WY at 6 months

It comes as no surprise to find William growing and changing daily. He is full of smiles...and have I mentioned those chunky (oops I meant "healthy") thighs? We could just eat him up!

William has figured out the art of eating and enjoys most foods we've introduced. Thus far, he's had brown rice, oatmeal, apples, pears, avocados, sweet potatoes, green beans, bananas and cantaloupe. He's eating "solids" at breakfast and dinner and we introduced Cheerios this past weekend as a sort-of snack.

Thank goodness he remains flexible enough to get his feet to his mouth as he still loves to nibble on his toes. He's very close to sitting up without toppling over and is also rolling over quite proficiently. He's even figured out how to spin himself on his tummy to get in a better position to reach things. This week we've found him scrunching his knees under his belly in an attempt to advance his position, so it wouldn't be surprising to find him crawling sooner rather than later. In the past week, we've discovered him asleep on his tummy (just like big brother T at the same age!)

And speaking of sleep, he is doing much better. We knew we were spoiled in the early months when he'd sleep from 7 pm - 7 am without waking up to nurse. As he got older and became more social, we don't think he like waking up in his crib alone. He's developing longer naps, both in the morning and afternoon, and we think (knock on wood) he has conquered the 4 am nursing "habit".

We know great changes lie ahead in the upcoming month!

The Things Daddies Do

While in Cashiers this weekend, Bobby entered the ranks the fathers before him, Pa-pere included, who go to great lengths for their children. Yes, he made his way down Grimshawes with Thompson.

Grimshawes, better know to the Harrelson family as "Sliding Rock", is a natural waterslide and favorite destination for summertime fun. Avery and Graham spent countless summers sliding, splashing and playing in the river with family and friends. And I am certain we will find ourselves along the shores of Grimshawes for many more summers to come.

And let's not forget William...while he didn't go sliding, we dipped his toes in the water. However, one of his highlights from the weekend was hiking along the Chattooga River Trail in the backpack.

Spent

It is a rare occasion these days we find Thompson sleeping in the car. And this weekend, he fell asleep not once, but twice!

After picking T up from his sleepover at Hunter's Friday around lunch time, and grabbing a quick bite through McDonald's drive-thru, he wasn't interested in finishing his lunch and crashed in Mills River on our way to Cashiers for the weekend. (I don't think the 5 am wake-up call helped.)

And here he is again on our way home from Cashiers, when he finally gave into sleep in Brevard.

Hershey Boys

Couldn't you just eat them up!?

I wonder if William will love chocolate as much as his older brother...

(thanks for the shirts Pa-pere!)

Sleepover x2

Thompson had his first sleepover last Thursday evening by hosting Hunter, his friend from school and church. (His first-first sleepover aside from staying with grandparents was a "trial run" a month or so ago when he slept at Anna and Katie's house on their pull-out sofa.) After a fun-filled Field Day at their school, the boys came to our house. They played inside and out - building blocks, setting up for a puppet show, playing trains and Legos, riding bikes, playing in the yard and much more. Bathtime came early, followed by dinner and a movie...a feature presentation showing of "Toy Story". Hunter and Thompson enjoyed staying up talking and reading books, but when they finally decided to crash around 9 pm, they crashed hard. The morning found them anxious to enjoy a special "sleepover breakfast" of waffles and hot chocolate followed by "Toy Story 2" before heading back outside to play before Hunter's departure. All in all...a great experience for both boys...so much so that Thompson went home with Hunter this afternoon and is spending the night with his family this evening.

I've Got Peace Like the River

Not Again

We are coming off the heels of another great weekend. We've enjoyed those Carolina blue skies without a cloud in sight with temperatures in the 70's on Saturday and 60's today. Saturday marked our annual "mulch day" with the Freemans...and 6 yards of mulch and 3 hours later, both of our gardens looked ready for another year. Ahhh, the aroma of fresh mulch can't be beat! Thanks to Nay-Nay's ingenious idea, we created Thompson's very own mulch yard underneath the swingset in an effort to relocate his plowing, digging, etc. from my flower beds. And as a bonus, his new place provides some great shade. No "mulch day" is complete until we've had Celebrity Hotdogs for lunch...yum! Bobby went fly-fishing in the afternoon and had such success catching fish that his fly-rod broke. Mother's Day was a special one with William's addition to the family and dinner that Thompson so proudly prepared with his daddy...eggs, sausage and cheese grits.

