6 Months

General Conference was this past weekend, and we realized that it's been 6 months since the last General Conference weekend, which was when The Little Mister decided to make his entrance. It doesn't seem like it's been 6 months already!

Happy half birthday, little guy!

At his 6 month checkup he weighed 18.25 pounds (I'm definitely starting to feel that when I carry him around). He's slightly under average for height and slightly over average of weight and is keeping a consistent growth pattern.

Food:
* LMS started eating solid foods at 5 1/2 months, and inhaled the rice cereal we offered. She never had problems eating food and has always loved eating.

* TLM is very interested in food, but hasn't quite got the mechanics of swallowing down. He's working on it and is making progress as we feed him small amounts of food.

really not sure about those sweet potatoes

yes, that is one of his sister's old bibs that for some reason we still had sitting around

* He is grain free for now, and we're following the first food suggestions from Nourishing Traditions, which is a whole foods approach that focuses on nutrient dense foods. Foods such as bone broth, pastured egg yolks, pastured beef/bison liver, butternut squash, avocado, sweet potato, and so on. It's stuff we already eat, except the liver, which has been languishing in the freezer while I get up the nerve to try out a couple recipes. He likes the egg and liver, but isn't super fond of the squash and sweet potato.

happy to be "feeding" himself some squash

I'm not sure how much actually made it in his mouth

* He firmly believes that he needs to be drinking out of my water bottle. "If mommy is drinking from it, it must be good, right?" If I'm drinking from my water bottle, he'll reach up and try to grab it from me.

he's got it, but he's not quite sure how to get it to his mouth

* He is happy to have his own water bottle now, but hasn't quite figured out how to use it.

Other things:
* He's figured out he's supposed to smile for pics, so it's a lot easier to get smiley pics now. Unfortunately, this means that he tries to smile when I'm trying to get a pic of him being grumpy.

* Tummy time: LMS hated tummy time. In her mind, 30 seconds was 30 seconds too long. TLM doesn't seem to mind. He'll lay on a blanket and play with toys while LMS and I do schoolwork. I think this has helped him reach the point where he's trying to crawl (way earlier than LMS did). He can raise himself up on his hands and knees, but isn't quite coordinated enough to actually move his hands forward. It won't be long though....

* He's figured out how to blow raspberries, and likes to blow them a lot.

* I stored some of LMS' old baby toys and have been hauling them around the last couple years. I pulled them out the other day and they've both had fun playing with them.

* TLM is generally a happy baby and has a good sense of humor. He'll laugh at funny faces we make or funny voices we use or silly songs we sing.

* When he's tired, he jumps on our legs. Not sure why, but if he's jumping, it's time to lay him down. He also tends to pop his thumb in when he's tired, but can usually be redirected to his pacifier.

* We're finally transitioning him to his crib. LMS was in her crib by 3 or 4 months, but her sleep patterns were a lot different. I've noticed he does tend to sleep longer in the crib, possibly because I don't respond to every little sound since I can't hear them anymore, so he stirs, but goes back to sleep. He does still wake up around 4 or 5, wanting to eat, and makes enough noise for me to wake up and get him and feed him. LMS has slept through that so far. She begged to have him in her room, so for now they're sharing a room.

snuggly selfie

*We're starting to see the toddler he'll soon be, which is fun, but bittersweet.

he really wanted to do some exploring at the park, but he's just not mobile enough yet