3 Months

I was going to spare you the line where I am in disbelief that Hunter is as old as he is, but.... I just CAN'T believe Hunter is THREE months old! He is no longer a newborn, I have to look at the 3-6 month forum on TheBump.com, and we are only one month away from adding rice cereal to his meals. Oh. My. Word.

Time, please slow down just a tad!

In Hunter's 3rd month, he ended his trip up north in Washington and Montana, came home just to drive all the way to Florida! He is one well traveled baby!

This month has been pretty big for him, not just because of his travels, but he has also been switched almost totally to formula. It started with me eating chocolate cake in Montana, and him having two fussy days after that. Then I started researching fussy breastfed babies, and it could be an number of things: milk imbalance, mommy's bad diet, milk protein intolerance, etc. After more and more gassy tummy and fussy days, I tried Similac Sensitive. After a day, he was a different baby. Happy and content to just sit and watch his world, even out of mommy's hands! As much as love to hold my little man, I need to get some things done around the house, too! I am still pumping, and saving the milk to add to his formula, he seems to enjoy these bottles more, and I still know that he is getting good stuff from my milk. I at least want to get through flu season, since he will be too young for the shot.

He has started playing more, he waves his hands all around and kicks his feet like its his job. Seriously, he has the most serious face, and just kicks as hard as he can! It is especially fun in the bath tub! He can also get his favorite toy right into his mouth!

He can get his fist directly into his mouth and suck away. Like, all day long.

He is also drooling and making plenty of spit bubbles. Check out the drool that hangs from his mouth to  my knee.

He is learning to fall asleep on his own.

He wore his first size 3-6 month article of clothing. He still mostly wears 0-3, but I am about to pack them away because they are getting too short for him! Carter's clothes shrink up a bunch!

He got cool new sunglasses.

He is a bumbo-ing fool. One day, he didn't want to sit on the floor in his bumbo while I did dishes (does anyone else feel like they wash bottles ALL. DAY. LONG?). I made a risky move and moved the bumbo to the counter right next to the sink while I did the dishes. He sat and just watched, lol! Keep in mind, I kept my eye on him the whole time, and pretty much did the dishes by feel so I could keep my eye on him. Also, ignore the knife block on the counter right behind him....

He is starting to like his car seat. I mean tolerate it. For short time spans. If he's in the right mood. Sometimes.

He talks like a crazy person. 

The boy still loves him some naked time! Seriously, he loves it! I think he gets hot pretty easily, so the cool fabrics behind him and the fan on his belly probably feel pretty good. Like when a dog lays on the cool tile, haha!

He is loving his new tub!

He slept in his crib for the first night, and slept almost 10 hours. I heard him on the monitor (just talking away), and started getting his bottle put together, then I looked at the clock and couldn't believe it! I looked at all the clocks on the way to his room just to be sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me! I was a little sad because I like him being close to me at night, but it was also just one more step in him growing up, and I didn't think I was ready for it. After one night where I got 8 consecutive hours of sleep, and I am singing a different tune! The next two nights was not as successful, he slept in 4-5 hour chunks, but then the fourth night he slept 8 hours. I am hoping to get him back to his normal sleep times by the time school starts (I mean when the students start). We have a week!

He spent his first week away from mommy during the days. I started back to work to set up my classroom, and he spent the day at nana's house with her and their nanny, Elba. It is hard for me to not be there to make even those small decisions throughout the day. I feel like every time I go to pick him up or drop him off I have yet another request for things that I want for him through out the day. I feel like I am coming off as a crazy mom, but there are some things that I KNOW are important to either get done or not happen during the day.

He also LAUGHED for the first time! Lots of times he will smile and make a laugh noise, but one day my mom was sitting him up and talking to him, and he laughed.... then again.... then I got out my camera. Only, something messed up (maybe I accidentally covered the speaker?), and all you can hear me say in a really high pitched voice is. "Make him laugh again!"... then he does... only the video is silent during that part, then you hear us all say, "That was a GOOD laugh!!". So I have proof... kinda!

There are so many more fun things that happened this month, but it is so hard to keep up with it all!

He is still wearing all 0-3 month clothes, but they are slowly starting to get moved to the, "Too Small" box behind his glider. Most of the 3-6 month stuff is too big and looks silly, but I think pretty soon he will move up.

He is wearing size 2 diapers. This is almost partly because he pees so much and the size 2 holds it all much better. They are a tad too big so he will probably wear these for a while! He weighs about 12.5 to 13 pounds, but is still looking pretty long and lean. Don't get me wrong, he has some chunky spots poppin up, but the length is also there for sure!!

I love my little man so much! I still am in the newborn phase where I just stare at him and wonder why and how I was given such a beautiful baby boy. 
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Reset Button

We have discovered that a nice, quiet, warm bath is like hitting the reset button for little Hunter. The other day, while on vacation, we decided to go out for dinner. It was not too late or hot, so after dinner we headed out for a nice walk on the pier to look at some boats, fish, and whatever else we came across. Hunter was a little champion the whole time! He rode all by HIMSELF in the car seat back to the condo (meaning I wasn't in the back seat with him), ate a bottle, and we then walked back down to the beach for about a half hour. He wore his cute new sunglasses, took pictures with daddy, and got many compliments on his undeniable adorableness! 

