Joshua at 7 Months

Joshua turned 7 months on the 24th! I'm so proud of myself for getting this post up BEFORE he turns 8 months!

This little man is doing really well! He has been teething for what feels like forever. Forever. He got his first tooth this week, but that will technically go under his 8 month post. He is still drooling nonstop, so we certainly aren't done with it.

For the most part he's been an okay teether. He doesn't get too fussy, but he really prefers to be chewing on something. He's still pretty easy going-he does fuss if he gets really tired though.

We started solids this past month. He seems to be enjoying it. So far he's had cereal, pumpkin, peaches, prunes, green beans, carrots, and apple. I make all my own baby food, so I try to make what is easiest right now. With Paige, I had tons of time to be in the kitchen and make a lot of food, but these days it's hard to find the time.

He's sitting up so good now! I put a pillow behind him half the time, mostly as a just in case if Paige is around. He will reach forward for toys, but he hates to be on his tummy, so he isn't scooting or trying to crawl at all. He does roll all over the place though.

Now that he's sitting up, we are done with the baby tub. It's weird to be putting away some baby items already.

I'm not sure on the stats, but he seems bigger to me!

7 Months Stats:

Weight: 14 lbs??

Length: 25 inches??

Size Diaper: He's still comfortably wearing size Small cloth diapers, and Medium disposables at night

Size Clothes: 6 months!!! Finally!! He still wears some 3 month pants, but he is mostly in 6 months, which makes me SO happy!

Sleep: grrrr. I will say it has gotten better this past week, but overall before this week he has been waking up at about 5:45-6:15 every morning. We try to give him the paci-sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. He's in the middle of transitioning into the 4 hour schedule and back and forth with needing a cat nap. He usually will have a good morning nap and then the other 2 are short. But we go out in the mornings a lot, so on those days he just takes a long afternoon nap. 

Feedings: He nurses at about 6:30, 10:30, 3, and 7. Sometimes a 5th feeding if he doesn't nap well or needs it.  

Teeth: Not at 7 months (currently he has 1)

I can't get over how cute this little boy is! Love him!!

This past month Joshua cheered for his favorite team, the Packers!!! Sometimes we can watch the game online. It's pretty exciting when it happens. 

He loves his big sister Paige! If she's in the room, he is usually content to just watch her. I love both these kiddos so much! I know I'll turn around one day and have teenagers, but I am trying to soak up all the time I have with them. I love being their mama!

Joshua at 5 & 6 Months

Well.....that was quite the little blogging break! I always want to blog, but with Instagram, it's just so much easier to post pics and updates there. BUT, I love looking back at remembering what we were doing, so I want to at least keep up with Joshua's monthly posts.

(he's now almost 7 months, so I'll try to get that post up soon-I feel like this last month has been a big one!)

Since it's been 2 months a lot has happened and I have a lot of pictures!

First...Stats! Joshua is about the same size at 6 months that he was at 5. We even flew to Hong Kong to see a growth specialist. But all the doctor's we've seen think he's okay, he will just be small.

(4, 5, and 6 months)

6 Month Stats:

Weight: 5.9 kilos or 13 lbs (-2%)

Length: 61.5 cm or 24 inches

Size Diaper: Small cloth diapers and Pampers Mediums 

Size Clothes: STILL 3 months.....I am so ready for him to be able to wear the next size up
(*he's just started wearing 6 month clothes, but now he's almost 7 months)

Sleep: Eh.......we've stopped swaddling and for the last few weeks he's been waking up at least once a night. Most of the time we can just give him the paci and he goes right back to sleep. I cherish the nights that he sleep the whole night through! He usually wakes up between 6:30-7:30, just depends on the day. 

He usually naps great-2 long naps and then a short one. 

Feedings: Again, I feel like i'm trying to figure everything all over again.Sometimes he has 4 feedings a day at 7, 11, 3, and 7. But most days he eats every 3-3 1/2 hours. 

Teeth: None yet, but I think we are really close.

We went swimming a few times this summer. Joshua loves his baths, but he wasn't too sure about the pool. I think it may be because the water was always a little cool. 

Because Joshua's growth hasn't been too great, we went to Hong Kong for a few days to see a specialist. They didn't do any tests, but the conclusion seems to be that he's just small.  He's in the negative 2-3%. He is the size Paige was at 3 months.

I love my little travel buddy-he does so great with it all!

This is Paige (left) and Joshua (right) in the same toy at about the same age. You can kind of tell-but they both have the nose scrunch!

