Saturday, June 20, 2009

6 Months Old

Michael is now 6 months old and not slowing down for anything (not even sleep)! He's such a mover - - in a complete turn around from when he was born, Michael now LOVES to be on the floor, because that means he can crawl around and get into everything :) He still loves to be held, too, but in the words of the doctor at his latest check-up, he's a total wiggle worm! In addition to all the moving, Michael has been enjoying talking to Hannah (they seem to understand each other, even when we don't!!) and making "elephant" noises (blowing raspberries, but try to tell that to Hannah). He's also been growing - he is now 27 inches tall and 15 lbs 7 oz. The doctor was a little concerned about his weight not keeping up with his height, but after seeing how active he was just sitting on my lap and hearing that he's already been crawling/creeping for almost a month, he wasn't surprised- it takes a lot of calories to be that active! Michael will have to go in again for a weight check in a couple months, but just to give us another benchmark. Michael is such a happy, smiley boy who loves everyone who looks at him :) So far there have been no signs of stranger shyness at all! He loves books and toys that make noise, but his favorite things to play with are Hannah's toys - he goes after them repeatedly, with a determination and persistence that makes me terrified to think about him as a toddler!

After multiple days worth of photo shoots, we finally got a picture of Michael sitting still and smiling for the camera. . . . .
. . . . . without blowing raspberries. . . . . . .
. . . . . or shrieking in delight. . . . . . .
. . . . . or trying to reach Mommy and the camera!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Big Kids!

The kids have been up to all sorts of "big kid" things lately - - here's just a sampling :)

After 2 1/2 years of watching Mommy paint her toenails, Hannah just had to try it :) I was a little surprised when she picked pink over orange (on any given day, she'll name either as her favorite color, but it's usually orange!) and even more surprised when she sat there with her little toes out and patiently watched me paint away (I thought for sure this would be another "me do it!" moment)
Hannah claimed a basket of chips for herself at Chihuahua's - - none of this "one chip at a time on a napkin" stuff for her anymore!
Looking cool in her new shades - Hannah loved her glasses so much that she couldn't be bothered to wait to take them outside, and instead watched Nemo in the dark :)
Michael's been making big strides this week too - he can now put his Nuk in his mouth all by himself (sometimes even right side up!)

In related news, Hannah is now (we think) Nuk-free. We've been throwing them away one by one as she destroys them, and finally got down to the last one about a week ago. She made sure to tell us that it was "broke" every day, and we kept offering to take it off her hands, but she resisted. Today she gave it to me when she woke up in the morning and I "forgot" to give it back to her for naptime or bedtime - - and she seems okay with it!
Michael has been perfecting his creeping (it's not really a crawl yet, but it's getting there fast!) and is persistent in his pursuit of all of Hannah's favorite toys. As soon as I can capture him on camera, I'll post it for your viewing pleasure :)

Fun in the Sun

We've been having fun in the sun on our playdates lately, and both the kids are taking sun safety very seriously! :)

Michael covers up during a snooze in the morning sun
Hannah practices putting sunscreen on by herself (after getting thoroughly covered by Mom, of course).

First Haircut

We knew it had to be done, but it was SO hard to finally trim my baby's curls!! Of course, the cute curls were really only there straight out of the bathtub, and with his hair only growing on the top so far, he had a strange little "comb over" look going on. . . . .But still, it was hard!

A curly mohawk - I had to get at least one picture before I cut it off!
Michael's big boy hair cut - not too shabby for a "Mommy" job and squirmy baby! :)

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Backyard Waterpark

Hannah's playgroup met today at the "waterpark" that has taken over Christine's backyard :) With 2 pools, a slide, a sprinkler, a sandbox, and countless water toys, there was fun to be had by all!!


Michael preferred his seat in the shade to the craziness that was going on in the rest of the yard :)

FOOD!!!

Michael has been waiting impatiently for this day to come for several weeks now, and it's finally here - Solid food!! This week we introduced Rice Cereal and Baby Mum Mums (rice baby crackers for those who aren't familiar). Both were big hits and based on his reaction, we are anticipating he will be as good of an eater as Hannah :)

Hannah saw the Mum Mum come out and immediately took it away from me so that she could give the baby "crackers" all by herself :)
Michael got his hands on one despite Hannah's best efforts to feed him herself . . .
. . . . and he did a great job getting it into his mouth without assistance :)
Mmm - - - rice cereal! At first he thought his hands would taste better.
But once he got going, the cereal was the thing!
Yay for food!!!
Hannah and Michael sitting at the table "together"
Some of you might have noticed that Michael is not in the same highchair that we used with Hannah just 2 short years ago - - sadly, it met it's match with mold while it was in storage and we thought it would be best to replace it.

