Great Friends and Great Memories

Jeremy and I had our closest friends visit us over a long weekend. We met Scott and Carolina while I was in grad school and they just completed their PhDs in July and came to take it easy before joining the real world working for Big Oil. We had such a great time, ate too much food and maybe drank a little too much. Jeremy and Scott planned the next trip to meet half way between our two cities, and Carolina and I worked on her wedding plans. Carolina ordered some amazing food for all of us at the local Colombian restaurant (hence we ate way too much) and they had the best fried pickles in Charlotte at The Penguin (again we ate too much-kind of the theme of the weekend). A close friend was kind enough to watch Holden for us one evening so we could all go out on the town. And of course, Carolina and I found a way to fit in some shopping.

Carolina also tried to spoil Holden as much as one person could in 4 days. Holden took a liking to Carolina's spanish so we might have to get his some spanish baby music, but it won't be the same as Carolina's sweet voice. We couldn't quite get either of them to change diapers, we were trying to let them get some practice in for when they get ready to have babies, but they weren't taking the bait. There will probably be plenty of Skyping with Holden once they get settled in their new home.

Scott and Carolina are Holden's godparents, so we also had his christening while they were here. Holden was baptized yesterday in the Catholic Church, and was previously baptized in the Nazarene Church. We aren't sure which faith he will gravitate towards as he gets older, but we plan on having a duel faith household so we felt that for our family having two baptisms was fitting. And as much as I have struggled with my own Catholic faith, the baptism was really special and meant more to me than I had expected. It kind of took me aback a little bit during the sacrament.

We hope eventually the four of us will be in closer proximity so we can see each other more than once a year.

5 Months!

Holden is five months old today, we can't believe it. His personality is starting to become more defined. He has started to fight nap time (at home anyway), he doesn't want to miss anything. He's had many visitors this month and had his Catholic Baptism today. We will do a separate post with photos in the next couple of days. We don't have any stats this month, but think he is around 14-15 lbs now. He has started eating some solid food but his palate is limited to rice cereal and sweet potatoes right now, we will be tasting new veggies and fruits in the months to come.

Holden's accomplishments this month:

• He has started babbling and screeching when he is excited
• He is grabbing toys and such and everything goes straight to his mouth
• He has been practicing sitting up but we haven't mastered it yet
• He has expanded his menu to include rice cereal and sweet potato
• He has figured out how to make the jumperoo play music by bouncing
• He follows everyone around the room including the dog and cat

What Holden has done for the first time in July:

• First camping trip and first 4th of July
• Met his grandpa and aunts for the first time and had a great time learning the ways of the world from grandpa
• Met his godparents, Carolina and Scott, got spoiled rotten and had his christening
• Started solid foods

We love you Holden and are having so much fun watching you grow and explore your environment.

My little peanut

Scott and Carolina in spoil modeHow many things can I put in my mouth at one time?

It was just a matter of time

I had my first overnight travel for work this week. I spent the evening in Charleston wining and dining Big Oil. Practicing my business development skills as I had good seafood at the marina isn't such a bad deal. However, it was my first night away from my precious baby boy. Jeremy and Holden got along great without me, which I knew they would. Although, I do feel a little guilty that I wasn't more torn up about having to be away for the night. If I'm honest, a little part of me was even excited to be in Charleston for the evening even if it was for work. I did give Holden lots of hugs and kisses when I returned today to make up for my absence yesterday.

Mr. Giggles

We had some family here over the last few days, Holden's aunts and Grandpa. He got lots of love and attention. We had a great time with family visiting. Holden had his first taste of rice cereal and has become a giggler. We had to share the video below of his giggles.

After about a week of cereal, he is starting to like the idea

Mr. Giggles

Video Wednesday

So we haven't posted a video in a bit but we had to share this one. Holden has a favorite music video, "The Elephant Song" and he talks to the computer when the singer says "elephant".


Here is Holden watching

Kings Mountain

Holden went on his first camping trip this weekend, and had his first Fourth of July. We tested out the new pop-up camper at Kings Mountain state park, which is about 30 miles southwest of Charlotte. This way if Holden didn't take to the outdoors we could easily pack up and head home. However, he did better than we expected. He slept good, enjoyed the fresh air and slept during our hike on Saturday morning. I think this will be the first of many weekend camping trips.

Hanging out with dad waiting for breakfast

Malachi hanging out after our morning hike

Snoozing in the afternoon sun

This is the best picture from the weekend

4 Months

Holden is 4 months old today. He has grown so much since last month. We saw the pediatrician this afternoon and he is 24 inches long and 13 lbs 4 oz. He is in the 20th percentile for his age, so still a little petite but quickly growing. We also got a plethora of vaccines so he is being quite a crab monster tonight. But nothing a good night's sleep won't fix.

Holden's accomplishments this month:

• He smiles and laughs a lot, a generally happy baby I would say.
• He likes to look at his feet, and laughs a lot as the toys that hang on his bouncer and activity mat. He isn't grabbing for toys yet but I'm sure it will happen soon.
• He likes to sit in his bumbo seat and we have explored the jumparoo a little bit (see video below)
• He is starting to pull up with his shoulders and tummy to try and sit up when we are holding him
• He has rolled over tummy to back twice and surprised himself, then started laughing
• He sleeps consistently through the night from around 7:30pm to 6:30am. We are lucky.

What Holden has done for the first time in June:

• Went to the beach for the first time. liked the breeze, didn't like the ocean.
• Hosted his first cook-out with friends

Now for some photos and video