Nicole and Brandon

Blake you are half a year old already! Part of me feels like we were just in the hospital and another part of me feels like we've been parents for years. These past 6 months have been some of the best months of my life. You fill my heart with joy. I'm so glad God chose me to be your mommy.

Here's a look back at the last month:

This post is a little late because I wanted to include your 6 month checkup stats.

6 month stats:

Weight:

17 pounds, 10 ounces (47th percentile)

Length:

27.5 inches (78th percentile)

Head Circumference:

18 inches (96th percentile)

We also had your 6 month pictures taken and I think they turned out really cute!

Memories from the first half of Month 6:

-You love kicking your legs around and flailing your arms. Sometimes you kick so hard in your Rockaroo that the swing quits rocking for a minute. You also start to kick when you get excited, like when mommy picks you up after work. :)

-Somehow you chuck your pacifier out of your crib almost every time you're in it. Mommy is getting sick of army crawling under your crib to retrieve it. Haha! ;)

-One day when daddy was shaving you got a handful of his shaving cream and got it in your mouth before we could stop you. It was pretty funny and we managed to wipe most of it out of your mouth before you swallowed.

-You've officially started solids. You eat cereal in the morning after your first nap and a vegetable at dinner time. We started with carrots. You like them a lot.

-You've started screeching a lot. Cute for now! ;)

-You finally learned how to roll the other way (belly to back)! Now you roll all over the place. You really want to start crawling too but you can't quite figure it out. The knees of your jammies are getting pilled.

Memories from the second half of month 6:

-Mommy is officially back to work so you started daycare. You go to a home daycare three days a week and grandma's two days a week. You transitioned just fine and mommy did pretty well too.

-We've moved you up to size 9 month clothing gradually. Most of your 9 month stuff is for the fall so we squeeze you into 6 month shorts on the warm days.

-So far you've tried these solids (and loved all of them): rice cereal, oat cereal, carrots, squash, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, and honey crisp applesauce. I've bought the Beechnut brand jars and the Gerber "jars". I do not make your food from scratch nor do I plan to. ;)

-You went in the church nursery for the first time (during SS, you stay with us through the service).

-You also got sick for the first time. Poor guy. You got a fever and daddy had to stay home with you. You also had a runny nose and raspy voice. You just didn't feel good for about a week.

-You're still an awesome sleeper! You sleep approximately 8pm - 7am at night and take two 2 hour naps and a catnap during the day.

-We keep wondering if you're teething. We're pretty sure your fever was cold related but I know that it can be a sign of teething (though some disagree). Your saliva seems to have a more watery consistency lately. We'll see.

-You LOVE cups and water bottles! Every time I have one in my hand or on a table in front of you you reach for it with your whole body and try to bring it to your mouth.

-You gave me "kisses" for the first time. Awww
-Every time mommy gives you a bath you think it's funny to pee all over! Last time you hit all of our clean pump and bottle parts that were drying....ughhh. I still love you buddy. :) Daddy claims you never do this when he bathes you!

-And finally, this has been going on for pretty much your whole life, but you are obsessed with Uncle Tyler. Specifically his face and beard. Hahaha!

And, as always, some pictures from the past month!

A very rare instance of snuggling captured here. He must have know I was heading back to work soon.

Caught mid-screech bouncing up and down!

Little soccer thug, hahaha!

Celebrating Opa's birthday

Checking out the stingrays with Zoey at the aquarium store.

We made Grandma a special birthday gift

Out shopping, chewing on Sophie :)

After church

You think daddy is so funny!

Feed me mom!

Hanging outside while we play ball with Zoey

One night I came home from grocery shopping and found you like this. Daddy said you were playing and then just rolled over and fell asleep! You must take after mommy!!!

We love you so much Blake! Happy half-birthday!

Blake, you're 5 months old! Holy smokes! I have literally lost count of how many weeks old you are so we will just have to do a first half/last half memory recap of the month. :) Also, no doctor appointment this month so no new stats. I'm guessing you're about 16 pounds.

"Really mom, pictures again?"

"Well, I guess I'll smile" :)

"Actually, it's kind of fun watching you make silly faces!"

First half of month 5 memories:

-On August 3 you rolled over from back to belly for the first time! I put you down on your play mat, walked over to the sink to do some dishes, turned around and you were on your belly. You still haven't figured out belly to back though.

