Sage: 21 Months Old (A Letter)

Hello!

I sort of intended on Sage’s 18 month update being the last one I wrote for the blog, but here we are at 21 months and I feel like he’s grown and developed so much in the last three months.  I want to remember what this age is like and it is so nice to look back at these updates.  I hope you enjoy reading them too!  I’m going to do this update in the format of a letter because I really enjoy writing it.

Dear Sage,

You are just bursting with personality these days.  You’re so funny and such a loving little boy.  You’re lively and wake up each morning with a smile on your face and ready to take on the day.  These days you go to bed around 7:30 and get up between 6:30 and 7:30.  During the week, daddy and I are getting ready for work when you wake up and we hear you in your crib having a fabulous time chatting away to yourself.  You are very content to hangout in your crib for while in the morning before we come in to get you.  Most days we come in at 7 o’clock and you’re either relaxing with your blankie and stuffed animals or chatting away pointing out the animals on your wall and toys on your floor.  “Pooh!  Bear!  Dog!  Owl!  Ball!  Book!”  Your voice is the best sound in the world.  Your daddy and I love greeting you each morning.  It is definitely one of the very best moments of the workdays.  We soak up every second we get with you before it’s time for us to go to work and you to your sitter’s house.  You know the drill though and you happily get ready.  The very best mornings are when we have time to read books and play a little before it is time to go.

You fractured your elbow while at the playground about two months ago.  You wore a cast for three weeks and it didn’t slow you down a bit.  Your cast came off last month and you haven’t missed a beat.  You’re still our little climber.  You love the outdoors.  Playing in the sandbox, pushing around your car, pushing the wagon, pushing your bike, pushing your stroller.  Yes, you like to push everything and would much rather be pushing things than riding in them.  Although once in a while you’ll happily sit in your stroller or wagon and let us push you around.

Every morning you ask about Jax, our dog.  You are still his biggest fan and he’s warmed up to you a bit.  You give him big hugs and it’s so sweet to watch.  Jax puts up with the hugs, but he mostly just appreciates when you throw your food to him.  You have become much more independent and insist on things going your way more than you used to.  You’re learning to cope when everything doesn’t go your way and mommy and daddy are learning how to help you in the process.  Your best buddy lives across the street and you guys have gotten so much better at playing with each other.  You love to interact with one another as much as you love to take toys from one another.  We’re working on sharing.  Some days you do great with this and on others days you don’t want to share anything.  You’re learning though and we’re so proud of you for making small strides in this department.

You know so many words now that I have completely lost count.  You know a lot more than you say too.  I think you know every animal sound that I can think of.  My favorite will always be when we ask you what a bunny says and you wriggle your nose.  You got to meet a bunny earlier this month and you were in awe.  Every time you say “mommy” my heart bursts with joy.  You adore your parents attention and you’ll make yourself known when you want it by saying, “mommy!  daddy!”.  Your new favorite activity is coloring.  Daddy got you coloring books for the first time about a month ago and you now want to color every day.  We found you a wonderful desk at a garage sale recently and you have been so happy having a space of your own.  You also like to tell us which crayon we’re allowed to color with.  We’re working on colors and blue is definitely your favorite right now.  Coloring with chalk in the driveway is also great fun.

You’re making progess with counting and the alphabet.  Daddy and I will be saying the alphabet and suddenly you’ll say “p” or another letter in the correct order.  You constantly are surprising us with what you’re learning.  At night before bed when daddy is putting you to sleep I hear the two of you laughing together and that really is the best sound.  If I greet you in the morning, you immediately want to know where daddy is, but daddy tells me you’re the same way with asking for mommy when you’re with him.  Sometimes you favor one of us over the other and we joke that we’re then “the chosen one”.

Your favorite foods are yogurt, chia seed pudding, any kind of berry, pesto pasta, beans and rice with guacamole, spaghetti, toast with earth balance butter, veggie/fruit pouches, apples, grapes, mac and cheese with peas, pancakes, and egg sandwiches.  You keep us on our toes with eating.  Some days you put down more food than I can and others you take a bite for dinner.  You’re always ready for breakfast and lunch though.  You still drink plant-based milk before bed.  Your favorite is oat milk which makes mommy really happy because there is lots of nutritious goodness in it for you.

