And Then There Were Seven

 

 

So, for the last 9 months or so, I’ve been busy housing a human.  And on June 29, Miss Harper Grace graced us with her presence.  She was about 2 and a half weeks early, weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces, was 20 inches long and is perfect in every way.   And in the time leading up to her arrival, I’ve been busy pink-ifying everything…obviously.  In case you didn’t know, it’s kind of my favorite color. 

From the second we found out we were having a girl (even before, actually), I knew I wanted gray & white stripes on one of her nursery walls.  And the plan was to  just do gray on the other walls.  And after about 20 trips to stores looking for furniture, I decided on gray furniture...and then I decided to put the crib on two walls...and one would have a window on it...and with these decisions I decided all gray walls weren't going to work.  And that's when I came up with this great idea to do polka dots.  It's a great idea...but the actual application hadn't really been thought through yet.  

 

After some research, I came up with a plan and got buy-in from the hubs, and together we created a nursery that far surpassed my expectations.  I love, love, love it! 

 We bought this thick-ish brown paper, did a lot of measuring (because my circles had to be perfect and a perfect distance apart for it to work for me...a hodge podge of circles all over the wall wasn't what I was after) and made a template (the first of many).  And then we started the taping and painting.

 

 

 

 And here is the finished paint job.



And then it was time to start the pink-ifying.  I decided to be crafty (and Lindsay and crafty do NOT go together, so this could have been a disaster) and make some fabric poms.  But, again, I was so excited with how well these turned out.  See, I CAN be crafty. 

I bought a lot of fabric and my very first hot glue gun, cut a lot of circles, glued them to make 'petals', glued them onto a Chinese lantern, put some ribbon on them for hanging and TA-DA!  A couple weeks later, I had 4 fabric poms.

  

 

I ordered these super cute tulle letters from Etsy (click here for listing)...

 

 

And got this super fabulous signed card for Mother's Day from Mr. Ben Harper himself.

 

                                                             AND IT'S COMPLETE!

Whew!!  I couldn't love it any more!  And here are some pictures of the sweet girl who will be occupying this space.

 

 

 

And her brother who is so glad she finally came out to play.  I am over the moon in love with these two!

Holy F’ing Heart Attack

We moved Keller into his big boy bed a couple weeks ago (I have mixed emotions about it, but I’m surviving, thanks for asking).  Prior to the big move, we got him all excited about getting a new big boy bed and made it clear that the only rule was, he was not to get out of bed on his own.  He still needed to yell for mom or dad when he was ready to get up.  We keep his door closed at night mainly because we have 3 big, dumb animals that would be in his room all night trying to climb in bed with him and 3 animals and a tossing toddler fighting for space in a miniature toddler bed is just asking for trouble. 

So the first night, he was so excited about it he climbed right in.  He didn’t want me to read or rock or anything.  Just climbed right in and told me good night.  I really tried, too.  “Are you sure you don’t want me to read to you?  You can lay in bed and I’ll sit on the side and read to you.” “No mama, turn on the light (he meant off).  Night, night.”  I’m not gonna lie, I was a little sad about it…might have shed a tear.  But I digress.  He did great that first night.  Slept all night and stayed in his bed yelling for “mama, dada” when he woke up in the morning.  I knew he would…he’s such a good little boy.  The next night, the newness of the big boy bed had worn off, so we were back to reading and rocking (thank goodness!).  Everything was going great, even better than anticipated.  And then it happened.

