raising the douthitts: January 2017

Snoogle Vitamin D Breathe Prenatals BeBand Camelback Palmers Tums

1. Snoogle: This was a life saver in my second and third trimester. I was a stomach sleeper prior to pregnancy so when it was no longer comfortable to sleep on my stomach the Snoogle made it a little easier to get some rest at night. I also got a lot of lower back pain towards the end of my pregnancy and I felt like if I could just lay on my stomach I would feel some relief so I would roll the Snoogle up into a circle almost to look like an inner tube and I would stick my belly in the middle so I could "lay" on my stomach.

2. Vitamin D: The leg cramps were real. I would wake in the middle of the night with awful Charlie horses, heck sometimes I would walk the wrong way and I would get them. After talking to my doctor about them I thought for sure he would recommend some Potassium, but he recommended Vitamin D instead and it helped tremendously. I felt so much better and they almost went away, they were few and far between.

3. Breathe: With being pregnant through the winter months, I struggled with some congestion and the Doterra oils helped solve all those problems. I was terrified of getting sick while I was pregnant but I think between all the Vitamins I was taking it was nearly impossible.

4. Prenatals: These are probably your No. 1 highly recommended necessity during pregnancy. In the early days of my pregnancy I could barely stomach them. I eventually settled on the gummie prenatals, they seemed to settle better in my stomach.

5. Belly Band: The Belly Band was super helpful when I was in between those days where you don't quite look pregnant yet but your busting at the seams of your regular jeans. There is also the hair tie trick that you can use, but that only works for so long. I probably stretched that one TOOO far.

6. Motherhood Maternity: Backing up to the hair tie trick, that works and is great but save yourself and go straight to the full panel maternity pants. THEY are the BEST! Ultimate comfort, you will never go back to that hair tie again.

7. Camelback: Water was all I ever wanted and essentially NEEDED...ice cold water. I carried my Camelback around with me everywhere.

8. Comfy bra: This was the first change I noticed, I couldn't fit into my bras almost immediately. I wasn't about to pay crazy money on new bras when I new this was the one thing that would be changing like crazy for the next 9 months ++++ Comfort was way above all my choices at this point.

9. Palmers: I used it ALL, Palmers, coconut oil, and they still came, they being stretch marks..... Blah. I still tell Canaan if he would of been a good little boy and showed upon lay 2 weeks sooner I wouldn't have the ones on my stomach at all. They showed up super late and I was SUPER disappointed when they appeared.. There may have been tears. Yea, yea I know they were worth it, but I still tried to do everything to avoid them. I chose Palmers as my favorite though because the smell and texture was what I preferred. I used it the most and I think for them to wait that long to show up, 37 weeks, was pretty impressive. I also think it has to do with genetics. If your mama got them, you probably will too.

10. Tums: Heartburn means hair on that sweet baby head right?! At least thats what I kept hoping for every time I had heartburn. I had Tums everywhere, I actually think there is still a bottle in the car.

Welp. That was the fastest 182 days of my life. It literally feels like yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital. Here we are an entire half of a year gone by.

The end of his first summer.

His first Halloween.

..and then there was Thanksgiving.

Rounding out the end of the year with his first Christmas.

I still cannot believe some days that he is ours. Our sweet, silly, happy, and content baby boy. All wrapped into the perfect little package.

Oh. and his cheeks are basically the cherry on top of every single day of my life.

They are as squeezable and kissable as they look.

just like Play-Doh.

But- he's SIX WHOLE MONTHS!

What?!?? No. Time you are just the biggest bully!

remember what he looked like just 26 weeks ago??

this leetle babe!!

Canaan at SIX months

Weight: 15 pounds EVEN (7th percentile)

Birth: 6 lbs 9oz

Height: 26 in (18th percentile)

Birth: 19.5 in

Head: 45 cm (35th percentile)

We took Canaan in for his 6 month check up, which was a little bit of a dream.

He's gained two pounds and has grown half an inch since his last well visit at 4 months.

Dr. Tony gave him the once over and listened to his lungs, checked his ears- all clear! Impressed with his sitting ability, attentive demeanor and how calm he was while he checked him out.

We talked about solids and he encouraged us than anything is fine for him to eat except honey, which mama already knew! We've already started some foods, but I feel much more confident now.

Whats new...

Sitting. He's almost perfected the seated position and will sit unassisted pretty well for several minutes while he plays. Still a work in process, but he's got a really strong core, so it won't be long before he's able to do it all the time on his own.
Larry the cucumber is his homeboy. He giggles, kicks his feet, and grins ear to ear at the television when he is on. All hail the Veggie Tales!
Speaking of giggles: he is so easy to make laugh. It. Is. the. Greatest.
Loves to play. he prefers to play either in his jumper or on the floor. He LOVES tummy time! He rolls all over the place to get to where he needs to go and plays with anything in arms reach.
Recognition. He definitely recognizes faces now. He started this a little last month- but this month he knows and recognizes his people: Mommy, Daddy, Glamma, GDaddy, & Uncle Ken
He really loves his mama. He likes his daddy pretty well, but when I walk into his eye's line of view his whole face lights up, especially when its time for his to eat, and I've never felt more proud to be his mama! He even started crying when I leave a room. Melt. My. Heart.
Reaching. He's started reaching out to be held. It is the sweetest.
Airplane. He's not crawling yet but he will lift his whole chest, arms and head/neck off the floor and kick and scoot his legs like he wants to go somewhere.
He is still a social little boy and wants to be in the mix of everything all the time.
Teething. We have two bottom teeth, they came out of nowhere and SO QUICK! I never even knew because there hasn't been a fussy bone in his body.
He totally digs the ergo360. Daddy and I wear him any time we go out and in the house when he just wants to be held. We don't mind.
He is a big fan of his fingers and feet- if he can see his toes they are going in his mouth!
Bathtime is his FAVORITE. If he is fussy- which happens in the evenings close to bed time, We stick him in the bathtub and his entire mood changes. He loves it! I think once he's sitting up in the bathtub he will love it even more.
Canaan is still in size 2 diapers- but size three diapers are coming very soon because he is just about busting out of the size 2. I am waiting on some nighttime diapers to come, wearing some 3 months clothing still.. but growing into and fitting better in 3-6 months and 6 month sleepers.

