1st Time in Crib

While Matthew and I were out getting his portraits taken, Chris was home converting the crib back into a crib (from a toddler bed). So Matthew was able to try it out for his nap, after his tummy was full.

See, it would've been a cute outfit for portraits!

Not sure what to think of this crib...in fact, he cried for a good while before falling off to sleep.

At bedtime, Jonathan was giddy with excitement over finally getting to share his room with Matthew. (Matthew has been sleeping in the bassinet, then pack 'n' play, in our room all this time).

Ready for bed time - which went much more smoothly, no crying!

Matthew at 6 Months

This morning I took Matthew in to 'The Picture People' for his 6 month portraits. We've never had pictures done there before, but I was very pleased! Let me start by saying boys are so much easier than girls. I would start planning Clara's portrait outfits a month in advance, to make sure she had everything matching from head to toe...Matthew was wearing hand-me-down clothes from Jonathan earlier in the week, Chris and I agreed that he looked so handsome in them, they would work perfect for portraits! So I wasn't at all upset when I saw they weren't laying right in the pics, and stripped him down to his diaper!

They took some great shots of him - I had to narrow down the choices to 7, and then they threw in one extra for free since I HAD to have this first one:

It's the first time Matthew has gotten up on all fours - and there just happened to be a camera pointed at him!!!! I know he's not looking at the camera, but I had to have it!

If Matthew is laying on his back, he's holding onto at least one foot, so this was great to capture!


Those feet can be distracting when sitting up too!


Matthew loves to reach out and feel objects and textures. He has this thing where he'll stand his hand up on the thumb and then roll his hand back and forth using his thumb as the pivot...that's what he was doing here.

Beautiful blue eyes!

Blowing Raspberries!

Wouldn't be complete without a little drool and that huge toothless grin!

My favorite! Love this little boy!

Cuddle Buddies

Today was the neighbors' little girl's birthday. When we went to head down the street for cake and ice cream, I tried to get the boys up from their naps. Matthew was ready to party, but Jonathan was not having it AT ALL! Chris happened to call right about then to say he was leaving work, so I explained that Jonathan wouldn't wake up and asked him to try when he got home, before heading down to the neighbor's to join us. Chris said don't worry about Jonathan, he had it under control. So I took Clara and Matthew with me to the neighbor's house and checked back outside a couple minutes later to be sure Chris had made it home.

A couple hours later when Matthew and Clara and I walked back home, all partied out, this is what we found in Jonathan's room:

All under control!

PB&J Helper

I'm having a lazy day today. Chris got Clara off to school this morning, and at her request, he even went in to volunteer in my place. I've been getting all of Clara's old clothes ready for a huge consignment sale, so I've had a few late nights lately. Thankfully Chris had the boys all set before going into volunteer so I got to take a cat nap on the couch while Jonathan watched TV and Matthew took his morning nap. By the time Chris and Clara got back from school, I was just waking up from that cat nap, and not quite up to making lunch just yet. Chris had to get into to work, so Clara excitedly helped me out!

Chris got her everything she needed and she went to work.

Time for the jelly!


Jonathan was just as excited about eating a lunch made his big sister! (Notice he's still in his PJ's a lunch time!)

Although, I had to finally perk up and start my day when Clara informed me halfway through lunch, "Mom, Jonathan thinks he could be pregnant!"...Yep, time for me to be an active participant in what my kids are doing!

When Time Out Doesn't Seem to Work....

Sometimes you have to go back to the tried and true 'Nose in the Corner'. It was killing him to not be able to see what was going on around him!

6 Month Stats

Matthew had his 6 month well baby check-up today and here are his stats:

Weight: 16.2lbs

Height: 26in

Head Circumference: 17in

He's growing great, hitting all the milestones as expected and no ear infection!

While Matthew was getting his vitals, Jonathan decided to see how big he's getting and stepped on the scale. As the numbers jumped to 40lbs, he excitedly told me, "Look Mom, I'm turning 4!!!!" The nurse was tickled by this so she humored him and checked his height as well, 40.5in. Jonathan said, "See Mom, I'm getting big like Sissy." Once again charmed by Jonathan, the nurse asked him, "How big is your sister?" To which Jonathan replied, "Big enough."

Boy Cheese

The other day I was scrounging at the last minute for something to feed the kids, so I asked for their input:

Me: What would you like to eat? Do you want a cheese sandwich?

