Life Lately...

When my mom was moving, she found a box of my old baby stuff, and one of the things in that box was a t-shirt from when we went to the Halley's Comet exhibit when I was a few months old.  Here is Paxton in the shirt(!):

I want to find a picture of me wearing the shirt for some side-by-side comparisons, but mostly I'm so excited that he is wearing something that I wore when I was his size!

In other news...we got a new puppy.  Probably not our smartest plan with a six month old, but we just feel so bad for Scarlett.  She gets way less attention now that Paxton is here.  We had to get rid of Sadey while I was pregnant because she kept getting out of our backyard and almost caused a wreck...plus we got kind of tired of leaving work and driving home to get her from whichever neighbor happened to have her.  Since she has been gone, Scarlett doesn't run around and play anymore...she just sits and barks, so we knew she needed a playmate.

Here is Paxton meeting Boston (a Pug/Boston Terrier Mix):

Petting him!

They really like each other...Paxton thinks Boston is a toy and is always trying to grab him...and Boston thinks Paxton is a toy and likes to try to play with Paxton's feet when he's in the Jumperoo.

Playing with Daddy's shoe...

Loving some squash

It's football season!

Jared took Paxton's six month pictures at Hafer Park this weekend, and even though Paxton has been sick (Saturday morning he woke up with a little fever, a really runny nose and a little cough), he was happy for his pictures.  Here are some of my favorites:

Aunt Teighynne's Birthday

Yesterday was Aunt Teighynne's birthday.  We spent last night celebrating.  We went to eat at a Mexican restaurant and then back to Gramsy's house for some amazing pumpkin spice cake and presents. 

Sweet Paxton

Paxton and Aunt Teighynne

Aunt Teighynne and her cake! Lots of candles...

Playing with Daddy

 

 

 

 

 

And of course Paxton got a present too...he's not spoiled at all.  Gramsy got him some cute animal blocks that he loves!

It was a fun Friday night with the fam!

A Few New Things

Since Paxton eats everything without any kind of reaction (with the exception of a few hilarious yet terrible expressions after his first pea attempt), we decided to go ahead and start him on some fruits before he sampled all the vegetables. His first fruit experience was on Friday (October 7th), he tried peaches since I've heard that's the fruit most likely to be disliked. Paxton ate them like he eats everything else. Since then, he has also tried apples. Same thing.

I know I should be grateful that I have a non-picky eater, but where's the excitement? He hasn't LOVED any foods. He just eats all of it. I am glad that he eats everything...I would hate if he took a few bites and hated it and the container was wasted, but where are the huge smiles at the delightfully sweet taste of apples? Nowhere! I'm sure once he hits his toddler years his preferences will make themselves known and I will look back on his days of non-discriminatory eating nostalgically.

He has also started playing with Puffs. Most parents would probably use the word "eat" in this circumstance, but not us. I think the pieces are too small for him to pick up because he would definitely eat them if he could...he eats feet for pete's sake! But we mainly just got them to keep him busy at restaurants. He thinks sitting in a high chair means it's time to eat, and if he doesn't get to, he needs to be entertained. Chasing these around achieves that.


He is also getting his next tooth. He has been a little fussier than usual, so it should be in soon...

Paxton has started to show some hoarding tendencies. He loves chasing these little guys around and getting them in his arms. Then he just stares at them until one rolls away:







His sense of humor has also blossomed lately. He laughs like crazy at everything. Sunday night, he was in his jumperoo and he would just look at me and crack up. Obviously I was laughing back because that sweet giggle gets me every single time. He's very ticklish and even laughs in anticipation of being tickled (his daddy is the best tickler).





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Raising Him Right

I have been thinking a lot lately about what kind of parents I want us to be and what I want Paxton to learn from Jared and me.  I realize that we're definitely not the only ones shaping him, he will be influenced by friends, classmates, teachers, other family members, and people he sees on TV or reads about without ever meeting.  It's up to us to make sure that we start him out with a good foundation, and on the right path to being a strong and good person.

Here are some of the things that I would like Paxton to learn from his parents' marriage:

