No Way.

Little Luna

Dear sweet little Princess,

How is it possible you're already 6 months old?  With Seth I felt like the first six months were an eternity.  With you I'm trying to figure out where all the time slipped away to...

That being said, this month has been really, really hard for both of us.  Until three or four days ago, EVERY SINGLE ONE of your naps was 40 minutes or less.  EVERY SINGLE ONE FOR OVER A MONTH.  It was horrible.  You were exhausted, I was exhausted, and Seth was neglected.  I tried literally everything to get you to sleep longer, and nothing worked.  After about a week of this I realized I could either keep frustrating myself (and you) by trying all these techniques, or I could just do nothing and wait for you to grow out of it.  Guess what?  You did.  But the only reason I survived was because I had several moms telling me that there was some magical switch that flipped at around six months.  They were 100% right.

In just the past few days you've taken these amazing morning naps (2.5 hours?  Oh, yes), plus started sleeping better at night.  You're still waking me up twice a night to eat, which is probably too much, but it's much better than it was just a few weeks ago.  I feel guilty letting you cry--you probably are hungry!  You're still just a tiny little thing...

Here's what else you have figured out this month:

-Rolling over (again!).  I make you practice every day so you won't forget (again) like your brother did.

-Grabbing everything in sight.  I have to be careful because you'll try to grab things as I walk past them with you in my arms.  Nothing has been broken yet, but it's not from lack of trying on your end.

-You eat solid food in the morning and evening.  You'll clean out a Stage 1 container mixed with rice cereal, sometimes even a Stage 2.  Your favorites are sweet potatoes and bananas.  You were not a huge fan of applesauce or pears, but they're growing on you.  And your preferred method of eating involves you sticking your hands inside the bowl.  We're both filthy by the time you're done.

The first Mum Mum

You're still not a huge fan...

First drink of water.  

Definitely not a fan.

She's not actually sitting up as well as this picture makes her look.

She's still slumping.

-Teething.  You were in a lot of pain for a couple of weeks, gnawing and making pathetic little gumming motions.  But nothing has popped through yet--you must be like Seth was: it's not the popping through that hurts, it's the growing into the gums.

-Still in 3-6 month clothes, still in size 2 diapers.

-Loved your Jumperoo for about two weeks.  Now you're bored and prefer to be in my arms so you can pull my hair.

Hairstyling by Dad

-Swaddle free!!!  This was a strange transition--I tried to leave one arm unswaddled for about a week.  You were miserable and couldn't sleep.  So I gave up.  You could stay swaddled until you're two for all I cared, as long as you slept.  But then this week you started screaming when I laid you down.  You'd scream, fall asleep, scream again, fall asleep again...awful.  So I finally walked in your room, completely unswaddled you, and put you back down.  And you slept like a dream.  So weird...

-You're having a harder time falling asleep at church.  Expecting some rough Sundays ahead.

Despite your sleep issues, you are still just a mellow, happy little bug.  We love your deep little laugh and your raspberry-blowing smiles.  Thank you for making me smile every day.  Love you so.

(A slight update: her naps are back to being pretty awful, but we just live with it.  But the big news is that she cut her first tooth last week!  And #2 is definitely on the way in).

Visitors: Expected and Unexpected

We'll start with the expected visitors.  Luckily for us (and them, I suppose) we are about halfway between Daniel & Wendy's house and the Bloods in West Virginia.  Which means anytime they make the drive home, they stop and stay with us on the way to and back.  We love getting the chance to see them, and Seth is THRILLED to have cousins to run around with him.

We loved getting to see how big the kids are getting.  Jocelyn's going to kindergarten?  Megan's actually speaking to us now?  Jason's almost one?  Crazy.

Jason & Catherine

(not a good picture of either one, but it's all I've got)

Jocelyn playing peekaboo with Catherine.

Well, Daniel & Wendy & kids had made the trip to WV and were heading back to our house.  It had been a crazy day for me, which meant dinner was not happening.  I did what any sane Marylander would do: ran to get a pizza from Riverside Pizzeria.  As I pulled up to the house I was relieved to see that Daniel & Wendy hadn't arrived yet.  I walked in the door and guess who was sitting in my living room?

