6 months of Alex

My little Alexander Michael is 6 months old! And totally coming into his own. He has the best little personality, is happy and excitable, and I love watching him learn and grow. There have been a lot of changes even since 5 months, most notably that he sits up unassisted now and is interested in all kinds of toys.

Ashton is very wary of this new skill and watches certain things of his very closely.

It used to be that I would play with Ashton while Alex was in the bouncy seat or napping, but now he is always right there, getting in on the action.

Haha lol that last picture cracks me up.

Alex is also eating solids regularly now for lunch and dinner, which, besides even more sticky messes in the kitchen than there previously was, has resulted in two things.

1) The good news: mealtimes with his brother are super fun

2) The bad news: constipation. I have to feed him prunes and he ends up with some unfortunate-looking lipliner.

But plum is a legit fall color so at least his style is seasonally appropriate. Anyway, besides the cosmetics, here's the latest with Alex:

Weight: 20 pounds 5 ounces (this is 85th or 95th percentile, Jason couldn't remember. Typical ;) ) But in toto, Alex is a butterball.

Height: 27.6 inches (85th percentile)

Head: 17.25 inches (60th percentile)
Shots: Dtap-IPV-HiB (Pentacel), PCV-13, RotaTeq and part 1 of 2 for the flu

Ashton calls him: All-yex

Diapers: I've squeezed him into the last of the 3's. Today is his first day in a 4 and I also finally bought some overnights because man can this kid pee. 

Clothes: 9 months (soon to be 12) or 6-12 months, depending on brand

Foods: Apples, peaches, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas (not a fan), oatmeal and baby mum-mums. Oh, and the prunes. Can't forget those.

Bottles: 3 six ouncers per day while I am at work.

Naps: usually 2, from 9-10:30 and again from 1-3 on an ideal day. Bedtime between 6 and 7 pm.

Sleeping: still up 2-4 times per night, up for the day between 6:45 – 7:30 am. He wears his magic merlin suit for naps but a sleepsack at night so he can roll on his side.

Teeth: none, and drooling comes and goes

Hair: wiry and mohawk-ish just like Ashton's was. We've had to trim around his ears ;)
And not to compare him to his brother, but: Ashton was shorter and lighter by 2 pounds! 

Rolling: yes, both ways, but infrequently

Sitting up: Yes. 

Smiles: endless

So while everything points to getting bigger, he still does baby things like falling asleep while we are out for a walk.

Thank god, because it's all going very fast. Happy six months to my little piece of heaven. xoxoxo Alex!

Sorry for all the pictures on this one. Clearly, I can't help myself.

PYO Apples

I, like most New-Englanders, look forward to fall: the crisp air, sweaters and boots, pumpkins, and perhaps the most quintessential activity, apple picking. All the farms around here have opened their orchards and apples are flying off the shelves. Er, trees. We took a Nill family trip on Sunday to Shelburne Farm in Stow and let me tell you, we were not in sweatshirts sipping hot cider as we strolled along under crystal clear blue skies (how it should be, in my mind). No, we were melting. It was 80 degrees and humid, I had a 20 pound baby strapped to my chest and hiking through the orchards, although only a tad hilly, felt like climbing Mt. Rushmore. Despite this, watching Ashton freak out over all the apples was worth it. Shelburne Farm has a ton going on, from hay rides to bouncy houses, to pick-your-own apples and pumpkins, to a kiddie tractor arena. We had a great time!

At one point I said to Jason, "Wouldn't it be cute to get their picture like under the apple tree or something?" I would be lying if I told you I wasn't thinking about Christmas cards. What good are kids if you can't pose them in cliche scenes exactly like this? 

It ended up not mattering because I didn't get a single good one. For starters, Alex wasn't being very cooperative. I plopped him down and...

And then Ashton panicked because an ant was crawling on his shorts. He shot up like a piece of hot popcorn and the photo session was over.

We moved on and Jason found this gem:

Me (as I am creating this post): "Should I put the picture of your butt apple on the blog?"

Jason: "Only if you think it's funny. Don't you think it's funny?"

The answer is, I don't, but if I have any male readers out there, I'm sure you will. So that one's for you. 

We grabbed a couple burgers at the BBQ stand and headed home. Jason and I were exhausted haha. But of course, Ashton wasn't, so when we got home he and I put on our baking hats and got to work. Julia Child, I am not. I basically cut up some apples, let Ashton sprinkle cinnamon and sugar in the bowl and then we filled the dish that was lined with pie crust (store-bought, obviously).

We made a couple little apple bakes and some envelope-thingys with the leftover dough.

They were not pretty or fancy (most toddler hands-on activities aren't) but Ashton really likes to cook/bake and is obsessed with "wecipes". In the end he was very happy because he got to have a little tart for dessert and Alex had apple puree with his baby cereal for dinner :) Happy fall!

Do you want to build a birdhouuuuuuuse?

If you've seen Frozen, the title of this post is a play on the first song of the movie. If you haven't seen it...well, we can move on.

