Hunter at 8 months old with Tigger

Some other pictures I took today:

I’m not sure what it is, maybe it’s the outfit, but I think Hunter looks much older than he did when I took pictures at 7 Months Old.

Hunter- 8 months old, Hailey- 5 3/4

New stuff this month:

Hunter’s 2nd tooth came in right at the beginning of this month.

We finally saw a dermatologist about his rash.  She was no help at all.  She was really young and can’t possibly have much experience, so I am really frustrated.  She basically told us to use a bunch of expensive moisturizers and lotions.  The way the appointment went- she met with us, looked Hunter over, then left with the nurse.  Then the nurse came back in with instructions to get the rash to clear up.  So I couldn’t even tell the dermatologist that the pediatrician had actually thought of moisturizers/lotions before referring us.  By the end of the appointment Hunter was screaming, so I figured we’d try out her ideas (they are different moisturizers and lotions than we have ever used).  But her ideas have not worked and I had to go back to the prescription creams the pediatrician gave us.  When Hunter goes to his follow up in September I am requesting to see someone else.  The one thing that has gotten better is his cradle cap.  It had gotten so thick and so bad that it was making his hair start to fall out.  So I started putting Olive Oil on his head about 20 minutes before his bath and just letting it sit.  Then I would scrub his head with a soft baby brush and that really worked.  After a week there was a huge improvement!

Hunter now says “ma ma,” “da da,” and “ba ba.”  His favorite one to say is “ma ma” and he says it all the time.  I don’t know if he means anything by it, but I like to pretend he does.  He has also started his clapping hands.  When we try to get him to it, he won’t do it.  But as soon as we stop paying attention he’ll start clapping.  He also loves to mimic Hailey.  If she bangs on something, he bangs on something.  If she screeches, he screeches, etc.  It is so cute!  I also think that Hunter does the sign for “milk.”  It looks like he does it, he could just be squeezing his hand open and shut, but I really think sometimes he is asking for milk.

Hunter is not crawling yet.  He gets on his hands and knees and could crawl if he would just do it.  But instead he gets really mad and just cries.  He does manage to get around by scooting on his bottom.  I am in no hurry for him to crawl though, because once that happens I know I won’t be able to take my eyes off of him for a second!  Hunter can also sit himself up now.  He has been able to sit for a while if we put him in the sitting position but he can now get himself sitting up.

Sleep has been pretty awful!  Just in the last week he won’t stay asleep at all when I put him down in his swing.  I get him to sleep but as soon as I try to lay him down for his nap he wakes right up.  Usually at night he stays asleep for a couple of hours in his bed before he starts waking up.  Someday he’ll sleep, at least that’s what I keep telling myself (Right now, I am typing while I am holding him so he’ll stay asleep.).  The only good thing in sleep related news is that Hunter is on a schedule- he naps around 10am and 2:30pm and is ready for bed around 7:30pm.

I have given up hope that Hunter will ever take a bottle.  I had a stash of frozen milk that I finally had to throw away.  He nurses about every 4-5 hours during the day and he eats baby food (fruit for breakfast, veggie for lunch, dinner for dinner.).  He seems to like his baby food, which makes it a little easier for my parents to watch him once in a while so Rich and I can go out.  I don’t have to rush home every other hour to nurse him since he’s eating baby food and going longer between feedings.

Hunter did not have an appointment this month, so I tried to do my own measuring at home.  I think he weighs about 20 lbs and I think he’s about 28.25 inches.  He is still in 6-9 month clothes, but some of his onesie shirts are getting a little hard to snap, so I’ve started getting out some of the 9-12 month clothes.  He is still in size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 diapers at night.

We recently took a little day trip to Knoebels.  It was the perfect day to go!  Rich took a day off during the week so we could go on a Tuesday.  The crowds were nice and low and the weather was perfect.  It was kind of overcast, so it didn’t get too horribly hot.  It didn’t rain until we were almost home- and then it poured!  But the weather was perfect all day while we were there.