Fast forward a week.  My alarm goes off in the morning, as normal.  Sweet, it’s just the first time…I have 45 minutes of snoozing left.  I glance at the monitor before going back to dreamland and I don’t see Keller.  Hmm…I better take a closer look.  Pull the monitor to my face and squint so as to see better and still no Keller.  He’s probably at the other end of the bed, where the monitor doesn’t quite reach I tell myself.  But I’m a worrier and there was no way I was going back to sleep without confirming my suspicions, so I trudge out of bed in the dark, no contacts and quietly open the door to his room.  And there I see it.  Keller’s blanket in the middle of the floor, no Keller in bed or anywhere to be seen, like something straight out of a Dateline episode.  I start saying his name quietly “Keller?  Keller?”  I think “He’s probably behind his chair, sitting and hiding, knowing he’s not supposed to be out of bed and whenever I look back there he’s going to be looking up at me with a big grin on his face.”  I look, no Keller.  And that’s when I go into panic mode.  I know he can’t get out of his room because he can’t open the door, so clearly, a kidnapper must have come in and got him.  Clearly.  The thoughts that race through my mind next are full of fear.  “Oh my God, where is he?  Where did they take him?  Who could it have been?  I need to call the cops.  Should I call 911?  Why didn’t they take his blanket with him?  He’s going to be so sad without his blanket.  This can’t be happening.  I can’t live without him.  I’m going to have to be one of those parents on a news conference on TV begging some dirtbag to please bring my baby back and we all know that never works.”  And then starts the screaming.  “KELLER!  DUSTIN, KELLER’S GONE!  HE’S NOT IN HIS ROOM!  KELLER!”  And then I spot him…

As soon as you walk into his room, on the left is a bookcase and then is his closet, with sliding doors.  On this morning, his closet doors were open just enough for his head to fit in.  And so there he was, head in his closet up against a wicker basket, the rest of his body curled up right there on the floor.  Holy f’ing heart attack…and sweet relief.  Those 30 seconds felt like 30 minutes.  Second scariest moment of motherhood so far (the 1^st was his battle with the stairs…at least this one didn’t end up in any broken appendages).  My first thought was “Thank the lord!”  My second thought was “I should go get the camera and take a picture.”  And my third thought was “Quit being an idiot and pick your kid up off the floor.”  Obviously I should have listened to my second thought.  This post would be way better with a picture.

A New Name for Peanut Butter

We've been eating spinach milkshakes lately because 1) spinach is so good for you and 2) they're DELICIOUS! Seriously, if you don't believe me, give it a try. My concoction consists of ice cream, cocoa, peanut butter and spinach. Looks awful, tastes awfully amazing (see what I did there?!).

Our ingredients were sitting out on the counter and Keller was asking me what each one was. He gets to the chocolate and I tell him "That's Cocoa." Confused, he points to the peanut butter sitting beside it and says "Dat's Grandpa?"  (My Stepmom goes by Co-Co to Keller.)  He is clever, that son of mine.  So now, we refer to peanut butter as "Grandpa."

Almost a Genius

Keller & I were reading an alphabet book at bedtime and I started making up my own words to go with the letters. "E is for Elmo & Emmy & Eggplant."  Keller responded with "E is for Elmo. E is for Emmy." And at that time, I thought "OMG! My kid's a genius! He's really getting this!" And then he continued "E is for Aunt Aiye (Ashley). E is for Unc Nick (Uncle Nick). E is for Aunt Aiye Bebe (Aunt Ashley's baby)." Bubble burst...but that's freaking cute!

Reading to Elmo

To my Baby Boy on his 2nd Birthday

Note - This was written on his actual birthday, 7/22/13.  I'm not just now getting around to writing it and trying to pass it off as his birthday letter weeks later.  But so what if I were?  You try making ice and tell me how much else you have time for...  :)

Two years ago at this time I was sleeping, unknowing that in just a few short hours, my world was about to be rocked by the most unbelievable love I had ever experienced.  And in just two short years, that love has grown immeasurably. 

So, what have we been up to the past year? 

We went on a family vacation with Mamaw, Papaw, Aunt Emmy, Aunt Ashley & Uncle Nick to Gulf Shores.  12 hours in the car each way and you were a champ!  You hated the sand but loved the zero entry pool.  And then one day around 13 months you started walking.  In September, me and you took a trip across the country all by ourselves to California to see Aunt Megan.  Mama was SCARED TO DEATH being that it was just you and me and some really long plane rides.  I didn’t want to be THAT person on the plane with a screaming child for 3 hours.  So, I researched and googled and pinned and sought advice and packed bags and bags of entertainment and, of course, you were a perfect angel.  We rarely even got into your bag of goodies or the dozen or so presents I packed for you.

