Hoo-rahh for fancy highchairs

First Christmas

Baby in a basket

Matching hats

Sweet boy

Doc has been kind of mad this week. I wasn't sure why until a tooth was discovered Monday night. Once he gets off his schedule (sleep issues are common when teething), it takes a while to get back into the routine. He also had a sty last week, which wasn't fun.

On the plus side, his tooth is really cute and he crawls now... everywhere. When his gums are bothering him, he looks up at me and chomps his mouth open and closed. He does the same now when he wants something to eat. In the morning I set him on his blanket in the living room where his toys are, but he follows me into the kitchen and is finding lots of new things to play with (DogDog's bed, garbage bags, under the fridge). Once I've gathered my morning coffee and snacks for both of us, I hold him in my lap and we watch Play With Me Sesame on Sprout. I've always been especially fond of Prairie Dawn.

Jampa is back now so Doc gets to play with him during the day while I'm at work. Last time he went away, Doc took quite a while to warm up to him again. This time Doc was back to squeezing his face pretty quick.

In the top photo, Doc was watching Uncle Matt sitting on the couch, but when he saw the red light of the camera, he looked up and smiled.

Christmas kid

6 Months

Doc's current stats are 26 3/4" long and 18 pounds 6 ounces. After his major growth spurt about a month ago, I thought I would be nursing a full grown kid by now. He's slowed down a bit now, though, and I think he will actually have enough outfits to last through the winter.

Today G helped me reorganize upstairs to give Doc his own 'room.' Since we share the whole upstairs, things were getting a little tricky during the night. G and I would have to sneak by Doc's crib in order to get to our bed and we all slept so close that each other's noises would disturb us all night long, which ultimately means no one slept. Things are now a little more separate so hopefully we'll all sleep a little better. He's got plenty of play space and a bookshelf packed to its edges. Things are nice and cozy. Above Doc is enjoying a new floor perspective and hanging out with dad. Also, thanks Amanda for the two knit hats for Doc. They'll be perfect for the rest of the winter season and they really accentuate his handsomeness.

Shaky fingers

The first time I left G with Doc so I could go to work my mom said she found him sweating bullets with Murdoch asleep in his arms. Since then, G has watched him several times and now even looks forward to it. G has gained confidence and they've gotten to know each other a little better without me around all the time. When G has days off Doc is obviously excited to get to see his dad. I'll get him out of his crib and bring him to wake G and sit in bed with us to play. Doc will watch G from the moment he is within sight waiting for his acknowledgement. He is comforted by the sound of his dad's voice and smiles when they make eye contact; things that used to be reserved for the ever present mama.

With sleep training has come a fair amount of frustration and time awake in the middle of the night. Little did I know that G had a daddy trick up his sleeve. To put Doc to sleep or relax him when he wakes in the night, G will pull the blanket over Doc's head and rub his back, back and forth, hard and fast with the tips of his fingers until he falls asleep again. When he's asleep G can pull the blanket back down and leave him fast asleep. The other night after my failed attempt to comfort Doc back to sleep without nursing him, G took over with his shaky man fingers trick. After a few minutes, he rejoined me downstairs with a smile on his face. He was proud to be able to do something that dads should be able to do, something that I couldn't. I was proud of him, too.