Bath Time

I bought a bath seat for Seth about a month ago for when he started sitting up so the boys could bathe together.  Now that Seth is sitting up we decided to give it a try.  We cheated and bathed him in his baby bath tub first then put him in the tub with Ryan more or less just for fun.  They both had a good time and I'm sure we'll end up bathing Seth in the big tub some but for now, we'll just do this duel bathing more for fun. 

Picking Strawberries

Saturday we had a busy day!  After nap we headed to Lewis Farms to pick strawberries.  We've never done this before so we were looking forward to picking strawberries.  Ryan was super excited, especially since I had told him earlier in the week that Eli, Katie and Charlie had gone.  He'd been asking to go since I told him about them going too.  It was a great weather....sunny, a tad cool and the ground was dry so no muddy feet!  The staff showed us the row we were to work on and we got busy.  Daddy is apparently a champion strawberry picker dating back from kindergarten so he showed Ryan the ropes while Mama took pictures.  Poor Seth probably felt motion sickness from all the up and down Lee had to do while showing Ryan how to pick good berries.  We talked up eating strawberries in hopes that Ryan would be on board but nope, he is on a strawberry strike.  He wouldn't eat them for dinner, breakfast or lunch today.  Oh well.  We should be used to it by now.  Just a couple of weeks ago he couldn't eat enough of them!  We got some yummy strawberry ice cream while we were there.  It was delish!  Just like the kind Poppy used to make when I was a little girl. 

Seth Is Sitting Up!

Our little man is officially sitting up!  I don't want to stray too far away in fear that he'll topple over, but none the less, he's sitting up.  If I put the boppy behind him I can walk away but I wouldn't want to walk away quite yet with him sitting solo.  I think Ryan's realizing that his little bro might actually be able to play with him sooner than later!

(If you received this post via email, please go directly to the blog to view the video at www.leelaura.blogspot.com)

Fire Truck

Today there was a kids event in town that the City of Wilmington participated in.  We didn't attend the event, but we did go by the firehouse that was open for the kids to come see the fire truck.  We go by this firehouse a lot on the way to and from school and various other times.  I thought he would be so excited to see the fire truck up close but he was sort of shy about it.  I think I was more excited than he was for him to see it.  He loves fire trucks so much.  I'm sure he'll talk about it every time we go by there from now on.  We'll see!

Ryan Holding Seth

Ryan has really shocked me in that he rarely asks to hold Seth. I assumed that he would be driving me crazy asking to hold him all the time but its actually been the opposite. Yesterday morning he randomly asked to hold Seth and of course I said yes!! Seth is getting so big now that Ryan is really just helping prop up Seth but he still thinks he's holding him. It lasted for about 30 seconds and really just long enough for me to take a few pics and then Ryan was "all done!" Here's a pic from yesterday morning. Ryan actually smiled for a change and Seth looks frightened (although he wasn't, I assure you!!).  

A,B,C,D....

Ryan's been learning all about numbers, colors and ABC's lately.  His teacher told me on Tuesday that he's the only child in his class that knows all of his colors!  Here's a video of him saying his alphabet.  He had really only said the whole alphabet to me once before so this is a new thing and I wanted to make sure I captured it on video.

(If you get the blog posts emailed to you directly, please go to the blog to view the video at www.leelaura.blogspot.com)

6 Months Old

Our little fellow turned 6 months old last Friday.  I can't believe he's already 6 months!  Time is going by fast.  Just Friday he even started sitting up a little bit.  I have to be close and ready to catch him because it doesn't last long, but he'll be sitting up before we know it!  Wow.  This is my favorite of all the baby stages.  The sweet spot of 6-9 months.  They are super fun and interactive but can't move around yet.  Once the crawling starts....life changes forever.  :) 

Some things about Seth these days:

