Happy Half Birthday - 6 Months of Fun!

6 Month Update - Development & Milestones

I've said it and I will say it again, I can't believe it has been 6 months already since our sweet baby was born. 1/2 of a year! It went by so, so fast.

Asher is so much more lively and interactive now than ever before. He is happy all day and lets us know with a huge, as John would say, "Kool-Aid grin" that stretched from ear to ear. He laughs, he plays, he is curious... and he is so smart!

SIGN LANGUAGE UPDATE - 6 Months

Asher is now signing:

Dog

Milk

Up

Eat

More

We have seen glimpses of...

Cereal

Mama

Dada

Water

He gave up on:

Banana 

Carrot

I have now introduced these new signs:

Diaper

Change

Sleep

Sleep Clothes aka Pajamas

Train

Airplane

Car

Ball

Bath

Pacifier/Binky

Play

SIGNING IN USE...

The other night, I had to change Asher's diaper after having already put him to bed. While on the changing pad, he signed "milk". I wouldn't have otherwise given him any since he had just eaten, but once I did he ate the whole thing! This is just amazing to me and really solidifies our desire to continue with baby signing.

Here's a video of our little signer showing off his skills signing "dog" when he sees and hears the pugs during his pictures this morning...

MILESTONES @ 6 MONTHS

• Asher can now sit without using his hands for support (still topples over after a minute or so).
• Crawling "inchworm" style, still, only he is now making more progress in terms of moving across the floor. He can't yet lift his belly and support himself on his hands and knees, but once he figures that out - watch out! He'll be unstoppable.
• Sounding out "brrrr", "thhh", "deh", "meh", and blowing spit bubbles. I swear I heard "mama" and "dada" tonight but it may just be wishful thinking. ;) I DID hear "eee-ooo" while he was trying to  do peek-a-boo and I'm pretty sure he wants to say "doggy" so badly!
• Can drink from a sippy cup (but loses his grip within a few seconds). Just a tiny bit of water with his "crackers" (which I then discovered "may contain milk or soy" - oops - so I made homemade ones and will share the recipe soon. They also said they contain "organic flavor"? What the heck is "organic flavor"??? I am getting crunchier by the minute...)

Half-birthday onesie from Kakabaka on Etsy.

TEETHING UPDATE

We are still on "tooth watch"! Nothing yet, but lots of crankiness in the evenings, so something must be moving around in there. We've got a close eye out for anything breaking through...

We've been giving Asher 2-3 Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets in his bottles whenever he seems to be experiencing teething pain. We also picked up some BabyGanics Teething Pods which I have only had to break out once and it really seemed to have helped a lot. 

SOLID FOOD UPDATE

Asher loves solid foods! He loves them so much that he will only drink half his usual amount of milk in the mornings and is extra finicky with bottles now. I had to start giving him brown rice cereal (against my original plan) so that I could mix more milk into his solids to thicken everything up.

It's been about 2 weeks now that he has been eating brown rice cereal and over the past week or so we have seen an onset of mild eczema on his face, arms, legs, and chest. I am not sure if this is related to the rice cereal or the introduction of stage 2 baby foods (which have multiple ingredients in them) so I am going to be doing some backtracking to stage ones and hopefully I can figure out what is causing this issue. Our city has also made changes to the water recently and it smells like awful chlorine now, so maybe it could be related to that... It's so frustrating! His next doctor's appointment is just around the corner, so unless the skin issue takes a turn for the worse before then, we'll address it then.

POSTPARTUM UPDATE

My hair is still shedding like crazy - when does this stop?!?! Otherwise, things are pretty much back to normal, for the most part. Thank goodness!

Giving Suki the "stink eye". :)

Happy Half-Birthday to our ENERGETIC little jumping bean. He is so sweet and loving but he is also showing signs of never ending ENERGY! Those feet - they just go and go and go. We have our work cut out for us with this one, I think. Oh and that mischievous smile... Yes, we are in trouble. 

We love you baby Asher! 

Don't tell Daddy, but now it is time to start planning your 1-year birthday...

