letters to ollie: 9 months

My dear Oliver,

9 months and you're officially a world traveler!

Well, not a world traveler, 

but we've definitely been flying and driving all over the place this last month.

We've been in Atlanta, Hilton Head, and DC.

More and all of those in a bit though.

We had your 9 month check-up yesterday, 

and you're healthy as ever!

25 lbs 13 oz and 30 in long.  

It seems you're finally starting to slow down with your weight gain.

You have been moving around a ton lately though.

Now that you're officially crawling, it's hard to get you to stop.

You are an incredibly busy baby.  

And a loud baby.

You have quite the personality.

This about sums you up:

Wild-eyed, vocal, and still utterly adorable.

Okay, so you're actually generally much happier.

I just absolutely love that picture of you.

Perhaps this picture of you on the swing that Grumpa made for you better depicts your personality.

Oh, and see those cute teeth in there?

Yep, you now have four of them!

We gotta figure out how to get you to stop biting.

It was cute when you used to attack us back when you had nothing but gums.

Now? Well, it's kinda just painful.

Those little teeth of yours are sharp, sharp, sharp!

You made your first piece of artwork for Father's Day.
There's a reason I made edible finger paint...

So here was all of our vacation adventures:

Hilton Head with Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie:

Northern VA/DC with Oma, Grumpa, and Uncle:

Oh sweet, sweet baby, you're such a cutie.
Why are you growing up so fast though?
Can't you slow down just a little bit?
This first year is flying by.
You're babbling up a storm.
You just started saying "ba ba" and "ma ma" all the time.
You make lots of other noises too, but those are the most definitive sounds.

Oliver, you're such a handsome little baby.
You've gotten so big.
You're just so absolutely full of life.
I love love love watching you explore the world.
As much as I want you to stay my sweet little baby forever, keep growing my dear.

Love you forever,
Momma

letters to ollie: 8 months

My dear Oliver,

I feel like you've suddenly decided to need to grow up super fast.
You now are proficient at not only army crawling, but real crawling as well.
You've gotten your first two teeth even!
I couldn't believe when those two button little teeth starting sprouting up.
The whole teething thing wasn't as terrible as I thought.
You were in some pain it seemed, but not as bad as I expected.

Your stats for this month are undetermined again.
You go to the doctor next month though.
So you're still 28+ inches and about 25 lbs.
Yep, lots of cute, chunky rolls still.

Everyone tells me that this is one of the most fun ages.
Well, your personality is definitely starting to show more and more.
You're such a funny little kid.

You're finally starting to enjoy food a little more.
You definitely prefer feeding yourself though.
You're still not too sure about anything pureed.

Oh, and you pulled yourself up to a standing position all by yourself
for the first time on the 18th!
I had set you down in your crib so I could run and do something quickly and I came back,
and found you standing there waiting, cute as could be.

We took you on another little trip this past month.
We drove up to St. Louis to visit some good friends we had met when we lived in Hawaii.
And while there, we took you to your favorite place....
the zoo!!
Have I mentioned that I have a bit of an obsession with taking you to the zoo.
Your daddy makes fun of me for it.
We go to the Nashville zoo all the time, and we've been to the DC zoo, and now St. Louis as well!

Sweet baby, you're turning into such a little man already.
You have me and your dad totally and completely in love.
I never knew it was possible to love such a little person so SO SO much.
I am so blessed to be able to watch you grow and learn every day.
Seeing the world through your little eyes has been such an amazing thing.
You're teaching me to slow down in life and really just enjoy.
Living, loving, and enjoying the moments.

Love you forever,
Momma

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

letters to ollie: 5 months old

My dear Oliver,

You're 5 months old already!
Where oh where is the time going??
You're at such a fun age right now.
You love playing with me and dad.
In fact, every night when dad comes home, you and he wrestle and jump around on the bed.

You have become so stinkin' curious my dear.
You want to see and experience everything around you.  ALL the time.
In fact, nursing and napping have become a second and third priority after exploration.
You love looking at pictures on the walls,
reading books with me and dad,
and singing silly songs.
Right now, your two favorite songs are "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

You've gotten to the stage where you aren't content just lying around.
Instead, you like to be sitting.  Or standing.
You still need some assistance with sitting, but you're getting closer and closer to being able to sit up all on your own.
You also love playing in your exersaucer.

