Out and About

So Parker has twice now slept "thru the night"... I say that in quotes because every time I hear about sleeping through the night, the definition of night is completely different. I've heard the "average" six month old is waking 2-3 times at night, and capable of sleeping 6+ hours at a time. I don't think Parker is a great sleeper and he sometimes has a hard time even falling asleep. But twice now he has had only one wake up over night, and slept for 8 hours straight. Both times we had spent the entire day outdoors, so now I'm trying to continue that trend!

We spent the day at Old Orchard Mall today and he was such a good boy! Very cheerful and quite the little charmer, flirting with anyone that paid attention to him!

Summer Fun

As it is now early August and school is just around the corner, I figured I should get these pictures off of the camera before summer is over!

Boating with a baby tends to be a little bit difficult, but we have certainly managed a few times this summer! Believe it or not, this chunky baby is still pretty small for a life jacket! It just squishes up on his neck and face and we feel so bad for him! But it's the law and he does pretty well with it. He generally falls asleep as the boat is going fast - the motion and white noise apparently are perfect sleeping conditions. Never mind the waves and the bumpy ride!

We took two weeks of swim lessons mid-July. Unfortunately the time was right in the middle of his morning nap. That meant he was VERY tired during the lessons. The first week was in the mid 90's...the second week had a high of 70! Parker enjoys the water and we have learned some of the foundational skills to learning how to swim. He received a report card at the last lesson and received "needs to improve" in most areas. The learn to swim class is for 6-36 months and Parker had just turned 6 months old. Most of the skills are not developmentally appropriate for him - but there was still a slight cringe to view that negative report card! 

Watching Saturday morning cartoons...

Team spirit for the water fights at Lake Villa days.

Family Portraits

Since I was completing Parker's six month portraits, I figured it would be a great time to get some updated family portraits as well. We met my brother and sister in law at Grant Forest Preserve - I took some family portraits of them, and then Missy helped take the portraits of us. I think they turned out amazing! If only I can convince my husband to do them again in the fall!

And a few new cousin pictures!