8 months

.... Come again? My baby is how old?

I know, I know. I wonder though. Will it ever cease to amaze me, how fast this kid grows, how old he is, how big he is, how much I love him, how perfectly adorable he is?... I doubt it.

From a super quick and not super accurate measuring the other day (to see if we could squeeze in one more use of our infant carseat, so that we didn't have to take his new one out of our car), we determined that he is definitely over 29 inches these days... but as far as stats go, that's all I got for ya!

This month has been a super fun one. Kylan is so playful and is such a joy! Plus we had quite a few exciting new developments!

Kylan zooms around like a little crawling speed racer. He is in and out and all around, everywhere. Tiny little spaces between furniture suddenly become mysterious and alluring baby tunnels when he is near. And no obstacle is too daunting for him to take on. He gets himself into the most entertaining situations because he things he can go anywhere and do anything!

It wasn't long after he started crawling that Baby Gus started pulling himself up to a standing position. He started with our super fancy schmancy printer cover/PS3 stand (also known as an upside down laundry basket!) and then quickly moved on to the ottoman and the couch. Soon he was pulling himself up and standing in his crib! I had to move his bed down twice because that giant monster boy is just so tall. The kid totally tries to climb out of his crib too, so its a good thing I moved it when I did! He also really enjoys pulling himself up on the baby gate and bookshelf... Oh the joys of baby-proofing that have come my way!

Kid has also started cruising along the couch and ottoman, taking a few unsteady, perfectly endearing side-steps at a time. It is so fun to watch him work for what he wants, and to see his face light up when he finally reaches the toy or remote or whatever the object of his desire might be. He doesn't go too far or too fast yet, but I am sure that in no time he will be walking along the couch like a pro!

This month was also when Kylan's first tooth appeared! His super smart dental assistant/almost hygienist auntie informed me that said adorable tooth is a "p" tooth. I have always loved Kylan's huge and completely contagious grin, but it is so fun seeing his little tooth peeking out now! I love that one-tooth smile :)

We started little man on "solids" or as I call it "real food" (because breastmilk is fake food? eh... who knows or can understand how my brain works!)... He is not so much a fan of the lovely homemade brown rice cereal I whipped up for him but with the sweet potatoes it was love at first bite! We have also tried zucchini, and while he seemed to like them, they definitely did not get the enthusiasm that the sweet potatoes did. We are going to be trying avocado and bananas soon... I think those will both be a hit, but we shall see! He is so good at eating off of the spoon though, and feeding him is so much fun! He gets so excited, he jumps up and down and leans forward really far with his mouth open. And he is pretty much a black hole :) I get to the bottom of the bowl but there he is looking at me with his huge "p" tooth smile, jumping up and down practically screaming at me "Mom I am so excited for more food!!!!! Where is my next bite?!?!?!"

I am about a week late posting this but first Mr. Eight Months Old was sick, and now I am... So ya win some, ya lose some, ya write some a week late! No biggie :)

Mommy...so glad you were born!

LOVE this day.

My mom has always been there for me. But not only that, I know she will always be there for me. My number one cheerleader. The things I am most proud of, the accomplishments in my life that mean the most to me, all of them, I know I could not have achieved without my mom. She is the most wonderful, selfless, amazing woman I know.

My mom is a mother. Sounds redundant, I know. But I think that if a stranger were to spend one minute talking with my mother this fact would be instantly clear. She is my mother, its true. But if you limited the number of children she has been a mother to simply by recognizing only those who she actually gave birth to, you would be leaving out countless individuals. People who were lost, and found their way because of her. People who needed love, and for whom she made room in her heart, so they would always have a place to call home. People who were scared, and she comforted. People who felt worthless, but because of her were able to see a small glimpse of what their Heavenly Father sees in them. People whose lives were changed because she was willing to give them a chance. 

My mom is also a grandmother. I am so grateful, and I know my siblings feel the same way, that my children have this incredible lady in their lives! 

My mom is smart. She loves reading and she loves writing. She loves learning and growing. She loves teaching. So much of what I know to be true, I have learned from my mother. 

My mom is funny. Seriously, this woman is a hoot. 

My mom is strong, and selfless. She is beautiful and humble. She is everything I want to be. 

Chris, Christine, Christy, Sister Clubb, Mom, Mother, Mama, Lady, Nanny, Nay-nay. 

Happy Happy Happy Happy Birthday. I love you so. 

My no shampoo do...

