My sweet little Hazer,

In two months you will be one year old. I can’t believe it!

Where did this year go? It flew by faster than our first year with Hudson did. I still think of you as my tiny little baby just sleeping in my arms. But it has been months since you’ve slept in my arms.

This month, you’ve been doing a lot more. You still laugh all the time and it is so easy to get you to smile.

You cannot get enough of Hudson. He can walk into a room and you start screaming and making as much noise as you can to get him to notice you. And you laugh at every single thing he does.

You do this hilarious little bear crawl thing on your hands and feet. You rarely crawl on your knees anymore. You’re cruising around on everything and have let go a few times and stood on your own.

You’re babbling a little bit more. I think it’s because your ears are clearing up. You got tubes in your ears this morning, so hopefully that will help it a lot, too.

You say “ma-ma-ma” a lot and “ba-ba-ba” constantly. You love your bottle!

We’ve been replacing one of your bottles with a straw sippy cup every day so we can get you to drop your bottles easily when your birthday comes. You can suck down your formula so quickly in that straw cup!

I’ve done a few things to start planning for your birthday party, but this two month mark really makes me want to step on it and start crossing things off the list. It will be here before we know it! But I honestly cannot believe that 10 months have gone by. I really, really don’t like how quickly time flies.

You are eating two solid meals every day and you are doing a really good job. I’m so glad things are getting easier. You also love eating graham crackers, saltine crackers and Cheerios.

You want to clap and wave so badly. You are fascinated when you watch us clap or wave at you.

I’m so excited to see what happens in these next two months, but this has definitely been the fastest year of our lives. I would give anything to stop time.

I love you so much!

Mommy

10 month stats

Weight: 23.5 lbs

Height: 30 inches

Diaper Size: still wearing size 5 but only because I’m afraid to buy any size 4s

Clothes: 12-18 and some 12 and some 18

Dear Hayes,

You are 9 months old! Actually, you turned 9 months old on February 5, but I’ve gotten a little bit slower about getting your monthly posts up.

This has been a really big month for you! You started really crawling and pulling up this month. And you started eating more solids- and doing it willingly! You love pretty much everything you’ve eaten (with a recent distaste for broccoli) and this will no doubt make things easier in the long run. I’m so glad we all just stayed patient and waited until you were really ready to want to eat.

I think that’s the theme with you. You just do things when you’re ready and you definitely don’t fit into a box.

You stayed pretty healthy this month. We managed to keep you off antibiotics, for the most part.

You still take 8 ounces of formula at a time and you have 4-5 bottles per day, depending on what happens with your schedule.

You love to laugh and Hudson can really, really make you laugh. You love playing peek-a-boo and “where’s Hayes?” You really just get fussy if you have a dirty diaper or need a nap. Who can blame you?

You are happy to go to anyone that will hold you. You love for your daddy and me to hold you, but when we give you to the nursery volunteers at church, you’re just as happy to see them. So far, we haven’t experienced any separation anxiety with you- but I’m sure it’s coming!

We lowered your crib this month because you were sitting up and pulling up in your crib. Yikes. We woke up a couple of nights and saw you sitting up in your crib just looking around. So we thought it was time to drop the crib mattress and hopefully you’d sleep a little better.

We are taking you on Wednesday to have the scans and measurements done for your doc band. I’m excited to see how this works for you and we feel at peace with our decision.

You still love your lovey and a fun little set of blocks that RC and PC gave you for Christmas. You also love your My Pal Scout dog that KK and Poppie sent you. But your favorite toy is the Jump n Go door hanging toy. You could jump in that thing for an hour!

I can’t believe we’re another month closer to your birthday. I’m just not sure where the time has gone!

We love you so much, precious boy!

Mommy

9 Month Stats

Weight: 23 pounds (85%)

Height: 29 3/4 inches (90%)

Clothes: 12 month and 12-18 month

Diaper: size 5 (only because I’m scared if we buy too many size 4s you’ll grow out of them before you can wear them)

Dear Hayes,

My sweet little baby. You are growing up so quickly. I just can’t believe how quickly the time flies.

You still like to sit in your exersaucer occasionally. Now you’re loving your Jump ‘n Go door hanger, too. You love playing with your little Baby Einstein music box and your Melissa and Doug soft stacking rings. Sometimes Hudson even lets your play with some of his toys. But you mostly just chew on them.

the most yellow picture on the planet. i’m no photographer.

You’ve had quite a few ear infections in the last month, but we think you’re on the mend. We’re also prepared to hear the news that you need to have tubes- and that’s okay as long as it makes you feel lots better. Hudson had them and I had them as a baby, and we know they work. Hopefully you won’t need them.

You’ve been doing a much better job with eating. You like the things that I make for you as long as I make them chunkier. You love squash, sweet potatoes, peaches, bananas and green beans. I’ve also given you pieces of pancakes, tiny bites of steamed broccoli, cauliflower and banana. You love the freedom to feed yourself. Peas are your favorite. I’m so happy you’re doing so much better because this has been a big source of worry for me.

Hayes, you’re such a content little guy. I say it every month, but it’s true. You are happy to just sit and watch. You’re never super eager to go anywhere or do anything. You definitely got your daddy’s laid back personality.

You’re still not crawling, but you’re trying so hard. You can move from a seated position to all fours. Then you rock back and forth on all fours or crawl backwards. Then you can move from all fours to a seated position. I think you’ll be so much less frustrated once you start crawling.

You love to hug. When I go to pick you up, you reach up for me and then put your arms around my neck when I hold you. Please don’t ever grow up.

You love for us to read to you. You like to sit in our laps and just look at the pictures. Sometimes you’ll turn around and look back at me and smile, which always makes me laugh, but you do love to read.

You also love music. If there’s music playing then you’re smiling. And you love for us to sing to you.

You’re waking up around 7:30 a.m. and eating breakfast and getting a bottle. We put you back down for a nap around 9:30 and you sleep for an hour. (We have to wait to get home from taking Hudson to school before you can take this morning nap.)

We feed you again a bottle at 10:30 and then you go back down for a nap around noon. (You actually fall asleep in the car when we go to pick up Hudson.)

You get another bottle at 1:30 and go back down at 2:30 for your long nap. You’re up at 4:30 for your supper. We get you good and full so you can go until 7:00-ish before your bed time bottle. You’re in bed, asleep by 7:30 p.m.

We love you, little Hayes. You’ve blessed our lives in so many ways we can’t even count.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Stats

Weight: 23 lb 12 oz

Height: Unknown

Diaper: Size 4 during the day and size 5 at night

Clothes: 12 month

a rare picture of Hudson and Hayes. Hudson actually asked to sit next to Hayes to take a picture.