Beach Baby

Mack's first trip to the beach! I love the beach and I hope Mack will, too. His first few moments watching the waves with Daddy were met with trepidation. But I can't blame him, the magnitude of the sea is quite awesome. He warmed up to the little tide pools and enjoyed coating himself with a fine layer of sand. Our day was cut a little short by bad weather ("day" translates in this case to about 1.5 hours), but I was really worried about him getting too much sun exposure so the sprinkle was really a blessing to my overly-worried-mother-self.

(Funny aside regarding my fear of sunburning the baby: Richard went for a run on Saturday before we would be taking Mack to the beach for the first time. So while Richie was working out, I prepared Mack for the beach. I was absolutely mortified that I'd forgotten his hat and was really concerned his scalp would get burned. So I set to work coating Mackey in sunscreen...no small task with my little guy who won't hold still for more than half a second. But I succeeded in my endeavour and Mack was ready to hit the beach. Or was he?!?! I started to worry that I might have missed a spot...so on went the second coat of sunscreen! When we actually got out to the beach & Mack began to perspire in the heat of the day, his layers of sunscreen began to surface and his whole little head turned white! And bless his poor tiny eyes, the sunscreen made his eyes water as it dripped off his head into his little peepers. Luckily, none of this seemed to bother him much and the sticky sunscreen helped him accomplish his lovely sandcoat. And all of this sunscreen drama just to be followed by clouds rolling in and rain sprinkles! Maybe next time I won't be so paranoid...somehow I doubt it though.)

We had a wonderful time celebrating MeeMaw's 85th birthday with the family and are so thankful we were able to make the trip down.

More pictures!: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1775367008/a=76796422_76796422/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Family Time

At the end of July we were blessed to spend a very relaxing weekend with Poppy and Nanny (Richard's dad & Ellice). We didn't really do a whole lot other than rest, talk, eat, and catch the last few stages of the Tour de France. It was excellent.

This is Mack finding it super cool that his outfit coordinated with Nanny's socks:

Mack and his cousin Ellicia (oh so precious):

And lastly, fun with Poppy!

And for a few more pictures from the weekend: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1774648008/a=76796422_76796422/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Tooth post

Mack has a tooth! A little tiny tooth has broken through his bottom gum (his left front bottom tooth). The boy is taking it all in stride - so far no major tantrums or fits or fevers...hopefully this will continue. I have no pictures yet because it's hard enough just to get a glimpse of it. You can definitely feel it when he bites though!

Our little man is just growing and changing so fast.

Coming soon - Mack's first beach trip! Here's a snapshot of the ride home, we were all getting a little loopy towards the end of the very long ride:

Steps

Today, Mack climbed up the staircase in our house all by himself. Richard was following him and spotting his progress as I watched from the top of the staircase. What a little man. Now, where is that baby gate?!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Mackey and I read books together almost every night before sleepy time. I think it's my most favorite part of the day. And, he's getting to be so helpful!

6 months and 1 week old...my how the time flies. Mack is mastering crawling, and having almost done so, is moving on to mastering standing up. He first stood up...gasp...in his little bathtub! He almost gave me a heart attack. Now, any time he can get his hands on something that will provide him with leverage, he's pulling himself right on up. I'm guessing that mastering getting back down will be the next big step... (I love the picture above because Mack looks like a little mini-Richard instead of a mini-Melanie for once!)

Mack also LOVES his books these days. This is Mack reading his absolute favorite book, one full of pictures of little babies. He's looking very serious in this photo but usually he's giggling and smiling at the babies.

I'll post a video soon of Mack helping me read Brown Bear, Brown Bear. He is such a smarty-pants!