Six Months

Six months. What?! How?! Wasn't it just yesterday that your Daddy and I secretly wished they would let us stay tucked safely in the hospital just one more day before we introduced you to this big, wide world?

Wasn't it just yesterday that you were so tiny and sleepy and wrinkly?

Wasn't it just yesterday that we wondered what life would be like with a six month old? Now we are here. "It goes by so fast." That is one of the oldest and most tired parenting cliches, but people say it so often because it is so true.

You are a delightful and happy baby and you smile all the time.

At your six month appointment you weighed 17 pounds and 12 ounces and were 27 1/4 inches tall.

You grab everything. You love sitting up and you will rock into a crawling position. There is no crawling yet, so we are trying to take advantage of the little bit of time we have left before we are parents of a mobile baby.

When it comes to solid foods, you can take it or leave it. Some days you are solidly in the leave it mindset and would prefer to live on milk alone. Since the last check in, we added peas and bananas to the list of solid foods you have tried. It seams that oatmeal and sweet potatoes are still your favorite. We also started giving you a sippy cup with a little water at "meal times." You haven't really mastered the skill of drinking from it, but you think it is a fun toy.

You got your first cold this month. It was heartbreaking to see you feel so poorly. After lots of saline drops, snot sucking, and nights with a cool mist humidifier, you were on the mend and smiling again.

Now that you feel better, you are sleeping a lot better too. We hope this trend continues.

The first six months of your life have been a joy and we are so blessed that we get to be your parents.

Farewell Nanny Cousin

C and I are much too young to relate to the empty nesters whose children have gone off to college. However, with Nanny Cousin L's  departure, we certainly feel their pain. Nanny Cousin was the perfect addition to our household this summer, and with her gone we feel like something big is missing. She loved H like he was her own, and made my transition from maternity leave to work so much easier. C and I liked to joke that we had an adult daughter and a baby boy, but in reality she helped keep the Campbell family trains running and was a close friend to both of us.

When I think about how all the stars aligned for her to live with us, I know that it was guided by divine intervention. Let's take a trip down memory lane and put the pieces together.

Nanny Cousin L and I are first cousins. Not only that, her mom and my mom are identical twins. That makes us super cousins.

Every year our family gathers for a big Thanksgiving celebration that includes the traditional turkey and dressing, an Iron Bowl watching party, and now that we are older, an annual trip to the local bar. A few years ago we were all riding high as our beloved Crimson Tide beat that team that shall not be named. This was one of the last big hurdles before the Tide won the 2009 National Championship. This was cause for a major celebration, so we took the party to a movie and then drinks.

As we walked home a little over-served, I told Nanny Cousin that one day in the future C and I would have a baby and she would come live with us during her summer break and be our nanny.

Fast forward three years. Baby H enters the world in February. My maternity leave ends just after time Nanny Cousin finishes her sophomore year of college. Nanny Cousin wants to get away for the summer. Baby H needs a caregiver. Everyone wins. My wishes have come true.

Her presence was a blessing to our family and all three of us miss her very much. Nanny Cousin, we can't wait for you to come back and visit soon!

 

 

5 Months

Baby H, I am woefully behind on your five month update. This post should really be titled 5 month pictures and 5 and a half month update. Better late than never, right?

At 5 and a half months, you have a lot of new tricks under your belt. First, you are sitting up. You started doing this about a week before July 19, when you officially turned 5 months. At the same time, you started grabbing anything and everything in sight. The days of leisurely enjoying a dinner out with you in your car seat are over. Now, we have to keep you from eating menus, silverware, napkins, bread crumbs, you name it.
 

sitting up tall before your first day of school

You also love to stand. You like to grab our hands and pull up. We even caught you trying to pull yourself up in the crib. Aren't you much to young for this?

