cousin love.

We spent Thanksgiving in Austin with my side of the family this year (more on that later!). And, one of the best parts of the too short time we were there was when Jack got to meet his cousins Hunter and Hannah.

Hannah had been talking about Baby Jack for forever, so when she finally got to meet him, she was so excited.

We met my family at a restaurant when we finally got off the road, and when we walked in Hannah excitedly whispered, "Baby Jack!" Both of the kids kind of swarmed Jack. He was a little overwhelmed at first, but, since he's the best baby ever, he warmed up to everyone very quickly.

My sweet SIL got all the kids matching pjs. It has to be mentioned that the smallest size they had was 12 months, and wouldn't you know it, they fit Jack pretty darn well (with minimal pant-rollage).

Below are pictures from Wednesday morning and then Thanksgiving morning -- or as we liked calling it, Giftsgiving!

I think the admiration is definitely mutual

She constantly wanted to hold him!

aaand when she finally got her wish, it was a little crazy to see that our 6 month old is basically the same size as my brother's 3 1/2 year old daughter!

matching jammies!

we have a crawler.

This morning, while hanging out after his morning bottle, Jack was rolling around on the floor. I randomly decided to video him, and what did he do? CRAWLED!

I'm excited for him to finally crawl, but we're in serious trouble now!

on to tha next.

J and I have worked together, side by side, since before we got married 5 years ago.

There's a niche publication in Norman called Boyd Street that was started by two guys in 2003. We bought the magazine in early 2006 from Clay, the second owner. We published the magazine for more than 5 years.

Notice I said published. Past tense.

Yep, the magazine officially changed hands again on October 31.

Selling the magazine was something I wanted to do when we found out we were pregnant, but it's just not that easy. You can't exactly list your magazine on Craig's List and hope for the best. No, you have to find someone willing to take on a publication, and everything that comes with it.

Though it took much longer than we thought at the beginning of 2011, we found buyers who were eager to continue the magazine and even give it a little bit of fresh life.

I can't say, now that the day has come and gone, that I'm completely happy with selling. Boyd Street is something that will always be a part of J and me. It was our job for a really long time and we met a lot of really great people and have many friendships to show for those years of hard work. But, being 28 and 29 and now raising (rearing) a child, we just weren't in the Boyd Street lifestyle anymore.

We always had a plan for when we sold the magazine and now we're moving on, but it's definitely bittersweet.

We had to clean out our tiny office, give the couch to the new owners, introduce him to advertisers and the staff and give the best tutorial we could without stepping on their toes.

I can honestly say we enjoyed our time publishing that magazine and it's bittersweet to no longer be a part of something that we put our hearts into. I wish the new owners luck!

grams and gramps.

John's parents have been Grams and Gramps for our dogs since we've had Gus (over 6 years). One of the ladies that works at their paper started calling them that for the dogs and it just stuck.

They decided that instead of choosing a name for themselves for Jack to call them, they're going to let him name them. But, in the mean time, I've been calling them Grams and Gramps.

They love getting to love on this little guy each day at the paper.

I'd say there's a bit of a resemblance.

solids update.

We've been working on solid foods with Jack for about two months now, and we've definitely had our ups and downs.

I mentioned before that we thought he didn't like rice cereal so we switched to oatmeal. It turned out he didn't like oatmeal and really preferred rice. We know for sure that sweet potatoes, squash and carrots are the little guy's favorite foods. And no matter what, if those are on the menu, he's a good eater.

Recently we've hit a bit of a speedbump. I've tried to add a morning meal a few times before, but Jack wasn't ready. On Wednesday I tried again. This time he finally ate 2 tablespoons! This was a welcome new development! But ... one step forward, two steps back ... Thursday was a whole different story. I made cereal in the morning, just like Wednesday and on the third or fourth spoonful, Jack gagged and threw up. I threw out the rest of that meal. I just knew that he'd be fine and ready to eat that evening. Not the case. After a few bites, the cereal (mixed with bananas, I think) touched his tongue and he gagged and threw up a little again. And, once he does this, he's DONE. There's no use trying anymore. Frustrating.

Since Thursday he's been doing the same thing. Except on Friday when the grandparents were watching him. Figures. Ha!

He went from consistently eating 4 tablespoons of rice and 1-2 tablespoons of a veggie in the evenings to refusing.

I knew when we started solids it was going to be different and there would be some frustrations, just with most other things. I know he has an entire lifetime ahead of him to eat so I shouldn't push, but it's so frustrating!

Have I mentioned it's frustrating?

I called the doctor and she said to just keep trying. I'm sure this is just a phase because the kid LOVES to eat. And every time anyone around him eats or drinks something, he's watching like a hawk!

Isn't the Burberry big so over the top? Ha!

halloween.

I was really excited for Halloween this year as it was Jack's first holiday that he wasn't mostly a sleepy little baby.

After waiting and waiting, I finally pulled the trigger on the little monster costume. I was super nervous it wouldn't fit. And, stupid me, I didn't try it on Jack until about a week before Halloween. Thankfully, it fit great. The only thing I needed to do was pin the headpiece so it wouldn't slip over the babe's eyes.

We dressed Jack up and made our way over to a few of our town's favorites to do a little trick or treating.

It doesn't get much cuter than this guy.

Our first stop and he's already lost the headgear and feet from his costume. 

