Big Boy Toys

Ayden practically put himself down for his nap this morning and it was glorious. He woke after a half hour, as usual, but fell back to sleep while he nursed afterwards. I just snuggled into the glider and browsed Pinterest while he finished his nap. It brought me back to his newborn days when it would take a good 45 minutes to feed him and he always drifted off to sleep at the breast back then (ha, waaaay back! 6 whole months ago...). I would read on my Kindle, or Facebook, or the like. Though I didn't feel quite as productive then, since I felt like all I did was sit and nurse him all day, I honestly enjoyed every second of it. I'm glad Ayden is on the EASY routine because he always gets full feedings in and is typically in a great mood during his awake time. I will admit, though, on the rare chance that he does fall asleep while nursing these days, I SOAK it up. I never feel more like a mommy than when his warm little body is snuggled up against mine during those fleeting moments. It forces time to slow down. Instead of stuffing diapers while I play with him or even going about the day with him in a wrap or the Ergo, I get to just sit and admire him. His ever growing lashes, his wispy baby hair, his tiny hands and fingernails, all of the little rolls that he's getting. Every inch of him is wonderful.

Since the summer program at the dance studio has started up, Thursdays are pretty busy for us.  We have story time at 11 which gives me enough time to get through my morning routine and him his morning nap before hand. 

Story time fun!

Afterwards, I usually walk over to Whole Foods to pick up the odd bunch of bananas or bag of pecans that we have run out of.  I have to be at the studio by 1:30 to teach so depending on how I feel I either come home and try to catch Ayden's 2nd nap with him or I go straight to my parents house for a little visit before teaching.  Today was a nap day.  Ayden usually falls asleep on the way home from story time and it's hit or miss on whether or not he'll transition from his car seat well enough to continue his nap.  The odds were in my favor today and we snuggled together for a good 30-40 minutes before I had to gather everything I needed to take with us and head out. 

Ayden has come to love the studio!  He likes the music, the mirrors, playing on the hard wood floor (his toys make such wonderful banging sounds there) and watching the girls dance.  He was in a stellar mood the whole time.  My mom has been coming at 3 to hang out with Ayden during my last two classes.  They are hour-long aerobic/flexibility classes and I prefer to do the exercises wth the girls so I can gauge the intensity properly.  I don't want to push them too hard because I'm sitting on my bum so it's nice for her to take care of Ayden so I can focus on my classes.  She got him to sleep for his late afternoon nap and then took over the class for me while I fed him once he woke up.  Mom's are so helpful :).

Playing at the studio :)

When we got home and had our little family reunion, David took Ayden for a bit and this is how I found them:

Ayden has definitely adopted a love of music and I hope that it is always something that will bring him and David together. 

At dinner, Ayden had his usual avocado and also tried a spinach leaf and a couple of chunks of butternut squash.  So far, he has liked broccoli and spinach the best.  I'm not sure what it is about fruit, the squash and even the avocado that makes him make hilarious facial expressions and even cough-type noises as he tries to push it out of his mouth.  Perhaps the flavor is too intense for now?  I think he has liked everything he has tried, because he puts them into his mouth again and again, but the broccoli and spinach stay in his mouth while he happily sucks on them.  We have really enjoyed having him participate in dinner with us!

We've made taking a bath a regular part of Ayden's bedtime routine now.  Its about time since he loves it so much!  He is still having some issues with cradle cap so we weren't fully bathing him too often as that can make it worse.  I've been using coconut oil twice a day lately and it really seems to be helping.  I put a soft lamp in the bathroom and we play relaxing music so it's all part of the wind down ritual as opposed to an exciting bright and playful time.  He still plays but it's a bit more chill than our morning baths used to be.  

My plans for tomorrow are to prep the house for the weekend, meal plan and make our grocery list.  I also have a couple of gift cards so I plan on  getting out into civilization again tomorrow!  One of the gift cards is for $25 to BuyBuyBaby; so I plan on purchasing a new "big boy" toy for Ayden.  I was thinking about getting these wooden Melissa and Doug toys:

$15.99
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$10.99
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For now he'll just enjoy touching and gumming on them but it's never too early to start talking about shapes and colors!  I also just love wooden toys and surprisingly, we don't have very many. 

What was your baby's favorite toy at 6 months old?

~Sarah