Who does he look like??

Ever since he was born, people have been trying to determine who MVP looks like--mommy or daddy. Here are a few pictures of us. I'll let you decide. Sorry these photos are such poor quality, I have been meaning to do this for quite some time and realized that if I didn't just take a picture of the photos (while still in their respective photo albums) this post would never happen.

Daddy...

Mommy...

If you ask me, I think there are times when MVP looks like me and there are times when he looks like his dad.

Surf City

It must be a federal requirement that every state with a coast must have a "Surf City". On Saturday, we ventured to nearby Surf City, NC to check out the beach. MVP loves going to the beach where he can play in the sand, sit where the waves wash up around him and take an occasional nap.

California

Last week, MVP went on his first airplane ride to California to visit family. He was really good on the flights (considering that we had two layovers both coming and going AND that we flew coast to coast both times) except for the one returning home from Phoenix to Charlotte. I'm not sure what the deal was, but he was Fussy-Pants McGee and I felt like making an announcement to the cabin that the passengers on row 14 apologize profusely for their fussy, teething baby who is normally quite cute. Oh well. Here's a shot of the MVP looking like he is about to bravely go where no baby has ever gone before...sort of.

While in California, we spent time with lots of cousins and MVP quickly learned that his parents have been depriving him of toys. We only have a small box of toys (this is intentional) and baby books and it was apparent that MVP was overwhelmed by all the toys at Grandma and Grandpa's house!!

When we first arrived, MVP's cousins had set up a whole bunch of toys for him and he really didn't know what to play with first. Here's MVP with all of his Pearson cousins. This may not have been the shot we were looking for, but how great is it that Seth apparently thinks he's The Godfather?!?
This is MVP with his twin "cousins" who are a week older than he is! I really like how MVP is slowly sinking into the couch cushions and is making a desperate attempt for a rescue from a baby who is clearly more focused on being cute for the cameras. While MVP is still unable to scoot or crawl (much to my relief!) these babies have been scooting around since they were about 4 months old!!! They're now starting to pull themselves up into a standing position and I'm sure they'll be walking soon. I simply can't imagine having twins. It seemed like they were both heading in opposite directions the entire time. Mothers of multiples have my utmost respect.

Grandma Carol made an adorable monkey blanket for MVP. It's got minky monkey fabric on one side and animal print on the other side. MVP loves it--and apparently he also thinks it tastes pretty good too. We had a wonderful time and wish we lived closer to family so we could do this more often.

Bedtime Stories

We try to read stories to MVP and we were hoping that tonight's selection would put him right to sleep. Oddly, it had the opposite effect. He was strangely intrigued by learning how to adjust the cost basis on devalued stocks.

A Little Less Terrible

I figure that if I post pictures of seven-month-old MVP, I will consider myself to be a little less terrible. The photos are timely....but let the record show that I still think it's funny when he grunts.

You can see his little teeth coming in on the bottom in this one.

In other, non-MVP news, I was released today as the CTR 6 teacher and I'm now the Mia Maids Advisor. I'm pretty happy about that because I had this calling a few years ago when we were in California so I'm familiar with the lessons and the age group. It's also nice because I like the challenge of teaching youth. I think there were times when I took basic skills like reading and knowing the difference between a letter and a number for granted.

6 Months Old - I'm Terrible

I'm terrible! MVP will be seven months old on Saturday and I have yet to post pictures of him 'celebrating' his first half birthday. It seems like lately EVERYTHING MVP sees needs to go right into his mouth. It's as if he sees the world as one giant buffet line. Little did I know that he would be getting his first tooth on August first. He now has two lower front teeth. The whole teething process hasn't been too bad. There were a couple nights where he would randomly wake up screaming, but I found that holding him and a little pain killer would do the trick and he would go right back to sleep. He hasn't been overly cranky otherwise.
Again with being obsessed with putting things in his mouth...

This is just a cute picture of him looking as if he's been posing for pictures for years.

So here's the real reason why I'm terrible. On the day of his half birthday, I had the camera out and would take a few pictures here and there. While he was eating, I happened to film the following video.

Then one day while I was working, MVP was sitting next to me and he suddenly had the urge to, uh, fill up his diaper. I decided to whip out my camera phone so I could capture this moment.

This is now my camera's background picture. I'm terrible.

Summer

We've been trying to go to the beach at least once a week this summer. Today we thought we'd beat the crowds and we got to the beach by 10am. We quickly learned that 10am is not early enough. We were fortunate to find parking along a side street. MVP really has a lot of fun digging around in the sand and he keeps us on our toes trying to keep him from eating the sand. Now that he can sit up fairly well, he is easily entertained when we bury his feet in the sand so he can find them. We also discovered that the pier provides ample shade and is a great place to relax and not have to worry if everyone has enough sunscreen on. Here are a couple pictures of MVP having a wonderful time. As if the pictures weren't enough, here's a video.

Happy Birthday Papa Jon!!

As a Birthday tribute, this blog post is for Papa Jon. Happy Birthday!

Last week, MVP started sucking on his toes. I really don't think there is a cuter thing that babies do, is there??

We bought MVP a "jump-a-roo" (or whatever they're called) and he really likes it. I fear for our door frame. He loves jumping in that thing and is really starting to get good at it. He's a little partial to his left foot and will often keep one hand down at his side--which makes him look a little strange, but it seems to make sense to him. Sometimes he will sing and jump and it's a lot of fun to just watch him.




The other day, a lady at church was holding MVP and she was watching his expressions and how he would look at his hands. She started to scold me for not having my camera with me to capture these precious moments. Well, lady, I could wear out a camera or two on this kid. You just can't capture ALL of his innate cuteness!

The Perfect Storm

Yesterday, we had a church activity that simply culminated in the perfect storm. It was a 4th of July BBQ and they had various activities for the kids--sack races, fishing poles and face painting. I guess mom wanted to be entertained too. Unfortunately for him, MVP was wearing his 'patriotic' muscle shirt and, quite simply, this is what happens when mom puts two and two together. I give you....the perfect storm.

Avocados

On June 14, when MVP was 5 months old, we tried feeding him avocados for the first time. To see his reaction, check out the video below. Or if it doesn't work, click on this link to watch it.

Although his initial reaction was quite positive, upon further analysis, MVP ultimately decided he doesn't like avocados nearly as much as he likes bananas and sweet potatoes. This is very unfortunate because as with most baby foods, once you've mashed them up, they become disgusting. For example, if I take a perfectly ripe, appetizing banana and mash it up, it suddenly becomes very unappealing (pun intended). Not so with an avocado. Mashed up avocados become delicious guacamole--so it's really too bad that the kid doesn't like avocados because I'd have no problem eating his leftovers. So there goes my excuse to buy lots of avocados this summer.