Hailey and Hunter when we first arrived.  Hunter’s first time at an amusement park!  Surely not his last though, since he’s in a family that loves Disney World

Hailey and me waiting for the first ride of the day.  Since I was pregnant last summer I didn’t get to go on many rides… so Hailey was pretty excited to take me on this one.

Just me and Hailey- I love how she is looking at me laughing.  Probably pleased to see how soaking wet I was!

Rich’s turn to get drenched.

Hunter did great!  He watched all the people and loved watching Hailey go on the rides.  He was soooo good.

She sure does love the rides.

Hunter’s first ride.  He seemed to like it and enjoyed playing with the steering wheel.

Hailey got to go on some of the bigger rides by herself.  Last year she did the kiddie rides without an adult, but this year we let her do some of the bigger rides alone.  My little miss is growing up too fast!!

We were eating ice cream cones and Hunter kept watching and wanting to eat some too.  So I let him try some chocolate ice cream.  He absolutely loved it!  After every bite he would open his mouth right back up for more.

This was my favorite ride.

Hailey on the log ride all by herself.

Hunter taking a little nap… he was a tired little boy!

Hailey is quite the little driver.  She won the race!

It was such a fun and relaxing day!  We always have a great time at Knoebels and can’t wait to go back.

My previous post told all about our first day and a half at the Great Wolf Lodge.  Here is the rest of our trip:

Day 2 we spent the morning and early afternoon at the lodge.  We decided to leave the lodge for lunch/dinner.  We ate a big meal in the late afternoon at the Rainforest Cafe.

Hailey and the Rainforest Cafe

Rich, Hunter and Hailey

Hailey and Rich

We stopped at Guinness World Book of Records after we ate.

Of course we had to stop and see the falls.  The rainbow was so pretty!!

We were all happy to get back to the Great Wolf Lodge!  Hailey sat in the big chair out front and posed for a picture.

Hunter was so excited he was banging on his stroller.

Posing for a picture near the entrance.

Then it was time for more water park fun:

Rich and Hailey

Hailey had originally told us she wanted to skip story time so she could stay in the water until the park closed.  Well she changed her mind, so we rushed back to our room, gave the kids their baths and got them in their pajamas.  We made it just in time for story time, which was a lot of fun again.

Howling by the fireplace after story time.

The next morning we decided to eat at the buffet again for breakfast.  We got there a little bit earlier and saved $2 per person for the adult meals because we got there early.  Once again there weren’t any characters, as there were supposed to be.  We asked and apparently Wiley was just getting ready to leave.  I guess he doesn’t stay for the whole breakfast time.

Hailey was still able to see Wiley on his way out of the restaurant.

Hunter wasn’t too sure what to think of Wiley.

Hailey loved making the tree light up using her wand.  I loved the tree house and thought it looked like it would be so fun to play in!

After breakfast (we had great, fast service this time!) Hailey went on a Wolf Walk out in the lobby.  It was a lot of fun and the guy who did it (I didn’t get his name) was funny.

Hailey with her origami wolf that she made during the Wolf Walk.

After the Wolf Walk we did another quest and then went back to our room to get ready to go swimming some more.  Check out time was 11am, so we got our suitcases all packed up and loaded into the car.  They let you use the water park until closing time on your check-out day.  We weren’t able to stay that long, but we did play for several more hours.

So much fun!

She did not want to leave when it was time to get out and kept asking to do just one more slide.

After we got all changed we did one more quest before we had to leave.

Hailey loved doing the quests!

Then we went to see the falls:

Our family

Checking out the falls

The end of the rainbow.  But no pot of gold.

It’s hard to tell in the pictures just how bright the rainbow was, but it was so beautiful!

Then it was time to make the trip back home.  Thankfully Hunter was tired and slept most of the way home.  Hailey fell asleep on the way home too.  They were both tired out from all the fun.  We had an amazing time at the Great Wolf Lodge.  We wished we had stayed one more day.  We can’t wait to go back!!

Hailey finished kindergarten on a Tuesday.  On Wednesday morning we got up and told her to get ready for a surprise trip!  She got ready super fast and kept asking where we were going.  We would not tell her or give her any hints at all.

In the car, all ready to go- so excited!