This post is one of those posts that I post when I have nothing else to post about. Ha ha.

So, a few weeks ago we went and got a nice little build-your-own-birdhouse kit. Jason had wanted to put one together with Ashton so that's exactly what they did while Alex and I cheered them on (not really).

To be honest, it got a little boring to watch. There were a lot of screws so eventually Jason just broke out the drill. Look at the determination on Ashton's face - his little jaw means business!

Once assembly was complete, time to paint. 

Being the good neighbors that we are, we walked right over and nailed it into the tree next door. The one that doesn't belong to us. See it there, on the left behind the fence?

Up close it's truly a work of art.

Who wouldn't want this on their property, is what we thought.

Sadly, it is still uninhabited. Perhaps I need to give these birds some incentive because I don't want Ashton to feel that his birdhouse failed.

Oh who am I kidding. The minute there's a nest in there I'll probably be just as excited as he is. Parenting has changed my entertainment bar considerably.

Ashton loves to build in general and his favorite thing is when it's time for him and Daddy to get out the tools for a project. (This is a segway into the next part, which begins with my admission that I lied in my last post. Ashton was not entirely in his big boy bed and I knew it was because his crib was still in his room. Given the choice, he'd always choose to sleep there instead of his bed, so it was cold turkey time.)

Last night, the crib officially came down (to be moved into Alex's room shortly). I asked Ashton if he wanted to help Daddy do it and thank the sweet lord in heaven, he nodded and said, "Yeah!"

Here are the before and afters:

Overall the room feels much less crowded with stuff.

Ashton had been napping in his bed but had never slept through the night in it, so we had a big first last night. He got out once at 11:30 pm but I put him right back, had my usual two wake ups with Alex and then at 5:30 am, I heard some thumps. Thumps are never good. Someone's either breaking in or your kid is not where he is supposed to be.

I rolled over and checked the monitor. Nope, Ashton was not in his bed. I toggled over to Alex's camera and yep, there was Ashton. He had switched on the light, pulled clothes out of Alex's drawers and it appeared he was attempting to get him dressed. No, no, no, no no. I raced in and to my dismay, Alex was laying there wide awake, smiling. I marched Ashton back to his crib, told him the light was still yellow (we got this clock for him that switches from yellow to green when it is "Ok to wake" - it's set to 7 am) and under no circumstances was I to hear a peep until that light was green!!! He cried but stayed put. I will be putting a gate in front of his door, pronto.

Luckily I was able to get Alex back to sleep and Ashton actually had to be woken up at 7:30 am to get ready for school, which is a huge change. Usually he is up around 6-6:30 am, watches the clock and when it is time, he will yell, "IT'S GREEN MOMMY! DADDY, IT'S GREEN! MOMMY! DADDY! IT'S GREEEEEEEN!" and the whole block is up. Between that and the trespassing birdhouse, our neighbors love us ;)

She works hard for the money

It's officially setting in - the tiredness, I mean. On the nights when Alex is up twice or three times, I do okay. Lately, it's three to four times, and compounding the issue is that since Ashton gave up his paci, he wakes up really early (between 5:30 and 6:30 am) and doesn't really know what to do with himself so he just yells for us. (One thing I really miss about the paci is it kept him quiet. It seems that in getting rid of it we have traded one problem for another! And now that he's in his big boy bed, when he wakes, there's no confining him like with his crib...) Anyway, after being up with Alex several times and then dragging myself into Ashton's room at 6 am because he's wide awake, well...it hurts. I've been back to work full time for the past few weeks and it is hands down the craziest time of year. Like, so busy that I get text messages and don't even read them until hours later. What is that? The good news is that I've hired some work study students and will be working from home on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons, but really, there are just no breaks. I'm officially tired. Oh, this feeling is nothing new to parents everywhere, but I'm still using this platform to complain about it haha. Coffee doesn't even help. It's like in the movie Armageddon with the asteroid. They are all sitting around brainstorming solutions for the impending doom and Billy Bob Thornton's line is something like: "You could fire every nuke you've got at her and she'll just smile at you and keep on coming." The nuke is the coffee and the tiredness, that's the asteroid. You get it.

So which is harder, being exhausted at home or being exhausted at work? There are pros and cons to both. Until today, I could have said that at least at work I'm getting paid to be there. But then, about three hours ago, I finally, finally got paid for being exhausted at home. We had just gotten back from a bike ride around the neighborhood (bike ride because Ashton's beloved scooter was taken :( I am heartbroken over it and need to get him a new one ASAP). Ashton was sitting on the counter leaning over the sink while I helped wash his hands before dinner. He said, "Mommy, I love you." Out of nowhere, which has never, ever, ever, EVER happened before. Shocked, I said, "Oh that's so nice! I love you too!" and then he said, "Yeah. I love you soooo much Mommy."

