Happy half birthday, Richard!

Richard Allan has brought such joy to our lives the past six months.  He has truly fit right into the fold of our family, and made our transition from a family of four to a family of five much easier than we anticipated.  Since I was absent from the blog-o-sphere during the majority of the last six months, I thought I'd provide a quick recap of our son's growth and notable milestones.

At birth.  8 pounds 7 ounces of pure, screaming joy.  His delivery was the easiest of my three.  And he was super sweet from the beginning.  I love baby burrito pictures!

One month old.  Despite having a hard time getting rid of his jaundice, this big boy was on track for growth his first month!  He had a busy first month of life with his first portrait session for family photos, first trip to bible study with momma and first trip to church.  Oh, and who can forget his first "outing" to Costco.  (Does Costco qualify as an outing?)

Month two brought Thanksgiving which was celebrated with lots of extended family in Buckeye, his first smile, first birthday party (for Kendall Rovey), and the start of the some tummy trouble which was alleviated when momma removed dairy from her diet.  He weighed 11 pounds 5 ounces and measured 24 inches long at his two month well check.

Three months.  Met his Papa Jim (Kelly's dad), had his first cold, celebrated Christmas and went to his first livestock show.  He made some new friends in the church nursery when he stayed for the first time and most importantly, he had his first full night of sleep this month, woohoo!  

Four months old and full of smiles! We visited Aunt Anna and her crew in Maricopa this month, had our first play date at Chick-fil-A, started grabbing toys, traveled to Cottonwood for the first time,"played" at the park, and laughed for the first time!  He weighed 14 pounds 3 ounces and measured 25 1/2 inches long at his 4-month well check.

Five months.  Richard is getting stronger and stronger, which is totally evident in this picture.  He is trying to sit up on his own by grabbing at everything within reach, especially food on people's plates. He has finally started getting in the groove with our night time routine and is ready to fall asleep right after HB and Katherine go to bed.  (Praise the Lord!)  He also got his first haircut and handled it like a pro!

Six months.  Brother bear cut his first two teeth (on the bottom) at the same time.  He has been grabbing at food while sitting on momma's lap, so he started eating a few purees (green beans and sweet potatoes so far) and loves them.  He is proficient at rolling all over, and occasionally ends up on the tile and off his blanket.  He loves to be tickled and kick his legs when is sitting in his bouncy chair.  

Richard Allan, aka little bear, we are so in love with you and rejoice daily that you are our son.  You are a bright ray of sunshine to our family and we delight in hearing your giggle, seeing you grow and know it's only a matter of time before you're trying to keep up with your siblings.  Happy half birthday, sweet boy!

Happy half birthday, HB

It seems like everyday another friend posts about how quickly time is flying and that they can't believe their little person just turned one, or two, or three.  I find myself saying that same exact thing.  No matter what Kelly and I do, time seems to slip through our fingers.  Our little people are growing up way too fast.  I often wonder am I enjoying it enough, or savoring it enough?  I hope that by processing and recording a little bit of our busy life on my blog we can look back someday and enjoy it all again.

HB turned 18 months this past week - toddler-hood can be such a joy and a challenge; and I'm learning to enjoy the good moments because Lord knows a fit is just around the corner.  Much like the one pictured below.  This young man is getting really good at throwing himself on the floor.  These type of fits usually coincide with one of two things - either coming in from playing outside or being hungry.  Boy has no patience or grace for momma when his tummy is rumbling.

Our boy is a great eater though and that is a huge blessing.  He eats whatever Kelly and I eat and most often he eats it with gusto.  We are all about rubbing our peanut butter and jelly in our hair and on our neck.  Or our lasagna.  Heck, why not rub everything we eat all over our face, head and neck?

At 18 months, here are a few of the fun things our sweet boy can do:

• Starting to form actual words - mama, dada, baby, dirty, go, baa, moo.  Oh, wait, the last two are animal sounds.  
• Understands simple directions like "pick the toy up" or "give it to baby" or "sit on your bottom" or "go sit in your chair."
• Still loves to cuddle on your lap before bedtime.  Usually this is coupled with looking through livestock magazines and making lots of animal noises.
• Helps do chores outside.  He is surprisingly strong for someone sub three feet.  He tries dragging flakes of hay to the sheep pens or will grab whatever coffee can or bucket of grain he can.  He likes to keep it interesting too by randomly moving anything and everything within reach and relocating it.  This includes a drench gun, pliers, his own toys, and buckets.
• Mimics mommy in the kitchen by grabbing spoons and bowls and "stirring" whatever he can.  He is at the fun height where he can grab things like knives off the counter when his forgetful tired mommy doesn't move them far enough away from the edge.
• Starting to potty train, although it is going to require more consistency from momma and daddy to actually make this a concrete habit.  He has gone number one and two on the toilet, although the number two was more like a lucky save because he was headed for the living room when I made him sit on the toilet!
• He loves to kiss his baby sister.  His kisses consist of placing his face on you and making the sound "mm."
• As he grows the phrase "long and lean" comes to mind.  He weighed 26 pounds 4 ounces (50th percentile) and measured 34 inches long (90th percentile).  

He is definitely a goof ball and loves to laugh.  Please note the fire hat on backwards and the Twister game mat on the floor behind him.  We have not taught him to play this game yet but he loves to pull it out of the cupboard and drag it around.

HB, we love you so very much little buddy, and are so blessed to call you son.  While you occasionally make momma want to pull her hair out, we are both enamored with your charming smile, sweet offers of help and cuddly moments before bed.  We can already tell that there will be lots of laughter and fun ahead with you.