6 months old

I can't believe it but my baby boy is 6 months old.  And as per my usual I failed to document the actual day he turned 6 months but don't worry  I did remember to take pictures the next day.

I have no idea on his stats as we are about a month off on our doctor appointments so that info will be coming later.

Micah is such a wiggle worm. This started only a few days ago but makes me wonder when he is going to start crawling. Currently he is spinning on his tummy (full 360 both directions) and grabbing at anything he can get his hands on.  His favorite toys are not baby toys but Caleb's cars or shoes (yuck).  It is so funny to see what he reaches for since I didn't have a variety of toys around the house when Caleb was this age.

Back to the wiggle worm phrase, he can push up with his arms and he can pull his knees up underneath himself, but he can't do these two things together.  So he pushes up with his arms and looks like a seal or he pulls up his knees with his arms at his side.  He kind of looks like a fish out of water.

Micah is very aware of his surroundings and loves to watch his big brother.  Micah is a content kid but now that he is more aware of everything around him I have to make sure I am near him at all times.  That sounds kind of strange but he was so chill that I could let him play on his play mat and I could do stuff in the kitchen or walk into the laundry room for a while and he didn't notice that I was gone.  But now he gets a bit fussy when I'm out of his view. 

We just tried rice cereal for the first time and he does not like it.  I don't think Caleb liked it either.  Its funny how little I remember from before.  I think I had to mix it with fruit for Caleb to eat it. I'll give it another try with milk and see how that goes.  You may be thinking, wow you waited till he was 6 months to give him food.  I have three reasons;  one -  I waited this long with Caleb,  two - I'm in no hurry to add another thing to do in my day, and three - he's a little chunkster so it's not like he's missing out.

M is reaching for the train track that his brother brought to the table desperately pleading with me to fix at that exact moment. 

We don't usually sit in the Bumbo much because he moves too much.

 

Max is now 6 years old.  Can you believe it.  I took this picture while laying on the floor to give you a perspective of what the boys view of Max is. 

Poor Max resigned to the fact that no one wanted to play with him at that moment.

My favorite. I finally captured his eyebrow expression.  This is a smile/smerk that he makes when he is happy

Nap time adventures

A while back I was at a baby shower for a relatively new, but now sweet and dear friend Katie.  It was a phenomenal shower because we spent more time at the shower praying for her and her sweet baby girl than anything else.   Well at that shower someone mentioned mommy blogs and how you usually feel awful because everyone sounds so perfect and you aren't. 

A few months ago a friend said it had been a while since I blogged, was everything okay.  I said not great, not awful but just getting by.  She mentioned I usually only blog when things are going well.

So those two comment combined bring you this no good, very bad nap time.

Micah is usually a great napper. He takes a morning and afternoon nap both are 2 to 3 hours in length.  But not this week and not today.  Today the morning nap was maybe 1 hour so I was having trouble deciding if I would put him down for his second nap early or at normal time.  Things didn't shake out like I was hoping so it looked like it was going to have to be normal to late for his second nap.  It was time for Caleb's nap and wanted him asleep so that I could give Micah the attention and calm quiet room he needed for a good nap.  So I get Caleb all changed and ready for nap (side note:  Caleb has to wear pajamas to nap b/c he inevitably sticks his hands in his pants and later pees on himself, oh joy).  So PJ's on and we are reading a book while Micah plays on his blanket on the floor.  Caleb picks a Dr Seuss 65 page book, so it is taking a while to read and I didn't think about skipping pages till much later.  The book is taking so long to read that Micah is no longer content and is now quite cranky.  So I put Micah in my lap and I'm trying to finish this book with Caleb next to me.  Micah is not happy and wiggles out of my lap and is laying in front of me off and on crying begging for nap time.  Caleb takes my vacant lap as a chance to climb into my lap and grabs a book to hold onto.  Micah grabs the book with his mouth wide open as Caleb pulls the book away however he actually shoves the corner of the book into Micah's mouth.  Micah is screaming in pain so i quickly move Caleb out of my lap and grab Micah to console him.  At this move Caleb he looses it, he is crying as if his mommy no longer loves him and has banished him forever.  Micah is still crying and grabbing my glasses as Caleb is trying to also receive some comfort for his emotional scarring.  After everyone stops crying I tell Caleb it's nap time and to get in bed.  Three attempts later, some discipline for not listening to mommy, jumping on his bed, more discipline and poor Micah crying through it all saying please let me eat and go to sleep, Caleb is finally down for a nap.

