letters to ollie: 7 months old

My dear Oliver,

Seven months already!

You are seriously changing every day.

You've suddenly mastered the army crawl.

At first, you were content doing the inch worm,

but now you're army crawling all over the living room.

And getting yourself in all kinds of trouble of course.

Since you didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, 

I'm not exactly sure how big you've gotten.

I don't think your weight has changed all too much from last month though.

So, 28+ inches for height and about 25lbs in weight.

Your next check up is at 9 months.
We've started trying to give you a bit of "real food" (aka nasty looking pureed stuff).
I don't blame you for being hesitant.
I think we may have to try some other things, cause you're not too thrilled about this stuff.

You're getting to be quite active and more and more curious every day.
You have such a love for people.
No matter what type of mood you're in, if someone smiles at you,
you turn into the happiest little boy ever.

Oh Oliver,
I just can't tell you enough how much I love you.
The weeks and months are slipping away much too fast.
I love watching you learn and grow and discover.
But some days I just want to hold on as tight as possible to every moment.

Your daddy just finished his first year of grad school this past month.
It's been so nice having him home more often.
You've loved it as well.
By the way, you're starting to develop very clear preferences between me and dad.
You love playing around with dad.
And you love cuddling with me.
Oh, and you love "helping" daddy and me with any and everything.
You're especially good at laundry.

Oh sweetie, I love you I love you I love you.
I'm such a lucky mom to have been blessed with you.
You bring so much joy to me and your daddy

Honestly, your sweet little face just melts my heart.

Love you forever baby,
Momma

letters to ollie: 6 months

My dear Oliver,

I am sooo behind on posting this.  

But we were traveling most of March and you've started teething.

So, bear with me.  

I know you're almost 7 months already, but here are your 6 month stats regardless:

Height: 28 inches

Weight: 23 lbs 13 oz

You've become quite the little daredevil my darling.

You can sit on your own quite well.

But there's where you get into trouble.  

You're just too dang curious.

You'll sit there, nice and content, until you spot something...

and then BAM! 

You're down on the floor reaching your little arms as far as they can go, 

straining to get to whatever it is.

You tend to think you can crawl.  

Well my dear, you can't.

You try, but you haven't quite figured out how to coordinate your body enough.

You're getting closer though. 

You can get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth.

And then all of a sudden you'll fling your self back down onto your stomach and start flailing your arms and legs in what can only be described as a swimming motion.

Dad hopes it means you're going to love the water.

Speaking of water, you absolutely love taking baths.

You've recently figured out that if you repeatedly smack the water, it not only makes a loud noise, but it splashes everywhere.
And I mean everywhere.

Dad and I both tend to get soaked giving you your nightly bath.

On the day you turned 6 months (March 23), 

I took you on your very first airplane ride.

You were wonderful!

Well, aside from the unfortunate blow out diaper...

But, you didn't cry once! 

In fact, you smiled and babbled at everyone around you. 

You've become so much more vocal lately.

You laugh and babble (though no actual words yet) and yell.

You definitely know how to express yourself. 

You don't really cry much, which we're grateful for, but boy can you yell when you're angry.

But like I said, luckily you're generally very happy.

Like I said, we traveled a lot in March. 

We went to go visit Dad's family (Grandma and Grandpa)

and my family (Oma and Grumpa).

We saw both sets of great-grandparents as well.

Needless to say, you got plenty spoiled that month.

You loved seeing everyone, 

but you seem to be happy to be home too.

It's fun to see how much you're beginning to recognize things.

You have such a ridiculous eye for anything out of the ordinary.

Whether it be a watch on a wrist, a ring on a finger, or a speck on the wall, 

you see it and you dive for it.  

And if possible, you promptly try and put it in your mouth.

My little Olliegator,

I can't believe you're already over half a year old.

Everyday is a new adventure with you.

I can't wait to see the kind of adventures the future holds.
I'm so lucky to be your mom sweetie.

Love you forever,
Momma