Chicken pox at 10 months

Sometimes right when you think life is going great, germs come and throw off your family groove. Jax was exposed to the chicken pox a couple weeks ago and his body tried really hard to fight it off but the spots finally came out last weekend. I explained a little about how this happened on my insta stories but in case you missed it, long story short Jax was exposed to it through another family member. (PSA for all you parents out there: if you think your kid is contagious even a little bit please stay home) This could've been avoided but looking at it with a positive perspective we're glad that he is getting them out of the way when he is little. He can't really itch his spots and it seems to be a more mild case with no other side effects other than those pesky spots. While we get over this little setback Jax is getting extra baths, staying in his jammies all day, and has been getting all the extra snuggles and Elmo he wants. I think he may be through the worst of it, now he's just at the stage where he looks like a 14 year old boy who just started puberty. 

In this middle of all this fun Jax turned 10 months! 2 more months and we will have a one year old y'all! I know every mom says it but man... time flies by! Fabian and I talked about the big one year old birthday party and decided against throwing a big party but I have a feeling that might be changing. I mean not only are we celebrating Jax but we, as parents, kept a human alive for a whole year! That should be celebrated right?

Jax has been consistently using his baby signs to tell us, mas (more), leche (milk), and all done. We've been working a lot on please and thank you because we would love for that to replace the karate sounding grunt he makes when asking for something. He also is soooo ready to start walking. He has been cruising along anything he can find. The couch, the dining table, the bathtub, he even takes one of his toys and will downward dog through the hallway. I am hoping we can see his first step but I have a feeling we're just gonna turn around he is going to be running.

I've had some people ask me about us speaking both Spanish and English to Jax and how that is working. Well here's the thing about babies, they are a clean slate. The more we teach him the more he learns and Jax responds to both languages. I would say our home and lifestyle is 50/50. Fabian is the one who speaks the most Spanish in our home. I am not the fluent parent but I am doing my best and am for sure learning more as we teach Jax. We listen to Spanish songs, are around family members who speak both Spanish and English and are submersing him in his culture. I love that Jax is going to be bi-lingual and that we can give him that gift as his parents. We're hoping in the next couple months we can get some words out of him, it will be interesting to see which language he speaks first!

Any first birthday party advice? Did you decide to do it big or small? Smash cake? Taco truck? Tell me your thoughts cause it looks like not only should we start saving but we should start planning too. 

- Bethany & Fabian 

8 months old? What?

Pulling up on furniture, navigating under the dining room table, and discovering the step in the living room. Jax has kept himself busy as he picks up his speed and figures out how to roam from room to room. He has also kept us busy as we create different barriers to keep him safe. We've got a package of toilet paper and water bottles blocking off the laundry room. We're using a plastic tub full of unopened kitchen supplies to block off the living room and at all times doors to bedrooms and restrooms are closed. We're using what we've got because I have a feeling he is going to be up on his feet real soon.

The weather has given us lots of rainy days this past month which means he was home with Papi during the day. I can tell the extra time they spent together created an every deeper bond between them and I love it! I love seeing them tossing the plush soccer ball throughout the house and watching Jax react to the energy that his papi has! I never thought our living room would turn into a soccer field but I love it! Also, I would like to mention that my husband does a pretty solid Elmo impression!

Once all the rain went away we were left with warmer weather and took advantage of the park right down the road from our home. Jax experienced the swing for the first time and he didn't hate it but didn't seem to love it. He also discovered grass! It was hilarious to see him brushing his hand across the pokey grass and trying to eat it. Once again, didn't hate it but didn't love it. It's those moments when I see my personality come out in him. When I try new things even if I like them, I don't always show it on the outside.

 

I love his curious personality. He is so much like his Papi and is down for anything! He will try new foods, explore the unknown, and smile at strangers. It's such an amazing and scary responsibility to raise up a person. As we keep navigating each day through this hood we learn what we can and show Jax through our behavior how bring out the best in each moment!

 

Oh... Jax is also pointing at everything! We love it!

Five Month Old Baby Jax

Rolling, rolling, rolling, Jax just keeps on rolling! Our 5 month old Jax has been keeping us on our game lately. He is super active! As he continues to learn how to roll, we continue to move our furniture out of his way. He can rotate 360 and roll from both back to belly and belly to back. He has been working his way into solids and has tried carrots however, he could really care less. He just wants the leche. We have started using sign language with him and he has learned his sign for "milk." His little reaction and smiles are so cute when we ask him, "quieres leche?" He will grab our hand like it's the bottle and start looking for the milk.