In December, shortly before Christmas, you managed a broken leg.  You somehow managed to squeeze in between the banister and the wall, walk out onto the ledge (as you’ve seen Pea do many times) and plummet to the bottom of the staircase all in a matter of seconds.  I’m convinced you must have been plotting this for months because the speed with which you did it and the way you would have had to maneuver your little body still baffles me.  Needless to say, I ran down the stairs faster than I ever thought possible.  We took you to the ER, found out it was broken, felt like the worst parents ever, had the banisters covered the next day, had your leg put in a cast and wondered how in the hell we were going to keep it from getting wet for a month.  You were a trooper though and managed to squeeze some more Christmas presents out of it…along with a lot of iPad time.  It was all a part of your plot.  And once I was over the initial shock and sadness, I had some fun with it by making signs and taking pictures telling of your injury (Shark Attack, Ninja Fight, New Year - Same F'in Broken Leg...)

We’ve been to a couple zoos, an aquarium, Grant’s Farm, Monkey Joes, concerts, pools, splash pads, playgrounds, wineries, beauty pageants, plenty of restaurants and malls…I must say, you’ve lead a pretty exciting life for a 1 year old.  I hope 2 is just as adventurous!

We had your birthday party last weekend.  It was ‘Hot Dog’ (Mickey Mouse) themed.  You got so many toys you don’t know what to play with.  #twoyearoldproblems  (Hashtagging is really ‘in’ right now.  I’m sure by the time you read this, you’ll wonder what in the hell that even means.)

All About Keller –

You love balls.  You like to ‘yoot’ (shoot) balls.  You like to block shots and say ‘Not in my house.’ You love to be ‘bu-bye’ (outside) and play with ‘Wo-wa’s’ (Noah) ball.

You love to help with everything.  You help mom vacuum (so much so you got a vacuum for your birthday) and swiffer and dust and do the laundry and bake and really anything that’s asked of you.  If I could just get you to start cleaning the bathrooms, I’d be set.  You love to mow the grass with dad (so much so that you got a bubble mower for your birthday).  You love to cook in your kitchen and your new grill (yep, birthday gift)…you obviously get that from your dad because I haven’t seen you cook any grilled cheese or cereal, so you couldn’t have learned from me.

You love music and you are quite the dancer.  You take the remote and often manage to find some random music channel and dance around.  You can’t (or won't) say music yet so if we turn off the music you just say ‘more’, followed by bopping your head up and down. 

Though you can’t say music, you can say a lot.  You have a very extensive vocabulary for a 2 year old and I love it.  Listening to the things that you come up with and your attempts at pronouncing words is the sweetest thing ever.  Some of my faves:

Marley = Wa-we

Love You = Yuv You / Yuv You More

1, 2, 3 = 2, 3, 2

Mama, Come Here = Mama Meer

Please = Peas

Thank You = Tink You

Cookie Monster = Num-a-num-a-num

Shoes = Yous

Keller = Bebe

Your ‘Boppies’ (Buddies) at Ree-Rees – Emma, Archie, Ne-ne (Delaney), Momas (Thomas), Ba-Ba (Bekah), Ya-Ya (Olivia), Yak (Zach), I’is (Willis)

Heeey, Mama Rock Me = Wagon Wheel Lyrics

You are the most perfect little boy I have ever known.  You’re sweet as can be with just a bit of sass and a total Mama’s boy…which I love.  I can’t imagine my world without you.  Happy 2^nd Birthday, Keller Allen!  Yuv You More!

 

I'm Baaaack....

Yep, that’s right, I’m back.  I’ve been on a bit of a blogging hiatus.  I spent the last year in the African jungle studying the eating habits of aye-aye’s.  Okay, that’s a lie.  I spent the last year cussing at my janky computer that refused to let me on my blog.  It’s not safe, it said.  You shouldn’t be blogging, it said.  You want to beat the shit out of me with a hammer, it said.  And it was right.