E A T

According to those rolls that line his legs- he has no problem eating his way through his little life. It is his favorite thing to do. He does this thing now when eating, he likes to grab my face and play with my lips, silly boy. It's annoying and mildly cute all at the same time. We have had a really good time with breastfeeding- so I am excited to say we are still going strong. I am home about 3-4 days a week when I can nurse him for every feeding- and while I'm away those other days he gets two bottles of breast milk. For the most part Canaan sleeps and eats and plays around the same time every day. 3-4 hours is still the norm between feedings, eating 5 to 7 times every day. We have been sort of all over the place because his wake times have not been very consistent- but here's the typical: 5-6am every morning when he wakes and then 10am, 1-2pm, 5pm, 8pm before going down for the night. MOST of the time we hit this schedule pretty well- and for the most part I like the stick to it pretty strictly during the work days away from home because at the 10am and 2pm he gets a bottle and I pump while at work. So it keeps him on a good schedule and me, too! We started food at 6 months exactly, since that's what was recommended to use by my doctor and Canaan's since he is strictly breastfed. We haven't been feeding Canaan food for nutrition as much as we have just been letting him taste foods.

He has had:

Avocado(his favorite)

Squash(his other favorite)

Toast

Banana(not a fan)

Apple

Applesauce(also not a fan)

Green Beans

Carrots

Sweet Potatoes

Peppers

P L A Y / D E V E L O P M E N T

The biggest change in this area is his consistency and improvement in last month's skills. H can pick up his toys or objects and flips them over and back to see what it looks like from all sides. His balance has improved and he can sit for longer periods of time. Canaan definitely prefers being on his belly and has learned to maneuver himself from a wobbly sitting position to his tummy. He is extremely curious and is constantly finding objects to play with that are NOT toys ( paper, my phone, a diaper wipes etc.). I usually lay a blanket out on the floor with his favorite toys and he is happy as a clam just playing away.

That little voice is still as talkative as ever-sometimes and sometimes he is just my quiet sweet boy.

S L E E P

We are still not consistent in this department. Some nights he gives me every bit of 11 hours and other nights he's awake 1-2 times to nurse and go right back to sleep. When he does sleep through the night I often wake up sad that he didn't get up. I kinda, sorta love our time in the middle of the night, but boy sleeping through the night- WHAT. A. JOY.

Bedtime is about 7:30pm. Typically he will sleep until about midnight or 1am, wake to eat and then sleep until 5am-6am and wake to eat again. Most of the time he will go right back down- and usually sleeps in the morning until about 8am. This is a typical night, but we have been sleeping through the night more and that is slowly becoming the typical( 7:30-6am). Lately he's been napping two solid naps during the day (depending on when he woke it is typically about 9:30-10am and around 1pm) and one cat nap late in the afternoon of 45 minutes around 4:30pm every day.

Most of the time we nap really great for 2 solid hours and then sometimes its just one hour. Or even 30 minutes. AND THEN occasionally I am fighting him for an hour just trying to get him to go to sleep for longer than 10 minutes.

C A N A A N

My sweetest boy. You are growing way too quick for me.

I remember those last couple months of pregnancy, anxiously waiting for your arrival and constantly daydreaming of who you would be. I couldnt imagine what it would be like getting to become a mother to a baby boy.. and now that you are part of our lives and I know your every laugh, every baby cry and every look that you get in your eyes, we couldn't imagine life without you.

This month you have definitely come in to your own.

Your personality is really shining through these days- especially when you have the attention of mom or dad. Like limbs flailing around happy.. and if you make eye contact and say your name its never without a big ol' grin! Speaking of grins- you are smiling so much these days! And when you do, it is the most adorable thing your daddy and I have ever seen, especially with those 2 bottom teeth peeking out. It's a very joyful smile: your eyes brighten, and your mouth opens in a huge grin. You are independent, loving, and smart. You are also so curious and mischievous. Our days have become much busier and more active lately as we spend our days exploring everything. I cant have anything within arms reach without you grabbing, swatting, or slapping at it. Oh my stars, little boy. You impress me every.single.day. For me to say that you are just amazing is an understatement. The phrase “you are so much fun” comes out of my mouth at least 3 times a day. At least. See also, "you're so stinkin cute." Always smiling, always laughing, always looking for the attention, but then again, totally content playing in your own little world of toys and anything else you can get your hands into.

Your raspy little voice.

Blonde wispy hair.

chuuuuby cheekies.

Soft belly.

and those pretty bright shiny eyes.

Definitely one of a kind. There is absolutely no one like you, baby boy.

My favorite thing you do right now is your gummy grin with two shiny teeth every time we say "CHEESE," you're my favorite comedian.