Six Months

Yep, it's true. Otis turned six months old yesterday! I probably say this in every post, and it's the total parent cliche, but time just seems to be flying by. From time to time (including the past half hour) I pathetically look at photos from the day he was born and blink away tears. He's growing up so fast, already!

Since my last post, Otis has been a very busy boy. Here's some of what he's been up to lately:

First Christmas in Ohio
Otis had his first plane ride in December, and he did a great job. An obnoxious woman eyed Otis as she was boarding and said, "Oh, great, a BABY." I wanted to push her down. Otis barely made a peep the whole way! So there! Otis also did great sleeping in strange places. Over the course of the week he slept in a hotel, in my parents' house and in our family house near Lake Erie. I was worried that we'd have sleepless nights due to all the new surroundings, but he pretty much kept on his schedule. Yay for Otis!

Here are some pictures of Otis with some of the very special people who love and miss him back in the Buckeye State.

Otis and his Grandma Bein.

Otis playing with Grandpa Bein.

Two cuties: Otis and Uncle Wade

Otis and Great Grandma Snyder.

With Great Grandpa Snyder on Christmas Eve.

With Great Grandma Lutterbein.

Happy about lovey relatives and new toys!

Great Grandma Lutterbein on Christmas with her first three great grandchildren--all born in 2009. Erin's daughter Ella was born in November and Marla's son Oliver was born in February.

California Christmas
The day after we got back from our Ohio Christmas adventures, we celebrated Christmas at Carie and David's new house Springville with Steve's side of the family. We had such a fun day watching all the kids (there are eight now!) open and play with their presents. And we discovered that Aunt Carie's walk-in closet doubles as a quiet spot for Otis's nap.

Otis has the coolest cousins! Johnathan is holding him, while Zachary and Harper keep him entertained.

With Uncle David and Aunt Carie

First Cold
A few days later, Otis got his first cold. Poor boy. Perhaps some gross airplane germs got to him. Otis and I are pretty tight, so I got it too. After a couple weeks of coughing, sneezing and large quantities of snot, we were both fine.


Sitting Up
Otis's newest skill is sitting up all by himself. He's really curious about the world around him, and I think he really likes having this new perspective. He does eventually topple, so if I step away I surround him with pillows. If not, he falls to the side and lands face-first! Yes, I let it happen once. Oops.

Playing is hard work!

Teething
Though he still has no pearly whites to show for it, Otis is definitely teething. He's rocking the telltale drool rash around his mouth and chin, and he wants to chew, chew, chew all the time. His favorite things to chew are his parents' fingers, but we're thankful that he has a couple of little teething toys that also suffice. For a while, he had a hard time figuring out how to get the best parts of the teething toys in his mouth for optimal chewing, but he's got it dialed in now.

Chewing on a favorite toy. Look at the determination! You can see some of his drool rash on his upper lip, too. Also notice how much hair he has now!

Foodie
We started feeding Otis some solid food last week. He's just eating a little bit per day, but so far he seems to like it. So far he has tried rice cereal, bananas, avocados and sweet potatoes. He loves the sweet potato best. I wonder why--because it's soooo sweet. I've been making little batches of baby food by steaming extra veggies from our dinners, pureeing them, and freezing them in ice cube trays. Then I pop them out and store them in Ziplocs. My friend Niki told me about this little technique and so far it's very manageable. I'm happy that Otis will be eating fresh and local fruits and veggies from the farmers market!


Stroller Walks
Steve has been taking Otis in long walks in his stroller in the afternoons while I'm at work. Otis loves being outdoors and looking at all the houses, cars and trees. He also likes to sit on the step with Steve and pet the kitties, but we have to be careful because he loves to pull their hair!