Six Months Old

Our little bundle of joy turned 6 months old on Saturday, February 7! Wow, half way to one! Man, how time flies. We had his 6 month check up with Dr. Doan on Monday, February 9. He continues to grow and develop with flying colors. He weighs 17 lbs. 7 oz. (49%), 27.75 inches (89%) and finally his head is 17 inches (34%). The doctor also said he had advanced motor skills due to his crawling/scooting abilities. He was very impressed and said that most kids aren't moving like him until they are 9 months old. We are so proud and also very aware that he is going to be running us ragged. Here we are waiting at the doctor's office for the shots. He remains in good spirits in this picture. It is a self portrait with me holding Evan and the camera. As you can see Evan would like to grab the camera and eat it. This is one of his favorite pastimes.

Other six month updates include:

*Sleep is continuing to get better. Naps are consitent with one in the morning, one in the afternoon and then one right around dinner time. They usually last from anywhere to 30 minutes to an hour and a half. Those are the ones Mom and Dad really enjoy. Sleep usually takes place at about 9:00 p.m. give or take and then he usually wakes up at about 12:00 a.m. and then again at about 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. Then he usually will sleep until about 8:00 a.m. This can vary too, but it seems we are making progress.

*Evan is MOVING! He has mastered the art of crawling/scooting and is all over the place these days. Here are a few pictures and a little video of him in action.



*Food, food and more food. Evan has really gotten into eating and loves it all, so far. With a go ahead from the doctor we will start giving him the good stuff now, pureed vegis and fruits. He still continues to eat formula and breastmilk too. Stay tuned for a blog dedicated to this milestone. Here is a picture of him eating his rice cereal. He is even holding his own spoon. Yummy!!!

*Evan is a good traveler these days and enjoys going on car rides and frequent walks with Mommy.

*He also continues to love his toys, especially balls. They are a great tool for helping him to crawl. He goes to reach for one, it rolls and then he has to go a little farther.

*He gets stronger everyday and continues to build his muscles in his leg. He is getting pretty steady with his standing.

*Evan continues to love his exersaucers. He can now run all the way around his one activity center. Here is a little video to show his skills and some pictures of the various activity centers he has experienced.

This is a picture of him in the exersaucer with his big balloon he got on his six month birthday! He loved it and wanted to eat it, similar to the way most of his cherished items are enjoyed.

Our new friends, the Pray's, let Evan use their car exersaucer at Growth Group; he had a great time.



*Bath time continues to be a joyous event, except, we attempted to bath him in his bathroom, which has a more standard size tub and a little louder faucet (I think this scared him) and he just didn't like it. I think he has gotten spoiled with our spacious bathroom, as we can understand. Someday we will bath him in his tub, but for now we continue to get him in clean in ours. Here are some pictures of all the fun.

All clean...*He gets more luscious locks everyday so the color should be revealed shortly, however, in the meantime here is a little picture for you guys to imagine with us. We think it might be Kim's color, strawberry blonde, but still guessing.

*We were inspired by our friend's jumpers and got one for Evan; he still doesn't get the hang of it. Nevertheless, enjoys spinning around and laughing at Mommy and Daddy trying to show him how to jump.

*We are blessed with soooooo many smiles. Here are some to share with all of you.

*Evan still loves his tongue and making sounds. Such a proud boy!

*Lastly, Evan is such a poser, this is one of his favorite positions these days. He goes on his side and looks around at everyone. Still not sitting up on his own yet, but definitely close with the looks of this position.

Here are some additional activities and highlights we have experienced this month.

-Hanging out with Jenni and Brittney every Friday. We get to go on walking adventures and have a great time.

-Evan helped his Pops celebrate his retirement from UC Davis Med Center. He was with them for 27 years. Congratulations Pop!

-We also visited the new Women and Baby Unit at Kaiser Roseville and attended their open house and got lots of fun goodies.

-Evan got to help his buddy Wesley celebrate his first birthday. Happy Birthday Wesley!!!

-Evan also got to help Grandpa celebrate his 65th birthday at both Chilis with the family and Woody's with just Mommy, Evan and Grandpa on his official birthday! Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

-Evan also got his first balloon (they gave it to him at a furniture store) as described above, as you can see again it was a big one. Below is a little video of him having a blast with his precious blue balloon.



Happy 6 months Evan!!! Gotta love this big boy. Here is a picture of our little family...we love you all!

Lots of firsts...

Recently Evan has been experiencing a number of firsts. We have captured them for everyone to see..

He got to go to the park for the first time on Friday, January 16. We have been walking every Friday with our wonderful friends, Jenni and Brittney. We have so much fun. Evan got to swing for the first time with Mom's help and really loved flying through the air.

We also went down the slide for the first time...

Here are Jenni and Brittie looking beautiful! :)

Evan saw his first Inauguration on Tuesday, January 20. He and Mommy watched the whole event on television throughout the day.

Then Evan and I went to visit Grandma and Great Grandma at the bowling alley on Thursday, January 22. They are on a weekly bowling league. This was Evan's first time setting foot in a bowling alley and he had the best time. He couldn't get over all of the action, the sounds, the lights, the balls. You name it he was looking everywhere. It was hard to get him to look at the camera as you will see from the picture with both Grandma and Great Grandma. Good times were had by all!

