Sunday

Before church

After church

My handsome boys

Lately Shortstop has been trying to communicate with new sounds, one of them being a "nn" sound. I think it is so cute. And he is such a little phony acting upset! He knows how to turn on the cranky but then turns it right off.

Feeling lucky?

Family shots

Today Shortstop had his 6 month appointment. He did SOOO well with shots. He cried for a minute but then was laughing and happy soon after. We love our doctor! She is so good with him and he never gets upset when she pokes and prods at him. He loves her.

Mark and I decided to get flu shots today as well since we were in there already. So all of us got shots today. We tried to explain that to Shortstop but he didn't really care that we had a shot. :) He is doing great with his stats and milestones. I do have a little squirt for a child but he is healthy and happy.

Here are his stats:
Weight: 15 lbs 14 oz- 25%
Height: 26.5 in- 50%
Head: 44.5 cm- 75%

So medium height, lean and a big head. Just like his dad!

6 months

Wow little man cub, you are 6 months old today. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and how much you have changed and grown. Dad and I love your fun personality and it is coming out more and more each day. Here are some things just about you.

• You laugh and smile all the time. You even have a little smirk which can be seen in the video below
• You hate to be left alone for too long, even if you are having fun with your toys
• You love sweet potatoes and applesauce
• You are learning to drink from a sippy cup
• You almost have the hang of sitting up- today you sat up for 20 seconds, laughing the whole time and smiling with pride
• Your Grandma says you are just like your dad in so many ways, which your dad loves to hear- one way is that you are quite the talker which I love to hear!
• You have learned to scream and tell me you are frustrated- although it is not my favorite, I am glad you can express your emotions
• Your nanny is a new good friend who gets a smile out of you when she walks in
• You can eat Gerber puffs all by yourself from your high chair tray
• You still love to suck on your fingers and now love to suck on your toes
• You love reading books with me
• You enjoy very much being in your exersaucer
• You are a little camera shy. You can be doing the funniest thing and the minute we pull the camera out you look very serious and just lay there
• You watched the movie Cars for almost 30 minutes the other day, absolutely intrigued. (I know I am a horrible mom for even attempting to have him watch TV but it was a very busy work day!) See above picture
• You like to cuddle with me in the cold mornings in my bed after dad has gone to work, and play with my hair while we both attempt to wake up for the day. Snuggling and cuddling is a most for you at some point in the day and it is a definite must for me while you will still let me
• And you love listening to music!

Thanks for being such a great little boy and for only giving me grief every so often to keep me on my toes.

What a difference an hour makes

One (child) for sale!

One (child) for sale!

One crying and spying young (child) for sale!

I’m really not kidding,

So who’ll start the bidding?

Do I hear a dollar?

A nickel?

A penny?

Oh, isn’t there, isn’t there, isn’t there any

One (person) that will buy this (small child) for sale,

This crying and spying young (child) for sale?

So I have changed some of the words to this Shel Silverstein poem to relate to my day. I had had it with my adorable little Shortstop. He has learned to scream and grunt in anger at me. He has learned to bite (in a place that is quite sensitive) and he doesn't even have teeth yet. He and I fought all day. He didn't want this, I needed to do that and we just could not see eye to eye.

I called my sister and cried a bit. Shortstop told me to get off the phone. I put him in his new exersaucer. He told me he felt bored. I held him and he informed me I wasn't doing it right. And how dare I even think of putting him down for a nap! So after work and once Mark came home, he could sense something was not right. Shortstop and I were no longer on speaking terms so he told me to go shopping. And I did. Just to Target to get my new coupon-ing binder (I am so excited about my new money saving hobby!). And I walked up and down each aisle, thinking of fun Christmas things, finding items on sale that I also had coupons for and just enjoying the peace and quite (minus the 3 screaming children in another woman's cart...not my problem!) And as I walked down the $1 aisle, I saw two Mickey Mouse board books and thought, "Shortstop would like these. Maybe I should get him these to make up for all the fighting today."

I took the long way home in the rain, enjoying the clean feeling of Fall in the air. Our car radio is broken which was a blessing as I could just think and enjoy the silence. I walked in the front door and there he was. My little boy. He saw me, and I waited. Waited to see if he had forgiven me. And then he smiled. A huge toothless grin and reached out to me. I picked him up, told him I was sorry and showed him the books. He immediately put them in his mouth, which indicates he likes them. And he just sat on my lap as I read to him and I could not believe how much I had missed him in one hour.

And we are friends again. He is pretty quick to forgive.

Time out

I have never been one to forget about "me time." Really, I do a pretty good job of taking time outs and relaxing. But lately with Mark gone from 7:30 am-6 pm, being a full time mom, Hall Advisor, church member and CEO of this household, I use my down time playing catch up. At night, my once common time to relax, Shortstop goes to bed at 8 pm and then I am all work mode. Mark goes to bed around 10:30 and I am still out visiting residents or doing paperwork. In the mornings before my meetings it is laundry, budgeting, making baby food, cleaning or again more hall advisor stuff. I try not to take too much time away from Shortstop. I try to use his nap times to their full extent but sometimes he gets to spend time in his exersaucer while I go about doing. And because he is such a good baby, he doesn't complain while I neglect him. But it is those times he needs me that I am glad he is comfortable letting me know. Like today.

I did not stop with work from 12-5, even taking him with me to do some work errands on campus (he was an angel). And when I came home to a happy baby and smiling nanny I thought "Oh good, he is happy. I can get some more stuff done before my night meetings." Wrong! I took him from Kristi, hugged and kissed him, snuggled him for a minute, fed him and then put him down to play while I sent off just a few more emails. He did not like that and cried out. Loud. I stopped typing, picked him up, kissed him and he stopped. I thought maybe he needed a diaper change or burp. Did both of those. He was fine again. So I gave him some toys and headed back to the computer. Nope! Again, he cried and I finally understood. I smiled down at him, picked him up and said "Ok, no more work until dad gets home and can play with you." He smiled at me and snuggled right up to me, sucking on his little fingers, and I could almost hear him sigh a thank you; forgiving me for forgetting briefly what is most important.

Thank you son for making me take time out for you because really it is time out for me. There is nothing I would rather do than hold you and just sit and breathe.