"Momma"

Collin's first word is officially momma. I was excited the first time he said it, but it was more like just crying and some M sounds were just all mixed up in it.

Then there was the crying with some ma ma ma ma ma over and over. I really didn't want his first words to come from this but it did.

I say it's official now, because now he can reach up with his arms and say it one time momma..... I just want to cry especially when he has that big grin to go along with it. (this one is for the record books) now we need to work on da da. I love him so much, nothing compares to a mommy's love for their baby.

6 months old and extras from the past couple of weeks

So shame on me. I really thought that I would find more time to be able to post more often on the blog. I must say it is hard. I don't see how you guys do it, and most of you are working mommies too.. Man I need to get better at this.

Well here goes, Collin is 6 months old !!!!

It has been about a month since I last blogged. There is so much to tell, once they hit this age things start changing so fast. Plus the weather is getting better and it is pretty outside. Collin loves to be outside. We even became members of the zoo so that we can go as many times as we want for the next year. Seems like we are always on the go.

The weekend of March 24th and 25th we went to Port O Conner for the weekend. I think Collin really likes to be on the move. (Knock on wood) My mom and I went down Friday afternoon and checked into the Captain's Quarters Motel. It was nice. We got all settled in and set the room up. (this takes time when you have a baby) My dad and Josh came down that evening once they got off work. That night we went to a shrimp boil, (Collin was not very happy, lots of mosquitoes, this mommy was not very prepared with OFF.) So it made for a short evening, we ate and had to get back to the hotel. Collin slept like a champ though. Saturday was a lot of fun, my dad got to fish in a fishing tournament. Josh had to study most of the day. But my mom and I got to take Collin out for some fun in the sun. Saturday night we went to a fish fry with everyone from the fishing tournament. Then Josh and I went out on the town in Port O Conner and for those you who know where Port of O Conner is, you are probably laughing very hard right now. We went to the Cantina and Maddens.  It was just nice to get out and have some fun. Sunday we took Collin to the beach and let him stick his toes in the water. A great weekend.

Coming up....
A lot is happening in the next couple of weeks. This weekend is Easter, and we have two places to go. Next weekend is my birthday, the big 3.0. We are having a crawfish boil with lots of family and friends. Then on the 28th and 29th we are going to New Braunsfels for the weekend. This is something we do every year. I can't wait. Lots of pictures and stories to come. Now.......

What's up with Mr. Collin Andrew Hanchett.....
He is getting so big!! We have not been to the doctor yet for his 6th month check up, but he is 20lbs via the scale in my bathroom and about 26 inches long. He is wearing size 3 diapers.
We moved to the new convertible car seat. He loves it, it gives him so much more room to relax when we go places. We still hang the DVD player on the back of the headrest and he watches Fox and the Hound 1 and 2. We try changing movies but he gets upset. So more puppies singing it is.
Collin is able to sit now with out any support for 1 to 2 minutes before for topping over. This is something that he just learned in the past couple of days. I usually put pillows around him or prop him up on something, but the other day he was in the bathtub and he was sitting without any help from me. (he is growing up so fast)

Tummy Time is still no fun for him. He doesn't like it all. If I prop his chest up with something he will tolerate it for a little bit, but he still looks like he is swimming. Not sure if he will ever crawl at this rate.

Standing, oh my! this is his favorite. He loves to stand and walk as long has he can hold on to your hands. You get big smiles. You can stand him up to the coffee table or even the couch and he can hang on. The crazy thing is I think he will walk long before he will ever crawl.

FOOD!!! He loves food. He eats size 2 Gerber foods three times a day. In the morning and at night I add oatmeal too. There really is not anything this kid will eat. He loves them all. He also likes to feed himself with a spoon. This makes it hard to feed him, since he wants to feed himself. So when it is time to eat, it takes a while. I just introduced meat to him a couple of days ago. He likes the chicken apples the best.  (Plus we get 5-6 bottles a day)

Nap time and sleeping- Well I don't think my child will ever sleep through the night. He gets so close some nights, and then when I think we are making progress, he will wake up three times in the night the next. So it looks like this is the way it will be. He goes down somewhere around 7:30ish and wakes up usually two times throughout the night wanting a bottle or just to be rocked back to sleep. Then he wakes up for the day around 7:30am.

