My little boy

Is almost 7 months old! Yikes! We had his 6 mo. check-up yesterday. Which means he got a bunch of shots. I timed the pacifier plug exactly right, so he only cried for a few seconds after them. Poor little guy. :(

The stats:

Ht: 27 1/4 inches (69th percentile)
Wt: 19 lbs 3 1/4 oz (63rd percentile)
Head: 44 cm (50th percentile)

He is super fun! He's getting quite wiggly! He loves jumping anywhere, anytime. He loves diving for objects-- which means I have to hold on to him extra tight. He loves being sung to. He is a champion fall-asleeper. I put him in his crib wide awake and he just lays there looking around content, and eventually drifts off. He loves being outdoors. LOVES it. If he's upset, that's one thing I know will calm him right down.





The following picture was not posed. My nephew Matthew loves doing everything 'baby' does. I was told that as they were driving to our house, the last twenty minutes of the drive were full of Matthew's "Baby? baby? baby? baby?! baby??!!! baby!!!" When Ethan gets on Ross' lap, so does Matthew. When Ethan plays with a toy, so does Matthew. When Ethan gets changed, Matthew insists too. He's so cute. And he calls Ross 'oss' and he calls me 'boren.' By the way... my name is really hard for little kids to say. An 'L' and an 'R'? That's just a little too much. When my brother Will was little he had the L down, but not the R. So he called me Lowen. Hence the nickname. However, the 'Laur' part of my name is actually pronounced like the name Lars, not like Loren. Which seems to be a Western thing, because NO-ONE in Kansas gets it. They just think I can't say it right. :( So I stopped correcting everybody. In fact, let me illustrate.

In Utah:
Other person: Is your name pronounced Lawren or Loren?
Me: Law-ren.
Other person: Law-ren. Okay.

Anywhere East of Colorado:
Other person: What's your name?
Me: Lawren
Other person: What?
Me: LAWren
Other person: OH, Loren?
Me: (deflated)....yeah.

Good thing I don't mind THAT much. But anyway. Enough about that.



And here's Ethan in his K-State sweat-suit that used to be his daddy's. So cute! He's getting too chubby for it already.



P.S. I do not wish to make anyone feel bad for calling me Loren. I will happily respond to that. Especially if I really like you. :)

A little project

Ross needed something to occupy his time in the two days he had off between his internship and school/work. This guy can't relax! But I'm glad because he made me these shelves for some of our food storage! It's in our stairwell to our basement, and it's completely custom made to fit the stuff we use most.

BEFORE:

WORKING:

AFTER:

Thanks sweetie poo!

Flashback...uh.. Thursday

So, who does Ethan look like? Well let's see here.

I don't see much resemblance between these two:



(I know, with the exception of the lovely velour couches in the first photograph that make it clear it's from another decade, you'd think they were the same baby.)

And here's one of me. I'm a couple of months older in this than Ethan is in the following one.


So apart from Ethan's ears, which I think he got from me, I think we're looking at a little mini- Ross.

And although the shape of Ethan's eyebrows are the same as Ross', they turn bright red like his mom's used to when he starts to cry.

A Grand Evening Out

Thank you for your advice about Ethan's sleep habits! Um.. luckily for him (and for me) he kind of just got over it. It's like he knew what my plans were. He got a pretty bad cold over the weekend, and when he recovered he was a whole different baby! So I have yet to be tested on my "firm" mother skills. But I am prepared if he slips back into his old ways.

So we went to the park the other night. It was so BEAUTIFUL. The golden hour, as the sun is starting to set. When you can't take a bad picture. At least as far as lighting, color, and contrast go.

This is a typical Ethan expression to
anything outdoors. Sort of dazed and relaxed.

We tried to get Ethan to pretend to hold the kite.

It sort of worked.

But really he just liked the grass.

And then we took him to go swing.

It wasn't so much the swinging itself
that he liked, it was the undivided and
seemingly hilarious antics from his daddy.

Oh, and here's a random cute picture of Ethan.

Help!

Okay all you moms out there. I need your help!

Ethan has been pretty good at sleeping in the past. 7 hours in a row, not really any stirrings in between. But now, for the last month or so, he has had some trouble. He wakes up at least once, most of the time twice, and won't calm back down without nursing. In between his feedings, he starts to fuss and we have to run and put his pacifier back in his mouth so he'll go back to sleep.

Now, Ethan is a great eater during the day. He eats at least 35 oz, or 8 times a day. We are feeding him some rice cereal once or twice a day also. I don't think he needs to eat during the night. He's a solid little guy. I think it's just habit.

So we tried letting him cry a little bit last night. After putting his pacifier in, and patting him on the back and talking to him a little bit, I left the room. He got SO mad! I lasted 15 minutes (the longest 15 minutes of my life) of his crying and then I cracked. I caved. I fed him, held him, he was so upset I had to sing to him for a good 30 minutes.

The other thing is, he's really good at going to sleep by himself. I almost always put him in his crib for naps and/or bed when he's still pretty awake but calm, and he falls asleep on his own. So he knows how to fall asleep in his crib on his own.

So what do you guys do? Do you just steel yourself and let them cry it out? Do you go in and comfort every 15 minutes? And then what about the pacifier thing? We can't spend our nights running in there every hour to put his pacifier back in his mouth.

ARGH! Any suggestions, advice, experiences you might have would be most helpful. Thanks.

It's our anniversary...

I won't make this a long mushy post about my sweet husband. But I do love my schmoopy woopy Rossy poo. :)

Top 5 about Ross:

1. He does a great job at taking care of me. I am a space cadet. He is not. As I'm heading out the door, "Lauren, do you have your keys? Wallet? Etc..?" He makes me lunch. He paints my toenails. He does the dishes.

2. He is adventurous. He's a great travel buddy. We love to experience new places together. Even if it's a new place in Manhattan.

3. He always gives me the bigger piece. The choice of where to eat. The better seat.

4. He is frugal. While this is sometimes a blessing in disguise, and exasperates me, I know we'll always have sufficient means.

5. He's a great dad. He loves Ethan, and does his share in taking care of him. Even when he has to get up early for work, church, or school afterwards.

It's been a great 3 years. Can't wait for what's to come!

Swimming!

We have been very lucky to be living with the Clarks this summer. Not only are they lots of fun, enjoy good food (Annah's a great cook), and like the same games we do, they also live right across the street from a pool! It's part of their complex, and therefore-- free! Sweet!

This summer has been fairly mild until a week or so ago. It's starting to get sticky. In fact, something like 110 degrees with the heat index. And now we appreciate the pool even more.

I know, this is kind of a scary face. He made it every time he splashed.