The Hillian Collection

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Giggling Jed

We got Jed laughing yesterday. Excuse me, I got Jed laughing yesterday. Oh yeah, those first laughs? They're mine!

(Please excuse my annoying baby banter. You know? You get a kid to laugh one way, and then you just roll with it to keep the giggles coming. At least, that's my excuse.)

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Jed in the morning

There's nothing particularly interesting in this video, but we wanted to share it because, to us, it's sweet.

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My Valentines

Our first unsuccessful attempts at coordinating smiles. And yes, that's Sammy holding his brother's hand.

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Sammy can walk after all! I'm not even sure when Sammy officially took his "first steps" because he didn't follow through with them until now (I think it was around 12 months). He's just such an efficient little crawler that anything more than one step from his comfort zone and he would just end up on the floor to zoom to where he wanted to go.

But last night, when I wasn't paying attention, lo and behold, he walks across half the living room. So as soon as Daddy came home from class, and Sammy was in his night-time-crazies mode (see video below), we tried to encourage him walking, and he did it! I've got to wonder how much better he would have done last night if we wasn't so giggly, but you'll see in the second video, which was taken a mere 12 hours after he starting this walking showcase, how much sturdier he is.

Last night. Approximately 9pm. 14 months, 2.5 weeks old.

This morning. Approximately 9am.

I knew that once he finally started walking, he would be an expert. It was this way with crawling too. And as I write this, I realize that Sammy has actually been crawling longer than he was immobile--from 7 months to over 14 months. Oh, Sammy. You goofball.

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Eight months

Well, we've made it this far. Sammy is 66.67% done with his first year of life, and oh, what a life he lives.

Very shortly after his seven-month birthday, he started crawling. Immediately after crawling, he started pulling up on everything imaginable. So now, instead of sitting and playing with him like I did before, I spend my days following him from one side of the room to the other, making sure he doesn't do any serious damage to himself.

He notices and explores anything that stands out to him now: door hinges, outlets (don't worry; we've got those covered), specks on dirt on the floor (he hasn't eaten any yet, despite his best efforts), vent covers, you name it. Toys interest him for a few minutes, but then he's off to stand against the coffee table and chew on the foam corner pads. Whenever he takes a scary tumble, a quick step outside instantly makes the crying cease. Getting the mail is one of his favorite activities.

At about 5:30pm, he needs extra stimulation, so outside we go. Sean and I have been playing HORSE on the basketball hoop in our cul-de-sac, while Sammy watches being held by Sean's left arm. He loves it outside.

He started babbling with English consonants at seven months, but it was limited almost exclusively to [babababa]. Now he's adding the /m/ too. Hopefully, he'll be saying "mama" soon. I've been trying to get him to so hard! No sign of the /d/, though, Daddy. I hope I win the first-word contest.

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Laughin' Place

He laughs!! Sean was playing Superbaby with him tonight when we heard a happy new sound. I ran to get my camera and captured this video of his very first laughs. We couldn't stop giggling ourselves.

I'm going to be trying to get him to do this again in a million different ways this next week.

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Hand-Eye Coordination, Here We Come!

For once, he's not looking at himself in a mirror.

This boy learns faster than I could have imagined.

The other night, Sammy and I were playing with his brand new tummy-time mirror. It has a lady bug in the corner with a turning ball in the center. I was turning it for Sammy as he watched. Sean said that he'd never seen Sammy concentrate so hard on something for so long. When I left to get ready for bed, Sean held the mirror up for Sammy, and he started batting at the lady bug, too! It wasn't just once, he did this for a few minutes straight.

This was the first sudden change I've seen in him. Everything else has been so gradual--steady head control, practicing standing, even smiling--but I was floored by him doing that, especially since I'd only done it once.

He's made a habit of copying us. Obviously, he talks back to us when we talk to him, but he's also started sticking his tongue out as us like we do to him to make him smile. He'll even start sticking his tongue out when he hears the "lollipop" noise we make as we do it.

The video is one of him hitting the noise-maker hanging above him. If it doesn't look intentional, just trust me that it is. He's started staring at it and laughing. Silly boy.

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New Discovery

When I hear the smacking, I know he's happy...

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A Stand-y Boy

Both of these videos were taken on the Monday after Charity and Grey's wedding weekend in Orlando. He was 7 weeks old. We call him our "stand-y boy." Any pressure under his feet makes him stretch out his legs. It makes putting him into the Moby wrap just that much more difficult.

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Our Happy Guy

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My new favorite face: Sammy’s smiling face! He breaks one out when we ask him if he’s a happy guy, after he gets his diaper changed, when he’s waking up from a good nap, and many other occasions.

I’m so excited to hear his laugh.

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Week 6

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Today, Sammy is 6 weeks old. One week ago, he weighed 10 lbs, 1 oz. Now he weighs 10 lbs, 10 oz. We’re elated to see Samuel’s growth continue to increase day by day.

Video Chatting with Family

Not only is his weight changing, but also his personality. He’s much more social this week than he’s been so far. We can grab his attention and hold it (for a while), and on Saturday he started smiling in response to us! What a way to melt a mom’s heart. His coos have started too. They’re the most precious sounds.