(This was your pre-roll position)

-Around the middle of this month you had some serious sleep regression issues. You cried and cried before bed and before naps and I felt like you were two weeks old again. I did some googling and found out there is something about week 19 and a mental breakthrough that causes sleep regression. I hope it goes away soon.

-You went swimming in a warm pool and really enjoyed yourself.

-The doctor gave us the go-ahead for food so around the second week of this month (4 months, 2 weeks) we tried rice cereal. After three days of trying you were constantly unhappy while we were trying to feed you so we decided to wait a little bit longer before starting the whole food thing. I had fun shopping for it though!

-You've been a great shopping buddy this month! Mom may or may not have done an excessive amount of shopping. :-) It's a good thing she's going back to work soon. Haha!

-We finally quit swaddling you for bedtime. You still seemed to like it but we read that you should not swaddle a baby after four months because it can delay gross motor skills. Now you sleep in your Aden + Anais sleep sack. #rulefollower

Memories from the second half of month 5:

-You still wear 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. And, we are still exclusively nursing.

-You really are the happiest baby! Lots of people comment on how happy you are. You only cry when you are very hungry and fuss when you get tired.

-Mommy is slowly working on merging your schedule forward a couple of hours. All summer we been getting up around 9 AM but when school starts it will be more like 6:30 AM. Wahhhh.

-Daddy loves getting you up in the morning if you wake up before he leaves. You always give him the biggest smiles. You do this when he gets home from work too. It makes him so proud to be a daddy. :)

-You had your first trip to a big zoo and even though it was super super hot and we were there for quite a while you didn't cry once.

-You also went on your first "train ride" at the zoo.

-AND you rode in your stroller like a big boy for the first time at the zoo!

-You love to talk! You "talk" to yourself in your crib, in the car, in the stroller, everywhere! Mommy also talks to you a lot. A lady in the grocery store heard me talking to you and asking you questions and asked, "Does he answer you?" Hahaha! I'm a silly mommy. :)

-You recently figured out that you can roll over and move around in your crib. Previously you were just doing this on your playmats. Mommy does not like this because you roll over and can't figure out how to get on your back again and then you get very mad until I come up and help you. A couple times you've just given in and slept on your belly. Trust me, we are practicing rolling belly to back A LOT during the day so that we can avoid these middle of the night cry fests.

-I'm not sure if you're truly teething because I don't feel any teeth, but, you've begun biting down on things. You really like to naw on fingers and on Sophie. Drooling is still your thing too. ;)

-You don't need to be burped very often anymore. This just kind of happened with time, I'm not sure if I could pinpoint when I figured this out. You still will typically burp after a full feeding and may spit up here and there...but you're growing up!

-If I provide resistance to your feet when you're on your tummy, you scoot around. You want to crawl so bad already. Please wait!!!

-Mommy did your hair for the first time. You were pretty cute. :)

-On August 24 you rolled belly to back when I wasn't looking (again). But....it didn't stick. You haven't done it again yet. I'm very patiently waiting. ;)

-We tried the rice cereal again at the very end of the month and this time you loved it! We are going to try again today. In the few weeks that we waited you gained more head and body control. You are getting so close to sitting up on your own!

-In your first 4 months, you've already been to 4 weddings, 4 hotels, and 4 States! You're already a well traveled little man.

-You celebrated my birthday with me for the first time outside of the womb :).

-And finally, mommy is preparing to return to work. As I filled out the paperwork for the lady who will be watching you I tried my very best to describe what your likes and dislikes are. I am sad that I will not be with you every second of the day anymore and that I won't be there to comfort you if you get sad during the day, but, I am happy and excited to return to work as well. Such a bittersweet time. This is how I described your preferences on the information sheet:

Blake really likes being up and able to look around when he's awake or on a playmat with toys. He enjoys crinkly toys and his Sophie giraffe. Sometimes loud, flashy toys scare him. He loves blankies, especially when he's tired. He also likes his pacifier when he's tired and will take it at naptime. He sleeps in a sleep sack. If he's still antsy at naptime sometimes I give him a small blanket to play with until he's asleep and then I take it out. He's not much of a snuggler but like songs (especially the Ants Go Marching One by One) and stories. He prefers laying on his back.

I know it's probably cheesy to write all of this on here, but, this is how I think of you right now and I never want to forget it. I know you will just keep growing and that this stage of life will be gone in the blink of an eye. Mommy and Daddy love you so much Blake!

And as always, some photos from the last month: