7 months

Corben is 7 months old today! This month has been a month of huge changes and milestones for him. He is crawling now (and the fun begins for us!), passes things back and forth between hands (has done that for awhile), has a little bit of success in feeding himself finger foods, is eating all kinds of yummy solids, has 5 teeth, raises his arms when I go to pick him up, walks like a maniac in his little tot walker thingy, says "dada" and other strings of consonants.....but of course, no "mama" there was a "nana" the other day, maybe that is his attempt at some mama! haha

Here is his chair picture:
Check out those teeth :) This is a good picture to show his always smily and silly personality!


I dropped him off at the church nursery yesterday for the first time while I attended the first day of my fall women's bible study. I was a nervous wreck, as the only people that have ever watched him are my parents and two of my good friends. So to leave him with people I didn't know well and with a bunch of other kids, it was kinda freaky. Of course, he did awesome and was a good boy. When I picked him up, I saw him being rocked by a grandma type lady :) He was sound asleep.
But when they brought him to me, and he was being held by someone much shorter than me (or Steve), I really got a perspective on how big this baby boy is. He really is huge! I see everyday that I dress him that I am putting size 12/18 clothes on him (meaning he is the size of an average 12/18 month old) but it wasn't until seeing someone else hold him that I really could SEE how big he truly is! Haha love my little linebacker!

Never Leaving Again

Being away from my little man for an entire weekend was an interesting experience. The actual being away part was great....the wedding, spending time with friends, vacation, Rhode Island... all wonderful. But I felt like half of me was missing. By the time Steve picked me up from the airport, I was starting to feel like a crazy person and had no interest in making small talk/telling him about my weekend. I just told him, "Get me HOME!"

The garage door opened and I am not 100% sure that he had the car all the way stopped before I was opening the door to get inside to grab my baby boy! (my mom had come over to stay with him while Steve picked me up because it was right around bed time and we didn't want him sleeping that entire time in the car) I was able to give him his night bottle and put him down to bed. This whole week has just been awesome to snuggle and play with my sweet boy.

Steve did great on the solo childcare all weekend. They did their little activities, Corben was fed, slept, and loved. Not much else to ask for! He finally cut his 4th tooth while I was gone. Then, this morning I found his 5th tooth (one of the bottoms) has come through as well! That one was totally painless! ha yay!

Corben is getting better at crawling every day. He can use a combo of rolling and crawling to get around. He is FAST, too. He also chatters all day long. His favorite string of sounds? "dadadadadadadadadadada" Yes that's right, dada. I think he sprouted an inch or two while I was gone because all of a sudden none of his clothes fit and we are in all 12/18 month size stuff. It is crazy how fast this little boy is growing! He is developing the sweetest/silliest little personality. He definitely cracks himself up!

Here are some pictures of the wedding weekend and Corben:

working on crawling!

such a handsome little guy!

It's been awhile

Wow, the life of this tall family has been crazy busy lately! We were just looking at the calendar and realize that we are booked solid until mid-October. Wow. No wonder they say time flies.

Well Corben has been on a couple of trips lately. One to California with just me (yes, I drove him all by myself...he was perfect!) and another up to Prescott to visit Grandma and Grandpa Gross. It's unbelievable to me how relaxed and easily adaptable he is. He slept his full 12 hour nights, took his normal naps, ate his normal meals, and played like his normal, happy, silly self!

Here he is with Grandma

And playing with Grandpa!

So what is new in our tall man's life? Well he is still working on crawling. He rocks back and forth on his hands and knees and is starting to shift his legs forward. Then he will flop down on his belly and start again because he has not figured out his arms yet.

He is also eating lots of new foods. I was going to start making my own baby food when I get back from one of my best friend's weddings this coming weeked in Rhode Island, but have realized today that he doesnt need the pureed food anymore. He is mashing up soft things with his gums, so banana, avocado, cooked sweet potatoes, cooked squash, etc, etc, etc are going to be given to him instead of the purees (once I use up what I have). If you haven't noticed, this little man loves his food!

Such a handsome little boy!

