about Graeme from July 23-August 23

Last week I sat down because my priorities are not quite in alignment lately and as we all know, that just messes everything up. If I say something is more important than something else, but yet I spend more time doing the less important thing, I'm not doing myself any favors. I wrote down what I want my priorities to look like, talked it over with Aaron, and we made a plan to make it happen.

Anyway, this blog is on my priority list, but it's pretty far down. I would, however, like to spend more time on it. We'll just take things one day at time.

I have several things to catch up on. In the next week or so, I am hoping to document:

• Graeme being a cowboy
• Our trip to TN (good, bad, and lessons learned)
• What's going on currently (too much, always, it seems)
• And, I'm most excited about a post (or maybe two) that I am working on geared towards wanna-be moms or gonna-be first time moms.

For today, I just have to get something posted because it's driving me insane that my last post was two weeks ago! The first thing that we have to catch up on before it's too late is Graeme turning five months old. He turned five months two Saturdays ago on the 23rd of August.

During his fifth month of life, he traveled to the beach and then to the mountains. Considering some people go a long time without seeing things like that, he's pretty lucky. He is a fun little travel companion, and doesn't mind the car much at all. Although he does like some company in the backseat when he's awake.

A lot of Graeme's accomplishments for the month are just him becoming more efficient at things he was already doing.

• He's now a rolling machine. He barely lasts ten seconds on his back before he rolls right to his tummy. He has been sleeping on his tummy more often too. No creeping yet, but it won't be long I don't think.
• He has quite the sense of humor. He thinks Penny is very funny and squeals when he sees her. Daddy's voices and accents are a big hit. When he wakes up in the morning and we go into his room, we are greeted with the biggest smile of all. He's so happy to see us in the morning.
• He sleeps great at night and is getting better and better at it. I'm getting a little better at not freaking out when I glance at the monitor and he's on his stomach.

One of the unfortunate parts of Graeme's fifth month was him getting sick. This was the second time he's been sick, and thankfully, it wasn't too bad. He never ended up needing to go to the doctor because he never had a fever or anything else too serious. His main symptom was a terrible, constant stuffy/runny nose. My best friend for this, and his worst enemy, is the "Snot Sucker." Not just a stupid nasal aspirator either. This miracle worker:

Yes, it freaked me out at first, but it works. Graeme hates it. I think he hates the aspect of me having to hold him still more so than the actual snot sucking. Either way, he screams an awful scream. But, it clears his nose and helps him breathe better, so it's worth it. His nose problem lasted over a week, but he's finally cleared up. He passed it to Aaron, and now I have it. We, however, have stuck to tissues.

In better news, we found Graeme a "Jumparoo" this month so he can do something with his little legs that he constantly kicks. It starts out as a thing he can jump in, then one day, the sides extend out and he can take steps back and forth in it. He thinks it's pretty cool.

It was a fun month, and I can't believe he will be six months old next time the 23rd rolls around. With the holidays approaching and time speeding up as it does this time of year, I know our little guy will be speeding towards his first birthday. Some days, as my friend Sherry says, you just wish you had a pause button.