6 Months 2 Weeks

Yay! Christopher is starting to sit up by himself now! He can last for about 15-20 seconds at a time with an occasional 30 seconds or more. He's also becoming MOBILE! No, he's not crawling yet, but he is rolling from side to side like crazy! There's no keeping him on the rug or blanket anymore! And the hardwood floors don't stop him like they used to either.

Tuesday will be Christopher's 1st 4th of July! Every year since 2000, I've bought myself a Flag Tee from Old Navy. I don't intend on this year being any different. Plus, I'm going to look for a flag onesie or tee for Christopher, too.

We'll be doing our usual tradition...having friends and family over to grill out, shoot off a few bottle rockets in our backyard, walk across the street to a nearby elementary school ball field to watch the MTSU firework show and then shoot off all the rest of our fireworks until everybody decides it's time to go home. Only this year, I probably won't be watching the guys shoot off the fireworks as I don't think Christopher will like that too much. I might try to see how he does watching the MTSU firework show, but don't count on staying out there for long. He doesn't like when Brinkley barks too loud, so I don't expect him to "enjoy" the fireworks.

Our friends, Bill and Jen, had their baby girl, Lilly Jane, this past Saturday (June 24)!!! Jen was induced on her due date. Lilly was 7 lbs and 20 inches. We've already arranged for Christopher and Lilly to get married when they grow up! LOL! J/K! Apparently, Lilly's going to have to fight off the boys in our church since there are several close to her age.

Well, I started Christopher on some fruits and veggies last Friday (June 23). The first thing we tried were sweet potatoes. He did okay with them, but he didn't gobble them up like he did with cereal. After trying those a few days, I moved onto applesauce, which he LOVES. There was a major difference in reaction between the sweet potatoes and the applesauce! I think we'll be trying squash next starting tomorrow.

Shad went on a mission trip to New Orleans. They left last Friday and returned on Monday...a day earlier than planned since they finished the job early. Their task was to completely tear out the inside of a house ruined by the flooding. The eight of them that went from our church finished the job in 1.5 days when it normally takes a group of 20 people 3 days! Since they finished early, they were taken on a tour of the city and got to see all the damage. Let me just say that it was HORRIBLE. I thank God everyday for everything I have...even if it's not much!

Still no news on the job situation. I've submitted applications online to several different jobs. One includes a few positions with the State of Tennessee. That would mean going back to work full-time and putting Christopher into daycare full-time, but the money would be pretty good and would help us out tremendously! Out of all those applications I've submitted, though, I haven't heard from a SINGLE one of them! How frustrating!!! I'm also considering cleaning some houses. That would allow me to bring Christopher along and to somewhat set my own schedule. Hopefully something will happen soon as it's VERY stressful right now!!!

I'm so excited...Richard has a photographer friend who's agreed to take Christopher's 6 month pictures for us!!! We'll have to wait until after the 4th of July, though. Christopher will actually be closer to 7 months old than 6 months old. Oh well... it'll be the first formal pictures taken of him. I hope to get some more done after Christopher starts walking or after he turns 1. Then, it would be nice to get them done once a year, but that's too far down the road to think about now! Money-wise, it's expensive, so I don't know how often we'll actually get to do it.

I'll post pictures after we get them back in a few weeks!

6 months 5 days

Christopher had his 6 month check-up yesterday afternoon. Here's his stats:

Weight: 15 lbs 10 oz (20/25th percentile)
Length: 25.25 in (can't remember percentile)
Head circumference: 43.25 cm (50th percentile)

His weight isn't where I expected it to be by now. I was expecting him to be at least 16 lbs. The doctor said it's nothing to worry about right now since he's still within the normal range. She'll see how he's doing at his next visit.

He got 3 more shots yesterday. :( They're the same 3 that he received at his 2 previous appointments. He only whimpered with the 1st shot, but let loose with the 2nd and 3rd shots! Poor baby! I was able to nurse him right afterward, though, since it was time for him to eat. So far today, he seems to be doing okay.

