Zoom in on Zayne- 7months

*So I'm all updated on his monthly postings, I just have to get pictures put in each one! Hoping I can do that before he turns 1 on Wednesday!!! Anyways, heres month 7:


 Hey Buddy!!

Well sir, you're tottering towards being totally mobil. Help me. Lol! You're not crawling, or really even close, lol. But you're sitting up and rocking forward. You're also pretty good at rolling now, so that gets you to where you want to be if you're close enough. Basically you can get from point A to point B if absolutely necessary and if its in a "rolling body" radius. You also kinda do this sitting turn, basically rolling while sitting, haha. So yah, you're making your moves!

You're growing really well and livin the good life! Eating good, sleeping good, playing good. You like to eat! You are ready for lots of snacking throughout the day. I feel like you're at about 2 meals a day and then the puffs or yogurt bites. And of course nursing like 5-6times a day. You don't have any teeth yet, so you don't have a ton of food options to choose from, but everything I've given you at this point you've eatin up! You currently like everything, so keeping my fingers crossed you'll be more like your sister when it comes to eating cause your brother is ridiculously picky.

Not a lot has changed since 6 months...
You experienced your first 4th of July. We went to the parade in the morning. You watched some of it sitting in your car and then napped through the rest of it. You didn't make it to fireworks, but you saw some sparklers early in the day that you seemed to like.

You are still really easy going and happy. You're are starting to explore the world around you, or at least pay attention to it more. Toys are really interesting to you, and you can ride in the stroller or your push car and are content just taking in the scenery. Please ask what kind of baby you are and I always say, "He basically just sleeps and smiles!" Which pretty much sums you up :)

You are an absolute joy. I so enjoy watching you take in the world around you and discovering new things. I love watching you watch your sister and brother. I love cuddling with you and kissing your sweet face. Thanks for being a little ball of love!!!
I love you!
xoxo,
Mom

Kallen's Surgery :(

So he has a hernia. I noticed it about 2 weeks ago. I took him in the afternoon that I first notice it- his groin looked SUPER swollen and I could tell he was uncomfortable. I googled his symptoms :) and determined it was a Hernia (who needs to go to school when you have google) and called his pediatrician who saw him that afternoon and confirmed it. This morning was our appointment with the surgeon and she also confirmed it was a hernia and he'd need surgery to fix it. From all that I've read and after talking to the doctor today it seems to be a very simple, almost routine procedure. Its an outpatient procedure, so we'll take him in in the early morning and as long as everything goes smoothly we should be out before lunch time.

The afternoon I took him in seems like the only day its really bugged him. Some days its much more swollen than others. A hernia is when intestine slips through holes in the muscle wall and with his hernia the intestines slip in and out making it swollen some days and fine other days. What makes it herniate is straining or working hard- which Kallen does alot. Hes perfecting crawling and pulling himself up, so he's exerting himself daily. With that said, he's not in pain. He doesn't seem uncomfortable and, except for maybe an hour here and there, it doesn't bug him.

This type of hernia is pretty common in preemie babies. Especially in boys. He definitely wasn't a preemie, but he was a week early...so that could've added to his chances of getting a hernia. The Dr said he's probably had the hernia since birth but we didn't begin to notice it until he became active- which is the straining that causes the intestines to herniate. I always knew something was up. I'd ask Gentry every so often if it looked swollen to him, but it wasn't super swollen so it was easy to pass it off as part of my chubby boy's rolls :)

So I've done a ton of reading on it: What it is, What happens in surgery, Whats recovery like. Everything I've read has been very helpful and put me at ease. If I think about it I get anxious, but if I read about it I calm down. I'm sure as it gets closer my nerves will be a little crazy. I think the hardest 2 parts are having to have him under anesthesia (not gonna lie, FREAKS me out) and knowing my perfect little boy's skin is going to be cut :( But it has to be done, and the recovery seems pretty easy. They say babies are especially fast healers and the other moms I talked to who've had babies go through the same surgery say its a relatively easy recovery.

Soooo, they will call me with the surgery date after all the paper work gets filed. I will definitely let you all know the date. Any and all good vibes, happy thoughts and prayers will be gladly accepted :) I really liked the doctor, she's very nice and knows her shit. Its being done at the Children's Hospital in Orange, which is a great hospital, about 20 minutes from us. All in all, its not what I'd pick for my baby boy, but if I HAD to pick a surgery this would probably be at the top of "Best Choices of Surgery for a 7month Old If You HAD to Pick One."

I will keep you posted! The pictures are simply for your viewing enjoyment :) He just gets cuter by the hour. Its ridiculous.


(Hernia in baby, Inguinal hernia in 7 month old, Hernia in 8 month old)

Weekend of "Firsts"

Soooo, this weekend Kallen had quite the list of "Firsts."
He started crawling. He started pulling himself up on the furniture-which gave him his first shiner. His first 2 teeth broke through. AND he started giving Kisses!!!! So I have a bunch of videos to upload to Youtube :) I don't have any pictures of him pulling himself up because I haven't been quick enough with the camera. But I have some cute ones from the pool today :) He LOVES the water. He does all kinds of splashing and kicking. Another water baby!

He's been getting up on his hands and feet too. He's been doing this for a week or so. Made me think he might skip crawling because he was getting really good at this and wasn't even attempting to crawl. I think he will crawl, but maybe he'll walk sooner than I think. Raya walked at 9 months, and from what I've been seeing with Kallen I don't think he'll walk until he's much closer to 1. We shall see...