Collin has such a personality. He is laughing up a storm now. Especially at me or Angel. If I jump up and down and sing silly songs I get belly laughs. Apparently I am a good performer in his eyes. Now on the other side he is very stubborn, (I wonder where he gets this from) It is his way or the highway most of the time. And if he is not getting what he wants, he will definitely let you know about it. (we need to work on this, I see this getting worse in the future.) He still has not said a real word yet, but we are working on it. He loves to talk to himself. Especially in the mornings when he is in his crib.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. :-) More posts to come.....

 A movie from us at the zoo, he likes goats! 

5 months old and getting bigger by the second....

Our little man is growing up so fast. He is 5 months old going on 13 years. It is pretty scary how fast the time is going by and each day his personality grows with it.

Collin has become very vocal. He definitely lets you know when he is happy, he squeals really loud and has the biggest smile you have ever seen. When he sees people that he is around and knows he gives big smiles, but if he has not seen you before, he wrinkles up his skin in between his eyes and tries to decide whether or not he likes you.. it is cute just to watch the process he has with each new person.

When he is unhappy aka (wants to be picked up, feed him, change him, sleepy, or just wants mommy) he has a sound that sounds like mmuuummm and he starts off soft with this sound and then it gets louder and louder and louder. Until I just give in or I will pull all of my hair out. On another note, the mmmmuuummm sound sure is close to mama.... Which now I can only imagine him screaming mama all the time..

We went on our first trip out of town, that was an adventure in so many ways. I packed entirely way too much stuff, but I had no idea what Collin would need. Now I know that I do not need 5 suitcases for an infant. LOL. He did so good on the trip though, we went to Houston for 4 nights while Josh was in training and Collin was perfect. He slept like an angel each night. It could not have been any better. Plus we got to see lots of old friends that we haven't seen in forever.

We are going again on Monday back to Houston for 3 nights. I really hope Collin likes it just as much as the first time.

Here are a couple of his stats for 5 months.

5 - 4-6 oz bottles a day

Eating baby food 3 times a day

In size 3 diapers

Wearing 6-9 month clothing (more shirts and shorts, than onesies)

He is 17.5 lbs

Sleeping from 7:30p ish to 7:30a ish with 2 bottles somewhere in the night. (this is still changing)

Still very unhappy with tummy time

Loves to stand and can hold himself up against the couch. (I think we are going to skip crawling and just start walking) 

Loves to give tight hugs and boy can he pull my hair, I think I might go bald if we keep this up.....

Absolutley in love with Elmo

Spending time outside

Playing with his cousin Brian

 Sitting in his favorite chair, or his throne

 I eat with my shirt off

Some people say this outfit makes me look like a girl

 Watching tv and chewing on my fingers,,, I do this a lot

I look good in mommy's sunglasses

 Sitting with my great great aunt Alberta... having some lunch

My first time to sit in my stroller with out the infant seat.. I am a big boy

 At the Victoria livestock show.

4 months and 3 weeks old

So Collin had his 4 month check up on Tuesday, Valentine's Day.

He now weighs 16.8 lbs (wow is he getting big) he is 25.5 inches long and his head is 17.25 around.

The whole check up went really well, today we didn't see the doctor, we had to see the PA, but Collin likes her too. She said that Collin is doing great. She said his height was 50th percentile, weight was 60th percentile and his head was in the 70th percentile.. (oh lord my kid already has a big head.. lol) I told her about how he is eating and how much he loves baby food. She said that it was fine, as long as he is hungry and eating the baby food I call still feed him the way I have. I told her I was a little worried about how fast he went to baby food and how much he likes it. She said some babies just take to eating and wanting baby food faster than others and it is okay.

Collin is eating baby food three times a day - Gerber Baby Food size 1
Around nine each morning he has 1 tablespoon of oatmeal mixed with one scoop of formula and some water. And he also has half of a container of a vegetable baby food.

Then around 1 he has half of a container of a fruit baby food. (he loves apples and pears)

Then around 6:30pm he gets both of the halves that were left over from the day. The one that has the least amount in it, I add 1 tablespoon of oatmeal too it.  (We have went through all the vegetables that are size 1. He loves them all.

