1 year old!

Paul James is 1 year old! He is such a happy, friendly boy. Some things he's up to now...

*cruising along the couch
*loves driving cars around the living room and has a cute car sound
*Oftentimes he will say "fff, fff, fff" as he crawls around.
*babbles some but no recognizable words yet
*is a big fan of food. Some of his favorites are avocado, bananas, and peas.
*loves looking out the window
*will sometimes sing along with me when I sing "Alleluia"
*LOVES being wherever Stephen is. I love watching them play together.
*likes his pacifier. He usually only uses it to help him go to sleep or if I really need him to be quiet, like at Mass.
*likes to dance when he hears music
*is already developing a sense of humor/streak of orneriness. He will look at me, smile, and drop his cup or food on the floor. He will also look at me, take his pacifier out of his mouth, and throw it - usually when he's supposed to be going to sleep.
*has the cutest giggle!

At his 1-year appointment, he was 20 lbs., 8 oz and 29 3/4" tall.

We are so blessed to have Paul in our family. Looking forward to watching all the changes and growth that will be happening in the coming months!

I want to look out the window too!

Sleeping peacefully

Ready for his birthday party

Paul James - 1 year old!

*Not sure why a couple pictures have lines on them. That sometimes happens when I upload pictures from my phone to my computer.

11 months old!

My little Paul-Paul is 11 months old! He is becoming quite the little boy who loves playing with his big brother. He is pulling himself up to standing which means nothing is safe anymore. One of his favorite things to do is stand at the piano and play music. He can just reach the keys.
Paul also loves to chase after Stephen and do whatever he is doing. Stephen loves his little brother and always wants to "play Paul." I love hearing them giggle together.
Paul still loves any food we put in front of him. He especially loves food he can pick up by himself. His favorites include bananas, Cheerios, peas, and cheese.
Paul is usually a very happy boy and delights those around him with his smile and big blue eyes. However, when he is upset, he lets you know it! He has quite the scream! We were in Nebraska last weekend, and Paul's favorite game was to see how close to the top of the stairs he could get before someone came to get him. I would say, "Paul James," and he would look at me, giggle, and crawl faster. He has quite the personality already. :)

Paul James - 11 months old

Stephen had fun helping Paul ride the bike.

Paul has discovered the joy of books!

Paul loves swinging!

10 months old

Oh my! 10 months old already! Paul is such a fun little boy. He is now crawling more on his hands and knees and pulling himself up on everything. He loves being wherever his big brother is. He chatters and giggles all the time. He is working on waving and loves making friends wherever he goes by flashing his cute toothy grin. His favorites right now include putting everything in his mouth, playing with Daddy and Stephen, riding his little car, dancing to music, and crawling all over the place.

Our smiley boy

Paul James - 10 months old

Brothers

Giving Paul a kiss

9 months old

Paul is 9 months old now and is still as happy and busy as ever. Everywhere we go, people are always commenting on how smiley he is. His smile definitely brings happiness to those around him. I say that he has two moods - extremely happy or screaming mad. He doesn't get upset too often, but he definitely lets us know it when he is mad. I love hearing his little chattering and he loves it when we mimic his squeals. Paul enjoys playing with anything he can put into his mouth and delights in watching his brother do anything. Yesterday he started to do some crawling on his hands and knees but still does most of his moving on his belly. Paul is a big fan of food, especially food he can pick up on his own, and eats anything we put in front of him. He's added egg yolks, chicken, and yogurt in the last month. His sleep habits are improving. He'll usually take an hour nap in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, but this still varies depending on our schedule. He lays down around 8 pm, wakes up sometime between 10:30-11:30 and again around 2:30-3:00, and then sleeps until sometime between 7:00-8:00. He is very good about going to sleep on his own. He doesn't usually nurse to sleep for naps but will chatter/cry/play for a bit and then conk out. We are so thankful for our amazing little Paul James.

Paul James - 9 months - It's hard to get a good picture because he rarely sits still, thus the blurry monkey.

Our happy little boy

8 months old

Paul is now 8 months old and is such a fun little boy. He basically has two moods - ecstatically happy and screaming mad. He has mastered the army crawl and gets around the room very quickly. Every  once in awhile he looks like he is getting up on his hands and knees, but then he's back on his tummy. Paul loves playing basketball with Stephen. He also loves dancing with me during our dance parties. I love hearing his little giggles as we dance around. I like hearing his little voice singing and chattering away.
Paul enjoys eating bananas, broccoli, peas, green beans, peaches, applesauce, pears, squash, chicken, cheese, baby puffs, avocado, and oatmeal and rice cereal. I think carrots created some nice orange spots on our carpet, so we've ditched those for now. He is very adept at picking up food and putting it into his mouth. When I'm feeding him, he likes to grab the spoon and chew on it. His sleep habits are improving which is great for everyone involved. He has two more teeth coming in - the top left and the one to the left of it - giving him a total of four teeth. For some reason, his top right tooth isn't in yet.
The monthly photo shoot is definitely getting more difficult since Paul rarely sits still. I did get Stephen to smile a couple times when he wasn't tackling Paul. Gotta love boys!

