Are there any teeth in there?

I attempted to take pictures this morning of Andrew's teeth that are coming in - the two bottom ones. But I couldn't get any pictures that captured the teeth. But I still think I got some cute pics of the sweet boy!

You can kind of see the teeth in this one but not well enough. I've got to get in there and get a picture soon. We have a frame and one of the slots is for "first tooth". Can't miss capturing this milestone!

Andrew ate food for the first time at daycare today. He had mango and ate it all up.

I was also told the "everyone" at daycare just loves Andrew "cause he's so darn cute". Apparently they were outside today and the other teachers were coming out to see Andrew. I hope he is always so outgoing - he is now and loves to look at people. :)

Happy Memorial Day!

This Memorial Day is brought to you by the many faces of Andrew. :) We had quite the lazy weekend and it was much needed. On Monday, we cooked out and Andrew hung out with us outside. I got some pictures of him and when I went through them, I just laughed. This little boy and his facial expressions crack me up. 

I'm pretty sure he's wondering what I'm doing here. 

And probably talking in this one.

For some reason, his head looks large in this picture. I guess it must be the angle. :) haha

Talking, talking, talking...

His new thing is sucking on his fingers. It started when the teeth showed up so I'm guessing they are related.

I think this turned into a laugh...

And now he's just being silly.

I get really good smiles sometime, even if there are fingers in the way.

Happy Memorial Day from Andrew and his happy parents! 

Why are you giving me this food!?!?

We had been told by our pediatrician at Andrew's three month appointment to start purees around five months old. Well, Andrew turned five months old and I just kept putting it off. It was just something else to do. I have planned on making our own baby food and while I was excited to do that, I think I just wasn't ready to go there yet. So the week before Andrew turned six months we attempted purees. 

To tell you that Andrew didn't care for them would be an understatement. I made a sweet potato and a butternut squash. We tried both and both times, Andrew would get the food in his mouth, throw his arms up, make a terrible face at me (a la why are you trying to kill me, mom?) and keep him mouth open long enough for all the drool to wash the food right out of his mouth. It was pretty darn funny. For me, at least. So we tried a couple of evenings. We tried one morning with rice cereal and mushy bananas. He wasn't having any of it. 

I decided to take a break. Brian and I were leaving for California, Andrew didn't turn six months until the next week(which is technically the age that is recommended to start food) and he just obviously wasn't ready. It turned out to be a good choice. Even though my mom is capable of feeding him the purees, my dad ended up in the hospital for that entire week and it would have just added one more thing to the list to try to make Andrew eat something that he obviously wasn't ready for. 

When we got back from Cali, I knew we needed to try again. I needed to be able to go to his pedi appointment and tell her that, yes, he had started purees. When we tried again, it was a little bit better and it has progressed since then. It has only been a week but I can already tell you the mistake I made originally.

My sweet boy is so independent. He does not want you to put the food in his mouth, he can do it. 

 So we tried some cut up avocado. While the face below is still not an expression of happiness, it is nothing compared to when we first started. The next couple of times with the avocado, he ate it right up. He loves to do it himself. And even though it makes a mess, I'll take it. 

 We also tried some more sweet potato (because one potato makes a ton of frozen two oz portions in my freezer!) and again, as long as he could suck on the spoon himself, he was good. I've read that the gag reflex is really close to the front of a baby's tongue. It eventually moves to the back but this is so they won't choke on things as they learn how to eat. 

 He still gags quite a bit and won't eat everything. The butternut squash was not a hit. He kept spitting it back out. I gave him oatmeal and bananas this morning while we ate at Cracker Barrel and he cried. It has been a process but he is slowly learning. And so am I. Sometimes, I can't tell if he doesn't really like the particular food or he just isn't in the mood. At CB this morning, I gave him a piece of my biscuit and he ate it right up. 

 (the mess that we have every night)

But progress is my primary goal. I've got my list of things to get for him at the grocery store and it definitely includes avocado. But I will also get him some other things that I can cut into chunks so he can be independent and feed himself - pears, bananas and such. I'm also going to get some organic applesauce and try some of that. 

 I would like to see him eat some food in the mornings too. Such a cutie, huh? Even with food all over him!

Yesterday, I had him outside with me while I was grilling chicken and corn for dinner. I put him in the grass and he was content for 2 seconds. He was naked because of the dinner mess above. 

 I guess he didn't like the feeling of the grass. It was pretty itchy...

