Maverick is 5 months old!

Today our wonderful son is 5 months old!

I still can't believe how fast he changes!!

Here is what Maverick William is up to these days:



-Weighs about 16 or 17 pounds
-Around 26 inches long
-Barely wears a size 2 diaper, probably should move up to the next size but we still have so many size 2 diapers from the shower to use. Ha!
-Wears mostly 6-9 month clothes, although a few 3-6 month outfits still fit. I still get teary eyed when I have to put clothes that are too small in storage.




-We've been working on sitting up for a couple weeks, and he's really gotten the hang of it. Still needs a pillow or a hand there when he falls, but each time we practice he is able to sit up by himself longer and longer.
-Maverick really likes to stand, and quite often gets fussy when whoever is holding him sits him on their lap because their arms are so tired.



-He has been the best sleeper since he turned 3 months old. He's not much of a napper during the day (usually takes 3 or 4 30 minute naps), but he is an awesome over-nighter. He sleeps 12 or more hours uninterrupted during the night.



-Maverick pretty much eats from his high chair now, except when he takes his bottle.
-He is up to 2 solids a day, usually oatmeal in the morning and a veggie in the evening.



-Mav's personality shows more and more everyday. He giggles and screeches so much, it's wonderful! I guess we better enjoy it because before we know it he's gonna be ignoring us. Ha ha!

How Robbie and Jenni Began

How Did You Meet Your Husband?

This is sort of a comical story...and a long one. But no worries, I'll give you the condensed version!

Robbie and I grew up going to the same church, but we are 3 1/2 years apart in age. At that time, 3 1/2 years was a HUGE difference. I think in the 8+ years we knew of each other we only spoke a few times. Think about it this way--if you were a senior in high school would you hang out with a freshman?

We had tons of fun being in the same youth group together, and made lots of awesome memories with all our friends. I thought he was like the COOLEST person ever because he was so punk rock and different. He was definitely the cool guy but without being the cool guy, make sense? (Robbie hates it when I describe him that way...but that was my perspective)

1998 or 1999-ish?


Fast forward to when I was a senior in high school. Robbie called the house a couple times just to hang out, but I was so not even ready to just hang out with a boy. I never called him back, ever. It was so embarrassing when my mom would make a point to say "Hey you never called Robbie back" when Robbie was standing close-by. She was already convinced we were going to end up together back then. Moms!!

After a couple of years trying to get me to hang out with him, Robbie said he was ready to give up. And rightfully so!!! I don't know that I would've been so persistent. The summer of 2003 is when Robbie's friend Nick was getting married to my friend Shannon.

At the reception Robbie and his other friend Nathan came over to ask us girls to dance (gotta have your wingman, right?). Little did we know that everyone there was already scheming. I reluctantly told Robbie that I would dance the next slow dance with him. (To plead my case here: I was only 19 and having a boyfriend was the LAST thing on my mind. I was just about to move 100 miles away to college)

As fate would have it, the next slow song was the most cheesiest song ever. It was "I Swear" by All 4 One. I know, right?! Robbie and I started dancing (pic below) and the ENTIRE dance floor cleared. Everyone was so antsy to see us dance together. I remember my girlfriends on the side of the dance floor giggling hysterically. And I remember feeling my Dad staring at us...very intently.



Our first date was going to watch the movie "28 Days Later". I ended up driving home every weekend from Mizzou that semester, and a couple Saturdays Robbie drove the 200 mile trip just to bring me chinese food from my favorite local restaurant because I was so homesick. I ended up transferring to UMSL to finish my degree. :)

Our first "official grown up date" as we like to say was in February 2004 when we went to see "Oliver" at the Fox Theatre. We were so skinny back then!!



Robbie proposed to me in the Starbucks we went to on our first date. He had the lead singer of the band Calibretto 13 call my cell phone and sing my favorite song to me while Robbie snuck away to get the flowers and pull the ring out.

The Proposal, August 2006


We got married May 26th, 2007. 12 days after I graduated college, and 15 days after Robbie's last chemo treatment.


At the risk of sounding ridiculously cheesy, I will say that our lives are filled with more joy now than our wedding day. Through the mundane evenings of renting a movie to the exciting "firsts" with our son, the joy just keeps growing!

Playing in the Blankets

It's official. Maverick is blanket obsessed! He is on his way to being a real life "Linus" from Charlie Brown. Ha ha!



