Happy 1/2 Birthday, Paxton!

Paxton turned 6 months old on February 27th, 2012
18 lbs- can't remember the percentile and 27 3/4 inches 90%

Dear Paxton,
You are already 6 months old sweet boy! You are so precious. My little snuggle bug. You love to sit on my lap and snuggle against my chest, watch your big brother play, and suck on those chubby fingers. I can't believe how laid back you are sometimes. You don't seem in a hurry to do anything- except eat of course! You mostly like to watch what is going on around you, like you are listening in on everything we are talking about, taking it all in for that day in the not so distant future when you will blurt something out and we will all be shocked :). Daddy says that this reminds him of me- I am an observer too, I find everyone pretty interesting.

You still don't roll over much at all. In fact I think you have only done it twice and I am pretty sure they were both accidents. You do like to lay on your back and put your feet flat on the ground then push up with your legs/feet and arch your back. If we put you down on a blanket we often come back to find that you have used this particular move to push your way off the blanket. You can sit up with the boppy supporting you for a few minutes. You like to stand up on our laps while we hold you up and smile back at you. You get so excited when Racoco walks by, especially when you are in your exersaucer and she teases you with her tail. You don't try to reach out to grab her, no you simply smile and jump up and down a few times in excitement then look for me to share in such an amazing moment.

You make lots of sounds. Most are babble and this interesting high pitched sound you will make over and over again. You do say "mamamama" but I don't think you know it is intended for me yet. Grammy disagrees. You giggle when I tickle you with my hair. This is part of our diaper changing routine. You wait for it with such anticipation and if I don't do it soon enough you let me know you want to be tickled with a few little excited sounds. You also like it when daddy blows zerberts on your tummy and when I blow on your soft neck. Rowen still gets the most smiles and giggles however. He only has to enter the room for your face to light up. Rowen has recently started playing "peek a boo" with you and you just love every minute of it. Rowen gets tired out before you do :).

As I mentioned before, you love to eat! You are breastfeeding like a champ but you sure love those solids! Applesauce, banana, sweet potato, baby yogurt, sweet peas, carrots, and many of the mixed purees I buy at the store are your favorites right now. I have made some of your baby food. It is fun but I don't mind buying the stuff I know I wouldn't ever take the time to make. You have not figured out how to pick food up and put it into your mouth but you do like your mesh bag with strawberries and/or frozen blueberries in it. You look so cute and little sitting in the big high chair! I know that too soon you will fill it out entirely.

I think separation anxiety has begun. If I leave the room or am just out of sight I certainly hear about it. Also, if someone else is holding you and you can still see me, you have a tendency to whine a bit until you get back into my arms. I am not complaining at all about this, in fact I love it! It means you are certainly attached to mama, just as it should be.


Unfortunately, you have had 3 ear infections in the last 2 months. At your 6 month well child check up our wonderful doctor said that this is not normal and that we need to see an ENT soon. I made the appointment immediately. We have an appointment very soon to get your ears checked out much more thoroughly and hopefully get you healthy. We will make it happen sweet boy, don't you worry :). I am amazed at what an "easy", sweet baby you are WITH an ear infection that has quite possibly never gone away in 2 whole months. What would you be like if you were completely healthy? I can only imagine an even happier, laid back little fella.

Through all of the ear pain you have endured you are still a pretty decent sleeper. When you are really feeling bad then you sleep really bad (who could blame you! mama is always there to comfort you back to sleep). For the most part you wake up once, maybe twice at night but I am not feeding you at night any longer. Daddy or I can usually get you back to sleep easily with your pacifier or a quick rock in the rocking chair. We usually start our day between 6:30 and 7:00. You take 2 or 3 naps a day. Your morning nap is starting to lengthen out a bit which is nice but we are working on your afternoon nap. I am sure it will all work itself out naturally sooner than later. Now, don't change this up on me now that I have written it down!

You continue to light up our lives with your darling smiles and that to die for dimple. Your bright blue eyes sparkle. I find that when I am rocking you or playing with you I am mesmerized by those beautiful eyes. Where did they come from? How lucky you are! Watch out ladies! And last but certainly not least, your chubby cheeks make me want to kiss you forever and ever. I am madly in love with you Pax and always will be. I couldn't imagine our lives without you. Thank you for being a part of it all for the past 1/2 year!

