Six Months

Last Saturday, the 27th, was a big day for us.  Weston turned a half year old, and we were preparing for Carson's big birthday shindig that took place at our house that evening.

Ohhhh, my Dearest Weston.  Where do I even begin with your sixth months of living.  A lot happened this month, that's for sure.

I am going to start out with the monthly questions, and then roll into the big things that happened this month.

-Weight:  As of his 6 month check up, he weighed in at just over 17 pounds.

-How much is he eating now:  During his entire 6th month, he was eating 5 ounces every 2-3 hours.  On his 6 month birthday, I decided that it was time to bump up to 6 ounces, in hopes that he would make it a little longer in between feedings, and sleep a little better.  We are achieving the first thing, but not so much the second.  

-Wears size 3 diapers.

-How long does he sleep at night:  A quick run down:  W goes to bed anywhere between 8:00-9:00 at night.  He is up about midnight, and 3:00 for a feeding.  He is usually up at about 6:00 for the day.  His bro has a similar story.  Between the two Wee Lads, I feel as if I am part of a circus during the night time hours.  But when he is sleeping in my arms, it is so heavenly.  And yes, we have yet to put Weston to sleep in his crib awake.  This Mama rocks little W to sleep every night, and I have no regrets on that decision one bit.

-What size of clothes is he in:  He is wearing mostly 9 month clothing.  He is hanging tight to a few 6 month stuff, but not much.  I have even put him in some 12 month pants, because I have them from Carson, and they seem to fit him pretty well.  Some are a little long, but from all of the washings, they seem to fit more like a size 9 month.  

-Facial Expressions: He is still full of them, of course.  I am currently in love with the look of "I know I am getting into something I shouldn't"...or that's what it looks like, anyway.  He has got to be one of the happiest, and most content babies I have known.  And it just so happens that the Lord blessed US with HIM!!!  We are so lucky.

-Learned anything new this month: See below. It was a big month!

W is a drooling fool these days.  A bib is now a requirement for each day, not just an accessory.

-Is Weston a good traveler:  W is proving himself to be a wonderful traveler after all.  We had a rocky month or so, but now he is content as can be in his carrier.  During all of our traveling, we hardly hear a peep from the little guy.  

-Did Weston celebrate any holidays this past month:  He didn't celebrate any big holidays during his 6th month, but next month is a different story.  Well, not so much holidays, as big events.  His Big Brother's THIRD birthday, Mom & Dad's FOURTH anniversary, Daddy's THIRTIETH birthday,  and Thanksgiving. Phew.  That's a lot :)

-Recognize anyone new:  I can tell when Weston hears a familiar voice, as his head will turn in a quick motion in an attempt to find that specific person.  I love it when I say his name, and he has a big smile while he is scouring the room to find me.  It makes my day.  He also recognizes his Daddy's, and Big Bro's voice.  The smile is so evident that he is in love.  

-Anything else:.......................

First thing first, he got his first tooth this month!  At 5 months + 1 week, his first bottom tooth popped through.  And about a week later, the other little bottom tooth came through!  That in itself is a big milestone.  And to be completely honest, his personality shined through and impressed us once again during this time of teething.  We didn't even know, nor could we tell by his attitude that he was teething.  Other than the little fever that he got, that we only assumed had to deal with teething, we had no idea that little white thing was about to show it's existence for the first time.  He continued to smile that big happy smile, and continued to be as content as could be.  Nothing shakes you, baby.

With his two little teeth, also comes the discovery of his tongue.  It is constantly out these days, and it is pretty darn cute.  I think he likes to feel his tongue against his little toofers.

Next big thing, he is moving!  He isn't full on "crawling" yet, but he can get to where he wants to go---and rather quickly, may I add.  He has the army crawl down to a T, and can pull his body forward with his fore arms in a quick motion.  With his big bro in the house, and him being 3, we are not used to having our house being "baby proof" but he is proving to us time after time that we need to do that.  Pronto.

