Half a year

Teresa made it to the half year mark and is now coasting to a year old! At six months, Teresa is working on sitting up. She can sit unsupported, but is prone to throw herself backward or just tip to the side. She can lift her tummy up off of the floor and scoot backwards some. She has entered into the world of solid foods with rice cereal. I would like to say she is teething, but so far no teeth, just lots of drool and chomping on anything that comes near her mouth. She likes grabbing things including toys, hair and cheeks. (She can give a pretty powerful pinch!) She likes to smile and laugh, and she still loves her big brother despite his not so gentle ways of playing with her. Her hair has grown out some and she has a nice little spike that won't stay down no matter what you do. (Soon I will have to try attaching bows to it!)
She has a great laugh and generally loves to interact and smile at everyone. She has shown a little stranger anxiety, but not too often. Most often she is our little social butterfly with a smile to light up the room!

Hot Chocolate Milk

Last Friday Troy took Timothy outside to play for a short time. Even though he was out only about 15 minutes, Timothy came in crying because he was so cold. In hopes of distracting him from the tears, I offered some "hot chocolate milk" to help him warm up. (It was really milk with a tad of chocolate syrup and mildly lukewarm at best!) Timothy thought this was great!

Last night we returned home from a dinner out. Troy went out to get the mail and Timothy wanted to go with him. Troy agreed while saying it was very, very cold out and they would not stay out long. A minute or two later they came in the house and Timothy looks at me and says, "My hands are cold. I need some hot chocolate milk to warm them up!"

He is one smart boy and learns quickly. (He got a warm bath instead of hot chocolate milk this time!)

Little skater on the go

I remembered to bring the camera to skating practice today. Here is a short video of Timothy skating with what I call "the pusher."

First Foods and Skating!

I finally picked up some rice cereal and let Teresa give it a try. I would not say it was love at first taste. We tried it again today, however, and she seemed more accepting of the strange substance! The one most excited about the cereal is Timothy. He likes to help feed Teresa and is intrigued that she is eating food with a spoon now.

Trying her first spoonful.

And a skating update...Timothy has been taking "lessons" (lessons in a very loose sense of the word) for about 2 months now. It is amazing what a little practice can do. After the first day, I thought Troy and I were crazy for signing him up. I had no idea how my back would manage several months of holding up an unsteady skater. Well, Timothy can now stand on his own and today skated his longest distance ever. And when he had the help of what I call the"pusher" (a device to hold onto and help keep balance) he skated all around the rink as if he has been doing this for years. And the icing on the cake, he was having fun and loved skating with his buddy Noah. I will call these lessons a definite success!

A man and his machine

Okay--so this may not be the most thrilling video, but for Troy this was a big event. He got to try out the new snow blower the other morning. And I faithfully recorded some of the great event for all to see. (I was cozy warm inside filming out the window!) This was the first time Troy really enjoyed the job of snow removal!