Haddon's 12 month letter

Dear Haddon,

I can't believe you are a year. Perhaps my denial is why it's taken me so long to actually write this post! (Also because I had to write it on my computer instead of my phone because the app kept crashing. I wonder what technology will be like when you are 35...)

Anyway, we had such a lovely day on your birthday! Over 30 people (I know. It was a bit overload.) came to celebrate and show their love to you. We had a winter theme and served all the things you can't have (chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate) and you didn't really even want your birthday cake although you were quite enamoured with the fondant snowman that Gramma made for the cake.

You are:
crawling really fast, still the wounded soldier style
cruising along furniture and with your birthday present, the walker!
babbling although not saying more than Dada and rarely Mama
eating most things though I still can't get you to eat cheese
not sleeping through the night.
sharing a room with your big brother Blaise and loving it! (thankfully he's a decent sleeper and not bothered by your frequent night wakes)
so happy to be with your brothers
sometimes found singing to yourself
able to hold your own with the noise factor
in love with your Daddy
sneaky and busy
a pretty good napper. I have no complaints. (Napping usually once a day, but sometimes twice.)
able to crawl up both sets of stairs in less than a minute
fascinated with balls
often found clinging to mine or your Daddy's legs wanting to be picked up
smart and put legos into your mouth as quickly as you can but then spit them out into my hand when I notice
generally quite happy and often dole out smiles pretty easily (usually).
adorable
chubby
wonderful
amazing
a part of our family and we love you so very much!

I can't remember what life was like before you and yet I remember your infancy days like they were yesterday. I could almost cry remembering how tiny you were and how much we both loved it when I wore you in the wrap and yet I know that each day gets better and better as I get to know you more and more. Your belly laugh is a day-maker and it's usually your brothers that can get one out of you.
You are a joy. You are a sweet, sweet blessing and I'm so thankful God gave us you.
I pray that you become strong and sweetly attuned to God's spirit. I pray you foster a love for your brothers and your family that is loyal and fierce. I pray that you stand up for those who are weaker than you. I pray that you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. I pray that you are a man who is characterized by compassion and your big heart. I pray you are strong enough to confront evil and sin and protect those who need protecting.
I love you, little mister Haddon. I pray all these things for you and so so so much more.

Happy birthday, buddy. The best is yet to come!

love
Mama

Haddon's 11 month letter

Dear Haddon,

You're 11 months (and I'm a few days late, but at least it's getting done) old! Honestly, fastest 11 months ever.

You are rolling and crawling and standing and cruising and eating and babbling and laughing and climbing and bringing joy into our home in ways you'll never know. 

Speaking of joy, your sleep! It's getting better! Last night you only woke twice and they were super fast feeds and then back to sleep. You slept 12ish hours last night and your naps are pretty darn good, too. You are still taking two naps and they last usually around 1.5 hours - sometimes longer. 

You are an incredibly fast crawler when you want to be - like when you spot your Daddy or an open door or stairs. You love pulling yourself up to standing and then shaking "your thang" - especially if you're on one side of the gate and one of your brothers is on the other. I can't tell if this is an excitement dance or out of frustration but either way it's funny.

You love balls and animals - dogs in particular. You've started making "woo woo" sounds when you see an animal and it's so darn cute. 

You can wave! And give high fives! And bounce and bop to music when you're really digging the beat.

You love cheerios and apples and "squoosh" packs and scrambled eggs and yogurt although you've started "chewing" yogurt which seems ridiculous to me, but whatever.

You say "ba", "ma", "dah", and you often make these wheezing, squealing noises which is quite funny.

The biggest change is that you've started sharing a room with your brother Blaise! This transition was ridiculously smooth and even though it means you wake up a bit earlier, listening to you both chat away in the morning is pretty much the cutest thing EVER! I can't even express how happy it makes me that you're both sharing a room now because it means that I have my room back and it also means that it's a new stage in your relationship with Blaise. And I love that. What it practically means is that I usually breastfeed you and put you down around 6:45 and often you're asleep within a few minutes although sometimes you will fuss on and off for a little bit longer, but usually you're asleep by 7 or 7:15. By that time, Blaise is almost ready for bed and I'll read him a story in my room and then we quietly tip toe into the room and he'll climb into his bed and fall asleep within minutes! You do wake up a few times (usually around 3 times a night, but last night was only 2!) but you don't seem to disturb Blaise so that works out great!

You definitely let us know when you're not happy or you've had enough with whatever is going on, but for the most part you are a happy, chill guy who loves people and especially babies! You will often crawl right over to them and put your face right up close to theirs as if you're about to give them a kiss, but usually you're just moving in close. Heart melting!!!

And now you have 6 teeth! From 0-6 in a month! Four on the top and 2 on the bottom and they are the cutest little chiclets/hippo teeth you ever did see! And you were a bit fussy with some rosy cheek action, but nothing extremely out of character for you, my chill little man.

