Beau: One Year

Weight/Height: Big and tall!

Milestones:

This sweet boy is a year old! And what a year it has been! Beau celebrated his first birthday with all of his family surrounding him. The theme? "Fun in the Sun...Beau is one!" His sister picked out the theme and she was VERY proud of herself for that little slice of creativity. Everyone enjoyed swimming, water games, delicious food, and yummy treats. As for milestones, Beau is *almost* walking. He is so very close. Any day now and he will probably take off. Beau has also become the CHAMPION climber. Which is NOT a fun milestone for Mom and Dad. He. Climbs. EVERYTHING. There is no surface that Beau can be kept off of, and Mom and Dad spend all of their time taking him down off of everything. One good component of this new milestone is that Beau has also figured out how to get "off" of things. He knows that he needs to turn around and go down backwards. Which is certainly helpful since he spends most of his time climbing up on the couch. He can even navigate the stairs with close supervision of course! Beau has been saying Mama and Dada for quite some time, but he has recently started saying his first "intentional" word: More! Which, of course that would be his first word. Beau is OBSESSED with food, and any time his current food source is depleted, he starts yelling, "more!" at anyone who will listen. 

Loves:

See above. Food. Food. and, more food. Beau also loves cuddling to sleep with Mama. He has gone on a bit of a nap strike lately, but as long as Mama is holding him, he will happily snuggle with her until he has drifted off to sleep. Thankfully he transfers to the crib VERY easily once he's asleep, so Mama isn't nap-trapped every day!

Hates:

Being denied food. And...that's about it. As long as Beau has a steady supply of food, he is the happiest baby around! 

Beau: Eleven Months

Height/Weight: As always, who knows?

Milestones:

Mr. Beau has had a fun month of enjoying the summer and the beach. He has also added a few fun milestones into his repertoire. Beau is starting to stand all on his own and has even taken a few steps. Mom and Dad think that he will be walking by his first birthday. A sad milestone for Mommy is that Beau has completely weaned in the last month. Beau stopped nursing during the day at nine months old (except when he wanted to comfort nurse at nap time), but was still nursing every night and sometimes in the morning. Just in the last couple of weeks, he has stopped doing even that. As the last baby in the Russell family, this development comes with a LOT of emotions for Mommy. It's definitely bittersweet, but Beau made the decision all on his own. One fun milestone that Beau reached this month is that he now understands the concept of his "shape sorter." He still needs help figuring out which shape goes in which "slot," but he loves the process. It is so cute watching him figure things out. One final milestone that Beau has reached this month is that he now knows how to climb the stairs...which means that everyone needs to be extra careful about keeping the gate to our upstairs CLOSED at all times!

Loves:

Does it even need to be said? Still food. It will probably always be his first love (but, can you blame him??).  Like his older siblings, Beau also LOVES music and will shimmy his little shoulders every time he hears music. As the youngest member of the family, Beau is surrounded by toys that are well above his age-level. So of course he prefers his siblings' toys to his own. His current favorite is his brother's Bakugans. He loves to try to figure out how they fit back together...even if he is never successful. One fun little thing that Beau LOVES to do is touch his finger to other people's finger. It's almost like his own little greeting. He will stick his chubby finger out and expect the recipient to touch his finger back. He will get EXTRA excited if the other person says, "bzzzzzzz" when touching. See the picture below for a GREAT example...

Hates:

Beau is Mr. Shy Guy and doesn't do well with strangers. He is fine from a distance, but the minute someone he doesn't know well tries to hold him, he starts crying and reaching for Mama. The "stranger danger" phase has hit HARD for him!

Beau: Ten Months

Weight and Length: I'm never good at keeping track...

