Hello summer!

Whew! Summer has arrived. And although the break from school does not mean my school teacher husband Derek is completely free as a bird -- as so many people seem to think is the case -- summertime does bring a certain level of relaxation to our usual schedule.
Derek is involved in a number of classes/conventions/presentations/trainings/side jobs this summer, but we are also making room for some family fun in our lives. Hopefully I'll occasionally take a break from playing to post about our days. :)

Memorial Day

Taking flowers to the cemetery is such a wonderful tradition -- and one we've not done regularly in far too long. It was great to meet up with my parents and my great Aunt Patty and Uncle Dan to reflect on the Petty side of the family that Saturday.

Sunday was spent with Derek's family after church at a dinner in Pine Valley. Unfortunately, I was getting sick and ended up staying in bed all day Monday so that part of the holiday was less than exciting. It's never fun to have to turn down invites to holiday BBQs.

Grandpa Frank Petty. We miss you!

Lydia in her new favorite place to hang out -- Cedar City Grandpa's new VAN!

Patty Petty Magleby -- I love this lady!

Swimming lessons

Lydia is now half-way through her level one swimming lessons. It is so cute! She's starting to get more comfortable with putting her face in the water and even though the pool temperature is actually REALLY cold right now (all the kids are constantly shivering) she seems to be having fun.

For me, sitting at the pool watching her take swimming lessons feels like the epitome of what I imagined/hoped stay-at-home-mom life would be. No idea why that kind of thing was always in my head. Thankfully I was able to get a taste of that dream every day this week -- even on the days I had to work. Hooray for a flexible schedule at work so I can go in late  :) 

Coming up after putting her face in the water

Getting a feel for kicking

Monkey crawl along the wall

Excited to get back there, even on day 3

My little side kick. We enjoyed hanging together in the shade

Big news

OK, it's not that big -- and it has nothing to do with pregnancy of any kind (certainly not Lydia's, but I get such a kick out of that picture). However, there have been some big-ish things going down at the Larson house.



Teeth

Connor's first tooth broke through (Bottom center left. No picture yet). Teeth are a bitter sweet thing for me, and not just because he's already tried them out while nursing. Ouch!
No, teeth marks the end of the gummy smile era, and therefore I had to quickly document some great gummy smiles before they are no longer.

Six months. Who, me?

Connor celebrated his half birthday on May 2. Six whole months! Where did the time go? This is such a cute stage (aren't they all?).
So far he is rolling front-to-back and back-to-front, sitting up with the help of a Boppy pillow (not yet sitting on his own) and he is very into reaching for things. My favorite is when he reaches to touch my face. He seems to love feeling my cheeks and my mouth as we talk to each other. It is so sweet!

Stats

Weight: 16 pounds 9 ounces (33 percentile)

Length: 27 1/4 inches (81 percentile)

Head: 16.7 cm (18 percentile)

Sitting up with support. He loves it!

This is one of the last times he was swaddled with an arm in. Since he's rolling so much, he now gets both arms out and is still sleeping well. Whew!

Two (four) wheels
While at the park, Lydia's friend Avery let her borrow her big girl bike. I wasn't sure Lydia would be able to ride on two wheels yet (even with training wheels) but after a moment of figuring out the pedals and the brakes, she was off, biking around like a pro. I was so proud! Looks like we have a good idea for what to do for her birthday in a few months -- or, if Grandma gets her way, even sooner :)

Spooning

Tonight we gave Connor his inaugural bowl of rice cereal. Such a landmark, and it moves him even further up the ladder from baby to big boy. He did pretty well, even though he was a little tired. The time may not have been ideal but we wanted to do it when Derek and I could both be there to participate in the milestone. Connor seemed to enjoy the food. I imagine we'll get some more smiley pictures in the next few days when it's not the end of the day. 

Hmmm... what's this?

Pretty good...

He already wants to help

Naturally Lydia wanted a turn to do the feeding, so as soon as Connor vacated the high chair, "Squishy Baby" had her turn.