Joshua, or Baby Josh as we call him, has never really loved tummy time. This is one rare time that he was smiling instead of fussing during it. Now, he rolls so much that as soon as we put him on his tummy he rolls to his back. But he does sleep on his tummy now most of the time. 

Even though he hasn't gained much weight in the last few months, I still feel like he is changing so fast!

5 Months:

6 Months:

I feel like he literally started sitting up all on his own overnight. Sometimes he does lunge for a toy in front of him and falls, but he'll get the hang of it :)

It won't be too long before he has a plate of little foods in front of him!

Joshua really is the best baby. I thought Paige was an easy baby, but Joshua gives her some competition. He rarely fusses or cries, unless he's really tired. He is very easy going and has the best smile! I love him to pieces! 

Joshua at 4 Months

Joshua turned 4 months last Wednesday! He is the happiest baby!

Last month we traveled to Taiwan, and this month we went to Hong Kong. It was just me and the little peanut-and we flew there and came back in the same day. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be-he actually did really good in the carrier. 

It was a tiring day, but he did really good!

Besides going to Hong Kong for the first time, he also rolled over from his back to his tummy this month. Another change is that he is out of the swaddle for all his daytime naps! He transitioned really well to it. We still swaddle at night, but will probably unswaddle soon. He does sleep in a sleepsack though for all his naps.

Paige continues to be really sweet (ha!) with Joshua. She wants to hold him, play with him, and gives him little kisses on his head. She loves to do tummy time with him! You can tell he is thrilled.

Joshua has changed so much! Sometimes I think he looks like Paige (who looks like me) and some days I can see a lot of Daniel in him. 

4 Month Stats:

Weight: Almost 12 lbs, he's a little fella. More on that later. 

Length: Almost 24 inches

Size Diaper: He's in Small cloth diapers during the day and Pampers smalls or mediums

Size Clothes: 3 Months

Sleep: He's a rockstar! This past month he officially he started sleeping through the whole night! He sleeps 7:30-7:30, and sometimes even later. His first nap is about 2 hours long, and then his next two naps are about 1-1/2 hours. 

Feedings: He nurses at 7:30am, 10:30/11, 2ish, 5pm, and 7pm. I do a dreamfeed at about 10pm each night. 

Teeth: None yet, but I'm pretty sure he's teething.

So he's always been a little guy. But I took him in for his 4 month check up and he's fallen a little bit on the growth chart. The little man is not quite 12 lbs, and Paige was over 12 lbs at 2 months! So I met with a lactation consultant this week just to check on how he was feeding and my milk supply. But everything checked out fine-there's milk and he's eating great, so there's no need to worry right now (which I was dong PLENTY of!). We are going to watch his weight, but I think he is okay. He did go up in height on the growth chart, so he's growing, just only one direction, ha!

That's Joshie at 4 months!

Joshua at 3 Months

Joshua turned 3 months last week. I will say that time goes by much faster with your second child than it did the first. With Paige I didn't know how long each phase would last-when would she sleep through the night, how long before she takes regular naps, etc..... But with Joshua, I know it will happen eventually and each phase is so short in the big picture.

He looks so much bigger to me this month! His little legs are even starting to get some little rolls!

We haven't done anything too exciting this past month. We've stayed in town and I've tried to get Joshua used to his routine. I was taking Paige out most mornings and he would cat nap in the stroller. But his first nap is his best and longest nap, so now I take her out after the first nap or in the
afternoon.

Three Month Stats:

Weight: No idea.....10-11 lbs??
Height: 22 inches?
Size Diaper: We started cloth diapers this month, he wears FuzziBunz Small, and Pampers Small at night. (i've always used disposables at night)
Size Clothes: 0-3 months, but I think we'll be moving to 3-6 soon. He's growing so fast!
Sleep: He's amazing. He goes to bed between 7:30-8pm, I dreamfeed at 10, then he sleep till almost 8 the next morning. His first nap is about 2-21/2 hrs long. His next few naps aren't always consistent as far as time. Sometimes 2 1/2 hrs, sometimes just barely an hour.
Feedings: He eats about every 3 hours. He has just started to go about every 3-4 though. He is a great nurser-he can eat in less than 10 minutes.

Joshua is the most smiley baby! Our friends give us a hard time because he never cries. And honestly-he really doesn't. He will fuss sometimes right before he eats or if he is really tired. But overall he's a very easy baby. I don't say that to be braggy- because I know it is isn't anything we're doing or not doing. I'm just so thankful that he's as happy and laid back as he is. 

