Look What I Can Do!

Hunter is doing an awesome job of sitting up on his own these days. He still tends to jerk backward and fall when he gets really excited by something, but other than that he has been balancing himself very well! He is also enjoying the new view of his world and all the toys in it!

5 Months Old!

Our little guy is another month older...WOW! I think we say this every month, but man the time is flying!

Though he's a pretty mellow baby, Hunter is developing a BIG personality. We love hearing him squeal and laugh when we make funny faces or do something that surprises and delights him. He has learned to entertain himself, which surprises us because it seems like we never leave him alone!! Nonetheless, he plays well with his toys in his high chair and exersaucer when we are occupied in the kitchen making dinner, but he'll look up every once in awhile to check on us. When he wants our attention he'll yell or squeal at us and when we make eye contact he'll smile and go back to playing. So cute!! We often hear him talking to himself in the mornings or blowing raspberries in his crib when he first wakes up, rather than crying out for us. Of course, as soon as he sees us over the top of his crib, we get the biggest smile of the day!

Hunter is learning very quickly to sit up on his own. In fact, even these last few days he has improved immensely. He still loses his balance occasionally and falls to his side or on his back so we can't leave him to it alone or without pillows around him, but for the most part he can balance pretty well on his own for several minutes at a time.

He is still a great sleeper, sleeping between 8-11 straight hours every night. He has recently started making some new noises with his mouth and imitates our mouth movements without sound, as well. Though we still haven't heard a ma-ma or da-da come out of his mouth yet. The other day I got him to imitate me making a kissy face, which was really cute...we'll have to continue to work on that one so he doesn't forget it!

Hunter is also taking a special interest in Jack the Cat these days. When he sees him, he focuses all of his attention on him and reaches for him, no matter how far away he may be. He will also squeal at Jack to try and get his attention and beckon him over. Of course, Jack generally acts totally disinterested, but sometimes he'll walk close enough to Hunter and allow his tail to graze his face. Hunter is not quick enough to grab it....yet! I think Jack will get a big surprise one day soon though!!

Hunter is still exploring the world through his mouth and continues to eat with gusto. In addition, to the breastmilk he inhales regularly, he has rice cereal or baby oatmeal at least 2 times a day. In fact, it has gotten to the point where he stops whatever he is doing when Ryan and I are eating. He can be in the middle of playing with his favorite toy and he will just drop it and stare at us while we eat. If he is close enough, he will grab at our food, too. It almost makes us feel guilty! We can start introducing him to vegetables and fruits next month, so we are bound to get some funny expressions from him then!

Here are some of our favorite pictures from this past month!

The Sweetest Sound in the World

Almost a year ago, on January 7, 2009, Ryan and I heard Hunter's heartbeat for the very first time and it was indeed the sweetest, most amazing sound we had ever heard! For weeks, we walked around the house imitating that noise. Whoosh-whoosh, Whoosh-whoosh...

Now, there is another sound that we look forward to daily, and find ourselves doing the silliest things to provoke it...

First Christmas

Hunter's first Christmas was very merry indeed!

The day before Christmas Eve Hunter exchanged gifts with his friends at day care and we were also given some adorable gifts that Hunter made for us there! That was such a sweet surprise. We are so lucky to have such a crafty and talented day care provider - I mean, son!!

He spent Christmas Eve at Mimi and Opa's house and opened presents with them there. Christmas Eve night his Mom-mom arrived and was with us when he woke up Christmas morning to open gifts at home. Christmas day Pop-pop and Granny J. arrived and we enjoyed a traditional Christmas dinner together. Unfortunately, Hunter also got his first big cold on Christmas Eve which slowed him down a bit (he was super congested with lots of coughing and sneezing), so he napped a bit more frequently. Hunter handled it like a trooper though, and wasn't too fussy for his mom and dad. In fact, he had received so many gifts from family, and friends who shipped them to him, that he wasn't able to open all of them in one wake period. It seemed like every time he got up from a nap there were more presents to be opened! We all enjoyed watching his determined face with lips puckered, as he tried to rip the paper off his gifts and his squeals of delight with some of the louder more animated toys. A few days later Christmas continued when we had another delicious dinner at Mimi and Opa's home; this time Uncle Scott and Jessica were able to join us!