Love, Mama

A joint baby shower for two special ladies

It is hard to explain how special my girlfriends are to me. We have grown up together and become more than girlfriends, we have become family. Over the many years we have been friends we have experienced so many different things with one another I can't list them all... playing as little girls with dolls and barbies, having slumber parties and staying up all night (ok, well I never did but they did :)), taking ballet together, skiing together, exploring the wilderness together, shopping together, sharing tons and tons of clothes over the years, going on special trips together as kids and as adults, sharing dorm rooms and first apartments, going grocery shopping together, cooking together, doing laundry together, cleaning together, discussing boys and then men together, being in each other's weddings, helping each other move into first homes, being pregnant together, crying together and crying for one another's heart breaks and triumphs, being the first to know something very special, I could go on and on. These girls are like my sisters really. None of my best girlfriends have a sister so we have always said that we are each other's sisters and I truly feel that is true. I have no doubt that throughout our lives we will always be connected, loving and supporting each other through all of life's ups and downs. How would I ever live without any one of them?

Recently was one of the "ups"! Two of my best girlfriends are expecting their second baby within 2 1/2 weeks of each other. Our pregnancies have all been intertwined with due dates pretty close somehow but I think this is the closest due date so far! Josie and I couldn't resist spoiling two of our favorite gals!

Madeline and Devri- the adorable mamas

Our traditional baby shower cake from Just American Desserts. It is so incredibly delicious!

Maddy is expecting a boy (she has a 3 year old girl) and
Devri is expecting a girl (she has a 3 year old boy).
We love and support each other's children as if they were our own nieces and nephews. I can't wait to get my hands on these two sweet babies!

Josie volunteered her absolutely gorgeous home for the occasion.

Catching up and playing games.
This shower was a "girlfriends only" shower. Most of the ladies at the shower have known each other since at least high school if not much longer. It was a blast!

Here we are celebrating together again.
I know we will get many more chances to celebrate over the years!

Rowen the Lion

Rowen's newest obsession is lions. I am not really sure how this new interest came about. Santa brought him safari animals for Christmas and he has literally not stopped playing with them ever since! I am serious. All of his other toys have taken a backseat to the safari animals but especially to his beloved lion. He rarely plays with his lightning McQueen or other cars anymore.

Ro pretends to be a lion for much of the day. He walks around on all fours, roars at us, nuzzles us, tries to eat us, chases us, and just pretty much has the time of his life being a big, strong lion! Grammy gave him two of her scarves to wear as a mane and as a tail. He wears these most days on and off.

Recently Rowen has grown out of several pairs of his cute little boy jammies. Fortunately, I found two pairs of LION pajamas at Costco! I couldn't believe it- it was meant to be :). He adores them and wants to wear them all day long.

We have been planning a trip to the zoo over spring vacation but we couldn't wait that long so we took Ro to Cat Tales this past weekend. In true Rowen fashion he was very quiet and reserved while there, in fact I was thinking the entire time that maybe it was a waste of time and money because he didn't seem impressed really. However, he hasn't stopped talking about it since we got home. Rowen likes to really take things in, ponder and wonder, ask questions then he gets excited- after the fact! This is amazing to me because I am the opposite, he definitely gets this from his dad. He was disappointed that there was not a male lion there but we did see a female lion and many tigers! It was pretty cool. We went at "feeding time" so that we could observe how they feed the tigers. It was pretty intense- those tigers eat a ton of raw meat :). And, the funniest part was when Daddy almost got sprayed by the white tiger! I guess she wanted to mark her territory ;). Rowen thinks this is so funny and has been telling anyone who will listen that "Daddy almost got pottied on by a tiger"!

Introducing, Rowen the Lion...







Here, Rowen is watching the tigers get fed. Daddy's shoulders make the best seat in the house!


Rowen and one of the tigers.


Here is the female lion and one of the tigers.

This is the only male lion we could find. Rowen was thrilled!

This little boy continues to bring so much fun to our lives. We wonder what the next big interest will be?