Jack with Danny and Kit

Jack with Uncle Ralph and Clarissa

Jack with Dixie and Brady

We had a great time. And John and I loved enjoying the perks of having a 6 month old going trick-or-treating. Mmmm...3 Musketeers.

that smile.

Jack's schedule.

For nostalgia and/or reference in the event we're lucky enough to have more kids, I'm posting Jack's current schedule. We've been loosely following Moms on Call since Jack was 8 weeks old.

We've changed his schedule one time, going from bottles every 3 hours to bottles every 3.5 hours. I think that in the not so distant future we're going to have either move him to a 4 hour schedule, or drop one nap and he'll have a longer mid-day awake time, with a meal of rice cereal or baby food.

7:00 am - morning bottle (8 oz.) 
Usually Jack is awake and rolling around talking to himself. Occasionally he's still asleep or crying. He's really a mixed bag in the mornings.
8:30ish - morning nap
10:30 - 6 oz. bottle
This was a notoriously bad bottle time for Jack. He was always so distracted so we cut back how much he took. I think if we put 7 oz. in there, he'd take it all.
12:00ish - nap
2:30 - 7 oz. bottle
4:00ish - nap
This is usually just a catnap to get Jack through his 5:30 bottle to bedtime. It's anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes.
5:30 - 7 oz. bottle
We only give him 6 oz. of this bottle and use the remaining ounce for his rice cereal mixed with baby food.
6:00ish - baby food (usually 4 tbsp. of rice cereal and 1-2 tbsp. vegetable or, soon, fruit)
6:40 (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) - bathtime
Moms on Call recommend baths every night, but these 3 nights work the best for us
7:00ish - bedtime
We read three books (The Hungry Caterpillar, Guess How Much I Love You and Goodnight Moon) and sing and then he's off to dreamland his crib to thrash around until he falls asleep.
9:00 - 3 or 4 oz. bottle
Jack is usually basically asleep during this bottle. I really think we could drop it, but, as John says, why do we want to mess with our sleep. If we know this keeps him asleep, then why drop it? Plus, on nights we go to dinner, it's nice to have a bottle to come home to to get him asleep.

Thanks Lauren for the good idea!

fufi and popi.

Since our OU/Texas plans changed and Jack and I didn't make the trip to Texas, we ended up taking the babe to Dallas the following weekend to meet his great grandparents, Fufi and Popi. (Don't ask on the names. They're John's grandparents and that's what he's always called them. So unique!)

Unfortunately, both of them have to use walkers and didn't feel comfortable holding Jack, but they really enjoyed watching him roll and scoot around on the floor.

It was a short trip, but we had a great time, and Jack was the center of attention as usual. We also got another four generation picture -- Jack, John, Gracie (John's mom) and Fufi and Popi.

I really hope another 5 months don't go by before they get to see him again.

Jack: 6 months

And, the months continue to fly by. The fact that we're half way to Jack turning one is absolutely nuts!

It's no surprise that Jack is more and more active these days. As I've mentioned, Jack loves to thrash around in his crib before he finally falls asleep for naps and at bedtime. And, more and more he's a tummy sleeper (which I never thought possible with how much he detested tummy time).

We started Jack on rice cereal after his 4 month appointment, and we've continued with one meal a day. After a few attempts at adding another meal of solids, we've determined that maybe Jack just isn't quite ready for that yet, and we're sticking with just a dinner portion. He loves rice cereal. We've only introduced vegetables so far, but his favorite is definitely sweet potatoes. He also loves squash and carrots and tolerates green beans. Peas, however, are off the list. The first spoonful of peas hit Jack's lips and he immediately gagged so hard he threw up a little. Needless to say, we won't be feeding the monster peas anytime soon.

We have a pretty happy baby on our hands. Jack is usually very easy going and all smiles and belly laughs.  About a week ago, he was trying our patience with fussiness and refusing naps, but I think that was growth spurt and I think we're past it now (cross your fingers...).

Still no teeth, although Jack is still drooly as ever and continues to chew on just about everything. And, although he isn't officially crawling, Jack occasionally figures out how to move his arms to go forward but usually he's content to roll around and scoot backward.

And, he really loves to swing his right arm all around. When taking a bottle, while in someone's arms, no matter what, that right arm is swinging and you don't want to get caught in it's wake.

In the last few days, Jack has been making the mmm sound more and more and we've heard "mama" on occasion, too! I really didn't think mama would be his first word, but I can't say I'm not excited that it is!

With all of the confusion of OU/Texas, Jack wasn't able to meet John's grandparents that weekend. But, we made a special day trip to Dallas so they could get their Jack fix. We had a great time, and I'm so glad to have gotten another four generation picture.

And, no matter how hard it was on me, Jack had his very first overnight stay with John's parents in October. I know they all had a great time together.

I've really enjoyed watching Jack's personality develop and can't believe we're halfway to his first birthday. Time really is moving way too fast!

6 month stats:

•18.5 lbs.*

•26 3/4"*

•30-32 oz. a day (mostly 7 oz. bottles with the occasional 5 or 6 oz. one)

•wearing 6 month clothes and still some 3-6 months

•size 3 diapers

*unofficial stats. our 6 month appointment is december 1 (we're officially behind with our dr.), so I should have official 7 month stats.