So we finally got a new computer.  And it’s amazing.  All fancy and shiny and touch-screeny.  So I can blog again.  When I have time.  Which is never.  So, I’ll probably blog a couple times and then check back in in another year and have some other excuse.   Like our ice maker broke so I had to spend time making ice by hand (true story).

In case you were wondering, the aye-aye is a real animal…look it up.  It looks shocked and surprised in all pictures.  Like it’s just screaming “AAAHHH!  WTF ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?  GTFO!!!”  Seriously…that’s what I think of when I see the pictures.

Alright that's enough for now.  I gotta go make ice. 

 

One of Those Days... *Sigh*

You ever have one of those days?  Where at the end of the day, if given the opportunity to redo the day, you would just stay in bed all day?  Well, I did…and I lived to tell about it, so here we go…

It started as any normal Saturday, with Keller waking up around 6.  (At what point do they start sleeping in until 10?)  We have started trying pieces of food instead of pureed and Keller gags/chokes on everything.  So I had decided I was going to try making him a scrambled egg.  (Well, really, I decided Dustin was going to make it, but he sleeps too late so that didn't work out as planned.)  I thought if I scrambled it real fine, it would slide right down and we would be well on our way to eating real, solid food.  Wrong.

Reason #457 why I don't cook...  As I go to get the egg out of the fridge, I apparently had the dropsies - egg all over the floor. *Sigh*

Fast forward 15 minutes - egg is cleaned up, scrambled egg is made, Keller is prepared to try his first bite of deliciousness.  And he gags.  Try an even smaller bite, even more gagging.  *Sigh*

Oh well.  Since texture is big at this age, I decided to let him play with it.  Fun! By the time we're done, there's egg all over him and his clothes and the high chair, though with a dog on either side of him, we've managed to keep the floor clean....well, eggless.  So I go get his bath ready and strip him down in his high chair.  Check the diaper, looks good, drop it, pick him up, go put his bowl in the sink, come back to the high chair to throw his clothes downstairs and diaper away and uh-oh...  It appears there was in fact poop in the diaper.  Hmmm...so this cute little butt that's resting against my stomach... *Sigh*

Clean him up, change my shirt and on to the bath. So, Keller's playing in the bathtub and I'm perusing Facebook.  In the midst of sending a birthday message, I think I hear bubbles coming from the tub.  I check everything out and all looks good.  Probably just him banging toys together I assure myself.  I go back to writing my birthday message when I see it - The Poop Face.  Noooooo!  There are certain times when you know Keller's pooping - his face gets red, little red lines form between his eyebrows, there's grunting, and he just has this look.  (He's really going to appreciate this when he gets older.)  This was one of those times.  I rush to pick him up out of the tub (to do what with him I don't know) but I'm too late.  Poopapalooza.  *Sigh*

Later that morning, Keller and I made our way to the Galleria to get mama a new pair of shoes.  So we go into Macy's and I stroll by the men's shirts.  I find one I like, head over to get my shoes, pay and we're on our way.  Maybe I'll head back by the men's shirts real quick.  Find another one and buy it.  While I'm here, where are the kids clothes?  3rd floor, of course, so we make our way to the elevators.  Side note - Why in the hell are department store elevators soooo slow?  Seriously, there aren't 15 floors in this place...what could possibly take so long?  Fuckin' gaggle of turtles having a pow-wow upstairs on the elevator.  Finally... Get to the 3rd floor, find nothing, of course, and head back to the 1st floor.  One more stop by men's (because I'm terribly indecisive) and as I'm browsing Keller gets "the look".  And then the grunting starts.  Here we go again.  Buy another shirt.  Where are the women's restrooms?  2nd and 3rd floor...because it would make too much sense to have one on the 1st floor.  Back to the dreaded elevators. 