Paul James - 8 months old

Cheeeese!

A happy boy!

Tackle!

7 months old!

Paul is growing and changing so fast! He has become a master of the one-armed army crawl and is very adept at sitting and playing. His sleep habits still need some work, but he is a very happy, carefree little boy. I love his smiles and giggles and watching him watch Stephen. They are going to be quite a pair in a few months. He loves joining in on the wrestling matches with Daddy and Stephen. Paul loves eating and is starting to get the hang of picking up puffs and putting them in his mouth. I'm looking forward to watching the many changes that will be coming.

Paul James - 7 months old

6 months old

Paul is 6 months old! He is such a joyful baby. He fills our house with the sound of his sweet giggle and he loves flashing his cute smile at everyone he sees. Through a combination of rolling and wiggling, Paul manages to be quite mobile. He also enjoys grabbing anything in his reach. We’ve added rice cereal to his food repertoire. He’s still figuring out how to swallow, but he likes the whole process. He squeals with glee every time I give him a bite. Paul’s sleep habits aren’t the greatest yet. I need to buckle down and try to get him on a daytime schedule, but we’ve been on the go a lot lately. At night he’ll wake up every 2-5 hours. Sometimes I get good sleep, sometimes I’m up a lot! I just keep telling myself that someday I will miss this. At his 6 month appointment today he weighed 16 lbs, 15 oz and was 24 or 25″ long. His height is around 75% and his weight is just under 50% for his age. We love our Paul-Paul.

Paul's 1st time in a big boy swing

Hanging out at Target

Paul James - 6 months old

5 months old

Paul is 5 months old! He is still a very happy baby and loves sharing his smiles and giggles with everyone around him. He has been very vocal as well. We frequently hear his squeals of joy, and he also brightens the day of everyone at Mass with his happy noises. (I'll upload a video later.) He is only rolling from his back to his tummy still. I would love for his sleeping habits to improve a bit. He still thinks he has to eat every 2 hours at night which probably explains why he is such a big boy. Paul is already starting to outgrow his 3-6 month clothes. We love our Paul James!

Paul James - 5 months old

A happy little boy!

4 months old

Paul is growing like a weed! At his appointment on Monday he weighed 14 lbs 13 oz with a wet diaper on. That's a 3 lb gain in 2 months! Guess he is keeping some of the milk down even though it seems like he spits a lot of it up. He is a very happy baby and gives out lots of smiles. He also is babbling quite a bit. His big brother is guaranteed to get smiles and usually some giggles. Paul is doing very well with tummy time and holds his head up high. I wish he would start sleeping better at night. He usually will go 4-5 hours at first and then wakes up every 2-3 hours the rest of the night. I think part of the problem is that he is outgrowing the bassinet. I'm planning to set up the pack and play for him until I'm ready for Stephen to move up to a big bed. My nicknames for him are Paul-Paul and Bubba. Paul James is a joy and we love him very much!

3 months old

Paul is 3 months old. He's such an easygoing baby. He doesn't cry much, but when he does, he lets you know how upset he is. He's very smiley and is almost giggling. He's getting very good at holding his head up and loves watching the world around him. He goes to bed around 8:30 and will usually sleep until around 12:30-1:30. Then he'll wake up again in 2-3 hours. He's helped make the transition from one to two a little easier. We love you, Paul!

Paul James - 3 months old

Stephen Joseph - 21 months old and Paul James- 3 months old

my little man

2 months old

Paul is now 2 months old. His smiles are becoming more frequent. He is still a very happy boy and such a good baby! He loves just laying on his blanket and wiggling around. He survived his first road trip to Nebraska this past week (more on that later). Paul is starting to coo and make some noises besides crying. Paul loves watching his big brother playing. He had his 2-month appointment yesterday. He did very well and recovered quickly from the shots. Here are his stats:
      Length: 23.5" (80%)
      Weight: 11 lb, 11 oz (Dr. A said that's average, so I'm guessing around 50%.)
(By comparison, Stephen was 22.75" and 11 lbs, 5 oz at 2 months.)

We are so blessed to have Paul as part of our family!

Stephen laid down next to Paul and put his arm around him on his own. :)

1 month old!

Paul is one month old today! He is such a good little baby. His awake time is increasing everyday. I love watching his bright eyes looking around. He is still quite the little wiggle worm. I'll have to get a video of his wiggly arms and legs. Paul's little cheeks are getting chubbier which adds to his cuteness. He got his 1-month pictures taken yesterday. He was a very good little model. His big brother had to be bribed with Goldfish to take a picture with little brother. We got some cute pictures that I'm looking forward to sharing.

Paul James - 1 month old

9 days old

I decided to take Paul's picture with a stuffed monkey each month to show his growth. I think I'm also going to try to take a picture of the boys together.

Paul James - 9 days old

Stephen loves his little brother!