6 month appointment

Bryce's 6 month appointment was this morning and he did great. He was so happy, smiling and making faces. Until the doctor made him lay down on the table anyway. Such a difference from his 2 month appointment where he screamed the entire time. Here's the rundown on his stats:

Weight: 19 pounds, 10 ounces -- 75-90th percentile
Length: 26.5 inches -- 50th percentile
Head circumference: 43.5 cm -- 50th percentile
Cuteness -- 99th percentile
Teeth -- none
Sitting up -- yes
Crawling -- nope
Sleeping through the night -- he's almost there, depends on the night
Hair pulling -- he's a professional

We also started food last week. I had started oatmeal a few weeks ago but he wasn't that into it so I didn't bother half the time. For his first "real" food, I chose avocado. He's only had it twice now but he seems to be a fan.







PS -- this is my 100th post!

The zoo

As I have mentioned before, it's been about a year since the last time that I took Cason to the zoo. At that point, he was just over a year old and wasn't even talking yet. He enjoyed the zoo back then but didn't pay much attention to the animals. So I thought now that he is two, things would be a lot different. I had visions of Cason being enthralled by the animals and how he would talk about them for weeks or months to come. Today was perfect weather wise so we packed up and headed to the zoo. Cason, however, was only mildly amused by the animals.







He was actually way more interested in the fences,



grass, leaves,



and of course rocks.



My little gymnast.



So here's the rundown on Cason's interests.

Likes:
rocks
leaves
acorns
letters
hanging on things
jumping
climbing

Completely indifferent:
cars
trucks
trains
animals

All of Cason's friends seem to love vehicles of all sorts and animals. I have tried to get him interested in all of those things but I guess Cason is my nature lover. I do have high hopes that he will love gymnastics though. I'm planning on enrolling him as soon as he turns three.



Isn't Bryce's shirt way too cute?! A tree frog shirt, to match his room.

Five minutes with Cason

I know, it's long. Only 3 people will probably watch it. But that's okay. Cason kept wanting me to flip around the screen so he could watch himself, so that is what he is talking about when he says "turn it around". And why he keeps mentioning things on the screen like the dog and the bouncy seat.

The goat is still "here". I've been trying to convince him that the goat went to Iowa to visit Grandpa and Grandma. The only reason he keeps talking about the potato head is because I got a new plastic container to put it in yesterday so it's one of his new favorite toys again. And the rest of the video is a big thank you to Leap Frog.

Happy Friday the 13th half birthday!

It's hard not to say something cliche like "I can't believe it's been 6 months" or "Bryce has grown so fast". Bryce is such a happy baby and we just love him to pieces. It has been fun to see how different he is from Cason. Bryce adores his big brother and it seems like he is always looking for him. It will be fun to watch them play together in the not too distant future.

Bryce has his 6 month appointment next week so I'll have to give the rundown on his stats then. Although I know that he is over 19 pounds so when I have one kid on each hip, I'm almost balanced. Cason is only 27-28 pounds so Bryce isn't much lighter. Last night, I put Bryce in Cason's Radio Flyer car and he was having a ball. He kept grabbing the steering wheel and pulling himself up to standing so I grabbed the video camera. He is usually so happy like in this video, it just makes me smile. Check out his chunky arms and thighs!

Happy Friday the 13th half birthday, Little Man!

A goat named Sheep

This morning we went to pick up a few things at Target and then we stopped by the park on the way home. A few times throughout the morning, Cason mentioned a goat. I asked him what goat he was talking about and he kept saying it was "At home. In Mommy's room." We don't have any goats (toys or stuffed animals or whatever), so I was racking my brain trying to think of what he thought was a goat. So I just said "Oh, you'll have to show me when we get home."

When we got home, Cason immediately started talking about the goat again so I told him to show me. He made me carry him, he was obviously afraid of this goat. So I took him in my bedroom and asked him where it was. He was saying "here," and pointing into our bathroom. When we got in our bathroom, he just pointed at the floor. All I could think of was maybe they read a book about goats at preschool or something.