I didn't used to be this way. Honestly, I do not know what happened, but somewhere along the line I became a little bit hippy dippy. I think we can pretty effectively blame Pinterest...

I cloth diaper. I make my own laundry detergent. I have every intention of making Kylan's baby food. And now this. I no longer use shampoo. (For the record, this hippy dippy-ness... totally not a bad thing! I don't want anyone to think that I mean any disrespect. It's just that I have known me my whole life, and it is surprising to me how I am much more crafty, home made, natural this and that, and less processed than I ever really imagined I would be...)

I found this post on Pinterest, and decided "Eh, why not..."

For those of you who do not feel inclined to read the original post, although if you really want to know what this "no poo" business is all about I definitely would encourage you to, I will give you a little run down. Shampoo uses chemicals to strip your hair and remove the dirt and oil. In the process it also removes all of the good oils and nutrients that your hair needs. To compensate, your scalp then over-produces these oils, which means that you then need to wash it again, so it over-produces again and on and on... You get the picture. With this no shampoo system, you use baking soda and vinegar (two extremely cheap items, which you probably already have) to wash and condition your hair. This way you gets to keep all the good, happy junk, but your hair still gets nice and clean. The result is healthier, shinier, and in general, more awesome looking hair that you have to wash a lot less often. There are two different methods described in the post. If you are interested you can read about them. I am using method number 1. 

I am a weird kind of girl. I don't own a single item of make-up, and my clothing article of choice would most definitely have to be sweats, but I am not exactly a tom boy. Basically the point is, that is not changing! I am still going to spend less than 5 minutes doing my hair, but perhaps with this new plan, it will be healthier :)

I am going to do this first post about it as a kind of running report... After the first few weeks I shall post it and then I think I will keep you updated every now and then.

About half a week after starting: I am gonna go ahead and tell you, its a little strange. But thus far my hair feels clean and honestly I haven't really noticed any difference.

About a week of no shampoo: Ok, so I am gonna be honest. My hair is feeling not so great these past few days. I now understand what she meant by "cottony"... Its not so much that it feels dirty, because it's not, it just feels weird and I am leaning more towards the bad kind of weird. I still have a few days of the "adjustment phase so we shall see how things are lookin later this week!

Two Weeks: I hit the two week mark yesterday! Crazy, crazy. So far, I am still a big fan. In fact, in the past few weeks my love for baking soda and vinegar has exploded. These magical ingredients make delicious food, clean my hair, and my sink, and my garbage disposal, and my shower, and pretty much my whole house... Just sayin. But anyway, back to my hair. I should be through the transition phase and on to reaping the benefits of this no poo lifestyle! I will check soon and let you know what's up! (I would also like to point out that I got my mama and my sister to jump on this no poo bandwagon! Wooo baby. My mom started a few days after me, and my sister started yesterday... so far my mom loves it!)

Three weeks: My hair is feeling pretty good... most of the cottony feeling is gone, and after three weeks I still love this whole no shampoo business. Plus the other day I found a recipe for some shaving cream stuff and it uses shampoo and conditioner, which I happen to have and happen to not need!

So it has now been about a month since I last used shampoo! Honestly, my hair doesn't really feel that different then it did when I used shampoo. It took a while for me to get the hang of using the baking soda and vinegar. But I think that between my mom, Katie, and me we have figured out a pretty good system! The other day I noticed that there were parts of my hair that felt dirty. For the most part my hair was past the adjustment phase and felt normal, but there were sections that were pretty much just yucky. I was getting discouraged, but then I talked to my sister about it. She suggested using the baking soda before I wet my hair, that way I can tell where I have missed and none of my hair gets left out. She also told me that mom had suggested doing the baking soda twice. I tried it this way and success! My hair felt much better. Four and a half weeks of no shampoo and I am still a fan! 

Seven Months!!!

This month has been such an exciting one! I am so grateful that I am able to stay home with my little man. I love seeing each tiny little thing he learns, and he learns something new every single day!

If we were rounding, we are definitely closer to one year than we are to birth. Oh man, now that is a crazy thought! My little niece, Claire, just turned one and I tell you what I do not think I am ready for Kylan to be so grown up!

Kylan is almost 29 inches and weighs 18 pounds and 9 ounces. Oh how I love this skinny little giant of mine.

He is now fitting in 12 month clothing, and has pretty much out grown all things 6 months. He is most definitely ready for his new carseat, and really the only reason he isn't already using it is.... a big fat lot of procrastination on my part. But those days are done. Kiddo just doesn't want to be in his little bitty seat anymore.

