half a year

It's hard to believe that Eddie is already 6 months old. In a way, it seems like just yesterday that he was still in utero and I was questioning whether he was going to arrive at all. We think back to the first three months of his life when he was colicky and was sleeping in our bed, preventing us from getting any semblance of quality sleep and it seems so long ago...we are of course happy he grew out of that phase but in a way also miss that special phase of his life that brought us so close. Now he is a real live person, with emotions and characteristics and tons of personality.

Instead of going through the categories I established earlier for his monthly update, I guess I will briefly try to summarize what he is like and some of his new skills. He is still very tactile, grabbing for everything and liking things with texture, such as clothing or the upholstery on the chairs and couches. We have to start to watch him more now because the other day he motioned to grab the cord of the computer and could have pulled the whole laptop on top of himself. While breastfeeding he has always been one to grab hold of me, usually grabbing my clothing or skin and grasping over and over again as if to hold on tightly, but recently he also started grabbing at my face, my chin and putting his fingers into my mouth. One day he became so humored by it that he started to chuckle. You have to earn a laugh from Eddie. He is a happy boy, smiles constantly, but his laughs are harder to come by (laughs hard only once a day) and even more challenging to replicate. He will laugh at something hysterically, such as his rubber duckie spraying water, but then when you try to replicate it the next day, alas, he does not laugh again. He is very active and mobile for someone his age - always in a different position in his crib than that which you put him in and has started to get into the crawling position when placed on his tummy. The doctor actually asked at his last visit if he was active because his weight gain has not been consistent on the charts - he is now 16 lbs. 8 oz. and is 27 inches, which puts him only in the 50th percentile. He is still not sitting unsupported, but can sit well in his high chair and propped up with cushions. He is eating well and enjoying the homemade baby food and grains. He is eating millet now. We will start to increase his meals to 2-3 times per day although it is a challenge to get that many feedings in when he also takes about 3 naps a day. Lately his sleep has not been the greatest during the day - he has a hard time falling asleep, always rolling over and making noises, wanting to play and sometimes the nap gets aborted because he cries and whines for over 45 minutes and never falls asleep. There is no consistency to his naps, in duration and occurrence during the day. I thought his morning nap was pretty consistent, occurring about 1.5-2 hours after he woke up, but today he skipped the nap completely. There is nothing sacred. But his nighttime sleep is good and very consistent now. He only wakes up twice to feed, usually about 4 hours after falling asleep and then again 5-6 hours later. He starts his day typically around 7 a.m.

He is very aware of his surroundings, looking at everything and welcoming new people with a smile. He listens to XM radio via the tv and smiles when the announcer's voice comes on. He recognizes certain songs and books well, with a smile. He smiles at himself in the mirror. People say that he is very calm, focused and can play well, as in he is content playing independently for long periods of time, sometimes up to 30 minutes. He likes to be around people, conversation and activity - it seems to not only stimulate him but soothe him.

We enjoy our little bomba, bombasta, bomby, bugaboo, messy bessy, drooly pooly and crab apples very much...he brings us and others who meet him much joy.