I'm exhausted and what do I see when i come down stairs but a huge mess created during our morning in every room of the house.  This is my normal every day life.  I love love love having two kids but not when they are both crying.

Dinosaur

Caleb makes me smile and laugh so much lately I thought I would try to write down some of his common phrases and actions before he changes.  Micah always makes me smile but Caleb has been my more difficult child and right now he makes me smile more often then I am frustrated.

My fingers are double jointed and long ago (when I was a kid) I learned how to make a dinosaur with my hand, it is a brontosaurus (I think, I should know all my dinosaurs by now b/c I have seen enough episodes of dinosaur train).  Well one day during bath time I showed Caleb and he loves it.  He requests it often.  Right now he wants the dinosaur to talk to everyone, or everything.  And when my dinosaur is busy (think doing dishes or cooking or maybe even cleaning) he will let his dinosaur talk to others.  It is adorable.

Where _______ is?  I love that he says it in the wrong order.  Fill in the blank with any one or any object.  He asks this question when he truly wants an answer and when he is playing a joke.  He likes to hide whatever he is playing with and see if you can find it.  The other day he put his hand in a book and said " Where hand is"?  One of these days he is going to be good at hiding things. Oh the other day he actually stupped me.  When he hides he says "Where Kabeb is?"  The fella was hiding in daddy's suits, I couldn't find him and he stayed there quiet for a minute. I actually had to tell him in my worried voice stop hiding where are you, show me where you are.

If you sneeze he says Bless you mommy (or daddy or micah).  After you say thank you he responds Your welcome mommy.  This melts my heart.  Today I was feeding Micah in his room and Caleb wondered down stairs (don't worry it is open and I can hear everything).  I sneezed and Caleb yelled at me until I responded " BLESS YOU MOMMY".

He now uses adjectives on his own.  For instance:
Caleb fast
Mommy funny
Daddy smart
Micah too little


If something doesn't work or is broken Caleb responds, Daddy fix it.  He believes his Daddy can fix everything.  I love and treasure this phase.

_____ said .... This phrase is used when he wants to repeat what someone said or did.  He also uses this for both people and objects.  My favorite of recent was when Caleb tripped and dropped his magna doodle (I think that is what it is called) and it slid across the floor.  So caleb said drawing said and he proceeds to throw his body on the floor and slide across it. 

As I type this Micah is jumping away in his Johnny Jump up and chatting with me.  He is getting so vocal (both when happy and frustrated). I don't remember Caleb making this much noise.

I talk to Caleb (and Micah) constantly.  I basically dictate everything I do, which to me is now normal and I don't notice it until I'm in the grocery store and people laugh or join in on the conversation.

just to reward you for reading my ramblings.  no i did not lock him in the dog crate, he climbed in

Nap time manipulation

Caleb is a good napper but the key is getting him to bed.  You always have to convince him or force him to take  a nap, most of the time once he falls asleep he is good for a few hours.  But he has learned how to get out of taking a nap.  He is so clever it is frustration and awesome.  Here is an example from today:

I got him ready for nap and read a few books then

Mommy:  It's time to get in bed
Caleb:  One more book
Mommy:  No Caleb that was the last one, it's time to get in bed now

He complies and climbs into bed tucks himself in and says lets pray after praying the game continues.

Caleb:  I want to keep talking
Mommy:  I would love to keep talking but it is time for nap
Caleb:  I want to keep talking
Mommy:  We will talk after nap time, now lay down and go to sleep

This phrase was repeated once more before he went to sleep. He tugs on my heart strings as I too want to keep talking too but I know what  a cranky pants he is without a nap so I have to be forceful and make him go to sleep.

Below is a list of phrases he has used to con me (or someone else) into delaying or postponing nap.

~ Just one more minute
~ Lay down with me
~ I want to cuddle
~  Lay down and take nap in mommy daddy bed
~ I want to go downstairs and play with my toys
~ Read more books please

 Oh Clever boy I have no idea what is in store for me later.

Happy Anniversary

Stumbled upon this picture the other day.

We look so young and skinny.  If you were there then this picture may remind you of the excessive smoke you inhaled as we were leaving, and for that I'm sorry.  I thought we had sparklers but evidently they were no ordinary sparklers, but they were fun colors and they made for a good picture.