• He's on a really good routine-- taking regular naps and eats at predictable times
• He's eating solids like a champ.  So far he's had: cereal, avocado, sweet potato, butternut squash, green beans, banana, peaches, pears, prunes, apples, peas, carrots, and the list is growing.  If he's in the mood to eat, he eats pretty well.  If not, you can't get a spoon into his mouth for anything. 
• His drinking is still a challenge.  He's nursing so it's hard for me to know exactly how much milk he's getting per day.  He doesn't love a bottle.  Sometimes he'll drink a bottle well, sometimes he won't.  We never know. 
• He's 15lbs and has lots of chubbiness on his legs.  Soooo cute!  He is still at about the 10th percentile on his weight.  We want him to stay at this level or increase, just not decrease!
• He loves Ryan and enjoys watching Ryan.  They will do this thing where they grunt at each other and it's so funny.  There's already a lot of interaction going on with the 2 of them.

Arms Out

Yay! Seth has finally started sleeping with his arms out of the swaddle. That's a big deal at our house!! Now only if we can get him to sleep through the night :)
Here's a peek of him sleeping arms out on our monitor. I remember when Ryan used to sleep like this.

Sweet Seth

Here's a quick video of Seth in the exasaucer playing and chatting.  He's not a super chatty baby but he does get going sometimes and can be loud.  I love hearing these little sounds at this age.  It's so sweet and cute. 

(If you get the blog posts emailed to you directly, remember to follow the link to the blog to view the video.  www.leelaura.blogspot.com)

Daddy Time

Lee and Ryan reading on the floor before bedtime.

A Date With Our Boys

On Wednesday the boys and I headed to Airlie Gardens for a walk and another tour of the gardens. Ryan really enjoys going here. He gets lots of room to run free plus there are so many flowers, trees, wildlife, butterflies, etc for him to see. I wanted us to go one more time before the azaleas loose their flowers. The beautiful tulips had mostly already died out but we found a few left. Here are a few pics of our Wednesday morning.  

So tired from his long walk!!!!

Our Morning

This is how our crazy morning started....Ryan sitting in the middle of his train table.

 

Playing With Charlie

Tuesday during preschool Katie and Charlie came over for a visit.  It was great to see them.  It's been way too long.  They've been sick, we've been sick, they've been sick, we've been sick, they traveled, we traveled....you name it, it's happened and we just haven't been able to get together.  So finally we did.  These kiddos are so cute together and are going to be great friends.  Charlie is 3 weeks younger than Seth and is a busy woman.  She's a moving machine where as Seth is so content just hanging out in his little spot.  She's rolling everywhere and is so talkative.  These kiddos are going to get into some mischief together one day...I can just tell!!

Meeting Fletcher

Fletcher was born on April 7.  He is Anna and Lee's second son, brother to Tad (Ryan's best buddy).  We're super excited to have another little guy born into our circle of friends.  Seth and Fletcher are going to be great buds like Tad and Ryan are.  He looks like Tad, minus the dark hair!  Soooo cute.  Congrats Anna and Lee!!

Airlie Gardens/ CC's Birthday

Last Sunday we celebrated CC's birthday by heading to Airlie Gardens for Family Day.  The first Sunday of each month they have Family Day when it's free to get in all day.  We have got to start taking advantage of this more!!  Especially during the great weather!  I've seen Airlie Gardens at the peak of it's Azalea's blooming but I've never seen it when all the tulips were also blooming with the Azaleas.  It was gorgeous.  Flowers absolutely everywhere you turned.  Ryan had a blast and Seth just enjoyed his ride in the stroller.  It took us about 2 hrs to walk through the gardens and we could have taken more time if we'd had more time to spend there.  Ryan walked almost the entire way, minus one or two short forced (by Mama) breaks in the stroller.  Note to self:  take more snacks for Ryan next time so the hungry monster doesn't come out!  He had so much fun running and walking free and exploring.  A little boy's dream.  It was a fun day with our family and a great way to celebrate CC's birthday!