 

He is working through his 6-9 month clothes and has started to fit into some of his shoes. He is still very much like his mama and loves being barefoot. Feet are tastier when they are barefoot anyways right? He is going through a bit of a sleep regression right now but we're working through it. He has so many wiggles that he wiggles himself awake before it's time to get up. Thankfully this has only affected his naps, he still sleeps for 10 hours at night like a champ!

He has started to babble and it's so fun to watch him try and put words together and figure out how his tongue works. I can't wait until he learns how to blow raspberries. He is transitioning out of Papi and Mama's room into his very own room this week. Poor boy has been sleeping in the hallway in our bedroom since he was born.

 

Jax just keeps getting cuter and more fun as he grows. Nothing more to report for this little update, so we'll leave you with some nicknames that Jax has acquired over the past 5 months.

"Curly fry"

"Squishy" (he is always extra squishy after sleeping)

"Sweet potato"

"Jax-son Tennessee."

"Jaxi Boo"

- F & B

We have a four month old!

Thinking about parenthood sometimes all you can do is go one day at a time. Well one day at a time has gotten us to 129 days! That's right, I can't even believe that Jax is four months old! He weighs 17.5lbs and is 26.75 inches long (we will just say 27 though). I think he is going to be tall like his Papi and Tio Nate! He is stretching his way out of his 3-6 month clothes and into his 6-9 month fall outfits!

This past month of development has been exciting to watch. As his eyes follow us around the room he is becoming so much more observant of his surroundings. He loves to talk, laugh, and sing along to Papi playing the guitar. Of course if you smile at him he will smile right back! We've found some tickle spots and have also realized that if you quote Nacho Libre to him he will crack up. This was our go to movie while I was pregnant and let's face it, it's still our go to movie. This month his personality has been coming out and we're seeing different sides to his temperament. He is social like his Papi but when surround by a lot of people he tends to just observe like his Mama. He is such a great mix of both Fabian and I.

We took Jax on his first little road trip last month to Waco. It's only an hour and a half drive but that's the longest stretch he has gone in his car seat. He did great! Our little trip was so encouraging because we know there are more road trips in the future for this family.

As Jax rolls into this next month there is a lot in store for him including, transitioning into his own room! We're excited to be entering into Fall and the holidays. It's going to be so cool to now share our traditions with our son. We will continue to show him the importance of faith, family, and Nacho Libre.

-F & B

Our 3 Month Old Baby



The developmental leaps that our Jax has made in the past month makes me feel like time is going by too fast. Y'all we have a 3 month old! He has been changing into this perfect mix of Fabian and I. There are moments when he looks so much like his dad, an expressive face with slicked back hair. Then there are times when he looks just like my twin, with his quick moving eyebrows and round little cheeks.  

He is developing his personality and it's so evident that we are going to have our hands full as he gets bigger. This boy is active! He will sit and sing along with us and is so gracious when we forget the words to songs. We've been working our way through, Jesus loves me and I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy. I even learned to sing them in Spanish for him. I love hearing his little coos. He responds to voices and smiles with the cutest toothless drooly grin. He is trying to figure out how to suck his thumb but hasn't quite gotten the hang of it. His hair continues to be one of his greatest features. And he is giving us more belly giggles too which are seriously the best!

He surprised us last week by showing us he can roll over! He is not super consistent with it yet but give the boy something to push off of and watch him flip! Since he was already sleeping through the night I wanted to tweak his bedtime just a little bit to allow more solid nighttime sleep. He gets up at 6 with me in the morning before I head to work. I once again kept paying attention to his queues and was able to adjust it by an hour after slowly moving it up for two weeks. He naturally fell into his new little pattern and gives us a longer stretch of nighttime sleep. Seriously, this child is such a reflection of his parents. Sleep at our house is a must!

This past month it has become easier to bring him out and about for longer periods of time. Outdoor walks, weekend errands, and time with family have been such a joy to share with our osito. He is getting too big too fast and we love every second of it.

Is it too early for him to say, "mama" yet?

-Bee