Growing Boy

Samuel has become very interactive and playful these days. He loves when his dad pretends to bite his belly and ribs and will laugh out loud at repeated funny noises you make with your mouth or funny faces. He has also rolled over from his back to his belly a couple of times now and he's getting closer to scooting on his belly...but still face-planting. He's still as strong as ever, but now he's getting much more balanced.
He's doing well sitting up on his own but still throws himself backwards or sideways eventually, so we have to keep pillows around him (as you can see in this series, hehe). But he really enjoys sitting up and playing with his toys. I think it makes him feel more independent. Daniel stands him up in the crib and puts his hands on the top railing and he'll stand for several minutes on his own, gnawing on the rail or his hands and cooing. He's also successfully pulled himself up to standing without assistance while holding onto his bouncy chair! This process isn't very graceful or coordinated, but he can do it. :)

We had a great trip down to the lakehouse last weekend and got to hang out with cousin Joe and all of my siblings. Wyatt and Dellaina had a
We have his 6 month check up coming up Feb. 4th, and I'm anxious to see how much they say he weighs now. We put him on our scale here at the house and it says 15 lbs. 2 oz! He's still a little guy for his age, but that seems so big to me compared to what he has been. The only babies I have to compare him to right now are Wyatt (who was about 18lbs at 6 months I think) and Samuel's (2nd) cousin (once removed), Brody, who they say already now weighs 21 lbs!! He was born about a week after Samuel, too! So I guess he seems even more little compared to those guys!

Andi, Dellaina, and Wyatt are off on a whirlwind adventure in the Carolinas this week. They're traveling around visiting friends, family, museums, parks, and zoos - all just for the fun of it! How cool! She's been making a couple of posts on the road and it's been interesting to track her progress. :)

Speaking of Andi, we had a very successful surprise party for her 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago. She and the family came down to our house for "dinner" to celebrate a couple of nights before her birthday (because I would be working on her actual birthday that Monday). Several of their friends and our family came up to surprise her when they arrived. Unfortunately my camera was set to a strange setting an none of the surprise pictures turned out at all!! I finally figured out the problem though and got some shots later in the party.
This week I've been doing a lot of research on day cares around our house. We're getting to the point where we need to start looking to find a good place for Samuel to stay on the days that I work. It has been an absolute life saver (and money saver!) to have Daniel's mom keep him thus far, but it was always meant to be a temporary situation because we want her to be able to enjoy her time with him as a grandmother, not a full time care giver.
Since he's getting so much more active and close to becoming mobile, we know he's going to be a lot more to keep up with in the coming months. The only problem is, the hospital day care (which I feel would be the best for our situation) has a 9 month to 1 year waiting list! There are several private daycares around our house, but they're all pretty pricey and it's hard to know who the good ones are. I've gone to visit several, and you can somewhat get a sense of the staff and whatnot, but you still never really know what you're putting your child into. It's scary!