By this time I have to pee so I head into the bathroom only to find out the handicapped stall is out of order.  WTF?!?  Now what do I do?  The stroller and my bags and all his shit certainly isn't fitting into a regular sized stall.  Unbelievable.  Slightly baffled and refusing to make another trip to the elevator, I begin taking my valuables out of the stroller, starting with Keller.  Then my wallet and phone and keys.  And I then attempt to balance everything while hovering.  *Sigh*

Finally get out of that place, take Keller for his first trip to Crate & Barrel (which he loved, obviously) aside from seeing a lady fall…hard…when she tried sitting in a chair that was not meant for sitting.

Went to our friends Jonathan and Laura's house that evening for a cookout.  With the day I'd had, I should have known to just call it a day.  Didn't.  And the Lord said you haven't seen a shitty day yet.  I'll spare you all the details because I'm getting tired of writing and I'm sure you're getting tired of reading.  Are you still reading this?  Wow, I'm impressed.  So, what had happened was...the biggest hail storm in the history of hail storms came rolling through right where we were located.  Right on top of my new Kia.  Shattered my windshield and put a beatdown on the hood and roof and threw a few in on the doors just for good measure.  And this was no typical pea- or golf-ball sized hail.  Oh no...we're talking baseball sized.  Looked like somebody brought that fuckin' gaggle of turtles from the 15th floor and pow-wow’ed them right at my hood.  *Sigh*

Here are a few updated pictures of my sweet boy.



I'd rather be naked!

  

First time swinging...love it!

First Cardinals Game

Mother's Day Kisses...My Favorite Picture Ever

Dear Keller #3

Dear Keller -

You've been in the world for 8 whole months now! Technically I guess it's really been 17 months but those first 9 were in utero and don't really count. Never mind... Why am I explaining myself to an 8 month old? So, what have you been up to since my last letter? Well...

You said your first word...da da da da da... I was in denial at first, saying that you were actually saying la, but there's no denying it...you really like your da da da. And you were so impressed with your newfound abilities that you said it all during church one Sunday...LOUD. I tried to give you toys to quiet you down but then you were just flailing your toys around talking about your dad. I tried shoving a bottle in your mouth, but you were too smart for that. Anytime the choir would sing, your "da's" just got louder. I'm not sure if you were singing with them or trying to talk over them. I believe you were probably just praying for your dad since he didn't make it to church with us, but I figured the Lord (and the rest of the church-goers) had heard enough of your prayers so we left a little early.

You carried on with the da da da for a few weeks and that's fine. I mean, I'm only the one who carried you for 9 months and birthed you and who feeds you and gets up with you in the middle of the night and bathes you and rocks you to sleep...but that's alright. No big deal. I'm not bitter. :)

Anyway, your next words would certainly be ma ma ma. So I would say ma ma ma to teach you and help you learn it. And you would say da da da and smile SO big like you knew just what you were doing. I even tried to coax you with Ma Ma Marley and Ma Ma Maya. Clearly ma is an important sound in our house. You should really try it out. I think Maya's feelings are getting hurt. She's sensitive, you know.

So, then you moved on to ba and then la. Your Papaw is convinced you said Papaw recently and your dad thinks you said Vanna while watching Wheel of Fortune a few nights ago. I'm sure ma is coming soon. Probably somewhere after 'indigenous' and 'pumpernickel' and 'meatloaf'. "Ma! The meatloaf!"

You're sitting up on your own and you do a worm-like crawl to get where you're going (which is always after something you shouldn't have). You 'cluck' your tongue, like you would if you were trying to get a baby to look at you for a picture. Wonder where you picked that up. Maybe the paparazzi that follow you around with cameras (aka your mom and Ms. Sheree). You've also started doing this thing where if someone is holding you and not looking at you, you'll move your head down and around so that you're looking directly up at them in their line of vision. Kinda like you're saying 'Hey, Booger Nose, pay attention to me.' Makes me and your dad laugh every time. (Seems like that should be 'your dad and I', but that's not proper grammar. Trust me.)

