Weekend Trip

AJ took Andrew to watch their beloved Longhorns play Oklahoma in Dallas last weekend so Hunter and I went to Indiana while they were out of town. It was my first time flying by myself with him and it went pretty smooth. We met my friends Nicolle and Damion out for breakfast one morning and Hunter got to meet his new friend Hudson. Hudson was born in July so he is 3 months younger than Hunter. Hunter was a little "vocal" while we were there but Damion still managed to get a good pic of the boys. So cute!

Hunter also had fun visiting with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Hunter, Uncle Bill, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Lou, cousin Nick and of course Mimi, Papa, Aunt Whitney and Uncle Brian. It was a quick trip but we packed a lot in to a short time! I can't get over how grown up he looks in this pic with Whitney. He looks like a toddler!

Last evening Hunter rolled over from his back to front for the first time. He has been rolling the opposite direction for quite some time but this was the first time he has rolled in both directions. Very exciting! :)

His new food this week is bananas and so far they are just okay for him. Another one of his new tricks is blowing raspberries and he thinks it's funny to do it while he is eating. Once he learns how to make a new sound he likes to do it over and over and over again. He is also laughing a lot now - full blown deep belly laughs. It is the best sound in the world!

6 month checkup

Hunter had his 6 month checkup today with Dr. Terwelp. He weighed in a 16 lbs, 3 oz - which was in the 25th percentile - and is 25" long - the 5th percentile. He has grown 6 inches since he was born! He had to get a few shots, but wasn't able to get a flu shot yet as they are out of the thimerosal free shots at the moment. He'll should be able to get one in the next few weeks though. They have to split the flu shot up in to two shots for babies so he'll be getting 4 flu shots - 2 seasonal and 2 H1N1. :( He is doing great and got a clean bill of health!

Our friend Allison organized a little playgroup with some of her friends that have babies around the same age and we had our first date yesterday. The oldest baby was born on February 2nd and Hunter is the youngest at April 12th so they're all pretty close to each other. We have 4 boys and 1 girl. They just played on their tummies on the floor and had a great time looking at each other.

I tested my movie-making skills (or lack therof) by putting together a little video of Hunter's first 6 months. It was the first time I have done anything like this so I have some work to do! Here is the YouTube link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td2P0bBrRn8

It goes by so fast...

It is hard to believe that my little baby was born 6 months ago today. I look back at the pictures and video from that day and the early days and weeks and it just does not seem like he should already be 6 months old! He is such a little joy and I just love watching him explore and learn new things. He now loves to pull on and play with his feet. They are great little toys that are with you wherever you go! He is truly a blessing.

Today we celebrated Hunter's 6 month birthday by going to get his pictures taken at Picture People. He flirted, smiled, and talked up the photographer and we got some great shots. The scan quality isn't that great but here are some of his shots...

Saturday afternoon we went to a Pumpkin Patch out in Elgin. It was more of a Pumpkin Festival than a patch, but we had fun and got some great shots despite the "cold" 57 degree weather.

Hunter must have been tired from our day trip because that night he set a record and only woke up ONE time in the middle of the night! Last night he woke up twice, but this is still a big improvement as it has typically been closer to every 2-3 hours. We'll see if he keeps this trend going!

Solids

Hunter has been doing so well with rice cereal, I decided to go ahead and get started on his solids a few days early. He seemed to be eating a lot during the day so I thought he was ready. We first started on carrots which he seems to like pretty well. A couple of days ago he had some peas - the first time he tried them they were a hit....the second time, well, not so much. We'll see what today has in store! I enjoy making his baby food. I'm trying to buy organic as much as I can and it is fun to whip up all of these concoctions for him. :)


Last week was our 2 year anniversary and we went on our first date since Hunter was born. Our friend April babysat him. She has a 15 month old and her husband was out of town so she had both boys by herself. Whew! Sounds exhausting just typing it. :) Last night, AJ had a work dinner that spouses were invited to so we have had 2 dates in the past week! We're lucky to have great friends that we trust to leave our little one with.

Next week is a busy week - including his 6 month birthday and Dr. appointment!

New pic

I just love this picture of Hunter from a couple of days ago. It got really cool here for few days so we had to break out some long sleeves and pants. I had this Longhorn outfit on him and decided that we needed a little IU representation so put some IU socks on him to go with it. :) He is really sitting up well with assistance. He loves his Baby Einstein jumper and now can turn himself around to all of the different "stations". He is also starting to push up with his feet a little during tummy time so we might have some sort of modified crawl working here soon!

Busy, busy!

It has been way too long since my last post. We have had a busy couple of weeks! Our friends Tiffany and Joshua got married in North Carolina last weekend. Mom went with us to stay with Hunter while we were out at the wedding functions. She and Brad flew down on Tuesday - Mom, AJ, and I flew to NC on Wednesday while Brad stayed here and house/dog sat - then we flew back on Saturday - then Mom and Brad left on Tuesday. Whew! The wedding was nice and we had a good time. Hunter was a good little boy on the plane for the most part, although it was a just little more difficult this time than last. AJ's Great-Grandmother lives outside of Raleigh so we flew in on Wednesday so we could visit with her before driving to Wilmington. She is a very sweet lady and I really enjoyed meeting her. Here is a pic of Mrs. Cotton with her Great and Great-Great Grandsons!


Hunter didn't have a well baby check-up at 5 months but I think he was just under 15 lbs. We'll see what he weighs in at when we go for his 6 month visit! I started his rice cereal again two nights ago since we'll be starting solids at 6 months and he is doing great with it! He is getting most of it in his mouth and not even making that big of a mess. I suspect that the tummy issues he was having before were not actually due to the cereal so I thought we'd give it another shot to see if it keeps him full at night. We'll see!

LOL :)

We had several fun things going on last week, the most exciting of which was Hunter's first laugh! He has seemed to be on the verge of laughing for a couple of weeks and we have been waiting for him to break in to laughter for us. I must say, it is pretty darn cute. :) He's given us a handful of really good ones and laughs harder when you laugh back at him. I love it!

Saturday was the Longhorns first football game. We took Hunter down to the action for a little bit to his 1st tailgate! I'll have to admit, I was pretty excited about his first football experience, although I did feel like I was cheating on my Hoosiers. I guess this means I'll have to take him to Assembly Hall as soon as possible. :) He seemed to really have fun. We were in a shaded area and the weather wasn't too bad. It actually looked like a storm was going to blow through at one point and cooled things off a bit although it never did rain. He liked being outside and even took a little snooze while we were there.



His favorite activity right now is to stand up in your lap and jump up and down. He is finally big enough for his Baby Einstein jumper and he can entertain himself for quite a while. He has a lot of fun in it!