He is also having 6 to 8 ... 4 to 6 oz bottles a day.

The doctor said this is all normal and he is a growing boy. She also did a couple of exercises with him. She made him do a baby sit up with him holding her fingers and he did that super easy. Then she had him hold her fingers and see if he could stand up. He did that too. She was very impressed that he was able to pull himself up. She said that he was very strong for his age and that I must work with him a lot at home... (this was my proud mommy moment at the Dr, since I already thought he might be eating too much)

Collin is still in size 2 diapers but we will be moving to 3 soon.

So at the end of the visit it was time for his shots, (I hate this part, when they poke him he cries so loud and stares at me (asking why are they doing this to me) I hold his little fingers and he squeezes them so hard. Then it is all over and he is holding me so tight. She told me that he might run some fever after this round of shots and that it is normal. I didn't think anything of it because last time he got these same shots he was a little sleepy but no fever.

Well it didn't go that way, Tuesday night he ran 102 fever and he had to take Tylenol every 4 hours for the whole day Wed. Up until about 9 o'clock Wednesday night when the fever finally went away. I felt so bad for him, no smiles and he looked like a zombie. But from 9pm to 10pm he wanted to play again (which he should have been in bed sleeping) but since he was happy and alert and full of smiles we played for an hour and had lots of laughs. He finally went to sleep at 10 and he slept all the way till 7 this morning. HIS FIRST TIME TO SLEEP 9 HOURS STRAIGHT!!! yay.. and I got some much needed sleep too.

Some other little things he is doing, is he is babbling up a storm, especially when you change his diaper he talks and talks with lots of facial expressions, so cute. We are still working on tummy time, he doesn't like it very much but he can push up with both arms and hold his head up high. He loves for you to hold him and he bounces with his legs and dances side to side. This is what we do a lot during the day and I get a ton of smiles.

That should wrap it up for now. I love that I am able to stay home with him, he is growing up so fast.

4 Months Old....

Wow it has been a huge month of firsts. We started baby food about three weeks ago. And he LOVES it. We started with cereal for three days, then we went to baby food. Apples, Banannas, Pears are of course some of his favorites. But the banannas give him gas, so we are holding off on them. Sweet peas, squash, sweet potatoes and green beans are pretty good too. But he is still having a hard time with the green beans, I usually have to mix them with oatmeal to get him to eat them.  He eats baby food once around 9am then he gets any leftovers he may have had around 3pm. Then at 7 he gets oatmeal. This routine seems to be working very well. He also has a 4 to 6 oz bottle about every 3 to 4 hours a day. (boy is he getting big since we started big boy food)

Collin is also now wearing 6 months clothes, 3 month clothes do not fit anymore the onsies do not snap. Also some clothes are 3-6 months, those do not fit much either but they can work.

Sleeping.... um yeah that is the biggest roller coaster yet. I have no idea how long he is going to sleep at night. We started great with 5 hours at a time.. then 3 hours.. then 8 hours.. then 2 to 1 hours.. ahhhhh this mommy is going crazy.. I just give up in this department, so all of you mommies out there that have your little one on a sleeping routine at night that works.. congrats. He doesn't have a hard time going to sleep at all, he usually just passes out after about 5 mins of rocking him. Its the waking up part, anything can wake him up, he is a super light sleeper, and when he rolls over in his sleep, he for sure will wake up. So it is very cool, that he can roll from front to back and back to front, but it is not helping at all in the sleeping department.

We had our first giggle a couple of days ago, it was so cute, since then he has had lots of sqeeks but not a nother giggle yet. He loves to play on the floor and is alot more active with his toys, and EVERYTHING goes in his mouth. Especially his fists, they get chewed on 24-7.

So yesterday he had his first trip to the Zoo. Now mind you, the Victoria Zoo is super small, only about 15 differnt animals. But it was perfect for Collin. He cooed at the parrot, and gooed at the goats, then he panted at the lions. (on a grown-up note, the 2 lion cubs were so COOL. they were super playful with one another and they are huge. I have never seen in person to lion cubs play fight with one another, it was amazing.) but Collin loved it. So in all the Zoo was a success and a ton of FUN, plus is was such a pretty day.

