Half a year

Mathias Michael is SIX MONTHS OLD today. I can't believe that it's been half a year since he came into my world! And now here he is, sitting right next to me and trying to grab my fingers as I type this.

Sweet potato face :)

Six months ago, Mathias was just a little newborn whose only trick was sucking on his knuckles. Now he sticks out his tongue, sucks on his bottom lip, babbles, and his favorite: fake coughing. I cough, he coughs. It's like a game, a cute one, until he coughs for real from all the fake coughing. My playful little guy.

He's also forming a special relationship with these puppies; they adore him, covering his face in kisses whenever I'm not paying attention. And he adores them, gleefully grabbing fistfuls of fur and they walk past.

I've been going through six months worth of pictures today, getting very nostalgic.

January 30th, 2012

I know this post is mostly pictures, but there's really nothing else I can say to show how in awe I am of this little man blossoming before my eyes every single day.

What am I going to do when he starts crawling, walking, talking? Kids grow up too fast!

TGIF V.3

TGIF: Things I'm Thankful for Fridays

• Washing machines; I can't imagine spending hours a day hand-washing all of our laundry, especially now that we're feeding Mathias chunks of fruit in his mesh feeder. He loves it, but the juice tends to get everywhere EXCEPT his bib. 
• Farmer's markets; my city's farmer's market is kind of lame, but still an amazing option. I'm a bit upset at myself for using canned veggies and fruit when there's fresh produce so close, the sales of which help out local farmers. Not to mention that the local cantaloupe is so incredibly tasty.
• My neighbor's grapes; our neighbor has grape vines growing all along our shared fence, and this summer, they've climbed over onto our side. Free grapes for us! Maybe I should make a fruit salad using those grapes and the apples from our apple tree.

Speaking of our apple tree; the apples are starting to get close to being ripe, but the majority of them are getting taken over by worms and ruined by hungry birds. I would say at least 80% of our apples won't be edible at this point. Does anyone know a way I can help prevent this next year, or for the rest of this growing season?

My camera is in a different room and there's a baby napping on my shoulder, so you'll just have to placate yourself from the lack of recent photos with a beautiful picture from my wedding instead:

 It's hard to believe Mathias was ever that small! He was barely a month old.

TGIF V.2

Today, I am most thankful that I got to wake up next to my husband and our 6 month old baby boy, safe and healthy. Because, really, that's all I can ask for.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Aurora community after the tragedy last night. So tragic, so close to home.

Giggle giggle Shhh

This little boy isn't "sleeping like a baby" anymore. That is to say, during his naps, he now wakes a lot more easily. It would be a shame, but he generally wakes up in a good mood, so I can't complain.

He's got sitting down as a skill now, I'm proud to say. He still needs a little encouragement and the occasional physical support, but a few "What a good sitter you are, Mathias!"'s and some pillows are easy to give out.

We went for a family walk around the Riverwalk yesterday. The batteries in my camera are dead, otherwise I would have gotten several great pictures. The weather was beautiful, minus the heat. It's the heat of summer that makes me nostalgic for winter, yet it's the layering of clothes of winter that makes me miss summer. Ironic. Mathias had fun looking around for about twenty minutes, then promptly took his afternoon nap while Matt and I were sweating off our lunch and three days worth of water.

Babysitting my niece and nephew today makes me interested to see how Mathias and his future siblings interact. With these older children, they don't quite seem aware of the baby all the time. They shriek and shout quite often, which just doesn't work with a napping baby, but seems to fascinate him when he's awake. Mathias tends to smile at kids more, also, and it makes it even more special that he's smiling at his cousins.

I guess only time will tell. Now we're off to kick my nephew's butt at some Modern Warfare.

TGIF V.1

Today, I'm going to start something new--Thank Goodness It's Friday. Time to list the things you're thankful for this week!

I'M THANKFUL THAT
- My son's teething is no longer affecting his mood! His sleep schedule is still up in the air, but the lack of sleep in my life is much easier to deal with when I wake up to a smiling Mathias
- My husband took last weekend off from work. It feels like I got to spend two straight weeks with him instead of the three or four days a week we usually get. This means ultimate family sleepy snuggle time!
- Our friends and family were able to visit last weekend and early this week, resulting in lots of late nights, a skydiving adventure for Matt, and whitewater rafting for the both of us!

22 years and 5 months

On the 28th of June, my husband turned 22. It's hard to believe, isn't it? I've known him since we were kids. Well, technically teenagers, but looking back, we were kids. And now here we are, five years later, with a kid of our own.

A little boy who is now five months (and two days) old! It still feels like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital, and now he's sitting up on his own and has TWO teeth. I've even started to dream about him crawling--which is crazy. Time to do a deep-cleaning of the floors throughout the house. It's such a mess. Animals sure are good at wrecking a house, I can vouch for that.