6 Months and counting

Some how six months have passed since little one was born. Time really flies when you're busy changing diapers! He has really changed in dramatic ways since birth, and I sometimes look at pictures and cannot believe he once was so tiny and helpless.

James is keeping up the ridiculous growth rate, and has been wearing 12mo sized clothes for a few weeks now. He began sitting independently on Jan 2 and has gotten better and sitting longer as well as catching himself before toppling over, although that still happens too. His hand/eye coordination is getting dangerously good. He grabs all sorts of things, like my cell phone, with accuracy. James can pick up smaller toys like his toy balls and he watches everything. He is working on developing his pincer grip too but is excellent at raking things to him. He talks a bit, mostly in silly babbles. Occasionally it sounds like he says real words including "Hi" and "Ma" but it's just a coincidence he's saying those sounds not actual speech. Another great improvement is he no longer despises bath time. I accredit it to his ability to sit up well since he will now sit in the bath and play with the bubbles. He has yet to have "people food" aka any solids but we will be working on letting him play with finger foods in the next month or so.

His weigh in at the doctor's office is next week, but thus far my "at home" measurements have been pretty close. He is over 28in long and at least 20lbs. I will update with an official weigh-in after his visit. EDIT: He went to the Dr, and is 21lb and 28.5in which is the 90th and 95th percentiles respectively. I'm going to have some nicely toned arms carrying this beast around!

Computer is delicious!

James still prefers nursing over bottles and will occasionally decide to refuse a bottle. He has also started resisting naps! This is making both mom/James a tad crabby. He has grown increasingly aware of the world and wants to explore everything, it would seem sleep gets in his way of fun. Thankfully he still sleeps well at night so it's just a matter of forcing him to nap when he's obviously tired.

5 Months

The little lump is growing into an active, engaging little baby boy. I cannot believe how quickly and dramatically he changes - from his size to his abilities to his personality.

At 5 months there is no official weigh in with the Dr. but according to the Wii scale he's over 19lbs and my measuring tape logs 27.5in of baby. Simply put, he remains a big boy! At Christmas we visited with family and he is bigger than his 9mo old second cousin - both height and weight.

James is developing quite a personality, he likes naps, tearing apart things, sitting up and looking at the world, watching the dogs play, petting the dogs, and laughs whenever the dogs lick his feet. He also enjoys eating and grabbing at everything. He will look up at me while I'm drinking, fascinated by the disappearing liquid trick. He loves the "flying baby" game with Dad and toys, especially ones that he can manipulate to make noise/etc.

He is very close to sitting unassisted, and can for a few seconds at a time. He love to stand but needs us holding him for balance. He twists and turns and scoots and rolls all over as much as he can. James would love to crawl but hasn't got the whole system worked out yet. When on his belly he tries desperately but isn't quite strong/coordinated enough to get off the ground. We are going to have to baby proof the house soon!

I can't think of very many dislikes. He will play alone for a little while but generally doesn't like when we leave him alone in a room. He doesn't like laying down except to sleep/eat. And he gets mad if he's on his belly for too long. Also he seems to get annoyed when strangers are up in his face, especially if he's tired. Overall he is a happy little guy.

Merry Christmas

Hope you have a magical day filled with happiness and wonder, friends and family, good food and great traditions!