Here are a couple of pictures from the zoo and the past couple of weeks.

 At the ZOO....

Time for Baby Food

So yesterday was a big day... our first time to eat from a spoon. I have tried rice cereal in his bottle a couple of times before but it always made him constipated. So that only lasted about a week. And Josh and I decided that we would just wait for solids to be fed by a spoon. So yesterday was the day. I sat him down in his high chair and had to prop him up with some stuffed animals but it worked. I mixed one tablespoon of oatmeal cereal with 1 oz of formula water and we were set. He loved it, the second I put the spoon in his mouth he knew what to do. He looked like a little bird every time I had to go get more, his mouth was wide open. Too cute. I know what moms mean when the messiest things can be the things you remember the most and they make your heart melt. He was so cute, but so dirty.  So today we tried it again around the same time. I chose lunch time for his solid foods, just to make sure he doesn't have any reactions. He knew what was coming he was all smiles and mouth was open, he was ready. I am going to do one more day of just oatmeal then on Friday we are going to try some sweet potatoes. Hope he likes them just as much.

Also yesterday he went to the doctor for a weight check up. He weighs 13lbs and 14oz, in one months time he has almost gained 2lbs. On the other hand he was 24 inches long and that is how long he was last time so no growth there... just wait.

3 Months Old

Mr Collin turned 3 months old yesterday and boy is he growing up fast. Lots of things to tell, might be a long blog this time.

So to start December was a month of a lot of firsts.

Dec 1st - started sleeping in his own crib at night and started sleeping 6 hours at a time.
 (the baby monitor we bought works like a charm, at first I was nervous to use it, but it works) there was no turning back either, it has been 29 nights of sleeping on his own in his room, and we have gone from 5 to 6 hours of sleep to 8 to 9 hours of sleep. He goes to bed somewhere from 7:30 to 8:00 then has a bottle around 2:30am then does not get up till 7:00am.. WHOO HOO!

Dec 12th - got his first round of shots

Dec 16th - While my cousin Britney was holding him, she felt his gums and said he has two little bumps, his teeth are coming it... WOW I couldn't believe it, I thought it was two early but sure enough he has his two bottom teeth coming in.. He drools up a storm. We constantly have to change the bib he is wearing.

Dec 23 - When he woke up for his 2:30 midnight snack, I went in his room to get him to find that he was on his back on the opposite side of the crib.... and I put him down on his tummy facing the other side of the bed. humm how did he do that....was this our first time to roll over?

Dec 25th our first Christmas  - it was perfect.

Dec 28th he found his hands and arms, its like it just happen over night, he never raised his arms up before.. and on the 28th he just never put them down, it like his made little fists and punched the sky for almost 4 hours, and thought it was just the coolest thing ever. Now his does it all the time. And he can hold things in his hands too.

Dec 29th Again when I went to go and get him for his 2:30 feeding, he was on his back again, on the opposite side of the crib that I put him down on.. Crazy.. he can really move in his sleep and now he can roll over. Just wish he would do it so I could see.

Also a new thing that happen this month was Collin HATES the car seat and does not like to ride in the car, I think he just hates being alone in the back seat. So Walmart had a portable DVD player on sale for 39 dollars before Christmas and we got one. IT WORKS!! 95% of the time, he watches Fox and the Hound 2 and loves it. This mommy loves it too, I always felt so bad because he would scream the entire time he was in the car when we were going somewhere. 

He also loves his bath time, it is hard to imagine when he was born how much he hated being naked, now he loves to have no clothes on.. Too funny how much they change.

We switched formula to simalac sensitive, spit up. He also has 4oz bottles every three hours during the day, and just this past week I started making 6oz bottles a couple of times a day, Especially when he wakes up in the morning.

There are so many more things to tell, but it time to wrap it up... I can't wait for 2012 to see what the new year will bring us. We are already starting with a couple of new changes. Josh got a new job, he is starting at a new Bank here in Victoria, and I am loving being a stay at home mommy with Collin. He keeps me busy.

Happy New Year Everyone!! Hope the 2012 year brings you lots of happiness.  (lots of pictures below.)