You are still breastfeeding about 6 times within a 24 hour period. Usually 3-4 times during the day and 2-3 times at night. With your new teeth we've been going through an adjustment period which has been not without some pain on my part, but we're getting there. And it's interesting now that you nurse on both sides in one sitting, that when you're waiting for the other side, you're not fussing anymore. You just lie there while I get ready, knowing that more milk is coming. I love this understanding you now have that I will provide for you and take care of you and you're patiently waiting! It's really sweet.

I love you so much my baby...this month you'll get to see lots of family and friends and experience your first Christmas and I can't wait for what the next 11 months will hold for you! 

love you so much!

Mama

Haddon's 9 month letter

Dear Haddon,

Happy 9 monthiversary, baby!

We celebrated you by having a full-blown turkey dinner! Just kidding. It's Thanksgiving today! And you had the full monty; turkey, potatoes, squash, sweet potato and you loved it all! While you may have been slow to bloom in the solid food department, this last month you have taken off! You gobble down rice, oat or a mix of baby "cereal" in the mornings, you love chicken and apparently turkey too!  You will eat pretty much most things although you still give food the "back away" while you give it the "once over". For (still) having no teeth, you certainly are having your way with the big people food! I'm proud of you, buddy!

You are also crawling at warp speed 9 (which I assume is ridiculously fast) when you want to but often you are happy to play with whatever is around. Although, within the last couple weeks, you've started to become super interested in cords, outlets, the stairs, pretty much everything dangerous. So that's ... er ... busy. You also do a super funny/cute crawl that's part crawl, part scoot. If your Uncle Curt saw it, he would for sure call it a Croot. Or a Scrawl. Either works.

You love balls, water bottles, spoons, paper, and dogs. You say "Dada" now and you LOOK at your Daddy! Your first word! You also say "Dada" just to talk, but you definitely know who your Daddy is. :)

You are pretty good at sitting in the stroller for walks and often will fall asleep if it's been long enough.

You are still so so so chubby and I just love you squeezing you so much!

And you learned how to kiss! Right now it's these lovely, slobbery open-mouth kisses, but I'll take 'em!

You are such a smiley baby and will smile at just about anyone and everyone as long as they are paying attention to you!

You bop to music, wave/bat your right arm incessantly and love to bang your hand or an object and loudly make noise.

You still adore your brothers and your Daddy gets big smiles and lots of leg kicks when he comes home and you see him.

You are learning to sit at the table for dinner with us even though it's often a harder time of the day because you're tired.

(And even though I don't really like to obsess about your crappy sleep habits, I'll record it here so I can remember one day...)
You are napping twice a day and quite well at that! You generally will take a 1.5-2 hr nap and I do nurse you for a bit, but you aren't fully asleep when I put you down. Sometimes you perk up for a bit and I can hear you babbling over the monitor and sometimes you fall right to sleep. Sometimes you cry out a couple times but you fall asleep within minutes usually. You also nap pretty much anywhere you have a crib and a sound machine although you're great with napping in your carseat (if we've been driving long enough and you're tired enough) or in the stroller although both of those places will only get you about 30 minutes of sleep for some reason.
Your nighttime sleep is still atrocious. You're very much like your brother Blaise in that you fall to sleep really easily, but you wake up tons. So I'm still nursing you at night and on average you are up 3-4 times a night. Often more. But, just like your brothers, you will figure it out (this I keep telling myself so I don't collapse into a puddle of despair). On average you're down for bed by 7pm at the latest and then usually around 9:30 or 10 you'll wake up and I'll feed you then. Then it's anyone's guess about how the rest of the night goes. Often there will be a 12:30 or 1am wake up. And at least a couple more besides that. 7am is the beginning of our day and it usually begins with you pooping in your diaper. So...there's the sleep chronicle for this month.

I can't believe you're already 9 months! Time certainly has flown by. I love you to the moon and back and I'm trying so hard to soak up every gorgeous second of this time with you.

lots of love,
Mama

Haddon's three month letter

Dear sweet boy,

You are three months! Three months today you were in the process of being born! I won't ever stop being amazed at the thought of carrying you inside me for 9 months and then one day you were ready. And you arrived. And we were all instantly in love. 

This month has been full of smiles and a little less tears! You are more content to be put down in a bouncy seat and you are now interested in your musical playmat! 

You have found your hands and often suck or mouth them. You've started drooling (which I just learned is not necessarily a sign of teething!) and thankfully your spitting up has started to lessen. 

We are living in the land of cat naps which is not my favourite phase but it is a phase, thankfully. 

Usually you're in bed for the night by 8pm (often earlier) and are up 2, sometimes 3 times a night but it's just for a quick feed and sometimes a diaper change and then back to sleep. I can hang with that for a while. Your day often starts around 9am which means you miss seeing your two older brothers before they head to school. But it also means I get to eat breakfast and have a coffee before you get up (the coffee is somewhat of a necessity these days). 

You have done a giggle a few times when you were over tired but other than that we wait for the laughter to start. It's close though, I just know it. 