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Photos with Baby Marley

Today, baby Marley and her mommy, Nancy, came over to take some photos while both her and Asher's daddys were outside working on John's boat. We were totally content indoors in the cool a/c while the guys were melting in the Florida heat.

While I snapped picture after picture of this little beauty, baby Asher watched happily from his Rock 'n Play. Both he and Marley were such great sports throughout the whole process! There was hardly a tear all day from either of the little ones, and that is saying something! I was excited to get some extra practice in on some of the new backdrop items I recently purchased and Nancy was just as excited to get some photos of her little angel.

Marley was such a pleasure to take pictures of and she is just so darn cute and photogenic!

After the mini "photo shoot", both babies fell fast asleep. I'm telling you, we couldn't have planned the whole thing better. So, while the "models" rested, Nancy and I whipped up some Carrot Margaritas as featured on Cupcakes and Cashmere. I know, it sounds like a strange recipe - but they turned out awesome. I didn't have red pepper flakes, only ground red pepper which worked just fine with a tiny sprinkle on top. It finished it off with the perfect 'kick'. We even brought a few to the guys who were still working diligently outside in the heat. How they can be outside for more than a few minutes (hours!) in this weather, I will never know. We had a fun time connecting with "mommy-talk" while the babies finished up their naps.

Oh - and I will deny any allegations of using a baby bottle to measure the correct ounces of liquor. ;)

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The Zarski Household Update

This week is flying by and Asher is getting bigger and bigger with each passing day. We're out of almost all of our 3-6 month clothes now. I need to do some serious closet pruning. It's so tempting to buy new, cute clothes in bigger sizes, but knowing that he will only be in them for 2-3 months at the most helps keep my debit card in my wallet and my eyes away from Zulily. We've got so many things already that should last him awhile longer, thanks to our wonderful baby shower gifts and a plethora of outfits from both Grandmas in a range of sizes. They love spoiling him!

We're not quite crawling yet, but I'm sure any day now Asher is just going to take off across the living room. He "inchworm" crawls and sometimes moves in a circle or backwards.

In light of this quickly approaching development, I was able to talk John into letting me get a new rug for our living room. I found a great one on overstock.com that matches almost too well. It came yesterday! I also put away the baby swing that we haven't used in months and our living room looks so much bigger now! It's crazy how such a small change can really brighten up a room.

Suki likes to incessantly LICK the couch, so we have to protect it with a million throw blankets to avoid wet spots everywhere. Pugs are weird. I'm also going to replace the pillows and throws with ivory ones to keep the focus on the rug. Thanks to my sis, April, for the suggestion! :)

I also finally got around to covering all of our outlet plugs with safety covers. Yay! Next is the cabinet safety latches, but we still have a little time for those. They require some drilling, it looks like, so I'll be recruiting John for some help there. You don't want to see what I can do with a drill.

After our disastrous doggy-poo incident (happened twice more after that first morning, yuck!), I took Sumo to the vet and it turns out his gastrointestinal issues are stress-related. Our furry friend seems to still be upset from his recent boarding and/or still having a hard time adjusting to Asher having taken away some of his attention from Mommy (that's me!). I'll admit that I haven't been paying enough attention to him since we first brought Asher home, so I am making it a priority to give him some extra love. I've been getting him more involved when I am sitting with Asher, too, so that he warms up to him - and it's working! He's been letting Asher pet him more than ever and has been licking him like crazy (he likes to search out delicious dried hypoallergenic spit-up; but who can blame him? Yum!).



We have a new sleep routine going on due to some serious growing! I put Asher down around 7:30pm and he is up like clockwork between 10:30 and 11 for a bottle. It coincides with John getting home from work, so I almost wonder if Asher has recognized that pattern and wants to see his daddy. (Too much "crazy mommy" on that one? My baby is a genius? Sorry.) He'll stay up for about 45 minutes or so and then is back down until around 8:00am. I'm happy that we're getting that extra bottle in and also that he gets to see his dad a little more! When wedding season starts to taper off soon, he'll get more daddy time during the day with John not having to spend so much time at our shop.