Milestones:

Beau had a VERY fun milestone this month: His very first epic, multi-week, "Russell Road Trip!" The Russell family likes to take some pretty intense road trips every summer, but since Beau-y Boy was born last summer, it didn't happen in 2021. That had to be rectified in 2022. The group decided to explore southern Utah's FIVE national parks by embarking on a fun-filled, action-packed 16 day trek through the beautiful desert. And, as expected, Beau handled it like a CHAMP. He was the perfect little road trip participant, and was happy to enjoy the scenery as it flew by. He took all of his naps either in his car seat, or in a hiking backpack. He didn't get any "real" naps on the whole trip (aka, in a bed), but he didn't offer up any complaints. He just smiled and went with the flow. That's kind of his standard way of doing things. Another AMAZING milestone for Mommy is that Mr. Beau decided to start sleeping through the night on the family trip! It was the first time he had slept in another "room" from Mommy (if one can count the trailer bathroom a "room"), and the distance seemed to help. By the second week of the trip, he had stopped waking up all night demanding to nurse, and everyone slept MUCH better because of it. Once the family trip was over, Mr. Beau's crib was moved into the "kid" room and out of Mom and Dad's. He struggled with it a bit, and tried to start waking up again, but Mom stayed strong, and after a few nights of having to cry it out a bit (the HARDEST thing for Mommy), Beau was able to figure it out and started sleeping well again. Hallelujah! Beau has also learned how to "pull up to stand" in the last month, and is getting more steady with it every day. One last milestone is that Beau finally got his two front teeth. Mommy and Daddy are sure going to miss his little gummy smile, though!

Loves:

Mommy and food. Always and forever. They are equal in his eyes. Beau also LOVES being active. He is by far the most active of the the three Russell kids. From the minute he started crawling, he started exploring the world NON-STOP. If it can be climbed, he will climb it. If he can get into it, he will get into it. If it can be opened, he will open it. Beau is a mover and a shaker, and is happiest when he gets to explore.

Hates:

As always, not much. Beau is rarely grumpy. He is pretty consistent with the fact that the only time he gets truly mad is when he is not getting his food fast enough. If he sees food, he will SCREECH until he gets it in his chubby little hands. It's entertaining, even if it is deafening. 

Beau: Nine Months

Weight and Length: No clue

Milestones:

Mr. Beau-man has started to move a lot more this month. He is *almost* crawling, but seems to do it backwards rather than forward. He gets SO excited, and gets into a "plank" position, and then moves himself backwards instead of forward. BUT, Mommy and Daddy think he's going to figure out the forward movement any day now. Beau is also starting to work on standing up. If Mommy helps him, he can reach up to the edge of the couch and pull himself up. He is getting so strong and is starting to show so much more interest in mobility. But, he is still the sweetest, calmest baby on the planet and is generally content to just hang out and watch the shenanigans of his older siblings. Mommy and Daddy *think* that Beau-y hit a not-so-fun milestone this month: his first bout with COVID. Wren tested positive on Daddy's birthday, and 10 days later, Beau started having symptoms. He tested negative the whole time, but rapid tests are notoriously inaccurate with babies, so Mom and Dad are pretty sure Beau had it. As always, he stayed happy and sweet despite the misery, though!

Loves: 

Food. Always food. Beau is VERY motivated by food and perhaps the only time he shows any sort of disgruntlement is when he isn't getting his food fast enough. Beau especially likes fruit...but he will eat anything that is placed in front of him. He also LOVES to dance. Any time he hears music, he waves his arm and wiggles his little butt. He also loooooves to play with anything that isn't a toy. Remotes and cell phones seem to be his favorite, and if he sees one sitting on the floor, he scoots himself over until he can get his hands on it. 

Hates: 

There's not a lot that Beau doesn't like. He is always happy. Always smiling. And just generally the most content baby on the planet. He still isn't sleeping through the night, so perhaps one could say he doesn't like sleeping too much. Mom took Beau-y Boy to his 9 month check up hoping the doctor would pressure her into sleep training (because Mom is a wimp and won't do it unless pressured to by a medical professional). The doctor asked Mom if Beau is able to put himself to sleep (which he has done since he was tiny). The doctor said, "well...some babies just want their moms at night. It's not a sleep-training issue. It's just his personality." And who could argue with that? Beau just wants to snuggle and nurse all night long. So, that's what he does. Mom's back always hurts, but since Beau is the EASIEST baby at all other times, how could Mommy begrudge him his nighttime snuggles? 

