6 Months Old!

Happy 1/2 year old baby man! Wow! Time has FLOWN by! I can't believe Marek is 6 months old! Went to the doctor's today for check-up and another round of shots (poor kid), we made Tati go too, so Marek could associate shots with him. No just kidding! Tati coming was for me. I HATE watching my son get his shots. Makes me so sad...but they are a nessecary, vital part of growing up.

I digress...

Marek is 6 months old and weighs 16.9 pounds. He started out at 6.12 pounds. That's almost a full 10 pounds in 6 short months! Amazing! Now if I could just lose 10 pounds...again, kidding!

So aside from going to the doctors and dragging my father all over town with us, we've also started solid foods on this very important milestone. The kid loves rice cereal, oatmeal and barley cereal as well. I think it all tastes nasty and smells like stinky shoes, but he LOVES it. He generally spits out the first 5 bites, by putting his lips together and vibrating them, but after that he actually swallows. He's such a good little boy.

A few photos of my favorite piglet:

Happy 3rd Birthday Gabby!

Gabby's 3rd birthday was on March 3. I feel so bad that she is getting ignored these days that I promised I would write a blog only about her. Oh and to answer your question, yes, I AM that crazy dog parent. And proud of it!

We love you Gab-Gab. Even though you are a little crazy at times and LOVE to dig in my backyard, we wouldn't trade you for the world.

Happy Birthday Little Bear!

Santa Ana Zoo

We went to the Santa Ana Zoo today. It's a tiny zoo full of monkeys and a few other random animals. The aquarium was a bigger hit with Marek but we still had fun just walking around. His favorite animal were the goats. It is the only animal he squealed at all day.

Entering the zoo. His buddies, Keona and Saxon, are in the background. It was pretty cold...for southern California!

It took him a little while to notice the Emu in front of him, but once he did, he stared at the guy for awhile...

Marek staring at the Emu. Little Keona (background) was over the silly bird.

The Lemur's at this zoo were so FAT. And they kept FEEDING them.

Once again, my camera is WAY MORE FUN then the silly zoo Mom!

Aquarium of the Pacific

Marek and I along with my friend Jeannel and her two kids, Saxon and Keona, went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. I wasn't sure how Marek would handle it. Would he look at the fish? Would he just stare at me the whole time? Would he get bored after an hour?

Well I should have never worried. He LOVED it! LOVED IT! I think I held him up to the glass or over the pools more than he sat in his stroller. He would squeal and screech and jump up and down at each display. I never knew a 5-month-old could be this much fun! I definitely want to take him back. We had such a great time. I thought he was too little for the zoo but after taking him to the aquarium, he'd probably have a blast at the zoo too. Maybe we'll take him to the Santa Ana Zoo for a test run before we take him to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World.

I think Jeannel had to make some noise so Marek would turn around and look at the camera. He was so enthralled with the fish.

He kept bouncing up and down and squealing at the fish!

Me and my little man in front of the tropical fish.

Marek STARING at the fish!

Standing in front of the Shark exhibit. He didn't squeal as much at these guys. I think he knew that he was food to them (probably an appetizer. I would be the main course.).

Posing in front of the Sea Lion exhibit. He looks so tiny in his stroller, but he's actually really tall for his age!

Bath Time!

I love love LOVE giving Marek his bath every night. He's so cute! He plays with his little squirt buddies (ok he just puts them in his mouth and gnaws on them) and SPLASHES all over the place. He doesn't just splash with his arms or his legs, his whole body creates this tsunami of water. Basically I'm soaked after every bath, but I can't get mad. I'm the one who encourages him to splash! I don't want him to be afraid of water or resent his bath time. I want him to look forward to bath time and love water. So far so good...

Some pics of bath time:

Fun-Filled Sick Day

Today was a pretty good day except for that I'm sick. But Marek was such a good kid! He took both of his naps today and didn't fuss before bed tonight. It was like he knew that mommy wasn't feeling well.

Marek has been doing the funniest thing lately. Whenever we stick a camera in front of him he stops what he's doing and starts staring at it. Then he starts to reach for the camera! I'm having such a hard time getting pics of him smiling right now. I'm hoping this is just one of those phases. I love Marek's smile! I want pictures of him smiling again!

What is that silver thing that flashes?

I think I want to grab it and see what it is...

...Yes, I will take that camera from you mom and go play with it. (Better yet I'll see if it'll make a good teether!)

I finally got smart and handed him another toy to play with so I could capture this half smile.

Again, with my crafty thinking in place, a new toy, a new distraction, a brief half smile!

One of Many Girlfriends!

Today was a great day. My friend Melissa came over with her baby girl, Corissa. She's about a month behind Marek so they are pretty close in age, but not size! She's a cute little girl, whereas my baby man is freakishly large (he's already in 9 month clothes!).

So today we headed to Fashion Island to walk around and enjoy the great So Cal weather. But the real fun began when we brought the kids back to my house. We placed the babies on their tummies facing each other and they just started to smile and stare at each other. It was so cute! I think Marek was trying to "catch her" as my father would say. Can't wait to hang out with them again and see what the little ones do next!

Corissa sitting in the mushroom chair for the first time (I think Melissa may be purchasing one soon! :-)).


Marek in the saucer. He LOVES his saucer!