Shawn's first play date & Cancelled Date Night

We are so thrilled that our good friends from Harding, Dannie and Shelley, have returned to Denver. They were living in Abilene, TX for a while during Dannie's enrollment in Graduate school. But they will be in Denver through the summer. Their sweet son, Elias, is two months older than Shawn. We decided it was time for a play date, so we had them over for lunch today. It was such a blast to reconnect and tell stories of the good ol' days at Harding. Bryan was Dannie's big brother in their fraternity (Knights) and so they had a lot to catch up on! :)

Some of the highlights of the playdate were:

~Shawn and Elias trying to explore the details of each other's face.

~ Shawn and Elias sharing toys with each other. It was so sweet to watch them share with each other.

~ Elias trying to chew on Shawn's toes! HA! It was so funny!

~Shawn and Elias both trying to slap each other, and Shelley and I trying to encourage them to "play nicely". This is actually a difficult concept for a 6- and 8-month-old to grasp.

Here are some pictures from our time together. Here are the boys laying on the ground together. I love Elias' smile! He is such a sweetheart. :)
In this one you can actually see Shawn swinging at Elias. We're going to have to work on playing nicely with other kids before our next play date! Elias showing Shawn the art of laying on your side. I think he was actually doing the scissors in this one. He is hilarious!
Here is the whole group: (L to R) Bryan, Me with Shawn, Shelley with Elias, and Dannie.

That night Bryan and I decided to sneak out and have an impromptu date night. We were going to go see a cheap movie. However, the weather decided not to cooperate with our plans. It started to snow when we were getting ready to go. Bryan went out to get the car started and brushed off. But it was snowing faster than he could clear off the car. He came in and had an inch of snow on his hat just from a few minutes. So, we called off our date night. Which was probably a good thing because it snowed about 4 inches in 2 hours and the weatherman said it was a "blinding snow". Only in Colorado! :)

Here are 2 pictures of the snow on Bryan's hat. I thought it was such a funny sight.

Shawn's half-birthday!!!

YEAH!!! Shawn has reached his half-year birthday. He is now 6 months old. I can't believe how quickly my little munchkin has grown. The time with him has absolutely flown by. But he gets cuter and more fun by the day. We are truly so BLESSED with our dear sweet son.

Yesterday was Shawn's 6-month appointment. It was a good appointment, but I was a little surprised by some of his measurement results. Apparently I was WAY OFF in my guestimation of his weight at 5 months. I said that he was around 17 pounds at that time and we guessed he was now at least 20 pounds. However, he did not quite measure up to my estimates. Here are his measurements:

Weight: 15 lbs 13.6 oz (21st %)

Height: 26.25 in (45th %)

Head: 16.75 (18th %)

The doctor said that his weight is plateuing a little bit. He said it is common in breast-fed babies as they do not get as much fat as formula-fed babies. Also, at this age babies start to become more active and are thus burning more calories so weight slows slightly. He suggested that we begin feeding Shawn veggies twice a day (we currently just feed him a veggie at lunch and cereal for breakfast and dinner). But overall he said Shawn is doing fabulously and he always loves interacting with him during the appointment. We were given a developmental survey to complete about what Shawn is able to do (ie. rollover both ways, make various sounds, use his hands to pick up objects, etc). He passed this survey with flying colors and the doctor was very impressed at all that he is currently doing. He gave us the go ahead to take Shawn swimming, start feeding him finger foods like biter biscuits (HA! Shelley!), and pin wheels. We gave him the biter biscuits and he LOVED them. We are going to slowly start introducing pureed fruit and other finger foods into his diet in the next few weeks. We have successfully made it through all of the beginner vegetables.

At the 6-month appointment he was given the final dose of vaccinations until his 1st birthday. Everytime we go for shots, I think it will be easier. But again, we found ourselves crying right along side Shawn. It is so hard to sit there and watch someone cause my son pain. But I have to remember that it is in his best interest and that he bounces back from it faster than Bryan and I do! HA! :)

I will try to post pictures from his 6-month photo shoot. In the meantime, here are some pictures we've taken recently.

Shawn getting ready to try his new biter biscuits. This is the BEFORE.

Mid-way through the biter biscuits. AFTER the biter biscuits. He finally gave up on the biscuits and just began licking the sticky goo off of his hands. :)

Here are my favorite from his first taste of GREEN BEANS.

Before we started. He wasn't very excited. I think he would rather have skipped the green beans and just gone straight to his nap!

First bite...not sure what to think. :)

He didn't mind green beans as much as the avacados!

Some of my favorites from Playtime:

Trying to get ahold of Daddy's camera. He always sees Daddy with it so he can't wait to get his hands on it!

Playing in his exersaucer. He loves this thing. He especially loves to eat the frog's legs. I guess he has some southern in him after all! :)

He also likes to chew on just about any part of this thing that he can get in his mouth. In this case it is the flower.

He is also obsessed with my hot pink slippers, which are also my favorite. Maybe I'll have to look into getting him a pair...but not hot pink! :)

Trip to the ZOO

On Saturday we had a great day at the Zoo. We met some of our good friends from Church there--David and Stephanie and their daughter Bella, and Sara B. They have Free Days here in Denver at several of the cultural offerings--ie. Zoo, Art Museum, Botanical Gardens, etc. So, we decided to take advantage of the great weather, and free admission and enjoy a day at the Zoo. We had a great time seeing all of the animals, and Stephanie and I spent time comparing notes on childcare and tips for traveling with a baby (for our upcoming trip to Atlanta).

Shawn especially loved that it was his first trip in his stroller as a "big boy". We have the type of stroller travel system that has the ability to transport the car seat carrier on top. It has been such a lifesaver these past six months (Thanks again, Noel and Cherie!!! :) ). But our sweet, inquisitive son loves to look around and see what is going on. So, our Zoo trip was his first trip in the stroller outside of his car seat. Now that he can sit up well, he was perfectly fit to ride in the stroller and absolutely LOVED IT!!!!