Beau: Eight Months

Weight and Length: No idea...

Milestones:

Mr. Beau continues to be calm and content. He is happy to just sit and watch the world around him. As such, he hasn't started "moving around" too much. He will scoot a bit here and there and can roll all over the place. But he still isn't crawling. Not that Mom and Dad are complaining. By the third kid, they are not in ANY hurry for a mobile baby. But, the day is probably coming soon because Beau is starting to show some signs of crawling. He is getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth. He is starting to go from the sitting to crawling position and vice versa. He is starting to pull himself up to stand when you give him your hands. But, he is not in much of a hurry for any of it. One milestone that Beau has reached in the last month or two is that he can now hold his bottle. It makes life MUCH easier for Mom and Dad because they can hand Beau his bottle and carry on with other tasks. Especially now that he drinks bottles more than he nurses these days. Unless Beau is in a quiet room with ZERO distractions, he isn't too interested in nursing during the day. He still wants to nurse ALL night long, though. So, Mom still isn't getting much sleep!

Loves:

Does it even need to be said? Beau's number one love is (and always has been) food. He eats almost as much food as his older siblings and would rather eat than drink a bottle. Beau also LOVES toys. He especially likes the "window spinners" he got for Easter. Beau is a VERY early riser, but he will happily play with his window spinners all morning while Mom is trying to get the big kids ready for school and out the door. Beau also loves, loves, LOVES his siblings. No one can get him to belly laugh like big brother and sister can. He thinks they are the funniest people on the planet. Well, them and Dad. Beyond that, Beau loves pretty much everything. He's happy at home. He's happy riding in the car. He's happy to sit on Mom and Dad's laps. He's happy to play on the floor. 

Hates:

Not much. Beau is happy pretty much 99% of the time. The only time he gets mad is when he's in his high chair and isn't actively being fed. Even when he's tired, he's pretty happy. The more tired he is, the more silly he gets. He gets "slap happy" and will laugh at the tiniest things when he's over-tired. Perhaps the only other thing that Beau has a mild dislike of is strangers. He gets VERY shy when people he doesn't know talk to him and he will tuck his face into Mom's chest when they do. But, even then, he gives a shy smile and then hides his face. He genuinely is the happiest baby on the planet. 

Beau: Seven Months

Weight: 17 pounds 3 ounces

Length: 27 inches

Milestones:

Beau has been hitting a lot of milestones this month and seems to be growing at an exponential rate. Since last month, Beau has gone from "tentatively" sitting to independently sitting. You set him down, and he rarely topples. He will sit for long periods of time, just playing with all of the toys within reach. His brother likes to barricade him with pillows just in case he falls over, but the falling happens very rarely these days. He tries to sit up from the reclining position too, which makes putting him in his car seat a challenge. Beau also went from merely "trying" food last month to full-on eating. He eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner and loves every second of it. He doesn't have the typical "tongue thrust" anymore and can down food with the best of them. Another fun milestone is that Beau has found his voice and is starting to form consonant sounds...especially when he's upset. "Da, da, da" is his go-to. He has also started to "yell" in excitement and he is LOUD. Mom and Dad think he's just trying to be heard over his equally loud siblings. Beau still isn't the best sleeper, but he is a GREAT napper, and he is starting to stretch his wake windows which makes "going out" easier. Mom doesn't feel like she always has to rush home in order for him to stick to his nap schedule. Three hour wake windows are a game changer!

Loves:

Food is still number one on his list. Beau loooooves to eat. He has discovered that he especially loves scrambled eggs this month, and while he will eat any food with gusto, eggs hold a special place in his heart. Like his big brother, Beau loves toy cars. He often ignores all "baby" toys and will go right for his brother's Hot Wheels. He gets them in his little hands and turns them this way and that, staring in wonder. He also loves his brother's Picasso tiles and will bang them together. Beau continues to love his big sister Wren the best. She can make him laugh just by looking at him and he is constantly enthralled by her energy and volume levels. 

Hates:

Not much. Beau only seems to cry when he's really tired or really hungry. Beyond that, he is generally happy and content.