About a week after Kylan turned six months old, he joined the army... crawlers that is! So the beginning of this new year also marked the beginning of chasing him around, babyproofing, and vacuuming like mad (Like all the way down the hallway. This is serious business! I am not generally an everyday kind of vacuumer, but Kylan has taken it upon himself to help me become one)... I love watching him use his little arms and legs. He gets up on his hands and knees really well too. Used to be that he would just hang out on all fours, but then when he wanted to move he would drop to his tummy. Here lately he is able to move his legs forward, and he is even getting the hang of moving his hands forward. He just needs to put it all together and we will be in full-blown crawling mode!

*Update!!! I wrote most of this post last week and have just been waiting to publish it till I got a new memory card to take Kylan's seven month pictures.... point being: He crawled!!! This morning (1/30/13) he crawled. Seriously. We are talkin hands and knees people! So exciting :) I can't even believe how big this kid is!

The middle of January (Monday the 14th, not that we really need to be that specific) Kylan began making consonant sounds and babbling. I love everything he does, but this. Oh dear, this is just so cute. Mostly he says "ba ba ba" --- My family likes to make fun of me, because I make the distinction... its not so much a baw; it is a short 'a' kind of ba... but they can ba-ba-ba-bite me. Yeah, Mom and Katie I am talking to you! :) My kid says ba! Bahaha alright, stepping off my babbling soapbox--- He has also been know to stick his tongue out while talking (which is my favorite!) so it sounds more like "blab blab blab". And just the other day he discovered how to make the /m/ sound so we heard a little bit of "ma ma ma" action. I love his little voice. I really don't care what he is saying, it is music to my ears!

He loves seeing his daddy (daddy equals instant smile!), reading stories, taking baths, listening to music, watching his mama dance like a crazy lady, playing with his toys, eating everything he can get his hands on, looking out the window, and rolling all over the place.... but I think I must say, his favorite pastime is getting into anything and everything that he is not supposed to! Somehow all babies seem to be programmed to instantly find all of the "not for babies" objects within a 10 foot radius.

Still no food going on here, I kept thinking "Oh, seven months sounds like a good time to start food..." but then out of no where seven months was like a week away, and now that it is here I am still not sure I want to go down that road yet! Maybe seven and a half months? :) Although we have made some progress! I unwrapped my Baby Bullet, continued falling madly in love with it, and poured over the little recipe book! While I may not be super enthusiastic about the actual feeding him real food business, I am ecstatic about the prospect of making his baby food. Strange, I know. But I haven't been the most logical lady my entire life, why start now! :)

Kylan sleeps 10-12 hours straight pretty much every night. And he is a pro at putting himself to sleep for his naps nowadays. There are still days, more often than I would like, where he is convinced that 5:30 is a good time to wake up in the morning, but hey there are worse things!

Kylan still loves being held. I was afraid that as he became more and more mobile that he would like being held less, but so far that is not the case! He especially loves to snuggle when he wakes up from his nap. In fact, if you even try putting him down, he let's you know, quite loudly, that he is just not okay with that plan! Ryan and I both love to take advantage of this time. There is just nothing better than a snuggly baby.

Behind the scenes of a squirmy worm photo shoot!

Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store...

Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!

This year we had such a wonderful Christmas. Like I have previously expressed... I simply LOVE the holidays! And this year I was almost to the pee-my-pants level of excitement! Of course in true Kellie-style I procrastinated to the last minute and ended up have to work late into the night to have everything wrapped and ready for Christmas day. We had planned on staying at my parent's house Monday night, but that got thrown out the window when I realized how much crafting I still had to do! I finally went to bed around 3 or 4 in the morning, then when Kylan woke up I fed him and we headed over to my parents house.

The most wonderful gift this year came in the form of a couple of phone calls and a good hour or two of Facetime! We got to see the most beautiful and purely magnificent sister missionary in the whole world! And the part I was most excited about???... I got to introduce Kylan to his wonderful Auntie Cass. I have such a testimony of missionary work, and I know without a doubt that my sister is exactly where Heavenly Father wants her to be. It was a wonderful blessing to get to share the day with her, even when she is so far away! Way to go modern technology!

I did quite a bit of handcrafting for Christmas this year. In fact everything I sent Cassie, I made. I forgot to take pictures of those beauties but I did think ahead and get some pictures of some of the other things I made. My mom and dad got Ryan and I a sewing machine for Christmas, and because my mama loves me so, she let me have it early and I put it to good use! So here are some of my Christmas projects... Because I am so proud of them!