Here are some pictures from our GREAT day! :)

Shawn riding in his stroller...all bundled up. :)

Aunt Sara puching Shawn in his stroller. She loved getting to show him around the zoo.

Dave and Bella riding the merry-go-round. She loved waving at us as she went around. It was too cute! :)

Shawn all bundled up a little later in the day. It started getting a little cooler, so I put on his gloves and hat. He couldn't quite figure out how to get his hands out to suck on! :)

Shawn with his favorite Aunt Sara. He really loves her! :)

Up close of Shawn. He was watching all of the other kids there that day.

Me making faces at Bryan. This was after I realized he was taking pictures of me. I got home and he had about twenty of me not looking at him! He is so crazy! :)

All of us at the end of the day: (L to R) Sara, Me, Shawn (sleeping), Stephanie, Bella, and Dave.

For some AWESOME pictures Bryan took of the animals, click here to visit our business Blog -- www.thompsonphotog.blogspot.com .

Our next adventure, Carrots!

So, we fed the Shawn Carrots today. It went a lot better than the Avacados, but he still made some ADORABLE faces. (We got smarter and fed him on the kitchen table--easier to clean up! Which was good because he made a HUGE mess blowing Carrot puree everywhere!) We had so much fun laughing at him as he ate. But then he started hamming it up for the camera. That is when he started rubbing carrots in his hair! LOVELY! After the meal, we gave him a quick bath and put him down for a nap. It sure was fun though! :)

He was not at all excited. I think he knew what was coming!

First bite of carrots.

First reaction to carrots.

He's not sure what to think.

Ah, maybe it's not that bad. (I love my expression! Ididn't know I was in the shot!)

Hey Mom, you're pretty funny! (I love this picture!)

Spit 'em out!

Then the blowing raspberries started. And the carrot juice coated the table!

EEEEEWWWWW! Gross!

This stuff makes great ammunition to spit at Mommy (I had it all over me by the time we were finished!).

Hey, let's try it as hairgel! That is much more fun than eating it.

Okay, spit it out and then rub it in the hair.

All over his face....

and his hair!

But he sure is CUTE!! :)

M&M's Characters!!

I found this on-line and I thought it was so fun. So I made one for all three of us. I hope you enjoy!

Here is Kristen. I am running through a forest with my coffee mug. My M&M name is "Momma Shorty, Deluxe Edition" (due to my new Mommy status and short stature).

Here is Bryan. He is taking pictures in a snowy Colorado meadow--he sure does love his snow! His M&M name is "President Genius Pants, M.B.A." (due to his entrepreneurial spirit).
Here is Shawn. He is learning to surf with his bear (although we should probably work on walking before surfing! This one is for you Aunty Chanty.). His M&M name is "Chief Sugar-Britches, the Great" (because he is in charge around here, but is super cute while doing so!).

And here is a family picture with all of us. This is on vacation in the Bahamas! (Wouldn't that be nice right now, as the snow falls outside!!!)

Have a GREAT day!! :)

New clothes and homemade baby food

It seemed to take Shawn forever to outgrow his 0-3 months clothes. (Or maybe I was just tired of seeing the same clothes over and over due to "blow outs"!) Either way, I finally packed up his teeny-tiny clothes mid-December and unloaded the 3-6 month clothes. It was so exciting to have new outfits to dress him in. And he looked so cute in them! But in the last month he has completely outgrown them! So, we made a trip to the local baby clothes store called "Once Upon a Child" (thanks Stephanie for mentioning this store!). If there is one in your area you should definitely check it out. It is a consignment store for name brand, gently used clothes. While we were there they were having a HUGE sale and I bought 28 items for $15. It was such a bargain for all the great things I got!

We also found a cute duck that quacks several songs. When we showed it to Shawn he hugged on it and wouldn't let go until after we left the store with it! HA! We also found a great set of giant building blocks. I brought them home and ran them through the dishwasher before giving them to Shawn. Bryan took this picture. I know it is random, but I love all of the vibrant colors.

Shawn's new blocks.

I have decided that I am going to make Shawn's baby food from scratch. I am very excited and have received a lot of support from my friends at church. So, as you saw in my previous post, we started with Avacados. And then I made a batch of Carrots. The Avacados were fairly easy to make because they squish easily. My handmixer and I made short work of them. However, the carrots were a little more challenging--steaming, a hand mixer, and two blenders later, they were finally ready to be put in the ice cube trays. Once they are frozen they are put in a baggy and I can remove one cube as needed. I am going to make a batch of Green Beans next. I'm hoping they blend better than the carrots!

In the kitchen making baby food.

Avacados--don't they look yummy? HA!

Carrots--now these do look kind of yummy. And they taste pretty good, too.

Game night and Good friends

We hosted a small gathering for dinner and game night tonight. We had such a good time! We invited Sara from church, and my cousins Heather and Bryan. We all had dinner--roast and potatoes, YUM--and then started into the games. We played Mad Gab and my team won (go Mom and Heather!), then Bryan's team won (go Sara and Brian). Then we decided to try our luck at '80s Trivial Pursuit. Boy is that game hard!! I was either too young to remember the '80s or was in Africa (starting in 1986) and so I was not very good at the game (sorry Sara). However, I did get the question about the host of 'Price is Right'--Bob Barker, duh. My mom said I loved him as a baby/toddler and would watch the show every day. HA! We'll miss you, Bob! :(

Here are some quick photos from the night:

Quick group shot: (L to R) Sara Billingsley, Mom, Bryan, Heather, cousin Brian

Sara and I conspiring on our answer.

Brian being goofy! :)