Hmmmmm what else? I am still waiting to hear back from the endocrinologist to find out if my left thyroid has taken over the hormone functioning. Praying for good news in that situation! But I feel great and normal. So I am thinking everything is fine.

Like I mentioned before, I am going on a solo mission to Rhode Island this weekend to serve as the Matron of Honor in one of my very best friends, Cassie's, wedding. The wedding is in Newport, Rhode Island on Sunday. I am anxious to leave my little one for the entire weekend, but Steve is looking forward to a daddy/son weekend. I know they will do just fine, and I am looking forward to a little "me" time.

Cassie and I at my bridal shower!

In other VERY good news, my other best friend, Kelsey, and her husband, Steve, just recently found out that they are expecting their first baby on February 29, 2012. I am convinced it is a girl. I am SOOOOO excited for them. Their little one is so blessed to have them and I know will absolutely love being parents!

Here is Kels with Corben when he was just a couple of weeks old.



And this is her husband, Steve, trying to figure out how possible "multi-tasking" is with a baby! hahahaha

That is about it for now. Hope everyone has a great week!

Oh.....Corben goes back at the the end of September for a cardiac followup. I am sure hoping to be blogging again before then, but just to update you on where we are with that :)

6 months

Lots of things have been going on lately...trip to California, both C and I getting colds, a trip to Prescott to see Grandma and Grandpa, and his 6 month check up. I have not had time to sit down and write about it all, so for now you will get his 6 month stats and photo!

Dr. Grassl could not stop commenting on how solid, strong, and physically advanced Corben is. He is doing everything he should be, even ahead of when he should be doing it.

Here are his stats....
20 lbs 12 oz which puts him in the 95th percentile for weight
28 3/4 inches which put him off the charts in height


....and his chair photo! Notice how this month he is now sitting up on his own :)

I cannot believe he is 6 months old already!

A few videos from our California Adventure!

Pictures and more details to come, but here are a few videos of Corben's first time in the ocean, first sand, and giggling with his Aunt Kelly :)

Off we go

On Sunday Corben and I are driving out to California for the week. I am sure he will be great in the car and will adjust to everything just as he always does, but I am semi-freaking out! I am nervous about the drive out there, him getting normal naps/nighttime sleep, and just adjusting to not being home. He is such a good boy, so like I said, I'm sure everything will be great!

He is getting so good at pushing up to his hands and knees and even holds it there for a few seconds. It would be nice if he figured out how to roll from his belly to back at some point! I feel like he will crawl and walk (he stands so strongly and is getting better at holding his balance)

Here he is trying out his standing push toy thing. If you adjust the way the panel goes, he can also sit and play with it. He was enjoying standing up playing, though....with a little extra help from mommy of course!

Such a happy boy!

Here he is sitting in his Bumbo. I love the focused look on his face!

Well wish us luck and we will post when we get home :)

Surgery

On Wednesday, I had my thyroidectomy to remove my right thyroid and the mass that was attached to it.

Everything went very well. They only needed to remove the right half (once they were in there, a pathologist tested the mass to see if it had any cancer cells...I'd had a biopsy, but this was a more thorough inspection. If it had been cancerous they would have removed the other half of my thyroid as well). I also did not need a drain after surgery.

I stayed the night at Good Sam that night. While I missed my sweet baby boy, it was good to just rest and worry about resting and recovering.

My Aunt Susan was here for the week, so she took care of Corben while Steve and I were at the hospital that day. Thank goodness she was here! We were able to have a ton of fun in the days before my surgery as well, so that was good.

I am feeling really good, just get tired easily...probably from the anesthesia still leaving my system. I am just trying to rest as much as possible. Luckily Corben likes to snuggle in for naps with his mama ;-) The stitches on my neck are really starting to itch, which Steve keeps telling me is a good thing, meaning it is healing together. It's not painful or infected so I'll just take his word for it.

Anyway, that is what has been going on with us. Corben is on the verge of crawling. He can now push up to his knees and elbows. He still doesn't realize that this can take him anywhere, but he'll be on the move soon enough.


This is from Tuesday when we went to Lake Pleasant for the day :)