William- 6 Months Old

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• HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY, sweet baby William! I cannot believe that you are already half way through your first year. Time has been going by so fast!
• What a difference a month makes! You can now sit up all on your own (not for a super long time, but you can!) and have started eating a couple meals of solid foods a day. We started with rice cereal which you loved and oatmeal (not a fan). You have tried several fruits and have loved all of them! 
• You are SO close to rolling over...so, so close! You get so far over that you'd think you'd have to just flip over, but you roll back to your back. Any day now! 
• Being able to stay upright and eating heavier foods has made such a difference with your reflux...yay! 
• We also started trying to let you cry-it-out a little before picking you up in the night. It's not easy to hear you cry, in fact it's really hard! The first couple of nights were pretty rough, but then you actually started to sleep longer!!! You still need to be calmed down a couple of times a night, but we are trying to no longer let you sleep in bed with us. Hoping that this only gets better in the months ahead. 
• You love being in your exersaucer and seeing the world better- mainly just getting a better view of everything your big brother is doing! He is your favorite source of entertainment. 
• You also have gotten much better at tummy time. You have started to try and make some crawling effort, but after a little while, you get frustrated that the things you want are still out of reach.
• You have entered the stage of putting anything and everything into your mouth which means a lot of drool and slobber on all of your clothes. Davis tries to tell you that toys and books are not for chewing on, so we've had to explain to him that you are just learning. However, even if he's telling you something not to do- you light up! It doesn't matter what he tells you, you just love it when he is close by and telling you anything.
• You are still wearing 3 month clothes, but fit best in 3-6 month outfits and you are wearing size 2 diapers. 
• This month, you took your first trip to Florida to visit Memaw and Doc. You were an excellent traveler and were a trooper the whole trip (even though sleeping got a little bit tougher during the week). You got into a pool for the first time and dipped your toes into the ocean. 

It has been such an amazing 6 months and I know that your birthday will be here before I know it! 

William- 5 months old

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• What a sweet, sweet boy you are!! You have the happiest disposition and are always smiling. This month you have started to giggle and have become ticklish! Your little chuckle is the sweetest sound and melts Mommy's heart! You have so much light behind your eyes and make everyone smile when they look at you!
• You love to be sitting up and have started to really reach for toys or any other object that is in front of you, however your favorite things to chew on are still your fingers! This month though, you have also discovered your toes and love to grab them and chew on them when you are on your back!
• You are SO close to rolling over from your back to your tummy, but haven't done it yet. You will roll so far over that we think there is where to go but make the flip over, and you just go right back to relaxing on your back...you'll get it. 
• Your legs and back have gotten so much stronger. You love to either be sitting up or standing up with our help. You enjoy being in your bumbo chair and exercaucer. You are very close to sitting up on your own- you can do it for just a couple of seconds before falling over to one side...don't worry, we catch you! :) 
• You are still able to fit in your 3 month clothes, but are quickly becoming too big for many of them and clothes labeled 3-6 months are much better. You are wearing size 2 diapers. 
• You are still not a great sleeper which makes Mommy and Daddy a little sad, and tired. You still end up in our bed most nights because you wake up so often. You are almost making it to the morning without needing a bottle, but sometimes need one around 4am to tide you over and help you go back to sleep. You take about 3 naps during the day, and sleep the best in your carseat while I'm driving around or in your swing. 
• You still have bad reflux, but hoping that once we start solid foods next month that it will start to get better! Even with not sleeping well, or hardly at all, and spitting up a lot- you are still so happy! You are such a light and seeing your smile makes all the tough nights totally worth every bit! 

William- 8 months Old

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How are you already 8 months old, sweet, sweet boy? Time with you has been flying by! You are still the sweetest and happiest baby boy I know!