There are some changes around the corner for you, but daddy and I will be there every step of the way.  Summer will be here soon along with your baby brother.  We can’t wait to see you in that role.  We know it will be an adjustment, but you’re so full of love and you’re little brother is so lucky to have you.  Next fall you’ll be going to a new daycare, but we’ll tackle that when the time comes.  You’re changing so fast these days that I can’t even imagine what you’ll be like at two.

Thank you for giving me the best gift in the world, buddy.  We love you more than we can even express to you!

Love, Mommy

Sage: 18 Months Old Update (A Letter)

Hey hey!

I have not done an update on my sweet baby (that’s no longer a baby) since he turned one.  I thought 18 months old was the perfect time to do another update and I know I’ll never remember all the details if I don’t document it.  Let me start by saying I love this age.  I’m sure I’ve said that with many of the other updates, but it’s the truth.  Suddenly I have this little person walking around my house, voicing his opinion, making us laugh constantly, and always keeping us on our toes.  There’s no table he won’t climb.  If he sees the gate to the stairs open, he immediately wants to zoom down the stairs.  If we’re eating anything and it looks good to Sage, he wants it.  If I’m cooking dinner and he wants to play, he grabs my hand and takes me to where I should be.  He’ll say “up” which means sit here and play mommy.  Dinner goes out the window (momentarily) because I cherish every moment of playtime.  He’s growing and developing at such a rapid rate these days.  The other day my husband asked him if he wanted a “bite of pasta” and Sage responded “bite”.  Immediately I added “bite” to the list of words he says (because I’m a mama who keeps a list).  I’m going to do this update in the format of a letter.  I’ve seen this done by another blogger and I think it’s so sweet.

Dear Sage,

You’ve been in our lives for 18 months now and we’re so thankful for you every day.  Being your mama is the greatest gift.  You are growing so fast before my eyes these days and I’m trying to keep up with you.  For a while you were the quieter but observant type and didn’t say too much, but now your vocabulary is growing and you are using your voice so much more.  You surprise me with a new word daily.  Your very favorite words are dog, owl, daddy, ball, up, go, bye and woof.  We point to pictures and you always find Jax (our dog) first.  He’s your favorite.  You also adore both daddy and I.  Sometimes you want to sit in my lap and be hugged and other times you run to daddy’s and don’t want to leave his arms.  We love you to the moon and back and soak up every moment that you want to cuddle.  Most of the time you’re on the move!  You push your car around our house and the toy lawnmower too.  You love to move the magnets from the dishwasher to the fridge.  Books are always a fun time and you’re very good at finding things in the pictures.  You love your tent that we set up in the family room.  You grab my hand so I’ll come and lay down next to you in the tent and cuddle with the stuffed animals.  Two minutes later you’re up and wanting to play with the next toy.

You’re a very good eater.  Your favorite foods are blackberries, blueberries, yogurt, rice and beans with avocado, pesto pasta, noodles in peanut sauce, mac & cheese with peas, and you’ll take any fruit or veggie pouch.  You drink oat milk and hemp milk most and sometimes almond milk.  You don’t take a bottle anymore and the transition to all sippy cups was effortless.  You’re such a big boy now and you were ready.  Dinner time is sometimes tough because you don’t want to sit still for long.  The same goes for diaper changes.  We have to be really quick these days.

When it’s time for bath, I say “bath time” and you usually immediately run to the bathroom.  You love to play in the bath.  Bubbles!  After bath, daddy and I get you ready for bed.  We comb your hair and put on your pajamas.  We look at the animal stickers on your wall and you point out the owl, bug and balloons.  You are completely attached to your small soft blanket that we call your blankie.  We’ve accumulated four of them just to make sure we always have one in the car, in your crib and for the sitter’s.  You grab your blankie when you know it’s time to go to bed and either cuddle in my or daddy’s arms for a few minutes before we put you in your crib to go to sleep.  Your bedtime is around 7:30PM.  Most of the time you go to sleep quite quickly, sometimes you talk to yourself for a bit, but then you sleep til morning.  Lately you’ve been sleeping until 6:30AM.  You wake up with a smile on your face and ready for the day.

