The BEST Saturday. Ever.

Chris and I recently celebrated our anniversary. As we were leaving for dinner, I told him not to laugh but I had something to tell him. Something even cheesier than the card that I did not get him (he didn't get one for me either, just for the record). I told him that every day together is the BEST day. Seriously. Looking back, I love them all. This day is better than my wedding day. Or the day that I had Salem or Colin. Each day together gets better and better.

But this Saturday may go down in the books. It was perfect. Perfect weather. Good behavior. A picnic. Did I mention good behavior? That can be a deal breaker.
We got up early and started getting ready for Colin's FIRST soccer game of the season. Technically his third but the first got rained out and then we were out of town. Despite the kiddos picking daisies and running around with their shirts over their heads, it was great. But more on that later in another post.

After soccer, we took a very long (but worth it) drive down to Ayres Apple Orchard with the Fabiani's. We joined them for a picnic and then wandered our way up and down the rows of apple trees and picked those of our pleasing. And ate a few. Just to taste test.

It was a great way to kick-off Fall. Maybe even better than diving into a pile of leaves. Actually it was much better than that. No yucky leaves on your clothes and their was a snack involved. Treat!

This will definitely be an annual trip for us. I've already made a batch of apple butter and apple crisp is on the menu for this week.

We ended the night with a little bonfire. Just Chris, Colin, and I. He sat in his mini chair, ate chocolate chip cookies in his mittened hands, and had 'real' conversations with his Mama and Dadda. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

Told you it was going to be cheesy. Seriously, BEST DAY EVER.

Salem::6 Months

Drooling more than ever. NO teeth yet.

Desperately trying to move.

Giggling and smiley pretty much all of the time.

Starting to sit up on his own.

Attacks food. Any plates, cups or bowls within arms reach be warned. He's crazy.

Weight = 16 lbs. 6 oz. (50th percentile)
Length = 26 inches(50th percentile)
Head = 75th percentile

Lately...

Naptime with Dadda

Eating roasted carrots

Colin's first spaghetti dinner

Chubby baby legs. Could there be anything sweeter?

Yet Another Milestone

August 31. 2012

Salem surprised us all by taking the bottle right out of my hands and drinking it to the last drop! 

Infant-Led-Weaning

We are trying out a feeding concept called 'infant led weaning'. Instead of starting Salem on baby foods and worrying about buying nasty mush or pureeing my own, I did some research and came across ILW. Once the baby is old enough to sit up and bring food to their mouth on their own, they can start exploring foods and learning to eat on their own. They eat the same food that we eat, in their own time.

Salem's still a little young to start- the recommended age is six months- but he has shown a lot of interest in the food that we eat and tends to get cranky during dinner so I thought I would start him and see how it goes. We started with teething biscuits and plain old toast...

 And tonight he tried bananas and chunks of roasted sweet potatoes...

He still struggles a bit with getting a good grasp on the food bits and controlling it to his mouth but he has already shown improvement in just the few times that we have tried it. And he loves it! He gets so frustrated when he keeps dropping pieces. He wants to eat SO badly! 

Colin is a good eater but can be picky at times. I'm hoping that watching his baby brother eat all of these different foods will entice him to be more adventurous, too! 

Salem::5 Months

oh the changes...this month:

giggling! finally.

already speaking his mind, a lot

plays peek-a-boo with us

super alert and well-natured 

starting to get a little tuff of hair, right on top

isn't he cutie???

so sweet. LOVE him.

His First Pair of 'Woggles'

Since we've been spending so much time poolside this summer, we decided to start Colin in swim lessons. We want him to master the basics at a young age so that we will be more comfortable with him being in a busy pool (especially after hearing that drowning is the leading cause of death for U.S. kids - yikes!). He's been doing fairly well with lessons but still hates to get his face wet, which makes swimming a little more complicated. Enter his new goggles:



He wore them to swim lessons on Sunday for the first time but he still wasn't quite getting the concept. Then, Sunday night, something clicked. He went under the water once with them on, came up and said 'Momma, I can see under the water!' Stroke of genius. And then we couldn't get him out of the water. Chris and I even jumped out of our chairs a few times to grab him because he stayed under for so long. Then he would pop up just before we'd grab him with a huge grin on his face.

He LOVES them. His 'woggles'. These babies are going to be a game-changer. Look out, Michael Phelps!