To make you happy in your moments of grumpiness, we go outside (we've been blessed with an early and beautiful Spring), go look at ourselves in the bathroom mirror (you still love that) or go to the fridge. You love to play with all the bottles in the door. Your dad likes that you like that "muthturd" bottle. That's some strange thing between him and his friends that I'll let him explain to you when you're a bit older. The fact that you like to play in the fridge is a bit strange as well but it makes you happy so that makes your mama happy...your ma ma ma ma ma.....

And now, a few 8 month photos...my subject is getting a little more difficult to work with these days, as you can see.

 

And this is one of my new faves

All My Love,
Mom

Inappropriate Nursery Rhymin'

After seven and a half healthy months, Keller finally came down with a sickness (and of course, it came right before the weekend we had plans).  He’s got an ear infection in both ears and, we learned, small ear canals because they had to water pick him and stick painful looking foreign instruments in his ears to get the wax out so they could see his eardrums.  This was not a pleasant experience for mom or baby.  But despite this and the high fever he was running and the awful sounding cough, my sweet little boy has still been his happy natured self (aside from not wanting to be put down, but he’s sick and I find this totally acceptable).

He has also not been sleeping as well due to his illness.  And though he’s been napping fine, it takes him a little longer to fall asleep than normal, so I’ve been using this amazing singing voice of mine to sing him some tunes.  I have found out that I don’t know near as many nursery rhymes as I thought I did.  And I just realized that most of them are really short, requiring me to hurry up and come up with another one.  And I often times don’t remember the words, so I just make them up as I go along.  I sang him a song my Grandpa Winka always used to sing to me.  It goes “Down in the valley, Valley so low.”  That’s all I got.  I just made ‘em up after that.  “I hear you calling, calling me so.”  Calling me so?  That’s terrible.  It doesn’t even make sense. 

And then I moved on to “Hush little baby don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.”  Then there’s the lyric about the diamond ring.  And after that my free-styling skills kicked in and I just kept singing about things Mama’s gonna buy ya.  At one point in the song I was buying him wine with a cork…saddest part is not that I’m singing to my 7 month old about buying him wine or the fact that saying ‘wine with a cork’ is ridiculous, but that I was rhyming with work.  Work and cork don’t even rhyme.  Fail.  And just a few short lines later, while trying to rhyme with song, Mama was buying her baby a bong.  Seriously?!  This is all I could come up with?  Drug paraphernalia?  Fail #2.  That was when I decided it was best to end the song…and my dreams of becoming a rap star.  (In my defense, 'song' is a hard word to rhyme with in terms of what Mama’s gonna buy ya.)

So, this is the point where I apologize to my mother.  She has always told me how she would sing me Silent Night when I was a baby…Christmas time or not.  And I made fun of her for that.  But that’s what I reverted to in my moments of desperation.  Christmas songs in March.  Forget the 20 second nursery rhymes and the inappropriateness of my made up lyrics.  I know every word in the first 3 verses of Away in a Manger.

And finally, after I’d been through all of these, a random song popped into my head and so I just went back to that great ol’ tune.  You all know it.  Sing it with me.  “Ooooh, you better take me home tonight.  Ooooh, down beside that red fire light.  Are you gonna let it all hang out.  Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin’ world go round.”  And here we are again…inappropriate.

Here are some new pics.

7 months old

Bath time!

Love those eyes!

Dear Keller #2

Dear Keller –

6 months old already.  I can hardly believe it.  It’s amazing to me how much you’ve changed and how much you’ve learned to do in just 6 short months.  And, as with every other month you’ve grown older, this is my new favorite age!

You started rolling over shortly after you turned 4 months old.  You went to Ms. Sheree’s like any other day.  As I was sitting at work I started getting picture messages and I knew what was coming.  She managed to capture the entire roll-over.  I was so excited for this big accomplishment in your life…but so sad I missed it.  So I cried.  At work.  I sent your dad a text and asked him if he could hurry up and make more money…to which I promptly got a confused phone call.  I explained that you had rolled over and I had missed it and I was going to miss all your ‘firsts’ and if he’d just make more money I could stay home with you…to which he replied ‘Are you really crying at work?  People are probably making fun of you.’  Your dad’s super sympathetic.  :) 

You are eating all sorts of food now.  Being the amazing cook I am, I am making all of your food.  Made you banana tonight.  Whew!  Mashing that banana really took it out of me.  You love apples and bananas and sweet potatoes.  You also like squash and you’re still undecided on peas.  You eat them, but pretty hesitantly.  Avocado was the first food you had, and you really liked it at the time, but now that you’ve had a taste of other things, forget about it.  I can’t blame you on that one.

