Banks' first Christmas!

Here's his first Christmas via a few (of the 100 I took) pictures:

"Shut yo mouth...this Santa guy really comes down the chimney and leaves presents??? Awesome..."

We spent the week in Jackson at Gram and Grumps house and had the opportunity to get together with a few friends while we were there. Banks exchanged gifts with his two best buds Charlie and Will. Charlie is only one day older than Banks (although you wouldn't guess it) and Will is a few months older than Banks. I forget that Banks is Baby Giant until I get him around another baby his age!! It was too funny trying to get a picture of all three of them. Banks kept taking headers into the presents, Charlie just chilled and Will was all over the place.

Me and Banks, Lauren and Will, Molly and Charlie
Banks and Charlie shaking on a bet to see who can cause their momma a nervous breakdown first. Oh those cheeks...

His loot from Santa:

Santa baby...

Soooo tired after all his Christmas fun

And finally, we put together his exersaucer when we got home and he was super pumped and a little overwhelmed. After just a few minutes he had figured out how to spin the froggy around and was pretty much obsessed with the thing. Hopefully this will be his new source of entertainment so that his momma can get Christmas put up!!!

I fought the swaddle blanket and I won!

This post will be nothing short of boring for most but I sit here this morning in victory and can't wait to post about it. You see, two weeks ago when we went to Banks' four month appointment the doctor mentioned that we should start "thinking" about moving away from the swaddle blanket. My interpretation: cold turkey that thing. Man, was I mistaken. For the last two weeks (minus two random nights of sleepfulness) Banks has been waking almost every hour on the hour crying. At first I thought he'd love his new found freedom from the straight jacket but it seems that his arms are his own worst enemies. They flail around causing him to startle. He scratches his face. I mentioned to someone that it was a good thing I took his Christmas card pictures before this venture because he was starting to look like Scarface. He knocks his paci out and then gets really mad that he's done that. It's like his hands have a mind of their own and he can't control them. I even got weak and tried to go back to the swaddle blanket but it was like he knew there was another arm-free world out there and he kept busting out of the blanket. Freedom!

So, I talked to everyone and anyone that would listen. The consensus: put him to sleep on his stomach. Noooo, I thought. I can't. He'll suffocate. He's not old enough for that. And last night, when he cried out for the third time in one hour, I did it. In one fell swoop I flipped him to his stomach and didn't hear a peep from him until 5 this morning. Now, not that I actually slept much last night. I must have checked the monitor 100 times watching for his back to rise and fall just so I could make sure he was ok. And not that 5 am is when we would like to start our day (I actually just put the paci in and he slept until 7) but this is a major improvement from the hour on the hour wake up calls we've been having!

As I type, mister is sound asleep on his stomach in his crib. He fought it a little this morning; thinking that I was engaging him in some torturous tummy time activity in his crib, but eventually went on to sleep. Ahhhh...success. For now at least. I've learned you can't revel too long because just when you think you've got it figured out babies will go and change on you and the whole process begins again.

But for now, here's mister...swaddle free and proud of it!

He's a loser...

but not the winner. Saturday we had Bufords Biggest Loser Finale and all the contestants showed up. It was a fun get together for the pups. They even had a photographer taking pictures of the newly made over dogs!!! While Buford did lose 12 % of his body weight he was not the big winner. He did get a fabulous consolation prize full of healthy doggie treats, new toys and even a gift card for a spa day. He's really excited about the spa package.
Here are most of the contestants after trying to get a group photo. It was like herding cats to get everyone and their dogs together.

My VERY favorite prize Buford got was a sweat band with his name on it. He looks mighty sporty when he wears it. This picture is hysterical to me...note Bufords eye.

Four months!!!

My not so little baby is FOUR months old! It really is hard to believe. He's really so much fun and definitely runs the show at our house. All those things I said I'd never do, I do. Man, I hate eating my words. We went to the doctor yesterday for his 4 month check up and shots and here are his stats:

Weight: 16 pounds 14 ounces (90th percentlie)

Height: 25 1/2 inches (84th percentile)

Head: 44 inches (96th percentile)

He's constantly "talking" and making lots of new noises. He especially loves a high pitch squeal that might break glass one of these days. He's drooling up a storm and constantly has fingers in his mouth. He's reaching for toys and when he grabs them they go straight to the mouth. I'd swear he's teething. He gets tickled at Matt and me and does this cute little laugh. Of course we think it's adorable. He's been rolling from front to back for a while now but is SOOOOO close to rolling back to front. Here's an attempt:He loves "standing" up.

We started rice cereal last night. Not a big hit. Here's the only picture I could snap in between major meltdowns.

"Seriously, you're taking a picture now??"
Finally, we spent ALL day yesterday trying to get a picture for the Christmas card. Sheesh. I got some pretty funny bloopers that I'll post when I have more time!

Banks' Baptism!

We had Banks baptized Sunday and it was wonderful. I was really worried about him acting up in church but he was perfect! He didn't make a peep. When our preacher took him from Matt to baptize him he said "we need a forklift for this one!!" It was too funny...Banks was two months younger than the other two boys baptized that day but definitely had them beat in the size department. We had almost 20 of our family members to our house after church for lunch. It was so fun having everyone here for Banks' big day! Here are some pics from his special day.

Sweet face

Some of our friends from church also had their son, James, baptized the same day.

Matt, Banks, James, Justin

Grumps, Banks, Gram

His beautiful cake!

Banks and Mimi

Tired little boy after a long day!

Throwback

Look at how itty bitty (and tan) Banks used to be!!! I can't believe how quickly he's growing up. Matt thought Banks had a 5 o'clock shadow the other day. Seriously? He might be a bit young for that just yet but he is getting so big! I thought this picture of the two of them was too sweet...

3 1/2 months...almost

Mister, as we like to call him, is 3 1/2 months old. I am working feverishly to update his baby book lest I forget some major milestone that he's met in his tiny life thus far. As mentioned in the last post he's rolling over and it's tons of fun...mostly for me than for him. I'm constantly tormenting him with tummy time just to see him roll over. He's all smiles (except when the photographer was at our house getting pictures of him and I was sweating profusely trying to get him to smile to no avail...I'm convinced he knew there was money on the line). He coos up a storm and even gets tickled sometimes. Mister is a baby giant...he's weighing in as a heavy weight at 15 pounds 10.5 ounces. He's OBSESSED with his hands and it's quite comical to watch him work on getting them to his mouth:

He's found his tongue. He looks like a little froggy!

Again with the tongue:
And he got to meet a future girlfriend, June Perkins

He had a play date with June and Charlie:

Finally, for those of you who haven't forgotten about our 4-legged baby get excited! The Biggest Loser comp is coming to an end this month. There's a big celebration for all the losers (winners) at the beginning of next month. Fingers crossed Buford is the Biggest Loser! We're doing some last chance workouts before his final weigh in next week. Ugh, the pressure. Buford is really hoping for a big prize.

Daydreaming about his big winnings.