6 month stats and first sickness

Hamilton had to stay home for a couple of days this week because of the start of a sinus infection. He is such a happy baby even when he is sick! He is just a little more cuddly. He is on antibiotics and some drops for his eyes and has already begun responding to both.

He also had his 6 month appointment today. He is 14.4 pounds (under 5th percentile) and 25.75 inches (between 10th and 20th percentile) in length. She said he is healthy and burning off everything he eats. He is already babbling and his army crawl skills are an 8 month skill. We are in trouble! :)

This video is from this past Sunday.

Busy week

Swim lessons

Morning sibling fun 

Balancing things on his head. She thinks it is hilarious and balances all kinds of stuff on Hamilton's head and laughs and laughs! 

Hamilton's new favorite position

He likes sweet potatoes and wants to do it himself.

Snuggling his lovey

More balancing toys on his head...

6 months

Two teeth (and other life updates)

Hamilton's first two teeth finally broke through so he now has two bottom teeth. He is doing well and rolling and scooting all over the place. He can get to one side of the room and back in no time. He still sleeps well at night but on some nights he gets upset when we leave and reaches out for us. Most nights he gets fussy when we try to rock him or read him another book - he just wants to go to bed. He does like to cuddle with his raccoon lovey and rubs it on his face and curls up like a tree frog around it. Most nights we go in and take it out of his crib so it isn't in his face. He LOVES butternut squash but isn't a fan of the green beans. He will eat them but it is clear they aren't his favorite. They also give him gas so we will probably reintroduce those again later. Not sure what we will try next - maybe avocado. He is eating four 7oz bottles a day but I think he is going through a little growth spurt because yesterday he took an extra 6oz bottle. We are going to increase his bottles today to 8oz each. It is really sweet how he watches Addison. He loves her so much and sometimes we have to have her leave the room while feeding him because he gets so distracted from watching her. He smiles and laughs at her and reaches for her. It is amazing how much love he has for her. She reads, sings, plays, and talks to him. She thinks it is hilarious when he startles.  He has so much personality and his laugh is adorable! He also LOVES the jumper!

Addison is doing very well in 4K and they just sent home an assessment of how she is doing and her readiness for 5K. She is doing great and other than not knowing her birthday and getting lowercase p and q mixed up she go everything correct. She now knows her birthday and we will continue to work on all the other stuff over the summer so she will be ready. She will be at a summer camp program at Hamilton's daycare and they have weekly trips to places all over SC and all sorts of fun activities like swimming, crafts, etc. She is starting to show interest in reading and tries to sound out words. We aren't pushing it and only encourage her when she shows interest. Her and I started reading chapter books as well, and I love that she can remember parts of the story and where we left off although we only read together every other night. Scott and I switch nights so we each have one child a night. It gives us one-on-one time with each child. Dance is going well and she has her recital in May. She starts swim lessons at the YMCA next week as well. We went to the zoo last week and she enjoyed feeding the birds the most.

Scott and I have been busy. We've been doing our best to take time for ourselves and have noticed that we are much closer in doing so. We have learned that this is so important even when we don't feel like we have time. Life is busy and wonderful. Below are pictures and videos from the last several weeks.

wearing the hat mom knitted (her first project)

 

curled up like a tree frog with his lovey

two bottom teeth!

yuck - green beans!

helping me make lasagna

wore himself out in the jumper

Can I get some peas please?

Hamilton enjoyed the peas much more than the cereal and he gobbles them up. Right now he is only eating at lunchtime and he is still eating 4 6-7oz bottles. Going to try carrots today then probably butternut squash or avocado.

"you can't tell from this picture but I do like peas!"

peas - steamed frozen peas and pureed in the vitamix to get a smoother consistency

Carrots - steamed and pureed in the babycook. forgot about them when they were steaming so very happy to have the automatic cut off when they are done. used fresh carrots 

carrots

butternut squash - fresh. pureed some of what we had leftover but didn't add any spices or oil since he can't have those quite yet

apples - yum! we all will enjoy this yummy fuji and gala applesauce

Hamilton's first solid food: Cereal

We fed Hamilton his first taste of solid food - some rice cereal. He liked it okay but really only had about three bites and then kept making a face. I don't blame him - it's not very tasty. At first he just smiled every time I would look at him and try to put the spoon in his mouth. It was very cute. He just wanted to grab the spoon. We will keep trying.

7th Anniversary

Today is our seventh wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe that we have been married seven years and that we have been together 16 years. Our lives have changed so much from when we first began dating. We've grown as individuals and also as a couple. When we first began dating we were just teenagers, and the most important things in our lives revolved around sports, our friends, what we were going to do on the weekend, and going to college. We grew up together - we lived our 20's together, we've entered our 30's together, we've lived in three states, we became parents together...we have a lot of road ahead of us and we travel that road together as man and wife, as friends, as confidants, as parents, as children.

When I met Scott I was instantly drawn to him. However, it wasn't until later in our high school years that we began to date. He was a sweet, charming, smart, hard-working, honest, incredibly cute, (and sometimes cocky) teenager. Looking at him, I knew that he would grow to be a good man and that he has. He is more charming than ever, smart, hard-working, honest to a fault, incredibility cute (and handsome), and still sometimes cocky. He is also now an amazing father and his humor and tenacity can be seen on a daily basis. At our rehearsal dinner a friend stood up and talked about how I had told her that I loved Scott more on that day than I ever thought I could. This is still true. My love for him continues to grow as I watch him father my children and care for our family. It grows as I learn of his faults and hear his same stories. It grows as we grow, and I am grateful that we grow together. Life is not always easy but knowing that I've got such an amazing person to walk hand-in-hand through life makes it much easier.

The seventh anniversary is the year of copper and wool. Scott and I celebrated yesterday. We each gave the other a gift of wool and Scott gave me a 2007 penny so that I could make a wish into a copper-colored fountain. He also made a wish with a 2007 penny, and Addison made wishes for her and Hamilton. After our wish we walked in Edisto Gardens and just enjoyed time together. This weekend we are going up to the mountains to wear our wool and to take Addison snow tubing. Here are a few pictures...a blast from our past. I don't have any of the earlier ones digitally to put online.

1999

2005

2006

SC 2007

Newlyweds - SC -2007

Florida 2007

Florida 2008

Florida - 2008

New parents - Florida 2009

Washington DC 2010

Florida - 2011

2012

2013

2013

Expanding our family 2013