For the past couple weeks, Sean and I have been occasionally venturing out with Sammy on morning walks, but this week we established a schedule. At 7am, I wake up and rouse my menfolk for our 40-minute walk. Then Sean and I trade off watching Samuel while the other showers; then our days begin. Come 7:30pm, it’s time to start our bedtime routine, which consists of a leisurely walk around our neighborhood followed by dancing to some loud music until Samuel is getting sleepy. The night ends between 9 and 10pm, when both Samuel and I are absolutely exhausted and ready for bed.

Click for Week 6 Photos

Tomorrow, Samuel will meet his Aunt Abby. She’s currently living in Seattle, so we don’t get to see her too often. She’ll spend a few days in Gainesville with us and other friends of hers until heading down with the rest of the Shacks to Aunt Charity’s wedding on the 23^rd. Both Sean and I are members of the wedding party, so Abby is going to get some good Sammy-time as she watches him during the ceremony.

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5 Weeks Down

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Yesterday marked 5 weeks since we brought our son home from the birth center. It feels as though we’ve been together longer than just that—I can’t imagine our lives without him now. It’s been so wonderful to watch his personality emerge as he becomes more and more aware of the world around him. In particular, I love that he now recognizes his mommy and his daddy. Each day we wake up he’s different than the day before. Everything is happening so quickly. As we blog about the goings on in the Hill household, we hope that others will be able to enjoy seeing him grow from afar.

So what have the past 5 weeks been like? Well…

Week 1

Just Born

Samuel was born on Monday, June 6^th at 3:48pm at the Birth Center of Gainesville. The delivery was such a beautiful experience to both of us as parents. Sean lovingly stayed by my side the whole time; it’s nice now to look back on that as our last moment of just the two of us. I couldn’t have asked for a better husband to lead and love me and now lead and love our child.

On Wednesday, June 8^th we took him to the pediatrician. By her measurements, he had lost 6 oz from his birth weight; on Thursday, Samuel discovered that he loves milk! Since we are paranoid first-time parents, we went back to the pediatrician on Friday and found that he had already regained his birth weight (gaining 6 oz in two days!). The week culminated in Sean going to church, leaving me alone with Samuel for the first time. It turned out just fine since we both napped.

Ballin'

Week 2

During his second week, we were more confident in our parenting, so we ventured out on a walk to a park close by where Sean exercised by playing basketball while I sat and watched with Samuel. I remember telling Sean how proud I was of our son. He asked me why, and I couldn’t really say. I was just very proud of everything about him (of course, Sean said he was too).

Week 3

On Monday, June 20^th, we went to the pediatrician for his two-week check-up. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 8 oz, so he had gained over a pound and a half in just 10 days! Our doc commented on how strong he was, saying, “This is the strongest 3-week-old I’ve seen in at least a month.” Of course, we both beamed as we informed her that he was only 2 weeks old, and she was even more impressed, especially with his weight gain. Sean and both agreed we had something more concrete than Samuel just being our son to be proud of.

Week 4

Since, Sean is taking the GRE on July 13^th, he started laying down the law about me leaving him alone during the day to give him adequate working hours. So I was forced into a more independent care of Samuel than I had known for the past three weeks. I had just read a book Meme (Sean’s mom) had given us called Happiest Baby on the Block with soothing techniques for newborn babies. Let me tell you: they work! During week 4, the key to Samuel’s happiness was a tight swaddle. When we combined swaddling with nursing him in a rocking chair, he would fall asleep almost instantaneously—amazing! I finally felt ready to care for Samuel during a church service, so off to Redemption OPC we went on Sunday. He couldn’t have behaved any better; he slept all during the service, and was quietly aware during the fellowship meal following. Everybody got to enjoy his sweet personality and big, beautiful baby eyes.

Interpretive Dance

Week 5

July 4^th was the day Samuel turned 4 weeks old. We were able to weigh him using the baby scale our friend Loren lent to us; he weighed 9 lbs 6 oz (another two pounds in two weeks!). Meme and Papa (Sean’s parents) came up from Orlando with a handful of baby-friendly fireworks (i.e. non-screeching) and Sean grilled a very American steak dinner for the four of us. Grandpa Shack (Megan’s father) told us a fun idea would be to record Samuel’s first year in one frame, holding 12 photos, each of Samuel at a different month of age. So, come July 6^th, I snapped about 30 photos of Samuel doing what Sean called an “interpretive dance.” Finally, on Sunday, July 10^th, Samuel was baptized at Redemption OPC. Both our families came to Gainesville to witness the occasion.

Living in the Moby

During week five, Samuel and I discovered our love of the Moby Wrap. We use it go walking in the morning (he falls asleep after about 10 minutes); we use it to do tasks around the house (he falls asleep in about 10 minutes), and we use it to soothe him (he falls asleep in about 10 minutes). The only time it doesn’t work in 10 minutes is the end of the day when he’s completely wound up (then it takes a 2-hour dancing session to Led Zeppelin in, of course, the Moby Wrap).

Week 6…to be continued…

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The Hillian Collection

Showing posts with label milestone. Show all posts

Giggling Jed

Jed in the morning

My Valentines

Well, wouldn't you know?!

Eight months

Laughin' Place

Hand-Eye Coordination, Here We Come!

New Discovery

A Stand-y Boy

Our Happy Guy

Week 6

5 Weeks Down

Megan + Sean

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