He's not a newborn anymore!

The little man of the house is almost 6 months old. Bill and I say it every day... "I can't believe how big he's getting!" We continue to be amazed at all the new little things he's picking up and learning. How do babies just learn certain things, anyway??? It's pretty incredible!

Now that I'm on summer break from school, I can really enjoy my time with little Drew. I love waking up and spending every day with him. His morning coos and babbles are the best alarm clock ever! I have to admit, at first it was a little weird, because I wasn't used to being with him all day, and I found myself getting a little frustrated. He's not the little newborn that he was when I was on maternity leave. I laugh at myself, because I thought it was SO hard when I was on maternity leave. Hubby went back to work and I was left with a little 2 week old. Ha! That was sooo easy compared to having a 5 month old. Ahhh, the days when he would sleep the whole day away and I could watch all my TV shows and lounge around all day with a newborn snuggled up against me. He took forever to breastfeed, so I was guaranteed an hour to watch TV, or take a little snooze, for the first few months until I went to pumping exclusively.

You can imagine my confusion when I started summer break, thinking that I would have ALL this time to clean the house, take a nap, get some sun, or (gasp!) watch TV. I quickly came to the realization that the times have certainly changed since Drew was a little newborn. He's now an infant who wants to be entertained all day long! Once I figured out his "schedule", it made things easier for me. I'm still adjusting, but it seems to be getting better with every passing day.

Good Morning! 

A typical day in the Pantuso household, you might ask?

6ish- Drew wakes up (Although he has surprised us with a few 4am wake-up calls over the last week). Diaper is changed and baby is fed.

7ish- I pump (I am trying to quit breastfeeding because I am annoyed at being tied to the pump. My goal is to get him to the 6 month mark, but I don't know if I can make it!!!)

7:30-9ish- Entertain the baby (and hopefully scarf down some breakfast for myself!) Entertaining the baby usually consists of rotating "stations"... I always try him in the big brown chair first, with some toys... then the jumperoo, the playmat, taking him for a morning stroll, sitting outside on the patio (he loves it outside), the bouncer, or just laying him on the ottoman and tickling him and making silly faces.

9ish-11ish (hopefully!)- Feed, diaper change, and a nice, long morning nap (usually about 2 hours) for Drew and mommy! Most of the time I can't sleep during this time, so I get a little housework done... or watch a show that I've recorded on DVR.

11-4- Repeat the entire cycle again until hubby gets home and takes over and mommy gets a little break!

4ish-6:30- Drew's time with daddy

6:30-7- Baby food! So far he's tried only veggies and he eats them like a champ: Sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas, and green beans. Next up... fruits!

7ish- I pump again (will be so glad when I am done with that!)

7:30- Bath time

8:00- Swaddle the baby and either hubby or I put him to bed for the night.

Feed me! 

Drew is such a good eater! He really loves solids. The only veggie that he hasn't really liked so far is peas, but he still ate them. He opens his mouth wide for every bite and gets really upset when the bowl is empty. I'm really surprised that he has taken to it so well, since we started him early. I just felt like he was ready. He shows so much interest in what we are eating and wants to reach for everything. He just wants to be a big boy and eat at the dinner table with mommy and daddy!

He's still sleeping really good, other than waking up a handful of times around 4am. He takes a really good morning nap, and will take several 45 minute naps later in the day too. We are really lucky that he sleeps so well. I take it for granted that I have the opportunity to sleep 8 hours every night!

We've started being able to get him laughing too, which is hilarious! We just have to do something repetitive over and over again and he just giggles like crazy. My latest thing is getting really close to him and saying "You're so silly!" and he just laughs it up! He also laughs when Bill blows raspberries on his belly. I love hearing his little laugh. He's such a happy little guy.

He hasn't mastered rolling over from his back to his belly yet, but I attribute that to his big head. He's almost there though... he gets about 3/4 of the way, but gets his arm stuck. I think he'll be rolling over from front to back any day now. Same thing with sitting on his own. He's almost there... it's just all that weight in his head tips him over! :)

One thing he is doing really well is bearing weight on his legs. He loves being lifted high in the air and set down on his legs. He is so strong! I keep telling Bill that he'll be standing before he crawls!

Up, up, and away! 

Strong legs

We also celebrated Andrew's first Fourth of July this past week. Bill had to work, so I took the baby over to my parents' house for a few hours. Drew loves all of his grandparents, and of course entertained us thoroughly. I was so glad my sister was there too. She doesn't get to see her nephew too often these days because she is living and working in Ann Arbor.

I was so afraid the baby would be woken up by all the fireworks by our house. Our neighbors love their fireworks and light them off at all hours of the night. This is great for Bill and I, because we can sit out on our back patio and enjoy the show. There were some really loud ones that shook our house, but Drew slept through the entire thing. What a great baby!

Our all-American baby, just chillin' 

Laughing at Auntie Dez

Hanging out on the back deck with Sito and Auntie Dez

Gramps tired me out!

I know I say it every time I blog, but seriously, we are so, so, SO blessed to have our little guy. This summer will bring some fun firsts, and I'm so excited to see how he handles it all!

With Bill's Aunt Beth 

My lil' monkey

So happy!

Being fed by daddy for the first time

Going for a stroll!