Wow how life has changed in 6 years.  Lets see off the top of my head in no particular order, we have lived in two houses,  sold a house in a down market (think no fun), got a dog, went to obedience school, had two kids, we've had 4 cars, became members of our church, started a home fellowship group in our area, got a masters, started teaching, stopped teaching to stay at home, lost a grandfather, lost a mom (that is hard to move past as I type my list), went to a ton of weddings, participated in a handful, helped a friend get engaged, stayed at the Ritz three times (this is my favorite hotel and is totally Chris spoiling me and I love it), went to the beach every spring break, built a fire place, built a deck ( my favorite memory from the deck project was when I had to have knee surgery and Chris left the surgery and came home to finish installing the stairs so I could get back into the house),installed under stairs organizer, redid the back splash, spray painted the refrigerator, finally removed the black spray paint from the floor, hid all the wires for the TV,  had two knee surgeries, went to birthing classes together,  threw a surprise birthday party that was discovered when someone checked the debit card balance before coming home on his birthday, enlisted the help of friends to move the pool table 3 times before being done, we now eat dinner at 6 when we used to eat dinner closer to 8, a fabulous day is now one where we clean the house together, a lazy Saturday no longer exists,  can't remember the last time we went to the movies,

this list could go on forever but I need to get ready for my night out with my man and nap time is only so long.  So I will leave my list as is with no editing.

I love you handsome, thanks for a fabulous six years! I wonder what our lives will look like in another 6 years.

Christmas in pictures

I wanted to tell you guys all about our Christmas but I just haven't done it yet.  So here is the short version.

 Mom and I took the boys to the pink pig.  Both my mom and I used to go as kids at the Riches and Festival of Trees, so it was a fun nostalgic trip.  Caleb loved it so much he got a pink pig stuffed animal that he now sleeps with every night.  You can guess what Daddy thinks of this.

sorry mom for making you hold everything.

The boys love their Aunt Tonya.  And this is Caleb's new face every time you take a picture, he is saying Cheese.

the boys hanging out together on the couch

Caleb with all his presents.  He was a bit overwhelmed and wanted to relish each gift.

Excited face!

Love this picture.  No idea what she is laughing about but I just love it.  Uncle Ry Ry is Caleb's favorite person and also the food whisperer.  Caleb will eat anything for/with his Uncle Ry Ry.

Bill and KoKo Mardis were there too (KoKo is the little bitty dog in his lap).  Oh and Caleb learned his last name from KoKo, so now he says all of our names with the last name  I'm Mommy Mardis now. 

 This is me attempting to get a good picture of the boys on Christmas morning.  As you can see I never got a good picture of all of them looking in the same direction.  Caleb is hugging and kissing Micah not choking him in case you were worried.

This one is my favorite.  All of them are not looking at me but they are all watching TV.

Check out my cool tricycle (he calls it a bicycle)

sorry it is all caddy wompus.  The boys first bath together, doesn't Micah look a bit terrified.  Caleb is sharing all of his favorite toys with Micah.  I used the Sesame Street water color tablet thingies.  Caleb loves to turn the water a new color, although he calls all colors blue right now.  I was getting worried that he is color blind so I asked the pediatrician at what age can you tell if they are color blind and he said not until they are 4.  Wow much later than I thought oh and it is very hereditary.

While I'm rambling,  I'll tell you another antidote.  I evidently use the word thingie often because Caleb now uses it. He uses it accurately also but it is really a lazy word.  Instead of thinking of what the actual word is for an object you can say thingie and then I fill in the correct word for him.  So I'm now discouraging the use of the word unless we truly don't know what something and now I'm watching my own use of the word. It is always humbling when you dislike a behavior in your children and realize they learned it from you  (I know my previous story was a word use not a behavior but it reminds me of so many other stories)

Happy baby jumping.

I thought this was cute

We are both wearing blue vests.

His new exersacer.

Hmmm, maybe he will be crawling soon.  In the mean time he loves to be on his tummy with a toy in his mouth

cubby legs

Caleb brought him a toy and Micah loved holding onto something while jumping.  As you can see Micah spends a lot of time hanging out (ha ha ha).

So handsome, just like daddy.

I was in the kitchen and i look up to find this.  I have no idea what he is thinking of when he arranges his toys.

Lincoln logs Caleb's new toy, I mean daddy's.

 I will have to post some pictures of Caleb's favorite Christmas toy later.  I evidently don't have any photos just a video that I will not post because i do not like how I look nor my excessively  high voice in it.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years.