We introduced baby food to W for the first time this past month (week to be exact) and he has had no objections---at all.  He seem to really enjoy sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, and peas.  Weston also really enjoy the little "puffs" and yogurt melts that have landed in his mouth to dissolve.  He gets really excited when I get the yogurt melts out of the cupboard, and place a few on his highchair tray.  I love to watch him learn and try new things, and try so hard at the different tasks.  Recently he has been working on grabbing the little puffs and yogurt melts to place them in his mouth.  He has been successful a few times, which is so fun and exciting to see.  He is constantly amazing us, and I love to see him in action.

He is sitting up all by himself as of about 4 weeks ago.  I feel like he has gone to a whole new level of contentment now that he can sit and play with his own toys by himself.

W really enjoys his jumper seat, and spends a lot of time in it.  I feel as if he really enjoys it, because he doesn't miss a thing.  He can see and hear all that is going on in the room without having to move much.

Weston is still in love with his Big Bro.  Carson truly is a great big brother, even though he pulls on his hands, steps on his back, throws things at him, and tries to push him off the bed.  Carson will share with him, can make him giggle every time, reads him books, and tries so hard to comprehend that he is little, and can't quite catch a ball.  I feel as if Carson and Weston are both so eager to play with each other.  You should see the look on Weston's face when Carl and Carson are wrestling.  It's a look of "why are you leaving me out" and it's almost funny to watch him evaluate the situation.  He almost has a sad look on his face, and tries so hard to crawl to get in on the action.  I know that once the boys are both old enough to play, they will have so much fun together.  They will be the best of friends, I am sure.

I love to do a little comparison between Carson and Weston.  Not because what one child did is right or wrong, or because I prefer one over the other.....but because it is fun for me to look at how much they differ, and how much they are alike.  For example....looks.  I see a lot of resemblance!

A few areas I have thought about........

Pacifier:  Carson was very dependent on his pacifier.  He was our "plug" baby, from day one-actually.  Weston, on the other hand, has never sucked on a pacifier before.  He will give it two sucks, and spit it out instantly.  It's almost as if he doesn't understand the concept, or know what to do with the silly thing.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I sometimes wish W would take one, to get him calmed down when he is upset, or to get him back to sleep in the middle of the night, instead of needing a feeding.  But then again, that just means that "taking the pacifier away" is one task that will never need to be added to our "to-do" list at a specific age with Weston.  And that?  That part makes me happy.

Sleeping:  Carson was our great sleeper at Weston's current age.  He would go to bed around 7:00-7:30 at night, and sleep until about 7:00 the next morning.  There would be a few interruptions in the middle of the night, and would occasionally need to be fed, but otherwise his pacifier would put him back to sleep.  Weston, on the other hand, doesn't seem to like sleep as much as, ohhhh let's say-- his MOM!  Ha.  Weston goes to sleep about 8:30-9:00 at night, and is up about midnight, and 3:00 for a bottle.  He is then up for good about 6:00-6:30.  He also doesn't nap near as much as Carson did, either.  Carson used to (and still does!) take a good 3 hour nap.  Weston is content with a cat nap in the morning, and maybe an hour nap in the afternoon.

Baby Food:  Weston is showing a lot of interest in baby food.  He opens his mouth for everything, and I am having so much fun feeding him.  I have never experienced the fun of feeding with Carson, because he never showed any interest.  He went straight to table food, and spit out any and all baby food that was inserted into his mouth.  We wasted a lot of money on baby food when Carson was little, to say the least.

Crawling: Carson never army crawled like Weston is doing.  He went right from "rocking" to full on crawling.  Weston is definitely "rocking" but then flops on his belly and figures out he can get places.  I truly feel this is a strong will of determination on Weston's part to keep up with Carson.  And his love for any toy that is not his.  Oh, and food.  He can get from one side of a room to the other in about 5 seconds flat if he sees some sort of food that has been placed on the floor.  More than likely by his brother who doesn't understand the concept that A) food is only to be consumed in the kitchen, at the table.  and B) You can not set anything on the floor that you do not want your little bro to get.

This month was a big one, and I am sure the months to follow will be the same.  There is so much to document about him growing up, as I feel like he is doing it all too quickly.  I sometimes tear up when I think about him being 1/2 year old already.

We are so blessed to have W be a part of our family.  He has got a constant smile plastered on his face, his giggle is to die for, and his personality is like none other.  Thank you, Weston, for being you.  You make this Mama's day with just one glance.