Today my baby is OVER six months old. Yesterday he turned 6 months. On Wednesday night I was clinging to the fact that it was his last night being 5 months old. I truly feel as if time is just slipping through my fingers like sand. I love him so much it is ridiculous. I am in wonder of him. He is just an amazing person. I find it fascinating how quickly their personalities shine through. I wrote a bit about this on facebook yesterday but I will mention it again. He is so very brave and courageous. I see it in him every day. If he wants something he goes for it. He thinks about the consequences later, like falling over while sitting up. 
He normally sits supported by his own hands, yet he always wants to play with something while sitting. He just goes for it. Lets go with one or both hands to grab for his toy. I am always there to catch him right now, but he just goes for it and will take the tumble, as long as he gets his toy. I know that I am in trouble very soon as he starts moving. He is going to be in everything. And honestly, that is ok. I want him to explore and develop his curiosity.
Speaking of that, yesterday was his last time at Level 1 Gymboree class. Next Thursday he begins Level 2! Yikes! I think it will be fun though, even during his adjustment period. I think we will learn a lot of fun things to try out at home.
Being a mom is hard and tiring work. No doubt about that. I feel more exhausted now than I did in the beginning. He has been sleeping through the night lately but yet I am always utterly exhausted at the end of the day. Because we do so much more now.
I am pretty sure he has started posing for photos with me. He does this move in a few lately lol
Our days are filled with adventure. I love it. I feel so accomplished at the end of the day. I spent the day helping my little man grow, explore, develop, and learn. I have always wanted to be a mom. Playing house was my most favorite game as a little girl. I would dream of how great it was. But I never imagined it would be this amazing. Hard, tiring, amazing, wonderful, lovely, messy, worrisome, all of those in one huge bundle of awesome. I wouldn’t change a thing. Like I mentioned in my last post, I am totally satisfied with our life right now. It has been crossing my mind a lot lately, how blessed I am to honestly feel satisfied and content with life!
On a totally different note. Mosquitoes have been cramping my style lately. I am itching, pun intended, to go for a run. However, where we live, in Lake County, the mosquitoes have been ridiculous. I was outside for about 3 minutes the other day at 2pm. I tried to take Jack swimming in his splash pool. I was swarmed! I counted at least ten brand spanking new bites! I rushed him back inside. I want to go running but the area where I run is very woodsy and there are several yards along the way I know are prone to flooding AND I run around the lake. All a perfect storm for the little bloodsuckers. So I haven’t been getting out there. I have been doing my SHAPE dvd. It is what it is. I miss the runs but I cannot put him at risk with the bites or myself really since I nurse him. It is going to be time very soon for me to look into getting a membership somewhere. First it was the out of control heat and now it is these bugs. Fall will be here soon enough and that should be nice. There are a couple 5ks I plan to do with Jason and Jack. How fun, family runs!
So here is to the next 6 months, which I am sure will fly by even quicker than the first. Sometimes I cannot believe how quick one single day flies by! We are movin and shakin towards his 1st birthday!
Nicole M. VandeBoom 
I hear you on the mosquitoes! We are good friends with our neighbors and often sit on their patio or have a bonfire in our front yard….well, my legs look like I have the chicken pox. So unattractive! I literally have 8 visible bites on my left foot. GRRR!
Anyway, I was curious – I know Gymboree is a child’s clothing store but what classes do they offer? And is it the same store or something entirely different? What do you and Jack do there?
Well they are the same company. I do not know which one came first lol BUT The classes are not at the same location as the clothing store. It is a totally different location. Their websites are even different. The classes are actually called Gymboree Play & Music. They go from 0-5 years old. This first level we were in we played nursery rhyme games, sang songs, vision tracking games, did body awareness, texture awareness, tummy time, etc with the babies. I hear level 2 is a lot more active. In Level 1 the lights are dim and the music is like you are getting a massage at a spa. HAHA Level 2, lights are on bright and the music is bumpin’! So it is focused on more movement building skills. Each level is based on that age group and what tasks they should be developing. It is basically Early Childhood Education. They also have open gym where you can come to just play. They have art, music, and sports classes too. We are not ready for any of those options just yet. Maybe open gym after a few of the Level 2 classes. I have found that Level 1 was so helpful for home play time. I play a lot of the games with him at home too. I also used some of their tummy time tricks at home, which I think helped him to get over his hatred of tummy time a bit quicker. Now he loves tummy time. Sometimes he doesn’t want to be held and wants to go on the floor to play with his toys! I am in love with the whole company. I love the classes and the clothing. I don’t have even one bad thing to say about either. He loves his teacher, Miss Rachel. He wanted nothing to do with me on Thursday, every time he heard her voice he would snap his head in her direction and stare and smile at her.
Jackson had a hard time with the classes at first. He was very grumpy usually. Well, what do you expect from a 7 week old baby though? BUT everyone there never made me feel awful. I was always encouraged. He was always encouraged. Even if he screamed through all of tummy time they told him what an amazing job he did. I think it also helped me to learn how to handle when he freaks out a bit better. Instead of being home alone for 12 hours a day if he was grumpy I would be out in public with other people who have kids and know that THIS IS NORMAL! I highly recommend their programs. I am excited and sad about starting Level 2 on Thursday. Sad because it means he is growing up….sigh….
That sounds great! good to know! thanks for sharing! 🙂