Evelyn 6 months and July 2010

Evelyn turned 6 months old on July 2nd. She had her well baby checkup on the 6th and weighed in at 15 lbs, 6 oz (29%). She was 26 3/4 in. tall (77%) and her head was 16 3/4 in. (43%). She's in 6 and 9 month clothes...anything footed has to be 9 months because she is getting so long. Still in size 2 diapers during the day, but wearing size 3s at night. She LOVES to eat. She likes her pureed food of all kinds but also likes to eat anything she can pick up and feed herself like pieces of fruit, puffs, yogurt melts, etc. She likes to gnaw on biter biscuits, her spoons, and carrots because she is teething. She sits up very well now without any support from her hands. She picks up everything and chews on it, which made getting her monthly pictures with the blocks a little challenging. Her beautiful smile and playful giggles made up for it though!! She's certainly a charmer--people are always commenting on what a good baby she is! She takes a morning nap about 2 1/2-3 hours after she wakes up (around 6 or 6:30) for 30-90 minutes, and takes an afternoon nap around 1pm for about 2 hours. If this schedule is pushed earlier, she takes a late afternoon short snooze. She goes to bed between 7 and 8 and sleeps mostly through the night with some short wake ups every once in a while.

Alex is possibly the epitome of the "terrible two's" some days. He makes up for it with his sweet politeness (likes to say please, thank you, and excuse me) and entertaining antics (singing, dancing, playing music, telling stories). He is doing well in his big boy bed most naps and at night. We've been fighting some diaper rash, so on the occasion when we've let him air dry for a while, he's done a great job of running to the potty and peeing in it. Outside of that, he isn't very interested in potty "training" so we aren't pushing the issue right now. He's been loving going to the Y, Gymboree, the pool, bouncy castles (Pump It Up), and the playground but I think he'll be ready to start school again in September because he has asked about it several times. He has really started to enjoy playing with other kids, especially his best little buddy Jacob who is just one month older than Alex. He loves to go outside, and doesn't seem to mind the heat and getting super sweaty (which happens almost instantly considering the weather now!). He's taken an interest in teaching Evey things and telling her what is going on, but isn't too excited about sharing toys with her!

We started July with a visit from our friend Ken. I got to fly to Birmingham to pick him up and Andy and he got to play a few rounds of golf. We celebrated the fourth of July with a barbeque with Ken and some of our local friends and their kids. It was fun and hot! Ken even babysat for us (after the kids were in bed) so we could have an early anniversary dinner, which was very nice (both the dinner at Michael's Table and Ken babysitting!). We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on July 6th. Well, we at least thought about it that day, since on the same day, Andy started his new school, SAASS--School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. And that's pretty much the last time we saw him...he's been at school or stuck in a book ever since! We had a short visit from Gram and Pop mid-month and celebrated Pop's birthday while they were here. I appreciated the break and the chance to run errands without the kids, and the kids greatly enjoyed the attention and fun with their grandparents! We will finish off the month with a trip to Atlanta over the weekend to visit with Kelly and Chris.

Here are the pictures from July!