Is it already November?

Our sweet little guy

Sitting up like a big boy!

Mommy's favorite

The back of Evan's costume

There's the little MU Tiger

Enjoying his blankie and puppy mobile

Hey.

Daddy and Evan on his 1st Halloween

Playing in his bedroom like a big boy

Bathtime fun

Gymboree playtime

All smiles (complete with 1 tooth)!

So sweet.

Our shoes in the cubbie at Gymboree. I have been waiting
a long time to experience such pictures! Love it!!!!

Where does time go? Seriously! Life is forever changed and we are loving every minute of it. The last 7 months have been a whirlwind and have passed too quickly! We love seeing Evan grow and learn new things, however, the time is going by waaaayyyy to fast for mommy! Our little man is already 7 months old and changing almost daily. He has the best personality and has become quite a little cuddle bug ... which we love!


We had our Genetics appointment, which went very well! Evan is now able to sleep for 6 hour increments. It will most definitely take time to get used to, but we will only be waking up once a night. Although Evan has had other plans and has started waking up more frequently at night - including a couple nights of waking up 5 times! Yes, I did say 5 times! As a new mother, I never realized that daylight savings time could take a toll on a little person. It completely makes sense, but I never knew how off their schedule could alter. I am doing some reading and researching, but I think we will be starting the Ferber Method and slowly transitioning to soothing himself back to sleep - hopefully making him sleep for long periods of time. The problem is not getting him to sleep, as much as, keeping him asleep. We have been waking him up every 2-4 hours since he was born and now he has to learn to not be hung ry and not wake up. Yet another transition in parenthood.

The best news was that after a long discussion, we learned that if we do have more children, they will only have a 25% chance of having the same enzyme disorder as Evan. We have been told, or so thought, that they would have a 75% chance. After some research and basic nursing, I started looking into the numbers and it didn't add up. So the explanation we had been getting was all wrong - GREAT NEWS!!!! The only downfall is that if our next child were to have MCADD, they would have a greater possibility of having a more severe form of it. Evan has been diagnosed with the least severe case, which is scary enough. But, with all the thought of adding to our family, this was great news for us!

Evan's 1st Halloween was great and we were able to visit both grandparents. He was a Missouri Tiger, complete with a pumpkin with an MU helmet! We had his pictures taken in his costume, along with his 6 months photos. They turned out great! He is just the sweetest little guy!!!!
Our newest activity is a music & play class at Gymboree Music and Play. We go to music class once a week and playtime up to 4 times a week. They also have times on the weekends when we can go as a family! We started last week and ended up going 3 times ... he LOVES it! It will help him developmentally, as well as, give us a place to go this winter to get out of the house. Music is his forte!

Lastly, we had our first visit with the Parents As Teachers program. They have a teacher that comes to our house to make sure he is developmentally on track. They also give you tips and advice, and show you toys and actitivities that will teach the children and can be made with stuff around the house. She is great! Evan is developmentally on track, but they are using his premature age. So instead of Evan being 7 months, he is developmentally 6 months and 1 week - due to him being 3 weeks early. We are on track and will have another visit near the first of the year.

We are really looking forward to the next couple of months with this little guy! Thanksgiving will be a celebration of being thankful for the little guy that has entered our lives - along with our family and friends! We cannot wait to experience Christmas and all the activities that surround the holiday. Evan enjoys Christmas music every night - to go to sleep! A little early, but he likes it!

We hope everyone has a blessed season! I will continue to update, as usual.