Exersaucing!

Boston has learned to really LOVE his exersaucer the past week or so. He really gets going on all the toys. He'll sit and play in it long enough to make me feel guilty for not holding him... (although it doesn't take me long to feel like I need to be holding my little guy- he probably gets sick of me taking him away from his toys). He looks like such a big boy sitting in it.Stinkin' cute! He does the funniest thing with his legs when he's in there, too. Rather than putting his tippie-toes on the ground (as it's designed to do), Boston likes to bend his legs backward at the knee, and just sorts of hangs there, knees bent. It's pretty funny to see.
And I don't know about you, Nikki, but does this picture remind you of Mitchell? I think it's the look he's pulling. That and the beyond-chubby cheeks. Gotta love it!

For all y'all who thought we exaggerated...

Here's proof of how much snow we have had!Check out those scary icicles... (Does that totally look like it's spelled wrong? Icicles?) And you've gotta love the snow all over the camera lense.

Snow all the way up to the window sills... (Sill? That looks wrong too...) with Starkisha looking on from the inside.

And to give you some context, there's Mark standing by the big heap of snow... up to his thighs! He's had so much fun shoveling it, like, five times this month! Let it snow, I guess...

La-la, la-la, ELMO'S WORLD!

OK, here's a real post. Enough of the nasties, bring on the cute! We gave Boston his bath yesterday and put him in his Elmo towel. I have to admit this has been sitting in the bottom of his hamper untouched for several months. Not because I am behind on his laundry. On the contrary, Boston's stuff gets washed and put away much more quickly than ours (if it didn't, he would probably grow out of it before we got around to it). The reason this cute little Elmo towel has not been used is because it has to be washed SEPARATELY (ugh!) or else everything in the wash gets red fuzz balls on it. But I decided it was time to do a special laundry batch for this towel, because I knew Boston would look so cute wrapped up in it. I was right.

This is Boston showing off his mad sitting-up skills. He's not leaning back against the couch - that's why he's lunged so far forward. Cute for the camera though.

Here it looks like he's trying to give a teaser peep show! Ta-da! Here I am!

I love his little toes hanging out the bottom. And, of course, his cute little arms, chest and tummy!OK, mom, I'm really tired from sitting up for these pictures. I think I'll lie down and chew on my towel (a habit he has picked up from night-night time with his blankie, which he loves!). So how's that for better than a nasty, dirty house?

A prettier picture...

...and sanity restored.

Feeling like a SLAVE (to dental school)!

SO... Kristin comes walking into the family room with her lunch all ready to eat (toast, and yogurt with granola). I am thinking, oh, that looks pretty good. Then I start to notice what she is using to eat it (a rubber spatula) and what the yogurt is in (a mug). [Note the stack of bright orange cards on the back of the couch - those are flash cards and will make sense later.]

Now you may be wondering... Why the odd use of these items? Well, here is the picture to show exactly why.

Look at that hell hole of a kitchen. You may wonder who in their right mind would live with such a mess. The answer is nobody, in their right mind. We lost our right minds a few weeks ago, shortly after signing up for board exams and intiating our final semester of dental school. This represents the sad existence of two beyond-stressed-out dental students, trying to study for boards, take care of a six-month-old, and struggling to graduate on time. Kristin has had to face the fact that her days of putting in "part-time" at school are over if she ever wants to graduate. So, with school from 9-5, quality time with Boston until he goes down for the night (around 9 or 10), and attempting to study for boards, it seems there hasn't been much time for anything else. So weekends are our "catch up" days. Hopefully we'll be able to post a prettier picture by the end of today.

Six Month Well Check

Boston turned six months old on Feb 6, and today we had his well check. He weighed in at exactly 20 lbs (80th percentile), he is 27.5 in tall (75th percentile), and his head circumference is 18.25 in (97th percentile). So he's just a big guy all around. He got his shots today and showed us (and the medical assistant) just how strong his lungs are. I've never seen him cry like that. It was so sad. Real tears and everything. Luckily he won't need vaccines again until he's two. Glad to be done with that for awhile. One funny thing is, we always get a handout on what your child should be doing at this age. Today it said that putting him to sleep with a stuffed animal or favorite blankie can help settle him and make bedtime easier. We were always so worried to have anything with him in the crib, because until now they say any loose anything in the crib can suffocate him. But with the go ahead, we decided to let him take a nap with his little mallard duck that Vickie got him and his extra soft blankie from Jena. He went right to sleep without protest, and when we checked on him he was asleep with the duck right up by his face. So stinking cute! So once again, for bedtime tonight, I put him in with his blankie and duck. He was very excited when I handed him the duck after I laid him down. He immediately grabbed it from me and started sucking on it. A few minutes later I went back in to find him asleep right up next to his duck again. He's getting so big!

(And yes, that is him asleep for the night in his pack and play. Mark and I - or maybe just I - still cannot bear to have him in his own room. I just feel secure knowing he's right there, and all I need to do is lean over to really check on him. Or maybe I just want him to stay a tiny little baby. Either way, our little guy still bunks with us.)

almost SIX MONTHS

We are a couple days shy of six months today, but I had to snap some pics of Boston. He is getting so dang big and just gets cuter by the day. He has his six month check-up on Monday, so I will post his stats then, but here's what he's been up to lately...

He has one tooth. It is barely just cutting through, but it's there! It's tooth "O," or the bottom left front tooth. He has been a little cranky with it, but not too bad yet.

He absolutely loves food. Can I get a Halelujah?! He is slightly picky with it (imagine that!)... He has to have his veggies mixed with rice and his fruits mixed with oatmeal. He hates the runny consistency of the baby foods themselves, and he hates the taste of the cereals themselves. At least, that's what he told me... But when you mix them together, my little boy just dives for the food! It's the cutest thing ever. He really goes to town!

He still loves his play gym as much as ever, although we have been trying to encourage the exersaucer a little more. He does OK with it but doesn't love it yet. He does really like his swing now, which is nice. But still the by far favorite is the play gym.

He can sit up for about 30 seconds or so by himself, but then he tumbles forward (or sideways). We'll keep working at it.

He still HATES being on his tummy, and as a result, he has yet to roll from back to tummy. Because he doesn't want to be on his tummy. Stinker!

He still sleeps really well. Don't know that it could get much better, actually. He is on a great schedule for us: he goes down between 9-10 PM, which gives us time with him at night after school. He usually wakes up once, around 5 AM, then sleeps until 7 or 8 (I actually have to get him up to feed him before school sometimes, because weekends he'll sleep until 9 or so). He takes a good morning nap and a good afternoon nap. And I get to spend time with him at lunch, in between when he's awake. So most of his waking hours, I am with him, which makes me feel much better about being at school.

We are, as always, just loving this little boy to pieces. And I really can't believe he is six months! Where has the time gone?!

Oh, and something I've thought I should add. I've seen a lot of people's blogs who list their baby's nicknames. Well, Boston has a lot of them. Hopefully I remember them all...

Here are the ones frequently used:

Sir (or any variation thereof, little sir, sir baby, baby sir, etc)

Lewby-Lew (or Lewby, or Lew)

Turd (usually Turd-bird, sometimes little turdie, turdie-birdie, etc)

Bean (or little Bean, baby Bean, Beanie baby, Beanie butt, etc)

Ones used, but not quite as frequently:

Bubba (or bubba guy, little bubba, etc)

Little Man

There are many, many more, but those are the ones that come to mind. We love our little Lewby-Lew (that one is Boston's favorite - he always laughs when we call him that)!