Walker, 1 Month Old

Baby Walker is one month old!

• Sleeping/Eating: Walker still eats every 3 to 3-1/2 hours during the day...generally he eats in the morning around 6:00/6:30 a.m. and then his last feeding is at about 10:00 p.m. He wakes up between 2:00-3:00 a.m. to eat again, then he sleeps until his first morning feeding. I try to feed him, shower, get dressed, and eat before Lainey wakes up. Sometimes this happens, other times it does not!
• Walker likes being on his tummy (most of the time), so tummy time is a relatively painless experience for everyone. He has even been known to fall asleep during tummy time. :)
• He loves being in the bouncy seat and in the swing. Lainey loved the bouncy seat but never cared for the swing. Even now, she never swings for very long on the swings at the park.
• Walker is going bald. The hair on the top of his head is falling out in clumps! His hairline is receding rapidly to the point where we notice changes on a daily basis. He still has hair on the back of his head and around the sides, but I bet he'll start to lose that, too.
• Our baby boy was born with lots of birthmarks (that we've been told will start to fade with time). He has a red one under his left nostril, a big red splotchy one on the back of his head, a few red spots near his hairline on the back of his neck, and another red birthmark along the outer rim of his right ear. He also has three small, red, circular spots on his nose - I think those are little birthmarks, too. Also, the little space between his eyebrows, his left eyebrow and eyelid, and the middle part of his forehead have little red spots that really flare up when he's upset. I had some red spots very similar to Walker's on my nose and forehead when I was a baby.
• Walker sleeps in several locations: his car seat, the swing, his crib, the Baby Bjorn, and the bouncy seat (most often). He'll also sleep on his dad or mom or anyone who happens to be holding him. He is getting pretty good at sleeping in his crib at night.

• Walker sleeps best when he's swaddled in his Miracle Blanket, and he does like his binky! Right before he falls asleep, he gives one final protest to being confined in his swaddle. His face turns red and he'll struggle, wiggle, grunt, and let out a little cry or two and then he falls asleep. Lainey did the exact same thing. :) Despite his protests, I know that Walker likes his Miracle Blanket (as did Lainey). It immediately calms him down if he's fussy and it really helps him fall asleep. He definitely sleeps for longer periods of time when he's swaddled! When he's not swaddled, he doesn't sleep as deeply and he awakens frequently. So...swaddling it is!
• He is becoming more accustomed to diaper and outfit changes. He doesn't scream the entire time anymore. :)
• He doesn't love his bath, but I think he's starting to enjoy it a bit more than he used to.
• Walker can burp very, very loudly. He's such a BOY!
• Walker has the tiniest little bottom. There is no chub back there; it is sooooo flat and bony!
• He's snuggly and cuddly, and I love it. I also love the way he smells...that's such a "mom" thing to say!

I think Walker looks like his Uncle Matt in this picture!

"Where did all of my hair go?"

It's amazing that one month has passed since Walker's birth. We love this little boy SO much and feel so blessed to have him in our lives!

Princess Castle Tent

Lainey loves this tent that Emmy and Pops gave her! Here she is playing in it with Yiyia. Lainey loves it when Ben, Reagan, Walker, and I all climb in there with her. It's a little squishy, though, so we don't do that too often!

Just Another Day at the Office

They grow up so fast...

Thanks for Walker's first tie, Miss Sherry. He looks so handsome and grown up! :)

cuteness

Tag

Amy, who is Samuel and Jane Ann's mom, tagged me in this fun little game. Here are the rules!

1. Open your first photo folder on your computer.

2. Scroll to the 10th picture.

3. Post that picture and the story behind it.

4. Tag 5 or more people.

Here's mine:

To be honest, this is not the 10th picture in my first photo folder. My first photo folder is Acapulco 2006, and the 10th picture was a dark and fuzzy one that really didn't tell a story. SO, I bent the rules a bit and posted this picture instead! This is a picture from our trip to Acapulco in July of 2006. We went with our good friends Laura, Bruce, Tracey, Ryan, Sherry, and Ryan. We rented a house for an entire week and had the most amazing time. This picture was taken the evening before one of the couples left. I will always remember this trip and hope that someday we'll be able to take a trip like this again. :)

**I tag...hmmm...(no pressure)...Maddie, Kelley, Tracy, Kate, Carmelita, and Marisa.

Find the Real Baby

I'll give you one guess as to who did this.

It's a good thing that Walker is such a good sport (for now)!

Big Sister and Little Brother

Lainey and Walker received these cute matching shirts from Maddie, our friend and neighbor. I have been so eager for the kids to wear their shirts so I could take their picture! You can see that once again, I didn't have the most willing subjects. I think the pictures still turned out pretty cute, though...but I do look forward to the day that both of my babies will sit still and smile for the camera. Maybe this will happen when they're in their 2os. :)

a close-up picture of the shirts

Do you think Walker is comfortable?

This picture makes me laugh out loud. Walker's expression is priceless. I think he's just grateful that Lainey is not on top of him at that moment!

Our picture session is over. :)

Little Longhorn

Our neighbor and friend, Kelley, gave Walker this adorable blanket. We love it! It's so cute and very soft, too!

Walker's First Meal

"Here, Walk. Have some food. It's okay that you are completely asleep. I can still feed you."

"And don't forget to wash it down with something to drink."

Walker's First Bath

getting ready

our little helper

All done!

Tummy Time

I love it when Walker is awake (most of the time). He seems to be a pretty content little guy and really only cries during diaper and outfit changes, when he's sleepy or hungry, or when he needs to burp. Thankfully, we pretty much know this about him and can help him out if he's upset! Whenever Walker cries, Lainey says, "Okay, baby" or "No cry" (which sounds like "No cwy"). She continues to be a very loving big sister. We definitely have to monitor her actions around her baby brother, but for the most part, she's loving and caring and seems quite happy to have a baby brother.