Speaking of eating, you started some solid foods. So far you have had rice and oatmeal cereals, sweet potatoes, avocados, and pears. We think you like oatmeal cereal and sweet potatoes the best, but it is really too early to tell.  You still nurse and drink milk from a bottle when we are apart.

yummy cereal

You went swimming for the first time in July. You loved the water and your Daddy and I can't wait for our beach trip later this month.

swimming with Daddy

nap by the pool

Cousin nanny L left to go back to college. She will get her own post soon. We miss her terribly and are so thankful she lived with us and cared for you this summer. You are now spending your days at the day care center at my work. I am grateful that I can pop over and see you during lunch.

playing with new toys at daycare

Sleeping...do you want the good news or bad news first? Unfortunately for your tired parents, you wake up two or three times a night. You go to bed around 7:30 pm and typically wake up around midnight and then again around 4 am. Sometimes you like to wake up another time in between. However, there is a bright side to this. When you stir, it takes no longer than 15 minutes to get you back to bed. Our sleep may be interrupted, but we quickly drift back to dreamland.

It is hard to believe that you will be six months old in just a few weeks!

H's Baptism

May the Lord bless you and keep you;

May the Lord make his face to shine upon you 

and be gracious unto you;

May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

-UMYF Benediction (based on Numbers 6:24-26)

H was baptized on July 15 and it was such a special weekend filled with so much love. Grand Mar and Pappy, Bevie and Papa, Aunt S, and Cousin L joined us for the celebration. 

On Saturday night we had a special dinner where we toasted baby H from the quaich, which was given to us the night before our wedding. The quaich originated in the Scottish highlands, where it was used as a "cup of welcome." Now it is used to toast important life events. We all drank from it and told our hopes for H's future. Together we will work to make sure these hopes will be met; we will make sure that H has a "happy and healthy life," that he "works to make the world a better place," that he "laughs often," that he "has a sense of adventure and sees the world," and that "he loves God with all his heart and his neighbor as his self." 

Baptism is a sacrament; an act of God's grace. We are blessed to be part of a wonderful church family that has opened their arms to H and welcomed  him into the community of faith. We are even more blessed to serve a God who claims us all as his own.

H reached out and grabbed Rev. Charlie's hands
during the blessing of the water. It was so sweet.

A member of the congregation always walks the  babies
back to the altar to welcome the child to the community of faith

With Rev. Jimmy

Family brunch

Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue

Happy 4th of July! May your beer stay cold and your barbecues hot.

M - I - Double S - I - Double S - I - P - P - I

I am a Mississippian by marriage. Prior to meeting C, I knew very little about the mirror-image state to the west. Its only novelty was a spelling that included crooked letters and humpbacks. 

In the 11 years I have known C, I have come to really appreciate the Magnolia state. Its people are creative, kind, and generous. Beyond that, there is another common thread that weaves them together -- Mississippians love their home state. Love. There is a belief God created the Heavens and the Earth. Just before he rested on the seventh day, he said, "let me make something extra special." That something special: Mississippi. 

Every year, displaced Mississippians from our region gather to celebrate at Mississippi on the Mall. They may no longer live within its borders, but they still call it home and love it just as deeply. With plates full of catfish and cups full of cold beer, it is hard not to feel like you're really there. 

This year we took H to help him get in touch with his southern roots. 

We saw friends.

Grand Mar's visit coincided with the celebration.

Even our North Carolina cousins joined the action. 

H is now ready for his inaugural trip to the South in August.

4 Months

Happy child, you are 4 months old and you have lots of new tricks. You like sitting in your Bumbo chair and you have found your toes. You love to stand and stomp your feet, kick and talk, and you rolled over from your tummy to your back. It has only happened twice, but we wait with baited breath during tummy time to see you do it again.

You love ceiling fans, Sophie the giraffe, and really anything that you can put in your mouth.


Bath time is one of our favorite times of day. You have learned how to splash and you delight in getting your Mama and Daddy wet. You also love going outside. We have already logged many hours on the back deck this summer.

You weigh 14 pounds 10 ounces and are 25 3/4 inches long. 

This month you made the big transition from the pack and play in our room to the crib in your own bedroom. However, your favorite place is still in Mama and Daddy's bed while we get ready for work in the morning. You sleep hard when you get to be the little prince in the big bed.

I am afraid that we have entered the "four month sleep regression" stage. Seasoned parents told me about this phenomenon when I was bright-eyed and boasting of full nights sleep. We will keep our fingers crossed for a quick transition back to the land of sweet dreams. Well rested or not, we are so grateful for the joy you bring to our family.