7 month photo shoot

Two weeks late but that's okay.

I've already painted the "8" on the block so maybe we'll do that one on time.

One update for his 7 month milestones- He's signing "more" to us now. He first did it with apples but when we tried it with cereal he wouldn't do it. I guess now he needs to learn "no more"!

I'm not sure if that's lead free paint or not...

These pictures are getting harder and harder to take!

Those toes eventually ended up in his mouth.

The final product. Love that smile.

Cute as a pumpkin

We've been trying to get to the pumkpin patch for two weeks and finally made it this past weekend while in Fuquay. After a great photo shoot and picking our the perfect baby pumpkin, we forgot them! So back at our we're still pumpkin-less but at least we have cute pictures to show for it.

Papa Jay's heart hurts

Last Sunday morning around 4:50am I woke up to Jayson saying "heart attack". Never did I expect him to say that his dad had just had a heart attack and was in the hospital. Thankfully, minimal damage was done but this has been a huge wake up call for all of us. The Lord has blessed Truett with wonderful grandparents and we want them to be around for a VERY long time.

Ironically, the day before I was driving home with Truett asleep in the back seat thinking about how blessed we were but also recognizing how quickly things could change. I had just helped host a shower for a childhood friend and was able to catch up with a lot of wonderful women from my home church in Washington. Truett and I had spent the night at my parens house and they enjoyed loving on him. Jayson had gone to the wooden boat show with some good friends from Greenville. My heart was over flowing with thanksgiving to our Lord. Sunday morning was a reminder of how we must recognize and appreciate the daily blessings and relationships that we have.

Truett's first art project was a "Get well soon" picture for Papa Jay



Others were made as special surprises



7 months

Truett turned 7 months on Friday. I feel like we just took our 6 month pictures yesterday. I can't count how many people told me that time would fly but I didn't think it would fly this fast. I'm so grateful for our 7 month love-bug. It's hard to believe that he's that old and I wish time would slow down. I don't have his 7 month picture yet but I'll post it as soon as we take. Cute pictures are below to hold you over.

We enjoyed our weekend in Fuquay but as usual, it was busy. Saturday, we went to JC Penny for some pictures of Truett. I have to admit that I'm a bit of snob when it comes to picture quality. Unfortunately, I'm not thrilled with our pictures and if we had paid more than we did, I wouldn't have gotten them. The photographer would try to get him to smile but by the time she had the camera ready, the smile would be gone. And props were half in/half out of the picture. I'm disappointed but we have a few good ones.

Truett's first sink bath.

 Saturday evening we celebrated a friend's 30th birthday. Jayson's not far behind! He's working on coming to terms with the big 3-0! Achy knees, gray hairs, etc.

On Sunday we went to my mom's side family reunion. This once a year gathering had 4 generations present. Truett's not the youngest in the family but he was the youngest (and cutest) present.

He was chewing on the swing so we put his coat there.

My new favorite!

Weeeeeeeeee!

 7 Month updates:

• CLAPPING! He started clapping yesterday and hasn't stopped. It is SO cute. 
• He's on the verge of crawling. He gets on one knee but topples over.
• We've introduced green beans and carrots to his diet. Now that we have a plethora of goodies, we've started to spice it up a little and mix foods together. Tonight we had apples and bananas.
• Our biggest update for the month is that Truett is now solely on formula. Between his two little teeth and my low milk supply, we were forced to stop nursing. I'm glad I was able to nurse as long as I was because wanted to go as long as I could. Once I got past month 2 or so and we got in our groove, I really loved that time together. If you think about it, I had been Truett's sole mean of nourishment for a year and a 1/2 (while preggo)

Truett's schedule:

5:30ish- He still waits up sometimes early morning but we're able to give him his pacy back or we put him in his swing. Every now and then he'll sleep through to 7 or 8.
7am- 6 oz., cereal, and a fruit
11am- 7/8 oz.
3pm- 7/8 oz.
6:30- 6 oz., veggie, and a fruit. We were giving cereal but I wanted to add another fruit or veggie and I think they're more vital than cereal.
8pm- Bed time. He still sleeps like a champ!

I didn't include naps because they're so random! Ideally, he goes down about two hours after he eats for about an hour and a 1/2 to 2 hours. That was not the case today! I was off today and kept him with me. I don't do this often but I rocked him for about an hour while he slept. And I loved it! I know I won't get this time back so I cherish our time together.

