Happy Half Birthday

Happy Half Birthday to my beautiful wife.

She makes me say that.  She even tries to get gifts.  I mean, I have never heard of anyone celebrating their half birthday.  That's ridiculous.  But she swears it is a real holiday to be celebrated with much fanfare.  Somewhere on the list of importance between one's real birthday and Groundhog Day.  She sort of acts like she is joking about it, but I can see the disappointment in her eyes, just a little...when, every year, I scoff at her "holiday", and she realizes she is not getting a present from me.

Some of you have inquired about the gentleman standing in the background in one photo I recently posted of me, Shelby, and Jacob at the dog park.  Some thought I had photoshopped him in or something.  That is actually Nancy's cousin Rickey (obviously from Paul's side of the family).  Despite his unusual appearance, he is actually a pretty good dude.  I don't think he reads this blog, so I don't think he will get offended by some of your remarks.

We recently got a webcam, along with our parents, so that Jacob could "see" his grandparents more often.  It is actually pretty cool, except that he slaps the keyboard the entire time.  He somehow manages to always hit the mute button, or the freeze button.  I have no idea how he knows what button to push.  If we try to move him further back from the computer, he loses all interest and starts doing backflips trying to get out of our laps.  I wonder if anyone makes a baby straight jacket to reel in the flailing arms of an eight-month-old?  We could swaddle him, I guess.  But I don't think they make "swaddle sacks" for two year olds, which is the size he will be wearing by next week.  He hasn't spit up directly onto the keyboard yet, which itself is a small miracle.  So I guess I shouldn't complain.

We took a day trip to Austin after work on Saturday to celebrate Makinley's actual birthday (her 3rd) with our family.  She had lots of fun and got lots of assorted princess and baby paraphenalia.  Jacob behaved very well, especially considering how much it threw off his schedule.  He slept all the way there and all the way back.

On to some recent photos.  Many of which most of you have already seen with your daily photos from my wifey.



Summertime Hat



He loves to swing

Supposed to be napping

Taking off his shoes, of course

Playing with toys Makinley bought him at Walt Disney World

Ready for summer

Nice plaid

I told you he loves to swing

A little early in the morning for pictures, mom.

Happy Birthday Makinley Princess Makinley

Pictures!

We took J-Dub to the park last weekend, which he thoroughly enjoyed because a) he loves any kind of "thrill ride" 2) he loves wind blowing in his face III) he loves being outside and 4th) he loves swings.

It was also time for his first haircut.  Earlier than most kids, but in reality he needed it three months ago.  He did great, and sat very still, except for when she was trimming the back of his neck...because he is uber ticklish.  So his neckline in the back looks kinda like someone took a weed-whacker to it.  Oh well.





At the dog park



The official 7 month picture



Bed head!

Who Doesn't Love a Laughing Baby?

Evidently, Nancy is hilarious.

Carousel

J-Dub took his first ride on a carousel today, and he loved it.  He smiled and giggled the whole time, while also staring mesmerized at the mirrors and lights.  Lots of shiny things...his favorite.  And Nancy became the first person in the history of the world to get sick from riding a merry-go-round going 0.5 mph.  She was nauseous for like 2 hours.  Those thrill rides will get ya every time.

Passed out after an XL bottle of formula

The First 6 Months

You don't realize how much a baby changes when you see them on a daily basis.  We always like to look back at his pictures from a few months ago and marvel at how much he has changed in 6 short months. 

Birth

 3 Days Old

 

One Month

2 Months

3 Months

 

4 Months

5 Months



6 Months

Six Month Pics

Nancy had Jacob's pictures taken at a place here in Katy that specializes in babies.  They turned out really adorable, I think.

Six Months Old

This whole having a kid thing gets more fun every day.  J-Dub has started rolling over front-to-back and back-to-front.  In fact, he rolls all the way across the living room now.  He is also getting to be a pro at sitting up on his own, with only the occasional fall.  He trucks all over the house in his Jeep Walker.  He is, in a word, becoming MOBILE.  Everyone tells us to enjoy it now while he is stuck wherever we put him, because once he starts moving around, you have to watch them like a hawk.  We are starting to see what they mean.  He has, so far, rolled under the tv, gotten stuck under the couch, and wrapped himself around his activity mat.

We are, unfortunately, still dealing with the constant spitting up.  So far, the doctor has been less than concerned about it.  So we keep on keeping on, what with the 74 wardrobe changes per day and all...not counting our own when we bear the brunt of the gastroesophageal onslaught.  He will go a day or two without spitting up much, and I will make a comment like, "I think his spitting up is getting better." and never fail, he immediately begins upchucking every ounce of food in his belly, plus some that I'm not sure where it came from.  It's like he's trying to prove a point.  Point made.  I'm keeping my mouth shut from now on.

He is finally sleeping in his crib upstairs that we worked so hard on.  Better late than never. But no worries...we have more monitors than a Vegas casino.  It's just a little longer trip whenever he starts crying or his pacifier falls out, or he accidentally rolls over on his belly and suddenly forgets how to roll back over.

This past weekend, we went to Lorena to visit the fam.  We had a great time, of course.  JKW had fun and was very well-behaved.  He has had a few meltdowns at my parents' house early on, so we were hoping he would behave himself.  And he did.  He loves his M and Pa.  But my Dad never gets to hold him because my Mom swoops in any time anyone else has held him for longer than thirty seconds.  He did spit up on her once or five times, though.  So I guess it all evens out in the end.  He also had a great time with his Uncle Nick and Aunt Carrie and his cousins Logan and Brynna.  I think he managed to get some stomach contents on just about everyone, so no one felt left out.

I've shown pictures before of what the kid's hair looks like right after his bath.  Total jew fro...think Seth Rogan or that kid from Superbad.  In the past, Nancy has frantically towel dried and combed his hair for twenty minutes after every bath, so that said fro would not become permanent.  Lately, however, she has begun blow-drying it.  I'm not sure i have ever seen a 6 month-old child get his hair blow dried.  Or even heard of that.  I would imagine it is pretty uncommon.  But in his case, he definitely needs it.  And it shaves a good 15 minutes off of our pre-bedtime ritual.  You can see pics of this transformation below.   We also think it is only a matter of weeks before he will get his first haircut.  A little earlier than most kids, I would guess.

The Official 6 Month Pic



 Checking out his new bathtub

Trying it out

After the bath...the jew fro

Blow drying

The finished product

 He loves his cousins