Multnomah Falls & Dam Day

Our little Mister loves the outdoors. He just can't get enough of the grass, cars, or fresh air. We have done a few hikes before but Multnomah Falls was our longest one with Kendrick. It was just over 2 miles round trip. Kendrick was amazing the entire time and we look forward to taking him hiking again.

We had planned to hike another trail immediately after this one but on our way there we passed by a dam and Nate really wanted to check it out. They happened to have their last tour for the day when we arrived so we decided that we would skip our other hike and check out the dam instead.

 My favorite bridge was the Bridge of the Gods (pictured below). It had a $1 toll fee and I got excited every time we passed it.

Blown raspberries anyone?

Silly Kendrick

While Nathan was reading to Kendrick he kept looking back at me and laughing. After he did it 15+ times I finally had to get the camera out. (This video doesn't do justice of his happiness or how many times he looked back).

For the Grandma's

Looking at his Daddy!

 

Looking like his Daddy!

This hat is a thrift store find and I love it!

I forgot to take the tag off... oh and Kendrick is a pro at sitting up now.

Bugs!!

Open mouth slobbery grins are my favorite.

Blowing Raspberries

Sleeping (Some details might be the same as other months)

I love talking about Kendrick's sleeping patterns because he always has so much personality when it comes to sleeping. He has to have things just the right way. He will toss and turn until he is in the most comfortable position. All I have to do is give him his blanket and binky and he does the rest. 

The room is rarely dark enough for him so usually the blanket goes straight to the eyes to make it darker. Then he kicks, kicks, kicks and spreads out the rest of the blanket before he turns on his side and conks out. If he is still too hyper to sleep he will kick the bars and rotate around until he gets more tired. He is always the calmest in his crib. In fact if he is ever throwing a tantrum I usually put him in his crib because he will almost always calm down and fall asleep (even if he just woke up). Sometimes I just don't see how he could possibly still be sleepy but he sure knows how to communicate that he wants sleep. 

I am no longer scared of him suffocating from a blanket. He puts the blanket to his face so often that it would be unavoidable.

Sometimes before I go to bed I can hear him jabbering, laughing, and kicking just a little and I know he is having happy dreams. Occasionally I will rub his little cheeks and get a little grin out of him. I just think he is adorable and I don't want to forget the cute little things that make him unique.

Oregon Zoo

 The Oregon Zoo was amazing! It was so different to see animals around trees and natural wildlife rather than the Utah dessert. Kendrick was fantastic all day and we found his Halloween costume from the Zoo gift shop!! He is going to be a cute looking animal come October.

Breastfeeding

Warning: This post is going to be exactly what the title says so if it not of interest to you then don't read.

So I had to officially give up breastfeeding this month. I no longer had the patience and energy to do both bottles and breast. It was exhausting because I never knew if Kendrick was getting enough milk. I was really losing my milk so I kept trying to cut out bottles and only breastfeed but he was just not having that. I finally just had to do an ultimatum with him and when he choose bottle over me I cried and moved on.

This post is really just going to be a journal for me so I can know what I would do different next time. The 3 biggest mistakes were exercising, not eating enough, and having periods. I started a exercise routine 2 months after delivering and my milk supply decreased oh so fast. I just couldn't eat enough for my supply and exercising. I also quit taking my acid pill during the same time so it made eating large amounts nearly impossible because I didn't want to have acid reflux all day. Even when I quit exercising I still don't think I could eat enough calories to keep up with Kendrick. Periods were just the worst thing for my milk. Call me crazy but each month I'd have a period it was like pulling teeth to try and get milk out. My milk would always come back after.. but with less :( I would have to pump almost my whole period because Kendrick would be so frustrated he wouldn't even latch on. It was very disheartening.

Things I would do different:
* Never introduce the bottle. (I like bottle feeding more so this one will be hard)
* Make a 4 month meal plan before giving birth.
* Make lots and lots of freezer meals.
* Live by my mother who cooks delicious food :)
* Don't do cardio exercising but maybe just some light yoga to tone up.
* Possibly take some birth control that makes it so I don't have periods. (Um I'm not yet convinced I will ever go back on birth control but if it is the only solution to keep breastfeeding then possibly).
* When baby sleeps through the night go to bed when they do... and sleep sleep sleep.
* Get comfortable with breastfeeding in public. When a baby needs to eat they gotta eat and it shouldn't be a big deal.
* Carry food in the diaper bag for me to eat. 
* Sign up and go to breastfeeding groups that will encourage me to keep going if I get frustrated.
* Don't let baby sleep more than 8-9 hours during the night when breastfeeding (wish I had known about this one sooner because Kendrick was a 12hr sleeper sometimes).

6 months

My little man seriously can't get any cuter... at least that is what I tell myself every day and yet somehow he still does. He is learning and growing so quickly. He is a drama boy but the endless smiles make up for his occasional grumps. He gets the most grumpy when he is hungry or tired. It is so funny to watch him go from giggling to fussing to sleeping all in a matter of minutes. He is a fantastic sleeper. He may not always stay asleep long for naps but he is so easy to put down that when he does short nap days he gets like 5 or more of them and he LOVES being put in his crib each time.

Kendrick has been practicing sitting up and feeding himself. He can do both but sometimes gets lazy. My favorite thing he does when feeding himself is watching him pick up the food in one hand switch it to the other hand and then aim for his mouth. When he sits up he does really well as long as there is a toy to grab onto. If he falls over he gets really frustrated and want to sit back up. He is a very silly mister.

The other day Kendrick woke up at 5am hungry (and not feeling well) and while Nate was getting his bottle he snuggled me and fell back asleep. I felt like I had my snuggly newborn back and it made waking up early worth ever second.

I keep track of Kendrick's growing/ learning progress on a scrapbook calendar so I will probably only blog about the few highlights that I think of when I feel like blogging :) and of course a place to show off my cutie mister Kendrick.

So now that we are in Washington and I really didn't want to pack his green picture blanket that I use for his month pictures... so I just used his favorite one instead. The blue sport blanket is like almost better than a binky for him. He snuggles the blanket like it is his best friend in the world.

Camas, WA

Kendrick was a fantastic traveler. I couldn’t have asked for a better Mister in the car. He slept just about the entire ride and only would get fussy when he was hungry. The thirteen hours I was dreading turned out better than I deserved.

I have LOVED Washington. It is beautiful, the people are friendly, and Kendrick has been all smiles. He has somehow put himself on the most wonderful schedule and made parenting a breeze. Nate and I can’t help but love him more and more with each passing day.

In the few days that we have been here we have already played games, gone shopping, had a play dates, barbequed, and enjoyed time with family. I think the next six weeks are going to be a fun time for us. I look forward to the possibility of moving here some day.

Because Kendrick now has a beautiful cuz to play with I couldn’t resist some pictures of them together. It was hard to choose my favorite so I tried to just post the ones where it showed their personalities.

Oh how I love being an Auntie and Mother!!