He's not "off and crawling," but he can definitely do the motions and did some full on crawling to different places in the living room. He also started pulling himself up on the furniture. He first did it at my Mom's and promptly fell over. And hit his little head. On the hardwood floor :( Poor baby! He burst into tears, and so did Raya. He also attempted to pull himself up in the bathtub and before I could grab his little slippery body he fell forward and hit his eye. He cried again. And got a little baby shiner. I joked about him entering the "It looks like my parents beat me but its really that I learned to pull myself up but don't quite know how to get back down without falling" Phase. Raya was in this phase for a good year. Lol. With her, there was this one spot on her forehead that she ALWAYS hit. So she either had a big bump, big bruise or big scab on that one spot. I was sure she'd forever have a scar or some kind of bump there because she somehow managed to hit that same spot all the time. Luckily, she doesn't :) But I remember going out in public thinking people were going to think I beat my kid. Well, we're back at that phase!

Raya also had her first experience with water wings, or floaties, whatever you call them. My Mom got them earlier in the week, so she spent all week playing with them in the backyard and blowing them up and putting them on her arms. When we got to the pool today she wanted nothing to do with them. Refused to put them on. Finally towards the end of our pool time she put them on. She literally swam with them for maybe a minute, got out of the pool and jumped in, by herself, without anyone around to catch her. Just got out and did a big jump back in! And kept doing it :) She was super comfortable with them on.

Sibling Love- August 2011

The older Kallen gets, the cuter the sibling pictures get :) Because they start looking at each other, or hugging...or maybe its just that he's a little bit stronger so when Raya hugs him it looks more like an actual hug instead of a headlock. And hugs are always cuter than headlocks. 

"Mama, I'm ready for my close up!"

 Buddies

 Yah! They're both looking! Only a matter of time before they're both looking AND both smiling. But if you have 2 small ones you know thats all really about how talented (and quick) Mama is at taking the picture. 

Facetime with Daddy while he's at work

Still napping together <3 The other day I heard Kallen wake up so I went up to get him before he woke Raya up, but by the time I got there he had snuggled up to her face and put his hand on her cheek and fell back asleep. Sooooooo cute. 

 Still gotta get Raya her own chair. LOL!

 Just holdin on to my sister...

 Raya is always checking on him during our walks. The other day I got about a half a mile from the car and realized I only had 1 pacifier. So some how I talked Raya into giving hers to him because he was super tired and really wanted one. Well, he feel asleep and it fell out of his mouth, so Raya took the cue that he was done with it and she took it back. About 30 minutes later he woke up and was starting to cry and she took it out of her mouth and put it in his. He went right back to sleep and she kept an eye on him waiting for it to fall out of his mouth. 

He loves taking her pacifier. And as of now she thinks its hilarious. I love watching them play together.

LOOOOOVE this one

 My Beach Babies

Raya is such a good big sister. When I was pregnant I was never worried about how she was going to react when I had the baby. It actually really didn't cross my mind until people started asking me about how I thought she was going to handle having a baby around. I was pretty sure she wasn't going to be jealous because she was so independent, but I also had no idea she'd be as amazing as she is. Who knew a 2 year old could be so sweet and so loving and so protective. Kallen's a lucky little boy :)

Keeping Up With Kallen---7 Months Old

Kallen was 7months on August 3rd. We checked into our beach house August 4th....so August 3rd I was packing. Alot. So here's whats going on with this veteran 7 month old.

He's mobile! Not yet crawling...I think he has at least a good 2 weeks before he'll be crawling. He leans forward and gets on his hands and knees, but then puts himself back in a sitting position. But he can move around the living room. He's a solid sitter. He's a talker. But he's always been a loud baby. Makes all kinds of sounds. No words. Well that I can understand ;)

He has no teeth. I don't really see any coming either. Raya had 2 teeth by now. His hair is still a medium brown. Its starting to curl up on the ends. His eyes are a very dark brown. This month was the first month I really started hearing people say he looks like me!!! There's one picture of us that I can see a resemblance. Its funny how Kallen can look JUST like his Dad, but then can also look like me. Gentry and I look nothing alike. LOL. But somehow he makes it happen.

He's a good sleeper. Takes a cat nap in the morning and at night and a longer nap in the middle of the day. Sometimes he also sneaks in a 20 minute power nap here and there. He goes to bed around 8 or 9. Sleeps until between 4:30-6:30, gets a bottle and goes back to sleep for a couple more hours.

He's eating baby food. He usually eats 2 jars throughout the day and gets 7oz bottles throughout the day. I've tried giving him really soft pieces of bread or of a banana and he gags every time. I guess I'll wait until he gets some teeth.

He's still the sweetest thing. Loves to cuddle and hug on me. He lets other people hold him no problem. He's been going through the littlest bit of separation anxiety with me. And I don't care what people say, its soooo sweet! If he's 16 and still crying when I leave the room I will STILL think its sweet.

He weights about 21 pounds and is 29 inches. He's a big kid! Much bigger than Raya was at this age. I think they were about the same length, but he weighs 6lbs more than she did at 7 months. He's wearing a size 4 diaper. Most of his closes are 12months. He fits into some of his 9month clothes. I think he's like a size 3 shoe? He has super thick feet. Even if the shoes were the right size there's no guarantee they'll fit in the shoe. So he really only wears socks or is barefoot.

Kallen...I am so so so lucky to have a boy like you. Who would've known the "Mama's Boy" love would sweep me off my feet like it did. My bestfriend Jenn just found out she's having a boy and I wish with everything in me she gets to experience the kind of love that I have for you. I feel absolutely blessed to have you and to know this kind of love. You've only been in my arms for 7 months but I can't even remember what life was like before you. FYI- you're never allowed to leave me, ok? Like seriously. No girl will ever be good enough for you. You don't have to ever get married and you can live at home for as long as you want :) And I'm totally serious. I love you!!!!
Love,
Mom