The Lion at 6 Months

1/2 a year old.  Seriously.  Maybe it's the sleep deprivation, but it does not seem like it has been that long.  Although, in reality, it is 6 months and 1 week.  But since last week we were travelling, I am just pretending that we're on a week delay.  In a couple days you'll get a Thanksgiving post.  We only even took these photos today, but they're still pretty accurate as to his size.

This month has brought on a world of advancements, and again, they were more mental and physical than size.  Thank goodness.  He is starting to slow down.  He has moved exclusively into 9 month clothing, though he has a few 12 month items that we rotate in.  Mostly because they are collegiate attire that we don't have in 9 month sizes.  He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, where we will find out the length, but we were there the day before his 6 month birthday for a terrible rash and he weighed 18 pounds, 6 ounces. 

***UPDATE: He was 27 1/4" (80th percentile) and LOST weight and was 18 pounds, 2 ounces (60th percentile)***

Sitting?  No sweat.  He can lean forward or back and right himself at this point, though he still tips over frequently.  He has to be watched but not supported.  We have moved past rolling as the primary means of movement, and onto the army crawl, or if he can convince someone to help him, he'd prefer to walk holding hands.  He is up on hands and knees, and we anticipate true crawling to occur in the next week or two.  He can hold onto something and stand much more securely, and enjoys playing at the coffee table, or watching his bathtub filling while holding the edge.  He is very good at manipulating his pacifier in and out of his mouth, or toys in the direction that he wants them to move.  Today we had a new development in that he was in his crib where he was SUPPOSED to be falling asleep for a nap, and I was sitting on the floor putting his clothes away.  He spun around, crawled up next to the side, and pulled down the bumper and gave me the BIGGEST grin.  Very cute, but not what he was supposed to be doing.  At least he's not pulling up yet.

Mentally, it is extremely fun that we can now hold some conversations with him.  Simple, mostly one-word conversations, that he doesn't vocally answer, but understands.  He understands "sit up", "give me your hands", "where is your puppy", "do you want paci", "go to sleep", "do you want to eat", and other simple phrases.  We were truly floored, though, when on our way to Target a week ago Sunday, he was fussing, I turned around and said, "Buddy, can you put paci in?" and he DID.  Really hadn't thought he was there.  He continues to babble and sing, and has different sounds and tones for different things, but no actual words...until, perhaps, tonight.  Chris and Robby were playing with Harper on the floor, and we both SWEAR we heard "puppy" come out of his mouth.  I'm not counting it until we have confirmation, but we both independently thought we heard it.

The Lion continues to love to sing, but doesn't want to sit still long enough to read books.  His favorite songs are those that I sing him daily, namely "Bushel and a Peck" from Guys and Dolls, which I sing during diaper changes, and "Everything's Alright" from Jesus Christ Superstar, which I sing before bed.  Chris currently HATES Bushel and a Peck because it's always in his head.  His favorite activity is swimming.  He splashes and plays as long as I'll let him.  He loves being out in public, too.  The more people around, the happier he is.  Robby's favorite toys are anything he can teeth on.  He enjoys things that are loud and that he can bang...but mostly if he can also chew them.  Can you tell that BOTH of the bottom 2 front teeth broke through last week?  Little man is no longer all gums.

He continues to be almost exclusively breast fed.  He might get one ounce of some fruit or vegetable at night, but that's it, and he usually won't finish it.  We think he's not doing well with rice, so he is currently cut off from rice cereal and mum mum's until further notice.  We bought oatmeal, though, and will be trying that for his cereal.  We didn't start it tonight, though, because he was on his first night of pears, which he seemed to enjoy.  So far, he is a fan of: squash, pumpkin, apple, pears, and parsnip.  He dislikes: avocado and peas.  He is debatably allergic to and/or has a bad reaction to: rice and sweet potatoes.  The sweet potatoes will be tried again in the future, though.  They might have been the cause of the rash, but it also might have been viral, so we will try again later. 

Last month, I had to swoop in and sit him back up.  This month, I was taking the pictures.  So when he removed his sticker-tie....It was Chris to the rescue.

Sleep...is a rare thing.  Robby is currently eating about every hour and 1/2 to two hours during the day, and waking every 3 hours at night to eat (and it was hourly while we were travelling).  I get that he's going through a growth spurt, but I have been reading many sleep books, and am starting to lose my mind a bit.  He's doing alright with this, but I am exhausted.  He goes to sleep by himself and is set down while awake, so he doesn't have negative associations, and he self-soothes, but he's just such a PIGGIE.  I hope it slows down soon.  

And, finally...5 and 6 months side by side.  He looks like a bit of a lump in this photo.  He is wearing different pants, but you can tell that the shirt fits a bit better.  Again, not a huge change size-wise this month.

Lil man, I LOVE spending time with you.  You are so vocal and opinionated, I relate quite well.  No one can get you to do something you don't want to do, unless of course it's changing your diaper (which you HATE) just because that's not optional.  You are an absolute flirt, and already show a preference toward blondes.  You enjoy talking to men with deep voices the most, though.  Or puppies.  Puppies actually beat both blondes and deep voices.  If Isaac Hayes was a "blonde" golden retriever or something?  Your mind would be blown.  

It is so nice that there are now games we can play that are interactive.  You will peek from behind blankets, or smack your lips and expect that someone will smack them back at you, and you even have taken to throwing things for us and the dog.  The days fly by.  Except when you're screaming, but, y'know, you're a baby.  Though, that excuse won't last forever, mister.  ;)  I continue to wish time would freeze.