I love Sully's swing. It was a gift from my sister. It was one of the few places as a newborn that he would sleep without us holding him.

Sully at about 2 weeks old

It was the one I picked out when Shaun and I went to register for Sully, waddling around Babies R Us picking out everything he would be using shortly.

Sully loves the swing too. He still has a good time in it.

Maybe too good of a time.

He can get out of the belt, pop the lap bar off, and do stuff like this.

Due to my little daredevil, the swing has officially been retired.

6 months

I know its a little late but better late then never. (Even if we are one week shy of his 7 month mark.)

This 6th month has seen Sully's first Halloween. He was an angry elephant.

The pictures from the day he turned 6 months aren't wonderful because he wouldn't stay still - but I guess that would be a perfect way to sum up month six. He's always on the go, a little whirlwind of energy that never seems to slow down - even in his sleep. If you're asking yourself why I posted a picture of my couch, it would be because it was suppose to be of Sully, but he crawled out of frame before the camera had a chance to shoot.


Month 6 has brought crawling & raspberries. Sully learned how to raspberry his lips this month. He can also babble with sounds that sound more like syllables and vowel sounds than infant coos and ahhs. He can close down his "baby laptop" (that sounds ridiculous I know) when it says Bye-Bye.


He tries to stand on anything he gets his hands on and loves to chase his dogs around the house.


This month we also started Mommy and me classes. He has been on his second Vegas trip and likes to help change his diaper, much to my dismay. Its not that I don't appreciate the help, I just don't appreciate poop hands as much as he does I guess.

If this sounds a little redundant at times from other posts its probably because it is. I do these monthly "The day he turned" .. such and such age because I'm putting him together a digital scrapbook for his first year, much like the one I put together of the first 9 months I was pregnant up till his birth day. Its easier for me to go back and grab these ones then it is to fish stuff out - so bear with me at times!

Sully Monster - you're keeping me on my toes!

The half year mark

I never really understood what people meant when they would say to be careful how quickly time will past you once you have a child. I sit here amazed that it's already been 6 months and a couple weeks since Sully graced us with his presence.

He had his 6 month checkup and officially weighed in at 18 pounds and 12 ounces (a lot less than I thought he would) and was 28 & 3/4 inches tall. He's in the 80th and 95th-100th percentiles still. He wasn't too happy with the nurse after the shots and for the first time I got upset during the process. I think its because he's old enough to be aware whats happening now, and it really sucks when he's screaming and crying and clawing at my arms to be picked up.

He's also officially crawling - EVERYWHERE. I'm actually headed to Babies R Us today to pick up some gates because he is into everything. I'm hoping it buys us a little bit of time. He's also using anything he can find to lift himself up onto his feet. I think by Christmas we'll have a walking Sully on our hands. God help us.

We had a nice time in Vegas visiting with Shaun's Dad and step-mom and step-brother Matt. Sully was a trooper during the drive. We got smart and left the night before we were due to check out so he would just sleep the whole ride home. He had fun visiting with his Grandpa and Grandma, and showing them everything he can do now. He was so proud of his two teeth and showed them off every chance he could get.

We had a fun Halloween. Our street had a block party for all the kids and later in the evening a bunch of our friends and their kids came over to hang out around the fire pit for a bit. Sully was an elephant, and none to happy about it. Maybe next year he'll be a little more excited about it.

Sully and I have also been going to Mommy and Me Music classes at my work every Tuesday. He's been going through this shy phase all of a sudden, so the first class he just screamed through. The second one he sat on my lap and watched everyone - even ventured out onto the rug with the other babies and few times. I'm hoping this week will be a little better yet. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that he would be such a cuddly, needy child. I'm not that way AT ALL, and never was as a baby or child. Shaun was pretty independent as well from the stories I hear. Its not that I mind it - I know as soon as he starts walking he's going to take off and never look back, so I am enjoying this phase while we have it.

Sleeping is still proving to be a bear. We've been letting him CIO, but he's stubborn as all hell. One night he screamed for almost 3 hours. We keep asking ourselves when this is suppose to get better or catch on. But we're doing it, with some modifications as we go along - figuring what works out best for us.

Pictures will follow soon!

Halloween

Sully's first Halloween! We enjoyed some pictures at the pumpkin patch by our house and got our little pumpkin his first little pumpkin. This time last year all our neighbors were finding out I was pregnant around our annual Halloween-driveway-bonfire-thingy we've done for years. I wasn't drinking thanks to this little guy making me look mighty suspicious!

If I had my child to raise all over again

A co-worker gave this to me. Thought I'd share and pass it along.


