Six Months, a little slideshow

Hey girl.

I can hardly believe our baby is six months old already! The time has gone by so very quickly. There’s barely a moment to soak in one phase of babyhood before another  begins. Tonight we had family photos taken with Auntie Kristi, so I’ll post those as soon as I get them back. I plan to shoot some six month photos of Del of my own too. In the meantime, here are some favorites off my iPhone from the last few weeks as Del has approached the six month mark!

 

 

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For comparison: a generation

We went to Granddude and Nana’s for dinner last night. After dinner, Dave (Granddude) brought out old photos of Zach as a baby! We phone-photo’d a few and scanned a few. The likeness is really adorably amazing!

Left (the baby) is Zach, right is Del.

Left is Zach around 4 months, right is Del.

Crying, left is Zach and right is Del.

 I love this photo Dave took of Zach getting a bath – can’t wait to recreate it with Del, and hang the two prints together in the bathroom.

And one last photo: Dave, Zach and Del, when Del was just a couple of weeks old:

We’re visiting my family in July for my brother’s wedding, and I hope to get Mom to pull out my baby book so I can get copies of myself at this age too.

How my day began

I forgot to take photos of our visit to the yarn shop, or the mini golf we played together this afternoon, or the pizza making… but here is how my day began:

Nothing better than waking up on a Saturday morning… then going back to sleep.

Del’s Three-Month Photo Session

Yesterday, March 8 was Del’s 3-month birthday. I am amazed by how much he has changed from that skinny, squirming newborn, so amazingly fragile and tiny. Though still a little guy, he’s now chubby and chattering, curious and demanding and engaging.

Some stats about you, little man:

• You can hold your head up well, and you look around almost constantly.
• You weigh 13.7 lbs
• You hate tummy time but will tolerate it for 10 minutes or so, as long as I stay nearby.
• You love to look at books with black and white pictures, and we read the same two almost every day.
• You like when your dad reads to you, and you like to sit with him and watch tv.
• You are having a growth spurt right now, which means you’re eating like crazy, especially in the evenings.
• You really love going for walks – stroller or sling. We use both and you’re always content.
• You’re sleeping almost entirely through the night – you have been for almost a month now. You go to bed around midnight and wake around 6 for a meal, then sleep again till around 7:30 or 8 am. Sometimes you’ll even nap one more time after that. But then, nothing but cat naps during the rest of the day, unless I sleep with you or carry you in the sling.
• You like the mobile over your bed. You smile and jabber at it.
• You like to have music or radio on during the day.
• You’ve just adopted your first toy – a striped burp rag that you grab and shake and put in your mouth. So far no other toys interest you much.
• Though you don’t cry much, you’ve gotten pretty loud and put those lungs to good use when you need them.
• You smile a lot, and are just beginning to laugh. It’s hard to get you to laugh, but you often laugh in your sleep right as you fall asleep. It’s insanely adorable.
• You don’t really care for long photo shoots.

And here you are, Red Bean. Our little munchkin. This is what you look like at three months old:

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My cutie!

Beginning to smile!

We play in bed in the mornings after second breakfast.

Twenty-eleven

This year will definitely stand out in my memory in all its fullness, more so than most other years of my life. Not because no other year contains momentous events – certainly they do. But this particular year encompassed one of the most transformative events and that event took almost the entire year to accomplish. While pregnancy and Del’s birth were huge parts of this year, there were other wonderful things!

A few highlights:

In January, Zach took me to see the B-52s at the 9:30 Club! They may be old but Kate was rockin’ that red wig.

In February, we went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras! We saw great parades and spent time with cousins – hi, Pallie!

I got an A on my Calculus for Business final.

We toured the Dogfish Head Brewery, and met Sam Calagione at his restaurant during brunch. He autographed my shirt – we were such fanboys.

Yeah, THAT!

It was a beautiful spring in DC, and I enjoyed almost daily walks to work.

Zach took the first level improv class at Upright Citizens’ Brigade in NYC. I joined him on the last weekend of class to see his showcase performance.

It was Mothers Day while we were in NYC. Zach and our little Red Bean surprised me with this card.

I started showing.

Kim and Mat visited us from NYC, and we visited the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum – known to DC locals as “the good one”. We love you guys and can’t wait to be a part of your wedding this summer!

I started knitting again. Inspired by Red Bean’s arrival. This blanket was the first thing I did, and it now gets used every single day. Many thanks to my friends at Looped Yarn Works.

We went to a baseball game courtesy of my office. We had great seats, but alas, neither of us are really baseball fans. It was fun to hang out with co-workers, eat hot dogs and enjoy the summer night though.

My belly grew!

And grew!

Hurricane Irene skirted the DC area before causing serious damage farther north.

Buying cute maternity clothes was excellent for the morale.

We set up the crib in the fall.

Baby showers ahead!

Maternity photos, shot by my best friend Kristi, at Meridian Hill Park.

Zach installed the car seat in November.

This was me at Thanksgiving!

The baby shelf, in our bedroom. Diapers on the bottom, cute things on top. Ready to welcome our baby.

More maternity style.

December 8, 2011 — Welcome, Del Giacomo Walls!

He did this on his own.

Father and son.

Kristi visits Del, helps me out with housework, and lets me gab about my maternal experiences.

Parenthood is growing on us so well that we catch ourselves calling each other Mom and Dad instead of Katie and Zach.

Three generations of Walls men.

Del’s birth certificate arrives in the mail. I was somewhat peeved that our transfer to the hospital for his birth means he was born in Virginia instead of the District, but what can ya do?

This is me, at the end of 2011.

Katie Jett Walls, wife and mother.

Snapshots of Del