Rubber ducky...you're the one!

This week has brought a few new experiences in Truett's life.

1) Our 1st virus. Yuck. Little man had his 6 month shots on Thursday so we thought his fever was related to that but it go higher than a 101 so we went to the doctor and are now on antibiotics. He's stayed home from daycare this week. A huge thanks to Papa Jay for coming down and spending the day with Truett while Jayson and I worked. I'm not sure who had more fun? But Truett is worn out!
2) Our 1st tooth! It broke through Monday night. We knew it was coming and we're thankful to get this process under way. The sooner it starts the sooner it will end. We've had the expected drool, pulling of the ears, everything going into his mouth, and lately his appetite has been down.

See the shiny thing...that's a tooth

3) We've update our bathtime experience tonight. Rubber ducky allowed for more splashing and easier bathing. Loved by everyone!

We're back! 6 months old

I welcome myself back to the world of blogging! After our situation with Harker, I wasn't in the mood to write and then that thing called "life" vicously took over. So here we are, a month later. The Swain house continues to revolve around sweet Truett and we're okay with that. In fact, we're thrilled with it. Truett's world continues to grow and change. We going on 6 months and 2 weeks of pure sweetness and love. This month as brought big people food, the coming of teeth, and his own language!


We passed our 6 month check up with flying colors! A great report with lots of compliments. Of course, we were proud parents. Truett is 17 lbs. and 25 inches long. He's in the 10% for height and 50% for weight. His little belly is starting not to be so little anymore. The doctor said he would probably be short; 5' 9" or 5' 10". But to his 5' tall momma, 5'10" is tall! His development is right on track and we LOVE watching his world evolve.

FOOD:

• Peas- Yuck but he swallows
• Zuchinni- A favorite
• Squash- Likes butternut over yellow but eats both like a champ!
• Banannas- Not so much
• Apples and pears- Both yummo

OTHER FUN FACTS:

• Truett's sitting up on his own
• He knows that he can get to the things out of his reach but is still figuring out how to get from point A to point B
• We're not sure what he's saying but he sure is telling us what's up!
• Teeth- We looked tonight and we've got two on the bottom that so close to popping through. Everything goes in his mouth
• He finally turned from his stomach to his back but doesn't repeat very often
• He gets 7oz. twice a day of formula and I nurse twice a day plus cereal and a fruit for breakfast and cereal and a veggie for dinner. 
• His favorite toy is his excersaucer. Thanks to generous friends we have several in various rooms in the house. Overload but convenient!
• He's wearing 6-9 month clothes
• Favorite book: "The Little Blue Truck"
• Continues to love bath time and splashes like crazy

Showing off his hand to mouth coordination for the Dr.

Yes, that is spit up! HAHA

Bundled up and ready for a stroll

T's first Labor Day dove hunt and BBQ

We're starting his appreciation for music early.

5 months and counting

This posting will be a short one. It's Monday and I'm pooped!

5 months of love and joy! Truett's accomplishments

• Rice cereal- He didn't love the regular rice cereal so we've switched to whole grains and he does much better with that. We'll probably start him on pureed veggies soon because I would imagine he's getting bored with the grains and milk.
• He sits up by himself although a little wobbly. We keep the Boppy behind him just in case.
• He's very interactive with his toys. He knows which ones he likes and will reach for them.
• I may be making this up but I really believe his attention span is developing and it's short! He doesn't like to do one thing very long so we're constantly moving him from jumperoo, to his play mat, to his Bumbo, etc.
• He continues to sleep from 8pm to about 5 or 6am when we put him in his swing and he'll go back to sleep 'til 7ish. I'm not sure why he won't stretch to 7am in his crib but I'm not too concerned about it since he's been in there for 9/10 hours already.
• We still give him 6oz. four times a day and have added an iron supplement
• He loves his 'lovees'! I admit that I forced him to nap with them because I think they're cute. But now he loves them.
• His belly laugh is wonderful! And he's starting to have conversations with himself or us, who knows? We're just happy he's communicating with us.
• Speaking of communication, we've started signing with him. Simple words like 'more', 'eat', 'mik'.





