8 Months Old

Raleigh's milestones really started ticking by quickly this month.  We noticed on Thanksgiving that Raleigh had overcome his head to body ratio and could sit unsupported.  Shortly after, he started pulling up on things.  He started crawling with his belly off the ground a little over a week ago.  He seems a lot bigger and stronger in general - it must be from all the "pull ups" he's doing in his crib!

His newest accomplishment is waving, which always gets a big reaction from his parents.  He used to only wave after other people waved first.  Now he waves spontaneously on his own - sometimes to say "hi", sometimes to say "bye", sometimes to say "don't forget about me"!  He's become so used to waving, he even waves at his toys.  When dad held him up to the window at mom's work, he waved at the entire north end of downtown Houston.  His wave is so cute - much like a royal wave, which befits our little prince.

Raleigh started making a popping sound with his tongue and he's surprisingly loud for such a little guy.  Sometimes he initiates and mom and dad join in, sometimes mom or dad clicks their tongue and his face lights up as if to say "I know that game!" and he starts popping away.  Raleigh has also picked up "g" and "ng" sounds (which he uses to say "gong gong gong") and sometimes makes a "t" as well.  Yesterday dad managed to get him to stick out his tongue. 

Raleigh's doing okay with solids.   He loves his oatmeal and fruit every morning, and he has a fruit and veg during the day.  We haven't found a meat he likes yet (we tried chicken, turkey and beef). He must be holding out for bacon!

Overall, this month has seen Raleigh become much more interactive and we can't wait to see what he'll be able to do next.

Happy Christmas

Father Christmas visited Leanne's work today. As expected, Raleigh tugged on his beard.

Bear

Our Raleigh-Bear before school on Thursday.

Christmas Shopping

Mama and Raleigh went to the Galleria this morning.

I See You!

Now we catch him pulling up when he's supposed to be sleeping...

The Depot

Daddy and his little helper.

Turkey

Raleigh tried turkey for the first time today. He didn't seem to care for it much. Maybe it will be better as leftovers...

Parade

Our turkey watching the parade.

7 Months Old

Raleigh turned 7 months old on Saturday. This month he started solids, got two teeth (two weeks ago) and his first ear infection (last Wednesday). Erik stayed home with Raleigh Thursday and Friday.

Raleigh had one stuffy nose after another since starting daycare, which undid some of our sleep training. Early this month, we renewed our efforts and gave Raleigh a consistent bedtime and routine, and he falls asleep on his own again!

Raleigh is also almost crawling. After rocking for a week or two, he started to "military crawl" (the day after he saw his second cousin crawl). He also started making "Indian noises" by putting his hand over his mouth while he makes vowel sounds.

Crawling Practice

I guess it's hard to take a nap when all you can think about is crawling...

It breaks our hearts.  He's getting so close, though.  In fact, the ladies at daycare said he scooted forward a little today.  Good job, Raleigh!

Raleigh Coaster

We took Raleigh out using the big seat for the stroller. He kept his hands on the guardrail the whole time he was awake.

Disappearing Act

Something under the bed appears to have Raleigh by the ankles!

Trick or Treat!

We celebrated Raleigh's first Halloween tonight.  We only made it to one house after feeding Raleigh his third helping of sweet potatoes and making some last-minute costume alterations, but we scored a couple candy bars and a beer.  Raleigh was nice enough to let us have the candy bars.

Okay, dad had the beer too.

Costume

Sneak peak of Raleigh's costume.

Yay Cards

Erik and Raleigh had something to celebrate today.

Boo!

Raleigh's school had a Halloween party last week.  We're not sure Raleigh realized there was a party going on, but he scored some treats for mom and dad - good job, Raleigh! :)

Cereal

Raleigh had his first bit of rice cereal today ...we think he ate some of it. More importantly, he undeniably had fun! :)

6 Months Old!

In a little over half an hour, it will be 6 months since Raleigh was born.  We can't believe how time has flown by.  This month, Raleigh started saying vowels (ba-ba-ba) and tasted his first solid foods (he gnawed on some carrot sticks and ate a little mashed up banana).  He's lifted up on his arms, and lifted up on his knees, and as of today, lifted up on both and raised his chest and belly off the floor at the same time.  Crawling is coming along, ready or not.  Tonight he was dad's good luck charm, as the Cardinals won game 1 of the World Series.

He looked great at his 6-month check-up, but his tear ducts still appear to be blocked, so the pediatrician recommended we see an eye doctor.  Raleigh is right on the middle of the growth curve for weight and height, but he remains at the "head" of his class in cranial capacity.

Weight: 17 lb, 10 oz (54th percentile)
Height: 26.5"       (55th percentile)
Head:   18.1"       (96th percentile)

Yellow Corvette

We gave Raleigh his shiny yellow car that had been parked at dad's work and in our garage since our baby shower. Raleigh knows two gears--reverse and sideways!

Paper

If Christmas were today, we'd get Raleigh a big box of tissue paper!

Cold Front

It got a bit cooler overnight here. Time to pull out the clothes we didn't need in Minnesota!

Great

Raleigh met his great grandfather today. He thought he was great!

Vikings

Raleigh helped end the Vikings' losing streak today!

Minnesota

Raleigh flew to Minnesota with his two PAs Saturday morning. We had an eventful morning, leading up to a bath before we left the house, but the flight was A-OK. Raleigh allowed mom and dad a little room in the blue bag.

New Favorite Toy

Raleigh played with this plastic bag (under close supervision) for half an hour.

Self Documentary

Thought it would be fun to let Raleigh make his own movie.

So so

...suck your toe!

(sorry this is sideways, anyone know of an app to rotate it?)

Veg Out

We gave Raleigh a piece of zucchini to play with while we were cooking. He managed to hollow out the center, but he didn't eat it. Then we gave him a bath!

