Month Four

                                  April 8 ,2012

Dear Oliver,

Wow- how you are growing and changing so much each day!!  We can’t get enough of you because you’re simply irresistible! Momma can’t keep track of how many times she kisses you all day long!

You are a rolling machine!! You have mastered the back to tummy roll but are still working on learning the tummy to back! It took you a while to figure out how to sleep on your tummy, but once you got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing from there! Normally when I put you down in your crib, you cry for a second, roll straight to your side, stick your thumb in your mouth, and then go right to sleep!

At your four month appointment, you weighed 15 pounds and were in the 50^th percentile, just like at month two! You moved to the 75% percentile for height.

You slept the longest you’ve ever slept on April 8^th (your 5 month birthday!) You went to bed at 7:30 and woke up at 8:30 (13 hours!! Alleluia! It was SO nice!) 

This month you met you hung out again with your Aunt Ash and Aunt Carolyn when Momma an Aunt Erin went to Raleigh to see them!

You also got to meet your Aunt Mel for the first time!! She came and spend a week with us in Wilmington over her spring break! She LOVED you and gave you your first lipstick kiss in the airport!! She could make you laugh like crazy and it was so fun to watch you belly laugh with her! We spend a lot of time on the beach relaxing and soaking up the sun! You weren’t such a big fan of the beach b/c you didn’t have any of your toys to keep you entertained (exersaucer, bumbo, play may, etc, haha) but you were a champ and we went anyways!!

You’ve started wearing summer clothes and you look so adorable cause we can see your chunky legs!! Grandma bought you an adorable blue summer hat that looks oh so cute on you!

You have loved your exersaucer this month and you love to throw toys from it onto the floor J You also love your giraffe which we have affectionately  named Raffee, because Sophie was just too girly!

We tried to feed you rice cereal two times, but you just weren’t feeling it! We’ll try again at 6 months, but for right now we’ll just stick to the milk!

You’re on a good schedule now! You wake up anytime between 7-7:30. Your feeding times are 8, 11:30-12, 3:30-4, and 7 before bed! You take 2 consistent naps- one between 9-10 and the other around 1-2. You sleep anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 ½ hours!

You got to celebrate your first Easter which was fun! Momma dressed you up in an adorable outfit with a matching hat, and 5 minutes before we left for church, you pooped ALL over it! Unfortunately, we had to rush to change you and get out the door so we could make it in time! You sure looked cute in your outfit even if it only lasted 5 minutes!

You have gained many new nicknames since you were born and here are just a few: Ollie, Chubbs (your nickname at birth), Monkey, Chunky monkey, Punkin, Doodle bug, Ollie-baba, Ollie-pop, O-Man, O-Dubs (because of your middle name, Wade),  Prince Ollie (Daddy started this after singing you the Prince Ali song from Aladdin)..just to name a few! I’m sure the list will just continue!

Ollie, you bring us so much joy! We love how you recognize us more and more and are becoming more playful and interactive every day! You love to get rasberries on your tummy and legs and love when we come and get you! You can almost sit up by yourself when you’re propped up! Before we know it, you’ll be sitting on your own!

We love you monkey. Keep smiling and laughing. It’s the most precious thing!

Lots of love and hugs,

Momma J

Month Three

                                                                     March 8 ,2012

Dear Oliver,

Month 4 has been so much fun!! You are becoming more and more of a little person each day! Your little personality is starting to shine through!

You are so happy and smiley when you are on the changing table and when you are cuddled up in a towel after bath time! If you’re sad, I can put you in one of these 2 places, and your whole attitude changes!

You love it when I’m changing you and I take your arms out of your shirts- you think it’s the funniest thing and just smile and play along with me!

You have started to become a drool bucket and Momma has been putting bibs on you to keep your clothes dry! You might be teething soon- we shall see!

You’ve definitely started grabbing for things this month (Momma’s hair, toys, strings on a hoodie, etc)  Your hand eye coordination is improving and its so neat to see J Your fist is still constantly in your mouth! I think you might be in the early stages of teething with your constant drooling, hands in mouth, and fussiness during the day- so we shall see.

One really sweet thing you’ve started to do is play with your hair when you’re sleepy, tired, or eating- its so precious. You’ve also started rubbing your eyes when you’re super tired, which Momma really appreciates, cause she knows exactly how you’re feeling! You can’t trick me anymore!

We absolutely love hearing you laugh more and more..When we get you going,  you can’t stop! It makes us laugh so much- One of these days I’ll catch it on video, but it seems every time I whip out the camera, you get shy!

On February 13^th, you slept through the night for the first time (I think it was around 9 hours) and it was such a nice Valentine’s day treat!! We’re still working on sleeping more consistently through the night but we know you’ll get there soon!

