Big Longhorn!

Mom's not quite sure...is it a cow, is it a steer, or is it just a big ol' longhorn? Just in case your curious, it's not a real one. It's a big, bronze statue by the park that mom and I go to. I thought it was pretty cool to see the longhorn up close and personal. Maybe one day I'll be a Longhorn at UT. Then again, I could be an A&M Aggie, a Mizzou Tiger, a Michigan State Spartan, or I could be like my dad and be lots of things (an Indiana Hoosier, a Fighting Illini, and a GMI Bulldog).

I'm Such a Ham

This is me new favorite face. It's a little bit of a smile and just flat out opening my mouth as wide as I possibly can. (I'm sure I won't do this for my mom when she's trying to get a shot of my first tooth. Which, as you can see in this picture is not visible yet.) So, when mom tries to get a picture of me I either give her this huge, open mouth, all gums smile or I stick out my tongue. Mom prefers the big smile since it makes her smile just as big. Hopefully you all will get just as big a grin from these pictures.

Here we are playing peek-a-boo around the couch. I'm so smart now and inquisitive with the camera, that mom has to distract me to get the good shots. Otherwise, I just crawl, really fast, towards the camera.















Here I come mom, you better watch the camera!










Mom's catching me in the act. On my way to put away my shape blocks. Actually, I'm just going to go chew on them. Remember, I don't have teeth yet so I'm chewing on everything. Mom says I have an oral fixation. I actually do with an Oral-B kids toothbrush. It's one of my favorite toys. Especially when I flick it and give mom so much love with all that drool.

Another Pool Day

There are so many things I'm learning when I go to the pool. I've learned about my shadow, and how no matter how many times I hit the water in an attempt to touch it, nothing ever happens. It stays there just the same as it was before.
















I've learned about drains and how they make my book go round and round. I've learned to splash and get my face all wet. This has also translated to splashing at bathtime which gets me and my mom all wet!































I've started to learn how to sit up. At least almost sit up. I like to practice here because when I loose my balance, mom catches me and we make a big splash.





















And more than anything, I just love the pool. It's my favorite activity with my mom, a good way to get my daily Vitamin D allowance, and it helps my mom relax since I get tired and always take a nap afterwards.

Sitting Pretty

I'm getting better by the day at truly sitting up on my own. Mom practices with me every day. Here I am at the park. This is truly an accomplishment for me, two things at once. Sitting up and drinking! Just after this picture was taken, I tried to take an even bigger gulp and tumbled backwards! Good thing we were at the park and in the grass! Guess I need some more practice to work on something mom call balance. 

Swingin' High

Well, not too high! Mom took me to the swings today and I loved it. Yes, I'm still a little small for the toddler swings at the park, but I manage. Although, if mom's not careful when she put's me in, I think my whole body would fit through one leg hole. Check me out as I enjoy the swing at our neighborhood park.

Playgroup

Every Thursday (well almost) mom manages to get me to playgroup with all of my friends. I can't really talk about them a whole lot yet (because all I can say right now is "Ba"), but I thought you might like seeing all of them!

Here I am with my friend Laura.















Here I am with my friend Haley. We walk together every Wednesday morning as well.















And here is the whole gang. Kudos to all of the mom's for getting me and all of my friends in the picture at once. That was quite a feat!

My Inner Geek

One of my favorite things to explore as of late has been the computer. I love the cords and all of the little spots I can try to poke my fingers into. I especially like the back of the computer where everything is plugged in. Thankfully, I'm not strong enough to yank the cord out of the computer, this would be a major issue of mom was working. Mom tries to restrict my access to this area by placing the garbage can in front of it, but it's not working. I'm so strong now that I just push the garbage can out of my way. Nothing can keep my inner geek from coming out! 

6 1/2 Month Stats

Another trip to the doctor yielded two more shots. Well, I guess that's better than the three shots I had got the last time! I also found out that I am growing like a weed! Yes, like a weed, tall and skinny. I weighed in at 14lbs. 3oz (15%, I dropped quite a bit from the 40th% last time) and measured at 26 and 1/2 inches tall (60%). So, in the last two months I've grown 1 1/2 inches (and they wonder why I'm so skinny) and gained 1lb. 3ozs. Overall, not too shabby.

The doctor also checked how I was doing developmentally and mom got the thumbs up! They felt that I am currently measuring right around a 9 month olds abilities. Yep, that's right. It could have something to do with the fact that I'm army crawling, constantly saying "Ba", pulling up on people, taking steps when someone helps me stand, and almost sitting up completely on my own.

My palette has also expanded quite a bit since we had our last checkup. I'm now eating oatmeal, apples, pears (my favorite fruit so far), blueberries, apricots (yuck!), sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots (my favorite veggie so far). Mom's preparing to introduce green vegetables soon, we'll see how I like those peas!

So, as you can tell, I'm giving mom and dad a run for their money in all areas!