A little behind...

But it's such a CUTE little behind! Also, we haven't blogged for a while, so we thought we'd give it another go. Tucker is now 5 months and one week old. He is a very happy little guy.

As you can see, he can sit up all by himself now. He still doesn't know how to roll over (though he has surprized himself a couple of times), but he's making progress. He began eating solid foods about a month ago and is starting to hold his bottle all by himself. Sometimes he doesn't quite latch onto the right part of the bottle, and he seems to think if he sucks on the side of a glass liquid will come out, but I think he's got the right idea.
His hand-mouth coordination is developing quite nicely. In fact, anything within his reach generally ends up in his mouth (he gets feisty, growling and shouting at things that don't cooperate), however he doesn't take a pacifier. Perhaps it is too small for his taste. He prefers larger items. Some babies are content chewing/sucking on a finger or thumb. Tucker would rather shove his entire hand in his mouth. His current favorite chew toys are his conveniently located toes.

We had a blast dressing him up for Halloween in his glow-in-the-dark skeleton costume. It was also fun dressing up with him (I was a renaissance peasant and Chris was a UHP trooper) and pretending that the candy we gathered while trick or treating was for him. We enjoyed a fun night out at Cornbelly's (the local pumpkin festival w/corn maze, etc.), though we had to thaw out all of our feet once we returned home.

He is so chill and enjoys going out to see the world. He LOVES taking walks with us, attending institute, meeting new people, going bowling, and tagging along wherever we go. He has flown on an airplane and even learned how to swim!!

He is so entertaining! He cracks us up all day as he makes funny faces while trying new foods, giggles after a large belch, grunts while squeezing out a difficult poop, squeals and tests his voice, talks to himself in the mirror, and laughs hysterically at the silliest little things. He makes life even more fun!

My mom just came to visit us (but really Tucker) for a little over a week, and we had a fun and productive time. She brought me an early birthday present.

That's right! I am now the proud owner of a bright, shiny, woah baby, heavy duty, pressure cooker! She bought me lots of canning jars and a WHOLE bunch of meat (chicken, turkey, and pork) that we found on sale and she taught me how to can it. Canned meat sounded funny at first, but it was fun and fairly easy! While she was here we all went to Tucanos so I could get my free birthday churrasco. She also made me a yummy turtle cheesecake! Aren't moms so great?! Of course she was also happy to get to come get some face time with her favorite grandson :).

Chris is loving his job. He looks forward to going to work everyday, and always comes home excited to share new stories. Each day is like a new adventure and they fly by like most fun times do. Everything about his new job has been a blessing to our family and I am so grateful for how hard he works to support us. I am especially grateful that I am privileged enough to stay at home and take care of Tucker. I love being a mom! It's the funnest job I've ever had. Life is truly beautiful and so fulfilling and I can't imagine having anything else right now that would make me happier!