My two surfer dudes



Something to grow in to






In case you were wondering what 72 servings of butternut squash looks like



Must love squash

Now that Truett has started eating rice cereal, we're moving into "big people food" mode around the Swain house. The bowls and colored spoons are coming out along w/ EVERY bib we own. We go through at least three a day.  And we've since changed from rice cereal to whole grains, which he likes much better. We've also started to sign the basic words- more, eat, milk, finished. I've watched our friend's son sign to his parents and it really helps with their communication and understanding his needs.

 Jayson was smart enough to plant veggies that we can puree and freeze for when he's ready to move up on the food latter. Below is our journey to the overwhelming amount of butter squash!

Ready for cereal!

All geared up

Umm..nevermind. I'll stick with milk.

Please stop this torture.

4 of 10 squash. Who knew it was so hard to cut into.

It has been a really bad day. The squash received my wrath.



Mom, what is this stuff you're feeding me?



My new name: Sarah "multi-taker" Swain. Feeding T-bug, pureeing food, and cooking some very good BBQ chicken quesadillas.

After all that cooking and gutting, my blender didn't even puree! Our bowl of squash is still awaiting it's fate.

No creative title comes to mind so...

We'll just dive right into the updates!

First, apologies to the grandparents who faithfully watch our blog for pictures and updates. I have no excuse good enough to give.

Second, our child is growing too fast! Since Truett joined our little family, I've tried really hard to enjoy every second and really prioritize my time. Things that can be done after he goes to bed are put off until then (and sometimes to the next day or the next). I realize how quickly time flies and I hate the idea of missing an opportunity to love on him and spend time as a family because I'm doing the dishes or laundry. Who needs clean clothes anyway, right?

Our 4 month check-up was great minus the shots. Truett weighed 13 lbs. 1oz. and was 24 inches long (I think). He's moved into the 25th percentile for both height and weight. This round of shots were much worse than the first. His appointment was on a Friday and all weekend he was cranky, ran a fever, and didn't sleep much. We also had some middle of the night feedings which were rather dramatic. I understood why God designed pregnant women to have to get up in the middle of the night in preparation for their baby but when we've had awesome, sleep through the night, slumber for two months, it was rough!  The doctor was impressed with his communication with us- proud parents already! Since then he's taken off with eating rice cereal, sitting up (although a bit wobbly), baby talk, sleeping on his belly, reaching for things including my hair and necklaces, and his amazing flexibility, which Jayson is pretty jealous of. He's almost got his left foot in his mouth along with everything else he touches.

Normally I wouldn't "blog" about the trails of parenthood because this is a joyful blog but this is personal challenge that I could use your prayers on. We were very fortunate to find a sitter to keep Truett in her home for us since he was 9 weeks old. She was a teacher, I knew her husband through Relay, great kids, Truett loves her, etc. I had a VERY hard time leaving him with someone else who, to be perfectly honest, wasn't me! She didn't know how he liked to be held, or that he likes to sleep in his swing, or soothed with "shushing". I hated the idea that she would see him more than me. But life goes on and the bills still come so I put on my big girl panties and dealt with it. Now that we're all adjusted, she's going back to work and we have to find new childcare. We have secured a spot at a daycare down the road from us that I really like but my major issue with daycare is the teacher to child ratio (1 to 10 per class). I can barely handle my one, how can I expect someone to handle 5. And babies! Babies who need to be held, loved, read to, fed, changed, propped up and re-propped up! So, with all that said we've started the search for a sitter to share with another couple who is expecting their 1st child in August. Here comes the "but"...if we don't take this spot, we may not be able to get back in until he's three! There's a lot to be said for daycares and the development they provide children. I should never be allowed to teach! It's not my calling and bless those who do. So I want him somewhere that he'll get that nurturing. This has been the most stressful decision we have had to make! I worried more about childcare than I did laboring and delivery. If childcare was only as easy as his birth! :)

I've been a single mom for a few days while Jayson's been traveling for work. 9 long days! He's been in Miami but I'm pretty sure he hasn't been living the good life. He misses us too much! Major kudos go out to single parents, military spouses, etc. It's no joke! Thank you to my mom who stepped in to help me over the past few days. Jays- hurry home! We miss you.

On to the real reason we look at baby blogs...PICTURES!

Leighton and Truett first meeting

Taken two seconds prior to falling backwards

New growth chart at Granny Angie and Papa Jay's

Mozart!

I love his smile