No, but seriously, can it just stop being cold now? I’m tired of being cold. I don’t even care if it rains, I just want to wear flip-flips.

Sunday:

Have I mentioned we’re going to Disneyworld this summer? Don’t tell the kids, they don’t know.

At the fancy theater to see Beauty & The Beast

Lincoln attack

Monday:

Peek a boo

My tree is infested with monkeys

The face he makes when I tell him not to climb on the back of the couch

Tuesday:

Giving Everest a check-up at Toddler Tuesday

Matchy stripes

Coffee stealer

Wednesday:

SQUISH

No, you can’t come in, goodbye

Chicken pineapple party tacos were SO good

Thursday:

CHEERS

Showing off his chompers

New glasses

Friday:

Passed out

These were gross but delicious

Chatty baby

Saturday:

He’s asleep like this. Standing up.

Making her cooking video show

Finnegan did not care for being trapped in the dark

My weather app says it’s supposed to be 58 degrees and sunny tomorrow. If that’s the case I plan to spend the whole day somewhere that is NOT my couch. I’m so tired of my couch. No one likes their couch enough to spend this much time with it. It’s time to break up with my couch and start dating the stroller, the playground and the seaport.

{Lincoln 6 months, Caroline 6 months, Evan 6 months}

Happy Half-Birthday to Baby Finnegan! This has been both the longest and shortest six months of my life. Somehow knowing this is the last newborn I’ll have has made every day more…everything. More exciting, more exhausting, more fun, more frustrating. MORE.

There’s also so much more Finnegan these days. He’s blossomed into such a nice, sweet baby with an easy-going personality. The kids started calling him Buddy, as in Buddy the Elf, because smiling is his favorite. He loves going places so he can look at new people and smile at them. He likes when I wear him so he can look into faces, but it means he doesn’t really nap when we’re in public. He does love to flirt with everyone though, so besides the occasional crying jag in the checkout line he’s a good shopping partner.

Speaking of naps, he finally has a schedule! Well, sort of a schedule. He takes a morning nap about 2 hours after he wakes up, so if he wakes up at 7 am like he did today he needs a 9 am nap. If he sleeps until 9 am, he needs an 11 am nap. After morning nap he’s ready to play or run errands or nurse and nurse and nurse and nurse for 4ish hours until he needs an afternoon nap. Then he goes to bed at about 9:30 pm. The nighttime schedule is…less predictable. He’s finally started going 4 hours in a row without eating, but sometimes it’s the first four hours of the night and sometimes it’s from 5 am to 9 am, but since I have to get up at 7:30 I’m not getting four hours of sleep on any sort of regular basis. We DID finally move him upstairs to the master bedroom, so at least I’m off the couch. The goal for March is to get him into the pack-n-play as opposed to sleeping in the swing most of the time.

Finnegan’s current biggest problem is that he thinks he can walk. He cannot walk. He can’t even reliably sit up without putting a pillow behind him. But when you are holding him, he spends all his time lunging for things, trying to throw himself out of your lap, and sliding off the couch onto his feet. He is SO DETERMINED to be mobile. And that’s fine! Please, learn to walk! But for the love of God, if you insist on being attached to me then just LET ME HOLD YOU.

At his 6 month check up today, he weighed in at 20 pounds, 5 oz, which is 90th percentile for weight. His head is in the 85th percentile and his height is right on the 50th, so yes, he is a super chunk.

Likes include smiling, friends, his siblings, socks, clean diapers, music, tickles, baths, rolling, the exersaucer, chewing on things, apple slices, the cat, the dog, grabbing things he isn’t supposed to have, standing, jumping, white noise, his green blanket, and me.

Dislikes include waking up alone, gas, when I leave the room, having boogers removed from his face, being tired and when I don’t nurse him the instant he wants to be fed.

This might be the last month I can get him to sit in this chair for photos, at least without bribing him with more that just Wyatt the fox.

6 Month Milestones

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Turns toward sounds and voices – Yes, especially if he’s supposed to be nursing
Imitates sounds – Ehhhhhhh he imitates laughing?
Rolls over in both directions – Rolly polly roller rolls everywhere

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do
Is ready for solid foods – I sure hope so, I’m about ready to start handing him pizza crusts (j/k, I gave him apples and sweet potato yesterday, he liked them)
Sits without support – We’re at that point where I keep forgetting he can’t quite sit, so he ends up falling over a lot
Mouths objects – HAHAHAHAHAHA Yes.
Passes objects from hand to hand – Yes, if there is one thing he is really good at, it’s fine motor skills

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Lunges forward or starts crawling – He’s pulling his knees under himself and creeping. Crawling is in our near future.
Jabbers or combines syllables – Not really
Drags objects toward himself – Yes, this is how I get things done. I put him on the floor surrounded by stuff and let him drag to his heart’s content.

