiddos), we read stories in Avery's room, say our prayers and then I nurse and rock you in Avery's room as she falls asleep. It's worked beautifully. You still sleep next to Mommy in your bassinet! You sleep so nice in there and I love having you next to me. One day I'll have to let you grow up. (Boo!)

* You still get up twice to nurse in the middle of the night! (Yawn!) Like clockwork, you wake up at 12 and 4.

*This has led me to feeding you cereal once or twice a day. You haven't really figured out how to work your tongue, but we are trying!

*You are a growing machine! You are in 6 month clothing! AND GROWING!

*You are in love with Avery. You search for her when you hear her voice! You want to be near her at all times! You laugh at her goofyness and smile when she talks to you. She loves saying "Do you love your Sissy bud? Do you?" It is so cute!!

*You prefer napping in your carseat or swing. You've become used to our crazy lifestyle of always being on the GO!

We love you so much Bud! We couldn't imagine life without you!!

 

Christmas: Part Five

Phew.....

After brunch at Dale and Sheri's, we headed home to a wonderfully prepared dinner, at our new home, made by my mom! Ashley and Jon, my Mom and Ty joined us. We had a delicious pot roast and had fun relaxing by the fire, opening presents and just playing with all our new toys.

Liam passed out early and slept for a while...

...then woke up and stayed up until 11! Little stinker!!

Good thing he is cute!