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 8 month letter

Dear sweet boy,

You are 8 months old and I can barely believe it! You are hilarious and adorable and sweet and chill and on the move!

You love putting ALL THE THINGS in your mouth...except for a spoon with food on it. You will not open your mouth until you give the food on a spoon the once over. Let's be honest, you often don't open your mouth then either. At this point you are eating maybe a tablespoon of solid food a day. You're pretty much still exclusively breastfed. But it's not slowing you down at all! (I'm not sure how much you weigh but I'm guessing around 25lbs? We'll find out next month just after you turn 9 months.)

Of the food you will eat, you've tried apples, kiwi fruit, bread, rice, yogurt, mango, broccoli, bananas and a bunch of others. 

You can now move around and although it's not full-fledged crawling all the time, you are moving and scooting and we are all in trouble. I've told your brothers they need to pick up their Lego pieces before I find them or else they have to pay me to get them back because you WILL put them in your mouth.

You prefer to be roaming around on the ground or in someone's arms. Unfortunately for me, you're not a huge fan of the exersaucer. I'm on the hunt I think for a gate so I can keep you in either the kitchen or the living/dining room and away from the stairs. 

You are napping twice a day for about 1.5 hours each time and it's glorious. Nighttime sleep is still in shambles but we are just trucking along knowing that you'll figure it out like your brothers did. At least you settle for sleep quickly and you're down for the night around or just before 7pm!

You are GRABBY MCGRABBERSON! You love gnawing on my chewing necklaces and fingers and your fist and anything you can quickly reach out and grab off tables or counters or anything you are near. You pulled down a plant and a small side table last week and it scared the living daylights outta me! 

You and your brothers. You love them all so dearly! They hate to see you fuss and cry and always try and give you lots of hugs and cuddles and your biggest brother especially loves holding you and picking you up if you aren't happy. He's going to have really strong arms from all the carrying he's done!

You are talking and babbling and making this growling noise which is part hilarious but also part annoying. 

You are fascinated by animal sounds although I'm not sure you've quite figured out the whole animal world yet. 

You aren't bothered by new tactile sensations like grass or sand or dirt, in fact you like to dig your nails into it every chance you get! 

You are a smiley happy guy who easily and willingly dishes out smiles for anyone who glances in your direction! 

We love you so much, baby Haddon and we can't imagine our family without you!

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