Six Months Old (by Matthew)

My post-womb existence now spans a full half-year, everyone. And what do I have to show for it? Well, I have 27 3/4 inches and 16 pounds, to be precise, plus a 17" head. At my age, my sister was a a petite 14 lbs., 3 oz. and 26 inches, so even though I'm only in the 30th percentile for weight, I feel very manly. I'm also still rather tall, falling somewhere between the 75th and 90th percentiles.

This month I started working on this:

As you can see, I still have to lean pretty heavily on my hands for balance. Actually, these shots were taken at the beginning of the month, so I may have improved since then. But this was the first time I sat without any adult support, and I managed to remain upright for probably about two full minutes! Wow, right?

Mommy calls me her little caveman because she has to take me to a cave-like environment in order to get me to eat. I am very easily distracted when nursing; if there is light in the room, I won't even latch on, but just stare around the room. If there are noises in the room, I have to unlatch regularly to investigate. So over a month ago Mommy began taking me into my own room, turning off the light and turning on the fan for every single feeding. At first she grumbled about this because she likes to read while nursing me, and she can't do that without light. But now I have her trained so she doesn't even murmur. Good Mommy.

One more newsworthy item: the Rolling Wars finally reached their conclusion last week when I learned to roll from my back to my front. It's a good thing, too. You should have seen the contraption Mommy was rigging up (at least five times a day [!] with three naps, one bedtime, and one midnight feeding) to keep me on my tummy when I slept. I won't try to explain it in detail, because from a mere written description you might think my mom was being inhumane. I will tell you that, in its final incarnation, her set-up involved three large receiving blankets, two full-sized pillows and a crib bumper. And guess what? I got strong enough to wriggle free from even that. Mommy was just about at her wit's end, let me tell you. (I'll also tell you that she doesn't look very pretty when her wit is close to its end.) But in the nick of time, I conquered the rolling thing, was subjected to a couple of nights of crying-it-out when I rolled in mid-sleep, and am now doing pretty well. [Mommy's editorial note: Hallelujah!]

Here are a few more pictures from the past month... Mondays are good days for napping on the couch with Daddy.

Hangin' out with Sister...

I have greatly improved in using my hands. Here I am using them to enjoy my favorite toy, a cloth book that makes crinkly, squeaking and rattling noises. Now that's fun.