• How to treat girls.  Jared has always said that even when he was young, his dad was teaching him how to treat girls, and I believe it.  Mark has always treated me like a princess and expected Jared to do the same.  He has accepted me in to the family.  From the first family vacation I joined them on in Hot Springs, he has taken care of me.  He gave me the second bedroom and made Jared and Mason sleep on the couch in the living room (Jared and I weren't married yet), he carried my luggage and didn't make one single comment about how much of it there was.  This kind of treatment has continued since then, and Jared is the same way.  He holds open doors even when he's balancing Paxton's carseat, he pays (even though it's OUR money), he won't let me carry heavy things, and he always makes sure I'm happy.  I definitely want Jared (and Grandpa Mark) to pass this on to Paxton.  If he turns out like them, I know he will make some girl really happy someday.  
• How to take care of a house and himself.  Both of our mom's did a great job teaching us the skills we would need to be on our own.  Jared helps with a lot of the housework and takes pride in a clean house.  I know that's something his mom instilled in him that not all moms of boys attempt to do.  We want Paxton to leave home with good personal hygiene, knowing how to take care of himself, his clothes, and his living space.  He will have chores to learn these skills, and he probably won't have an allowance.  
•  What a healthy, loving relationship looks like.  I want Paxton to be able to watch us and understand what a good relationship looks like.  I want him to learn how to treat his future wife from watching how Jared treats me.  I want him to learn what trust looks like, and what teamwork looks like from watching how Jared and I run the house.  Most of all, I never want him to question that his parents will stay together.  There are way too many kids out there that have to constantly worry that their family will be broken.  I don't want that for Paxton.
• To share.  Jared and I both very easily adapted into the marriage mindset where "what's mine is yours".  Probably because we were both raised with siblings and sharing was a must.  We want Paxton to be a very unselfish little boy, both with toys and with love.  We want him to help others.  

 Obviously, there are a lot of other qualities that we hope to instill in our little boy, but those are the most important things that we want him to learn from example.  Jared and I realize that we need to model these behaviors every single day for it to work.  There will undoubtedly be times where it is tough, but it isn't just about us anymore, it's about our son.  

Ready for Corn on the Cob

"They say adults couldn't take the pain of teething without serious pain meds"

-Kim Hulsey

Paxton's first tooth officially came through today!  When we went to the doctor on Friday, Dr, Campbell said that he could tell it would be through soon.  We have been able to feel the bump for a few days now.  He has been a little bit fussier than usual, but nothing like all of the horror stories I have heard.  Usually he stops fussing if he gets a teething ring or some Orajel.  We're really proud of how tough he's been. 

His other bottom tooth is coming through also.  It should be in within the next few days.  Poor little guy can't get a break.

6 Month Stats

We just got back from Paxton's six month doctor's appointment. I think this was the easiest one so far. It worked out with his schedule so he wasn't tired or hungry, in fact, he was in a great mood and had lots of smiles for Dr. Campbell.

Paxton weighed 17 pounds and 15 ounces and was 27 inches long. This put him between the 50th and 75th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight. His head size was also in the 50th percentile. So he's a little bit taller than he is wide but not much. Just a pretty normal baby.

While we were waiting for the nurse to come in with the shots (we skipped rotavirus again since he did so well without it last time), Paxton was cracking up.


He laughs a ton right now and it is probably my favorite thing about parenting. I love his sweet giggles and finding out the tiny things that make him laugh (shaking his puppy toy).

Surprisingly, he didn't cry at all after the first shot, but as soon as the second one went in, he started crying. It wasn't as bad as his last round, it was much easier to calm him down afterwards, and by the time we got to the front, he was fine. He got some football bandaids and we were done. We're so proud of how tough he was! He got a flu shot which they do in two parts for babies, so we'll have to go back in a month for the second half.

Birthday Weekend

As soon as we wrapped up Paxton's six month birthday party, it was time to switch focus to my birthday weekend. Just kidding, I'm not that selfish...but we did have a really busy weekend.

Saturday night, Jared took me to Saii, a sushi restaurant in OKC that is one of the best.

Sunday for lunch, we met Jared's mom, his brother Josh, and Josh's girlfriend Candace at Flat Tire in Edmond. I think I pick this place every year because the burgers are so good. We even got to set outside because it was so nice. Paxton sat in a high chair and made his outside face:



Sunday night, we met my mom and sisters at Louie's for some tasty dinner.
Paxton got to sit in a high chair again, but also spent some time playing with Daddy's hat:



Yes, all my pictures are of Paxton....

Uncle Mason got Paxton a really neat hanging bouncer that was shaped like a car for his six month birthday. We ended up having to exchange it because the weight limit is 20 pounds and Paxton will probably hit that soon. Instead, we got Paxton some cars:



Since I grew up with sisters, I have very little experience with boy toys (well to be fair the two youngest did play with hot wheels). It was fun to look at all the car stuff and other boy toys, but it's hard to know which toys are going to be fun. Luckily, Jared was there to help and pointed out that this toy would probably be fun for a few years.


Overall, it was a pretty fun birthday weekend. I'm so thankful for everyone that made it special: my sweet husband who always makes the whole day special and gets the perfect present, my adorable son who was kind of grumpy but still sweet, my wonderful mom and sisters who always get me exactly what I ask for and way more than I deserve (and start texting me happy birthday messages at midnight), and my amazing in-laws who have done everything possible to make me feel like part of the family.

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