Visiting the McBee's

We decided to leave the great northwest behind us for a week and traveled to Missouri to spend some time with our good friends the McBee's :) It had been several years since we last saw them, and we were SO excited to spend some quality time with them and introduce our kids! We flew down on Wednesday, and thankfully both kids did very well on the plane :) Julie and the kids (Martin, 9 and Morgan, 6) picked us up at the Kansas City airport and we made our way to their home in Columbia. The next morning saw us packing up the cars with both families and heading to St. Louis to do some sightseeing. We spent Thursday at the Gateway Arch and went to the zoo on Friday before heading back to the McBee house. Saturday saw us playing at Big Surf waterpark for Martin's birthday, with a stop at Cold Stone on the way home :) YUMMY! Hannah and Michael loved their first waterpark experience - Hannah spent most of the day in the kiddie pool going down slides and riding on the teeter totter, and Michael enjoyed a long afternoon snooze on Julie's shoulder :) Mommy and Daddy loved the waterpark too, and were incredibaly thankful to Julie for spending time with the little kids so that we could enjoy some of the "big people" rides! :) Sunday brought us to church where we were able to meet some of Stephen and Julie's friends and Hannah was invited to attend Sunday School - she was thrilled to find out that they were coloring, painting, and using stickers to decorate what she believed to be her new hat :) Sunday evening we left the kids with Stephen and Julie and went on a date. Michael wasn't a big fan of this plan, and decided that the quickest way to get Mommy and Daddy back was to demand to be fed ALL of the bottles Mommy had left for him and then cry for more. . . . . . It worked, but luckily for us we had already gotten in dinner and a movie :) We spent Monday relaxing at the McBee's house, and Tuesday it was time to head back to Washington. We had a GREAT trip and are so thankful that the McBee's opened up their home to us :)

Martin thought it was great to be able to carry Michael around :)


Hannah, Martin, and Morgan enjoy the view from the top of the Gateway Arch


Family picture time - - -so of course, Hannah made a run for it! :)


Road trips are fun :) The kids entertained themselves in the back of the van while the adults got some quality "catch-up" time! After a long day of car rides and "best behavior" at the Arch, Hannah was glad to get some time to let loose in the pool.


The St. Louis Zoo


We got to pet the stingrays, and even fed them!


Some of Hannah's favorite animals THIS week were the penguins and giraffes (they now join a growing list of animals that have been dearly loved on various zoo trips, including elephants, lions, kangaroos, and monkeys). If she could have crawled in the pens with the animals without being stopped, she would have done it - and as you can see from the giraffe picture, she tried!


When the big kids got airbrushed art on their arms, Hannah thought she should be able to join in :) She sat very well and watched her pretty "fishy" appear. For the rest of the week she would periodically lift up her arm and say "Fishy, arm!"


Martin and Michael enjoyed their time in the grass together during our picnic lunch. When we got back into the zoo, the kids each made a special friend at the Build-A-Bear at the zoo. Hannah made St. Louie the Penguin, Martin made Juiles the Stingray, and Morgan made Bluey the Parrot.


Before we left the zoo for the day, the kids had fun squishing pennies - - Hannah didn't actually care about the pennies so much as the wheel that turned :)


Our last evening in Columbia - Stephen made some fabulous smoked ribs while the kids played in the backyard.


I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was to see the Mcbee's again! Stephen and Julie have been a huge part of my life since I was just 14, and I am blessed to be Morgan's Godmother. To be able to spend time with them again and introduce them to my family was so great and I am thankful to my husband for suggesting the trip and making the travel plans :) We are both thankful to the McBee's for their unending hospitality and friendship! We can't wait to see them again sometime!!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

5 Months

Michael is 5 months old and growing up so fast!! He's such a happy boy and loves it when his big sister is playing with him :) Now that rolling over is old hat for him, he's taking on crawling - with his nose dug into the ground, he gets his knees under him and propels himself forward. Of course, rolling is still his quickest form of transportation :) Michael is an explorer, and loves to check out anything he can get his hands on. He has also become super interested in whatever food is around - now that we're home from our trip, the plan is to start letting him taste baby cereal this week :) He also hit a new milestone last week while we were in Missouri (I'll be putting up trip-pictures later) and can now do a "tripod" sit - sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him and his arms propping him up on either side :) Our little man is such a huge blessing to our family and it is so great to watch him grow up!!!

Fishies!!

Daddy had Memorial Day weekend off and we decided to spend a day at the Vancouver Aquarium watching the Fishies :) Hannah and Michael both loved getting up close and personal with the huge variety of fish and other water-wildlife they have there (sea otters, birds, dolphins, and beluga whales - oh my!)

Hannah was enthralled with the bright tropical fish
Michael just liked anything that came close enough to "touch" :)
Hannah and Daddy waiting for the dolphin show to begin
Spinaker and his girlfriends sure know how to put on a good show!

Lunch Outside

The weather was so great, that Hannah decided to turn our front yard into a lovely little outdoor bistro - complete with Mickey chairs :)
I believe I said "say cheese" - - - what I got was "Here Momma, CHEESE!"