We took Walker to the doctor this morning for his 2-week checkup and found out that the little guy already weighs 8 pounds! Good eating, baby boy! :)

Awake and Alert

Sweet Sleeping Boy

A Growing Vocabulary

Lainey's recent phrases:

"Where cat is?" - Yesterday Lainey and Ben spotted a cat outside our house. Lainey became quite fixated on the cat and last night she kept asking us, "Where cat is?" over and over. We've noticed her starting to do this - she's switching around words to try to make a sentence.

"Bless ooose" - Lainey says "Bless you" after someone sneezes. This started after we brought home little Walker. Whenever he sneezes, we say "Bless you" and Lainey has picked up on that. Last night, when my parents were eating dinner with us, Lainey would say "Bless you" after Pops sneezed. Cute!

Making a Fashion Statement

Mom's shoes? Check.

Mom's socks? Check.

Mom's headband? Check.

Ready to go!

More Sibling Pictures

sister and brother

so big, so small

"Here, Walker, let me help you with your binky."

sweet

Lainey likes to wrap Walker in his blanket. She has not mastered this task and definitely needs some guidance! :)

Lainey, 22 Months Old

Our little Lainey is 22 months old!

As a 22-month-old child, Lainey...

• seems pretty excited about having a little brother. She calls him "Walk" and loves to pat his belly and his back, rub his head, cover him with his blanket, give him his binkies, help give him bottles and change his diapers, point out his facial features, play with his tiny feet, and give him lots of kisses and hugs. We're still working on controlling the enthusiasm with which she does these things (which can be a little much at times). If we talk about feeding him, she will put on her oven mitt and bring him a piece of pretend food from her kitchen (usually toast or grapes). If she hasn't seen him in a while or has been out of the house, then she'll run up to him and say, "Hi, Baby!" or "Hi, Walk!" and fortunately for everyone, he doesn't seem to get too startled by this! She likes lying down next to him and when I wrap him in his blanket, she wants to be wrapped in a blanket, too. On Monday night, while we were watching Daddy's City Council meeting on TV, the audience started clapping. Lainey said, "Yay!" and started clapping right along with them and then she ran over to Walker and took his little hands and clapped them together and said, "Yay!" It was so funny, and Walker probably would have thought it was pretty cool had he not been completely asleep in his swing. Sometimes Lainey doesn't enjoy having her little brother around (like when I'm holding him or feeding him) but if she's distracted enough, then most things don't seem to bother her too much. I think it's going to be quite a challenge for me to keep her happily distracted, however, once Daddy goes back to work...
• happily shows off her artwork by holding it up proudly and smiling.
• loves reading her books about buses, horses, and being a big sister.
• enjoyed watching the Olympic figure skating Tuesday night on TV. She put on her pink tutu and danced in front of the TV while the women were skating!
• puts on her socks in the cutest way. She pulls them on and then tries to fold over the cuffs. Sometimes she succeeds, other times she just ends up shoving the sock down. It's cute that she's trying, though! At times, she can be quite determined to put on her clothes and socks and shoes all by herself but thankfully, she still lets me help her a little bit - especially with her shirt because that one is tough!
• is starting to chime in with words that she knows to songs. For example, when we sing Barney's "I Love You" song, she'll chime in with the words "me" and "hug" and "too." She'll also say the word "me" when we sing "Jesus Loves Me."
• is also starting to chime in with words that she knows in her favorite books, like "baby" and "rest" and "work" and "yuck."
• loves to watch videos about horses on the computer with her dad.
• has several nicknames: Laine (most common), Varm, Varmie, Lango, Langolicious, Langolish, Punky, Punkalicious, and Punkalish...and then all of my silly ones for her like honey pie and sweet pea and angel.
• loves to say "hello" to everyone. It comes out like "hewwoo." She will say this to people when they enter a room or on the phone or in any public place where she feels the need to reach out to another person or get their attention. (She'll also say "hello" or "hi" to her mom and dad when she wants our attention!) She'll do the same thing with "bye." She'll say "bye" to anyone, and if she knows his or her name, she'll say that as well!
• is so funny when she tries to discipline Reagan. She says "no" to Reagan when she barks -just like her mom and dad do! It cracks us up because of the tone she uses.
• still says some funny words. "Pup" is "chip" and "ahh sis" means "wash hands." "Chay-uh" is "chair," "bay-uh" is "bear," and "shay-uh" is "share."
• knows most of the letters of the alphabet and almost all of her colors. I think her favorite colors are pink and blue - I think she'd like for all things to be pink and blue! It's a good thing that she has a little brother because in addition to all of her pink things, we now have a lot of blue things in our house!
• is becoming opinionated about which songs I sing to her and will tell me "no" if she doesn't like my song choice. She likes to do the hand motions to the songs she knows, like "Jesus Loves Me," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "If You're Happy and You Know It," and Barney's "I Love You" song. I get such a kick out of watching her perform these songs - it's too cute. Thanks to her teachers for teaching her these songs and their hand motions!
• is getting pretty good at putting two-word phrases together without our guidance. She's becoming an independent little talker!
• frequently requests to play the "Bus" and "Bubbles" applications on my iPhone.
• likes to say the number "two." She isn't counting things (without guidance) or saying "one, two, three" but she'll occasionally point out things that are in twos - two apples, two pretzels, two binkies, etc. :)

We love you so very much, sweet Lainey!