Jack's Official 6 Month Pics

I finally got a chance to get Jack's 6 month pictures today. ;o) He did great and was all smiles. His personality really came through in these. He's such a happy boy. Layla did not want to sit by her big brother...even for a ring pop. So these are the best pictures I could get of the two of them:

And now for sweet baby Jack: 

Jack is 7 Months!

Last month was a VERY busy month for Mr. Jack. He made his first trip to IL...we won't be doing that again for a long time. He cried basically the entire time we were in the car on the way down. And although we decided to drive back in the middle of the night on the way back, he liked to cry then too. We'll go back when he's 10.

I was terrible about the camera while we were down there. Shame on me but I just wanted to enjoy being down there. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of my family and very few of the Bartons. But I did get a VERY special picture of Jack with his Grandma Mary-

And one with Gma and Gpa Barton and our favorite cousins! 

Jack hit one of Mommy's favorite milestones (besides sleeping all night and going on cows milk LOL) this month- sitting on his own! It opens a whole world of possibilities for him now...and I can finally put that big baby down for a few minutes and get some stuff done. ;o)

He is officially going to hate my guts. I can't buy another duck bath...I just can't bring myself to do it. So he gets to use the pink one. Maaaaaybe we should have gone more gender neutral with some of our baby stuff? Oh well...pink is a good color on him. I won't share the photo on Bryan's phone of him in earings, a tiara and necklace until his graduation. ;o) 

Jack still isn't taking a bottle but is doing OK with a sippy. He'll take a few ounces out of it and then wants Mommy...but it's a start. We had to back off on everything for the past 3 weeks because he's been super sick (sleep training, sippy, leaving the house for more than 30 seconds...etc). The first two weeks he had tummy issues and horrible diaper rash...after cutting out all dairy (aka- my favorite food group behind breadsticks) he seems to be better. I can start to slowly reintroduce it to make 100% sure that's what the problem was but since going off dairy, he's been fine. If he has a reaction again then it is no dairy until after he's 1. :( Mommy's heart is breaking but lots of kids grow out of it so hopefully our baby boy will be able to have cheese and ice cream at some point in toddlerhood.

The third week of sickness was a cold...his first real illness. He got it first and gave it to us (thanks bud!). So we've had a miserable last few weeks in the Barton household. I think we are straightened out and hope that month 7 will be healthier and happier for our big guy.

Oh and sleep...let's not forget sleep. Jack has been impossible to sleep train. He goes down like a true sleep champ and if he does need to cry it out, only cries for about 10 minutes. Putting him down is the easy part, getting him to stay asleep is impossible. He's been getting 3-4 naps a day at 15-30 minutes each. This is what he does:

Little stinker! Mommy gets absolutely NOTHING done. And Layla is kind of over it...she keeps telling me "just let him lay in there and cry Mommy" or "I sure hope he sleeps longer than 5 minutes this time". LOL. And yes...those are green and pink sheets. He pooped on his sheets so he got sissy's as a replacement. Again...I can't bring myself to buy new sheets....

For as much trouble as he gives us sleeping, he's making up for it in the eating category. The last few days Jack has decided he wants to feed himself!!

So far he likes avocado, puffs, rice and mum mums. We've tried carrots and banana and he can't seem to really get those in his mouth yet. I can not express what a relief it is to see him eat. I am totally amazed by it every time. Layla NEVER picked up a single piece of food until she was 9 months...and then only ate puffs until she was a year (the rest of the time was baby food and milk). Thank you sweet Jesus for a boy that likes to eat!!!

I still haven't taken his 6 month pictures because I wanted him to be steady on his booty. I was hoping this weekend but it is supposed to rain. Maybe I'll get them before he turns 9 months. Or maybe if he'd nap I'd have more time to get them in an evening. ;o)

Layla's Soccer Pictures

We've had more success with soccer over the last few weeks. Layla loves to participate during practice but is still shy about games. Mostly she just runs around and follows the crowd. Sometimes a ball with bounce off her shoes and she'll just stand there until the kids run away...she just doesn't like to be in the middle of all that action.

I took the team pictures this week. They are so cute and silly:

All the kids did great for their individual pictures. They were such good listeners and loved to make the decision to sit or stand for their pics. All except one...you guessed it...my kid:

And last but not least (my personal favorite):

I can only imagine what her school pictures will look like. I'm having nightmares.