6 months old!

The amazing and wonderful Daniel is 6 months old today. It's kind of hard to believe that 6 months ago today this was happening . . .

We have Daniel's official 6 month check up tomorrow so I'll post the details then. I am betting that he'll be somewhere between 17 and 18 pounds and 25 to 26 inches.

At 6 months, Daniel:

• smiles often
• can laugh
• enjoys peek a boo
• can roll front to back and back to front
• tips to the left when encouraged to sit
• rocks on all fours
• squeals, squeaks, hums
• says ga ga ga and da da da
• IS STILL BREASTFEEDING
• wakes multiple times a night
• has tried green beans, sweet potatoes, and broccoli
• likes the car more than he used to
• seems to like the stroller
• has one tooth (a second was spotted and has since retracted)
• puts everything in his mouth
• grabs his feet 
• thinks the wind blows just for him
• loves the bath
• has just begun wearing size 6 month clothes
• wears size 3 diapers

He is such a cheerful little guy and is generally interested and happy to see what's going on. He likes people and is very patient when people want to hold him and talk to him. Here are some recent pics for your time:

Thanks for looking!

Food!

One of the experiences I've been most looking forward to is introducing Daniel to food! I've been doing some research about how best to do this as I want to avoid him being a picky eater, if at all possible.

The method we chose to use is called baby led weaning. If you're unfamiliar, basically the idea is to promote the idea that food is fun by allowing the baby to be in control of what he eats. You offer small (safely cut) portions of whatever the family is eating and let the baby experience taste, texture and feel as he wants. No spoon feeding (unless the food naturally needs a spoon) and you breastfeed first so that the baby isn't frustrated by hunger. There's more info here if you want to look . . . http://www.whattoexpect.com/first-year/feeding-baby/baby-led-weaning-how-to.aspx

Anyway, given that Mr. Man now has a tooth (!) and will be 6 months old this Monday (!) and has been exhibiting all the signs of readiness (head control, interested in food, etc) we decided to go ahead and start with green beans on Friday night. We then waited the safety two days (to make sure there was no reaction) and had sweet potatoes yesterday.

Daniel has no problem getting the food from the tray of his high chair to his mouth but did seem a little unsure about the next step. I'm betting he'll get the hang of it!

(Next time I might cut longer strips of green beans to give him a little more to hold on too. Poor kid has little fat hands and they got in the way! Sweet potato in chunky wedges was up next and was delightfully mushy)

Thanks for looking!

Growing!

So, at the ripe old age of 24 weeks (or 5 and a half months) Daniel has finally out-grown some of his size three months clothing. We had a good time this weekend figuring out what fits and what doesn't. This week and next, he'll wear some of that three month stuff for the last time - provided I can get thing to close over his fat little legs!

Here are a few pics of the small stuff and then a fashion show of his 6 month/summer attire!

This little sleeper is too short in the arms and too snug in the legs. It's size 0-3 months. Love the hat tho!

Car onesie is a little snug but I was thinking he'd get one more wear out of until he poopsploded all over it on Saturday. Undershirt now!

 

This "I <3 Mummy" onesie is definitely a little snug but it is very stretchy so I think it'll be ok one or two more times. Check out the difference between the 3 month (gray) pants and the 6 month (red) pants.

 

Also, last time wearing each of these 3 outfits (all size 3 months)

 

On to the new stuff!! 

While clothes that just go over the head and fasten at the feet are harder, he's pretty darn cute. This collared suit says "Handy Manr Tool Co" . . . also, requisite KU outfit. 

This one says "All American Boy"

This one is part of Carter's summer line - all nautical. He's got another suit with sailboats on it, and then one with a crab on the butt and one with a shark on the butt. This one says "Mommy's Great Catch" and, holy crap, are those pinky/orange whales bright - much brighter than they look in the pic