When I tell you I have waited three years, one month, and one week to hear that, I would not be lying. I basked in this wonderful "payment" for about 12 minutes, when Ashton decided he wanted a "gwilled cheese sammich" for dinner instead of the pasta I had made, I said no, and it turned into a knock-down, drag-out affair. Nothing lasts forever, as they say. As I type this though, I am heartened by the fact that we've tackled two of the big three goals since Ashton's birthday: bye-bye paci and move from the crib to the big boy bed. Potty training is next and then he'll practically be a grown up.

So overall, we've come a long way. But all that change is tiring! And it's been surprising to me that I've resisted the change almost as much as Ashton has. Due to a fear of getting even less sleep, I think. We've had such a solid routine in so many ways and getting through these important milestones hasn't been easy. I need my own sticker chart. Ashton shouldn't be the only one who gets one. I want a sticker too dammit.

And then there's Alex. Besides being up during the night more times than I would prefer, he is the light of my life. Babies are so easy to love. They smile their gummy smiles and all is right in the world. Alex's face isn't even big enough to hold his happiness sometimes. His cheeks stretch as far as they can go and I can tell his smile would be even wider if his face would permit it. So I don't even care that I have to pump on average three times a day so he has bottles for when I'm at work (he drinks at least 6 ounces 3 times between 8:30 and 4:30, but who's counting). Some days I have to run home with milk on my lunch break but he is worth every drop. I always worry if there is enough in the fridge, what my back up plan would be, where I can fit in an extra pumping session if I have to. We just started solids too (I use that term loosely - they are purees. Ha ha, get it? Loose solids = purees?) and I want to make them myself vs. buying them, if time would ever let me. All this is to say, Alex doesn't exactly prevent the asteroid from coming either. Even though he's cute.

Between the two boys is my neverending to-do list. We have a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of relationship. Last year, I blogged about my one year anniversary as a working mom. Most of that post is still true! Including the fact that I celebrated my two year anniversary last week with another flash mob. It was a bit lackluster :( We first performed on Thursday in the usual spot up by the library, but had so many problems with the music skipping that the dance turned into a hot mess. It was so bad it was funny. They gave us another chance to perform the next day at the activities fair (which is the video), but it wasn't the same. Plus I wasn't crazy about the song to begin with. But I'm liking the tradition and the main reason I do it is because it is so outside my box. I am not a dancer.

Where am I going with this post? I can't be certain because my brain is shutting down. That asteroid is fast approaching, so I'm going to get my pajamas on.

p.s. Ashton weighs 38 pounds and is 40.25 inches tall. We finally had his 3 year pedi appointment, and for lack of anywhere else to stick this information, I'm sticking it here. Good night!

Goodbye Summer

Looking back on all my photos from the past few months, one thing is clear: the boys and I, we had some adventures! If we weren't on a walk, swimming, or at a farm, we were eating ice cream, at a playground or at the beach. Ashton did so much scootering and biking that he had his helmet on for most of July and August. I was lucky enough to work part-time until the official "back to school" season that we are now in, so things have been crazy with all the change in routine (hence the lack of blog posts!). I finally got a chance to look through my summer pictures and what follows is a "small" glimpse of how much fun we had together: dinners outside, concerts, sticky hands, big bugs, playtime with friends...Ashton wore his Crocs down to almost nothing and was often so dirty that I cheated and gave him a bath while he was in the backyard pool. That's a good summer right there.

As fun as the summer was, I'm looking forward to fall and getting into a set schedule. I think we have it mostly figured out between Ashton's days at preschool, who picks up and drops off, my 2 half-days a week from work, Jason taking one weekday off, and our nanny to fill in the gaps. I felt like I needed some algorithmic software or something to write out our calendar just for September. So it's "back into the swing of things" as they say!

Off we go!

I think the sign is pretty self-explanatory, but for the official record, today is Ashton's first day at Belmont Nursery School! In some weird way, I feel like I've made it. Through the baby years and the toddler years to having a real kid. Granted, he's only there three mornings a week and pickup is at 12, but it really marks the beginning a new era. School!! It's crazy. Shockingly, I didn't cry at dropoff but not to worry: Ashton wailed enough for both of us. I knew I had it coming, he repeated "I don't want to go to schooooooool" about a hundred times on the way over. My eventual response, after trying to reassure him, talk about his new friends, the toys they had, etc. was "Well, too bad. You're going!"

We've been talking about school for awhile now. We have library books about it and have found ways to work it into our conversations. Ashton was hugely bummed when he found out he would not be riding a school bus. That was the first question he asked when he started to *get it* that he would be going. Sorry buddy.

I wonder what he is doing right this minute. Snack? Circle time? It's such a completely different thing than leaving him at daycare. He's there to start officially learning ABC's and 123's. In case you can't tell, I'm in a mild state of disbelief.

Anyway, here are the obligatory "first day" photos!

I'm aware that my pants are white and it's after Labor Day. It feels so much like summer still that I felt it was justified, ok?

But this post isn't about my pants. It's about Ashton - congrats on your first day of school honey!! xoxoxo

(Oh, fun fact: his backpack is empty! I had to put diapers and spare clothes in a bin for his cubby, but I mean, it's school. How could he not wear one? So it's just for show ;) )