Here is a quick recap of our night before the storm hit:

The walk on the pier:

 Inspecting trash cans full of fish guts:

 Yes, the Hunt-man is too cool for school:

Back in the room..... it hit. It hit BIG time. Screaming, not crying or bawling.... red faced, tears, and choked screams. Heartbreaking screams leaving both mommy and daddy almost in tears over what to do. We tried diaper changes, swaddles, naked time, food, and any other thing we could think of. 

Set him into the warm bath? He's alllll good. Splashing, kicking, and even some smiles as if to say, "What took you so long to get me in here?"After that, he was dressed, swaddled, and dead asleep all in about 5 minutes. 

He was overly tired, and probably overwhelmed at all the bright, breezy, sunglasses-y newness. I missed it. The yawn... the tell-tale yawn. You see Hunter yawn once? Swaddle that boy up, and rock him till he's down for the count. Look below, how did I miss this yawn?

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Hunter's First Vacation: Big Sky Country

read here for Part One

After our week was up in the house on the lake in Post Falls, Idaho, the group was off to Belgrade, Montana. My parents met and grew up in Montana, and I have so many fond memories of the great state. We would travel up there almost every year it felt like back then, and now that I think about it, we  probably only made the journey a handful of times. A few of those, though, we made the DRIVE from Texas allll the way to Montana. Yes, that wonderful 3 day road trip spent in the back of a Suburban with all three of your brothers, back when there were no TVs in the car, Game Boys ran on AA batteries, and time seemed to squeak by.... we made that trip a few times, and now is part of my fondest memories, even if I didn't think so back then!

Luckily, the trip from Post Falls to Belgrade (near Manhattan, close to Bozeman) is pretty much exactly six hours. With an 8 week old that hates the car seat, though, I was NOT looking forward to this road trip. On the way out of town we ate a wonderful breakfast at a restaurant called none other than.... Hunter's! They have these wonderful huge cinnamon rolls, and I ate one of the most delicious waffles I have ever encountered. Hunter pretty much cried the whole time. Great. I had him assume the position that he likes best, on my left shoulder so that he can look out in to the world. While I bounced, I also ate one handed. I have actually gotten pretty good at doing things one handed, haha! Isabella on the other hand, was fussy because she was tired so my dad took her to the car so that he could run up and get gas, and hopefully she would fall asleep. His plan worked, but as soon as Hunter was loaded into the car, he started screaming. This woke her up with a terrified start, and she was also bawling! Nice way to start the trip....

I finally came to the resolution that I would need to take him out of the car seat in the car. I know. I KNOW. Trust me, I KNOW. I didn't want to, but he was choking on his own gasps for air! It got to where I calmed him down, and swaddled him pretty well, and clipped him back in the carseat to sleep. About this time, Isabella would get excited and squeal her loudest. It's pretty cute, and I can't wait until Hunter can look at me, grin, and squeal with delight.... but for now, it just makes him wake up in a bad mood. For six hours, it went back and forth waking each other up. Not ideal, but it made us allll that more happy to get to our destination!

By the end of the trip, we were even getting some car seat smiles (not that I could capture it on camera!)

My parents, since they are amazing, rented an awesome cabin on some property. We had rented it a few years back, and since our family is so big, it made it the perfect place to stay.

This was the only picture I could find, it was NOT snowy when we went, haha!

Not long after we got the cars unpacked, family started trickling in to say hello and visit for awhile. Since I had actually planned on NOT coming, much of my family still didn't know. It was so fun to surprise my cousin and grandmother! My cousin is someone that I consider a long distance best friend. We hardly get to see each other, but when we do get to visit or even talk on the phone, it's like no time has passed and we pick up right where we left off. She had a baby 9 months ago, so we were both juggling a baby the whole time. She also is a stay at home mom to her kids, so we got to see a ton of each other. We also got to see a ton of my aunt, and she is always a blast to visit with. Her and my mom are really close, and so the four of us had a lot of time with each other. She was also such a great help with Hunter. I could do my make up and hair while she held and played with him, and I was so thankful for that!

I called Tim one day and told him that I felt like I have been on a training mission. You know how you send your dog away for two weeks and they come back trained? I felt like I had been working with Hunter on all of the things that have been kind of a struggle at home. Leaving the house to run errands/shop, being in the car seat, breastfeeding in public with a cover on, being around lots of other people, sleeping in different places, etc. The biggest ones were the car seat and running errands, and he greatly improved on those while we were away! Some days, my cousin would pick me up, and we would be gone four or five hours, and going to four or five stores in a day! He would be in the car and out of the car. He would take naps on the go. He would eat on the go. This was great practice for him and I because at home, I am the one driving and if he is crying I have to stay behind the wheel. This way, I could crawl back there, calm him down, and then get back up to the front seat!

We had an absolute blast, and the only thing that would have made it better would to have had Tim there. I love spending time with my family and this trip allowed for plenty of that! It was a nice change from the daily routine at home... spending the whole day going from nap to eating to fussy awake times. I knew that even if he had the same fussy attitude on vacation, I would have lots of people that could help out, people to sit with (I am usually at home alone), or a cooler outdoors to take him into. It was a nice break, and I am so thankful that Tim was willing to let us go even if he couldn't! Here are some pictures from the trip!

Our porch view

He got to wear fuzzy pajamas!

Bath time in the sink!

His great grandma!

The night he refused to sleep unless in my arms

My sister in law was a big help, too!

Our new hat for the fall

He is pretty much the most gorgeous baby ever

My cousin 

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