You sleep through the night like such a good boy, usually 9-10 hours a night.  We had to Ferberize you to get you to sleep that long, which involved lots of crying by both you and me, but it was worth it in the end.  I think.  As long as you don’t end up emotionally scarred.  And now that you can roll over, you like to sleep on your belly and will often sleep with your face straight down in the mattress.  Talk about freaking your mom out.  I was up Googling at midnight one night whether it was safe for you to sleep like that or not.  Google said it was…Google better be right.

You still LOVE watching TV, as you have pretty much since you came out of the womb.  We watch Wheel of Fortune every night and you love it…probably all of the colors and the fast pace and Pat Sajak’s funny jokes.  And it’s totally educational so I’m fine with you watching it.  You’re going to know how to spell by the time you’re 2.  ;)  A commercial for Wheel came on one day and you turned your head to watch…you recognized the theme song.  That’s either really sad or really amazing.  I’m going with amazing!  You also love Elmo.  If you’re upset and nothing else works, ‘Elmo’s Song’ on YouTube never fails.  Never.

You went on your first plane ride in January, when we went down to Florida to see your Grandpa & CoCo.  Our flights there and back were both delayed…apparently the airline didn’t care that I had my day all scheduled out and arranged around your eating schedule.  Whatever.  You were a perfect angel regardless.  We surprised your Grandpa for his 50^th birthday…put you in your car seat on his door step and hid.  He thought you were a doll.  When he finally figured out what was going on, he was totally surprised.  We went to the beach while we were there.  You ate the sand.  I thought you’d get a taste of it and realize you didn’t like it and not do it again.  I thought wrong.  We also went to our first art show and lots of great places to eat and you and I went for a walk every morning in the gorgeous January sunshine.  Someday you’re going to ask me why we choose to live in the Midwest when places like Florida and California exist...and I’m not going to have an answer for you.

You are a Mama’s boy…and I love it.  That is all.

You have found your voice and love to hear yourself squeal.  Or maybe you just like the attention you get from making such loud noises.  Either way, it usually gets a laugh from me and your dad.  And really, you like making noise in any manner.  Banging blocks together, slapping the table/high chair tray/computer, fake coughing, etc.  You also like to stand in front of the mirror and look at yourself and something about that makes you want to dance.  You get one little leg really going…I call it the Missouri One Step.  Cutest lil’ thing I ever did see.

And you like to laugh at the dogs.  You think they’re sooo funny when they come to give you kisses or lick your hands.  Marley is your protector.  He doesn’t let you far from him and he’s always right by your side when you’re crying.  And he doesn’t mind when you pull his hair or when we think it’s funny to act like he’s a horse and let you ride him.  I can already tell you and him are going to be best buds!  Vanilli, on the other hand…  You’ve tried to pet her a few times and I very hesitantly have let you, but only quickly.  I’m sure it won’t take long for you to learn about her.  She’s like a small mountain lion, not to be touched.  I’m not looking forward to the day you grab her tail or pet her too roughly or grab a chunk of her hair or look at her wrong.  She’s liable to leave you with a nub for a hand.  And Maya girl, she just wishes you’d throw that damn ball for her.

You still love your baths and your splashes are getting bigger and bigger.  I usually wind up nearly as wet as you.  We took you swimming for the first time last weekend and you loved it.  Finally somebody for your dad to play with in the pool!!!  He’s been waiting on this for a looong time.

Swimming with Dad

Lil’ Man, you have made this the best 6 months of my life and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  I can’t wait to see what the next 6 months have in store for us.  

Such a happy baby!

6 Months Old