Dear William,

Momma has some catching up to do on her monthly letters to you!

You turned 6 months old on April 29 and have officially moved from being our little baby to our little man. Even more so now that you are just over 7 months old. You have the sweetest personality, the best smiles and snuggles and Daddy and I love you more than anything in the entire world.

At your 6 month checkup you weighed 14lb, 15 oz and were 27 inches long. I'm fairly sure that you are now already up over 16 lbs. You are a very tall little boy and have the best little baby thighs and cankles.

Some of the things you love right now:

Your dog. She has become much more interested in you now that you eat more than just mashed up food. She waits patiently for anything to drop from your high chair and while she is standing there hoping for a puff or a piece of cantaloupe to drop, you just smile and laugh at her from your chair.

Food. You have been a good eater since we were able to start you on cereal. But you now are so much more interested in all food and drinks that those around you are eating. You have mastered eating your Gerber puffs and we've moved on to some other finger foods like scrambled eggs, pancakes, toast, melon, avocados and pears. You have a hard time with some of the more slippery foods but you will get there soon enough and be picking up anything we give you in no time. You are also great at drinking water from your sippy cup and can even hold the cup by yourself most of the time. We also use eating time in your high chair to teach you new things like clapping and sign language for the words "more" and "drink". You haven't figured out the last 2 yet but I'm hopeful that with enough practice you will soon!

Your walker. This has been your favorite toy since we put you into it at 3 months old. You no longer just walk around in it, you run when you can. Daddy and I are diligent about keeping the basement door closed and keeping you a good distance away from your dog when she is eating, but other than that you can pretty much go where you want when you are in it. You love to "talk" while running around and your favorite time of day to be in it is when Daddy gets home from work and you can run to greet him. You are pretty good about keeping your toys on your walker so that you can play with them and luckily don't seem to make a habit of throwing things only for the amusement of watching us pick them up for you. Although I'm sure that will happen soon enough!

Sleeping. You go to bed between 7:00 and 8:00 now, which is just a little later than you had been for the last few months. For the most part, we can put you in your crib, read to you and you will fall asleep on your own and sleep for 11-12 hours. If you wake up, it is not regularly and most of the time you will fall back to sleep on your own. You are in the midst of teething right now, though, so that has changed things up a bit for all of us and there have been some sleepless nights mixed in with the usual good nights. You are now a belly sleeper like your momma and love to sleep with your legs tucked in up under your belly. It is the cutest thing ever.

Playing/Singing songs. You love to clap when we sing Patty Cake or If You're Happy and You Know It. Watching you clap was one of the funniest things at first because you would keep one fist closed and "clap". You like when I sing to you in the car and I do so often.

Some of the things you don't love right now:

Strangers/Loud noises/Crowds. You cry at the end of church when we celebrate birthdays and other special events by clapping. You also don't do well at first when you are brought into a large crowd of people and prefer only your mom and dad until you warm up to being there. You have mastered the boo boo lip and are very good at giving it to strangers or even people you know well when you are not in the mood to be passed off from mom & dad.

Teething. This has thrown you, me and daddy for a loop. You cut your first tooth on Friday, May 31. The night before you cut your first tooth you had daddy and I up for almost 3 hours, tag teaming to calm you down and get you back to sleep. Every time we thought we had you down you would wake right back up again within just a few minutes. We had no idea that you were finally popping a tooth through! You had been working on it for months by that point. Needless to say, none of us got very much sleep that night but once momma saw your little tooth poking through in the morning it made the sleepless night (almost) totally worth it. You cut your second tooth exactly one week + one day later on Saturday, June 8. You have also been our little low-grade fever runner throughout your teething. Not to mention that for a week prior to your teeth popping through your wet diapers smelled much stronger than usual.

Napping. You are all over the place when it comes to naps. You will take them some days and other days you just don't feel a need for them. We do not have a true napping schedule in place and you will sleep in your crib, in the car or on me if I let you. Momma is ok with you not being 100% scheduled with your napping because it allows us flexibility to be on the go with you grabbing a nap in the car, if needed. But, you are a bear when you don't get a nap all day so we try to squeeze in at least a good morning or afternoon nap if we have a busy day planned. That said, a long nap for you is typically no longer than 90 minutes.

