6 Months Old!

Happy half birthday Tommy!!

Yesterday my sweet little baby boy turned 6 months old. Here are some fun facts about him:

Stats:

Height: 27.5" {84th percentile}

Weight: 18lb, 10oz {71st percentile}

Noggin: 41.5cm {5th percentile}
Still tall and thin with a teeny little brain-case! But growing well month-to-month.

Words:

Bababababa, gheeeeee, mmmm, gagaga, and my favorite, "hoo, hoo, hoo."

Ok, not words. But he babbles a lot, especially when he's nomming on a toy. And it's cute. 

Foods:

Likes pears and apples, is suspicious about bananas, and is not a fan of sweet potatoes (all of which are just like Mama). Going to start stretching his palate more soon!

Talents:

Army crawling! It used to be sort of a mix between the Worm and a bellyflop, but he's a little more coordinated now. Still doesn't do a traditional "crawl," but he is definitely on the move!

He can also sit up by himself (for a little while), is great at grabbing things, and is already trying to pull up onto the coffee table. Can you say, yikes?

As mentioned before, he now can put himself to sleep. Yay! Still wakes up really early sometimes, but mostly just chatters away happily instead of crying. This is good.

But he does cry and throw a fit when I don't let him have things like the laptop or my phone. Why didn't anyone tell me tantrums start so dang early!? At least they're short-lived.

Favorite Toys:

Mommy's cell phone case (since he can't have the phone), a chewy-twisty-knobby teething ball thing, any shoes he can find, and Daddy's backpack and bike pedals. The fact that only one of those is actually a toy? Irrelevant.

LOVES:

Playing with Daddy. He gets carried upside-down, bounced on the bed, tickled, and held up high in the air. Nate gets the most smiles, squeals, and giggles by far. But that's ok, because hearing them laugh together is music to my ears, and I do get plenty of my own.

Also loves bath time. Hard to say who ends up more wet- Tommy, or the one giving him the bath. Sometimes cries when we take him out because he wants to keep splashing!

Sometimes he drives me crazy

Most of the time we have lots of fun

Already keeps me on my toes 

Always I love him!

#2: Twenty-Four

Yep, that's right.

I am now officially "old."

Ok, I know I'm not really that old. But for some reason, 24 is the age that really means "being a grown-up" to me.

I think it's because when I was in 3rd grade, my big sister got married. She was 24. And because I've looked up to her all my life, I decided then that I would be 24 when I got married too.

Yes, I was wrong- sue me.

But from then on, 24 signified being "grown-up." Because only "grown-ups" get married, right? ha!

Anyway... now that I've reached that age, I don't feel old enough!

I mean, when I was eight, 24 was... old. 

It still sounds old! 22, 23... those are still young. But 24? That's a whole different story. And next year?!

Next year I'll be 25. Don't even get me started on that.

Trip to the Desert

Last Wednesday at o-dark thirty, Nate and I headed out on a lonnnnnnnnng drive to Tucson, Arizona. We were both a little grumpy at first, but a short stop to enjoy some nature at Red Rock Canyon between Panguitch and Kanab cheered us both up.

Look how pretty!

Awesome gnarly tree.

So, feeling happy again, and grateful for the wonderful world we live in, we hit the road once more and drove the last 8 or so hours from there to Tucson. Most of the drive was fine, but the last couple hours seemed to take FOREVER. At least we enjoyed the pretty views.

Our first evening there consisted of some swimming, a tasty dinner, mingling with the families, and of course, playing with the new baby, Traci Jane! She is so stinkin' adorable...

With Aunt Beth or Aunt "B" as Cait has started calling me.

Even Nate [who thinks pretty much all babies look like aliens] admitted that TJ is a very cute baby, and said that he is excited for when we will have our own (someday in the fairly distant future). Look how cute they are together!

The main reason we went was to be there for little TJ's blessing. Here she is in her beautiful gown with her mommy and two namesakes, Grandmas Tracey and Jayne. 

Nate also went on a couple of bike rides, since we both just got brand new bikes the day before we left! Then we had a little desert photoshoot to show off our nice new wheels.

Check out the gigantic cactus! Tucson is like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon in real life.

Later in the week we went to the De Grazia Museum, which was really fun. I was able to see all sorts of stuff that I learned about in my modern art class in his works, so that was pretty cool.

So, Tucson was lots of fun, even though it was blazing hot. Seeing little TJ kinda made me want to have a baby, but at the same time not really, at least not until I'm done with school (about 1 year, unless I get my masters). The drive back was really long and tedious, but we stopped at Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon Dam, and then at Red Rock Canyon again. More pictures: