Fun Firsts

We've had a pretty good first week of 2012, filled with a few firsts of our own.  On Thursday, we went to the mall to see Rocknoceros, a children's band, and grabbed lunch after the show.  Brennan really wanted to ride the carousel, but Tyler was with us and I didn't want to take him on it yet.  I thought Brennan might be okay on the ride by himself, so we gave it a try.  Here he is waiting for the attendant to come take his ticket and let him in.

He likes to ride in the spinner, so I didn't even have to help him up on a horse.  He handed the attendant his ticket and got himself right on the ride.  He was so excited and shouted to me, "Daddy is going to be so proud of me!"  He did great!

Tyler has had quite a few firsts over the last few weeks.  I was going to wait until January to begin with the pureed foods, but Tyler is such a poor drinker - from bottle and breast - that I was stressed out every afternoon that he wasn't eating much between his mid-morning oatmeal and his dinnertime oatmeal.  I decided to start giving him solids for his early afternoon meal.  I started with sweet potatoes and he received them with reserved interest.  Carrots and butternut squash have been big winners.  He's not a huge fan of peas and he literally gagged at the taste of green beans, but I mixed a little carrot into both of those and he gobbled them right up.  We are going to get started on fruit soon, which I am sure he will love.  I am using a mix of homemade and jarred baby foods this time around.  On Saturday, his sixth month birthday, he slept through the night for the first time!  He went to bed around 7 PM and didn't get up until 6 AM!  Since then, he has been waking once a night, but I have just been giving him a pacifier, not feeding him, and he is able to make it.  Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come.  Tyler is also sitting up on his own quite well now.  I can't fully trust him yet, so I keep that Boppy pillow behind him to cushion his fall.  He is such an active little guy and so curious about the world around him.  He is constantly reaching for toys and gets frustrated that he isn't quite coordinated enough to hang onto them.  I can already personality differences between Tyler and Brennan.  I'm looking forward to the next 6 months as Tyler starts to make the transition from baby to toddler.