6 Months Old...How Did THAT Happen?!

So Shane is now officially 6.5 months old and is such a big boy!  I have to say that the first six months of his life seemed to RACE by, but when Abby was little, six months felt like six months.  (Although that could have something to do with the rocky start she had.)

Shane's 5 month bday and the first day of our roadtrip. 

To say a lot has happened since that last time I posted is a bit of an understatement.  The kids, my mom and myself drove from Texas to Maryland together so that we could get into our on-post housing before our stuffed arrived from Texas.  We took a pitstop for about a week in North Carolina at my parents' new house so Shane could meet his grandpa, Tia Kate and Tio John, and so I could see some of my friends who are still in NC.

Hotel break!  

Abby was showing me the boo-boo on her forehead (on left side) after she tripped and caught her head on a chair in the hotel. 

The first waterfalls she saw upon entering hotel...you can't tell from her 13 year-old-annoyed look she has going on here (she was angry I was taking her picture), but she was SUPER excited about seeing this especially INSIDE.  

Mom and Shane (aka Twinsies) at the Opryland Hotel

Abby loved the boat in the hotel (I just noticed she was pulling double duty and scratching her booty while she looked at the waterfall haha).  

Nashville skyline

Smoky Mountains

My mom is amazing and really deserves the highest award possible ever because she not only drove my children and me across the country, but she helped me receive all our household items, unpacked almost the entire house, and set up whatever she could before she headed back home to North Carolina.  I am seriously not sure what I would have done without her and am so thankful I have a mom that would do that for me and my family!

Shane meeting Poppy for first time

Naps together

Abby loves her Poppy

Shane loved his Mimi and Poppy's house

We made it to Maryland!  

Abby had nowhere to sit as we were moving in so she sat in some of my high heels. 

Mimi and Shane

Selfie--Shane was not feeling it. 

Then the kids and I were alone for two more weeks before Rock finished up work in Texas and joined us in Maryland.  Luckily a lot of our friends are still here, so we weren't lonely at all and there are so many things to do around here that we always had something to do or somewhere to be.  The two weeks went by relatively quickly, but I do have to give a huge shout-out to all the single parents out there because it is NOT easy watching two kids 24/7 with no breaks or help!

Now that Rock is home we are just trying to get back into the groove of things as a family by setting a schedule and finding fun things to do.  We also have been getting our house together and made a very successful trip to IKEA to get some things that have helped make our house a home.

Daddy's HOME!  

We have a fenced-in backyard and Abby LOVES playing outside in it by herself.  Our house in Texas had a fenced in backyard, but it was a 6 foot, wooden fence, so you couldn't see out and through and the grass in central Texas is REALLY rough and tough, so if Abby fell, she usually got a pretty impressive boo-boo. Also, for most of the year the sun is so bright and hot and there were no shade trees by us so that made Abby not want to spend too much time out there...and I don't blame her.  I didn't want to go out there most days either!  Anyway, now that we have tons of old-growth trees around our house here in Maryland, a lower fence that she can see through, and flowers, etc., in our yard, she is in love with being out there and I love seeing her go out and play and have such a great time exploring.  We have a large bank of windows that look out into the yard and our main couch is opposite of those windows, so I can just sit with Shane there and watch her play.  It is so fun to see her growing in her independence and being comfortable playing by herself.  She has also recently started to play with some imaginary friends.  Usually they are people she knows (Mimi, Tia Frances, or her friends) but some times they are also superheros or superhero's parents (haha).  She is such a smart, fun little girl and I am so happy we were able to get a house that allows for her to easily play outside by herself and her "friends."

PEACE!  Abby at one of the many parks by our house

Shane now sits up regularly by himself. He has been sitting up since a few days before his 5 month birthday (which was the day we left Texas), but he usually had to have pillows all around him in case he fell.  Now I can put him down and walk away and he rarely falls over unless acted on by an outside force [read: a drive-by kissing or hug from his big sister Abby G].

Abby selfie

He also says "dada" all the time and has recently started to say "mama," "gigi," and "dog."  I am not sure if he knows what those words mean yet or if he is just repeating things he hears often, but I do know that this kid LOVES to talk!  He will do his baby babble all day long and he gets pretty into his stories which I love to hear!   

Shane and Mommy

Shane also got his first tooth (bottom right front tooth) shortly after he turned 5 months old.  He has gotten really good at biting things with his one and only tooth and let me tell you that this kid can bite hard!  Ouch! He started solids at six months and seems to love food, but only in a pureed form (like sweet potatoes or carrots).  I did baby-led weaning with Abby and figured I would do that with Shane too, but he is NOT into textures.  We let him bite some banana off and he gagged until all of it was dropped from his mouth.  I tried to let him have a little watermelon and avocado too, and he did NOT like those either.  I know that "solids before one are just for fun" so I am not too concerned and will just keep letting him explore solids at his own pace.  Baby-led weaning helped me so much with Abby because she would just eat what we were eating and it made my life very simple.  I started out making Abby purees in a small blender when she was about 6 to 7 months old, but she didn't like the texture of purees and preferred solids...haha siblings can be so different from each other.  Anyway, I think I am going to just freeze different vegetables and fruits for Shane for his mesh bag so that when he is teething he can also be exploring with some flavors.  I know that having Abby eat whatever we were eating helped her have a very expansive palate and I'd love for Shane to have that too.  I love that my girl can go from eating Indian food to Chinese food to Mediterranean food and never once complain or ask for more bland foods that are typically considered "kid food."

First taste of food (sweet potato at 6 months) and he LOVES it! 

Feeding himself some frozen carrot puree in his mesh bag (7 months). 

I am going to wrap this up because Shane is in need of some teething relief.