199. How daddy does things...

198. An effort to spoil, spoils.

Check out our post nap hair from Monday night!!

My sweet cousins sent me home with a carmel apple on Sunday - yummm!  My favorite fall treat.  After seeing Zander's excitement over the apple, I decided to share.  Just a little/quick taste.  Well, it was so cute that somehow we kept letting him taste in an effort to get a photo...while I was telling Brad "quick, take a picture, take a picture!!!" Zander was pulling the apple into his mouth with both hands and going to town annnd the result was a little throw up session at bedtime :(.  Lesson learned.  Photos aren't always necessary.

197. Culpepper Sunday

Sunday we loaded up and headed out to visit my grandfather at his farm in Culpepper.  The wonderful thing about these visits is that there are always lots of family folks hanging around the house too.  Zander spent some time chilling with his third cousins...I like to think that my grandmother looks down with a smile.  We miss her always...

Little Maddox is a man on the go...Zander sat and watched him zoom around on the floor.  One day, not too far into the future, they will be zooming around together.

Max and Sky were so sweet with the babies...it's very special to watch the new generation grow up together :)

**UPDATE** I forgot to mention that our little Wubba was NOT happy with his daddy for holding Maddox.  Zander watched with intensity as he saw his daddy with another baby in his arms...slowing the bottom lip started to drop, and then he puckered up and began crying & then looked away.  It was so sad, but so sweet and so cute.  Z and daddy are the best of buds :)

196. I <3 my feet!!

195. Twins

194. Sunset Running Buddy

193. Put a hat on it!

Chilly mornings :) need to work on the coat.  Half the battle just has to cut it some days.  

192. Skype Action

Communicating with the fam on Brad's birthday :)

191. A Case of the Mundays

The return to daycare on Monday's truly exhausts his little guy week after week.  RARELY does this happen...falling complety asleep when eating and this is what I came home too.  Our little wubba knocked out on the couch.

The problem is that even after a brief evening nap, the exhaustion continues.  He's always happy in the bath, but quickly returns to his state of tiredness after the comfort of the warm water wears off...

We were diligently trying to keep him up until at least 730!  And he was not happy with mommy & daddy AT ALL.

Torture is not the goal!  We promise!  :). Made this little guy a bottle and he passed right out again...every now and then (when this happens) it reminds me of those first few months when the goal was the feed him at that perfect time & he would easily go down for the night & the sweetness of holding my sleeping baby...just a few more minutes before tip-toeing to lay him down in the crib.  

190. The Trump Look

189. Tough Muddin & Claps!

Brad participated in his first Tough Mudder on Saturday the 19th!  Zander and I are super proud of his accomplishment!  Way to go daddy!!

While daddy was away, mommy & Z did what we do best...we chilled, ran errands & decorated for Halloween. All of a sudden on Saturday while driving around Zander discovered that he can clap!  His face was so cute - looking at his hands in amazement.  I did my best to capture it from the front seat while we were going through the car wash...

I think he was clapping for his daddy :)

188. Sweet Taters

187. Bath Priorities

To play with the blue bowl, or to not play with the blue bowl...

Ahh, what is this??

How does one manage the bowl and the pelican?  If I could just make some room...

Oh, oh no, it's slipping!!

Got it!!  Whew!!!

186. First Birthday Party!

Not Zander's of course, but his first little birthday party of his friend Alex who turned one recently...we had a nice visist & a fabulous dinner from an amazing BLT bar set up (Yummmm! - might have to copy this idea soon).  

185. 6 month appointment

Mommy and Z had some extra time together this weekend with the Monday holiday and then we had Zander's 6 month appointment on Tuesday...We texted daddy a "good morning photo" as we lounged around in bed before gearing up for the big day.

 

 

Our precious little boy waited patiently for the doctor to come in and seriosuly enjoyed playing with the paper on the examination table.

 

Not much was left of the paper by the time we were finished in the room.  Perhaps he was enjoying the distraction from the grandpa sock look he was rocking...

 

Here are the higlights from the appointment:

-Lenght 28.5 inches

-Weight 23.5 pounds

-Head Circimference 17.5 inches

-We are back on the charts in the 95th percentile & we'll take it!

-We discussed sleeping and object permanence, we discussed food (solids vs. formula) and how much little Wubba should be eating every day, we discussed the introdcution of water (something his Gram asks about all the time!) - which the dr said is okay in small amounts and to give it to Zander in a sippy cup (I assume to break the necessity of the bottle for all fluids), and we were also told to dive into Cheerio land at some point close to the 7 month marker.

 

 

Tuesday afternoon we enjoyed a nice visit from Laurie, Justin, and KG!  We have lots of clothes to add to Z's winter wardrobe thanks to Laurie and Justin.  Thank you!

184. Columbus Day & Momma's B-Day

Zander and momma headed out for a walk tonight, with a real camera, to take pictures in front of some wildflowers and go figure the real camera battery died instantly, I mean who has the time to charge more than their cell phone? (Need to work on this!)

It seemed impossible to get a smile :) and maybe that was because he was wondering what on earth was going on...

And why his little legs were getting wet...or why he was sitting alone on the ground at nap time. 

This is as good as it got...I think there is a half smile going on.  He didnt want to commit, nor did he have the energy to sit, smile, and hold his little head up.8

And I just love this one.  Zander can have such serious and thought heavy expressions.  This apple didnt fall far from either tree.  And since I am such a good mom and focus so hard on getting good pictures, this is also right before he fell straight back and knocked his noggin on the cold, wet, hard ground.  

183. Up close & Personal

182. Morning Stretch Session

Not sure that I was ever flexible enough to do this...

181. Zander's Half Birthday

Today Zander turns 6 months old.  He has grown up so much in the last month...Zander can almost sit up all by himself now, he literally reaches for everything and immediately puts whatever he can into his mouth for further exploration.  He continues to try out more foods, but isn't entirely a huge fan of solids - it is hit or miss and a lot depends on how tired he is.  Z does love his bottle and gets very excited when he hears & sees it being shaken up.  When excited Zander sort of does this panting breathing exercise and flaps his arms and legs - this is especially interesting at bath time and can lead to a soaked mommy or daddy :). 

We have added a couple of new songs to our repertoire in the last month - there is now an official "Zander Wubba" playlist on my iPod.  Favorite tunes are "Down By the Bay" and "All I Want Is You."  Zander plays the drums as we like to call it i.e. if I am clapping or patting the table, he loves to bang along on whatever is in front of him. 

He has the sweetest smile and certainly lights up our world every single day.  Happy 6 months Bubba, we love ya, love ya, love ya!