A First: Teeth!

While on the below mentioned vacation... we noticed little g was cutting a tooth! We actually noticed on Wednesday, June 9th while we were at the Mid-America Science Museum. He was playing with some leaves outside and while we were shopping in the gift shop waiting for the rest of our party, big G noticed little g was chewing on something. We thought it was a leaf but upon further research... we noticed he had a big white area on his lower gum. The rest of the days he was a little fussier than usual and the next day, Thursday, it broke through.

The whole time I thought that it felt a little long to be just one tooth and I was right... he was actually cutting TWO front teeth at the same time... what a challenge.

So, fast forward to today and he's doing great. I think they have completely broken through and now they are just pushing the rest of the way up. It's so cute to see little buds of teeth when he smiles.

Stay tuned for our trip to CALIFORNIA in 10 days... little g's first flight and his first time seeing fireworks... we are so excited!

A First: Vacation!

Little Graham had so much fun on his very first vacation! We took a drive up to our summer timeshare in Hot Springs with all of G's family.

We left on Monday, June 7th at 4:15am. Since we are new parents we tried to think of ways that would maximize our time in the car while g slept. He always wakes up to eat at this time anyways, so we loaded up the car and then he woke up right on schedule to eat. Instead of laying him back down in his crib we put him in his carseat and drove off in to the sunrise!

He woke up about 7am, as normal, and wanted to get out and play. We stopped for a little while at a rest stop and let him stretch and move around. We loaded back in the car 30 minutes later and g took another nap until we found a Cracker Barrel in Texarkana. Little g enjoyed a little of our buttered biscuit and blueberry pancakes! 



After having an awesome breakfast we hit the road again and made it to Hot Springs by noon. We were exhausted but so happy to be on vacation. Little g did great on the way there...

The rest of the week was full of lots of sun... little g doesn't like his life jacket. We took him out on the tube for the first time and I was a little apprehensive about it. Graham told me that it would be ok and we wouldn't fall off because Pop's would go so slow. We fell off... UGH... little g was a trooper though and was only shocked at the instant water but was fine!


 First time on the boat!






We also spent some time in the pool and took a break from the sun by touring downtown Hot Springs, visiting an aquarium, and taking a short trip to the Mid-America Science Museum. The aquarium was a waste... we would have been the same off if we would have went to a pet store and looked at the fish. But, they did have an awesome large, friendly turtle and little g loved looking at the bubbles in the fish tanks. They also had a 'Dori' fish that was shy and a baby alligator! The Science Museum was SO fun... little g loved to touch and explore everything. He really loved the hot air balloon since that's what his mobile is at home! We had a great time and will do the science museum every year.

We decided to stay an extra day and we left on Friday night after bath time. Instead of laying him down for the night we packed everything up and he fell asleep in his car seat about 8:30pm. We arrived home about 2am (he slept the entire way) and tried to quietly transfer little g from his car seat to nursing to crib but he was AMAZED that our house was still here... I guess he thought that it had disappeared or something. He was so excited to be home and wanted to touch and explore everything. Luckily this only lasted for about 30 minutes and we were all able to get some needed rest.

We had such a great trip and we already are looking forward to how different things will be next year.

Happy Half Birthday Little Graham!

Wow... about sums it up this month. I can't believe how much little g has accomplished and done this month. It's tough being a baby when you're five months... here are little g's latest achievements!

1. He's learned to LICK... everything, you, me, the carpet, the dogs (ugh), everything!
2. He can hold his sippy cup and bottle.
3. He can bounce and this gives mommy some great summer arms!
4. He can gesture towards us when he wants to be picked up and he leans up when we're picking him up from laying down.
5. He throws a fit if you take something away from him
6. He can slap both of his knees now when he's excited or laughing
7. He loves to blow raspberries on us, mainly our face but also our shoulders. 
8. He still loves tummy time and rolls around to get places (as well as still pivoting)
9. Little g loves to do 'plank' and can get up on his hands and knees but isn't quite moving his hands yet. The knees want to go but the hands don't quite get it yet. He rocks when he's on all fours and face-plants in the carpet.
10. He can lean in and kiss his wide-open mouth kiss! He's such a lover... he even kissed his girl friend Lailynn on Memorial Day!
11. He went on his first jet-skiing ride a few days before Memorial Day. We didn't go far we just wanted to test out his life jacket (which he hated).
12. We've been swimming a lot this month. He loves, loves, loves the water and even does great when we count to three and plop him under water. He hasn't ever cried when going under water. He loves swimming with his Tia and Uncle Matt!
13. He leans over and points with his head when he wants to go somewhere. He is quite convincing and almost leaps out of our arms. 
14. He doesn't mind the dogs playing but I think he is going to be very bossy (a.k.a "affirmative")... he yells 'eh' when the dogs play... like hes saying BE NICE!
15. He can now sit up on his own. He still struggles with flinging himself back sometimes but overall he is much more controlled than ever.
16. He loves to rock when we sing to him (side-to-side).
17. He also gets excited about food and we're now on "2nd" Gerber foods.
18. He twists around to see himself
19. The mirrors are his favorite and he's very animated! 
20. And finally... he WEIGHS 19 pounds (76th percentile), his LENGTH is 29 inches (98th percentile... WOWOW... our pedi thinks he's going to be very tall) and his head circumference is 17 1/2 inches. He's the size of a 1 year old now and the tallest 6 month old our pediatrician has ever seen! We don't know any difference, since this is our first, but he said that he is going to be a big grown up. 

Our current schedule is:
5:00am - Nursing
8:00am - Wake up, Nurse, Playtime in bed
9:00am - Have breakfast together (little g eats baby food) then play time
11:00am - 1:00pm - Nurse then Nap time
1:00-3:30 or 4:00pm - Play time (2:00pm Nurse)
3:30-5:00pm - Nap
5:00-8:00pm - Nurse then Play time
8:00pm - Start bed time ritual (play in bed, bath, good night around the house)
8:30pm - Nurse
8:45pm - Asleep in crib

This has been the first month that we have little g on two long naps a day and it's really be working well! He seems happier and it's nice having a set schedule.

Until next month! We can't wait to see what the sixth month has in store for us.