Things you are learning/have learned:

Rolling over/Sitting up/Crawling. You are the king of rolling over and use it as your method to get from point A to point B. You can sit up without assistance most of the time but have not completely mastered it quite yet. You are an army crawler but when you get up on your hands and knees to try crawling you are still only able to rock back and forth and haven't figured out how to get your arms and legs to work together quite yet. And boy do you get frustrated at yourself when you realize you're not crawling. But I promise you that soon enough you will be fully mobile and will be giving us a run for our money.

Clapping/Sign language. You picked up on clapping after only about a day of practicing. But, like I said before, your clapping at first was with one hand open and one hand closed. You're such a silly little man. And momma is working on sign language with you here and there. I'd like you to learn to say "more" in order to alleviate you from banging on your high chair tray when you want more food. I know we will get there in time!

You are such a sweetheart, William. Daddy and I have so much fun playing with you and watching you grow. You are an amazing little person and you take in so much of the world around you. We love you all the way to the moon and back.

Love,
Your Momma

William, 6 months - April 29, 2013

William, 7 months - May 29, 2013

Dear William,

I cannot believe you are 5 months old already. Time just moves so fast sometimes that I wish I could make it stand still. And yet with every new month comes a new adventure with you that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

On the day you turned 5 months, March 29, you rolled from your back to your tummy for the very first time. You had been working on it for weeks and decided that to celebrate your 5 month birthday that you would finally accomplish this goal. It was amazing, to say the least. And I'm so glad that Daddy and I were both home to witness it when it happened. Since that time you have become somewhat of a little master at it, although there are still times when your arm gets stuck underneath you and it takes you a little while to remember to pull it out so that you can finish the roll.

In addition to rolling over, you are now also very well versed in pushing yourself up on your arms and watching the world around you while on your belly. Sometimes you get tired and put your head back down after a short time and Daddy and I joke that its a lot of work for you to hold up that big head of yours!

You are still full of smiles and belly laughs and we do whatever we can to make you do both. You are such a joyful little boy and when you smile, you do so with your eyes and it makes my heart light up.

You have discovered your feet and absolutely love to hold onto them. You love to have your socks off (and really just your clothes off in general) so that you can grab onto your feet and roll to the side when trying to get them into your mouth.

This past month you have discovered what fun it is to walk on the wood floors in your walker, which has been your favorite toy since we started putting you into it at 3 months. At first, we would put your shoes on to give you good traction to be able to move across the floors. Now, you don't even need them and can get around just fine in your socks. You love to walk yourself across the house from the dining room all the way into the sunroom and have even figured out how to maneuver yourself if you get stuck on something. Or, you just whine until Momma comes to get you unstuck from wherever you are. This has given you a new kind of freedom to move about the house (always being watched by someone, of course) and has opened your little eyes to a whole new world around you. You love to look out the sunroom windows, to follow your dog and have also been trying to figure out how to get down the back hallway to the laundry room.

While in your walker you always have a couple of toys to play with and you have gotten very good at throwing them off in order to watch me come pick them up. I sometimes think that you don't know any better but other times I'm sure you know exactly what you are doing and it makes me laugh to think how smart you are.

You have discovered your voice even more and you are a little babbler and cooer. In the mornings instead of being awakened to the sound of you crying, I usually wake up to your sweet little voice talking to yourself. I'll come in and you will be playing with your feet through your sleep sack and you will look up and give me the biggest smile that melts your Momma's heart. You also somehow know how to turn your aquarium on and off, and I'm pretty sure you do this with your feet. I have seen you reach for it with your hand but I do not know yet if you have actually been able to turn it on and off this way as you usually do it while you are alone.

You are so interested in everything going on around you. You still like to watch TV, although we limit it to Baby Einstein or Sesame Street whenever possible. And sometimes we watch The Today Show together while Momma drinks her coffee first thing in the morning.

You are a very patient little boy, unless it comes to food. Once you're hungry, you are hungry and food is all you want. You understand that your high chair is for eating and we don't play games when it comes to getting your food ready. You have eaten everything we have given you and this past month we have introduced some more fruits into your diet to add to all the yummy vegetables you've been enjoying. You are also regularly eating 3 meals a day and nurse consistently every 3 hours during the day.

You go to bed anywhere between 6 and 7 pm and are usually down for the night. You don't wake up to eat until sometime after 4 am and after eating you go right back to sleep until 7 or 8 am. To say we are spoiled with your sleeping habits is an understatement. Which makes the nights that you deviate from your schedule that much harder on mom & dad because we are used to having such a good sleeper. There are definitely occasional nights where you request a diaper change in the middle of the night or when you just miss me and Daddy and want one of us to come and give you your nuk. Or, when I get up to rock you because you just don't seem to want to settle down. On those nights, I just remind myself that I won't always have these special times with you and I enjoy the moments of quiet while rocking you back to sleep.

You are a pretty good napper during the day, although the length of your naps still varies greatly day to day. Now that you are becoming more active with your rolling and walking in your walker I think that you nap a little longer than you had been. But, a good nap for you is usually just over an hour.

This month was full of meeting your cousins and hosting house guests while we celebrated your baptism. You were baptized on Sunday, April 14 during the 10:30 service at St. James. While you were being baptized, you didn't make a peep and after you fell asleep on Momma for the rest of the service. To say you were a good little boy for your baptism would be an understatement. You were amazing.

William, you are such a happy little boy. And we are so lucky to have you in our lives. I'm sure that during these next few months, when teeth start popping through and such, that our patience will wear thin with one another on occasion and that we will have some long nights ahead of us. But I look forward to these next milestones with you and enjoy every moment of the time we get to spend together.

Daddy and I love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you for being our sweet boy and for bringing such joy and laughter to our lives.

Love,
Your Momma

William, 5 Months - March 29, 2013

Dear William,

My oh my how much has changed since I wrote my last letter to you. I feel like overnight you suddenly went from my baby to my little man.

At your 4 month check up you weighed in at 12 lbs, 12 oz and were 25 3/8 inches long. And I swear you are growing like a little weed. You give momma a workout every time I carry you up and down the stairs, my little chunk-a-lunk. You are still pretty long and lean, but you definitely have a little milk belly and lots of adorable chuck on your little baby thighs.

You had cereal for the first time the afternoon after your 4 month checkup. And boy had you been waiting for food. You downed that bowl of rice cereal like a champ and your Grandpa Joe was here to help hold you while you ate for the very first time. Since then you have had sweet peas, avocado, butternut squash, zucchini and sweet potatoes. And there hasn't been a thing that you haven't liked.

Thanks to your new found love of food, you are also sleeping even more like a champ than you already were. You are not 100% consistent with what time you get up to eat in the early morning hours, but you still go to bed right around 7:00 and sleep a good 11-12 hours for us. It is amazing, to say the least. Daddy and I were even brave enough to finally unswaddle you for sleeping, thinking that we were going to have a struggle when it came to getting you to sleep without it. Thanks to your easy-going, roll with the punches attitude (that you most definitely get from your daddy), it wasn't a struggle at all as far as your bedtime routine is concerned.

And your napping. Oh, sweet boy, your napping. You will finally give momma more than 20 minutes at a time. I am so thankful not only because I am able to get things done, but also because you need your sleep, little man. You are not a happy camper if you don't get your napping in during the day.

You still love your walker and I would say it is your favorite toy so far. You also love your caterpillar, your Ernie and both of your Sophie toys. You are very good at keeping yourself entertained for a few minutes at a time if momma leaves the room as long as you have your toys to keep you company. You are so good at controlling your toys, picking them up if they are laying next to you and putting anything and everything in your mouth.

You have discovered your voice and your laugh even more than last month. Your belly laugh is one of the sweetest and funniest things I've ever heard and I will do anything within my power to get you to laugh. It brings a light to my life that you can not even imagine. You love to laugh and daddy and I love to give you raspberries or tickle you in order to get you to do so.

You are also so strong, little man. You rolled over from your tummy to your back for the first time the day after I wrote your 3 month letter. And boy did you become an expert at that fast. To date you have not figured out how to roll from your back to your tummy but I know it won't be long and you'll be doing that as well.

Thank you for being our silly little man and for bringing smiles to our faces each and every day. Daddy and I love you so much.

Love,
Your Momma

William, 4 months - March 2, 2013

Dear William,
I'm sure I'll say this every month, but I truly cannot believe that you have been in our lives for 3 months already. Sometimes it seems like only yesterday that we brought you home. And other times it feels like it has been so much longer.

