Teeth and Mama

Daylen is 8 months old now and he has started sprouting another tooth this week. His first one came in at the end of his 7 months and now his second is coming in at the end of his 8 months. This week has also been a big week for him because he has started saying, "Mama." His first words were "dada" and he started doing that at about 6 months. It was such an awesome experience to hear him say, "mama." I am thankful that I was home to hear it instead of at work. I am hoping he does all his milestones this summer while I am home rather than when I am at work, of course, this would mean that he would have to grow up too fast.

Daylen's 7 Month Portraits

Daylen had his 7 month pictures taken today at Kiddie Kandids in Babies R Us (Mesquite). These are also late Father's Day portraits. The supervisor/photographer who took the pictures did an awesome job!! She liked their portraits so much that she ordered a 20 x 20 of them to hang in their studio as an advertisement. So in about a month go to the Mesquite Babies R Us and you should see Darren and Daylen's pictures hanging up.

Daylen's First Tooth

Daylen is finally starting to "sprout" a tooth on the bottom left side. He has been fussy this week and then we discovered why. His bottom tooth has started breaking through the skin where we can feel the top of it. He is at the end of his 7th month, so by the time he is 8 months old (7/3/10) he should have a tooth showing. Here is a picture I took of his tooth. The picture looks awful, but I had to take the picture while he was crying so his mouth would open wide.

Daylen's First Father's Day

Sit Up and Clap for Mommy

Since I have been home for the summer I am able to spend every waking moment with Daylen. I am able to see his "firsts" and not miss a thing. Daylen has recently developed what most people refer to as "mommy syndrome." When I walk into a room his eyes are constantly following me. When someone else is holding him and he sees me, he immediately cries and wants me to hold him. If I put him down to do chores around the house he starts to cry because I am not holding him. It is something that is very sweet and annoying at the same time.

Daylen has started forming noises that sound like "da da." Of course it is more "tha tha" because he is learning to use his tongue to make noises, but we are saying that he is saying da da. This week he has started sitting up on his own. When I sit him down in the floor, he can hold himself up and play. He has also started making a clapping motion. He hasn't figured out how to make the "clap" noise, but he has the motion down. He has also learned how to "spit." At first I thought it was more like blowing raspberries, until I saw huge drips of spit come out of his mouth. When we are driving down the road, I will hear him spitting. I guess since he has so much spit and slobber built up from teething then he has to get rid of it. No, Daylen has still not grown any teeth. His gums are starting to swell more and more everyday, but he still has no teeth. It's a little discouraging since it seems that everyone Daylen's age has already sprouted their teeth. Is Daylen a slow developer? Of course people tell me not to worry about it because some babies just take longer to grow their teeth. We all think he should be sporting his teeth within the next couple of weeks....hopefully.

I wanted to include a picture of Daylen sitting up, so here is one from this week. He is growing up so quickly.

Daylen's First Time to Swim

Daylen's 6 Months Portraits - May 2010

These pictures were taken at Kiddie Kandids at Babies R Us this past month. We also used these pictures as late Mother's Day pictures.

Daylen's New Tricks

Daylen is 6 months old and has reached many milestones. Daylen has started eating rice cereal with his formula and has started eating carrots, green beans, applesauce, bananas, apples, and sweet potatoes. He has learned to roll over from back to tummy and vice versa. If you put him down on the floor, he will roll over and over and over. He is acting like he wants to walk before he crawls. He is doing the "army crawl" when he is placed on his tummy. He prefers to stand up and see the world. When he is standing up he is able to pick his feet up on his own. He is able to recognize my voice and face as well as Darren's. There is nothing better than walking into a room and seeing Daylen's face light up when he sees you. He is cooing more than ever. He has learned to squeal in a very high pitched voice. Right now I am trying to get him to say, "mama" or "tha tha" (for dada). He has started using his tongue to make sounds which makes me think he is getting ready to say either word. His hand and eye coordination is doing well. He can grab whatever catches his eye whether it is eyeglasses, necklaces, earrings, or hair. He has also started reaching up for me when he wants me to pick him up out of his bouncy car.

Being a mother is the best feeling in the world. I never knew so much love, so much joy, and so much excitement over anything. It's true what people say, you never understand the bond a mother and child have until you become one. I am so blessed that the Lord allowed me to experience motherhood and raise one of His children!

Easter 2010

Daylen celebrated his first Easter by going to church and then spending time with the family at Granny Dianne's house. He went fishing, hunted eggs, and played with his cousins. Here are some pictures from that day:

Daylen's 4 Month Photos

Daylen's Big Week

This week Darren and I took our first big road trip with Daylen. We went to Springfield, MO for the National Home school Tournament. I was on Spring Break, so I was able to make the trip. Thank goodness I was on spring break this week because I got to see big milestones in Daylen's life that I would have otherwise missed. First of all, Daylen began laughing out loud! He was sitting on my stomach and I started laughing when he followed my lead. He laughed when I laughed and smiled when I smiled. Secondly, he began holding up his own bottle. We have been propping his bottle up with blanket the past couple of weeks and now he is able to hold it up all by himself. Another milestone he reached was cutting his teeth. We noticed that he kept getting fussy after eating 8 oz. of formula. I noticed while he was crying that he had two white buds showing through on his bottom gum. We started giving him teething tablets which seemed to work well for him. Daylen also has been able to stand up when we pull him by his fingers. He stands straight up and looks around with a big smile on his face. My favorite milestone is that he is now able to recognize me! When I peeked out of the hotel bathroom to watch him, he would see me and give me the biggest smile. It was so sweet. I can't believe my baby boy is growing up so quickly!

Daylen's 3 Month Pictures

When Darren and I were ready to take Daylen for his 3 month pictures, we sadly found out that Kiddie Kandids had ceased all operations. The manager at Babies R Us informed me that they received an E-mail from Kiddie Kandids and said that they are no longer an establishment and that all their employees were no longer employed with them. I was shocked to find out. We had ordered pictures from them and were waiting for a 16 x 20 to be sent to the store of Daylen's 2 month pictures. The store manager couldn't find my picture, so to make me a happy customer, he refunded me ALL the monies I spent on the package. So Daylen's 2 month pictures were practically free!! So Babies R Us in Mesquite scored BIG brownie points with me!

Darren and I decided to try out somewhere new for his 3 month pictures. So we went to JCPenney's. We wanted a picture of him in his Wrangler jeans and pearl snap buttoned onesie that Dianne bought him for Christmas. We were really pleased with the way the pictures turned out. Of course we had to wait 2 weeks for them rather than have them the same day as Kiddie Kandids did. We can't believe our little boy is growing up so quickly.