Big Blue Eyes

Both our boys have big blue eyes.  In fact, Jake's eyes are the physical trait that get the most positive feedback and comments.  Luke is already starting to get some similar attention for his eyes.  They both have blue eyes, but they are very different colors.  Jake's are lighter and even fade into golden hues near his pupil.  Luke's on the other hand, are a deep piercing blue that don't seem to be fading much.  Here's some shots of those gorgeous blue eyes... 

Kids Fish Day

Cedar Park had the first annual Kids Fish Day at Brushy Creek Lake Park a couple Saturdays ago, so we decided to check it out.  I was so pleased by the event.  It was very well organized, a good learning experience, and a lot of fun.  The kids could do a scavenger hunt where they went to several booths, learned something about fishing, then received a stamp.  Once they got all the stamps, they turned in their papers for a chance at a raffle.  We got a call the following Tuesday that Jake was a winner!  Getting a brand new fishing pole with tackle made it especially worth it, but back to that Saturday.  We brought Jake's own Spiderman fishing pole out.  Here Jake is with a person from parks and rec helping him improve his casting skills...

 One booth was learning about casting, and kids could fish in this "pond" for rubber fish.  It was lots of fun...

 They also taught about water safety, being a good steward of our parks and lakes, and the food chain in lakes...

 Here he is in front of the lake...

 They also had an articial pond stocked with catfish, so kids could catch and release the real thing.  Unfortunately, we were there a little late to get a bite, but Jake was super patient waiting in line and watching his bobber...

 My handsome fisherman...

6 Months

Luke turned 6 months on the 13th.  We had his check-up a couple days later, and he's still a big boy.  He weighs 18 pounds, 12 ounces (75th percentile) and is 28.5 inches long (95th percentile).  This has been a big month with lots of firsts.  Here's a little about Luke at 6 months...

*He's sitting unsupported now, which started at about 5 1/2 months

*He's learned to clap and he does it a lot

*He's started eating solid foods.  Things started off great with oatmeal.  We then tried squash, which he wasn't a fan of, but he was still eating.  We then tried carrots, which he hated, and he has barely willingly eaten since.  Hopefully, we'll be back on track by 7 months, but right now he's very stubborn about it and will literally clamp his mouth shut when the food and spoon come out.

*He's kind of waving.  I say "kind of" because his hand does the waving motion sometimes, but I'm pretty sure it's just to entertain himself and not interact with anyone else.

*He's drooling and chewing a ton, which could be signs of teething, but there are no teeth yet

*He's still very consistent and very good about going to bed at night, however, naps continue to be inconsistent with times and ease of going down

*He gives good hugs.  He'll grab me around the neck and bury his head in my chest.  It's the best.

*Sometimes he uses me like a drum while he's nursing.  He hits and hits my shoulder area over and over again.



Here are some 6 month shots...

1st Swing Ride

With the newfound ability to sit up, and with great weather outside, Luke has been swinging a few times.  Here he is checking out the swing...

 I think I like this, Mama...

Johnny Jumper

We pulled out one of Jake's favorite baby toys to see how Luke would like it: Johnny Jumper.  He isn't quite sure about it yet, but hopefully he'll catch on soon and have lots of jumpy fun!

Our Monkey



While we have a quickly changing infant in the house, I definitely don't want to lose sight of my almost as quickly changing little boy.  Here's a few things about Jake as he gets closer and closer to 5 years old...
*One of the many ways Jake is sweet with Luke is that he often holds his hand.  When I look in the rearview mirror to check them out in the backseat, Jake almost always has his hand.
* He's gotten much more comfortable praying out loud.  He will pray before meals, but he mostly does this when he's impatiently waiting for the rest of the family to come and sit down.  He'll be the first at the table and he'll start his prayer.  It sounds like this, "Thank you God for Mommy, Daddy, Luke and me, and thank you God for everybody and everybody. Amen"
*I've noticed he uses the word "actually" a lot. 
*He loves checking out books at the library and almost always wants to look up specific topics in the catalog.  The topics he's liked recently are Longhorns, basketball, baseball, brothers, cowboys, and dolphins.
*He consistently calls Luke Lukey, but he also often calls him Lukey the Pookey.
*He is a BIG helper.  I think I say this everytime, but it's true. 
*We just started going to worship as a family rather than Jake going to Kids to Praise.  He's doing great, and it's yet another reminder of how big he is.
*His favorite TV shows are Wild Kratts and Paw Patrol.  When the intro to Wild Kratts is on, he sings and dances to it, imitating the characters.
*He's loving the monkey bars.  Our little playscape has a few bars.  When it was first up he was really scared and would not try it without someone holding on to him.  Now, he LOVES those bars and has gotten really good on them.  He'll ask to go outside to play and do them over and over again.  Here's some shots of our monkey on his monkey bars...

Walk Now

A few weekends ago, we had the opportunity to join our friends on Team Nora in the Walk Now for Autism Speaks.  Before the walk began there were lots of booths to check out.  Here are Nora and Jake decorating slap bracelets...

 Luke was a trooper as always...

 It was held at Camp Mabry, so we were able to see some cool aircraft on display...

 I would have loved to get a picture of Jake in front of a jet or helicopter, but he spent the entire walk more running than walking with his friend Kara always about 20 feet ahead of me.  Luckily, we had enough adults to help keep watch because Luke, the stroller, and I were definitely not prepared for a morning run.

 Finally, here's a post walk pic of Jake with his friends, Nora and Kara...

Firsts

Luke is now officially eating solids.  At least, we've started giving them to him.  He started out like a champ, but we've had major regression this last week as he's basically refusing to open his mouth.  We think he may be protesting carrots.  Whatever the protest is about, he is definitely showing his stubborn side.  Anyhow, we documented the very first feeding with tons of pics as you'll see below...

 Jake was an adorable big brother as always.  He was capturing pictures of his own on his Leap Pad...

 He also insisted on joining in on the feeding...

 Baby food is definitely a mess; especially when the first meal is oatmeal with a bigger ratio of breast milk.  Fortunately, we had this great bib to catch the extra...

 Luke is also sitting on his own!!!  This is a very exciting thing in our house because I think he's now so happy to be able to play with his toys in a whole new way.  He's such a big boy...