7-Month Update and Summer Fun

Owen turned 7-months old last week, and he's cute as ever!  I feel like we're nearing the end of the time where he'll sit in one place for me to get a picture :).

Jack's jealousy of Owen getting attention has been increasing lately.  I only had a few chances to get pictures of Owen alone before Jack wanted to get in on the action.  

Owen officially started commando crawling on June 19th.  He had been kind of inching his way forward pushing off his toes a week or two before that, but he wouldn't get very far.  As of last week, he can commando crawl all over the place to get to whatever he wants.  He's still trying to work to get up on his knees, so I'm sure a true crawl isn't too far off.  On June 21st he started clapping, which is sooo cute!  He does it the most while in the Baby Bjorn.  Now that Owen is more mobile, the first signs of sibling rivalry have really surfaced.  Owen will work his way over to what Jack is playing with, try to grab it, and Jack will shout, "Momma, get Owen!"  Sometimes he'll try to push Owen away from things or he'll snatch something out of Owen's hand.  Sibling love! :)

We've really had a great time this past month as a family and with friends.  We've spent some time with friends from MOPS and gotten to play with their kids.  I had to share this photo, because it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen.  Both these babies are the youngest of two boys, which seems to have made them more rough and tumble!  They had so much fun wrestling on the floor with each other.  

Both boys had really bad colds/low fevers for Father's Day, so we spent the day at home relaxing with a box of tissues always within arms reach.  Both boys LOVE their daddy, and they got some guy time snuggling on the couch.  

The reason I took this picture is because Owen is not a snuggler generally.  He never wants you to cradle him, and he won't sit still with you on the couch on a normal day.  He does like to be held all the time, but only when you're doing something interesting or bouncing him/throwing him in the air.  Not that I'm happy he was sick, but I really enjoyed just sitting with him on the couch all curled up.

Jack's imagination and pretend play has been so fun to watch recently.  He is always talking to his toys and stuffed animals.  I walked in his room the other day and he said, "Oh dog, mommy's here" and faced dog out to see me so I could give him a good morning kiss.  In this picture he is lining up all of his cars, and he set up a sign from his train table where the cars were waiting in line to get through the sign.  

We're forging ahead with the baby led weaning strategy, and I think Owen may finally be swallowing a little bit of the food instead of sucking or chewing on it and spitting it out.  He really likes avocado, banana, pears, yogurt, cheese, carrots, and green beans.  He also tried and liked a small piece of chicken.  He's super interested in food, and he tries to get to everything we're eating.  The only drawback to baby led weaning where he feeds himself is that it is ridiculously messy!  When I started feeding Jack purees I was almost OCD about making sure things stayed clean, and that is reflected in the fact that Jack hates messes and will tell me, "Momma, get a towel!  Owen make a mess!"  I've tried to just let go this time around and embrace the mess.  These pictures don't even come close to reflecting the food explosion that normally occurs.  

Almost every meal is bath worthy.  Jonathan gave Owen a sink bath one evening when he fed him while I was gone.  Such a handsome little man relaxing in the warm water!

Summer has definitely arrived, and Jack's favorite food is an ice cream cone.  He asks for them so often that we went out and just bought ice cream cones and ice cream so we weren't going out all the time when we wanted ice cream (lucky for Jack his mother in particular always feels like ice cream too!).  You could blow up a car behind him, and he would maintain focus on that cone.

The evenings are cool here, and we have taken a lot of walks after dinner.  This guy loves a good walk.

Jonathan's friend Chris bought Jack a balance bike this week, so Jack has been hitting the streets.  It's the law in California that kids have to wear helmets while riding bikes, scooters, etc.  We were a little worried Jack would refuse to wear it, but he's worn it without a problem and had a great time!

We leave for Chicago this weekend, so the next post will be about that trip.  It's our first family vacation, so we're excited and hoping it all goes smoothly.