You continue to bring such an absolute joy to our lives with your smiles and, more recently, your adorable little belly laughs. I love watching you discover your personality and know that in the months and years to come that we will continue to be blessed with such a happy little boy.

That said, stop growing up! :) Momma is not ready for you to start doing things like rolling over and moving around quite yet! You try so hard to roll from your back to your belly and vice versa when we play together on the floor. And you have gotten so strong when doing tummy time. You even have developed the ability to army crawl on the floor. Once you get moving, we are going to be in BIG trouble.

We just started using a walker that Grandma Karen bought when your cousin Riley was just a baby. Sure, its almost 13 years old and there's nothing fancy about it... but you, my dear, love it. You are so proud of yourself when you are standing up tall and you use those chubby little legs of yours to push off the ground and give me the biggest smiles while doing so. You are getting to be so big and just thinking about you growing up makes me want to cry.

You continue to be a terrible napper during the day, only giving me about 20 minutes here or there. And most of the time you prefer to sleep on me, rather than in your crib. But we're still working on it. Luckily, you seem to like your aquarium that Nana & Papa got you for Christmas so sometimes you'll lay in your crib and watch it and then eventually take a little snooze.

You are a great sleeper overnight and have set your own bedtime! You now go to bed around 7:00 and will sleep over 12 hours with a midnight or later feeding and an early morning feeding. Most of the time when you are ready to get up in the morning you are talking to yourself in your crib and when I come in to get you, you are all smiles. Oh, and you continue to be a squirmy worm and love to move yourself around in your crib. Its pretty funny when I come in to get you and you've squirmed your way 180 degrees from the way I put you down. You've also gotten really good at being the incredible hulk and breaking yourself out of your swaddle. We'll see how much longer the swaddling lasts with you.

You love your dog, William. You watch her so intently when she walks into and out of a room. I like to think its not because you're so bored playing with me every day but  that you just find her (and her tail) so fascinating. She hasn't given you any real kisses yet. She just prefers to come and smell you with her very wet nose when you're on the ground or in your walker. And we are very lucky that she is a patient big sister with you.

You are a drool machine these days, little man. And you love to chew on your Sophie. Or anything you can get those little hands on. You are getting so good at holding things and bringing them to your mouth, with the occasional poke to the eye, of course. I'm convinced that you are in the early stages of teething which would explain why you yell at me from your crib during nap time and only like to take your pacifier occasionally at best these days. We shall see what the next month brings.

In the morning, you and I sit on the floor and play together while momma drinks her coffee and eats her breakfast. It's become our little routine together. And every time that I take a sip or have a bite, your mouth starts going and your tongue comes out and you mimic my eating. Once you have the opportunity to eat real food I have a feeling you will do so like a champ.

Your favorite toys right now are your caterpillar, firefly, captain calamari and, of course, Sophie the Giraffe. But, pretty much anything you can put in your mouth has become your favorite toy these days... including your hand, your sleeve, your receiving blankets and burp cloths. We've also watched Baby Beethoven a couple of times and the puppets seem to be your favorite part.

You and I survived our first work week without daddy when he traveled to Utah. Overall, it went really well. We had some visits at our house and went out a couple of times to keep ourselves busy so that momma didn't go stir crazy. And by the end of the week I could tell that you were done with me and missed your daddy. And sure enough, when he got home you went to bed really well for him and got back onto your normal schedule without a problem.

You are also almost exclusively cloth diapered! That was a big step for us to take but it is working out so well with you. We have to use disposables here and there if your cloth diapers aren't fully dry, but we have developed our system and overall I am loving it. Plus, you look adorable in your cloth diapers. You get very excited these days when you get your diaper changed or your clothes changed and are all smiles for us (most of the time!).

Thank you, William. Thank you for amazing your momma every day. Thank you for being such a huge part of mine and daddy's life even though you are still so small. Thank you for being such a good little person and for bringing smiles to our faces. You light up my world and I love you more than anything.

Love,
Your Momma

William. 3 months old. January 29.

Dear William,
Where has the last 10 weeks gone? In some ways, it seems like only yesterday that we brought you home. Yet, you've grown and changed so much in these last 10 weeks that sometimes it feels like you have been a part of our lives for so much longer.

