He's on the move.

Owen 6 months.

At Owen's 6 month check-up we were excited to get another good report. Little man was weighing in at 18.5 lbs. (70%) and measuring 28" long (95%). I was a little surprised by his height percentile since last trip we were in the 50%. I guess these things can fluctuate, plus I'm pretty sure he just had a little growth spurt.

We've so enjoyed the 6 month stage! More and more of his little personality is showing and it's fun getting to know this little guy. It feels like he's grown up a lot in the past month too.

One of the biggest things was this:

He's sitting up all by himself now!

He's been trying to for awhile. He was great if there was just something there to balance him, but couldn't do it for more than a second on his own. But after lots of practicing it was just like a switch flipped and suddenly he could sit by himself for long periods of time. It's such a handy trick because before this he would automatically go to his stomach to play, and if he had just eaten there was sure to be many big spit-up messes. So the sitting up seems to put less pressure on his tummy and there's a little less mess.

He's becoming more and more of an explorer since his hand coordination is improving. One of his favorite things to feel though is our face. He loves to grab your nose and lips, which can be painful depending on how recently I trimmed his nails.

He's also completely obsessed with Bailey these days, watching her every move when they're in the same room. He's quick to turn in a circle which is handy when she's moving around. Unfortunately, Bailey's still not quite as interested in him. She likes to lick him, but that's about it.

Another new discovering is his ability to pull down his bumper pad. It's his favorite new trick. Most of the time when he wakes up now we find him in his crib like this:

He had his first ear infection recently and David walked in to see a new use for the bumper:

I guess it felt good to his little ears. It was a yucky week that started with a nasty cold and turned into an ear infection. Our lives were all about snot removal. I caught this post- and pre-sneeze shot, couldn't miss the drool bubble!


At the end of the week when he was feeling better, David stayed home with him and then they brought me lunch at work. Dad was having some fun with his hat though - silly guy!

Put that baby to work!

So the past week has been a little chaotic in the Shirley house. Last Tuesday I had a wreck on my way home from work. A truck pulled out in front of me on Hwy 80. It was raining, my brakes locked up, we hit and I bounced into the median narrowly missing another truck in the median. Thankfully no one was hurt and Owen was not in the car with me this day. Here's what ole' girl looked like:

It just makes me so sad to look at these pictures. I love my car, she's perfect for me. Or she was perfect. I'm starting to think God's trying to teach me not to love my car so much.

Anyways, after all that fun our awesome sitter Lea Anne had some tragedy of her own. A leak in her roof led to water damage, which led to part of her ceiling collapsing, which led to extensive work on a new roof and moving into a different rental house. SO, since last Thursday we've been doing a little juggling act between friends, my mom, Mother's Morning Out, David taking some time off work and me carrying the little man with me to work!

So what do you do with your 5 month old at your office? You put him to work!

Ok, just kidding, but isn't this picture hilarious - he amazed me at how quickly he knew what to do with the mouse. Of course banging on the keyboard was SO MUCH FUN, but it took some manuvering on my end to prevent him from deleting anything. (And please note that since it was Friday Owen was supporting the Bulldogs and wearing his maroon — Dad's orders.)

I'm so blessed to work with an amazingly patient team (who had to put up with some crazy baby babbling), an understanding boss (who didn't mind Owen attending a brainstorming meeting - ha!), and to have a ton of other friends who helped me keep an eye on him. It could have been the most stressful headache but it was almost fun instead.

Happy 6 months O!

It's been so much fun and we know it's going to be so much more. We love you!

Gameday #2: MSU vs. LSU

This time we weren't going to let the rain get in the way of Owen's first game.

He was so GREAT! He even took two naps during the game despite getting rained on and all the noisy cowbells. Everyone around us was so amazed!

There were so many things for him to look at. He loved the big screen and then he checked out all the people around us and made some friends.

It was a heartbreaker of a game (we won't go there), and we were exhausted by the end of the day, but we got to see our Dawgs improve and we got to hang out with some great friends.

"Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of spring ..."

" ... They're bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy,
fun, fun, fun, fun, fun,
The most wonderful thingabout Tiggers is:
I'm the only one!"
- The Tigger song

Can't get enough.