Got Your Nose!

9/17 Family Picture

This is a picture of us from last weekend.

Playpen

If it doesn't fit in the mouth, lick it!

Sleep

Those steroids bulked up Raleigh's sleeping muscles--he went 9 1/2 hours straight last night. Do we have our healthy baby back?

Juicing

Raleigh got a steroid shot today to help him shake a bit of a cough he developed over the past week. Much to our surprise (and the nurse's), Raleigh did not even cry when he got the shot. Clearly, he has his mother's pain tolerance!



Raleigh was just 17 lbs on the doctor's scale.

5 Months Old

Raleigh turned five months old today. He hasn't really started doing anything "new" this month but he's doing almost everything a lot "better." His movements are becoming very coordinated and he reaches for objects. He often lights up and squeals with delight when he sees us, making peek-a-boo his favorite game. He rolls over onto his tummy almost instantly when we set him down ...except on the changing pad - he waits until his diaper is off first. He also started sleeping on his side, which is really cute. He tosses and turns when he wakes up.

We took him out to dinner with friends at a fairly nice restaurant last night, and not only do we think he sold our friends on babies, he drew unsolicited comments from neighboring tables about what a good baby he was--no doubt quite a relief after we rolled his stroller past their nervous glances. The show ended when he got in the carseat! :)

Size 3

Our Raleigh weighs about 17.5 pounds already. We decided it was time he graduated to size 3 diapers. As you can see he has lots of room to grow!



Size 3 diapers say 16 to 28 pounds. Size 2 diapers only go up to 18 pounds, and when they say 18 pounds, they're not kidding--that's all they will hold!!!

Dad = Fun

Erik seems to squeeze more playtime into Raleigh's day.

Feedings







Diaper changes

And naps

Big Smile

Giggles

We had lots of requests for a video of Raleigh laughing. This is from last weekend.

Nap

Nothing more beautiful to a tired parent than a nap!

Four Months Old

Raleigh turned four months old today, and he had his four-month check-up this afternoon.  He got two shots and an oral immunization.  These are his stats:

Weight: 15 lb, 6 oz (62nd percentile)
Height: 26.5"       (94th percentile)
Head:   17.5"       (95th percentile)

Raleigh had a very eventful fourth month.  He learned to roll over both ways, discovered his feet and his right ear, and laughs and smiles all the time.  Sometimes he's shy and hides his face after smiling at us.  He loves to play with his bug rattles and baby gym, look at his mobile, play in his bassinet (and now his crib) and take baths.  Well, he pretty much likes everything, except for us using the snotsucker on him in the middle of the night.  We call him our "Sunflower Baby."

Raleigh also started daycare, got his first cold, and passed it on to Leanne this month.  Raleigh has been congested for 2 or 3 weeks, which has taken its toll on all of us.  Our great sleeper has been waking up every 3 or 4 hours at night. :(  The doctor told us to hang in there (and, of course, see him again if Raleigh shows symptoms of something more serious).  We have been very disciplined with the humidifier, Vick's and snotsucker.  We think we're past the worst of it, so hopefully we'll have a nice, relaxing weekend this weekend and feel 100% by Monday (before he catches the next bug going around daycare!).

A typical day in the life of 4-month old Raleigh begins around 8 when he wakes up.  Leanne feeds him while Erik gets ready, then Erik plays with him and dresses him while Leanne gets ready and packs Raleigh's bag.  Erik generally drops him off at daycare, and Leanne picks him up.  Raleigh eats three 4-oz bottles during the day and (about half the time) starts his last nap of the day on his way home.  We get in two feedings and about an hour of playtime/bathtime in before bed.  Mom and dad rush to bed as soon as Raleigh's asleep!  He used to only wake up once at night, but now it's up to two or three times.

Crib

With Raleigh nearly four months old, we decided we should move him out of his bassinet and into his baby bed sometime soon.

Like Father, Like Son

It's hard to get Raleigh out of bed now, too!

Return of the Bugs

Raleigh's latest "feet"

(the full video won't upload)

Roll On

Raleigh's been rolling over all day! Got time #6 or 7 on video. We need to work on front to back some more...

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Back to Front

Look what we found!



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Good Morning

Our household made a technological leap this week.






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Rockin' Rollin' Raleigh

Two firsts happened today.  Raleigh rolled over, and his dad wrote a blog post.  This is actually not the first time he rolled over, but he was kind enough to give an encore as soon as dad could grab his phone to record it.

Splish Splash 2

We finally moved bathtime to the utility room.  The sink is the perfect size for a Raleigh and the perfect height for a mama!

Wagon

Raleigh rode to school today in our brand new (to us) station wagon!  For those who have lost count, this makes car number 5 1/2, but we plan to get rid of the two we don't technically own.  That would leave us with a station wagon each, the very impractical Corvette, and the ridiculously impractical 1/2 of a race car.  We joked about trading in the Corvette for a minivan, but we've already promised it to Raleigh! :)

Bugs

Raleigh playing with his bugs.

Back to Work

Leanne just finished her first week back at work; she started last Thursday.  We're figuring out the routine.  Raleigh didn't sleep much at daycare the first day, or eat much the second, but now we think he's really enjoying it.  Raleigh immediately won the hearts of his caregivers, and they love how much he smiles at them.  They said he almost rolled over his first day.  (Then Erik asked Raleigh to save his milestones for home to make Leanne's first days back at work easier).  Raleigh likes to lay on his side and play, and sometimes he scoots in circles - maybe rolling over will come soon!

We especially enjoyed the weekend with Raleigh - he was extremely "talkative" Sunday.  Today, he started making more "babbling"-like noises, instead of just the usual vowel, squeals, and the occasional "mama". :)