Seven Months

My Malachi,

Seven months old. When did that happen? I feel like it was yesterday that your dad and I were packing you into the car outside of the hospital and we were taking that first terrifying drive home. You have so quickly become our forever busy, crawling, standing, binky loving, almost walking buddy. You are changing right before our eyes and its so much fun to watch you learn and grow and discover all the amazing things around you.

You have become quite the adventurous man this month. You are in to everything. If it can be pulled off of a table or a chair, you pull it. If it can be put in your mouth, it goes there. If you can climb it, you climb it. You study and you analyze everything around you. You want to know how it works. If we show you how to do it once, you remember and can do it from then on. You have mastered turning the lights on and off. You can open and close a door. You can slide the window of your play house up and down. You know how turn the pages of a book. You know that the phone goes on your ear. You know how to push buttons and pull shapes out of their holes. You can turn the lady bug and move it up and down your cube and you know that your binky goes in your mouth. You are so smart for your age little man. I cannot even believe the amazing things that you can do.

You are a crawling machine!!! You move so fast and you are always going. No more army crawl or that adorable little scoot that 5 months brought. You are crawling on all fours and can make it across the room in about ten seconds flat. You stand up on everything. And I mean everything. You know how to use your knees to push up and you have mastered the standing toys. We have a toy that you are supposed to push to help you learn to walk, but we arent pushing it. You keep me busy enough just crawling as fast as you do! I can use a few more weeks of no walking.

You have started dancing to music this last week or so. All of your toys sing, so everything that you play with gets you moving. You hold on and shake your little but from side to side. You find the Hot Dog Dance and the Mouskatools song to be particularly moveable haha. You're favorite toy this month is a big orange bouncy ball that your Grandpa brought you from work one day. You love rolling and playing with that ball. You giggle and giggle. Its one of my most favorite parts of our every day.

You have so much personality for such a little person. You are so full of joy and life and you are all smiles most of the time. Your little eyebrows still give you away every single time you are doing something wrong and you are just the happiest baby to be around. You get into trouble a bit more these days, what with your need to constantly be sticking your fingers in the VCR and eating the dustbuster and what not, but you are truly a happy baby. We could not have asked for a better life to live than the one we live with you.

You have your own room now! Up until now, you have been in your crib, but in our room. Honestly it was harder on me than it was on you. You slept fine and you love playing in your adorable big boy room. M is for Malachi dont ya know!? Its painted in Disney paint, so its "You betcha! Blue" and "Minnie's Gloves White". Disney just makes everything magical. And seeing as you are still completely in love with Mickey Mouse it is just the perfect place to put you. It is so very you :)

You are growing like a weed!!! You are 20 lbs and so very tall. All torso and a big head! You're wearing mostly all 12 months clothes at this point. Your dress pants are still 9 month size but most of what we have you in is 12 month. It has finally gotten cold this past few weeks and you are able to wear your cosy sweatshirts and your thermals. You have the cutest little socks and you are all about looking good. Your little toms finally fit you now so we have been sporting those quite a lot lately. You are cute no matter what we put you in, but you really rock a button up. Just like your daddy. We have quite a few that are matching between the two of you. Its so stinking cute.

We are so excited for this new season we are in. Celebrating all of your first holidays is going to be so much fun. Your costume for Fall Fest at New Life is so stinking adorable. Oh my, you will be cute. I bought your First Thanksgiving outfit and your Nonna and Grandpa bought you a bunch of stuff for your first Christmas. You are in no short supply of Christmas Spirit. The only thing I havent boughten yet is your Christmas Eve pajamas. I just havent found the right pair just yet. I have a picture in my head of what I want you in and as soon as we find them, Ill know. 

You have two teeth!! And quite a few more that are trying to make an appearance. Im really glad that you are finally cutting teeth. You are far less miserable that way! You had another big cold this past week so thats been fun. And guess what else? You talk now!! You say "mama" or "mum-mum" depending on the moment. And you also say "hi". Its the cutest thing. You're little voice just melts my heart.

You eat like crazy. We are doing mixed foods now, and you are all about the yogi bites. We do some puffs but you arent as crazy about them. We have also let you try some table foods but they arent really your thing yet, which surprises me! With as much as you love to get into things, you really keep to yourself when it comes to table food! You do like baked potato though. And you like throwing baked potato, thats another story for another time :)

Malachi, this month your dad and I have been praying calling over you. Your dad shared a little piece of his heart in prayer for you last night and it meant the world to me. He said that he was praying that you would just know God. That from a very young age, it would just be normal for you to talk with the Lord like hes your best friend. And baby boy, thats what we want for you. We want you to know God. We want you to grow up with a knowledge of your calling and that you will do such great things. So Malachi... our little messenger of God... You were born for greatness. You were born with a purpose and a calling. You were born to lead people to Jesus. So as you grow up, we promise to teach you what it means to seek the Lord. We promise to love you into the kingdom. And we promise to pour knowledge into you. We will teach you stories and lessons, and we will never hold you back. You are never too young to make a difference. You have a David calling on your life and we will do everything that we can to help that grow and become something so beautiful in your life and in our family.

Malachi you are loved. More than you will ever know. Your smile brightens every part of my day. Your giggle melts my heart. The way that you reach for me and the way that you cry for me makes me see the purpose for my life. You are more than I ever expected and the best friend that I will ever have. I cherish the gift that you are to me and I promise to love and protect you for as long as God allows me to. You are such a beautiful picture of God's love and grace in my every day and I could not be more thankful or more humble for the chance to be your mama. You are my everything Malachi. Please don't ever forget that.

Happy First Fall, my Malachi.

All my love,

Your Mama

Six Months

My precious little man,

Six months old. Time has gone so very fast. You are half a year old already. I know, I know. I say it every month. But I cannot believe how fast it has gone. You are my favorite little Toms wearing buddy.

You have become your own little person this month. You have so much personality. Your expressions have gotten bigger, and let me tell you. They look more and more like your dad's every single day. You are such a flirt. You smile this adorable little smile and then turn your head away and hide it shyly in my shoulder. I think its my favorite thing that you do. Your eyebrows still give you away and I dont know that that will ever change. You are so full of life and energy. You are sleeping one minute and then up and running the next. You are so very busy. You are always on the move.

You started crawling this month. If there is something to be getting in to, your in it. You can be surrounded by a mountain of toys and you will crawl straight for the air register or the little springy door stop or the edge of the coffee table. You know, all the things that could potentially hurt you. You have also taken to crawling at your reflection in the sliding glass doors and then crawling directly into it repeatedly. One day you will realize its not a good choice. But for now, we giggle with you and turn you around. We bought you a play yard to try and keep you busy, but you aren't a huge fan of it yet. You arent really into the whole being contained thing. But its okay. Id rather play with you anyways :)

You also started standing up this month. You have figured out how to pull yourself up on things in various locations. Stacked boxes, your crib, a laundry basket. You are so advanced for your age. It makes my heart so happy to see you growing and thriving. You will also walk around if we hold your hands and walk behind you. I try not to let it happen too often because I dont want you getting any ideas too soon, but your little feet go a million miles an hour. I love it so much. So sometimes it just has to happen. 

You have figured out emotions this month. You cry when something hurts or if something scares you. You laugh in response to things, such as being tickled or if something is funny. You get excited over things that you like. And you have started recalling things that you like. You love to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and you are now at the point where when either the Mouskatools song or the Hot Dog Dance come on, you will stop and smile at them. We also sing those ones to you fairly often so I think that helps, but you really do recognize things. You also have started to recognize people as well. You have certain people that you will take to and others you just really dont. And you definitely recognize me and your dad! You look for us when someone else is holding you and when you hear one of us you automatically look in our direction.

You still love your Duffy Bear and Mickey Mouse. You are a Disney kid through and through. You have really taken to books this month though. You will help us turn the pages (only in the thick cardboard ones. We dont quite trust you paper pages yet haha!) and you listen to all the words. You have a Mickey Mouse look and find book and we point to all the characters and you follow with you little eyes. You have also started to noticeably recognize the characters. We say "where's Mickey?" and your eyes go straight to him. You are so stinking smart.

You have not been the best sleeper this month. I dont know if you are scared of your bed or what, but you are not a huge fan of being in there at all. We are doing our best to make it work though. You are eating like a champ though! You still love oatmeal and you love fruit. Veggies are a little tougher with you. You love carrots and sweet potatoes. You will tolerate squash somewhat but peas and beans are a no go. Im really looking forward to starting some mixed foods with you this week. Im anxious to see what combos you like and what other foods in general interest you.

You are such a sweetheart. You love snuggles when you're tired and you want to look and see everything around you. You are a very nosy little man, but in a good way. I think you have your dad's mind. You want to know how everything works. You love to pull things apart and explore. You also love, love, love being outside. You love trees and watching the limbs blow around. And I think you just like the fresh air in general. You are always happy outside.

We havent had your 6 month well visit yet, but my guess is that you are somewhere around 21 lbs and probably around 28.5 inches long. Your torso goes on for days and you definitely got the Cyprowski big head trait. Your little head is so big! You are starting to outgrow your 9 month onsies and pjs, so the next size up is washed and waiting for you. You are still in size 3 diapers and you were size 3 shoes. You are just such a very big boy.

