Thomas Tidbits...: 6 Month Fish!

Half a year? How could it be? Our baby boy has developed so much over the past month.

Fisher Tidbits:

: He started crawling at 5 1/2 months and has been on the go ever since. He's super sturdy and can easily transition from sitting to crawling to rolling (and evening pulling up in his crib). Our pediatrician said that he has the agility of that of a 9 month old.

: No teeth yet. Fish spends 99% of his days slobbering or chewing on anything and everything.

: Buddy is super vocal now, so between him and Chatty Cathy sister, our home is never quiet.

: Solid foods continue to be a hit, and we've added greek yogurt with pureed strawberries, peaches or mangos. And peas even get the thumbs up from the little man.

: We must kiss Fisher a ton because he's started to purse his lips. It's so cute, but I haven't captured it on camera yet.

: So Fisher was officially failing my sleep training techniques that seemed to work so well with Eleanor. It turns out he's not quite as ambitious in the sleep department as his older sister. Up until about a week ago, Fish was still waking up about 3-5x/night and cat napping through the day. I'll spare you the whiny details, but the long and short of it - I was exhausted and losing my mind. We broke down and hired a sleep consultant (yes, you heard me). This was a big blow to my parental pride, but it was worth every cent. The consultant wrote a comprehensive sleep/eat plan. Then, she spent the night here 3 nights in a row to soothe Fisher when he woke in the night. On the fourth night, he slept through the night. As Eleanor would say, "Hooray!!"

: 6 month stats:
Height: 26" (31%)
Weight: 16 lbs 10 oz (30%)
Head: 43.6 cm (47%)

Eleanor Tidbits:

: Oh my, this girl just continues to surprise us with what comes out of her mouth. Some recent examples:
... "Excuse me, can I help you with something??"
... "Um, what's going on in here?" (If we're in a different room and she joins us.)
... "Remember the time when Jack waved goodbye to me?" Yep, Ellie, I do - that was only 12 hours ago.
... When meeting a client of Justin's at a UT tailgate, "Hi, I'm Eleanor Jane Thomas. So nice to meet you!" We coached her a bit on the drive to campus. Justin thought bringing the family to a work social event may shame people into doing more business.

: We've officially entered the "Why?" phase. E asks this question dozens of times per day. Love her being inquisitive, but formulating answers can be exhausting.

: Eleanor has really shown an interest in puzzles lately. Her skills are pretty remarkable - she's even tackled a 48 piece puzzle.

: E started the school year last week, and she's doing well in her class. Some of the kids from the summer are still in her class, but there are also some new students. According to her teacher, Eleanor insists on being everyone's friends and making people laugh. Shocking, right?!?

: Ellie has been learning about family at school, and one of her favorite thing to do is name all (and I mean ALL) of her family members. Needless to say, she could go on for days with the number of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

We so enjoyed our annual trip to Chicago. It was our first time doing it as a family of four, and I must say, we handled it pretty gracefully. Thanks for lots of friends with kids to keep us company, booking babysitters, and friends offering to watch the kids, we survived. That's not to say it wasn't exhausting, but it was a great mix of kids, friends, food, city exploring, etc.

The week after we returned, Aunt Kiki came to visit and help us with the kiddos while Laura was on vacation. Thank goodness for her - I'm not sure how we would have survived without her. Eleanor and Fisher were spoiled rotten. We can hardly wait for her to become and Austinite in just 6 weeks!

Eating paper here.

He may look disgusted or confused here. Not so, this is Fisher's new face when he's concentrating or trying to figure something out.

Constantly on the move

The Schroeders visited us from Dallas, and Eleanor was smitten with her big boy cousins. JD and Garrett were so sweet with her and even sat in her mini chairs for almost an hour playing Play Doh.

These two were complete angels on the flight to Chicago. On the way back... no so much.

First stop. Schuba's for lunch in the hold hood.

About 20 our of family and friends met at a park near the condo we rented the day after our arrival. Cousin Elizabeth and Eleanor swinging here...

Jack and Eleanor were instant pals and were able to log in several play dates during our Chicago stay.

Fisher, Piper Hale, and Eddie Lew - all within a month of each other age-wise.

Buddy LOVED the bucket swing.

Making pizzas with Jack.

Meanwhile, these two baldies chewed on stuff.

Pizza Pals!

Our daughter has no sass whatsoever.

Super Dad - feeding and strolling at the same time.

My shopping buddy.

Impromptu splash pad action - hence going sans swim suits.

They look about as tired as they really were. We'd done the zoo, jungle gym, splash pad, and train ride all before 11:00 am.

Thanks to Erin for watching these to munchkins so that Justin and I could sneak away for a coffee and bike ride without the kiddos.

Bathing Beauty.

Fisher meeting Maeve Waller. Don't be fooled, this little peanut is actually about a month older than Fisher. She weighs in at a whopping 11 lbs;)

Piper and Fisher stare down

Swinging date

Parents Night Out. 5 of these fellas have 6 month olds

As you can see, it's really easy to capture a pic of a handful of toddlers and infants.

Uncle Alex!

Future KU buds.

Fisher will kill me for this someday, but this blowout was unprecedented... poop literally up to his neck.

Love these boys

Aunt Meghan snuggling with Fish.

Play date with Hudson Johnson and Daddy (Ryan)

After riding the El for the first time. City Girl!

Cousins giving Fisher a bath.

Adorable visor from Auntie.

More hats with Kiki - trip to the bookstore.

Rock Chalking Fisher.

Fish loves his Nana! We'd been away from her for about 10 or 11 days, the longest we'd gone since she moved to Austin. Fisher had a huge grin on his face when Nana showed up.

I love that my kids are snugglers.

Walking home from dinner out in the neighborhood.

This is the face of a boy who sleeps (finally).

Eleanor + Auntie pedicures

This kid will chew on just about anything.

Matching KC Love shirts courtesy of Kiki.

Morning outfit.

Afternoon outfit.

Football watch party with Daddy.

Pool Update:

We're getting super close on the pool. The crews have been cranking, and we've been really impressed with the daily progress. We're hopeful that it'll be complete and ready for our inaugural dip in a couple of weeks.