Clara: Yeah, Can I have grilled cheese?

Me: Sure. How About you Jonathan?

Jonathan: I want boy cheese!

6 Months

Has it really been 6 months already?!

My little Cool Dude is 6 months old today! He'll go in for his well baby check-up on Weds. He's starting to try and talk, Chris is sure he's been saying 'Da-da' the last couple days. Of course, Chris is the only one who's heard it! He loves his exersaucer, and holding onto his feet. He has mastered rolling onto his tummy, but seems to have forgotten how to roll onto his back.
Finally, as of about 2 weeks ago, he no longer requires to be swaddled when he sleeps. He often starts off on his back, but always ends up sleeping on his tummy. We still really haven't found a type of baby food he doesn't like, though he's not a big fan of squash. He is extremely particular about the temperature of his bottles. He likes them hot, much hotter than most people would attempt to give to a baby, but he won't drink it if it's even a couple degrees too cold.
I think he's working on his first tooth and quite possibly his first ear infection too (that part remains to be verified by the doctor on Weds unless symptoms worsen before then).
He reaches out for toys hanging above him now, reaches for Chris and I as we walk past him in the exersaucer, actively plays with his toys (pushing, flipping, pulling, and 'talking' to them). He has recently become aware of the big furry member of our family (our dog) and seems intrigued by him.
He can scoot across the floor, but is nowhere near picking himself up and crawling yet. He likes to stand, prefers sitting up to laying back, but is not strong enough to do that on his own. Not to mention he's often distracted by his feet and so the focus turns to eating his feet over sitting up.
He's a great sleeper, great eater, a happy baby and the best snuggler once he stops worrying about what there is to see behind him. (For the record, there's always something to be seen behind him!)

Happy Valetine's Day!

For Valentine's Day, Chris made the kids a special breakfast...

...pink chocolate chip pancakes!


They were a big hit!


Yum!

More Naptime Adventures

This is precisely why I can never get Jonathan up from his naps...

Instead of sleeping when he first goes in there, he takes the time to get out all of his Hot Wheels and carefully line them up in his bed! Then he goes to sleep.

Clara's 2nd Tooth

Clara lost her second tooth last night and it was quite traumatic, um, I mean dramatic. That first tooth came out at the mercy of a pistachio, so she was still new to this whole 'pulling out your tooth' gig, and she wanted nothing to do with it. When Chris was helping her brush her teeth before bed, he noticed it was turned sideways and he suggested that it get pulled before she went off to bed. As you can see, she was NOT at all excited...

One good yank and the drama was over!

There it is! Clara's second tooth, lost Feb. 7th 2010!

And by now you know, we can't lose a tooth without writing a letter to the Tooth Fairy. Clara even remembered the Tooth Fairy's name from the certificate she got the last time she lost a tooth.

Finally! To get an answer to her question!

Once again, the letter went into a Ziploc bag with the tooth so the Tooth Fairy could find it more easily.

Big gaping smile!

And under the pillow!

The next morning, we knew right away that the Tooth Fairy had come because she had left a trail of teeth!

Under Clara's pillow, she also left a dollar with another certificate...

and a note...

(The Tooth Fairy had a little help from her neighbor writing the note, so as not to be discovered!...and yes, now the neighbor lady thinks I'm crazy!)

Clara is so excited - she checked Matthew's mouth right away to see if he had a tooth yet. It's not quite in yet, but I'm sure he'll have it soon.

Just Because....

This afternoon there was a knock on my door, and to my surprise, this is what I found when I went to answer it...

At first I thought Chris must just be trying to get a jump on Valentine's Day. I thought maybe he'd found a good deal on flowers, if you got them delivered early, but then I read the card.

Thank you for allowing me to dream as big as I want to -

Your unselfishness means a lot to me.

I love my family, I love my country & I love my job!

You allow me to enjoy all three.

I love you and miss you very much!

Chris is coming up for orders again, so there's a lot of big decisions to be made about his future, about our future...apparently I've done something right recently! He's in Fallon, NV this week with his squadron, so I guess he's had some time to think.

Later when Clara saw the flowers she said, "Mom? Who sent us such beautiful flowers?"

I explained, "Daddy sent them to me."

To which Clara said, "I told Daddy last night I missed him a bunch on the phone, so I bet he sent them so I would feel better!"

"Yes Clara, I'm sure that's it!"