Hatcher is 6 Months Old! :)

WOW!! Half a year has already passed since our sweet boy was born! It's crazy how much he's grown & all the things he's learned to do in just six short months! The old saying is true..."they grow like weeds!"

Hatcher had his 6 month check-up today (3/26) and he weighs 18 lbs 12 ozs (75th percentile) and is 26 inches long (50th percentile). Dr. Smith said he is very healthy & growing wonderfully! He said he does have some eczema but it's probably from the cold, windy weather we're experiencing. He said sometimes babies with sensitive skin suffer from it more so it was nothing to be concerned about but to just keep him moisturized well.

Hatcher has done so well with eating solids once a day for the past month & a half so we're now ready to move him to twice a day. He's eating the following foods: pears, prunes, peas, sweet potatoes, bananas, squash, zucchini, carrots, apples, avacados and peaches. Up until today, we've been mixing his fruit with oatmeal cereal. However, Hatcher has been experiencing some issues with constipation & I couldn't put my finger on what was causing it. Our doctor told me to take the oatmeal away and just to feed him strictly fruits & veggies. He said some babies get constipated on cereal & they don't really need it so to just to go with straight fruits & veggies. Sounds like a plan to me & I hope it'll make his tummy feel lots better! :)

Hatch is doing so many new things & we're having the best time watching him grow! He loves for me to make a big pallet in his room & to put lots of toys all around him. He'll roll all over the place playing with different toys & on Saturday 3/23 he started showing some signs of crawling! He can pull his legs underneath & scoot to get to the toys he wants to play with. He's talking more & more & starting to make some sounds that are like syllables. Of course his daddy & I are constantly saying "mama" & "dada." Haha!! He still loves to bounce & I think he'd stay in there for hours if we'd let him. He's becoming less of a fan of his car seat which can make car rides really fun sometimes! Two weeks ago he stayed in the nursery at church for the first time & he seems to really like it. He loves being around other small children! I know some of you are saying you just started leaving him in the nursery?!?! And the answer is yes...I just hesitated leaving him because of flu season & because I have a hard time letting go! I'm a softy!!

Hatch now has his two bottom front teeth & they're so cute!! But...they're very sharp & can literally tear your skin. Dr. Smith said today his top gum was very swollen & he was starting to see at least one more getting ready to push through. Teething is NOT FUN!! It has really affected Hatcher's sleep & I'm ready for all of us to get some rest! He did say though that I have to toughen up & stop rocking or holding him until he falls asleep. He feels like that's also part of his sleeping issue. I know I have to just suck it up & let him cry it out for a few days until he gets the hang of it & in the end it'll be better for all of us when we can just lay him down & let him fall asleep. WE CAN DO THIS!!!

After six months of breast feeding, I think we're going to start weaning him slowly over the next few weeks. I'm having a hard time with this decision but I think it's time for a few reasons. (1) Hatcher has teeth now & he likes to bite & that hurts mommy! (2) He's become very distracted when eating & would rather look all around & often I don't feel like he's getting enough to eat. I know this can be a part of teething but when I pump & give him a bottle he does much better. (3) This mommy feels like she is ready to wean because pumping isn't easy for me & for some reason I just don't get as much milk as I used too so when we have to leave him with his grand parents when we have something to do I totally stress out about ensuring he has plenty of milk to drink. I think it'll be easier on all of us to wean him to formula & I'm just praying the transition will happen easily & that it won't cause him any additional tummy issues. I know it sounds selfish that I'm ready to wean him for me too but while I have thoroughly enjoyed breast feeding it is hard work & I'm super proud of myself for doing it for 6 months!!

Below are some recent pictures of our sweet baby boy! Such a happy boy!!

The sweet smile I wake up to every morning! He's definitely his father's child because his mommy isn't a morning person! :)

Happy his daddy was home from his work trip! 

Baby blues! :)

Hatch's pearly whites!

Daddy & HT on his 6 month birthday!

Mommy & HT on his 6 month birthday!

He's recently become a fan of his thumb!

Such a sweet, silly boy! Melts my heart!!

My Mommy Must Haves - Part Two

I posted about "My Mommy Must Haves" several months ago. While some of those things are still things we use now, we've added new things as Hatcher has grown! I thought I'd share some of the things we're loving right now with you.

Nuk Pacifiers:

These are by far Hatcher's favorite pacifiers! When he was really little, we used Soothies because at the time those were all he would use. As he got older, he wasn't very into them anymore. He's not a baby who requires a pacie all the time but he does like them when we're in the car or when he's sleepy. Although, once asleep he usually spits it out & we remove it from the crib. I love the Nuks because there are a lot of different designs & colors which make it fun to coordinate them with their clothes. Yes, I know I have a little boy but I still like for him to match! :)

Pacifier Clips:

These things are an absolute must for a baby who fights sleep & will constantly spit out the pacifier to keep mommy & daddy busy while he tries to stay awake. It's also great for the car seat when you're reaching your arm behind the seat to stick it back in their mouths when they're not a happy camper!! My mom gave me two of these super cute seer sucker clips & we use them all the time.

Teething Rings:

We are in the teething trenches right now & these things are a MUST! These are great for a baby who is teething badly & needs some soothing comfort. You can put them in the fridge or freezer & then give one to the baby when needed. Hatcher loves his & they do seem to provide him with some comfort when those gums are really sore.

Jumparoo:

This is by far one of the best gifts Hatcher has received! He absolutely LOVES his jumparoo & spends a lot of time playing in it. I love it because it's easy to move around the house so that he can play while mommy does chores! He loves watching me cook dinner & do things around the kitchen & laundry room so it's often there but it's also nice when mommy is trying to get ready to go somewhere! 

Rattles or anything that makes noise & can be used to chew on:

I literally keep these type of toys in every room of our house! Hatcher loves rattles that make lots of noise & that he can also chew on for those sore gums! I like them too because they're small & easy to throw in the diaper bag so that he has something to play with at the grocery store or when we venture out to a restaurant for lunch/dinner.

Breathable Bumper Bads:

When I transitioned Hatcher into his crib at 4 months, I was really concerned about his bumper guards. So I removed the pretty ones & replaced them with a breathable mesh crib liner that I picked up at Target. I wanted him to get used to sleeping in his crib before I used his nice bumper guards & this was perfect for us! Hatcher will often sleep on his side & when he does he seems to get really close to the edge of the crib so I wanted to ensure that if he was pressed up against the side, he could still breathe well. This past weekend I removed the mesh crib liner & put our pretty bumper guards back in & he's doing great. 

Mamas & Papas Seat:

I love this little seat probably more than Hatch does! It's very similar to the Bumbo seat but those were recalled when I was pregnant & most of the stores had removed them from their shelves so I went with this seat instead & we really like it. It's great at helping babies learn to sit up unassisted & as he gets older I think he's going to like it even more. 

Stroller/Carseat Rattle:

Hatcher has two of these adorable stroller/carseat rattles by Mud Pie. He plays with them all the time & they're so cute & fun! :)

Baby Food Storage:

As I've blogged before, I've decided to make the majority of Hatcher's baby food since I'm staying home with him & have the time. I absolutely love my Baby Bullet storage system but I've also starting using ice cube trays. I just simply fill up the tray with whatever food I've made & stick them in the freezer until they're good & frozen. Then I pop them into freezer bags & label them with the food name & date & then all I have to do is pop out one serving & thaw it out. Super easy!!

TM Pro White Noise App:

We have this app downloaded onto our iPhones & our iPad. Hatcher still likes to sleep with white noise playing & the sleep sheep only plays for 45 minutes. We were noticing that as soon as it shut off he would start stirring around or waking up. So we just put our iPad in his bedroom at night & this app will play until you turn it off. I also use it on my cell phone in the car when he's having trouble going to sleep. It's amazing!! 

These are just a few of the things we're loving right now & wanted to share with other mommies or mommies-to-be! 

What's been going on lately...

We have had a busy few weeks which I always enjoy! I have always been a person who loved to be on the go so becoming a stay at home mommy was definitely a change of pace. Although, it's been so nice to really just lay low & enjoy our sweet baby boy.

A few weeks back, Hatcher's Nanny & Granddaddy watched him for a few hours so Johny & I could go to Atlanta to celebrate our friend Maggie's birthday! It was so much fun to get out for a few hours & enjoy some special time with some of our closest friends. It was lots of fun to catch up & celebrate Maggie turning a year older!