You also started going to toddler gym once a week and it is so much fun.  You’d stay in the ball pit the whole time if you could.  You really liked when the teacher held you in a handstand position last weekend.  That was really funny.  We take you on all our errands and love having you by our side.  The grocery store is always a blast.  Most times you sit happily in the car cart because you get to turn the steering wheel, but sometimes you want to help push the cart.  Every weekend we go to the diner for breakfast and you get blueberry pancakes.  Really you just like to pick out the blueberries, but we’re ok with that because you sit so nicely then.

During the week, you go to the sitter and play with your friends.  At the end of the day, daddy or I pick you up and you always greet us at the top of the stairs with a big smile.  You start walking down the stairs and grab my hand because you know the routine.  It’s time to go home.  My very favorite part of the workday is seeing your face at the end of it.  When I pick you up, I tell you that we are going home to see daddy and the dog and you know just what I’m saying.  You’re so smart and I’m so proud of you.  You’re also stubborn and feisty at times and I’m proud of you for that too.  You’re learning to navigate the world and sometimes things don’t go your way.  You voice how you feel by crying or whining, or you come running to daddy or I for a hug so we can let you know it is alright.  We want to help you learn.

Thank you for being my little boy.  Thank you for giving me the gift of motherhood.  I’m a better person because of you.

Daddy and I will love you always and forever.  We’re so excited to watch you grow.  In a few months you’re going to become a big brother and I can’t wait to see you in that role.  It’s going to change our family dynamic, but it’s only going to add more love.  After all, you’ll always be my baby boy.

Love,

Mama

Sage: On Your First Birthday

Hi there!

Happy Birthday to Sage!!!  Today our boy turns one years old and I'm taking this occasion to reflect on the last year.  There are no words to describe what the last year means to me.  Last night as I rocked him to sleep, I felt so much emotion wash over me as I thought about the journey of the last 12 months.  It's been magical and exhausting, joyful and scary, incredible and hard, fulfilling and challenging... Being Sage's mama makes me a better me.  I'm so thankful for my sweet boy and everything he has brought to our lives.

On that note, I'm going to mostly let the pictures do the talking...

August - You arrived after 26 hours of labor and we fell in love with you instantly.  I couldn't believe it when they rested you on my stomach and I got to cuddle with you for the very first time.  It was the best thing in the world and a moment I'll always remember and hold in my heart.

...

September - We spent lots of time getting to know each other.  I loved every second home on my maternity leave with you.

...

October - In autumn we explored the world more.  We took walks most mornings and I cherished being home, especially during my favorite time of the year.  We listened to Frank Sinatra and made all sorts of recipes in the kitchen.  Ok, you observed from your rock n' play and I talked to you.  Thanks for listening so intently.

November

December - I rocked you into the late hours of the night (and then the early morning hours).  I remember the world was silent as it became Christmas Day and I didn't care for a moment that I would be crazy exhausted for holidays...

...

January - I went back to work in January.  At first it was tough after getting to spend all my time with you for 20 weeks, but we adjusted quickly and I looked forward to seeing your smiling face each day when I got home.

...

February - It was Daddy's birthday in February.  You were definitely the life of the party and we were so happy to celebrate with you. 

...

March - Your personality shined brighter each day.  It amazed me that even when you were up all night, you'd wake up with a huge smile on your face, and even in my sleep deprived state I couldn't help but smile so big too.

April - You learned what a blast reading with Daddy is.  Boy do you love books just like him!

May - We ran lots of errands and you just loved going to stores with your parents.

...

June - You met great friends at daycare during the school year.  They love you and you love them.  It makes it so much easier on mommy and daddy going to work knowing what fun you're having during the day.