You still have that infectious smile of yours.
And while you much prefer being with me and dad (which I absolutely love by the way),
you're not shy about flashing that cute smile of yours at almost anyone.

You don't have a doctor's appointment again, til about a week after you hit 6 months,
but you're about 22 lbs and 28+ inches long.
We love that you're such a big baby.

Oh my sweet baby,
I wish I could take this phase of your life and wrap it all up and keep it forever.
I know you have to grow up,
but I don't ever want to forget all the little things that you do.
Like the sweet smiles you give me when you wake up from your naps.
And the adorable babbling you're constantly doing.
The way you like to snuggle in when you first fall asleep.
The way you get so excited when you learn a new trick.

Your two favorite tricks lately are spitting and rolling by the way.
You've figured out how to blow raspberries and now you're constantly spitting on me and dad.
You seem to think it's hilarious.
Don't worry though, we think it's pretty funny too.

And the first time you rolled, you scared yourself to death,
because you got caught in the slates of your crib.
You still don't roll all that often, but you're definitely getting more mobile.

I have yet to figure out how you move around so much in that crib of yours.
Whenever you wake up in the middle of the night (and you do so often by the way),
and I come to get you, you've managed to scoot yourself completely around, or all the way to the corner of the crib.

Oh little Ollie,
as crazy as you make us, your dad and I can't imagine our lives without you.
You've brought so much happiness into our little family.
Now if only you'd sleep a bit more things would be perfect.
Don't worry, I'm just kidding.
I know you'll sleep one day.
Hopefully.

Love you forever my sweet baby,
Momma

letters to ollie: 4 months old

My dear Oliver,

You're 4 months old already and getting bigger every day.

I think you've lost that "newborn look" finally.

I can't believe how old you look already.

Where has the time gone?

You just had your 4-month check up last week.

You now weigh 21 lbs and are 27.5 inches long.
According to the pediatrician, you're the biggest 4 month old baby she's ever seen.
Yep, be proud my little man.  Be proud of those rolls.

Some of your favorite things these days include
playing with your toys.
Mr. Monkey is one of your favorite right now.
Mr. Monkey goes everywhere with you.

You love love LOVE putting any and everything in your mouth.

Including my face.

You still haven't rolled over yet, but it seems like you're getting closer and closer everyday.
You absolutely love sitting up now.
For the most part you need some assistance, but you're getting better at balancing yourself.

You've finally started realizing that you have feet.
It's so cute to watch you stare at them and try to grab them.

You also love reading books now.
You love all the pictures.
You especially love when I make a fool of myself and sing silly songs to you all day.
You're current favorites are pat-a-cake, wheels on the bus, and Tiny Tim the turtle.

You've been laughing a lot more lately.
I absolutely love listening to your laugh.
I think you might be starting to get ticklish,
because you often laugh the most when I blow on your stomach.

You still love bouncing.
Nothing makes you more happy than being bounced around.
We hold you and swing you and toss you around
and you smile and giggle and laugh and laugh.
Oh how we love your laugh.

You still love being carried around.
In fact, you would be quite content never being put down.
Unfortunately mom and dad's backs can't handle carrying you 24/7.
But I we still strap you to us whenever we go out.
And you love riding around with us.

You're really getting cute kiddo.
Lately when we try and put you to bed, you'll fall asleep and we'll think you'll be out for the night...
But then, surprise!
Those peepers of yours pop open and you get this really big grin on your face,
like nothing in the world would make you happier than to play with us.
And how can we get annoyed when you get that sweet gummy smile and those big big eyes?

I will say that you're going through some crazy phase right now though.
The last two weeks you've been screaming and getting really cranky for no recognizable reason.
I sure hope it ends soon, because you're wearing me and your dad down.
We are two tired parents my dear.

But we're also very lucky and blessed to have you.
It's crazy how much our lives have changed since you came.
And as stressful and tiresome as parenting can be, we wouldn't have it any other way.

Keep on learning and growing sweet baby.
Love you always,
Momma

PS-We love when you talk to us.  Even though you mostly talk with your hand shoved in your mouth. :)