Happy Holidays!

So we just had a fantastic time in Maryland and are sad to come back to the monotonous trials of daily life. Work, school, bills, budget, chores, and on the list goes. I am missing my family back east terribly. But Shea has been amazing at cheering me up, I am so thankful for all his support and for his constant happy face (even though I know that he is not thrilled with being back either). He has got us all set up for the Christmas season and we are trying our hardest to enjoy the crazy winter that has already started here in Rexburg.

Anyway back to our Thanksgiving Adventure in Maryland...
It was Connor's first time flying on an airplane, he did relatively well. He had his moments of outbursts but considering the cramped quarters we were pleased with how happy he was. 

Connor was very social right from the start, going to my Mom right off the plane. He was all smiles and was thrilled with all the attention. He had constant playmates and was held every waking and sleeping moment. He showed off his rolling and sitting up and eating skills. He was adored every second and my Mom couldn't help getting him a few new toys.

Over Thanksgiving break we doubled with my brother and his date, played a little pool. Daniel couldn't resist showing off his skills :)

Joseph and I got to play some and color lots. And Joseph and Connor were the best of friends. I have never seen Connor smile so much.

Connor learned to roll over, back to stomach! He was pretty proud!

 Connor got to snuggle into lots of blankets!

 We all went to church! And had fun afterwards.

Connor and his Grandpa got to play lots! And Grandpa had just the right touch to get him to fall asleep when he was fussy. He would sing him to sleep, so sweet!

Joseph and I got to build Monsters out of Playdoh!

Connor got addicted to lime pops!

Joseph couldn't resist having some fun with all of Connor's fun gadgets. He watched TV in his carseat and played with all of connor's toys just to make sure they were perfect. And my favorite was after we gave Connor a bath everytime Joseph would ask to play in the water afterwards with Connors links and bath toys. I loved it!

Joseph and I had a Kung Fu battle in honor of Kung Fu Pandaness. Connor joined in at the end and beat us both!

It was Connor's first Thanksgiving! We ate a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner and enjoyed laughing together and sharing what we were thankful for. We shared some stories about Ryan and couldn't resist having some laughs about his blonde moments.

Joseph got tired of waiting for dinner... he was
 so cute he set the table and got all ready.

After dinner we went on a walk around the neighborhood. And had fun being silly!

The day after Thanksgiving we went Christmas Tree Shopping! SO FUN! I haven't been able to do that for years. WE had so much fun goofing off and enjoying the fresh pine smelling air. I LOVE Christmas and all that comes with it!

That night we put the lights on and decorated it. We pulled out the Christmas music and started singing all our favorite Christmas carols. Connor tried to get in on the action, and was fascinated by the prickly tree. He would lunge for it and touch it and lunge back because he didn't like the feeling of the prickles on his skin. It was so cute because he coudn't resist doing it again and again.

We had bowling adventures. Shea won scoring 150! He was dang good!

Amberlee and I had some girl time!

It was SO hard to say goodbye. But we all kept the tears back till after we separated, which was an improvement from last time. My family is SO close so we struggle with distance. But we have skype and the phone which we will be using multiple times a day for a while.

When we were in Salt Lake we had a special chance to visit with my Grandpa. He got to meet his great-grandson for the first time. It was precious, to see them together smiling at each other. We also got a chance to visit with my Aunt Nola and the Wheatley Family. Connor was the life of the party, but he was sure wiped out after such a long day with little sleep. 

We are spending Christmas with Shea's family this year and we are planning on making it as special as possible for Connor! The Christmas music on the radio keeps me smiling!

PAST 5 MONTHS, ON TO 6!

So Connor is 5 months going on 6 months in just a few days. So he is progressing wonderfully. And we are loving him more every day! I weighed him and measured him last week and he was 19 lbs-ish and 26 inches-ish. 

This was taken on Connor's 5 months birthday!

 What’s Connor doing at 5 MONTHS?

He is doing these things all the time:

He can hold his head steady.

He can sit up with a little support. 

He can grasp toys.

He squeals with delight, and laughs.

He spontaneously smiles.

He turns towards the source of a sound or voice.

Baby gets attention by babbling.

He makes different sounds for different needs

He is doing these things most of the time:

He can recognize his own name, we notice he turns his head when you call him or talk about him with others.

He shows a strong attachment to Mommy and Daddy by raising his arms when he wants to be picked up and by crying when we leave the room. 

He is able to reach accurately for an object.

He mimics some sounds and gestures.

He can sit upright with no support, for several minutes.

He can roll over from side to side or from belly to back.

He is doing these things sometimes:

He'll reach for a block (or another object) on a table if you hold him close to it, and once he's got one, he may just go after a second. 

Hecan raise his chest with arm support while lying on his stomach.

He pays attention to very small objects.

He just started rolling from back to belly, so he can fully roll!

Connor Likes:

 May creep or "commando" -- crawl a few feet when on tummy.

Enjoys changing body position and moving.

Leans head forward to grab toes when lying on back.

Enjoys grabbing another person's hair, glasses or necklace and enjoys grabbing her own feet to suck on her toes.

When Mommy and Daddy sing to him.

When Mommy and Daddy are silly!

He’s fascinated by other babies and little kids.

His Thumb! His most recent discovery. He tries so hard to suck on his thumb whenever it gets close, he likes sucking on his toes too if they get near.

Playing in his playpen with all his toys!

He started eating rice cereal and he loves it!

Connor Dislikes:

Wearing pants. He gets all excited when we take them off.

Getting too hot or sweaty =Cranky!

When we start to play and have fun and then we have to stop all of a sudden.

When people get too close.

Formula and Rice Cereal. He likes it with water and breast milk though.

Mommy’s Favorites about Connor:

He hates the hiccups, like me!

I LOVE that when he wants to be held now he will turn towards me and put his arms out and snuggle. So when he gets bored of playing in front of me or sitting on my lap, I get a little snuggle. Love it!

His favorite thing to suck on is my clothes. He will dig his head into my shirt and pull at it and suck on it, sometimes instead of nursing.

When Connor smiles and laughs and stares up at me while he is eating, it melts my heart!

Daddy’s Favorites about Connor:

He doesn’t mind when water or baby soap gets in his eyes at bath time.

Connor now enjoys being thrown in the air (not too high or he’ll get scared), but when Daddy does it just right Connor gets wide happy full faced grins!

Playing peek-a-boo! Daddy gets a blanket and sits Connor on the bed and then he will cover Connor and hide. Then Connor will pull the blanket off and look for Daddy. Sometimes Daddy scares Connor because he is too quick and he is surprised. But he always gives Daddy these squeaky laughs (and nervous laughs when he’s scared). Connor loves the game and cries when playtime is over. 

He can laugh! It is rare. But sometimes Shea can get a good little giggle at of him, with all his wild faces and games! 

Connor loves  being independent and sitting up all by himself.

Connor is enjoying time much more now. In small doses of course.

Daddy makes funny faces in lots of pictures because he is trying to get Connor to smile with funny noises.

 *All the pictures in this post were taken a week after he turned 5 Months.