So, if you are Facebook friends with me you’ve probably already seen these, but I thought they were too cute not to share.

I told him to wash some dishes while he was at it.

Also, thanks for your tips about helping Sam to take a bottle, I’ll definitely be trying some of those out!

We’ve been having a fun time today with our building blocks that came from Nana.

And now we are off to read (i.e. try to eat the pages) some books, knock down some building block towers and roughhouse a little on the floor.

Another custom order for a Stegosaurus hat, only this one is toddler sized and a little girly. But that’s ok- Sam doesn’t mind.

Also, does anyone have any tips for getting him to take a bottle or a sippy cup? We’ve tried letting him do it himself, we’ve tried warming it up, cooling it down, trying faster flow nipples, trying different bottles, trying pumped breastmilk, water, etc. We’ve had other people try to give it to him (while we weren’t home), tried Paul giving it to him, etc.He used to take a bottle just fine, but has recently decided (as of early February) that he is no longer interested. He’ll play with the sippy cup, but won’t actually drink out of it. It’s not a huge deal, but seeing as though he still needs to eat every few hours that means I don’t really ever get to leave his side for more than 3 hours at a time. And mama needs a break every once in a while!

Time for Samuel’s monthly pictures!
Here’s a link to Month 1, and Month 2, Month 3, Month 4 and Month 5 in case you missed them! And  here is a link to a page that I’ll be updating every month with all of the pictures together, so you can see them side by side!

So, Samuel’s six month birthday was a few weeks ago, but I hadn’t gotten around to editing his monthly pictures until yesterday. Whoops! But he is doing great. He’s still on the small side, clocking in at 24 inches tall, weighing 14.5 pounds, putting him beneath the 5th percentile for height and weight. He is eating solids like a champ, loves sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, applesauce, and oatmeal.

With his bear:

In the crib:

With crocheted pillow:

His colic seems to have subsided, and he’s a much happier boy, but when he is tired all bets are off and he turns into kind of a whiner. He melts down pretty easily. We’re working on getting longer naps. Currently he will only stay asleep for about 45 minutes at a stretch during the day, so he takes about 5-6 naps a day. It makes it a bit hard to be out and about, since he constantly is getting up and going down from naps. But nighttime sleep is getting better. He will typically sleep from 7:00pm-12:00 or 1:00am until he wakes up to eat again, and then usually is up again around 3:30 or so, then will sleep until 7:00am. We’re hoping now that he’s eating more during the day he will sleep longer at night.

He is the funniest little ham, he will turn very cheesy if he knows the camera is out. He’s also very ticklish, and always has a smile for people who stop to talk to him. Happy six month birthday, Samuel David!

Happy Friday! So, I asked Sam to smile for me, when I was taking his picture and this is the face he makes. I’m still dying laughing!

But he’s going through a major growth spurt right now, so he’s been a little more needy than usual. But it’s time for his breakfast, now. Hope you all have a great weekend, it’s the start of Spring Break around here, which means campus will be empty!

So Sam has been teething pretty badly the last few weeks, stuffing everything into his mouth and whining a lot, chewing on his hands, drooling like crazy, you know, fun times, right? So in addition to his Baltic Amber Teething Necklace we are using Hylands Teething Tablets (He absolutely LOVES those things!) I started giving him some “baby popsicles”, which is just frozen breastmilk crunched up a little and put into this little mesh feeder, so he can chew on it and soothe his poor little inflamed gums!

He really seemed to like it!

Someone recently asked if I would update about the amber teething necklace, and I do have to say that I think it’s made a big difference! He drools a lot less and is noticeably less whiny when he is wearing it! I forgot to put it on him one morning, and it took me until 2 that afternoon to realize why he was being so fussy! I put it on and within an hour or so he had calmed down and was back to his silly little self. And as a bonus, I think it just looks so darn cute on him!

We’ve been trying out some solid foods with Sam and he absolutely loves his food! He grabbed some peas off of my plate a few weeks back and stuffed them in his mouth before I could stop him, and he started whining a LOT everytime Paul or I would eat anything, and he would lunge towards anything we were eating… that was when I decided he was ready to try out a little bit of food.

So far he’s tried carrots, peas and sweet potatoes and some baby oatmeal. He’s loved everything we’ve given him! He tries to drink water out of my cup, too. He is starting to put on a little more weight, and we are having fun making baby food too!

Took Sam’s Monthly photo’s yesterday! Here’s a link to Month 1, and Month 2, Month 3,and Month 4 in case you missed them! And  here is a link to a page that I’ll be updating every month with all of the pictures together, so you can see them side by side!

There were so many good ones, I didn’t know which to choose! He’s gotten to be quite a ham once the camera is out, so it was a difficult task!

With his bear:

In his crib:

With crocheted pillow:

He is 5 months old, I can’t believe it! This little guy is busy, busy, busy. He always wants to be on the go. Sitting still is not his style! He is teething a lot, and so we got him an amber teething necklace- so far it’s been helping, at least he’s less drooly! We are getting better about sleeping at night… we just begin “sleep training” and weaned him from the swaddle, and we are down to about 2 or 3 awakenings at night, which is a huge HUGE improvement. Sam hasn’t been a very good sleeper, so this is a very welcome change.

We started him on some baby oatmeal, and he absolutely loves it. We all eat dinner together, him in his Bumbo and he gets his oatmeal while we are eating, because he had been getting very curious about our food, and even snatched some peas from my plate and swallowed them before I could get them out of his mouth! He loved it and wanted more, so I guess he likes peas!  He can roll around on the floor and reach for toys, he especially likes chewing on his rubber giraffe and eating his wooden toys. He basically will chew on anything, include my hands, Paul’s hoodie strings, cords, yarn, his overalls, whatever- it all goes straight into his mouth!

He is getting happier and happier the older he gets and he is truly the sweetest boy, and when he smiles he lights up a room. He loves the ladies, especially the older women who stop us when we are out walking and like to pinch his cheeks- he always grants them a big, gummy smile and will ‘cluck’ his tongue at them (his latest trick!)

He’s 13 1/2 pounds, and is about 23 or 24 inches tall (He was too squirmy at his last appointment to get an accurate measurement!) So he is still on the small side, but he’s so active it’s no wonder! We love our little Sam!