I was on the ground trying to take a picture of him and this is what I got. :) Even with his "ugly cry face", I think he is too cute. (And no worries, I didn't let him cry for too long, just enough to snap a few pics)

SIX Months Old - June 17th

As I say every month, I CANNOT believe I have a SIX MONTH OLD! He is getting so big and doing so many new things all.the.time. I cannot imagine what he will be doing in the next few months too. 

Unfortunately, I was out in California on the six month big day. I was out for a conference and Brian came out too. We went to Disneyland and really had a great time. But I missed this little dude like crazy. Brian and I spent one night going through our Facebook pictures of him going "Remember this...remember that..." :)

My mom sent me a picture on the 17th of Andrew sitting up all by himself for the first time! Daycare had really been working with him on it so I knew it would be soon but I was so surprised :) And proud!

Love that face! 

And here he is slapping that hand on his thigh and I'm sure hollering something. haha

Here are some fun facts for this month: 

• Still in size 2 diapers
• Had his first ear infection (a double one, at that!)
• Sits up by himself
• Started some purees but he's really not a big fan (whole other post)
• Finally moved to 3-6 month clothing, although they are still a little big
• Mommy and Daddy stayed away for the first time (Christy's wedding in Corpus)
• 14.5 lbs (13%)
• 24 inches (.35% - yes, you read that correctly. I have a short kid. Surprised?)
• 32 inch diameter of his head (35%)

And the biggest one is that he has cut two bottom teeth! This happened at 6 mo, 1 week but I was so surprised. He has been drooling like crazy for two+ months. Lately, it hasn't been as bad. But the other night, I was feeling his bottom gum and felt one tooth. Then two days later when I picked him up from daycare, they said there was another one coming in. Everybody asks if he is cranky or crying a lot - and he isn't, which is great. He woke up crying that first night, before we knew about the tooth, but he went right back to sleep. I'm so excited for the teeth but it is bittersweet to know I'm losing that gummy baby. 

Luckily, we have a ton of pictures with that gummy smile!

He is still small for his age but I feel like he is so much bigger than last month. He was sleeping on the couch one evening and Brian said "when did he get that big?" I think that expresses how I feel every time I slow down and just soak it in. I know I will feel this way for a long time to come but it sure does make me appreciate every.single.moment. 

Andrew - you are such a sweet, little blessing to us. We fall in love with you more everyday, which we think is impossible. You make us laugh all the time with your little personality, which grows all the time too. My favorite thing right now is that you are just enamored with your daddy. If I'm holding you, you will look at him and wait for him to look back. When he does, you get the best little grin on your face and it makes you so happy. You are also laughing so much lately and that brings so much joy to the entire family. Everyone loves being around you because you are such a happy, content baby and you love people-watching as much as your momma. We love watching you grow everyday but don't grow too fast. We need time to savor every moment with you. We love you so much!

First Swim

The weekend of May 5th, my sister came down here to visit and hang out. We really don't ever do anything special - just hang out and have some seester time. And now she gets a little Drewbie time in too :)

We decided on that Saturday to go swimming at our friend's house, Laurie. It is a little early into the swimming season although it was probably 90 degrees. The pool was quite chilly to Andrew's first swim but he looked so darn cute. 

Here he is waiting on us to get ready. This looks just like my dad when we float the river :) haha

He was just chillin...

We took off the swimsuit after pictures because it was just too big. It is a 6 mo swimsuit and it goes down to his ankles!

He wasn't too sure at first. I don't think he minded the water, just the temperature. He cried a little bit at first. We also tried him in the float but the seat sat too low and he didn't like it. So Aunt B took the hit and dipped into the cold water with him. 

He really ended up doing so well. I love this picture of the two of them. He is so silly and it always talking or making noises. I'm pretty sure that he was getting ready to blow some spit bubbles or something. 

And here he is afterwards. He did so good and thought the towel was yummy too. He didn't get as worn out as I thought he would. I was expecting a sleep through the night tired baby, but that's okay. :)

The week after this swim, Drewbs got a nasty double ear infection. That was terrible - he had a fever of 103.7 and I was miserable for him. The antibiotics kicked in so fast and he was good in a matter of a day. He had to take them through the week while my mom kept him and he did pretty well with them after the initial fit throwing. :) 

Photo Shoot Progression

This is a great example of how our photo shoots progress most of the time. 

 (This is probably my favorite. He probably started talking or yelling at that point.)

And he's falling over. Photo shoot complete. 

I made him take some pictures because I LOVE that outfit. We got it awhile back when we were planning on doing outdoor family pics. Well, we ended up not doing them and it got too hot to wear that outfit because it has pants. So this was the first time he had worn it and I thought he looked like a little handsome boy instead of a little baby. :)