And so you're wondering, why title this post "not again"? Well, I had to be sure to get this one down in the record books. In recent weeks, Thompson has been responding to direction with a range of reactions and emotions. He's been quick to express his frustration with our decisions when he deems them unfair or inconvenient that what he's doing and/or planning. We remind him it is OK to be upset and frustrated, but being rude and disrespectful is unacceptable. We also challenge him to make good decisions in these moments. I guess you can conclude, he's chose incorrectly a few too many times recently...so, as he was being reprimanded for the second time Saturday and chose to react in such a way that warranted being sent to his room for the second time, he storms off saying "not again!". Needless to say, it was hard for us to refrain from laughing out loud (instead, we waited until he was in his room!) The good news...Thompson made good choices today.

Beach Snapshots

William's first time at the beach

Thompson and Daddy

have dump truck...will travel

(does the dump truck look familiar?

it has made every beach trip since 2008!)

Aunt G and T jumping over the breaking waves...

that's a porpoise in the background!

WY and Aunt G spending some time together.

He was fascinated with her red cap

Beach Week Recap

Re-entry is never easy...we've officially been home for a week, and here I am, finally posting pictures and an update from our recent beach trip. It's amazing how swiftly the demands of work and home accumulate! The good news, I think we've finally gotten back into our "groove" here at home.

We spent April 17-23 in Emerald Isle, NC with the Harrelsons and the families Avery grew up going to the beach with. They figured out that it has been close to 25 years that they've been vacationing together. Now that the parents are "empty-nesters", they are hitting the beach in the off-season and inviting the children (and their children) to join in the fun. This was the first year Bobby was able to join us...and William's first time at the beach. Graham was also able to leave her work at the NFL to join in the fun! T-man loved having his Aunt G around...as did we. (more pictures to follow in another post!)

We couldn't have asked for better weather with temperatures in the high 60's/low 70's. The ocean water had a chill to it so we didn't make it in very far or stay in for long. We had one afternoon of rain which gave us a good excuse to drive into Morehead City to see the train tracks and then stop in the NC Aquarium in Pine Knolls Shores.

With Greensboro being the mid-way point for us, we layed-over at the "city house" for two nights before returning home. We celebrated Bobby's 35th birthday with dinner at Stamey's Barbeque (William's first Stamey's experience) and attended a Greensboro Grasshoppers' baseball game with Mamere and Papere. And no stop in Greensboro these days is complete without a trip to the Children's Museum for Thompson!

WY Update

As a brief update...the end of this week finds William rolling from his back to his stomach pretty quickly and then pushing himself back to his back. He can sit up with assistance and loves reaching to see what he can get his little hands on. And speaking of little hands...whatever he can grab hold of, goes right into his mouth!

Meal-time is generally delightful and quite messy. With homemade rice cereal behind him, I think William was glad to see us move onto other foods. Thus far, he's had oatmeal and sweet potatoes and we introduced avocado this evening. He eyes the spoon, and once it is within reach, he grabs it and shoves it into his mouth. The catch...he doesn't want to let go. So, we're using two spoons. When he sees the second spoon heading towards his mouth, he'll let go of the first spoon and grab for the "new" one. And so the process continues until he's done eating.

Bath time is his favorite activity - hands down! I can't think of the last time he cried when being put in the water...and my how can those chunky legs splash!

Finally, sleep....ahhh. We are still working to find that "perfect" nap and sleep schedule (if there is such a thing at this age). Generally speaking, he does great overnight, but his daytime naps are a bit more unpredictable. So, we're just trying to take one day at a time and stay patient.