So we went back out to the kitchen and I got some lunch ready for both of us. 10 minutes later, I was rinsing my plate off and I looked over at Cason in his booster seat. He was staring sideways, but looking down at the floor. I asked him what he was looking at and he said "goat". I burst out laughing and he burst out crying. I went over and hugged him and told him there was no goat but I could not stop laughing.

We had some time to kill before nap so we went in the playroom to play. He just sat in his Radio Flyer car and didn't really say much. So I started asking about the goat.

"Where did you see the goat?"
"In my booster seat."
"Where was he?"
"In Mommy's room."
"What was he doing?"
"Feeding Cason."
"What was he feeding you?"
"Pizza, pineapple..."
"He sounds like a nice goat. Is he your friend?"
"Yes." But he didn't sound too convincing.
"What is his name?"
"Sheep."
"The goat's name is Sheep?"
"Yes."

And then I had to go put Bryce down for a nap. So funny. This is probably the first time that he has been afraid of something unseen. There is Lizard, who lives in our pantry, that Cason is afraid of but he is a real (fake) lizard. And he's freaked out about a llama at a petting zoo, a spider in the bathtub, and the fake ladybug at his friend, Josiah's, house. But never before about something imaginary.

Blah

We've been very blah lately. Last week, both of the boys got colds so we hung out at home more than normal. Kelly made lots of pancakes and Cason tested his boundaries all day, every day. I really hate the time changes due to Daylight Savings Time starting and ending. It really screws up Cason for a good week or two. He wakes up early in the morning and takes short naps, leaving him more than a little feisty. Today was a good day so I'm hoping he is getting back on track.

We haven't done anything exciting but I just realized last week that I haven't taken Cason to the zoo in over a year. I want to try to take him in the next week or two before it gets cold here. I know he would get so much more out of it now that he's older. Kelly's brother, Chris, and niece and nephew are coming down in two weeks for Thanksgiving so hopefully we can do a few fun things with them. Kelly and I are already planning our feast. You know, the important things like cheese dip and pumpkin roll.

Since I haven't had anything at all to write about lately, I'll post a quick video of Bryce, just because he's so cute. Note what football game we are watching in the background.

Edit - I just realized how tiny the video player is on my blog so you probably can't tell what game we're watching. So I'll just tell you that we were watching the Hawkeyes. Also, in reviewing the video, I realized how creepy I sound. Please try to tune me out.

Getting so big

Bryce has been sitting up for weeks now. He is at that great age where I can set him down in the living room with a few toys and he will happily play with them for quite some time. Which makes it much easier for me when Kelly is gone now so that I can feed Cason and get a bite to eat myself without worrying about touching Bryce with peanut butter on my hands or something like that.

But shortly after he started sitting up, he tried doing it in his baby bathtub too. He would practically flip himself out of the tub because he did not want to be reclined any longer. So I ordered a bath ring. I never needed one with Cason but it has been worth every penny now that I have two kids. Bryce loves sitting up and splashing and trying to grab any toy that comes within reach. Sadly, he only plays with any given bath toy for a few seconds before Cason snatches it away. We're still working on sharing and taking turns!













We also started Bryce on oatmeal. This usually involves two spoons because he snatches one out of my hand and chews on it so I have to use a second one to get some food in his mouth.



Here is what usually happens when I have to put Bryce in his bouncy seat. He will stay like this for a few minutes until he finally gives up and lies back.



And Bryce's favorite activity is the jumperoo. Cason always liked the jumperoo as a baby but Bryce loves it so much more. If he is cranky, I put him in there and he is instantly all smiles. He also likes to jump up and down while standing on my lap or on the floor. I was trying to get some video of him jumping but Cason was trying to upstage him. I don't know the song he was singing but he said it is from church and he kept saying "Jesus is MY MY king!"