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.