Sloan's 6 Month Stats

I took Sloan for her 6 month doctor's appointment today.  She did great!  She now weighs 14lb 1oz (25th percent) and is 25 1/4 inches (25th percent).  She has jumped up on the growth chart a bit.  The doctor was very pleased with her skills, sleeping and eating.  She had to get one shot this time (PCV) and it is the one that hurts the worst so she did cry a bit.  All the doctors say this one stings the most so I always know what's coming.  I guess it's good that Sloan had no clue.  There is always that moment of silence when the shot goes in and the screaming begins....(calm before the storm) so sad but it ends pretty fast.  She still needs her 6 month DTaP, HiB and Polio combo shot but she will get that now at her 9 month appointment since there are no other shots at that visit.  That saves us a visit back in a few weeks too!

A squealer and the new question....

We officially have a squealer! Sloan loves to squeal in excitement, especially when Grant is around.  We took some videos so we will get those uploaded soon.  She is way more vocal than he was at this age so I think we are in trouble, ha ha.  She has already started babbling consonant sounds (bah, bah, mah, mah, dah, dah).  She is very aware of what is going on around her now too.  If someone new enters the room, she is eager to see who it is.  She is also very intent on grabbing whatever it is that she wants.  I am scared that I may have 2 strong willed children....how does that happen?  She is almost officially on a 10am and 2pm nap routine for about 2 hours each.  She is really ready to sleep around 9:30am but not hungry so we push her to get to 10am, eat and then sleep.....so it is for a good 2 hours.  I still have her eating oatmeal and a fruit in the morning, 4oz bottles during the day and 2 jars of baby food for dinner, and 6oz before bed.  We introduced peaches and prunes this week.  So far, she is a really good little eater.  She has become a real pain when it comes to changing her diaper because she tries to roll over the entire time.  You have to distract her with something to get her to stay still.  She is sitting up pretty good now but not perfect.  She can catch herself from back to front but if she starts to lean to the side....it is all over and she falls.
Grant's new favorite word is "Why?"  If we tell him he can't have something, he immediately says "why" now.  Another example.....I went and got a pedicure this past weekend and he saw it when I came home and said "Why did you do that mommy?"  To which I replied, because it looks pretty and asked him if he wanted his painted.  He said "Ohhhhh" and then said "No" to getting his done.  I got them painted a really dark purple color so if they were pink, I think he would have wanted his done, ha ha.  I am sure his will end up painted one of these days.  He asks Why we do everything now and some of the answers are tough to be honest.  I find myself wanting to say "just because" a lot.  He is also pretty intent on what he can do when he gets "bigger".  If I tell him that he cannot do something, he immediately says "I can do that when Grant gets bigger" and I just say yes most of the time.  He is also constantly saying things that he CAN do but Sloan can NOT do "until she gets bigger".  I see many fights in their future when she does get bigger.  If she even tries to touch one of his toys, he gets really upset......but he wants to take ALL of her toys.  Typical first born I guess.  A really funny moment....this morning I was getting him dressed and he pointed to his chest and said "Grant will get hair on nipples like daddy when I get bigger" and I held back my extreme laughter and said...yes you will.  Then, he raised his arm and said "Daddy has a whole lot of hair under his arm, Grant will have a whole lot of hair under my arm when I get bigger".  I said yes you will and was glad that the conversation topic ended with that.  I was only imagining where it was going next....

Sloan - 6 Months Old

Sloan is now 6 months old! We don't have her doctor's appointment until next week and then I will have her new height and weight stats. She is now eating oatmeal and a fruit for breakfast, bottles throughout the day and a jar of a vegetable for dinner and a bottle before bed. She had peas tonight for the first time and kind of liked them, so strange. Grant hated them beyond belief. She actually prefers more bland food like peas, squash and bananas and doesn't care much for more tart stuff like applesauce and pears. How can two kids be so different! She is still sleeping 12 hours at night and napping about 3 times a day for at least an hour each time.

Sloan's First Food - at 5 Months Old

20120317 Sloan Rice Cereal from Luke Johnson on Vimeo.

Grant in a new form, Swim Lessons, a birthday party and more!

Well, it turns out Grant would have made quite a cute little girl, ha! There is a back story to this picture and Luke will probably kill me for posting this one. So, I found the cutest little dress for Sloan in a size 2T, for an awesome price....yes I officially have a shopping problem when it comes to girl stuff! I was showing Luke this dress and he said "that looks huge, she won't be able to wear until she is like 4 years old". And I said no, it is actually a 2T, so when she is Grant's age she can wear it. I got a doubtful look. So, Grant was looking at it and I said "do you want to try it on?". Grant was all over that as he loves to do about anything. And it fit him perfectly, ha ha! I had to grab my camera since it was only on for like 2 seconds!

Sloan can turn herself all the way around the exosaucer now and loves to eat whatever she can get into her mouth!

Grant found a big fire hydrant in the parking lot of a restaurant and was so excited!
At our friend, Noah's, birthday party. He had a great time!

Grant and Sadie having fun with the party favors

Grant's first time back in swim lessons. He did great and remembered almost everything from last year. Parents are not allowed in the water this year.