Hunter was not as excited, nor did he enjoy the car ride hahaha

When we got to Niagara Falls Hailey recognized the area from when we were there last year.  She still didn’t know where we were staying though.

The Great Wolf Lodge

She was just a little bit excited when we got inside.  She loved that she could walk around howling

Check-in isn’t until 4, but you can start playing in the water park at 1pm on your arrival day.  We got there around 2 and our room was ready when we arrived.  Yay!!  So, we went to go check out our room.  Instead of room keys the Great Wolf Lodge uses bracelets that you hold up to the door to open it up.  Hailey thought that was pretty fun!  We also added a credit card to our bracelets (mine and Rich’s) so that we could make purchases without having to carry any money or credit cards.

Our room

Hailey stayed in the Wolf Den- she loved it!  She had her own little room and her own TV.  She thought that was really neat!!  And it worked out nicely at night because I could put Hunter to bed out in our room (they provided a Pack and Play for him) while Hailey could stay up and watch TV.

More of our room

After checking out our room we got ready to head to the water park.

Hunter all ready for his first swimming experience.

We were on the lobby level (I had requested this), which I had thought was going to be the same level as the water park.  The water park was actually down one more level, but it worked out perfectly and I’m actually glad we were on the level we were.

We looked around the water park while we were trying to find a table to park at.  We brought Hunter’s stroller in with us, which worked out great!  I’m so glad they allow strollers.  He liked being strolled around while he watched all the action.  Then later when he was ready for a nap I had somewhere to put him while he slept.

Some of the water slides.  They are all actually much bigger than they look.  They go outside of the building and swirl around before coming back in, so it’s hard to tell how big they really are.

Hailey loved floating along in the Crystal River.  We spent a lot of time relaxing in there!

Then I put my camera away so I could swim too.  We stayed in the water park for quite a while.  Hunter took a little nap in his stroller while Rich and I took turns taking Hailey on the various rides.  She had so much fun!

Then we ate dinner at Antler Shanty.  It was a buffet, and the price was a little high ($22 per adult, $10 for a child) which we expected, so we weren’t shocked.  The food was just okay.  We decided we would not eat dinner there again.

After dinner Hailey got her pajamas on to go to story time.

Hailey loved story time!!  When I asked her if she liked it, she said, “No, I didn’t like it.  I LOVED it!”

The girl who did story time the first night we were there did an amazing job!  Her name was Jill and she was so animated that she kept my attention the whole time.  I can not say enough about what a great story teller she is.

After story time Hailey got to meet Wiley.

Then we went to the store to buy Hailey a wand so she could play MagiQuest.  She picked out a pink wand and a unicorn topper.  Then we had to pay for her to play the game.  The total was around $50.

At that point it was getting late so we headed to bed.

In the morning we ate breakfast at the Antler Shanty, which was a buffet again.  The food at breakfast was much better than it was at dinner.  We thought there were characters at the breakfast buffet, but we never saw any.

Hailey brought her wand to breakfast and figured out that if she cast her wand at a tree in the restaurant the tree would light up.

The tree lighting up.

Hunter during breakfast.  I loved that we could bring our stroller in, that was so much easier than trying to put him in a high chair.

Overall breakfast was much better than dinner.  (Price was $16 per adult and $10 for a child.) Our only complaint was that the service was super slow.  We had to wait forever for drinks and for plates to get cleared.  When we were trying to leave it took forever- I had to leave with Hailey and Hunter while Rich waited to pay the bill because it was taking so long.

I love the fireplace in the lobby.  Someday when we build our dream house, I will have a fireplace like this

Hailey posing in the lobby.

Next we did a Quest which was a lot of fun.  Hailey definitely needed help, so it was a fun family activity.

Then we were off to the water park for more fun!

Hailey had a blast:

Hailey and Hunter in the wave pool.

Hunter enjoyed the water too.  They had a couple of zero entry pools and he loved sitting in the very shallow water and splashing.

It was all very tiring, so he took a good nap in his stroller.

More water slide fun.

We played for several hours in the water park, then took a break to get something to eat.  To be continued in my next post.