Malachi you are the most precious thing in my world. I wouldnt trade a single day that I get to spend loving you. Every single day is a new adventure that I hold so very close to my heart. I love watching you grow. Knowing that I had the honor of helping God create something so amazing, and so stinking cute just blows me away sometimes. Your heart is so good and your little heart is so innocent. My prayer for you, dear one, is that you will always be good and your heart will always be innocent. That you will fight for what is right and leave behind what is wrong. I want you to always know that your dad and I love you, no matter the circumstances and that providing for and protecting you is what makes our life worth living. We do everything we do so that you can have a better life. You are more than we could have ever hoped or prayed for. We adore you sweet boy. With every passing day we love you more. Never, ever forget that.

I could eat you up, I love you so.

All my love,
Your mama

Five Months

My little buddy,

Five months old. I know I say this every month, but I really cannot believe how very big that you have gotten. The days just go by so fast and no matter how hard I try and just slow down and enjoy each one, I just can't seem to make them go any slower. With each day that passes I do my best to just remember your face that day because I know that tomorrow will have a look all its own and you will never look quite like you do today again.

You have grown like crazy this month. According to your four month well visit, you are not fat by any means, but you are however the size of an average nine month old, based on your height and weight average. You are in the 98th percentile for your height and head size and the 85th percentile for your weight. You are just getting so very big. Your little cheeks just go on for days and are so very kissable. You are now in all 9 month size clothing and size 3 diapers.

Your little personality has exploded. You are so smiley and you love to laugh. We know you wont find us near as entertaining in about 10 years, so we do everything that we can to get that little giggle out of you while we still can. You have the greatest little laugh. Its contagious. You cant help but smile when that adorable little gummy smile stares up at you. You make the best faces, and all of them look just like your daddy's. You are just so very expressive. Those eyebrows give you away every time. You also have become very interactive with toys this month. You will lay and play on your own with things and just explore them.

You are so strong and determined. You are pulling yourself up to standing when you hold onto our hands, and you are also sitting up unassisted. You are almost to the point where you dont need your hands to hold you up anymore. If we have you propped up on a pillow you will sit yourself up and then promptly fall over haha! But you are learning and exploring and that is what is important. We want you to explore always. You also push yourself up on all fours now. And you will arch your back all the way up when you are on your belly, kinda like the little Mermaid on the rock at the end of part of your world. It makes us giggle. And you are a rolling machine! You go from back to belly and then back again and end up half way across the room. You dont even hesitate anymore. You know what you want and you go for it. You also have started army crawling. Well not really crawling more like army scooting. You use your little knees and push and pull until you get where you want to be. And you grunt like crazy while youre trying to get there. Its one of my new favorite things that you do.

You love, love, love to talk. You will just babble away at us, or the friends or the floor haha. It doesnt really matter whos listening but you will just talk away. You have also become much more dependent on us this month. You like to be played with. And you have discovered the fake cry. If we don't get to you fast enough or we are busy making your food or attending to something else man do we know about it. We try not to give in every time, but man is it hard not to. Your dad has a really hard time with that. I know they say little girls have their dad's wrapped around their little fingers, but you are doing alright at that too haha! I love watching him love you. It reminds me every single day why I love him so much. He has also taken to calling you Little Buddy Diapers this month. Its adorable. 

You have fallen even more in love with Mickey Mouse this month. You love to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and will laugh and smile at it. We also got you a little stuffed Mickey for our big drive to South Carolina and you will not go anywhere without it now. And you and Duffy are even bigger buddies now. You love to watch his story on youtube and you love playing with him. You tackle him now. We keep telling you that isnt how you treat your friends, but you just dont seem to listen haha. You also love books! You will sit and look at the pictures and touch everything and take it all in. You love the books with the touch and feel spots, and you love your giant Mickey book of course. 

You got to touch the ocean for the first time this month. We went to visit your Morris grandparents and Aunt Desi in South Carolina and you really took to them. And boy did they love you. They held you and played with you and just loved on you for the three days we were there. You got to put your little toes in the water and feel the sand. I don't know that you were such a fan this time, but you most certainly liked the swimming pool! We put you in your little boat and just pushed you around the water and you kicked and splashed and played. If bath time was any indication to your love of water, I knew that you would love the pool. Im really glad we got to share that with you and that your grandma and Poppi got to experience those firsts with you too.

You had your first big cold this month as well as many sick visits with the doctor. You had an infection and antibiotic as well as a viral something that just doesnt seem to want to go away. You are such a trooper though. No matter how bad you were feeling, we would have never known it. If it werent for the subtle things I may not have even caught that you were sick. You are just the best little man. You really are.

You got over your dead stare of the camera this month. I let you play with my phone a bit so it isnt as foreign to you which really helps a lot. But you will smile and interact now when we are trying to get pictures of you and I love that. I want to remember this gummy little smile before those teeth finally make their way through the gums, which I am praying hard is soon. I think you might chew your fingers off if its not. We have four teeth trying to come in. Please just come in haha!!