You do pretty well in the car and on the go which helps when I have to take you and Blaise on errands. But you're also too big for the stretchy wrap now so hopefully you will learn to like the carrier more than in the past. I'm also getting a woven wrap so hopefully we'll both like it as much as the stretchy wrap! 

You have taken a bottle of my milk a week ago when I had minor day surgery and had to leave you with Daddy. Apparently you took it like a champ! That was hard for me to leave you, but I knew you'd be fine with your Dad. And you were! 

You are in 6-9 month clothing although this onesie in the picture is a 3 month one because you wanted to show off your svelt physique. I think you are close to or at 17lbs now!

Also I think you will continually become a happier little guy as you become more and more mobile. Whenever I hold your hands and help you sit up from a lying down position, you are all smiles! You are even pulling up to stand for a couple seconds! I think you'll just be happiest when you are moving and keeping up with your big brothers. And as predicted, your brothers get some of your biggest smiles and I think you've already given Noah some of your first giggles (though the very first time was with Grandpa). 

We love you so much, Haddon! I can't wait to see who you become over these next few months and years and pray you become like the men we have named you after! 

Love,

Mama

Haddon's two month letter

Dear baby Haddon,

I am just going to go ahead and admit I will sound like a broken record each month because each month will start a little something like, how are you two months already! Time is truly flying by!

But truly, it is!

You started smiling this month and focusing on our faces and your new favourite thing; your mobile over your change table. It's the cutest thing ever and worth the $10 IKEA mobile to see you do these big gummy smiles at the little creatures looking down on you. 

You are around 14lbs 8oz and fully into 6 month clothing now. (Following in your brothers' footsteps already!)

Your eyes are quite blue and I wonder if they will stay blue or change to green or brown. 

You do pretty well sleeping at night but let's be reasonable, you are a baby so that usually means 3-4 hour stretches at a time, which is better than your brothers did at this stage.

You love being in the wrap and if you're having a fussy moment or struggling to sleep (the two are usually synonymous) then I pop you in the wrap and within a few minutes you usually fall asleep! It's a win-win situation for both of us!

Your brothers are still loving you and the feeling is pretty mutual, I'd say. You often turn your head looking around for them if you hear their voices.

Your baby acne has cleared up mostly but the cradle cap is now what I'm battling but hopefully we can clear that up soon too!

Warmer weather seems to finally be here and I can't wait to take you outside more and go for walks. 

Love you heaps and heaps my darling,

Love Mama

Haddon's 1 month letter

Dear Haddon,

I haven't even written your birth story or taken your "one month" picture yet but at least those things will happen. I promise. :) 

Oh my fourth baby, how is it possible that time has flown by so quickly and you are one month old today?!? I knew it would, but still. I feel like it was just yesterday that your daddy and I were trying to figure out when we should go to the hospital and now you're one month old!

You have truly captured all our hearts and there is no shortage of loving that you get from your big brothers albeit even if they do get tired of holding you within a few minutes. 

I just sorted through your clothes because, my big boy, you weigh around 12lbs now and are into 3 month clothing already! 

You love baths. It took me over a week to get around to bathing you for the first time (just add it to the list of fourth child problems, sorry!) but once I did, you absolutely loved it! You kick your sweet little chicken drumstick legs and look around and it's clear you are quite content. 

You have the baby acne which came early on but then faded and now is back but hopefully it fades soon. 

And speaking of your face, it's clear to everyone that you are a Strickland boy. When you were born I couldn't get over how much you looked like Blaise but shortly after I started to see strong resemblances to Jude and now? Well, now you clearly look like you are related to your brothers but you just look like you now. And you are a cutie! 

You are a good, efficient nurser like your brothers and want to eat every 2-3 hours. Sometimes more, sometimes less. There have been two occasions that you have gone a 5 hour stretch between feelings at night and I won't complain, it both shocked and pleased me to get that much sleep so early on! 

You are a fussy guy from time to time but you do sleep and calm down an average amount. A big difference is that unlike ALL of your brothers, you do not always easily go back to sleep in the middle of the night. Often times you require multiple changings and several rounds of nursing and then me rocking you back to sleep. So that isn't really fun for me, but we are both getting the hang of it. 

You also are a grunter. You remind me of Jude in that respect. Often just laying in your bassinet not upset and crying but just grunting and quietly working on some gas - sometimes not so quietly but you are nevertheless a grunter. 

Oh! And one last thing is that a week after you were born we noticed that you would look like a pirate when you would cry or yawn - with one eye wide open and one scrunched shut. We laughed and thought this was cute and then I showed our midwife and she said it could be something to do with your nerves in your face and referred you to a pediatrician. By the time we got the appointment, you had almost compel rely stopped doing "the pirate" and both eyes seemed to be functioning normally. The pediatrician said it was likely a case of Bell's palsy which shocked me but she said all was clearing up nicely and that it was more common than I knew. 

I love you so much, little mister and we are loving getting to know you. We are so glad you are part of our family!

Love,

Mama