So yeah, we're really bad about getting regular updates posted, but for those who have waited patiently- here's another one. Carter will be 6 months old 1 week from today. It's amazing how quickly the time has flown by. It just doesn't seem like he should be half way to a year yet. Of course sometimes I feel like I already have a 1 yr old on my hands.
He has started to do some crawling- although he's by no means an expert yet. But he can get where he's going given enough time. He'll also walk across the room if you hold him by the hands. I don't think he'll take off on that by himself for a little while though. He can't keep his balance very well, because when he wants something, he just lunges for it- he's not big on staying in one place.
The biggest development is that I have started doing elimination communication with him. What that means is that after naps and feedings and periodically throughout the day, I take him to the potty. He picked up on it right away and after just a couple days we cut our diaper usage in half! It hasn't quite been 2 weeks yet, but he knows what to do now when I take him in to the bathroom and he doesn't really care for having a wet diaper anymore. I have some training pants coming in next week, so at that point we'll only use diapers at night and when we're traveling, or if we leave him with a babysitter (which includes Ryan- he's still learning :P ).
Other than that he's just growing like a weed. We've managed to keep him in 9 month clothes for the last few months and he fills them out pretty well, but we're starting to use some 12 month clothes too. Still hasn't dropped off the 90% curve for his height and it shows. He's tall just like his daddy. That's also his favorite word- daddy. He's been saying it now for almost a month and still no signs of him saying mommy or mama. :(
He still eats like a Herman- not really anything so far that he won't eat. He's just getting used to textures though, which he didn't much care for at first, but he likes putting little dissolving finger foods in his mouth now and chewing them.
Clearly our lives revolve around the baby, but I guess I could mention the adults of the family too. Ryan's been doing really well with his second job. For those who don't know about it, he's a financial advisor in a company called Primerica. It's a part time thing right now, but he'd love to be able to go full time. He helps family's through life insurance, investments, and debt management. The company doesn't advertise, it's all done through referals, so if you know someone who could use his help just let him know (although right now he's only licensed in TN).
As for me, life as a stay-at-home mom is going pretty well. For the many who keep asking, no, I haven't done any painting recently. Aside from just being busy with a child that refuses to stay in one spot, I in general don't think it's a good idea to use my lead based oil paints while taking care of said child. So the only chance I get to do stuff like that is when Ryan's around, but he's out most evenings. And now with football season kicking off, Sundays are taken too. :P But I have been able to get some drawing done, purely for fun though. I've had a few free-lance jobs come my way over the past several months which helps bring in some funds and keeps me from going completely insane by having some interaction with the outside world. I guess the biggest news for me is that I just cut off all my hair and am now sporting a short pixie cut. I love not having to worry about doing my hair now and Carter now has a much harder time pulling it, so it was an all around great change. Plus it looks cute :)
Anyway, that's the life of the Hermans as of late. Just enjoying life. Oh and one more big exciting announcement- Carter's going to have a new cousin! A big congratulations goes out Amy who just found out she's pregnant again! We can't wait- we're very excited about having another niece or nephew.
Love to everyone and we'll try to have another posting up sometime in the next couple months- it could be sooner, but I'm not gonna set the bar too high. ;)
