Love is in Stiles

So exactly one week before Scott Maverick turns 7 months old, I am finally posting pictures of him at 6 months. Half a year with my little love bird! I swear everyday Scott says something like "He's so much more aware now!" And it really does seem like every day he is becoming more of a little boy and less of an infant.
Do you ever have those moments when you just drink them in and think "I will never forget this", and then they are imprinted on you like the werewolves in Twilight? Well I still have to check on Maverick several times whenever he falls asleep, to make sure his little chest is still going up and down. One of my favorite memories with the baby was one night when he was asleep and me and Scottie decided to go look at him, a common occurance. Sometimes we go in and hold him, which is the only time he will cuddle you at all. We just stare and pet and kiss him- until he wakes up, at which point we try to sneak out. But this night was one of those big rainstorms, the kind with thunder that shakes your windows. We had The Postal Service playing in the other room, and we laid on our bellies in our bed and just watched him sleep in his crib, with lighting brightening the room and rain pitter pattering on the windows. I love my little family so much.
Anyways, here is Mav's updated 'trick list for the past month:

• Less naps
• He can roll 360 degrees (he only managed the tummy to back half in the past two weeks), and scoot in a circle on his tummy
• He started 'trying' solid food for the first time just after we got back from Utah. He despises everything but Sweet Potatoes, which he will lick a few times before he is done. Although sometimes you can trick him into eating things by making him suck it out of a bottle. But spoons? Spoons are scary. 
• He plays peekaboo! It is freaking adorable. He pulls his blanket up over his face, then pulls it down and grins. Usually it is pretty playful, but sometimes if he puts the blanket over his face for too long he starts to freak out that you aren't going to be there when he pulls it off, and he flails his tiny arms and pants like a little dog. 
• He likes toys!! It doesn't get old watching him push his train out of reach, then laying on his belly and 'swimming' with his arms and legs trying to reach it.
• He can hold his own bottle. Not all of the time. But he holds it, and will even tilt it to get more. And then will continue to tilt, suck, examine the bottle, and repeat with an empty bottle infinitely. 

From June 25-July 10th me and Maverick went to Utah for my family reunion. We spent most of the time in St. George, hiking, swimming in the pool, hanging out with family, playing games. Mav is grandchild number 19 out of 20 on the Holbrook family side, and him and cousins 18 and 20 (Jett and Indigo, respectively) are all within 9 months of each other. Baby heaven! All of his older cousins adored him- singing him songs, holding him, reading him books, talking in extremely high pitched voices very close to his face, etc.
Trust me when I say that I have another post of entirely pictures of my family from the reunion. However, this post is mostly just pictures of Maverick. And there are soo many- enjoy!

#mavstravs (aka Maverick's Travels) is the hashtag I have started using for any pictures of Maverick adventuring around the globe. I happen to think it's pretty clever :) . Not that I really understand the point of hashtags except to make funny jokes.

Anyways, here is the first of Mav's Travs!

Two weeks ago me and Maverick accompanied my sister Sunnee to Bangkok, Thailand for five days. With the U.S., Hong Kong, Maccau, and now Thailand, Maverick's passport is officially only one country stamp short of his dad's!
While it was fun to be with my sister, Maverick was an absolute DISASTER the entire time. Screaming and crying about 80% of the time he was awake- so much so that everywhere we went he caused a scene, and the people on the same floor of our hotel complained about it (the front desk called and asked if we needed to take him to the hospital- what? He was horrible, but not dying horrible).
We did manage to eat yummy food, go to several new markets, and see the festival of Buddah's Enlightenment. That one was really neat, because they open all of the temples at night, when they are usually closed. Congregations circle the temple three times with candles and incense, praying.
But let's just say that I am now very anxious about taking him to Utah this summer. Whatever happened to that baby who was so quiet and good on the trip from the U.S. to Hong Kong that no one even realized we had a baby on the flight? Just kidding. Mostly. :)

Last Thursday, our little one turned the big four months! I swear last week alone he learned so many new tricks, he is turning into a real little boy and not just my baby- Boo!

Updates:
He loves to coo at me, especially when he is supposed to be eating, he just loves dinner conversation. Speaking of things he does when he is supposed to be eating- he can get very easily distracted. If Scott comes home, or I turn on the tv when he is eating, he totally forgets what he is doing.

He is still a great sleeper, he goes most nights from about 7pm-6am. However at night, and for his several naps during the day, he fights the going to sleep tooth and nail. He wants me to be laying down with him with my eyes closed. If not that, the least I can do is sit near him and hold his face in my hands, with one hand holding his binkie in for him. It makes it difficult sometimes, as he doesn't want to sleep much in his stroller or in the Ergo, so he can't nap when we are on the go. I usually try putting him down, and then he starts crying, and I let him go for a while before I come in to hold his face, and put his binkie in. At night I do this several times before he eventually falls asleep. But anyways, we could delve into the intricacies of my baby sleeping (or did we already?), but let's just say that he sleeps great ONCE he is asleep.

He also has learned to grab things! Scott's business partner Tammy gave us a few baby toys, and this one he loves! When I put it near him he gets super stoked and kicks both of his little legs up, then he reaches out and snatches it, and (tries) to shove the little wood balls in his mouth. For a week I had to place it in his lap and kind of guide his little hands to it, but then one day he was laying down, and I left the room for a second and -BAM- he had grabbed it from laying next to him and was playing away. Atta boy!