This month you went to Myrtle Beach to cheer on Grandpa & Uncle Sammy in their marathon!! You brought a sign for Grandpa and wore a onesie that said,  “If anyone can do it, my Grandpa can!” We had fun cheering them on!

We found out that Aunt Er is having a boy, which means you’ll have your very first boy cousin to play, wrestle, and have adventures with! We surprised her at work with blue cupcakes to show her how excited we are!

Praising the Lord for you precious punkin,

Your Momma J

Month Two

                                        February 8 ,2012

Dear Oliver,

Wow! Where has the time gone?? I can’t believe our baby is 3 months old already! This month has been SO much fun! You have started recognizing Momma and Daddy and it melts our hearts when you smile upon seeing us or hearing our voices! I love going to your crib when you wake up in the morning. You make your sweet cooing sounds and when I greet you, you warm my heart with a huge smile J

You take about 2-3 naps during the day, from about 30 minutes to about 2 hours. The longest stretch you’ve slept at night is 7 ½ hours- we’re working on making it a little longer at night, but I’ll take what I can get- it’s much more sleep than those first 2 months! You’re going to bed at night pretty well and don’t really even make a fuss!

You’ve learned to take a bottle and now you’re a pro at it! The first bottle was with Daddy and there was many tears and yelling, but now you’ve got the hang of it! We’ve started to give you one bottle of formula at night this month, so Momma can get a little more sleep!

You have discovered your fists and you LOVE them! About 75% of the day you have your fist, your thumb, or both fists in your mouth! You won’t take your paci  anymore (that lasted for about the first few weeks) and instead only take Mom or Dad’s pinky finger when you’re real upset- this seems to calm you down well. You love your bath time and LOVE to be naked- you just lay there and coo and talk in your little duck towel J

You’ve started to laugh and it’s too cute for words. The other day you were laughing in your sleep and it cracked me up. Daddy loves to sing to you and mess around with you. You laugh the most when he sticks your feet in your mouth!

You love your swing and Bumbo seat! We now have started putting you in your Bumbo on the kitchen table with us when we eat dinner. When we pray before the meal, you hold our hands, and you sit right there with us, staring and smiling at us J

You’re wearing all different size clothes- you can still fit into some newborn stuff, but you’re also wearing some 3-6 month outfits. You were in the 50% for height, 50% for weight, and 70% for head circumference at your 9 week appt! You’re smack dab in the middle baby!

Some nicknames Momma likes to call you are Ollie (of course), Punkin, Baby, Monkey (Daddy doesn’t like this one!), Punkin doodle (don’t know where this one came from!), and Ollie-bear! I’m sure there are many more to come!

You took a 7 hour road trip with Momma and Daddy to the mountains of NC! You did amazing in the car and slept the whole time (minus the stops to eat!) You got to play in the snow for the first time and had lots of cuddle time with us J

You’ve been to the beach a couple times already too (when Gramma-lama, Rampa, Aunt Jess, Uncle Tore, and cousin Liam came to visit) You got to touch the ocean water and ‘play’ in the waves!

Right before you turned 3 months, you had your first sickness and it was so sad for Momma and Daddy to watch..You had a respiratory virus, and were sneezing, coughing, and congested like crazy…Your sleep schedule got all messed up and it was so sad to see you in pain L But we survived and after about a week, you were back to your normal smiley self!

On your 3 month birthday, we had a breakfast for dinner in our pj’s night to celebrate! And your present to us was your first night of 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep! Alleluia!

Momma and Daddy are having so much fun with you Ollie and absolutely love being your parents! You bring our hearts so much joy and we can’t remember life before you! We praise the Lord for giving us such an amazing gift and we pray we can continue to raise you in a way that draws you close to HIM! We love you angel baby and can’t wait for all that is to come!

Love, Momma and Daddy

Letters to Oliver

January 26, 2012

Oh Oliver, we still can’t believe that you are here with us and that you are ours!!! 9 months was a LONG time to wait to meet you! Many times I’ll be driving in the car, listening to music and in my own little world, and you’ll make a noise, and it will startle me because I still sometimes forget I’m a momma and you’re with me in the back seat!

You came into the world on November 8, 2011 J You took your time, coming about a week and a half late! Your momma had to get induced because you were just too comfy in there! Words can’t describe how excited Momma and Daddy were to finally meet you! The labor was an intense but amazing experience for us, as it truly is incredible the way the Lord designs and creates new life! We were overwhelmed with emotions as we saw your precious ‘little’ body and heard your first cries! The amount of love we felt for you was indescribable! You shocked Mom and Dad with how BIG you were- 10 pounds?! We couldn’t believe it!

I want to write you a letter for each month of your first year, so that we can remember what life was like when you were a wee one! The first month was a little crazy, trying to figure out life with our first baby, so I’ll start with month two! Hopefully you can look back and read these one day and know how much we dearly love you Oliver, our first precious son!