where did the time go!? six months!?

i simply cannot believe that SIX MONTHS has passed. my sweet baby boy, you have grown and changed and taught your parents so very much! when i think to the night you were born, which seems all at once far away and so recently, i have to laugh about some of the things that were said... including your exhausted and confused daddy asking the nurse-- can you please show me how to waddle this baby!?... and your tired and clueless mommy saying to another nurse-- oh, we're supposed to do that??-- when she asked me why we hadn't fed or changed you.

Ha! boy were we in for it!

but, i do think that we're doing pretty well. you are healthy and happy and seem to be developing well. not only are you strong and learning new things about your physical body each and every day, but you're also emotionally well-developed, constantly smiling, laughing, babbling and making new friends. this week, you moved up to a new daycare classroom and your teachers wrote a note to your daddy and me, saying that were we very good parents to you. maybe they say that to everyone, but i have to be honest and say it was nice to hear! we love you so so so very much and it is a gross understatement to say that you're the best part of both of our days.

at six months you're...

-sick. :( sorry buddy, but you have another cold. this one isn't as bad as the last one-- or maybe i'm just better prepared and less nervous this time around?-- but this is your 3rd cold. the first one was not so bad, the second was terrible, and this one is not too bad. your doctor told us that babies will have 7 to 10 colds in the first year. at 6 mos, you've either got a very sick summer coming up or you're not going to meet the 7-10 range! i'm hoping for the latter.... this cold has been accompanied by some (sorry, tmi to anyone reading, but i need to remember this stuff!) diarrhea! we can't figure out if that's associated with the cold or your teething... i called the dr. today and she told me not to worry unless you have a fever or unless it becomes more frequent. you have completely doused two pairs of pants, treating both your daddy and me to some interesting smells, sights and lots of spray n wash, ugh! but its ok... we just want you to feel better! but, like usual, you're in good spirits, happy to be alive. you're pretty much yourself, happy to play and go on errands, take naps and sleep all night-- tho i have heard you coughing at night... :(

-mobile! you're not crawling yet, thank goodness b/c daddy, otis and i are NOT prepared at all, i don't think... but, somehow, someway, you get around. i guess it's called creeping, but you have pretzel wrapped yourself through the crib rails, moving from one end of the crib to the other. thank goodness for the rails or you might have ended up in the living room? haha. when playing, you'll lift arms and push, then lay your chest down and lift your butt up on your knees and push, but you haven't coordinated them together. i know the days are numbered until you do and we have GOT to babyproof soon. (we took the crib bumpers out of your crib b/c we came in one night to check on you to find you smushed completely up against the bumper with your face! but now that they're gone, you tangle your arms and legs through. so... i think there are mesh bumpers in our near future.)

-quickly changing your eating habits! it's happened so fast that you've got me all confused. just a couple short months ago, you were eating 6 bottles a day! now, you're down to 3! 4 on a long day... you eat all fruits and vegetables, baby rice and baby oatmeal. you eat three "meals" of solids per day and, at daycare, they give you an afternoon snack of fruit and a little rice. i know that the solids are pushing out your bottles, and as long as you eat 24-32oz a day you're ok (according to the pediatrician). all i have to do is look at your super round tummy or rolly polly legs to know you're not starving! plus i know you'd let me know...! but, i guess i just can't believe that my little baby boy is moving further away from his bottles and on to more and more real meals! seems like yesterday that you'd wake us up at 4am SCREAMING for a bottle, and now you wake up with a smile, wait for 30 minutes patiently while i made coffee, feed the dog and make your fruit and cereal breakfast. and then you eat so well, barely letting a drop out onto your face anymore. sometimes, buddy, this is happening all too fast for me!

-more focused on details. this might sound like an odd thing to mention here, but it's been very noticeable to me. instead of just squeezing a toy and chewing on it, you hold it in one hand and use the other hand to inspect the toy's tags, eyes and tail, slowing feeling and pinching each small piece. instead of just looking into your baby mirror, you grab the string on the side and pull the whole mirror over on yourself. you carefully explore my face instead of just feeling around, first feeling mouth, then intentionally moving to nose, waiting until you've inspected all there is to inspect before moving onto eyes. in this, i can tell you're learning and taking more notice of the world around you.

-teething. i can see the whites of your two front bottom teeth, you're still a drool factory and chew happily on frozen teething toys. twice your daddy and i have given you tylenol b/c you seem to be in a lot of pain and very unhappy-- not like yourself at all. we don't like to give you any medicine, so we must have thought you REALLY needed it! and, as i already said, you have the bathroom issue so... i'm hoping they decide to debut soon.

-sad to be alone sometimes. sometimes you play just as content as can be in a room by yourself-- in your exersaucer or crib-- but sometimes you cry if we walk out of the room and stop when we come back and you can see us again. recently, i came into your room when you were crying before a nap. when you saw me, you stopped. and then i bent down to pick something up off the floor and you started to cry again! i stood up and said-- here i am! and you stopped. hmmmm. and, sometimes when i leave the room after laying you down for a nap or bedtime, you'll roll up on your side and turn your head around to watch me leave the room. it's not that i think this is necessarily a good or bad thing, just again i think you're noticing more about the world around you and developing your own personality and feelings-- and learning how to express them!

-responsive to your name. if we say "adam" you turn and look. we could be talking talking talking and if we say your name you look at us. this makes me very happy.

we don't have your check up till next friday, so... we won't know how much you weigh, etc, until then. i stood on the scale with you recently and was SHOCKED to see the number increase by 20lbs, but i am going to believe our scale is wrong until i have solid proof next week.

i took these very adorable photos of you today.

eating a "biter biscuit" i called it your birthday cookie! you barely ate any of it, mostly just knawed and sucked on it a bit. but i am glad you liked it, all the same.

still obsessed with your feet...

6 mos old today!

you can see your nose running in this photo... :( poor little guy!