Honestly...

I really dislike being home alone at night. And it's nights like tonight, when Ryan has to work a midnight release, that I really don't enjoy being a grown-up and living on my (our) own.

The biggest problem is that I have become accustomed to sleeping next to Ryan and struggle to fall asleep without him next to me. On rougher nights I will gently take Dax from his crib and set him on Ryan's side of the bed, just so I know

that I'm not alone.

It's funny how many things Dax can and has improved in his short little life....

This was at the ISU Homecoming Parade. Although it was the second parade Dax has been to, we were in the Chubbuck Days Parade for Mother Goose, it was the first parade we attended as a family! While he enjoyed gnawing on his sunglasses more than watching the floats, he was in a good mood the whole time.

Among the list of activities that Dax has improved:

- unproductive afternoons at home (I cherish these which we get to spend together 2x a week)

- waking up early (he is always in such a good mood

and acts so pleased to see us pop our heads over his crib, it's impossible to not feel perky with him)

- lunch dates (we definitely get invited on these a lot more since he arrived and he never allows one to be dull, he keeps things fresh)

- walks (he loves to be outside and has helped us to do these more often; too bad the weather will stop cooperating soon)

- watching Yo Gabba Gabba (for some reason he LOVES this show and it is so entertaining to watch him get so pumped while watching it; otherwise, we can't stand it)

- bed time (we have developed our own little routine and I look forward to bathing, feeding, reading to, and rocking him before setting him in his crib- where he puts himself to sleep- it's the perfect way to end any day and helps cheer

me up no matter how hard of a day I have had)

This was Dax during out first adventure with baby food. It was a couple weeks before his six month mark, but we were getting so antsy that we had to just try it for one dinner. We did applesauce and he liked it. Although when we tried it the next night, adding rice cereal to the mix following the advice of a fellow mother who has been feeding her son baby food for a month, he was very displeased. He kept spitting and razzing it out and growling at me after every spoonful. We are just going to stick with plain old baby food from now on.

Dax will be turning six months old on Saturday. The months have flown by so quickly!

We picked out his Halloween costume last week and are getting so excited to celebrate the holidays with him! (We've already bought him several Christmas presents!)

My mom took Dax to get his six month pictures taken while I was at work today. He was in a great mood all day so we felt assured that he'd be in a good mood during the session. While Dax is normally a very easy going baby, there are times that he can be a little dramatic. His photo shoot today ended up being one of those times. Regardless, we ended up with some excellent pictures. Even when he's upset, he's the cutest little boy with the most amazing blue eyes ever!