Love, Ty & Kaddie: 2019

Weight: I weighed him at my parents' house the other day and he weighed 20lbs.

Eating: Foster is nursing 5 times a day and will normally snack on finger foods whenever we are all eating. Charlie thinks it is unfair to eat in front of him without giving him something. This morning Charlie gave him green beans for breakfast. We didn't do any "baby foods" with Foster, but have just gone straight to finger foods. So far he has tried avocado, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, and peas.

Sleeping: Foster dropped his third nap this month. Now he is napping at around 8:30/9 and 1/1:30. He goes to bed around 7PM and sleeps until 5:30/6. I do not get him up for the day before 6AM though. I think he has been having a hard time teething and has been often waking up in the middle of the night. When this happens it is hard to get him back to sleep, but when I nurse him he will normally pass out again. Teething gel doesn't seem to be helping him, so I am looking for some other options. I will probably try a remedy (chamomile) next time he wakes up. He always loves to sleep in his swing, but we've stopped putting him in it because 1) he is too big for it and 2) we are trying to wean him from it.

New Skills:
- Learning how to eat
- Talking more and more! He is expanding all the sounds he is able to make all the time. He really loves blowing through his lips though.
- Scooting in circles
- He has gotten very good at the pincher grab and getting food into his mouth.

He Loves:
- Gnawing on food
- Gnawing on cold teethers (those teeth are going to come any day now!)
- Baths still make him the happiest
- Chatting with anyone
- Sweet potatoes
- Playing Peek-a-boo
- When Lydia looks at him and says "EEEEE" really loudly. Every time she does it he laughs a deep belly laugh. It is so funny and random!

He Doesn't Like: I think teething has really been challenging. He is normally a happy and easy going babe, but in the middle of the night and during some days he has been more emotional (also due to the lack of sleep) and clingy (which I don't totally mind) ;-)

Exciting Things We Did:

We went Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. Before we went, Charlie asked what we could give to Aunt Genna to take with her to India. Jade said that the girls in India love American candy, so after Trick or Treating, Charlie set aside a large bag full of candy to send over. I was proud of his heart. Aunt Gonna sent us a video of giving them the candy. It was really special to Charlie!

We visited Hershey Chocolate World. It was Foster's first time on the ride.

Foster tried food for the first time! We started with avocado. The video is so funny. He did a great job and the kids were really excited. Foster really loved playing in the avocado afterwards.

Foster's first time on my back in the carrier.

Foster's first time in a shopping cart. He wasn't too happy though because I was making him wait to eat. Sissy was excited though!

We celebrated sweet Lydia's 4th Birthday! We had a drop in at our house from 10AM-3PM. We had a full house the whole time and it was a lot of fun. Lydia felt loved!

I have always been intrigued with Elimination Communication. I recently met a couple mamas who have done it with their babes, so Foster and I have been trying it. He has been doing a great job! He has pooped in the potty and nearly almost always pees on the potty. He even goes in public restrooms. I don't know what will happen with it, but it is fun to at least build his awareness.

We went to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. The kids love it there! Mama and Papa bought us a year pass last year for Christmas, and we wanted to go one more time before it expired.

We got our Christmas tree! The middles weren't exactly in the holiday spirit and we struggled with attitudes all around, but our tree is really pretty! When we got home, we realized that we didn't have a tree stand anymore, so Ty ran out and bought a new one. We then went to decorate the tree, but the lights were dead. So were the icicles for the outside of our house. Needless to say, our annual Black Friday Christmas kickoff was a little rough, but we are all still excited!

More Photos:

Not Sleeping

Photo by C

Photo by Jed

Foster fell asleep on Grammie while waiting for Mommy to get home to put him to bed <3

A warm November day!

Not so much Foster related, but we turned Jed around on 11/29. Foster and Jed have enjoyed being able to talk more.

Still not sleeping

A Note From Mommy: Son, you are beautiful to me. You are a glimpse of heaven and unadulterated love. Thank you for bringing beauty and light into my life. You are a gift. I pray to always point you back to the Creator of your beauty and the beauty around you.

Eating: Foster is still exclusively breastfeed. We will probably start finger foods next month. He does enjoy gumming on carrots.
Sleeping: Sleep was a bit of a struggle bus this month. Foster started waking in the middle of the night and screaming until he nursed. He would then quickly go back to sleep. The issue is that the more that I nursed him, the more he was waking. While we were at the cabin, he was up multiple times each night. I was nursing him so often and my milk supply was going crazy. He also was not napping very well. When we got home from the cabin, I dedicated myself to working on cutting out nursings. It has been going pretty well, but at least once he is still getting up and demanding to eat. Other times, I can get him to fall back sleep. Day Light Savings also ended this month and that did not help anything. The past couple nights he woke up at around 4AM, demanded to eat, and then passed back out until 7:30. He is napping better now too, and is back to his 3 naps a day. He normally takes at least one nap in his swing, but he is definitely too big for and I am trying my best to wean me and him away from it (It's just so easy and convenient!)
He Loves:
- His walker
- Gnawing on carrots
- Sitting up and moving more
- Being outside
- Waking up really early
- His swing
- Covering his entire face with his blanket when he's sleeping and/or tired
He Doesn't Like:
- Sleeping in
New Skills:
- Sitting up and moving much more! He will be crawling soon!
- Not a skill, but he tried a carrot for the first time this month.
- He has gotten very good at picking things up and bringing them to his mouth.
Fun Things We Did:

Grammie bought Foster a walker. He LOVES it!

We went to the cabin. Unfortunately, daddy stayed home to work and get some house projects done. We missed him. Especially when no one could sleep and mommy was the only one available to snuggle and console all four babies at once.