William at 6 Months

William's 6 month stats are: Head circumference- 17" (25%), Weight- 16lbs, 7oz (25%), and Height- 26 7/8" (25%)

It is so hard for me to believe that my little boy is already half a year old! Where has the time gone? I feel like I was just pregnant. Waddling around, uncomfortable and perennially hot (and not in a good way!). And now I've got a fuzzy headed, nearly crawling, babbling little son. The stage hes in right now, has got to be my favorite so far. He is very socially interactive, has a sense of humor, is starting to understand sequences of events and his gross motor skills have vastly improved.

He can grasp things better than ever before. He picks things off the floor, passes them from hand to hand and rolls over to grab something he sees across the floor. Of course, everything goes into his mouth. You have to be careful what you hand him, lest it get covered with slobber. The other day I handed him a shopping list, thinking he would like the paper. He loved it, immediately putting it in his mouth. I tried to take it away, but by the time I did, it was missing a huge chunk out of the middle and the rest was wet. That chunk had a lot of important items on it and I couldn't remember them all. I learned my lesson that day!

He remembers Michael and gives him a big smile every night when he comes home. He also remembers games that we play with him, and will react in advance of our actions. For example, I sing a certain song that ends with me bouncing him in the air. He loves this song and laughs while being tossed in the air. Lately though, he will start to laugh and squeal as soon as I start singing the song, anticipating being tossed. Another example is this game we play where we let him knock items off of the edge of my desk, then Michael and I cheer him. When I play this game when Michael is at work, William looks over at Michael's chair, confused as to why he is not there to cheer him on. It is really precious to see his little mind at work.

His motor skills are progressing as well. When you put him on his tummy, he can briefly lift himself from his elbows, onto his hands, and simultaneously move his knees back and forth. He can't get his knees under him though, so he can't actually go anywhere. He does manage to inch forward a few inches here or there though. His real movement is in rolling though. If he sees a toy he wants, or needs to get closer to me, he simply rolls to where he wants to go. The only bad part of this is that he rarely remembers how to roll back onto his back, and so often cries about being stuck on his tummy. He is also really good at standing. If you place him on his feet and let him hold onto something (the edge of the couch or his crib rail for example), he can easily stand for at least five minutes. He is a bit of a daredevil though and will often try to step away. For this reason, I have been letting him fall, but gently, so that he learns that he can't do those sorts of things yet.

In other news, solids are going extremely well. To date, he has tried oatmeal, green beans, spinach, squash, sweet potato, potato, peas, apple, banana, pear, mango and peaches. He likes all of them, but is a little picky about texture. I make all of his food, and the peas and green beans in particular, are a little grainy. He still eats them, but makes a face and moves it around his mouth a bit more than the other foods. By far his favorite is squash. He likes that even more than the fruit! I like to compare him to a goat, because this kid will literally eat anything! A couple of weeks ago I was eating a cookie, and he was in a carrier in front of me, facing out. As I brought the cookie to my mouth, it would pass by his, and every time it went past, he would open his mouth wide, expecting a bite. That goes for anything that goes near his mouth: plastic, toys, paper, my food, his food, food he doesn't like. If its coming near his mouth, he wants to open up and try some. It is pretty funny the few times hes had peas in particular. Its clear he doesn't really enjoy them. He gags, makes disgusted faces and even cries a little. And yet, when the spoon gets near his mouth, he dutifully opens it. He is starting to enjoy peas more lately though! He is such a voracious eater, that he barely needs a bib. His mouth stays relatively clean, as at least 90% of the food actually makes it in, and stay in. I had a feeling this kid was going to be a good eater!

Lastly, I have recently noticed that the amount of laundry that I have been doing has drastically decreased. When I stopped to think about it, I realized that Will has not had any blow-out diapers in about a month, he has pretty much stopped drooling on his shirts(so no bibs). He doesn't spit up anymore (so no spit up rags) and he doesn't get any food on him. He pretty much wears just one outfit per day, and often that one doesn't even get dirty. Yet one more reason to love this age!

His nights have deteriorated a bit unfortunately as of late. He used to sleep 13 hours straight, from 7pm, to 8am. Lately though, he will wake up once, an hour after we put him down. We feed him and he goes back to sleep. He also wakes up when he hears Michael getting ready for work, around 6am. Again, I can just feed him, and put him back to sleep until 8am. These night wakes are not ideal obviously, but they are not a big deal, and take less than 10 minutes each time. So they don't bother me too much. I do look forward to when he is not waking anymore however! During the day, he also takes 3, one hour naps during the day with minimal fuss (for which I am SO grateful).

 Other than that, he is just a happy little guy. He is starting to master both his activity mat, and his jumperoo. he wildly jumps, spins, mashes the buttons and yanks on the toys. It is the cutest thing to hear him squealing with joy as he plays. He is quick to smile and laughs easily. He has even started sucking his thumb (something I try to discourage)! He loves peekaboo, dancing and songs. Our days are filled with made up songs that describe whatever mundane activity is taking place. He was cracking up at the song I sang to him about 'cooking the chicken' this evening. He really is just a joy to be around and makes being a mom fun. I feel so lucky to have such an easy, good natured son.