...

July - You went to your first wedding and did a great job during the ceremony and all!

August - You went on your first plane ride and stayed pretty content (when you were sleeping, haha!).  It was our first family vacation and we had a blast.

You are such a happy boy full of love and laughter.  You make us laugh all the time.  And your adventurous side is really starting to sparkle.  Already giving your mother a heart attack.

This last year has been marvelous.  

We love you to infinity and beyond, always and forever!  Happy Birthday buddy!! 
 

Sage: Month Eleven Baby Update

Hi there!

Back for Sage's 11 month update.  What?!  My baby boy is so close to a year old.  Fastest year of my life.  This time last year I was ready to pop.

It's been a great month with our boy.  His personality is sparkling and he makes us laugh constantly.    All he wants to do is play, play, play!  Boy does he know how to express himself.  He is such a happy guy and it's pure joy watching him learn and grow.  Onto the updates!

Likes:  Sage loves to be on the move.  He has a blast playing with his toys in our family room.  He also chases Jax around and gets a kick out petting him (when Jax lets him).  Sage likes running errands with his parents because he gets to sit in the cart and look at everything.  We've gotten him a balloon at the grocery store a few times and he thinks that it's just the best thing ever.  Sage still spends time in his rolling chair each day and travels all around the house.  Opening up the cupboards is great fun.  He climbs up on just about anything he can, pulling himself up and walking along chairs, walls, cupboards, the dishwasher..

Dislikes:  Sage doesn't do the best in long car rides because he wants to get out and play.  He does well just around town, but on our longer trips over an hour he gets antsy.  I often have sat in the backseat and entertained him.  Sage doesn't like getting his diaper changed or putting on his pajamas when he's tired before bed.

Eating:  Sage drinks 20-25 oz of breastmilk/formula each day and eats three meals.  We are using up my freezer stash of breastmilk and I think this will be the last month of it.  Sage's favorite foods are Trader Joe's Cherrios, potatoes, blueberries and blackberries (especially mixed in oatmeal), banana, raspberries, coconut milk greek yogurt or plain greek yogurt, quinoa burger, pancakes (just tried!), mango, sweet potatoes, and especially Chipotle rice, black beans and guacamole.  We are really trying to do more finger foods than purees at this point.  Sometimes Sage digs it and sometimes not.   Sage still drinks out of bottles, but we are trying to incorporate the sippy cup more.  Sage likes to drink water out of a sippy cup, but a lot of the water ends up on him.

Sleeping:  Sage typically naps at 9:30AM and 2:30PM for 30 minutes to two hours.  At night time we do bath at 7PM and then bottle, and Sage is typically asleep by 7:30PM (sometimes a little later).  Sage usually sleeps until 5:30-6AM, but sometimes we are lucky and he'll sleep until 6:30AM.  Sage no longer feeds in the night (only very sporadically) but still has wake ups sometimes.  I was going in to his room and rocking him, but have stopped that and Sage will put himself back to sleep within a few minutes generally, sometimes he just wants to hug his small blanket.  More and more he slept all the way through the night (which is just incredible for mama!). 

Key Dates:

June 19 - visited daddy at his school, went out to dinner to Chipotle and ate lots of guacamole, then he slept 8-6:30!

June 24 - slept 7:45 to 6:15

June 27 - first trip to Adirondacks 

 

New this month:

Sage now waves to people, especially to daddy

Sage gives kisses (open mouth - ha, he doesn't quite get it yet)

Walking down our hall pushing his car

Walks holding onto one of his parents hands 

Loves being in walker and goes all over house 

Went to first wedding - Loves balloons 

First vacation to the Adirondacks (slept horribly)

Stood by himself for a few seconds without holding onto anything

Trying lots of new foods like eggs, pancakes, coconut milk Greek yogurt, plain Greek yogurt, nectarine, whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce

Also, Sage's eczema improved greatly this month.  It all went away on his body and is just healing now.  We have no idea what the trigger was (didn't seem food related), so we just continue using the baby ganics cream daily to keep it moisturized.  

