Baby H.--6 Months

 Umm...how has it already been half a year?!?!  For real, babies grow crazy fast.

I really wish I would have laid him next to the toy from the beginning so you could really see how much he's grown.

Seriously.  The first picture is from his first few weeks of life, the second is the day he turned 6 months.

Baby got sick for the first time this week.  So sad.  He did have two nights in a row that he slept 10+ hours though so I guess that's a positive.  Even though he's feeling yucky, he's still a pretty happy baby.

Look at those sad, sick eyes.  Still so happy though.

He's learned that he can roll to get places and has only hit his head on furniture once and only slightly gotten stuck under the couch.

All of this rolling is also leading to rolling in his sleep which leads to furious cries from his crib to help him get to his back again.  That's fun.  Wait...no, it's not.

He still loves his feet.  Diaper changes usually turn into 10 minutes of feet time.  He even tries to eat them in the tub (which means dipping his face in the water).  That usually doesn't last long though.

He's also finally figured out teethers and they are rocking his little baby world.

 He's sitting really well.  He can usually rebalance if he starts to fall over now.

He looks so proud.

 He's eating formula like a champ which makes me much less worried about the starving.

Look at those chunky little legs...NOT starving

At his appointment he was 26 3/4 inches (62%), weighed  17 pounds 13 ounces (58%) and his head was  17.8 (80%) inches.

We started him on vegetables this week.  He had butternut squash at my mom's.  He didn't hate it but wasn't so sure about how to swallow.  I gave him sweet potatoes on the 27th and he again wasn't so sure.  These faces he pulled make it look like it was a lot worse than it was.

Loves

Sitting up

Mom & Dad

Screens (cell phones, TVs, computers)

Baths

Jumper

Hates

Getting boogers/snot sucked out of his nose

The doctor

Being left alone/Not being able to see people

Not Cool Robert Frost!

My lovely friend Claire has a gift for finding great videos.  Here's one I thought was great.

Baby H.--5 Months

I'm obsessed with this little face.

 Baby H. has gotten really happy lately.  He's always smiling and so much fun to be around.  Oh, gosh!  I love him so much!

 He is always sucking on his hands.  It's quite odd to hold him and not end up covered in slobber.

 He's beginning to be able to grab things with purpose now.

 He is now rolling over from his back to his stomach.  He hates it and forgets that he knows how to roll to his back so instead he just screams after about 6 seconds of being on his stomach.

The beginning of learning to roll

He is also starting to sit up.  He can balance for a few seconds...not nearly long enough to get a good picture.

We had family pictures and they all turned out so flipping cute.

He is beginning to try to feed himself when he has a bottle.

Stop trying to be such a big kid, baby!

It is crazy to me how fast he is growing. He for sure my favorite baby named Tate.

Loves

When his daddy comes home from work

Looking around new places

His feet

Hates

Elephant noises

Not being able to see people
Late night car rides

A Few (Mostly Baby-Related) Things

First, teaching a solely breast fed 4 month old baby to accept formula is not a battle I would wish on my worst enemy.  I was/am against formula.  I know that it is not the healthiest option for my baby but after I went back to work I wasn't able to produce as much.  Now Baby is never satisfied.  He wants to eat about every 2 hours (when I'm around).  Normally, I would contribute that to some sort of growth spurt but when it continues for over a month...  Anyway, we tried forcing him to eat it...for about 1 ounce (most of which ended up all over his shirt) and adding a little to breast milk (3 oz/.5 oz.).  He did better with the mixture but was not happy about it.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

Second, even though I think he's starving, look how chunky my little is.

Third, is anyone else about to die because of how cold it has been?  If I don't die from hypothermia the icicles hanging from the ceiling/bottom of the upstairs neighbor's deck may kill me.

Winter's spears of death

Fourth, how fast do baby finger nails grow?  For real I trimmed those things 2 days ago and this morning Baby has a chunk taken out of his forhead.

Okay, the "chunk" doesn't really look that bad but it was, trust me.

Fifth, is mine the only baby obsessed with cameras/cell phones?  The other day, Baby missed his evening nap and by the time he was tired it was way too close to bed time so I was keeping him awake.  That made him super ornery and he was making the funniest faces and noises so I decided to take out my camera and document it. As soon as he saw the camera he was fine and these are the only pictures I got:

Then this one from last night:

Sixth, can your baby do an assisted back flip?  Mine can.

That is not a face plant at the end

Seventh, I might be a little obsessed with my baby.

Last,  my mom had a birthday yesterday.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

I think my grandpa likes Baby.  Look how he looks at him.  Precious.

Baby H.--4 Months

We're a third of the way to one year...how the heck did that go so fast? 

Really, he does smile.  I just take these pictures when he's tired/hungry.

I went back to work on December 3.  It was very difficult to leave him every day but luckily I had my mom and husband to watch him those three weeks before Christmas break.

Baby made it into my bed many early mornings so we could spend more time together.

He's grabbing everything now.

He really likes to hold his own hands.

Baths are still a favorite time.  He smiles, splashes and squeals while in there but when you bring out the camera he freezes and watches it.  No smiles for the camera lately.

He still loves his bath and is almost too big for the baby tub.

A few days before Christmas, Husband finished the crib!  Woot!  Baby loves it even though he looks a little scared in the picture.

His crib is finally done and he's sleeping so well now.

 He has taken great naps since sleeping in the crib.

Two hour nap, thank you very much!

Baby was spoiled on Christmas.

He got a bouncer and likes it...for about 10 minutes.

He loves this crinkly book though

After his shots today he was a lot happier than his 2 month shots.

Told you he smiles.

He chews on his fingers all the time.

Baby has been working really hard to roll over and finally on the 23rd he rolled from his stomach to his back.  Though he can roll he still gets frustrated a lot and this is what tummy time usually ends up looking like:

 

Tummy time is getting a little better.  He'll stay like this for a few minutes instead of going right to crying.

 

We tried rice cereal for the first time...not a fan.

Bibs taste better than rice cereal.  He wouldn't even swallow, just held it in his mouth.

 

Loves:

Tickles
His mom & dad
cell phones

 

Hates:

Johnny Jump Up

Rice cereal
Tummy time

Elf on a Shelf

I don't get it.  I think it's stupid and a waste of time and resources.  That being said, all I know about Elf on a Shelf is what I see on Facebook and Pinterest.

Source: m.pinterest.com via Susan on Pinterest

Source: designdazzle.blogspot.com via Sally on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Tina on Pinterest

Source: asmallsnippet.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Tamara on Pinterest

Source: 30daysoftwinkle.shutterfly.com via Lindsay on Pinterest

And why is the elf such a little turd?  Can't he do nice things like wash the dishes or vacuum the floors while he's watching and reporting back to Santa?

I've never actually read the book.  For any of you out there who love your little elf and are now cursing me and getting ready to leave a scathing comment, don't.  I already know what you'll say and I've tucked it nicely into my brain.

Elf on a Shelf is just not for me.  But, if it does ever happen, I will use it to scare the h.e. double hockey sticks out of my kids.  And our elf would do the dishes occasionally.


**This post brought to you by a 1 a.m. pumping session & Pinterest cruising**