8 Months!

Well, July flew by, didn't it??  

Mad Man is now 8 months old!

And he's off...we've got a mover, friends!  Madden is now scooting & rolling everywhere.  He's not quite mastered crawling on his hands & knees, but he assumes the position and rocks back and forth, before lurching forward and scooting...so we're days/weeks away from him figuring out this crawling thing for good.  I guess I'd better start babyproofing!

I thought I'd try to get a shot of the brothers...this is the best I got. 

We got to spend a lot of time with the cousins this month!  A few trips to the winery on Fridays, and Tristan took the boys to the farmer's market one Friday.

I LOVE this shot of these cuties.  It's still crazy to me how different Mason & Madden's coloring is...poor Madden, he's going to look nothing like his West Coast cousins!!!  I think we need some Rosin cousins, stat!

Getting some Auntie Laura time.

Morning at the farmer's market.

Madden's now rolling big-boy style in the double stroller, which he loves!

He also loves his bed, after this nap I went into his room and sat in the chair for about 20 minutes while he rolled around and talked to me, showing no interest in actually getting out.

This was one of the last times in his crib with the mattress all the way up - little man is now sitting up on his own and moving everywhere, so down the mattress went!

He already wants to do everything his big brother does, including ride in the Audi.  Mason was a sweet brother and let him sit in his car for a few minutes.

Just like Mason, Madden LOVES black beans, especially from Rubios!  One evening after gymnastics I took them there for dinner, and the 3 of us had a great time :)

These days, it's hard to get Madden to sit still for anything, including his bottle.  Half the time he ends up standing on my lap while he drinks.  I am dreading the day he learns to walk!!!

 This month also included a big first for Madden - his first airplane ride!  We went to Florida for 10 days to visit my family...but that will be its own blog entry, so check back soon.

It was another great month with our little peanut.  He's growing like a weed, and still a happy little man who adores his big brother, mommy & daddy.  Can't wait to see what this month brings!

Madden - 7 Months

Another month has flown by!  Month 6 was a fun one full of a lot of great "firsts".  I'd sum this month up in one sentence, that I tell everyone who asks how things are going as a family of 4...Now that Madden's a little big older, we're finally starting to have fun again! 

That being said, Madden is turning out to be the COMPLETE opposite of his brother.  This little boy is busy, busy, busy, busy.  From the moment he wakes up to the moment he falls asleep, he is on the move.  Although he's not yet crawling, he is moving everywhere - rolling, sitting, lurching and launching himself out of our arms the minute he sees something he wants.

He's also very verbal and opinionated - he talk, talk, talks all day long, and boy is he LOUD!  He's also not afraid to let us know when he wants something or is upset, and good luck to us if we try to ignore him!! 

 

I swear he was waving to himself in the mirror here.  

This is a classic Madden face, forehead scrunched and eyebrows raised.  If you follow me on Instagram you'll know that this particular face was in response to my singing.  His brother loved it when I sang...apparently he's  not as impressed.

He loved peas!!!

He's finally loving food, and these are noises that accompany every single one of his meals.  

 This picture explains exactly why I'm late for work every single morning of the week. 

We have resumed wine Fridays at the RB Winery when we can, this particular day was just the 4 of us, a perfect way to end a long week of work!

He loves his daddy!

My girlfriend Heather had a birthday party at the Del Mar Marriott pool a few weeks ago, and Madden & I decided to stop by.  He of course wore his terrycloth Ralph Lauren outfit for the occasion, and had his first dance party with a pretty girl.  That's a happy boy, right there!

Like I mentioned, we've had some "firsts" this month.  In case you didn't notice in any of the above pictures, little man is officially sitting up un-assisted.

This video is so cute - the little toy in front of him has a mirror on it, and he kept leaning over to see himself!

He also got not one, but TWO teeth within a week!  This little photo montage shows my unsuccessful attempts at getting a shot of them.

  

Ah hah, there they are!!  This sweet, handsome face sure makes us happy :)

Pool Time

This past weekend BG took the 3 oldest cousins to see the play Dr. Doolittle, and then had everyone over to her house after for a pizza/pool party. 

Madden has turned into a little water baby, he LOVES the pool.

Mason is just about swimming on his own.  He's been in lessons for a few weeks, which has really helped with his confidence.  

Crazy hair cousins

Jump!

The Johnny Jumper is by far my favorite piece of baby gear.  I mean...there's nothing cuter than a jumping baby.  Except maybe a clapping baby. 

We've been putting Madden in his jumper for over a month now, but despite our encouragement and demonstrations, he would just hang out.  Finally, yesterday, he got it! 

Mason had to get in on the action, too.  Go jumping McCoy boys!

Just for fun I went back and found Mason's first jumping video.  Yup...jumping babies are definitely my favorite!!

6 Months

I can't believe it - we're halfway to 1! 