Talks more (babbling).  We love hearing his voice.  He'll often interrupt our conversations because he's got something to say!  We swear he says da da (daddy) though.  Maybe a ma ma in there too (I like to think!)

Sage, you are a magnificent baby boy and we love you more than words can say!

Sage: Month Ten Baby Update

Hi there!

Back again with another Sage update.  10 months old!!!  This is just nuts to me.  How has 10 months gone by sooo fast?!  It's crazy because those early weeks are so scary, incredible, exhausting, precious, amazing, exhausting (oh wait I already said that...), but then I blinked and Sage is almost a year.  I feel like my baby is turning more toddler by the day and I'm just holding tight onto these baby moments with him.  

This month was all about Sage being on the move and getting into everything.  It's been a blast.

Likes:  Sage loves to explore everywhere and anything he can get into.  He enjoys walks/runs in his stroller.  If he's tired or a little cranky, it completely relaxes him.  His favorite toys are his yellow dog stuffed animal, farmhouse (which he can now pull the lever to open the farm door), his new chair, his car, and his ball (which he rolls back and forth with mommy).  Sage loves going to the grocery store, farmers market, and anywhere in his baby carrier.  He also has a great time sitting in the cart.

Dislikes:  Sage does not like getting dressed when he's either tired or just wants to play.  He does not want to stay still.  Diaper changes are a challenge.  We have to distract Sage and change that diaper FAST!

Play:  Sage wants to be on the floor so he can go everywhere! Crawling is how he gets places but standing up and using the furniture to balance is the main event.  He stands up everywhere.  If he sees the fridge or dishwasher open he flies to the kitchen.  If the dog bowl is down then he's there and we quickly scoop it up.  Sage loves the fan in our bedroom and laying in our King bed staring at it.  He also loves walking (new this month!) in his rolly chair.  He walks in his rolly chair around in the driveway and on our street.

Eat:  Sage eats three meals a day and drinks 20-25 oz of breastmilk.  This month I started making more of his food.  He loves fresh (puréed) green beans, peas, oatmeal with blueberries, and he also is really digging the Beech Nut organic jar of butternut squash and black beans with cumin.  He also started having the little pouches of fruit/veggies, but still needs help eating them.  We are trying to get Sage to do more finger foods and so far potatoes are his favorite.  Before bed Sage has been having a 7-8 oz bottle.  This is the first month that my supply hasn't kept up with his demand so we were using our freezer stash and introduced formula.

Sage had his first formula bottle (Baby's Only Organic and Honest Company) at the end of the month and chugged it down no problem.  We then made the decision to switch to formula 100% for two weeks or so to see if it helps Sage's eczema (possible food allergy from something I eat?).  I'm currently pumping and putting everything in the freezer.

Sleep:  Oh sleep, you have come back into my life!!!  Yup, this is the first month that Sage slept through the night many times.  Not every night, but it happened and it's a really big deal.  It's the first time in 10 months I slept like 7+ hours and I think my body still is processing that much sleep.  But this is about Sage and great job baby boy!  We had to play a little tough and teach him to self soothe and it paid off.  Sage typically sleeps 8-6ish overall.

New this month:

Wearing 18 month clothes

Went in kiddy pool

Goes to farmers market with parents

Eczema got bad on face again at end of month. We are trying all natural creams now (babyganics).  Trying to figure out if there are certain triggers.  It is looking much better.

Walks in rolling chair

Likes to stand/walk holding our hands

Sits in grocery cart and loves Wegmans and Target (like his mama!)

Takes bath in big tub now and likes to drink water from faucet (ha!)

Fascinated with refrigerator/freezer when door open

Opening all cabinets

Teething!  Sage has 6 teeth and a third too tooth on top just came in.  There were some tough nights for baby boy. 

We transitioned to formula at end of month

Key Dates:

May 16 - Slept through the night.  First time!!

May 18 - 20 pounds at Dr. Mild ear infection.