Johny with Mags & Annie

Stacey, Mags & I. Hard to believe we've been friends for 10 years now!! We're getting old! :)

Me & sweet Annie! :) Love her! 

Me with my baby daddy! Fun night out! :)

We also celebrated my best friend Becky's little boy Brayden's 2nd birthday! I absolutely can't believe he's already two. Seems like just yesterday I was rushing from Macon to Augusta (nearly got a speeding ticket that I talked myself out of) to meet him! He & his little sister Quinn got dedicated at church before the party & then we partied Elmo style for the afternoon! It was so much fun!! It got me excited to start planning Hatch's 1st birthday. I may have already started a Pinterest board to get some ideas...

Hatcher & Quinn passed out in the nursery! 

Mommy this Elmo cupcake is delicious!! Aunt Becky is a good baker! 

I actually see a little of me in him in this picture!

Daddy's boy! :)

Happy Birthday, B! :)

Sweet friends! Don't know what I'd do without her! :)

We've been celebrating lots of birthdays & we've got several more coming up! Love this time of the year & celebrating the people we love so much! Hatcher will be 6 months old in just two short weeks! Wow!! And Johny & I celebrate our 3rd anniversary in two weeks also. Lots of fun stuff going on around here! 

HT is 5 Months Old

Where is the time going?!?! On February 24th, Hatcher turned 5 months old! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital & now he's such a big boy with the sweetest personality & most beautiful eyes & smile his mommy & daddy have ever seen!

A lot has happened in the past month as far as milestones go for our sweet boy! He's rolling over a lot more & is beginning to enjoy tummy time a little more. Not much more but a little more. We'll take it. He's no longer being swaddled at bed time. We had been swaddling with both arms out for several weeks but we woke up one morning last week & he had rolled to his tummy with the swaddle on & we knew those days were over! Needless to say, we've had more sleepless nights over the past week but he's getting the hang of it.

Hatcher is doing so well sitting up & I think in the next few weeks he'll be doing it on his on. His bouncy seat is by far his favorite thing to play in! I mean he LOVES it!! He's starting to not be a huge fan of his car seat although he almost always eventually falls asleep during car rides. I've learned if we're going on a long trip to make sure he has a full belly before getting in the car. A full belly with the motion of the car is the perfect recipe for a peaceful car ride!

Dooley continues to highly entertain Hatch! All he has to do is walk by him while he's bouncing & Hatcher sticks his hand out so Dooley will lick him & he'll just laugh out loud! Dooley really has no idea what's coming for him as this baby boy grows!!

He's such a great eater! We're still breast feeding & are feeding him solids once a day at dinner. So far he's had oatmeal cereal, bananas, sweet potatoes, pears, avacados & prunes. He really likes all of them! This week we're introducing squash & zuchinni. I love hearing him make sweet little sounds as he eats letting us know he's really enjoying what he's eating!

One funny thing I'll add to this post is that Hatch has made a discovery that I knew would happen eventually but I didn't think it would happen so soon! He's found his wee wee & like any boy he feels the need to make sure it's still there any time he's naked!! Haha!! Oh the fun I have in store for me as the mommy of a little boy!!!

I should also add that our fur child, Dooley, turned 3 on February 23rd! So glad he's a part of our lives!

Below are some recent pictures of our little sweetie! :)

Our 5 Month Photo Shoot!

Such a big boy!

This shirt says it all!!

Those baby blues melt our hearts!!

Mommy's sweet boy!

We visited my parents for a few days while Johny was away on business. Hatcher loved spending time with his Grammie & Poppy!

LOVE this picture! I have one just like it with my Paw Paw Wilks when I was little!

Playtime with Dooley!

Silly boy!

Riding Dooley like a pony while he enjoyed his birthday ice cream!

Enjoying the sunshine after so many rainy days!!

Sitting up like a big boy!

