Photo Session with Gretchen

Gretchen, an aspiring photographer and college student, came to take some pictures of Roman. Below are some of my favorites. The weather was overcast and Roman was fussy but she did a great job despite it all.

Crawling to Standing- ALREADY?!

It was not long ago that I posted how Roman had taken up crawling. Well since then, the only crawling he has done is to get to an object of choice to use as a tool to help him stand up. He is much more interested in standing than crawling but also has had to learn the painful lesson that not all objects are made to pull up on. We have learned a lot about falling in these past few days as well.

he simultaneously is teething- so his goal seems to just find something new to chew on. Here he is chewing on the strap of his chair.



As i went to get him after he woke up from his nap, he wanted to show off his newest accomplishment- standing up in his crib.

He thinks this is pretty funny but mom is not amused when he spends half of his nap time perfecting this new trick. We are hoping the novelty will wear off before too long.

"You talking about me?...this was nothing- you should see what I do when you aren't looking!"


We took the liberty tonight of lowering his crib to the last notch (which was only one more down) and hoping that any new accomplishments ,such as climbing out of the crib, will wait to be discovered.
"I'm big stuff, you know. If you don't know it, you really should."

"Falling down onto a nice mattress is much more fun than falling on the hard floor. I wish mommy would put mattresses everywhere."

A silly man who never ceases to keep us smiling. I feel so privileged to stay home and watch him discover all these new things. God has truly blessed us and i am very thankful for a husband who works so hard so I can stay home with him.

Learning to Sit up and Crawl- 6 months.

Six months old this month and some big accomplishments for our little guy. He has become quite proficient at sitting up on his own over the last few weeks and most recently has started to take on the task of crawling. I have been waiting for this but he is learning so quickly that I am not sure the baby gate will come in time. In a matter of a couple of days he went from looking like he might want to start crawling to getting up on his knees and rocking to inching across the floor for shiny objects or slobbery dog toys.




Reaching out for the camera- he likes gadgets such as phones and cameras so he tries to take them from you any chance he gets.

He especially likes Maggie's slobbery dog toys and Maggie relishes in the fact that they are hers and he can't have them.
she tolerates him well but equally gets annoyed at him getting in her personal space. You can see her shave spot on her neck from the surgery in which we removed a stick that had been stuck in her neck (unbeknown to us) for 18 months.
Roman using his exersaucer to give him a boost in getting up to crawl.


He is deep in thought about this whole crawling business- wondering how he can accomplish it with less frustration. (a daddy trait- thinking before acting)
Here he is pissed and frustrated from not being able to figure this whole moving thing out. He waves his arms and legs in the air and fusses that he isn't moving. He gets easily frustrated from lack of perfection like his mother. (mommy trait- acting before thinking)

Mesmerized by Maggie's feet...and well she wishes he'd find something else to be mesmerized by.

This is Maggie's good will kiss to ask Roman oh so nicely to stop playing with her feet...
And wondering when mom is going to intervene.
Ah...Maggie is thankful that her slobbery dog toy has captured Roman's attention away from her feet.
Two days later he went from playing Superman on the floor to up on his knees and trying to move.
And obviously quite happy with this accomplishment.

Practicing his Pilates doing a plank- getting that core strength built up.

He reached his goal- Daddy's Blackberry.
And then- time for a much needed break.

"Daddy's phone is SO delicious. I love slobbering on it as I work on getting in my new teeth. "

He thinks he is "kind of a big deal" for doing such big boy things.
Daddy and Roman bonding over their gadgets.

Roman's Mr. Old Man face...
oh and the camera- "another shiny expensive object that I can use as a chew toy."

Roman's fetish for gadgets follows right in his daddy's footsteps.

I placed my order for the baby gate tonight and with his seemingly quick progress in learning how to crawl, I am not quite sure it will come before we need it. I can see that my life will be getting even more busy in the following months but am thoroughly enjoying watching him develop and learn new things.

Reynolds "Fly" Thru

On the way home to New York City from spring break at the beach in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Renee and the boys (Adam and Jack) had a short layover in Charlotte. Mark traveled home a day earlier and boy did he miss the fun we had at the airport- it was something out of a Saturday Night Live skit.

You wouldn't think much could really happen in a short span of 15 minutes but the red headed Pickup girls never cease to surprise. With a sleep deprived (seems to be a trend...promise i don't try to make a habit of this) infant in tow and 2 hungry growing boys, a quick stop at the only place to get food outside of security was a dainty Starbucks across from baggage check in. The boys pawned through the few delicacies of yogurt parfait, muffins, Espresso brownies, to decide that a quick snack of a cinnamon twist would have to suffice before getting a yummier selection of food past the security checkpoint. Renee went the healthy route of an apple that was "mealy" and a green tea. Payment was given, and we found the nearest place to sit a few paces from the Starbucks stand. The cameras were out and the bags were spread all over the floor as we quickly wanted to capture the memory of a quick charlotte fly through. Five minutes passed before Renee asked where her tea was and just like that, the manager from Starbucks turned the corner and asked if "this was hers?" (holding a frosty cold green tea). Aww..yes! We laughed at our scatteredness when another few minutes pass and the manager came around the corner yet again and asked if we were missing a piece of luggage. Oh by golly- we were! in Jack's rush to down his cinnamon twist- he left his luggage in line at Starbucks for the next customer in line. We hurry back over to Starbucks to gather the blue luggage on wheels and giggle in shame at our absent mindedness and take it as our hint to say goodbye and quickly see the Reynolds back through security where hopefully a much more substantial lunch will help the brain cells start firing again :)

But in all seriousness it was a wonderful visit although WAY too short. Can't wait to spend more time with them in July. Below are pictures of the boys.





Not sure that Jack can take a serious photo.
Roman supporting St. Louis Cardinal Pujos!
Thanks for the entertainment, boys:) July will be a blast!