Well here is his official 6-month photo.
So....I've decided to save a lot of the emotional rambling for letters I write directly to Weston...for Weston only. Because really.... I want to update people who care about how things are going, and then to also log for my own records the stuff that happens. The rest that I want him to know, I won't bore you guys with all that. And I suck too much to get everything perfect with chronological order so it might be a bit unorganized. OH WELL AND A HALF.
This sums up WEston's personality out of every picture I've ever taken. The playfulness. The crazy antics. The excited about life-ness. I hope he keeps those traits till he's 90.
DEVELOPMENT:
Apparently, so was his roving tongue. :) (which he still likes to waggle at whim)
And another
As of July 23, he can sit up fairly well. In the pics below (the official sit up), he's being a bit tripod-like...but the last few days, he's really been owning his new upright position. Yeah, yeah, a face plant happens every now and again, but he just gets back up and tries again. Ok, so maybe I sit him back up and make him try again, but it's all about habits that we form now that come out later, right? :)
Do we agree though that he looks a little shocked he can do such a thing?
He loves to stand up. I've never seen a kid look so proud of himself as he does when he stands up. He KNOWS he's a big boy!!! ;)
He says easily things like "mama"....mamamamama. I am not so naive to think that he's actually saying MAMA as in ME, the LOVE OF HIS LIFE. He knows not what it means yet, but because he can say it, the day that he "gets it"...man, watch out Dada, cuz it's on. ;) Other sounds also come out like bababababa, a lot of "ahhhhhh" and "ehhhhhh" and then some stuff that I'm not sure how to spell. Short humming noises, grunts and then this thing I can't even describe...like a chirping guttural cluck sound. It's eluded my recording efforts.
He can scoot like an inchworm, so that's kinda problematic as apparently, he can do this while sleeping. So there are nights he'll wake up and cry cuz he's stuck in the corner that he scooted into and this inchworm, well, there's no scooting backwards.
He loves baby food. Except for peas.
And he is totally reaching for my water glass every time I have it around him. So we've offered it to him and he is now a fiend for the greatest beverage on Earth!! Here are two videos. It's actually really cute to see him try to drink out of a big glass.
And here is the one that shows the proof is in the peas... including him yelling at me (rightly so) for making him try it again for entertainment. It's long, but maybe skip the first bit of him drinking water if pure cuteness bores you, you weirdo.
Our feeding schedule, though mostly based on his hunger cues (which are: tenacious gnawing on whatever is in front of him {this is different from just chewing because he's teething etc.}; saying "mmmmmmmm" over and over while clasping his hands open and closed out in front of him, and being fussy. But he is pretty much hungry on schedule for the most part. So for future records, here is his feeding timeline as of 6 months:
- 6:15 a.m.----6 oz bottle of formula; 4 tbsp oatmeal and 1/2 jar or pouch of fruit
- 10:15 a.m.----6-8 oz of formula
- 11:45-noon--4 tbsp oatmeal and full jar or pouch of fruit; water
- 3:15 p.m.---8 oz bottle
- 5:30/6 p.m.---jar of protein/veggie mix and jar of veggie or fruit
- 7:30 p.m.--6-8 oz of formula
According to our pediatrician, this is great. In the next month, we need to cut down his formula intake to 20-24 oz a day and do 3-4 jars/pouches of food with the oatmeal still. So baby steps.
Speaking of the pediatrician. His official 6 month measurements (we were one week later than July 30 because neil and I were out of town...so of course, take that into consideration. ha)
WEIGHT: 18 lbs 12 oz 70th percentile
HEIGHT: ooops, can't remember his height, but it was in the 80th percentile
HEAD SIZE: big. Yeah. Like 99 percentile. Awesome. Right? ;)
He got his shots and when he came home, my heart soared to my throat with adoration for his innocent, helpless look when I laid him down for a nap.
He knows his own name... answers to it with a chest pump every time. Jk but he does really know when we say his name. I also call him a few other things like: RooRoo, Roo-Boo, Boo-roo, Boo-Boo, Boo, Buddy-Roo, Buddy-Boo and Shug (as in Sugar).
One sigh moment. Look at his peaceful slumber face. I love him so.
He can click his tongue, though after doing it for five days straight, he hasn't done it since. But just for the record, he CAN do it. And Uncle Troy taught him how the weekend they were here in early July.
We are happy to report that thus far, he has shown no signs of stranger anxiety. He has gotten a bit fussy if I'm playing with him and leave him suddenly, but after I hand him a new toy, it's pretty much "out of sight, out of mind" for him. We're praying this continues...!
GOOFY ANTICS:
I always wonder what I will say later in life to Weston about how I knew he'd be {fill in the blank} by what he is like as a baby. Right now, I would seriously guess that he's going to have a lust for life. That he will be mischievous and playful and good-natured. He's going to be sweet, but sometimes aggressive when he wants something. He will get over things quickly. He will get easily distracted. He will be curious as all get out, and a bit too uptight when it comes to relaxing. He's chill, but he's like me in that he wants to always be on the go, even if it's just moving his hands. We joke that he might be a cook, like his Uncle Steve, because he shows such interest while we're making dinner. But he grabbed my camera strap...once...so he's definitely going to follow in mama's footsteps. hahaha Anyway...moving on to more randomness.