Weighs 16 lbs

Wearing 6 month clothing

In some ways, this past 6 months has flown, but in other ways, it feels like Mad Man has been with us for much longer.

The past month has been a big one for Madden.  He's no longer at work with me so is at home full-time, and that means we also began sleep training.  His napping was a mess due to being at the office with me, but he was very ready for structure because he was on a perfect sleep schedule within a week of being home.  

And that makes for very happy parents AND baby.

He's now sleeping around 10-11 hours straight at night, and taking two, 1.5-2 hour naps during the day.  He also found his feet/toes, which is one of my favorite characteristics of this age.  He's a funny little boy - very happy 90% of the time, but if he's hungry/tired/wants to be picked up man, oh man, does he let you know!

We pulled out the Johnny Jump-Up, and although he hasn't quite figured out the jumping part, he likes to sit in it and watch Mason play.

He loves his baths, and I'm hoping to soon transition him out of his baby bathtub and into the big bathtub.

One of his favorite places to be is outside on our new backyard turf, with his brother playing around him.  

Because of all his eczema outbreaks during month 4, we decided to pull back on solids, and start over, to eliminate the possibility of an allergy we didn't catch the first time.  After a week of only oatmeal, we started with sweet potatoes, and apparently he wasn't so stoked his first time.  Luckily that didn't last long and he now loves them. 

Bleh...

We're now eating sweet potatoes, bananas & apples, and have carrots, peas and avocado ready and waiting for the upcoming weeks.  I'm also making his food, which I didn't do for Mason.  Silly mommy - it's SO easy to do, even with my crazy work/mom schedule I'm able to make time every few weeks to make his food.  It makes me feel good to know that I'm introducing him to foods I know exactly where they came from and how they were prepared.

This video cracks me up, not sure why he wasn't loving those sweet potatoes at first??

 This is how I multi-task when I'm alone in the evenings - feed the baby and cook dinner at the same time.  And make sure the 3 year old isn't causing any trouble :)

Month 5 was MUCH better than month 4, but unfortunately it ended with a raging diaper rash.  We spent a LOT of diaper-less time outside in the backyard, which was messy but he sure did love it!  And I got to stare at that cute tush so I didn't mind either!

Maybe THIS month I'll start using the good camera again?  Oh who am I kidding...I'm sure the 7 month post will consist of mostly iPhone photos as well :)

3rd Birthday Questions

I started a little tradition that every year on Mason's birthday, I'll ask him the same 20 questions.  I put together a little scrap book, and every year will include his answers and a picture.  You may remember his answers from his 2nd birthday.  Well, even though I technically answered those for him last year, and this year he answered them himself, apparently he's still got all the same interests.  And by "interests", I mean "cars".

Enjoy!

1. What is your favorite color? Red
2. What is your favorite toy?  Cars
3. What is your favorite fruit?  Apples
4. What is your favorite TV show?  Mickey Mouse Funhouse & Curious George

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Peanut butter & jelly sandwich

6. What is your favorite outfit? Monkey shirt & monster truck shirt
7. What is your favorite game?  Cars game
8. What is your favorite snack?  Peanut Butter pretzels & milk
9. What is your favorite animal?  Monkeys & giraffes & trains
10. What is your favorite song? Life is a Highway (Cars theme song)
11. What is your favorite book?  Cars book
12. Who is your best friend?  Tyler, Brody, Cal, Grace & Addie
13. What is your favorite cereal?  Chocolate granola cereal
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Golf & hit baseballs
15. What is your favorite drink? Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday?  Halloween
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? “Ah-ah” & Baby Monkey

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Oatmeal
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza & birthday cake
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Play cars

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a nice low-key Memorial Day weekend this year.  Hard to do TOO much with the little one still...he's easy peasy to drag along everywhere, but we're sleep trainers around these parts, which means we prefer to stick close to home for naptimes.  Madden's currently taking two 1.5-2 hour naps per day, so mama doesn't want to compromise that!

There were, of course, plenty of cars and parking lots.

Tristan started playing on a softball team that plays on Sunday mornings.  Seemed a little inconvenient at first, till he reminded me his teammates were the parents of all Mason's best friends.  So, Tristan & Mason head to the ball field, and once Mad Man is up from his nap, we join.  That Saturday was gorgeous, and the team had a BBQ after, so we got some great sun time.

One of the football couples who also had a baby in December had a BBQ - we had to get a shot with all of the December coach's babies.  Of the 3 boys, our peanut is the oldest...and the smallest.  Love our little guy!

We hit the pool for the first time this year.  It was Mason's first time being able to go in the BIG pool (no diapers!), and Madden's first swimming experience.  Success on both accounts!

Had one last BBQ, this time at our good friend Heather's house.  Heather went to high school with Tristan and has become a great friend of mine. 

An early introduction to beer.  Probably looked way better than those sweet potatoes he'd just had.

 

Phew.  All that swimming & BBQ'ing will wear a boy out!