I snapped this is NC on our vaca, but he has picked the habit back up starting a few days ago.
{ Love the Honest Co. dipes, BTW. Post to come soon on that. }

While on the sleep subject, Asher has started sleeping on his side, which is going to be a tremendous help for correcting his "flat head". This morning, though, he woke up with extremely puffy eyes! From a quick Google search, it seems pretty normal for when they start sleeping on their tummies/sides and should resolve quickly, but I am going to keep a close eye and definitely mention it to the doctor at our next appointment. Has anyone else had this happen?

The swelling had started to subside at this point, (like 1 hour after waking, but you can still see it a little on his right eye. :(

I've been gathering ideas for 6 month (half birthday!!) photos of Asher. So far I am thinking of having him wear a denim overall outfit with no shirt underneath for one outfit, a cute Mudpie chevron and giraffe coverall that I purchased before he was born (perfect fit now!), a onesie/leg-warmer from Kakabaka on Etsy, and of course some bare-bottomed baby pics :). I have my eyes on the CUTEST newsboy set with vest, bow-tie, and hat, but can't justify spending $75+ on a one time wear outfit. I'll have to save that sort of thing for 1 year pics. Maybe I'll just get the hat. And bow-tie. And vest. Ha! Any cute ideas? I'm all ears!

I'm kind of excited, I am going to attempt a semi-pro photo shoot with him on my own... we'll see how it goes and if I'm not pleased I'll have our photog. on speed dial. :) I'm sure we'll try to fit in a session with her anyways, but I'm going to challenge myself to get some professional looking photos on my own. I've ordered a 5 in 1 reflector because I think even lighting is one of the things I am missing when I don't use a flash, but I LOVE the look of natural light. I also have been looking at backdrops and some other fun props... I'm going to try and get a post together showing my "behind the scenes" with tips for taking pics yourself and FINALLY getting together some info on photography including my equipment, tips, etc. So look out for that in about a month!

We've introduced sweet potatoes now and all seems to be going well! I really need to get to the grocery store and pick up some more of those Happy Baby and Sprout food pouches. We're doing great with the stage 1 pouches right now and bananas are easy enough to mash up in the mornings, so I'll wait to make homemade baby food that until the "fun" combinations can begin!

So that's our week so far and now I need to stop procrastinating, for real! As usual, here are some more cute pics! :)

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Why My Angel-Baby Scares the Crap Out of Me

My baby is an angel. No, really. Yes, he has his moments like all babies do. But he sleeps through the night 99.9% of the time. 12 hours +, people. He's happy everyday. He smiles at everyone. He patiently waits while I prepare his bottles (sometimes). He sits happily in my lap when I am watching TV or eating or working on the computer. He cries maybe 3 minutes a day on average. No, I'm not bragging. Read on.

I'm telling you this because I am scared #$%*less to ever have another baby because you know that ISH ain't happenin' twice! Since having a baby, we've now been exposed numerous horror stories from other parents who've had difficult babies. Babies who had colic and cried all day or babies who would not sleep. There have been a few nights when our little guy has woken up for an hour at 4am and just a handful where he has woken a second time and I am an absolute sleep-deprived zombie the next day! Even with our sleeping champ, my house is currently a disaster and I still have a hard time keeping up with daily duties like laundry. How in the world would I handle a baby who wakes up multiple times a night or does not go back to sleep or cries and cries and cries???

Let me back myself up a bit. I feel like I have 3 kids already in some ways. I have 2 pugs that are so high maintenance, they are like children. Ok, I'm slightly exaggerating; but at least combined they are like one child. They are allergic to anything and everything, so we have to homemake food for them and heat it up twice a day. Luckily, John can make and freeze large batches once a week at the restaurant. If they don't get their homemade meals, they start losing their hair and smelling really, really bad. The grass makes them itch so they poo on the porch - yay. They have been to the vet more than Asher has been to the pediatrician in the past 5 months. They always have ear infections and even need a special shampoo. They try to eat anything of Asher's, so I have to make sure to move all of his things to an unreachable-by-pugs spot before leaving the room with him. The get into the bathroom trash at least 3 times a week even though it's gated off (I need to get a trash with a lid in there... it's on my list.) And here's the real kicker - they randomly get fits of vomiting and diarrhea such as this morning when I let them out of their cage only to release poo-covered dogs to go running through the house. That's right - think mop, vacuum, mop again, the disposal of two rugs, and some serious dog baths before Asher's morning bottle. I think it was a test of my patience and strength. I hope I passed.

We haven't been talking about expanding our cozy little family any time soon. I never imagined stopping at one, though. I feel like Asher might be lonely without a sibling to play with or grow up alongside. I grew up the middle girl of three girls, and we had our fights and your normal familial disagreements that may or may not have gotten physical from time to time, but we have so many wonderful memories with each other. We text or talk to each other almost everyday. We share silly jokes that no one else gets. We're there for each other when we need advice or just to vent. I would hate for Asher to miss out on that.

In all honesty, I know its something we could handle, either way; we would make it work like so many have done before. Every baby is a blessing, even the difficult ones. Maybe we are blessed to have had our first be easy so that we can settle into this new life and all the changes that come along before having our world flipped upside down by a little night partier. I mean, at least we have most of the basics down and know some of what is coming our way. Praise-worthy parents who have been there can assure that you find ways to adjust, you learn to make it work. And, yes, those early days do pass and these are only short stages that do not last a lifetime. In fact, they pass more quickly than you can even imagine. That still doesn't ease my anxiety that we may down the road end up with a tiny little tornado that keeps us up all night or drives us to invest in earmuffs. It makes me happy that we are in no rush to add another to our roster. Or maybe we will pull our chips while we're still ahead and our magical number will just be one.

Have any of you dealt with a difficult baby or was there a big difference between your babies' temperaments? Pin It Now!

Asher, My Partner in Crime

SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO SMILE!

Asher was my partner in crime today - and Daddy got a laugh when he came home from work to see a giraffe driving his boat. I guess we both just felt like being a little silly!

Sidenote - My neighbors officially think I'm nuts, running outside with a huge blowup giraffe and taking pictures from our driveway. 

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Happy 4 Months, Baby Asher!

At this rate, we soon won't be calling you 'Baby Asher' anymore!

At 4 months old, you are rolling over from back to tummy and vice versa all by yourself. You make all kinds of sounds and when you're on your swing you "talk" to the monkeys spinning around overhead. You are sleeping 12 hours a night which makes mommy and daddy very happy and rested people! You  LOVE your little plush giraffe, "Sophie". You also love your pacifier, playing on the iPad, watching musical nursery rhymes on YouTube, having Doggies read to you and Goodnight Moon, watching your Signing Time DVD, and getting your diaper changed! You are always playing with or eating your hands, which can get very messy at times. You even have started "fake coughing" when you want all eyes on you! You little booger!

You are such a momentous joy - our happy, delightful baby. Even when you have moments of fussiness, we still love you more than is even imaginable.

Happy 4 months, little Asher! We love you!!!

The older teddy bear in some of the pictures from our 4 month old photo shoot today was John's bear when he was a baby. John's mom surprised John with it before Asher was born. I can't believe how great of condition it was still in! Asher will love him just as much as John once did, I'm sure.

The monthly onesies were a baby shower gift purchased from Etsy.

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Mommy, Daddy, Baby Picture Comparison

Who Does Baby Asher Look Like?

Who does Asher look most like?
	Mommy
	Daddy
pollcode.com free polls

Since the day Asher was born, all everyone keeps saying is how much he looks like John. It's true, you can see a lot of John in him - his nose, his hair, his skin tone... I was starting to wonder if this child got any of my features! So, I dug up some old baby pictures of John and myself and did a comparison with pictures of baby Asher. To my and everyone else's surprise, he looks a lot like me as a baby! Maybe even more so than John...? ;) 

From certain angles, he is all John. From other angles, he is all me. He really does seem to be the perfect mix of mother and father. He has Daddy's blue eyes and Mommy's plump lips. He has Daddy's strawberry blonde hair and boyish charm. He has Mommy's devilish grin. Lol, I don't know about that last one, but I am happy to see that he takes at least a little after me. 

Here's my "Mommy-Daddy Comparison Chart" so that you can see for yourself. I can only hope he doesn't end up with my monkey-esque ears! 

(click image to enlarge)

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