We are beginning...wait, let me start over. I am beginning to teach him Baby Sign. I love sign language and once dreamed of being fluent with it. But actual career goals got in the way, so for now, I'll settle for being fluent in Baby Sign. Weston has always been very attentive with my own hand movements as well as his own, so I think eventually, he'll rock at it. They say not to expect babies to sign back until 10 months or so, but that between 6-8 months is a perfect time to start practicing (for parents, mostly). So words that are on the table for us: hungry, mama, dada, more, kitty, book, toy, sleep, funny, milk and a few more I'm forgetting. I'll worry about the "manner" words later when he gets the meaning of them too.
I mentioned before his hand gestures... here is a brief clip of some of what I'm talking about as well as the unattractiveness that is him when he's ... I'm going to say the word I hate saying... POOPING. Enjoy. And you're welcome.
We did succeed in teaching him to wave. Unfortunately, he does it at mostly the wrong times.
He still tips his head back and shakes it hard from side to side when he's ready to go to sleep.
I always said he used his hands a lot to express things... and he still does. His hands have been looking like they are going to sign butterfly lately (which I haven't taught him yet, so clearly, this cannot be the case...ha), or that he's still conducting an orchestra while he eats. Or sometimes, he'll rest them in front of him, like a seemingly patient boss who is waiting for his dimwitted employee to put an end to his shenanigans.
Of course, he's at the age that loves to play Peek A Boo. Even when no one is looking and even when he's supposed to be napping.
So far, we're good on books. He loves them. Right now, he's fond of chewing on them too.
Smiles easily... sucker for Boo sounds, clicking tongue sounds and motorboat
He still has a thing for soft things on his face, but now he's matured enough to take pretty much anything on his face if he's tired. Here is one such example. We were at Target and I tried a hat on him, knowing it could go horribly cuz he was tired. But instead, he grabbed on to it and refused to let me take it off. And fell asleep like this...for a good 20 minutes. Needless to say, we now own the hat.
His favorite place to play or nap is mommy & daddy's bed. I don't mind it.
He always looks in awe at Neil when Neil helps him drum. And then he just laughs or is too happy to make a noise. I love watching it.
Some pics of him sleeping... the top one...this is a super common pose for him. Sometimes, he is a bit more on his side, but he usually has one leg kicked up over on the other.
He really does love his jumper. He can jump like ... {I can't think of anything metaphorical worth saying, so just fill in your own thing here.} Just take it from me (and grandma and grandpa G, because they were with him for four days and I think every pic they sent me was Weston in his jumper. haha)) that he can jump like crazy. He also sways back and forth in it, with his one foot pivoting on the toes like a lil' dance. It's so cute. Darnit. Why don't I have THAT on video? But when he gets tired in his jumper, our only hint of it is something that comes a bit too late...
Ha! I love it. So sad, but so cute.
He does sleep great at night still... napping is a bit trickier for us here at home. I think he is honestly too excited to be home with mom/dad, that he just stays awake. Last Monday (so he was 6 months and 1 week old) I tried EVERYTHING to get him to take a nap. Here is my last try. Get through the blackness...that was me hitting record a bit too early.
And some random pics from the last month and a half!
I turned around the find the lotion and when I turned back...baby booty!!!
Always a sucker for things on his head....
Kramer is a kitty that plays hard to get with Weston. And Weston likes it. He also likes to grab fistfuls of his fur and then look at me with pride. We are trying to teach him to do "nice touches" and tonight, actually, we succeeded by using Neil, lying on his tummy, as the example. Weston proceeded to use "nice touches" to pet Neil on the head. Neil said it was the highlight of his day. Gosh, Garmin... you might need to try a little harder to please your employees! haha
Kramer is very aware of Weston...but knows that he'd rather not swat or scratch the rascal. So he stays just far enough away to keep an eye on him, but maintain damage control.
When Weston is in his jumper, Kramer knows that he, for the time being, is safe. But he also knows that he can tempt Blondie in a dastardly way. Case in point... watch the video.
Swimming!! He loved it this time (this was mid July). He just had to have water that wasn't frigid.
Fourth of July!!!
one of our favorite horrible pics of him... in his ultimate sky-diving position!
One of the more recent videos of him...it is from the same time of the picture up at the top of him in h is pack n play having a party for just him and his blue rabbit. It was a Friday. So i'm guessing this is a baby's way of celebrating TGIF!
And we had our first official family photo shoot. We had been so bummed because we were originally going to go outside for it but it was over 100. So we stayed indoors and quite frankly, Clary did such an amazing job with what she had. And Weston did great! Here are just a few of our faves.
We did start him at a new daycare. He's kicking butt there and we hear the same compliments about him all the time...that he's so easygoing and cheerful...a good napper...and very sweet. :)
And Neil and I did something that many new parents probably judge us for...we took a mini vacay to Florida and left Weston home with my parents. I think it was so entirely wonderful to get away and to have some alone time with Neil. No one ever tells you the extent to which your relationship will change (like, you know it'll change, but you don't GET how and how much...) and taking out the 3rd person for a short while is a good recharge. I highly recommend it. The main reason more parents don't do it is because they themselves are scared they'll miss the kid. If you have a babysitter you trust (grandparents, aunts, friends, whomever...) I highly recommend doing it before the kid is too old to know the difference. Or you'll be 2 years down the road and realize that you've never done it and by then it'll be so absurd to imagine doing, you'll never do it.
The next blog post, I'll be updating about how our first airplane trip went with Weston. We will be going out to Pennsylvania over Labor Day weekend so Neil's family can meet or see again this lil' light of ours. :)
And let's end this visual stream with his giggles from yesterday...spurred by him tooting. ( just shy of 6 and a half months).
He is adorable!
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