"If I had my child to raise all over again
I'd build self esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger paint more and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off the watch and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less and know to care more.

I'd take hikes and fly more kites.
Id stop playing serious and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.
I'd model less about the love of power -
And more about the power of love."

Diana Loomans

Well 'whadda ya know

Quite a few months back, an old friend found me on facebook. She was one of the closest friends in High School and one of my bridesmaid when I got married. We lost touch over the years - life, distance, college - all being the usual culprits they can be in these kinds of situations.

This past Thursday Sully and I went to visit them. Ironically we live really close to each other again, right up the street practically from where I've been working the past 5 years. Our visit a couple months ago was quick and short - a spur of the moment in-the-area kind of deal. This time however we got to visit and catch up over our kiddos playing with each other on the floor.

I was reminded how nice it is to have friends that knew you way back when. And even though it had been years since we had seen each other, it almost was like we picked right back off where we started - talking, laughing, joking and making dinner plans with our significant others in the near future. Even though so much has changed n our lives, our experiences, part of me felt like that high school kid again, and it was nice.

Her daughter is a little over a year old. She is a beautiful, witty little girl that Sully really seems to take to. She runs circles around him, and he loves it. She was born with a rare genetic condition and we talked about all the struggles they've faced since her birth. This stubborn strong willed girl I knew as a kid is now a strong willed Mama, facing this adversity in their life head on and with such grace - I'm taken aback by it at times. My mom had made the comment how horrible the situation must be for them - my response - I couldn't imagine anybody better for this little girl to have as a mommy. She's a tough cookie, strong in her faith and her convictions.

I'm looking forward to future play dates and continuing to pick up where we left off. I thought back to high school and us driving around in my moms old beat up convertible, getting lost just for the hell of it to see if we could find our way back.

We found out then -which still holds true even now - no matter where you go, you can always find a road that will lead you back to home.

Ain't it funny how life works?

Firsts

So this month we've had a lot of firsts.

Sully can drink out of a sippy cup, has started stage 2 foods and has cut his first tooth, followed by a second tooth that cut two days later. He is officially sitting up on his own too - reaching and balancing without falling. He's now upgraded to a big boy car seat, and tomorrow we will be lowering his crib mattress because hes too tall, too strong and too smart. As it is when he doesn't want to sleep he rolls onto his tummy and scoots to his bumper and pulls it down to peer and scream at you through the slots. I've already found him once with his hand on the top rail - and all I can vision is him pulling himself up (which he can do) and somehow landing on the other side of the not very soft potentially brain damaging floor.He's working on getting up on all fours and doing the baby bounce - choosing to work on this instead of army scooting these days. He can however crawl backwards, go figure.

He's also started to throw tantrums. Yes, tantrums. When he gets angry he yells, usually followed by a toy flying across the kitchen, or a fist and grunt on his highchair. Too bad he's just too stinkin' cute when he attempts to be angry and all any of us can usually do is laugh. Not directly at him, but you know, behind his back where he can't see.

It will be his first Halloween. (He's going to be a monkey!) It will also be the first time seeing his Grandpa Johnny and Grandma Helen since he was a month old. They're going to be shocked! Meme bought him his first kid laptop, opting for a real laptop instead of a baby toy plushie. Don't ask - he's spoiled, we know this. He has a weird obsession with laptops - opting for them over any other toy in view. And to think I was going to just give him an old keyboard to bang on - what could I possibly be thinking to not consider a real computer for a baby? The horror.

He weighs approximately 19.3 lbs and is 28 inches long. He's wearing 6-9 month clothes now, with the exception of his pants. He still fits his 3 month pants, but they look like man capris on the poor guy, so we've settled on 6 month pants and just roll them down.

He reaches for people he wants, usually followed with a grunt or whine and cries at strangers now. We're aiming to hit up his first Kings game this November since October is proving to be quite the busy month for us - finally break in his baby jersey. We're excited since the last game we attended together was when I was 8 months pregnant or so.

We spent the day with Aunt Sami down at the Highland Games at Seaside in Ventura and did a little shopping. Next weekend we're going to Underwood Farms with Sully's Aunt Sami, Meme, Papa and Nana Cathy to pick up his first Halloween pumpkin. The following week we're in Vegas and then its Halloween! Hard to believe that this time last year we were sitting around the fire pit, breaking news to neighbors we were pregnant, talking about how fun the next Halloween would be - and its here! Dang.

I have new pictures, I'm just too lazy to upload them. Soon.

......
Sully getting ready to go into the Highland Games. My camera died right after the 2nd picture was taken.