Caught up! For like, 3 days anyway. I also forgot to take pictures for most of this week somehow, despite having done this for 326 WEEKS in a row.

Sunday:

You can’t tell, but this is the clean version of this closet

All of these are going to Goodwill

Monday:

You know the world is ending because I drank this and I liked it.

Linc took this without my knowledge

My little star

Tuesday:

Watching the big kids

Super pleased with his first time being wrapped on my back

Tired terror

Wednesday:

Look, I don’t have poop on my hand!

Love

Working on their BFF status

Thursday:

Before

After!

Another cute picture ruined by barf

Friday:

Somehow the only photo I took all day

Saturday:

Tiny dancer

Super Lincy to the rescue

This week feels absolutely endless and it’s only half over. I’m starting to run out of things to organize that will make me feel like I’m accomplishing stuff. I’m going to have to move on to rearranging furniture and painting walls. It’s pretty serious.

(Lincoln 5 months, Caroline 5 months)

Happy five months old, Baby Finn! We have now reached the age where taking Finn with me when I go places doesn’t mean I have stop and feed him twice. We might even be able to start going 5 hours in a row at night without eating, although I won’t get my hopes up too much. Today at the dentist appointments for the big kids, I wore him in a ring sling and when he got tired he just went right to sleep. THAT is the baby stage that means I start to do things again, instead of just surviving each day.

Finnegan has his very first teeny tiny baby cold. It’s barely a cold, just some extra boogers and a very occasional cough, but it’s still pathetic. Poor wittle baby. When he gets snuffly while he’s nursing he ends up biting me and that is my LEAST favorite. I’ve been squirting breastmilk up his nose, so hopefully he gets better sooner rather than later.

Baby Finn still sleeps in the swing (cringe) which means I’m still sleeping on the couch. Every time I think we are close to moving upstairs, he reminds me that he hates the rock-n-play and he hates side-lying nursing. I’m hoping this is the month where he starts rolling in both directions so I can try getting him to sleep in the pack-n-play in our room. I think rolling might be the milestone we need. It’s amazing that after 4 babies I still don’t really know what I’m doing.

He continues to be enormous – at last weigh in he was just under 20 lbs. Considering how much he eats, it’s not surprising. I’m buying him 12-18 month clothes (or more accurately, taking the huge piles of 12-18 month clothes I already had out of storage). He and Linc can sometimes wear the same pants. His socks always leave marks on his ankles. But I do not mind even a little bit – he’s so perfectly squishable.

All the kid love Finnegan (or as Linc calls him, “Oofa”)(no idea why) but Caroline basically thinks he is her special pet. She begs to hold him all the time. She’s obsessed with making videos of him. Today at the dentist I had to hold Linc so I passed the baby to Caroline and she did an amazing job with him until the other hygenist came and stole him (because everyone wants to cuddle the chubby baby). He is so lucky to have three big siblings who are always going to be looking out for him.

Likes include naps, snuggles, nursing, the swing, his blankie, his siblings, being carried around, the cat, the dog, looking out the window, baths, trying to grab food, tickles, chewing on stuff, having his picture taken, being worn in a wrap and Wyatt his fox.

Dislikes include gas, booger removal, nose wiping, not being allowed to eat real food, being woken up from naps by loud noises.

5 Month Milestones 

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Distinguishes between bold colors – Let me just ask him about that.
Plays with his hands and feet – His feet are like “Why are you so obsessed with me?”

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Recognizes own name – I don’t think we call him anything often enough to recognize it
Turns toward new sounds – All the time
Rolls over in both directions – Front to back all the time, he’s close on the other way

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Sits momentarily without support – Yes, because his giant butt holds him up
Mouths objects – Yes, thank goodness, now he can shove teethers in his own mouth
Separation anxiety may begin – He doesn’t like being alone, but he doesn’t care if it’s me or someone else

I realized that although I managed to blog for real last week I forgot my iPhone post. This is the week before Christmas.

Sunday:

The American Girl Store: where tiny pianos are a necessity

Caroline + Kit

Then Kit came to Target and insisted on a nutcracker

Monday:

Good morning, Kylo.

Big boy haircut makes him look SO BIG

I might have a matching jams problem

Tuesday:

Dad pro

Frozen puddles

More shopping with Caroline + Kit

Wednesday:

3 am Christmas tree makes getting up with the baby not so bad

She’ll read to anyone who will hold still

The kids REALLY REALLY love filters

Thursday:

Who doesn’t want to go to Target 3 days before Christmas?

That explains why that drawer is broken (and also why our furniture is bolted to the wall)

Bumpa is Linc’s hero

Friday:

BabyGuy Box swag!

Watching our favorite Christmas movie

BITING THINGS

Saturday:

Mormor needed a photo in the shirts she bought

Wrapper’s delight

Christmas angel