Right now Joshua still doesn't do too much. He sits in his bouncer and chews on his giraffe, plays on his activity mat, and has just started sitting in the bumbo. He used to like tummy time, but he's not the biggest fan right now.

Paige was already sucking her thumb at this point, but Joshua hasn't found it yet or just isn't interested. He does take a paci every time he goes to sleep. He doesn't really take it when he's just awake and playing though.

Paige calls Joshua "Baby Josh." It's so cute! I think she still likes Joshua, but we do have to remind her (often) to be gentle!

At the House

I'm trying to blog more regularly. I love looking back and remembering what we were doing and seeing how the kids have grown. Again, most of these are on Instragram, but I still like putting it all on the blog.

This week Paige "helped" me bake brownies. She loves helping me in the kitchen, especially if it involves chocolate.

Joshua is the most smiley baby! He smiles all the time and is really close to laughing. He has started holding his giraffe by himself. 

Daniel is from Oklahoma and is a huge Sooners fan. We have to make sure we raise our little munchkin right-so we start him cheering for OU pretty young!

We had some friends over this morning so I tried a new recipe-Chocolate Chip Bundt cake from here. It was pretty yummy-not too rich and very easy to make. 

So I made a decision this week-not a big one, but one that will make my life a little easier. I'm reading The Fringe Hours and it talks about how sometimes we do good things but they aren't necessarily good for this season of life. Right now both kids are in cloth diapers, and it was just too much. I was doing laundry constantly, and washing diapers overseas isn't very easy. So it seems like a small thing, but I decided to switch Paige back to disposable diapers until she's potty trained. I'm pretty excited about it. I love saving money with cloth, but I feel pretty good about less laundry and little more time. 

(I line dry the diaper covers in our living room).

We've got a few busy weeks coming up. Summer is our busy time and Daniel will be traveling a lot, but I'll try to keep posting!

Update on Life

I haven't done a lot of regular posts lately-mostly just updates on the kiddos. So here's a long update with lots of pictures to remind me of all that we've been up to. (if you follow me on Instagram you've probably already seen most of these)

This pic is from a few months ago. We don't have a playground or backyard near our house, so we go to the university near our house to play a lot. One day we played with this little girl who was the same age as Paige. If you can't tell-it was cold out.

Since we live overseas and away from family, we try to skype or facetime regularly to keep up with everyone. Sarah's daughter is just a little older than Paige, so they love seeing each other. Sarah and I regularly send each other pictures and videos of our girls for them to watch.

My mom came and stayed with us for a whole month when Joshua was born. My mom loves to bake and Paige was more than happy to help!!

The day before I had Joshua we went to the panda zoo with my parents. Looking back, I'm not sure if it was the best choice-it was a lot of walking and I was exhausted! But Paige loves pandas and had a great time!

I forgot to post this picture-it's me in the hospital issued pajamas. Not the cutest, but so comfy!

Having a tea party with Paige and all her babies! 

Paige playing outside with her new sidewalk chalk! That girl loves to be outside.

The middle of March we went to Taiwan to work on some paperwork for Joshua. It. Was. Amazing. There were parks everywhere, it was beautiful, and we had Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Chili's! 

I love this girl to pieces. 

We went to the zoo while we were there-there was tons of walking and it was really hot, but we had the best time. 

AND, one thing I loved about Taiwan was how nursing-friendly they were!! Everywhere we went had a private nursing room-the zoo had more than one location, several of the subway stops had them, and even Costco! And the rooms were really nicely decorated and very comfortable. Loved. It. 

We were away from home for Easter, which was kind of sad. But we still managed to dye Easter eggs (I will bend myself over backwards to keep a tradition). We didn't too much-colored eggs and Paige got a Frozen sticker book. Joshua didn't get anything this year, but he didn't seem to mind. 

We have friends who live in Taiwan and we were able to have dinner a few times with them and they offered to watch the kids so we could have a date night! Daniel and I went downtown and ate at California Pizza Kitchen. 

Right after we returned home, my sister came to visit for a week. It was wonderful!!!

Paige got sick a few weeks ago with a double ear infection and uti. Poor thing was NOT feeling well and it was rough on all of us. She laid around a lot and discovered Finding Nemo. 

Paige keeps getting cuter and cuter everyday. Especially since she talks nonstop and somehow seems to add to her vocabulary every day. 

My mom sent this scooter for Paige (yes she shipped the scooter in my sisters luggage). It's a little big for her, but she loves playing with it. 

We celebrated Mother's Day this past weekend-my first one with two kiddos!!

Love these people!

That's us in a nutshell!