6 Months Old

Nolan is 6 months old today. I can't believe how much time has passed! Nolan has gotten to be such a sweet boy. He loves being out and about and is happy as long as he can see what's going on.

Nolan seems to be doing new things every day. Some of those great things are:

Sitting up by himself (for a little while)

Sucking on his yummy toes

Pushing himself up on his hands while doing the "frog" kick

Playing with his best buddy, Cassie

Nolan also loves grabbing EVERYTHING, smiling, giggling, playing peek-a-boo, pulling himself to standing using our hands, rolling over (but he often gets stuck on his tummy), talking up a storm, "singing" along to music, and eating.

What a great six months we've had. I can't wait to see what is in store for us in the future!

Our little man

Hiking

Lately we have been exploring different modes of transporting Nolan. He likes the Baby Bjorn, LOVES his new jogging stroller, likes to be in the Hot Sling, rolls all over the place on his own, and basically just likes to be on the move. Well, today we reached a new level.

Grandma and Grandpa Downing got us this WONDERFUL hiking backpack for Christmas. Babies are not supposed to use it until they are six months old. Nolan will be six months on Thursday, so we thought we could bend the rules just a bit.

We put Nolan in it at home to try it out, and his reaction was hilarious! He was laughing, smiling, and just being crazy. I guess looking down on people is much different from looking up at them.

Since we were so successful at home, we decided to go on our favorite hike in St. Louis-The Lewis and Clark trail. The actual hike is 5 or 8 miles long, but you can do a 2.5 miler to a beautiful look out over the Missouri River. It was amazing how wondeful Nolan was. He just smiled and talked the entire walk!

We were celebrating Mother's Day a week late because Ted had finals last week. So he packed us a yummy lunch and we picniced at the look out. Our dog Cassie joined our hike as well. She and Nolan are already best buddies. On the way back, Nolan was so comfortable that he even fell asleep!Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the wondeful gift. We will be sure to use it as often as possible!

Girls on the Run

I am a coach for this great program called Girls on the Run. Today was our culminating activity with a 5k at a beautiful park in St. Louis. I brought the program to Wilson last year, and this year I had 2 coaches helping me out. It is a great program meant to help pre-adolescent girls develop health habits, a healthy body image, and appropriate ways to deal with emotions. I really enjoyed being a coach for such an amazing program.

Our Girls

The Three Coaches

(Notice my new jogging stroller! I got the BOB for a birthday present!)

Nolan and Grandma Jody

(She and Aunt Jody ran, too!)

What a great day! After the race, Nolan and I went to Wilson's picnic. (Ted went golfing with a good friend from high school. He was excused.) We had some great food and had a fun time visiting with many people. Throughout this entire day, Nolan never even cried once. He LOVES being out and about with things to look at and people to watch. Could he be his mama's boy?

This last picture is a few weeks old, but I had to include it. We went to a playgroud for the first time. This is Nolan "riding" the toy.

What a great Saturday!