Easter Morning, Sleeping Issues and New Skills

We had a great Easter and Grant was overindulged to say the least! He loved coming downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny brought him. He immediately started opening everything and proceeded to spread it out all over the house. Then, about an hour later, he went back over to the couch and said "uh oh, where are all my toys", LOL! He forgot that he had moved almost all of them and then wanted more, go figure.
Sleeping has been rough this week but improving drastically after our baby boot camp. Sloan has been rolling over from tummy to back in the middle of the night once or twice consistently. We have to go in her room, roll her back over and put her pacifier back in and she passes out. Then, the smart little baby that she is, decided that she liked getting her pacifier whenever she woke up in the middle of the night! So, she got up 6 times in one night! Ugh! The next night, I put her against the bumper so she couldn't roll as easy. Sure enough, she woke up crying but was still on her stomach.....ahhh parents 1, Sloan 0! She cried for about 15 minutes and then passed out. Every night since has been perfect with no rolling over or waking up! Problem solved just in time for kid #2 (Grant) to have an issue! A few months ago, Grant tripped in the den and went face first into the coffee table. An ER visit later, we found out that his nose was not broken and he was fine. However, I think it made his blood vessels sensitive in his nose. In the wee hours of the morning, he starts to pick his nose if he feels like he has a booger. And his nose starts to pour blood. Then, he screams "blood, mommy, blood"! It has happened 4 or 5 times now. I need to take a picture next time because it looks like a murder scene, blood everywhere and just what you want to do at 6am! Now, we are putting Vaseline in his nose at night to keep it from drying out.
Sloan is also now rolling over both ways a lot! She is still not sitting up without support yet but we are working on it.

Rolling over

Bored with the pool, he decided to sit in the middle of the yard and play

Happy Easter!

Playing with box to one of Grant's toys

Easter Fun and More

My computer crashed last week and I just got it back so I apologize this has taken so long to post. We were really busy this past weekend with Easter activities. We went to the GA Governor's Mansion Annual Easter Egg Hunt, our neighborhood easter egg hunt, the Easter Bunny at the Mall and we died easter eggs!
Grant has a couple of new obsessions this week: he points out EVERY fire hydrant as we ride down the road and I can honestly say that I never realized how many there were until he started this. It is probably my fault since he asked me what one was in our neighborhood and it all started after I told him.
He also has a new favorite word: "LOVE"; he will say "I love my blue shirt mommy", "I love cheese dip" and he told Luke "I love your boxer shorts daddy" so when we were at the Mexican restaurant Luke asked him if he "loved" beans (which he doesn't) and he said "I don't love beans" in a very serious tone.
We were playing outside in a new little pool that sprays water up high and he started singing "rain drops keep falling on my head" out of the blue. I think Kasie, his nanny, taught him that one.
He is still extremely observant. We were walking around the neighborhood and we saw an AT&T truck and it has their logo on the side (the round circle with stripes) and out of no where he looks at me and says "daddy has that on his phone". Sure enough, he does since our cell phones are with AT&T. Crazy!

Sloan is starting to eat really well now. She eats a bowl of oatmeal with a fruit in the morning, bottles throughout the day and then sweet potatoes at dinner. We are going to be trying out new stuff every few days now. She is also starting to get into a nap routine a little. She slept 2 hours this morning and an hour this afternoon. As soon as she can get on food at lunch, she should stretch out that afternoon nap. She is obsessed with her pacifier now....she will pull it out of her mouth and stare at it and talk to it. She tries to get it back in her mouth to no avail yet. She is consistently rolling over on her back in the middle of the night and we have to go and put her back on her stomach. I can't wait until she can do it on her own!

Easter Bunny at the Mall

The bow didn't stay on long.....

Holding her pacifier out and looking at it

She LOVES Grant and will smile at him no matter what he does

Our neighborhood bunny

Dying eggs! He had to crack a few open afterwards to see what was inside

Starting to sit up on her own a little better

Grant found the escalator at the mall and he had to go up and down several times

Bunny mask he got from the easter bunny

Clifford the Big Red Dog at the Governor's Mansion

Finding eggs at the Governor's Mansion

"Can I please have my bottle back now!"

Papa Bill's Birthday and Adventures with Cousin JW

We went to Easley this weekend for Papa Bill's birthday and had a great time. Grant had a ton of fun with "a whole lot of people" as he says. He got to use a real gas blower too. It scared him at first but then he liked it....it was just too heavy to do on his own. I didn't get a picture but Grant also blew out Papa Bill's candles and opened his gifts, lol!

Sloan and Jon Walter (a week older than her) played bumper cars in their walkers. JW is much more advanced in his walker skills!
Sloan is still being very difficult on the food front! I have switched to Oatmeal and even put applesauce in it and she still clinches her mouth shut tight and will put her tongue in the way if I try to stick a spoon in her mouth. I have to hold the bottle up to her face for her to open up and the I shove the food in....so crazy. But she doesn't gag like Grant did. Not sure which is worse at this point. I have moved on to Sweet Potatoes this week and getting the same reaction. Hoping it gets better soon.

New Shoes/Words and The Jumper has Returned

We pulled out the Jumper for Sloan. The first time, she didn't have a clue what to do and just sat there. So, we had to show her how to do it by moving her up and down softly. Grant was amazed with this toy and wanted her to go higher. We have had to watch him since he tries to push it up and down to get her jumping faster. She has it down now and can jump really well.

Grant's feet are growing fast, he is now a size 8. I will preface this story with the fact that Papa Bill only wears New Balance shoes that are white leather. Grant is very preceptive and doesn't forget anything, especially details that most people would dismiss. He got a new pair of New Balance shoes this week (in the picture below). When he saw them he said "Oh, those are like Papa Bill's". To which I laughed out loud and responded, "yes they are".

He is also starting to ask questions in the right format. Some of them have been "What did you say mommy?", "What is that?", "Where did that go?". It's pretty interesting to see his little brain working. One other interesting thing he says.....if he is referring to something that happened in the past (i.e., last month, last week, yesterday), he says it happened "last night" no matter how long ago it was.