6 Month Seth

1. Half a year old. Time is flying with this little one!

2. He weighed in at 19 pounds and was measured 27.5 inches long.

3. He's in the 79th percentile for weight and the 86th percentile for height. Everyone is always commenting on his chubby cheeks and what a cute chunk he is. :)

4. Seth can roll from his tummy to back pretty proficiently. He's only rolled from his back to his tummy a handful of times though. He can also sit up on his own for a short amount of time before tipping over. He's mostly interested in being held all the time and can get pretty upset when put down for a minute.

5. Seth went through a phase of sticking out his tongue a lot. He still does it now, but not as much as he did around 5 months. He could stick it out so far too, it was funny to see. Now he does it mostly when he's smiling. He also went through a little spitting phase along with that. Similar to Everett, he'd have a spit-splattered face in a short amount of time. :)

6. Seth sucks on his hands and fingers a ton. More so than Everett did I think. I keep thinking he'll figure out how to suck his thumb to soothe himself sometime soon but he hasn't yet. I have mixed feelings about having a thumb sucker. It's nice if he can just soothe himself with his own thumb without me having to return a paci to his mouth, but it's easier to get rid of a paci than to train them later to not suck their thumb.

7. So we gave him his first solids at around 4 and a half months, but he really didn't seem interested. And being my third, I'm not in a hurry anymore to feed him solids. Nursing is so much easier and a lot more convenient. A few weeks ago Seth was licking his lips and seemed to want the chocolate shake Scott was eating so Scott gave him a taste. He liked that of course. The next morning I was eating something that he really seemed to want to try so I got some baby food bananas for him. It wasn't what he thought and he didn't eat them very well. He has since gotten better and has tried apples and squash (and no more ice cream!).

8. Seth has recently started feeling more "stranger danger". He really is starting to sense whenever someone he doesn't know is holding him. You can sometimes see the discomfort in his face. He is getting to that point where he'll watch me wherever I go, and get super upset when I leave the room. It's a little sad sometimes, but also makes me feel really loved.

9. Seth has gotten pretty good at sleeping with mommy and daddy. I've been so lazy with my third baby - or I've gotten soft. He naps and goes to bed in his crib and he's really good there at the beginning of the night, but at the sounds of his first cry, I just bring him to bed with me to cuddle or nurse and we both get more sleep. 

10. Seth is a joy to have in our family! He is super smiley and happy most of the time. He laughs and giggles, especially at Claire and the things she does. All she has to do is sing a little tune to him or make a funny noise and he'll laugh and smile back.

Soccer Time for Everett

This February it was Everett's turn to play in the Start Smart Soccer class. We joined an evening class so Scott could come and be his parent helper. I think he enjoyed playing for the most part. There were a couple tough moments for him like when he tripped and hurt himself and the last week when he was sick, but overall he was excited to go and run around. It was fun watching him play. :)

Valentine's Weekend

With Claire and her friends all in Kindergarten this year, we weren't able to plan our traditional Valentine's Day play date party. Being in school though, Claire was able to participate in her school Valentine's Day celebrations. They had a party at school, and she even let me try something new and fun to her hair. :) She had fun and she brought home her stash of Valentines to eat and share with Everett.

Since Valentines Day was on Sunday we had a Valentine's Weekend. Friday, Claire had her school party. Saturday we took kids to family and Scott and I were able to go on a date. :) And then April's family showed up Sunday and stayed til Tuesday since Monday was a holiday. Our kids love playing together. Monday evening we decorated heart shaped cookies as well. I don't know how well they liked decorating them but they loved eating them! :)

Potty Training Round 2

So the month of February was spent working with Everett on potty training. We originally had started training before Christmas but struggled a little and so we put a hold on it to enjoy the holidays and wedding. But February started on a Monday and it called out to us as the perfect day to start trying again, so we did. He did really well too. We've had our ups and downs with potty training. It's definitely not my favorite part of parenting which is why I avoided it for as long as I thought I could. We started out with potty treats and a timer, which worked but the treats didn't seem to encourage him as much as they should have, and he wouldn't go on his own, only when the timer went off... so we tried something else. A potty chart. He got stickers every time he went, which at the beginning (since he was going every couple minutes), didn't take long to fill. We took him to the dollar store to pick out a toy for filling up his chart. He chose cars. :) The second chart took a little longer to fill but he was also getting the hang of things and didn't have to sit on it every couple minutes. He's doing great!