May 20 - Took a few steps holding onto his car and next day walked across family room holding onto car.

May 27 - Slept 9-6:45!

May 29, June 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 - slept through the night from 8-6!

Baby boy, you bring us such joy.  You are our sunshine and we love you so much.  Can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Sage: Month Nine Baby Update

Hi there!

Happy 9 months old to Sage!  What an incredibly fun age.  Sooo much development and learning of new skills took place this month for Sage.  He seemed to change everyday!  It's just fantastic to be a part of.  I've got about a million photos from this month.

Here are the updates:

Likes:  Sage likes to be on the move!  He still enjoys is bouncy chair and rolling chair, but he seriously wants his floor time now.  He is all over by army crawling and up on all fours.  Suddenly he’ll have gone from the family room to the kitchen.  If we are sitting on the floor with him, Sage loves to crawl over us.  We are no obstacle to him!  He still likes to crawl to Jax and “pet” him.  He just started pulling himself up on the ottomans too (more on that below!).

 

Dislikes:  Sage is a very happy boy, but he gets cranky if he’s got a dirty diaper (duh), hungry, or tired.  All completely understandable.

Playing:  All day long Sage plays, plays, plays!  He is much better at manipulating toys.  He presses buttons, maneuvers toys, picks up his toy ball, and loves watching toys light up.  Peek-a-boo is a great time as well.  When Sage is sitting in his highchair, I duck down below and then pop up and he thinks it is hilarious.

Eating:  For most of the month, Sage was eating three meals each day consisting of rice cereal, oatmeal, or barley mix with a veggie or fruit puree, and then drinking bottles (breast milk) as well.  However, Sage had a rash appear on his face at the end of the month and we decided to limit his diet to eliminate a food allergy as a possibility.  For the last week Sage has just been having just rice cereal and breast milk.  We learned that Sage has eczema though so we are now reintroducing foods.  First up was some homemade sweet potatoes!

Sleeping:  Sleep got worse and then better.  At the beginning of the month Sage started getting up twice each night.  Eight month sleep regression?  That then progressed to just up once in the night for a feeding.  And then for the first time this month Sage went ALL NIGHT without a feeding.  We had to do a little bit of sleep training to encourage Sage to self soothe.  Good job, baby boy!

New this month:

Sage now has 5 teeth!

Sage sat up in his crib for the first time this month (we promptly lowered the crib).

Sage pulled himself up into standing position for the first time this month.

Sage pulled himself up on the ottomans and can walk along while holding on.  

He’s learning to sit/fall more gracefully  from the standing position as well.

Loves the baby swing at the playground.

Loves standing in daddy's lap looking out our front window.

We learned Sage has eczema from the dermatologist.  We are working on making it better for our boy.  Luckily he's happy as a clam, it just doesn't look so great to his parents.

Key dates:

April 15 - congested, up 3 times in the night 

April 21 - Awake 11-3AM, but the next day his first top tooth was in!

April 24 -19 pounds 5 oz at DR, had a mild ear infection

April 24 - Tried to pull himself up using bar in tub, got pretty close!

April 28 - Standing holding onto couch, trying to pull himself up in tub more

April 28 - Slept 7:30-6 with feeding at 1:30

April 29 - Pulled himself into standing position in the tub

May 2 - 19 pounds 10 oz

May 3- Sitting in crib!!! And pulled himself into standing position using the ottoman in family room

May 5 - Started feeding Sage just rice cereal and breast milk (trying to determine if he has a food allergy)

May 9 - Went out to lunch and Sage was drinking water out of a little cup.  Also, first time sitting in the cart at Trader Joe's - loved it!

May 8 - First time for no night feeding! Slept 8:35-5:50 - cried for 10 min at 11 then fell back asleep until morning

Everyday Sage seems older.  He's looking more like a little boy than baby (sigh...) and we are just loving every minute with him.  I still can't believe it's been 9 months.  Onto the next!

Did your baby get eczema?  Any advice?

When did you wean from breast milk and/or formula?