For my mama and daddy :)

This is the little pillow monster, Monte, I made for Bella

Sparkly pink play dough for Elle Belle

For my Katie sister

Naomi loooves carrying purses around, and it is pretty much one of the cutest things ever... So naturally I had to make her some. 

And just because he is really cute... of course... my cute little Christmas kiddo!

Half Birthday!

Last Monday was Kylan's half birthday! And let me tell you, he is rockin six months! Every day he amazes me, and every day I am eternally grateful that I get to be his mama.

We have had some pretty big changes this last month. Ryan started his new job, so he no longer works nights... which we LOVE! He is now doing a Spanish speaking customer support type job, which we also LOVE. I am excited that he will be able to use his Spanish everyday. And then of course there were the holidays! I made some pretty fun things, and I shall eventually get around to showing you them!

And as for Little Man. Oh boy. This past month has seen so many new things. 

He just had his check up today! Never fear, he is still a baby giant :) He is 18.2 pounds (which is pretty average) and.... wait for it..... 28.75 inches tall! (which is pretty much way above average!) Oh how I love this guy. Shots, however, we are definitely not a fan of! Thankfully at his 9 month check up there will be no needles! 

He has been teething like mad, but he is still an angel. Basically he is just a lot more slobbery than he used to be. He hasn't begun the actual cutting of the teeth yet, so we will see how that goes when the time comes! 

He is ridiculously mobile nowadays. (Trying to take his six months pictures was quite the adventure... Staying perfectly situated on the blanket and making adorable facial expressions is definitely a thing of the past. Now its all about how far he can scooch, trying with all his might to get the camera, and rolling up in the blanket!) He discovered rolling to be quite the effective means of transportation. But he has also been scooting and wiggling, and I imagine crawling is not too far off! He can hang out for a little while on his hands and knees, but doesn't really know what to do once he is there. There have been more than a few entertaining (and harmless) face-plants recently! He does this little dance, wiggles his bum around and wiggles his legs forward... but then because he hasn't figured out how to move his hands yet, things pretty much always end in a tumble! 

He really loves being on his tummy, but also has a profound love of being on his back and arching up. He quite literally lifts his whole body off the floor and balances on his feet and head in this adorable little backbend. It used to drive me crazy, because, well, it just doesn't look that comfortable! But I figure, if it hurt, he probably wouldn't do it.

He still loves bath time! Now rather than just laying there and kicking his feet, he has really begun to play and splash and explore. In fact getting him to lay down, even for just a second so I can rinse his hair, is quite the chore. He's got a mind of his own, for sure!

He can sit up for little bits of time, but he still needs some support, especially because he tends to lose his balance whenever he gets excited or sees something he wants.

He is sleeping well at night and... no longer wants to be swaddled! Oh man. Let me tell you. It was a sad day for me, when he fussed and fussed every time I put him down because he did not want to be wrapped up. Small, little, new babies like to be swaddled. Kylan has always loved it. But alas.... while he is still small, little, and new to me... he is not so much those things in babyland. 

This past month Ryan and I got the opportunity to go see Wicked with my sister and her husband. The only hitch was that it was showing in St. Louis... which is 4 hours from where we live. And apparently Broadway and off-Broadway, they are baby-haters alike, and also extremely snooty booty about such things. So Kylan couldn't even go in the building, let alone to the actual show. Which presented a problem! But with the help of my incredible mother, father, and niece, (and a wonderful little breastpump) we were able to go defy gravity and have one short day in the emerald city! It was extremely hard for me to be away from Kylan, but I am grateful to have family whom I love and trust enough to care for my sweet little one! 

He loves people and is still a huge (and practically non-stop) flirt. It is funny to see the look of surprise on people's faces when they happen to glance at him and see that he is smiling his little face off at them. He has a tractor beam or something, because he just draws you in and I'm telling you, resistance is futile. 

We have yet to venture into the world of food with this little guy. Mostly I just don't think he needs it yet... We did get a Baby Bullet for Christmas though! I say "we" because even though it was technically for him, I am pretty sure he finds the box more exciting than the actual machine inside... I, however, I am super excited to get to make all sorts of homemade deliciousness for kiddo when we do decide to start eating solids! 

It has been a glorious six months!

Some behind the scenes pictures... Like I said, gone are the days of laying still!

Trying so hard to get the lens cap...

Triumphant!

His incredible back-arching skills!