We can't forget our oldest "child" Jack the Cat...it was 2 years ago this holiday season that he started showing up at our back door and, essentially, adopted us. He had a wonderful Christmas as well. With all the empty boxes and bags lying around he was in kitty heaven!

Though it was Hunter's first Christmas and he didn't really know exactly what was going on, he enjoyed his gifts/toys, and continues to play with them on a daily basis. For the most part, he seemed to enjoy basking in the love and affection of his family members, and playing with them best of all! Perhaps he really does understand what the holidays are all about after all!!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!

This weekend we got over 2 feet of snow in a 24 hour period...more snow than we have seen in Maryland for awhile! We spent most of Saturday inside drinking hot cocoa and baking cookies, as we watched the snow fall! After Hunter's afternoon nap, we took the opportunity to bundle him up and play outside for a bit. We slid him around on an snow tube, made a family of snow angels, and just ran around in the snow, in general. Hunter kept sticking out his tongue like he was trying to catch snowflakes on it!

Of course, there was one family member who was not overly thrilled about all that white stuff...Jack! Jack the Cat was a little miffed that he couldn't get outside on Saturday. By Sunday, the snow had stopped falling and Ryan shoveled a little kitty path for Jack on our back deck, which he was all too anxious to explore!

A Fun New Sound

Hunter has figured out how to make raspberries and now he does it all the time. Rather than calling out to us when he wakes up, we often hear him making this noise from his crib instead. He will stop in the midst of playing and start making raspberries and, of course, if we instigate it he will mimic us as well.

A Piggy Says "Oink, Oink"

This is our experience introducing solid food to Hunter. We think the videos say it all!

His very first spoonfuls of rice cereal...

Two days later, his 5th feeding of rice cereal...

First Snow

This past weekend we took Hunter to Bloom's Diary Farm to see Christopher's Train Garden. This garden was set up by a one of Ryan's soccer mates, in memory of his son who loved trains. The train garden was amazing and the stories and comments posted around the room about Christopher were truly touching.

While there, Hunter also got to meet Santa for the first time, and it just so happened that we got our first snow that day, too!

Our Little Indian

Hunter likes this sound so much that if we put our hands in front of his mouth he automatically starts making the noise!

Now, if he could just relax in front of the camera...he still stares at it mesmerized!

4 Months Old!

Yesterday was Hunter's 4 month birthday, and today he had his check-up with the doctor. He was a trooper; didn't even cry when he got his vaccinations. He now weighs 15 lbs 11 ozs and is 26.5 inches long. That's the 68th percentile for weight and 92nd for height. What a big boy!!

Hunter continues to be a complete joy to us! We are still amazed by his daily growth and development. Lately, he wants to be upright all the time, whether it's sitting up or "standing". He is now able to roll over from back to front, as well as front to back. He also loves to chew and suck on his fingers, and seems to be showing the early signs of teething. These days it's impossible to hold him against our shoulders without getting a big wet drool mark indicating his presence there. We expect to see some little teeth buds coming through in another month or so.

Hunter's motor skills have also improved. He can now reach out and grab things (though depending on the object it may take 2-3 tries before he gets a good grasp) and once he has it, he inspects it and then tries to shove it in his mouth!

He is still quite vocal, especially when lying on his changing table. That seems to be his favorite podium from which to address his minions (us)! In the mornings, he "tells" us all about his dreams from the night before and in the evenings he "tells" us all about what he did at daycare. Not a lot of vowel sounds yet, but we're sure those aren't too far off. He continues to tease us with his belly laugh. He is basically giving us sneak previews of what is to come, but isn't belly laughing consistently yet. From what we've seen, it's going to be pretty awesome though!

Here are some pics from this last month! Enjoy!