6 Months Old!

February 15, 2011... OK, actually the 16th

Happy half-birthday to Jack!  I can't believe my little baby-boo is already 6 months old.  He's changed so much over the past month.  He is now grabbing his feet, sitting up, making new sounds (mostly 'da-da-da'), and breaking things.  Yup, he kicked my iPhone off the glider and cracked the screen.  He also discovered the blinds in back of his changing table and thinks it's fun to grab and pull at them while getting his diaper changed.  A toy to occupy his hands and mouth during changing time is essential to keeping the blinds in tact and the dirty diaper from being, ahem, 'displaced' before being properly disposed of.

Other notable news this month... bottles and teeth are in, swaddles and bath seats are out!  Jack is no longer enemies with the bottle and actually takes it down with gusto now... he even tries to hold it himself with some degree of success.  Translation: I can leave him for longer than 3 hours during the day and know that he won't go on a hunger strike.  Also, his first tooth broke the surface of his gums this month.  And as of a last weekend, Jack is swaddle-free at night.  For several reasons, I've been wanting to ditch the swaddle for a while now.  We decided on a cold turkey approach, and it actually went smoother than we expected.  He has only woken up once or twice each night, and he has been able to put himself back to sleep several times on his own.  I've suspected that he was a stomach sleeper since he was a newborn, and it turns out I was right.  He always ends up on his stomach and seems pretty comfy that way.  He's still being swaddled for naps.  And finally, with his newly acquired sitting up skills (and due to the fact that he's outgrown his infant bath seat), Jack now sits butt to steel in the kitchen sink.  It makes bath time a lot less relaxing for me (his sitting is not exactly perfected), but a whole lot more fun for Jack.

trying to lick the water running down his face

Introducing Jack to new foods has been fun.  Thankfully, he doesn't seem to been a picky eater so far.  He loves rice cereal, bananas, acorn squash, butternut squash and sweet potatoes.  He also likes applesauce and pears.  He didn't like zucchini the first time I gave it to him, but I tried again a few days ago and he happily ate it.  The only thing I've tried that he hasn't liked yet is avocado. 

rice cereal with bananas = yum

first zucchini = yuck

We had to take Jack's chair picture a day late this month, as I was out of commission yesterday due to a nasty stomach bug.  Fortunately it was the 24 hour type and Jack and Jesse appear to have avoided it.  A big thanks to Grandpa K for saving the day by taking care of Jack while I was sick.  Jack was totally spoiled by Grandpa, who's a big softy and also now a born-again bottle feeding/diaper changing pro.  It must be like riding a bike...

Jesse picked out Jack's adorable ensemble for the big 6-month picture.  Jack finds his dad hilarious, especially when he sings to him.  Jesse was singing one of Jack's favorite songs during this photo shoot.  If you guessed Justin Bieber's Baby, you'd be right.

Remember to check Jesse's zenfolio site for more recent pictures of Jack.  Here are a few of my favorites from this month...