Palm Springs part Deux

Palm Springs was so much fun!  Shem and I got to go out to an awesome Italian dinner one night.  Another night I got to go out with my cousin Paige for some Mexican and and a margarita and yet another night my whole family went out to a great fish place while Thomas had a babysitter.  That's 3 nights at a restaurant in a week for me...a record since having Thomas for sure!  I almost couldn't handle all the good food.  Thomas also got to meet a bunch of relatives.  Kevin, Peggy, Lindsay and Paul and Joe, Jennifer, Paige and Leah all came over to see Thomas for the first time.  It was really fun seeing everyone.  We can't wait to go back at some point because it actually felt like a real vacation!  Flash forward to the present----TW is almost 7 months old (in 3 days).  He is getting his top tooth in right now.  I actually didn't even notice; our babysitter pointed it out!  So far he has handled teething really well.  But since he is getting them early, the doctor said he will have the worst of it (molars) around a year old.  Thomas also had his 6 month check up a few weeks ago.  He was 18 pounds and is still in the 99th percentile for height.  The doctor said that means he will be TALL!  He's starting to eat more food although he still isn't real into it.  So far we have tried carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, squash, pears, and avocado.  I am thinking Thomas will be crawling sometime soon.  He has started to push up onto all fours and sort of shoot himself forward.  

Palm Springs---Thomas swims

There are so many pictures from our Palm Springs trip that I am going to do a couple of posts.  The first one is featuring Thomas swimming!!!!  It was so much fun bringing Thomas into the pool.  It gave us something to do during his awake time and he seemed to enjoy it.  He didn't really seem to know what to make of it, but he just kind of floated around or was carried by us.  We also swam and layed by the pool alot while he was napping so, it felt like we were actually on vacation too!  Thomas was quite fascinated/terrified by Uncle Doug's beard.  Once he acclimated to it, his favorite thing to do was to pull on it as you can see from the picture in the pool.  

Shem's art opening

Shem has a show up right now at Gallery Route One in Point Reyes and we had the opening on February 22nd.  I have been lagging on the blog!  Anyway, we had tons of fun at the opening.  It was a slight bummer because we were in the middle of a major storm and it poured rain that entire day, but lots of people still came and we had a great time.  Shem's show is up through the end of March and he has sold 4 paintings so far!  We are super proud of him and thought the show looked great.  Thomas came along for the opening and cried at most of the people, but all in all, he had fun too.  Next up on our blog are pictures from our week long trip to Palm Springs that we just arrived home from!  

6 months old!

Ok, so we are two days shy but, Thomas is pretty much 6 months old!  Time has been flying.  He is becoming more and more of a little person and we are loving it as his personality emerges.  Thomas has been Mr. Smiles the last few weeks but, he has also developed some stranger anxiety, busting into tears when strangers say hello.  Hope that goes away!  He is getting more mobile and I sense that crawling isn't too far off in his future.  We're still on his two bottom teeth which are getting so big but, I am keeping my eyes peeled for more.  We keep getting sick which has been annoying but, I guess that is part of kid-land...constant colds.  Every morning we go in to get Thomas at 7:15 a.m. and he has started to be just chilling in his crib when we come in.  He gives us a big smile when he sees us, as you can see in one of the pictures.  I went to Sonoma to a couple of vineyards for the first time with friends.  I can't believe I lived in Santa Barbara for 5 years and had never been to a winery.  It was so much fun.  It is so beautiful up there!!  Thomas came along and we had a great time.  I took pictures of the sheep that graze around the vineyards.  Apparently they rent them out and let them loose in the vineyards so they don't have to mow.  Shem's solo show is this weekend up in Point Reyes so, we are looking forward to that.  He already sold a painting!...very exciting.  I will post pictures of the opening after this weekend!  

Not so into the peas...

We started feeding Thomas rice cereal a couple of weeks ago and once he actually started swallowing some of it, we thought we would try some real food.  As you can see, Thomas wasn't so into it.  I read (and a friend told me) that you should start with green veggies so you don't introduce the most sweet stuff first, but at this point, I am not so sure he is into the green stuff ;)  Sweet potatoes or carrots may be next on our list...we will see.  I tasted the peas....I am not so into them either!!!  

Thomas is nearly sitting up now which has been fun.  He is going through a stage where he "needs" me alot.  He cries when I leave the room.  He cries when strangers hold him which is funny because he never seemed to care before.  I take him to childcare at the gym and just recently he has started to look at Alma (the caretaker at the gym) and cry his little head off.   I think he is in between mobility stages where he wants to be doing more than his body is capable of.  He is becoming more and more of a little person these days though and his personality keeps emerging.  Thomas smiles all day long, at me, at Megan (a friend who watches him) but, he rarely laughs.  When he does, I cherish it so much and keep trying to get him to laugh.  But, I do one thing one day and he laughs for a bit, and I try it the next day only to receive blank stares.  He is a serious little guy but at least he smiles a ton.  I read that at this point babies can start making sounds like "mama" and "dada."  So far all we have gotten out of Thomas are high pitched screams and fart noises where he spits all over us.  I have stopped responding to the fart noises out of fear that he thinks that is actually how we communicate as human beings.  

Mr. Serious

California love

It's been a crazy week.  We went hiking with Thomas and the dogs last weekend and took some pictures.  We are lucky to have so many amazing nature areas and trails so close by.  Oscar and Effie are always up for the treks as well.  They get super excited when we start putting our tennis shoes on.  We took Thomas to the park for the first time and he fits into the bucket swing.  He didn't seem to like or dislike it much though, he just sort of sat in it.  Thomas loves being out and about.  I take him for a walk everyday and he just sits in his stroller and looks around at nature.  I got the flu at the end of this week and through this weekend which hasn't been fun.  Shem has been awesome, hanging out with Thomas so I can get better and so they don't get it.  So far, so good.  The first night I was sick Shem cut his finger really bad while cleaning a knife.  He came into to tell me and all I could say was "not the time Shem, not the time."  Poor guy!  He is healing though and I am getting better as well.  We are mending and watching the super bowl...being sad that the Eagles aren't in it.  There is always next year!