We were given the go-ahead to start regular baby food. He's already been eating rice cereal. We haven't tried oatmeal or barley yet, but want to introduce those sometime soon. My original plan was to first try a green veggie, then a yellow/orange veggie and then a fruit. However, the doctor suggested we hold off on the green veggies until last as they can be hard to tolerate for some babies. So, I think we're going to start off with carrots or sweet potatoes. I'm planning to make my own baby food, but have been advised to NOT make carrots as they can be high in nitrates. This ought to be a fun journey! We've loaned our video camera to our friends who are about to have their baby, so I can't use it at the moment. When we get it back, we'll have to get some video of Christopher trying some foods for the first time!

That pretty much sums up his doctor's appointment. Everything went well and our next visit is scheduled for his 9 month check-up on September 19.

We finally fell victim to OPS (Over-reactive Parent Syndrome) on Sunday afternoon...Father's Day! We think Christopher had a tummy ache. He literally screamed for about an hour straight and nothing would calm him down. Shad finally gave him some Mylicon, which seemed to help after several minutes. He eventually fell asleep on Shad, but while asleep would have these breathing "attacks." I really don't know how to explain them. It was almost like he was still sobbing, but he wasn't since he was asleep. He's never done anything like that before, so we decided to get a video of it using our digital camera and e-mail it to our pediatrician, who we also go to church with. By the time we got off the phone and got it e-mailed, Christopher woke up. Since it was past time for him to eat, I went ahead and fed him. Soon after, he was acting just fine...all happy and normal. Shad called the pediatrician back to let her know that he was okay and to apologize for calling her at home on Father's Day. She told us that between talking to us, her mom had called (whom we also know from church), so she told her mom what was going on. Her mom said, "Oh! I know what that is! It's called Snubbin!" It's when babies/children get so worked up from crying that it's a residual effect. Our pediatrician said that after 20 years of medical school, she learned what Snubbin was from her MOTHER! Too funny!

Well, it's time to get Christopher up and feed him now, so I'll end here. I'll leave you with a couple of somewhat recent pictures of Christopher:


6-2-06 (5-1/2 months old)

6-2-06 (5-1/2 months old)


5-29-06 (5 months old )


Christopher's Dedication/Mother's Day

Father's Day

Today is Father's Day...Shad's first! We went to Nashville yesterday to use our Babies 'R Us gift card and our movie theater coupons that we've had since CHRISTMAS. We bought Christopher a new car seat...an Evenflo Titan Deluxe. Here's a picture of it:
















I think I'm going to wait until Christopher's sitting up on his own before installing it. Right now, I'm still able to use the infant carrier when we go shopping. I won't be able to do that once we switch, though. Hopefully, this seat will last us until he needs a booster when he's about 4 years old.

After shopping, we dropped Christopher off at his granddad's house. From there, we went to the movies to see X-Men 3 and then to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. Let me just say that their food was DELICIOUS! I LOVED the grilled shrimp! We'll definitely have to go back there sometime!

I guess that was Shad's big Father's Day celebration since we're not doing anything out of the ordinary today. Went to church, came home for lunch and are now just relaxing for the rest of the day. We need to go grocery shopping, but I'll probably do that sometime this week.

Shad leaves on Friday to go on a mission trip to New Orleans. Our church has already been several times and has several more trips planned. First, they're helping to tear down some houses and then they're going to re-build. They're in the tear-down process right now. He'll be gone for 5 days, so won't be coming home until Tuesday, June 27. I'm NOT looking forward to that time AT ALL! I'm used to spending all day by myself but not 24/7! I'm going to be SO lonely! Plus, there are just some times when I need him to take Christopher so that I can have some ME time. I've asked my mom to come stay with me, but I don't think she will. Or if she does, it'll only be for a night or two.

Our friends are due to have their baby this Saturday, June 24. She said that her doctor told her that if she hasn't had it by her appointment this coming Wednesday, they're going to induce! They're having a girl...Lilly Jane. We've already pre-arranged for her and Christopher be married some day! LOL! Just kidding!

Okay, I've babbled enough. I'll update after tomorrow's doctor's appointment.