My daddy.  

He'd taken a last minute project at APG and hadn't told anyone (including my mom, who was very offended that she wasn't entrusted with his secret).  I admit--I got a little teary seeing him there.  It's not easy to be so far away from my family.  

Seth had a great time jumping all over Grandpa & Mona, his co-worker who I've known for years and years.  I told Mona that Seth is going to be really confused when he visits Grandpa at Christmas and Mona isn't there...

My dad adored Catherine, who was being very sweet for him.  He gave her a new nickname: 

Luna.  

Can you see it?  I totally can.  It's the giant blue eyes and the emotionless stare.

Seth showed his affection by bouncing off the walls.  

Picture attempt #1: 

And the winner is: 

That's a pretty fair summation of Seth when Grandpa is around.

We were really lucky--we got to see Dad five times during his week out here.  He was super busy with work, but still managed to take us to dinner twice (Fiesta Grill and The Olive Tree--both were AMAZING) plus a few short visits.  Watching him with the kids was my favorite.  Remind me again why we live across the country?  

Mmm...plaid.  I love plaid.

Luna & Grandpa

(cute onesie and headband made by Aunt Kenna)

And, once again, this is the best picture I got with Seth.

I keep trying to lure him back out here--Raytheon just built a beautiful new building on the Edgewood side of the Proving Grounds, come on, Dad!  But he says it's too humid and there are too many people.  And that probably won't be changing anytime soon.

Dad, we loved having you here.  I wish we could see you every day.

Rehoboth!

My sister Marah is 'living' with us again this summer.  And by 'living' I mean she's a counselor at a camp and we never see her.  Great for her (earning money for college), a little sad for us.  But she told us early on that the camp was taking them all to Rehoboth Beach on July 30th, so we decided to meet her there.  And, of course, we had to invite a few friends--the Oliveras, Finnigans, and Parsons.

Our little compound on the beach

Marley & Carlos didn't want to sit by us.

(Carlos didn't want to have to move when the tide came in)

And pack and plays at the beach?  GENIUS.  Wish I'd thought of it...

75% of the Blood family.

Jon refuses to quit eating for something as ridiculous as a family picture.

Beach Princess

Seth spent most of the day digging in the sand.

My favorite part was watching him interfere with the other boys.  

They were feeding the seagulls by throwing cookies and crackers in the air and waiting for the gulls to swoop down and eat them.  As the food landed in the sand, Seth would run over and bury it.  The other boys weren't very happy about it, but I thought it was pretty awesome.

His other tactic was pretty good, too: 

Chase the birds with a shovel.

Snuggling with Daddy

It was all fun and games...

...until the sharks came: 

Okay, fine.  Those are dolphins.  But still super awesome to see them so close!

They were literally just 10 feet out from the end of the pier in the picture above.

Four happy little boys.

Guess which one is ours?  

Oh, that would be the one practically covered from head to toe, plus sunscreen.

There's no escaping the redhead genetics in this family!

Sommer, me, Marley & Kara

I would just like to point out that all four of us have had babies within the last year.  We look good, don't we?

Oh, and two in this picture are expecting again. (Not me.)

Now we look REALLY good, don't we?!

Emma & Catherine

Is there such thing as 'arranged friendship'?  

Because we decided these two were friends before they were born.

So as you can see from the (lack of) pictures of Marah, we spent, hmmm...maybe 20? 30? minutes total with her.  But who can blame her?  If you were 21 would you rather be hanging out babysitting your niece and nephew or hanging out with your friends?  Yep.  But it was a good excuse to get us to the beach!

After the beach we all had dinner at Ihop before making the two hour drive home.  Marley & I had a nice chat in the back seat while the babies (mostly) slept.  

I hope we'll do this again next summer!

Not Yet...

Yes, we're still alive.  Yes, I have some great pictures from Rehoboth Beach to post.  But piano lessons and Joy School start in September, which means I have to finish my 2009 scrapbook (I'm in September!) and editing a novel for a friend (I'm on page 112/189!) before all the insanity starts.  So...no posts until I'm done!