Evan got to get his first exersaucer on Saturday, January 24. We got it at Children's Orchard in Roseville. We love this store and always get the best deals, half the price of retail and sometimes even cheaper. You can see Evan enjoying the new activity center below. He is loving all the toys and freedom to stand.

On Sunday, January 25, Evan experienced his first time in the nursery at church. I think it was harder on Mom more than anyone. We have hesitated to put him in the nursery since we did not have a church home yet. However, we recently found a new church home, Creekside Church. I was able to meet the nursery team last week and sat in there with Evan towards the end of the service, when he started to get a little antsy. All the workers were really nice so I braved it out and we put him in the nursery for the whole service today. He did great and even fell asleep at the end and was resting in the crib when we came to pick him up. Good job little one and Mommy! :) Here is our little man after the big event- all smiles!

Lastly, his first tooth is coming...we saw the slit appear on Tuesday night, January 27 and then felt it for the first time attempting to break through on Thursday, January 29. I am sure it is coming anytime. We will keep you posted. However, we need to mention this has made evenings real fun and fussy. Thank goodness we are stocked up with Baby Tylenol and Baby Orajel. :) We will try to attempt to get a picture of the action soon too.

It is so much fun experiencing new things with Evan and we love sharing them with you. Love you all!

Five Months Old

Evan is five months old and continues to be such a bundle of joy! Here are his latest accomplishments.

*He found his tongue and sticks it out all the time. It is so adorable- our little snake. Here is a video of him in action and a few pictures.



*He also recently can't get enough of squealing and does this quite frequently.

*He rolls all the way over now and also is very very close to crawling. He scoots both forward and back all the time. You can put him on the carpet and suddenly he is on the wood floor quickly or has sometimes even attempted to almost go completely under the couch or chair. So clever this little one. We have to keep a close eye on him. He also can hold himself up on both hands and feet lifting his whole body in the air. Jim compares his up and down push up move to little lizards. So cute!



*He eats rice cereal ever night (okay at least most nights- sometimes we run out of time). He continues to have regular breast milk and formula. He has about 5 oz. each time (eating regularly about 5 times a day and we are working on getting down to one time a night). For the most part we are there, with maybe two times happening occasionally.

*We are getting better with sleep at night. Evan is doing well with putting him self back down when he wakes up; if he does cry the length of time this occurs has greatly decreased.

*Nap times have been going very well. He does great at being put down in his crib for sleep. For awhile there as soon as you laid him down after rocking him to sleep he would instantly wake up. The only way he would nap was in his swing, but that has all changed which is great.

*He loves playing with things. It is fascinating watching him figure out how to make the toys work and developing a preference for some favorites. His current toys of choice are his crinkle Winnie the Pooh book he got from Santa, his Ocean Wonders teether ring, Dylan the Duck and he continues to love his rings. He also loves anything that plays music.

*He continues to smile all the time. He is such a happy little guy and is such a joy to be around. He draws a crowd where ever we go- Jim and I feel so popular when we dine out at restaurants and visit other public places.

*Evan's hands and feet continue to be quite entertaining. Especially his hands he enjoys looking at them and sucking on them multiple times every day.

*Evan notices a lot now and grabs things at the table or pretty much anywhere he can if they are nearby.

*He prefers to ride in his stroller looking forward and gets very squirmy if he is put in the stroller with his car seat.

*He continues to like his Ergo carrier and pretty much falls asleep every time he goes for a ride.

*Evan loves to laugh and has a tickle spot right under his neck on the left hand side. If you tickle him there he is guaranteed to giggle. It is so much fun to hear him laugh. Here is a little video of it.



*Blankets are Evan's friends. He is passionate about the silk edge and can be found feeling it for a great length of time. Raking the fabric to simply feel it as well as to hear his nails scratch the surface is one of his favorite pastimes. He also enjoys eating them.

*He still stands with assistance and his legs are getting very strong.

Here are a few more pictures of Evan for your viewing enjoyment. Such a cutie pie.

We go to the doctor again in February for Evan's sixth month check up. Stay tuned for more updates on our little guy's stats next month. We love you guys and thank you for following our family as it grows and changes everyday!

Happy New Year and Snow Fun!

It was Evan's first New Year's Eve and as most of you can imagine he slept through it, however, the festivities before and after were a lot of fun for him and us. First we got to celebrate New Year's Eve with good friends, Chris, Chandra and Abi. We had a fabulous Mexican Dinner at On the Borders and came back home and watched the ball drop with Ryan Seacrest, Dick Clark, the Jonas Brothers, etc. :)

Then on New Year's day we headed to Donner Lake near Truckee to spend a fantastic couple of days at the Penrod's cabin with Dave, Natalie, Tyler and their families. It was a blast and the first time Evan got to see snow. He even got to see it falling in the air as it pretty much came down all day on Friday. We had so much fun and loved bundling our little guy up in his new snow suit, purchased at Kohl's on sale for only $18. I was so happy to find such a bargain and felt great knowing our little one was bundled up in the cold. Here are some pictures of all the fun.

Happy New Year from our family to yours! Here's to great joy and peace in 2009!!!