Malachi you are the greatest blessing in this world. Your constant joy just brings so much life to me. When you were in my belly, i used to pray that you would be a joyful baby. That you would just be a light no matter where you went. And I cannot tell you how many people have told me how joyful you are. And that you are just the most pleasant baby to be around. And it is really so true. You bless me each and every day that you are in my world. Each smile and giggle makes my heart jump. Every new discovery is like someone has opened a whole new world to me. When we found out we were expecting you, I was so scared of what a baby would bring and all the unknowns but since you have come into this world, all the unknowns have been such a special part of each and every day. I love being your mama. More than any other job or any other role that I have every played. I love being your mama. And I hope that you always know how very loved and cared for you are. You mean more to me than you will ever know my sweet little boy. Don't ever forget that.

All my love,
Your mama

Four Months

My little man,

Four months. You are four months old today. I cannot even begin to wrap my head around the fact that you are growing so very fast. Each and every day holds a new memory and something just a little bit different than the day before. Every morning you look just a little bit different and to be completely honest, sometimes it make me sad. Because we will never have yesterday's you again. But then I get excited for the things to come and how many new adventures that our life with you will hold. I have a feeling if we are enjoying the now, we will really enjoy the tomorrows we will have with you.

This month has held so many milestones for you little man. It seems as though you make a new discovery ever single day. You are still rubbing your eyes when you are tired. But more than last month. Now it is a clear sign that its time for a nap. You also started cutting teeth this month. Which resulted in non stop chewing of the fingers and a never ending amount of drool. Thats been fun. And of course, in true Malachi style, you are getting your two front teeth first, even though most babies start on the bottom. They are almost all the way through the gums as of today so we should have some teethers within a week or two. You will be the cutest little beaver in town. I will surely miss that gummy little smile though. Its the smile that stole my heart. I dont know that anything will ever top that. But I bet I will say the same thing about your little tooth filled smile. I just havent seen it yet :)

You also started rolling this month!!! It has been a big deal. You would think we were cheering on an Olympic team or something every time you roll and we are looking. But you have a tendency to roll over every time you are playing on your blanket and I am making dinner or doing the dishes or something and all of sudden we hear your tummy time grunts and you are facing a different direction completely and are on your belly. You roll from back to belly most of the time but you have made it from your belly to your back a few times too. Either way, we are so impressed with you little guy.

You have become to interactive this month. You laugh like crazy and at just about anything. You love playing peekaboo and you also love to dance or to watch us dance around and make complete fools of ourselves. You love to talk too. You will have conversations with us and will just babble away at just about anything. You love talking to your friends too.  You use your hands to express yourself and you love trees. Like love love them. You will sit and stare out the window forever if we let you and you love to go outside and look at them. You have outgrown your kick and play mat which made us sad, but you can hold up your own head now so you are loving your exersaucer. You spin yourself all the way around and play with each toy as  you go. You have this sense of wonder in your eyes all the time. Everything is an exploration with you. And we love to watch you learn and grow. Seeing the world through your eyes is truly a magical experience. 

Your favorite toys this month have definitely still been Pluto and Duffy, but we added an exciting brightly colored ball to the mix as well as your teething monkey cocoa. We just love watching you play. You hold your head up like a champ so the bumbo has been a fun addition to our day too. You love being independent. So being able to sit up on your own has been great for you.

We also started feeding you cereal this month! You stopped sleeping through the night quite as well as you had been and so we started giving you some little man oatmeal and you love it! You eat it off the spoon like a champ and usually do some yelling for more :) We go for your 4 month well visit on tuesday night and we will get a schedule of introducing some more awesome foods to you. We really cant wait for that :)

You also had your first 4th of July yesterday. You loved all of it. We had you dressed so very cute for your first parade, complete with a baseball hat and everything. You looked so stinking cute. You sat through the parade like a champ and you spent the day playing and laughing with all of us. You even loved the fireworks that night! We sat in the hatch of our car so that the noise wasnt as loud for you, but you watched all the colors and that noise didnt scare you at all. You really are the best baby around.

You bring more joy to our lives then we ever thought possible. Each and every day is a new adventure and we love to watch you grow and change with every single day that passes. You are so full of greatness and your eyes hold so much wonder. Every time you look at me or you snuggle in to my chest and love me the way that no one else could, something inside me comes alive. I have found my purpose in having you Malachi. You have given my life, and your dad's life this whole new meaning and without you we wouldnt know what life was for us anymore. You have given us such a precious gift in just being you. Never ever change. 

You are our whole world. And we love you so very much. We want so much for you. Never forget that. 

All my love,

Your mama