6 months

6 whole months. Half of a year. 

How in the world is this already happening? 

Wasn't I just trying everything in the books to induce labor? Sheesh.

This has been another exciting month of milestones for baby boy!

Weight: Guessing around 20 pounds

Height: Guessing 27 or 28 inches 

We find out on the 13th at his 6 month well check.

Size 2 diapers during day {finishing off a box we have left} and Size 3 at night.

Size 9 month sleepers, 6-9 month separates, 6 month jon jons, some 12 month hand-me-downs.

• First of all, boy is into EVERYTHING. At 6 months. Whew. This is how I found him after a nap the other day. Seriously?

• He loves loves loves his $5 yard sale walker Grami bought him and he scoots around everything in that thing - and gets into everything also! He tries {and does if I'm not looking} to pull picture frames off TV stand, pulling on the plants (got to go!) and this nightlight in wall he is fascinated with. All of this is just in the den. He scoots over like going to the sunroom and just sits there. He can't for the life of him figure out how to get in that room. Too funny. I can't imagine when he actually starts crawling and walking. Our hands are FULL, I tell ya.

• Favorite song: Island Song by ZBB off their new album "Uncaged". Y'all I knew he liked anything Reggae and once again this song proved my point. He was so fussy and everytime we played this song in the car on the way to the beach, he would hush. We may or may not have listened to it a hundred times.

• He also loves when his Grami sings "You are my sunshine" then I sing "Jesus Loves Me" to him all the time. The other day he reached up while I was rocking him (he always has to reach up and touch my face or play with my hair) and he put his hand over my mouth as if he were telling me to hush. Hilarious!

• He is a little flirt. Grins/smiles all the time. He really is a happy baby unless he is hungry or sleepy. Then trust me, he lets you know it. This is his "My mommy has got me so now I get whatever I want" face. Spoiled is not even the word. {and no y'all, I really don't give him whatever he wants} He does cry when we leave the room. I mean screams bloody murder.

• He has been eating cereal/baby food all month. Usually has oatmeal and apples or bananas in the morning then rice cereal and sweet potatoes or squash at night. We started peas last night and are working on incorporating even more foods! Yummy. He's tried pears too and still likes to have an apple slice in his little mesh fruit thingy. {I still don't the technical name}. We like using the pouch foods (Plum Baby, Happy Baby Organics} with the screw on Boon spoons for when we are in a crunch and out to eat. We can feed him with one hand if we have to! The child loves to eat and barely makes a mess. This is his "I'm so happy I'm eating baby food " face.

• He has sat in a highchair at a restaurant for the first time this month as well as began using his highchair at home.

• He LOVES his jumperoo. So much so that he finally "jumped himself to sleep" in it the other day. I knew it would eventually happen. My sis in law said Carter did it all the time, but I still laughed out loud and thought it was hilarious! 

• First time wearing big boy pajamas. He looks so grown! 

• He began sitting up on his own this month, about two weeks ago, and so now he can sit in the floor and play. Only thing is sometimes when he reaches for things he falls over and just starts scooting until he can get it. He gets up on all fours (see pic below) and rocks back and forth but hasn't figured out the concept yet. He can "army crawl" to get whatever toy he sees and wants and I know he wants to crawl so bad! 

• He also tries to hold his bottle. Not quite great at holding it up enough but he tries to be such a big boy!

• First trip to the beach. First "5 hour road trip". First time touching the sand, the salt air, the ocean. First time at Barefoot Landing. First time at the mall with Grami. First naps on the beach. He absolutely loved it all. Can't wait to take him to Fripp. He is a beach baby for sure! {and I only had him in the sun for a few minutes to take these pics. We have been using BabyGanics organic sunscreen SPF 50 and love it. Perfect for itty bitty ones because it's waterproof, Hypoallergenic, Fragrance Free, no PABA, parabens, sulfates, or phthalates. You know, whatever those bad things are. Mostly we keep him in swim shirt and in shade but fortunately he has his daddy's amazing olive skin and the kid is darker than I am already!??}

• At the beach he said "Dadadada" and "mamamama" for the first time. Hasn't too much said it since, but he will also say "PAPAPA" and "BABABA" Total baby rambling I know.

• He also has figured out how to "gurgle" so he will sit there and instead of swallowing his bottle he will "gurgle" because he thinks it's funny. Such a mess. 

"A mess? Who, me?"

• He is doing so much better in the car now, praise the Lord.

• He is strong as an ox. Tries to sit up on his own from a laying down position, tries to pull up on bumper pads in crib, and can hold your hands and stand up on his own.

"aaaaand we're done."

• Sleep is still an issue, especially lately since he has been teething. Finally get over the "colicky stage" at around 3 1/2 months only for him to begin teething. It has not been fun, but baby boy now has TWO bottom teeth. Second one came through just the beginning of this week. Maybe he will be a tad bit happier now. We can only hope. He has been getting up around 4 or 6am but eventually goes back to sleep until 8 or 9 [I don't have to be at work until 10]. Problem is he doesn't want to go to sleep until 10! Ay ya ya. He fights sleep big time. We will be getting into a better routine where he has to wake up earlier once school starts back and his sitter can keep him every day. Then I feel like he will go to bed earlier. Maybe.

• He does take two naps during the day. Mid morning and late afternoon. I am no expert on the sleeping schedule. Obviously we are doing something wrong if he doesn't want to go to sleep normal times like 8pm or 9pm ... OR maybe he is just a wild child with far too much energy. I have no idea. 

What I DO know is that he is the light of our lives and we can't imagine life before him. These 6 months have been such an adventure. This is a super fun age but I know it only gets better. Each day we continue to learn something new and I still consider us "new parents" who hardly have a clue what we are doing, but we love every challenge...every new phase...
every single moment with our sweet boy!

and if the next six months fly by as fast as these have, then I may want to consider

 beginning planning his first birthday party asap. Ahhh!