• You have been growing so fast! You now wear 6-9 month clothes and have already moved up to size 4 diapers. 
• You love to eat and try new foods. You are now eating 3 solid food meals a day and enjoy those meals more than your bottles throughout the day. The only foods that you haven't been crazy about are turkey, avocado, and carrots. While you love to eat your solid food meals, you go crazy over snacks of Puffs and Mum Mums. 
• You are SO close to really crawling. You can definitely get to wherever you want to go by either rolling or scooting towards it. Your favorite things to go after- remote controls, cell phones, or any of your big brothers cars he leaves out on the floor. You sometimes will get frustrated when you're trying to get somewhere, but we know that any day now, you'll figure it out and we won't be able to slow you down. Changing your clothes and diapers has become a real challenge, you are just getting to be such a busy boy! 
• The weather this month has been amazing, so we have been able to spend a lot more time outside, and you LOVE it! You love to sit in the grass out in the backyard and watch your brother run around. You even like to go and run errands just so you can look out the windows in the car and be outside running in and out of places. You are becoming an outside boy for sure! 
• You have become so much more vocal this month- your favorite word is "Dada" and you say it over and over. You also still say "Mama" and make a "Mumm" sound whenever you want or are eating food. You have also mastered the "milk" sign and "all done." You also have associated the "all done" sign with being picked up, so you start to make this sign whenever you want to be picked up! ...smart boy.
• You love to be held and love when Daddy will put you up on his shoulders and dance and bounce. However, your favorite entertainment is watching your big brother!
• In the past couple of weeks, you have started taking 2 naps a day. You still take your 9am nap and then go back down around 1pm. Sleeping at night has gotten better...but still isn't great. We still have to go into your room about twice a night, but hoping that you get to be a better sleeper soon!! 

It is so fun to watch you learn and discover new things around you and things that you can do now! You are such a delight and your sweet smile is infectious. I can never get enough of it! 

William- 4 Months Old

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• You have become much more alert this month and love to be propped up to sit and look around at everything going on around you. You still love to watch and listen to everything that your big brother does. You light up and smile whenever he comes close to you. 
• You are still spitting up a ton after every feeding, so weight gaining and sleeping haven't been going the best. You still sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room, and end up in bed with us about half way through the night. You also have slept a few nights in your swing and do much better.
• Almost every nap that you take is in your swing. You really love it and can sleep well. The motion and position help your tummy stay happy and seem to keep the milk down better. 
• Even though you are not the best night time sleeper, you are such a happy baby!! You smile all the time when people talk to you and rarely cry during the day at all! You are just the happiest little boy and love everywhere we go and anything we do!
• However, you are not really a fan of tummy time. As soon as I put you on your tummy on your mat, you flip right back over to your back and smile at me. Even though it's not your favorite, we keep working on it a little bit more every day to make you stronger.
• You are still wearing size 2 diapers, but are wearing 3 month clothes now. All of your 0-3 month outfits have been packed away. 
• You have really found your hands this month, and that means that your fingers are in your moth all the time! You love to chew on them more than any toy or teether we try to offer you. 
• This month, you had your first Christmas!! Before Christmas, you got to meet Santa for the first time and sat on his lap with your brother- no tears! Your Papa and Gigi, and Aunt Ellie came down to our house in Galveston to be with us for a few days. Santa definitely found you, and your big brother enjoyed "helping you" open all of your gifts. 

William- 3 Months Old

Weight: 11 lbs 15.7 oz
Length: 23.27 inches

• You only grew a little bit over the past month...right after you turned 2 months old, you started having pretty bad reflux. You spit up A LOT after every time you eat. We took you to a special GI doctor to make sure you were still doing okay and were told that you are doing just fine! It doesn't seem to bother you at all, it just means that we sometimes will go through 4 outfits before ever being able to leave the house.
• You eat about every 3 hours during the day and still will wake up 1-2 times at night to eat. Usually around 2am and again at 5am. Because of your reflux, you haven't been a very good sleeper at night. You wake up frequently and fuss a little, but as soon as we put you in bed with us, you cuddle up and fall back asleep in an instant. While we wish you would sleep longer on your own, I do love your sweet baby cuddles!
• You are still wearing 0-3 month clothes and just moved into size 2 diapers. 
• You have just started to reach out for objects when we put them in front of you. You love to be on your play mat and look up and reach for the animals that hang down. 
• You love it when your brother is near by and smile when you see him! 
• Bath time is so much fun! You have started to kick your legs and splash your arms when we get you in the tub. You love being in the water and look like you are trying to swim!
• You really love to be held and cuddled up closely, but you also like to be sat up and facing outwards so that you can observe everything going on around you. Your neck and back have gotten so much stronger. 
• This month, you took your first airplane ride! Your daddy had to work at the hospital over Thanksgiving, so you, Davis and Mommy rode on the airplane to go and visit family in Fort Worth! You did such a great job! I fed you right at take off and then you slept for the whole flight! In Fort Worth we celbrated your first Thanksgiving with the Schmeltekopf family and the Nichols family. You were able to meet so many aunts, uncles, cousins, and great grandparents. Everyone loved getting to see you and cuddle you!