Zero and a half

Back on November 18 (which is after this blog was last updated--yikes!), Tobin turned three and a half, and since then he has been especially proud to tell people exactly how old he is. He often tells others that his brother is "zero" so I thought it might be cute if he, as of December 28, said Evan was "zero and a half." Apparently he is too smart and serious to indulge such silliness and prefers to just say Evan is six months old, thanks anyway Mama.

And at this point, our baby is nearly seven months old. We might later delve more deeply into certain moments of the last two months, but they have been a whirlwind of travel, family time and some illness. We spent Thanksgiving in Louisville, Christmas in Lake Charles (including a day trip to Houston) and New Year's back in Louisville. For most of our Christmas travels, the boys were sick with respiratory ailments. Tobin went on antibiotics twice, once for a croupy cough and most recently for an ear infection. This doubled the rounds of antibiotics he has had in his entire life--and ear infections, I think. Evan fared slightly better but suffered through about four weeks of a snotty, stuffy nose. Matt and I also got sick, but just with common colds. Knock on wood, we have enjoyed about a week of clearish noses and are so thankful. Really, we've been very healthy as a family with little kids, but traveling and sickness are a rather unpleasant combination.

On a more positive note, Evan has been undaunted by the stresses of the last two months and is thriving. Matt and I kind of joke that one day a couple of weeks ago, it just occurred to us that he could sit up. Now he sits up and plays for long stretches, grabbing anything in reach, preferably something he can bang against something else to make! some! noise! He also rocks (jiggles!) side to side when his toys play music, or when Tobin sings one of his originals. And he's started vocalizing with distinct, consistent consonant sounds. Often I hear him waking from a nap saying, "huh duh duh," which I imagine to be "Hey, Dada!" It's so much fun to watch him interact with his world these days.

Evan's eating solid foods about three times a day: rice cereal, bananas, apples, pears and sweet potatoes. It's been special to have him part of family meals. He usually eats lunch with Tobin and me and then sits down for dinner with all of us. He seems to particularly like the rice cereal-sweet potato mixture I've served him for supper the last week, opening his little mouth wide and sticking out his tongue expectantly.

It's pretty much impossible for me not to build up to releasing his latest stats. I mean he's simply huge. I can't help but giggle a little bit about it every time I pick him up or clean the rolls on his legs and arms during his bath. Evan is our very robust bundle of blessings. At six and a half months, he weighed 22 lbs. 12 oz. and measured 27.5" long with a 18" head circumference. His doctor is super pleased with how well he's doing. And so are we.