A Glimpse at Five Months

Teddy turned 5 months old on the 27th and he is really coming into his own . He loves sticking out his tongue, trying to sit up (he's almost there...check out the pictures), watching and laughing at Pierce, and trying out his new foods. So far he has sampled sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash and peas. So far he LOVES carrots and peas--he reaches out to grab the spoon and tries his best to feed himself. I can't remember when the eating gets a little cleaner...as of now he is burning through one outfit at lunch and at dinner. It's a good thing he loves tubbies, because he is in there at least once a day! He enjoys spending time in his exersaucer, and has had a great time watching the world while standing up.

Before

After

We got our Christmas tree this weekend and have had a blast decorating it with the boys. Pierce particularly likes changing the colors of his fingers by pressing on the lights on the trees. This year has been fun, since Pierce is starting to get into the idea of Santa Claus, and loves pointing out the decorations and listening for the reindeer on our roof. It's great to see the holiday through a kid's eyes again!

Turkey time

We just returned from a fabulous family Thanksgiving in Florida. The weather was perfect, and the boys got to spend quality time with Gigi, Nana, Pops, Chris, Liz, Foster and Molly and Uncle Drewman and Andrea. We spent hours at the beach, pool, the Palm Beach Zoo and running around the grounds at the hotel. Teddy got his first swim in and Pierce braved the diving board solo. The boys again were terrific travelers, and we all had a delicious, if not harried Thanksgiving dinner with 4 kids under 3.

A week of firsts!

In the beginning of November, we traveled out to San Francisco for Teddy's first trip to Nana and Pops' house. We had a wonderful week of playing, trips to the discovery museum, zoo and Exploratorium and walks along the bay. The boys were great travelers, and even adjusted to the time change pretty easily. Halsey and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a lovely dinner on the town while we had built in babysitters!

Pierce's favorite part of the SF zoo...the carousel.

While we visited, we introduced Teddy to his first solids--rice cereal. We offered it to him a little earlier than Pierce in the hopes that we could help with some weight gain and sleeping issues. We'll let you know how it goes. It seems like he could kind of take it or leave it! In the video below, Teddy was having a great time in the vibrating chair. He loved that it sits up straighter than the one we have at home. He is so strong, and tries to pull up to a sit (and standing) when you hold his hands. I'm afraid we may have a mover on our hands before too long!

Four months, footloose and swaddle-free

As Teddy enters his 4th month (yikes!), he is now sleeping sans swaddle. We transitioned him to a sleep sack a couple of weeks ago, and even took the sleep positioner away. With all of his freedom in the crib, he rolled over onto his belly and woke himself up multiple times. Unfortunately, our pediatrician informed us that SIDS peaks at 4 months, and that it's not OK to leave him on his tummy at night. Boo! So that meant we brought back the sleep positioner. He sleeps pretty well, waking twice a night after his 7 pm bedtime, and is up for the day by 7:15. Not too bad for a little guy! He has also settled in to a 3 nap a day routine, though most of those take place in the car seat shuttling Pierce around. Oh well, at least it's the start of a schedule.

We had our official 4 month appointment last week (a full week early), and Teddy is trending just like his big brother Pierce--long and lean! He is very healthy, happy and active, and showed off his rolling skills (front to back and back to front) as soon as he was placed on the exam table. He also was chatting and smiling up a storm. Dr. Joyce is not concerned about his weight as she knows what happened with Pierce once we started him on solids. :) She gave us the green light to start cereal on the earlier side of the 4 to 6 month window, and we are planning to start once we get back from our trip to San Francisco, when he is about 20 weeks old. Until then, here are his stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 15 oz (pre-feeding), 13 lbs 3 oz. (post-feeding)

Height: 26 inches (85%)

The most exciting development has been the laughs that have started. They are small and deep for now, but so cute. Can't wait to catch them on film! Also, I thought I'd post a side by side of the boys at 4 months. Teddy's on the left. People are telling us that the two boys look alike...I'm still not so sure.

Halloween Fun

Pierce and Dad had a great time trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. And the whole family enjoyed a town parade and town trick-or-treating. Accompanied by our first snow, it felt more like Christmas than Halloween!

Fall Fun!

It's been a while since the last post, and in the meantime, much of the fall has passed us by. It's been a busy month filled with fun fall activities and family events! This post will be a "two-fer", combining our annual trip to Honey Pot Hill for some apple picking and a new family trip to Smolak Farms for hayrides, an animal farm and a pumpkin patch.

Honey Pot Hill has been a destination for the Bourques and Morrises since before kids. We have been going for 5 years, and this was our third trip with kids. It's great to look back at the photos of our fist trip, with Erin and Pierce in matching Ergos, to last year, in matching backpacks, to this year in wagons and on feet (with the addition of Teddy and Annette, too). We have some cute pictures of everyone enjoying the beautiful 80 degree day in the apple orchards! It's a great tradition that we look forward to continuing for many years to come.

A new addition to the fall routine was a trip out to Smolak Farms for a farmyard adventure. Pierce loved the petting zoo and play structure, and got to go on his very first hayride through the apple orchards. He loved it! The farm fun was followed by a trip through the pumpkin patch where Pierce settled on 3 large pumpkins for us to carve. Looking forward to this weekends project. When asked, Pierce says he is going to carve a happy face. Look for photos soon!

Baptism weekend

We had a gorgeous October weekend for Teddy's christening, and were lucky that so many family and friends joined us for his baptism. Teddy was a champion (as was Pierce) during the long church service, and even cooperated with naps before and after the ceremony. He enjoyed the view of the brunch from the comfort of his Bumbo and gave plenty of smiles to his guests! It was a lovely day for our little boy.

Leading up to the Christening, Nana came to visit and we had a great time reading, playing at the farm, and going on adventures with her! Thanks for the visit.

3 months!

Teddy is 3 months old today, and while Pierce was at school, he did a little learning of his own...in the Bumbo. Here are some pics of him discovering his hands, and the joys of toys.

He's getting so big!

September Sillies

We've had a great month here in the Morris household, and it's hard to believe that Teddy is almost 3 months old. He's been growing like a weed (and his sleep pattern shows for it!), and Pierce has been loving how much more interactive he can be with his brother. Right now Pierce's favorite thing to say to Teddy is "no sad faces, Teddy, just smiles!", the proceeds to try and make Teddy laugh. It's pretty cute!

Teddy his the magical 12 week mark this week, and his personality really started to shine. His nighttime sleep is still inconsistent, though he wakes up only twice per night--you just never know when it is going to be. He now sits in his bouncy seat or activity mat for a much longer time, which has been great! It's hard to believe what a difference a week makes!

Pierce has officially entered his twos, and we have some real high-highs with some low-lows scattered in there. He takes great joy in running, being outside, and hanging out with his "favorite" friends (stuffed and human). There is a video below of him running through the sprinkler that is too cute.

This week Pierce has been testing out the no-nap thing. Not sure why he's staying up, since he is very tired. I think he may be getting his back molars in, which are making him feel a little unlike himself. Last week, after 1.5 hours of struggling to get him to stay in bed (he was happy the whole time), I just left him until the time his nap usually ends. When I went to get him up, he was asleep on his floor on a pile of his stuffed animals. He thought he had fallen out of bed, and thought it was pretty funny when I explained what happened to him!

We've had a great time this month with weddings of friends, a beach brunch celebrating Morris milestones, a trip to Philly to visit Chris, Liz, Foster and Molly. There are some pictures of the cousins together. Thanks to Chris and Liz for hosting us even though their house was threatened by flooding!