I have to say that you are an amazing little man. You have taught me to love in ways that I never even knew were possible. I have loved your daddy for almost 5 years now but the love that he and I have for you is indescribable. You have completely changed our lives. And I can not even remember what life was like before you were a part of ours.

The first night we brought you home (and those first couple of weeks, really) is mostly a blur. When we got home we introduced you to your big sister, Stella, and she was very curious about you. But also very good about not getting too close. I remember trying to figure out what pajamas to put on you and sort of freaking out because I didn't know what to do. It seems like a million years ago.

William. You are a such a happy little boy. You have been smiling since you were about 5 weeks old. And as of yesterday you have discovered your laugh. When I heard you genuinely laugh for the first time while you were sitting next to daddy on the couch, my heart literally skipped a beat. Your laughter is contagious and all I could do was pick you up and hug you out of pure joy.

You are a little talker. You just love to coo and smile at me and daddy when we talk to you. And you move your mouth like you are seriously trying to tell us something. I have no doubt that you will be talking in no time.

You are so personable and easy-going. You get your laid back nature from your daddy. Thank goodness. I hope that will continue and that you will have his patience moving forward as well. Because if you end up with my patience we will be in trouble!

You are a fantastic snuggler. In the beginning we called you our little frog baby because you liked to curl up with your head on my or daddy's shoulder with your legs all scrunched up. It was so sweet. You are still a snuggly little boy but you have many different positions you like to be cuddled and it seems like every day its a little different.

As of late you are a very good sleeper at night. But, trust me, it has not been that way from the get go. There have been many a night when you have had me just about at my wit's end because I couldn't get you to sleep before 1:00 AM. Thank goodness those days have passed and you now have a more regular "bedtime" around 8:00. Right now my routine with you is to give you a bottle, get you into your pj's, swaddle you, read you a book and put you to bed. And most of the time, you are still awake when you go to bed and have learned to put yourself to sleep. Something daddy and I are very thankful for.

My dear William, you are a terrible napper. Some days you will nap in your swing. Some days, like today, you won't let me put you down for a nap and insist on being held while napping. Some days you'll nap for 2-3 hours in the morning. And then fight naps the rest of the day. I am convinced it is because you are afraid you are going to miss something. And you refuse to nap in your crib. But I can't complain too much because you are such a good sleeper for us at night. I'm hopeful that these next few weeks I can get you into a better napping routine, but we shall see!

Last night, 1 night before you turned 10 weeks old, you rolled over in your crib for the very first time. Little man, you just about gave momma a heart attack.  Last week you turned yourself 90 degrees in your crib when I came to get you in the morning. Stop it. I just want you to know that you are too little to be doing such things.

You are such an active little boy. Daddy and I keep saying that once you figure out how to get moving we are going to be in big trouble! You kick your arms and legs a ton when laying down. As of this past week you want so badly to sit up even though your little body just isn't strong enough to do it yet. You love to stand up in our laps and do squats and we can't believe how strong your little legs are. You have been turning your head during tummy time since the first week we brought you home. Sometimes you really like tummy time, and others you hate it. But you are able to lift your head and do a mini-push up without a problem. Once you're able to roll onto your tummy regularly I am convinced you are going to be a belly sleeper like your momma.

You are so very aware of everything going on around you. When I hold you and you hear daddy's voice from across the room, you turn your head to look for him and vice versa when he's holding you and you hear me. You know your Stella and watch her as she walks by you when we're playing on your blanket on the ground. Luckily, her bark doesn't scare you!

You love to watch the TV. So much so that I now keep PBS on in the morning if we have the TV on, otherwise I try to turn it off so that you don't watch it so much. I know it's just the light, motion and sound that intrigues you and catches your attention, but I also know that I don't want you to form a bad habit already.

William. You have changed my life. I love being your momma and getting to spend every day with you. You are an absolute treasure and every day I am so very thankful that God has blessed us enough to have you as a part of our lives. Thank you for your smiles and your coos. And thank you for loving me and daddy as much as we love you.

Love,
Your Momma

William. 1 month old. November 29.

William. 2 months old. December 29.

40 Weeks, 6 Days

Me and Bart the Cart. I'm sexy and I know it!

Will. Minutes after being born.

Our first family picture.

Will and mom

Will and dad

Before his first bath

Will and Dr. Shea

Our beautiful boy

Getting ready to head home