Happy 5th Birthday Max!

Happy Birthday Max! You are such a fun boy, we love being your parents. We hope you have an amazing 5th birthday!

During this past year, you have grown and learned so much! We love how inquisitive you are about everything. You have such an excitement for life and the things going on around you. We love that the answer "because that's just the way it is" isn't good enough for you, you always want to know WHY.

This year your love of reading has grown immensely. You are now reading on a 2nd/3rd grade reading level and loving it. It is so fun watching you pick up books and read them to us, and we also still love reading to you. We love that you have to carefully study the pictures on each page before we can go on to the next.

We told you you couldn't grow up and become a 5 year old, but despite our best efforts, here we are! We love you and can't wait to see what this new year brings!
Love, Mom and Dad

Sam's Stats

We finally took Sam in for his 6 month check up. As usual, he didn't really mind his check-up, and I think Max was more worried about the shots that Sam had to get than Sam was. It has been a rough couple of days for Sam since the shots though, with fevers and irritability. I think he may be getting teeth too, and he has a bit of a cold, so that isn't helping matters much.
Here are his stats:
Length: 28.5 inches (95%)
Weight: 18 lbs. 13 oz. (75%)
Head: 44.5 cm (75%)
He's getting SO big! I just love his cute baby thighs and kissing cheeks!

Impressionable Youth

Max is at a loss for what he wants for his upcoming birthday. (He isn't spoiled or anything!) Everyone keeps asking him what he wants and he usually responds by asking me to tell him what he wants, or to show him toys on the internet that he can "choose from". He seems to also be soaking up the commercials on TV too. . .
A few days ago, Natalie asked him what he wanted. He responded, "I want the Smoking Man who can't stand up!". She thought the answer was strange, but just brushed it off until she saw the commercials. When she told my mom and me this story, we got a good laugh! Guess he didn't get that the Smoking Man WASN'T the cool superhero. So much for ANTI-tobacco advertisements. :-)

My baby is 6 months old!

Sam continues to be an absolute joy. He is such a happy baby and so much fun. He is currently trying to crawl and getting very frustrated that he can get up on his hands and then his knees, but not both at the same time. He also has yet to figure out how to move forward, but is getting pretty good at turning on his belly and rolling all over the place. He has started to figure out how to scoot backwards a little bit too.He is learning to like his rice cereal and oatmeal, and he loves his fruits and veggies. He also decided (thanks to a very stubborn mom) that he likes bottles now. In fact, he was fully weaned a week ago (6 months is mom's limit)! After the initial bottle battle, it was a fairly easy transition and has turned out to be great for both of us.
Sam is a great little sleeper again. I put him down between 10:30 and 11:30 each night, and he sleeps until about 7:30am! Heavenly. :-) He doesn't like to take many naps though, so I guess that is my trade off.Sam loves to play in his jumperoo and hang out in his "toy chair". He likes having a toy in his hand and/or mouth all the time. He also loves to play with and chew on his feet. He loves it when I take his socks off so that he can suck on his big toe. Gross, I know. He loves watching Max play and he will try to join in whenever he can get to him (he's becoming a great roller!). He is full of smiles and giggles. I know I say this a lot, but I seriously cannot believe that he is 6 months old! The time has gone by so fast, and we have loved every minute of it.