6 Months Old and Mother's Day

William turned 6 months old last week and today we had his 6-month check-up.

Stats:
Weight - 17lbs 9oz (50th percentile)
Height - 27" (75th percentile)
Head - 17 1/4" (50th percentile)

Fun Facts:

• Still pretty lazy.  He HAS rolled over from his stomach to his back, but he doesn't do it very often. 
• He has not yet rolled from back to stomach.
• We successfully unswaddled him and now he both naps and sleeps without being wrapped up.  Now, with more mobility in his arms and legs when he sleeps, he wakes up in different positions than we last left him in...with his head where his feet were and his feet where his head was.  He oftentimes can be found sleeping on his side.
• He's doing a little sitting now, but topples over after about 30 seconds or so.
• William continues to be a good eater - and has not refused ANY food that we've offered him (his list is now: sweet potatoes, bananas, avocados, green beans, peas, butternut squash, apples, carrots, rice cereal and oatmeal).
• He can now hold his own bottle.  (He also can recognize his bottle from across the room and if he is hungry, there is NO getting around giving it to him.)  The boy definitely takes after his parents in his strong desire to eat.  Yum.
• He's already growing out of his 6 month clothes, and even one pair of size 6-9 month pants had to be put away because they were too small.
• Most socks will still not stay on his chubby little feet.  Michael thinks it is because he has cankles.
• He's still laughing, but still a tough crowd.  Michael by far gets the most laughs out of him.  He still doesn't seem to think I'm very funny.
• He's still not a good napper - especially at daycare, where he only sleeps in 5-10 minute increments...but his nighttime sleep has improved and now he does a pretty good job sleeping from 7pm-ish until 6am-ish.

We had a nice Mother's Day weekend.  The picture at the top shows William and I at the Strawberry Street Festival here in Richmond (Thanks to Aunt Bridget for the great hat...and thanks to Laura for letting us borrow some of Ben's cute clothes - that adorable yellow striped polo is his).  On Sunday, we visited with the neighbors and I took a couple hours off to do the Museum District Mothers Day House Tour.

Teeth!

They're not here yet, but they are coming.

William wouldn't even touch his "dinner" last night - I'm guessing because the food/spoon/etc. hurt his gums.  Poor kiddo.

Hopefully this will be a relatively short process.  But, even if it is short, I know that it is a process that will just keep repeating itself as more and more teeth come in over the next few months.

Oral Fixation

Well, it's official.  William will officially put anything in his mouth (good luck to us in the coming months with babyproofing!)

He has now successfully eaten:

• rice cereal
• green beans
• sweet potatoes
• avocado
• banana

He also used a sippy cup with a little water in it today with pretty good results.

Next up:  peas and then butternut squash

Philosophy for today...

I am super busy today.

My philosophy or theme for the day is going to be, "It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be."

Sadly, this is especially going to be the theme of the report I'm writing today.

Travel Begins Again

A couple weeks ago I had my first business trip...it was just a day trip to Indy - not even spending the night.  But with William around, even a day trip becomes infinitely more complicated.

I have another one tomorrow; this time to Chicago.  Again, luckily, just a day trip.

However, I do have an overnight trip (agin to Indy) coming in May...and then my first week-long trip coming in June.

It begins...

Reading Between the Lines

William gets daily "report cards" sent home from daycare. Usually, along with when he ate, napped and did tummy time, they are filled with notes about what he did that day. What books they read. What he was especially interested in, etc. etc. Sometimes, these notes say things that hint about him not being the best baby there ever was that day. They don't outright say he was a bad baby that day, but if you read between the lines, you can see it. A couple examples:

• "He really liked his one on one time today." really means William wouldn't sit by himself for even one second.


• "William is getting used to tummy time." really means William screams and cries when we set him on his tummy to strengthen his neck and arms. He is falling behind his peers.


• "He is fine as long as he can see me." really means William requires attention almost constantly.

However, Monday's note home was bad enough that I didn't actually have to "read between the lines." He did NOT have a good Monday. [No worries, though, Tuesday was better.]

If you can't read the above note, it says, "William had a 'hold me' Monday. He wasn't having fun with tummy-time at all. He enjoyed storytime as we read 'Animal Sounds' and 'Baby Mickey's Toys'. A bit fussy today. Yet he was content with tasting the book. Much love and care given by teachers. :) "

And, yes, William was "tasting" the book when I got there. Slobbering all over the pages. He was sitting in a bouncy chair where he teacher said he had been for only 5 minutes that day, otherwise insisting on being held. Ladies and gentleman, I have created a "hold me," attention-needy monster.

Wow.

I suck at blogging, huh? 4 posts in all of March? I vow to make April better. And certainly if not better posts...well...at least more of them.