sweet summer

I am so grateful to have a job that gives me 2 months off every summer.  My meetings start next week, so I am in my last week of summer break (& last week of being a stay-at-home mom) and I am trying to soak up every single moment with this cutie pie.

This summer has been very low-key. No vacations, very few outings, not even a camping trip (our first summer without camping). But it's been perfect- just lots & lots of family time and hanging out together. Goodbye sweet summer!

best gift

this t-shirt is the best gift i ever gave my hubby. i gave it to him the day after i gave birth to our baby-- pretty appropriate, i think!

even though i was the one who bought it . . . every time he puts it on, i still think, "wow, my husband really loves me!"

i got it from here

6 months

rolling

drooling

bouncing

eating

sleeping

smiling

growing

giggling

peek-a-boo-ing

almost waving

almost sitting

babbling

swimming/floating

learning

being ADORABLE!

21 lb, 3 oz
29 inches tall
off the charts (above the 95th percentile line) . . . again

happy 4th

Clearfield Parade (July 3rd):

hesitant parents, loud sirens . . . chill Porter

Whenever Porter is exposed to something new, he goes into a trance. He doesn't look at us or smile or do anything. I used to think that meant he was bored or didn't like it. But I soon discovered that his weird "trance" is just him studying and taking in everything around him. Anytime we go somewhere new- a grocery store, an auto shop, a park- it's the same reaction. But after about 10 minutes, once he's figured everything out, he usually goes back to his normal self, babbling & playing. The parade was like this-- but his trance lasted for an hour straight because everything kept changing. It's fun to watch him learning so many new things!

unnecessary precaution: we thought he'd be scared of the sirens. he wasn't.

Clearfield City Fireworks (July 3rd):

hesitant parents, loud fireworks . . . chill Porter

Porter goes to sleep around 7pm each night and sleeps for 11 hours. We were scared to mess up this heavenly sleep schedule, but we really wanted him to see fireworks. So we woke him up at 10. Luckily, he woke up happy & alert. We took him out to the lawn in front of our condos. The city firework show is just a couple blocks east, so we had a pretty good viewing spot. We gave him some glow rings that I'd bought beforehand and he played with those until the show started. He loved it! He stared intently, watching all the fireworks for the 20-30 minutes until the show was over. He wasn't scared at all by the loud fireworks like we worried about. Right on cue, he started yawning at the end of the show and went straight back to bed without any crying! I can't believe we lucked out on getting such a good, happy  baby!

Funniest picture of the day!

Daddy's Boy

I am completely amazed at how great a daddy my husband turned out to be. With me, Porter is usually pretty calm & cuddly and I can get a smile or laugh every now & then. But the second Brian walks in the door, Porter doesn't stop smiling and giggling.

 

Daddy can play peekaboo for 20 minutes straight. He can make up songs & rhymes right on the spot. Daddy can make Porter laugh just by showing him a silly face.

Daddy spoils Porter with big bottles of milk (more than I usually give him-- maybe that's why Porter's so big!). Daddy spoils Porter with cartoon-time (Porter loves tv- but Mommy doesn't let him watch it very much). And Daddy spoils Porter with new clothes anytime he comes back from a store!

 I am in love with my boys.

5 months

Our little boy is 5 months old now! Here's his update . . .

2 Teeth!

We watched the 1st one come in day by day. But the 2nd one just appeared out of nowhere! He's been really great with teething . . . so far! (I'm still trying to get a good picture of his cute, toothy grin-- I'll post some when I do)

Baby Food

He hates rice cereal and loves squash & carrots. So far, that's all we've tried.

Big Boy

He's wearing 6-9 month clothes. Sometimes, he wears 9-12 months too.

Hair

His dark, long hair fell out awhile ago. This month, he grew tons of gorgeous blond hair! We think he looks so handsome! Unfortunately, he still has a patch of the dark, long hair in the back- it's pretty funny.

Scoots

When we put Porter on his back, he wiggles around like crazy until he's turned himself around or moved himself a few feet away. It's fun to see where he ends up.

Hands & Feet

He now grabs his feet and tries to get them in his mouth. Sometimes he's successful- other times, not. Also, he loves playing with his hands and getting his fingers interlocked. It takes all his focus, but he's really good!

As you can tell, we love watching (and taking pictures of) our Porter. Can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Early Mornings & Baseball

It was such a fun Memorial Day. We started off by going to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast. We arrived at the restaurant just after 8 am! We didn't even realize how early it was until we noticed that hardly anyone else was out & about. So strange that 4 months ago, Brian and I would've been sleeping in until close to noon on our days off. Babies do that to you, I guess. Today we had gone out to breakfast, shopped at Kohl's and the mall, and were back home around 11am. That's still crazy to me!

During the middle of the day, Brian had to work. Porter napped. I watched movies & baked cookies.

When Brian got home, we dressed Porter all up and took him to his first baseball game! We went to see the Salt Lake Bees (minor league). We had great seats right behind home plate. Porter was so cute!

We were able to stay about 4 innings before we decided it was time to get our baby home to bed. Although it was short, we had a great time. Now it's time for me to go to bed and wind down from 'holiday mode.' =)

 Our family!

 Brian bought Porter's baseball cap the day after he was born. The rest of the outfit was purchased this morning. =)

Brian likes this picture because Porter, with 1 finger, is declaring that the Bees are #1!

First Food

Today, we tried giving Porter rice cereal. 

He wasn't too in love with it.

He actually did eat it really well . . . he just made some really funny faces during the process.

4 months

Our little baby is growing up . . . seriously GROWING up. I just took him to his 4-month check-up (& shot attack) and found out he now weighs 18.4 lbs and is 27 in long. The doctor didn't even give a percentile- he said Porter is off all the charts. Woa, Baby!

**Disclaimer for all the pictures: I promise I DO clip his fingernails! No matter what I do, I can't keep him from clawing his face. I think his eczema makes him itch so bad that he just has to scratch. And mittens won't stay on his hands anymore. Just disregard all the scratches and imagine how cute he is without them!

This month, Porter . . .

Rolled over 

. . . a couple times. He practiced and practiced and finally rolled! But once he mastered it, he seemed to lose interest & doesn't even try anymore!

Recognizes Mommy & Daddy

He'll look at us when he hears our voices and gets excited to see us (hooray!). When Brian calls, I usually put the phone up to Porter's ear so Daddy can talk to him for a minute. Once Porter hears his voice, his eyes get huge and he starts looking around the room for Daddy. Pretty funny.

Learned to Like Tummy Time!

We persisted, and, finally, Porter is able to hold his neck and head up while on his tummy. Now he can stay there for a few minutes without getting fussy at all!

Likes Music & Lullabies

Singing calms him down. And, often, he'll start cooing along with you when you sing. So cute!

Still Sleeps Through the Night

Every now and then, he'll surprise us with a 3 or 4 am wake-up call. But otherwise, he usually goes down around 8pm and sleeps until 6 or 7am.

Drools Like Mad

Seriously- I have no idea how a (relatively) little baby can produce so much drool. It's insane! He goes through several bibs and outfits each day. His new favorite thing is sticking his fists in his mouth, which makes him produce more drool. Yuck!

Makes Motor Noises

Porter's new favorite noise to make is by vibrating his lips (usually with spit flying out of his mouth!). He makes this sound mostly in the car. We love it!


We can't believe 4 months have gone by so quickly! We love our baby!

My Little Participant

Last night I attended a dinner for all of the teachers getting their ESL Endorsements. It was a nice celebration with good food and each of the advisors stood and honored the teachers they were over and said a little bit about each one. Since I hate being away from my baby more than I have to, I took Porter with me to this event. When they asked me to stand up, I went to the front with Porter. They presented us with these:

For ME-
     a certificate of completion
For PORTER-
     a Certificate of Participation in the ESL Endorsement program (while both in and out of the womb)
     and a bottle bank- filled with pennies and some pesos (to help him start his collection of international currency)

Pretty sure the certificate will be hanging in his room soon-- he'll look like the smartest 3-month old on the block!