Pear Juice

Anytime I find that something works well for Hatcher, I want to share it with my mommy friends! Hatcher has been eating solids now for 2 weeks & as you know anytime you introduce new foods to a baby it can cause issues with them going to the potty properly. We started him out eating just oatmeal cereal mixed with breast milk. Then after a week we started mixing bananas into the cereal along with BM. Then after a week of that I introduced sweet potatoes. We're only eating solids once a day until we go for his 6 month check-up & then I'll start doing it twice a day. At the end of last week, I noticed that he was having a difficult time going to the restroom & I felt so badly for him. I started reading up on how to help an infant who is experiencing constipation. Eventually, I decided to call my pediatrician's nurse to find out what their recommendation would be. First, she assured me that this was totally normal after introducing solids so not to be too concerned. The nurse recommended Gerber Pear Juice & giving him one ounce twice a day until he seemed to be going more regularly. So I sent my hubby to Kroger last night to buy some pear juice & attempted giving it to Hatcher in a bottle. He was having none of it!! He made the most awful face & was spitting it all right out. So this morning I decided to trick him a little. He has never given us a problem with taking medicine (gripe water, gas drops or baby Tylenol). So I decided to give him the pear juice through the syringe & he drank every drop of it! Within 2 hours, he was going to the potty & I know his little tummy had to feel better! Tonight, I'm going to replace the bananas in his cereal with pureed pears to see if this will also help him. I had no idea that bananas could cause some people constipation...ya learn something new every day. Even though Hatch loves his bananas (he says hmmmm after every bite) I want to try something new to keep him more regular. Just thought I'd share this tip with others who might be experiencing similar tummy issues...fun topic I know!! :)

Hatcher is Teething!

It's official, our little man has his very first tooth coming in! The doctor told us at his 4 month check-up that his bottom gum was very swollen so we would see some action soon. Then, we slowly started seeing the signs that something was going on in there. A few of the signs Hatcher showed were:

-Fighting nap time & once asleep waking up numerous times crying or only sleeping for a maximum of 45 minutes.
-Putting everything in his mouth & biting down really hard.
-LOTS of drooling!!
-Fussiness & irritiability which is not very common for Hatcher. He's typically very laid back & chill unless he's hungry or really sleepy.
-He also went from sleeping through the night to waking up numerous times tossing & turning.

Once I realized he was definitely teething, a friend recommended Hyland's teething tablets & gel. So off I ran to Wal-Mart to find these gems! On Wednesday, he had barely slept all day. Maybe an hour since he woke up that morning. As soon as I massaged his gums with the gel, he was asleep within 10 minutes & slept for over an hour. Yesterday, I would apply the gel before nap time & he took 3 naps! I haven't tried the tablets yet but I'm very thankful for this gel!

Yesterday morning as I was massaging his gums, I felt the tooth!! It has just barely broken through the gum but it's coming in for sure. Hoping once it does, my sweet boy will get some relief before the next one arrives. Teething isn't fun for anyone but especially for the baby! We're all a little sleep deprived but we've had a discussion that tomorrow is Saturday so we all need to sleep in...we'll see if that happens!!

Below are a few pictures from this week that I wanted to share.

Up bright & early to celebrate Daddy's birthday on Monday, 2/4

Hatcher started rolling over 2 weeks ago today. But wasn't doing it very often because he's not a fan of being on his tummy. On Tuesday, he was rolling over like it was his job! Look how high he's holding that head up!! I'm so proud! ;)

What a little stinker! 

Worn out from bouncing so much!

My Diaper Rash Remedy

So I meant to post this along with the "My Mommy Must Haves" post & I totally forgot! This is my favorite remedy for diaper rash. I came upon this when Hatcher was just a few weeks old & we were staying at my parent's house for a weekend. Poor little guy was suffering from a really bad diaper rash & none of the diaper rash creams were doing the trick. Not to mention, he would scream when certain brands were applied. The only diaper rash cream he would let me use on him was the Boudreaux's Butt Paste. My dad asked if I had ever heard of using Cornstarch baby powder. I'd heard of just regular old baby powder but not the cornstarch. My parent's happened to have some on hand so we started using it. As soon as I applied it, Hatch would immediately calm down. So, since that day I've been using this powder every time I change his diaper & I'm happy to report that we haven't had one diaper rash since he was probably 4 weeks old! Amazing!! Now, I can't always find the Johnson & Johnson brand so I've been buying the Wal-Mart Equate brand which is less than $2.00 a bottle. Just thought I'd share this mommy find with you all & hope it works for you too! :)