Maverick had just finished his oatmeal cereal (you can still kinda see some on his face), and was getting ready to get in the bath...



...when Robbie took all these cute photos!

Photo fun with The Mav

I'm gonna make this a picture only post. It's hard (and time consuming) to type with one hand. (there is someone sleeping sleeping on my shoulder)

Maverick loves his jumping door swing. I wish we had molding in the doorways other than our bedrooms so he could jump out where I can see him and get other stuff done.



He loves to snuggle in the towel after a bath! These pics are actually almost a month old, so his hair is way longer now. It gets so blonde after a bath.




Never enough time to play.



Short, but sweet.

Sweet Treat

Last Wednesday we went with Aunt Jo to Dunkin' Donuts for a special treat. The closest DD we have in the area is almost 30 miles away, but no distance is too far for this yummy-ness! The last time we had DD was almost 3 years ago in Chicago.


Someday Maverick will get to enjoy this fluffy treat.

Maverick has really been liking tummy time. I think it's because he's learned how to roll any which way he pleases. He like to lay and play with some of the toys I played with when I was itty bitty.


Mav in his "big boy" pajamas. So cute!!! The quilt he is laying on was sewn for Robbie when he was a baby.

This onesie is very special to me, and I had to get a picture of it the first time Mav wore it. I guess it was a couple years ago when I saw this onesie and wanted it soooo bad because it says "Science is Awesome". When I bought it babies were the farthest thing from our minds.


Never thought we'd actually have a kiddo in it someday!

Maverick loooooooooooves his feet. Never mind the oodles of toys. Just needs to reach down and grab one of those Fred Flintstones.



Mav has really settled into his own routine without us putting him on one. It's almost weird that he always nods off to sleep about 9pm, and gets up around 7am everyday. It doesn't even matter if he sleeps a lot during the day.

Unfortunately I'm not getting much more sleep. I'm up late catching up on everything I didn't get done while The Mav was awake. Then I have to get up early to get to work. Oh well. Sleep is overrated....right?

Maverick's first "solid" food

Until now, the only time Maverick has tasted rice cereal was one night a couple weeks ago when nothing would satisfy his hunger, I put a teenie bit of rice cereal flakes in his bottle. That night he slept 12 hours!

When Mav went for his 4 month check-up (by the appt date he was actually almost 18 weeks), his doctor recommended that I begin letting him experiment with "solid" foods. She said he showed all signs that he is ready (supported sitter, double his birth weight, etc). Doc said that at this point it's not about nutrition, just introduction. Just letting him play with the spoon and feeling the cereal in his mouth is a great way for him to learn how to transition.

All parents are different, and all babies are different. I'm just gonna stick with rice cereal until he's about 6 months because I've read that babies' digestive systems aren't ready for anything else until then, and there is a greater risk of food allergies. Some don't even introduce cereal until 6 months.

My biggest rookie mom mistake: I tried giving him the cereal first before the bottle. Oooooh boy. That was a huge mistake!! He was red-faced angry because he was so frustrated. After the bottle we tried again. Success!!!




By the end, he was actually anticipating the spoon and reaching for my hands. Woo hoo! He was also wearing more on his shirt than what actually made it in his tummy. Rookie mom mistake #2: I forgot to put a bib on him! I was just so excited, I guess I didn't think about it. He went straight into the bath afterwards!

The second attempt was today, and it was much more fun! Having satisfied his hunger first, he was in a good mood to try it again. I did notice that when I first put the spoon to his mouth he looked at me like, "Umm, what is that??"

After I pushed a bit of the cereal in his mouth, he still stared at me like I was crazy. But then it was like a light bulb went off. He suddenly remembered the spoon and what it was for. I had to get up to answer the phone and he started to fuss when the spoon went away. Ha ha!




Maverick is just itching to crawl. I know its waaaaaaaaay to early for him to crawl, and it most likely won't happen for a while. (Trust me---I'm trying to enjoy this short time of immobility!!!)

But this is what he does when he's on his tummy:



He bears all his weight on his head and shoulders.



Then he pushes himself across the blanket. Smooshed face and all.



He knows how to rest on his elbows. But he hasn't figured out how that could help him out here. Poor kid! lol!!

Maverick is definitely his father's child. Robbie was a very, very active baby and toddler (...and teenager...and adult). Robbie's mom said that as soon as he could make himself mobile, he ran e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Even kicking his sunday school teacher in the shin. Watch out world, here comes Robbie's son!