A Milestone: 6 Months

Father's Day 2011

Six months always seems like such a milestone to me in the life of a baby. There are so many changes that take place during this time and you are half way through the first year! Charlie is no exception. Here are a few of the exciting things that have been happening in his little world lately:

Mobility
Charlie first started rolling everywhere. Within about four weeks he mastered rolling, scooting, army crawling, and sitting up. He started rocking on his hand and knees a few weeks ago and took a couple of "crawls" but as of last night I feel like he has just taken off with crawling. His knees just sort of scoot with him at this point, but I have a feeling it will only take him a few days to get the motion right. Last week he pulled himself up to standing and has done it two other times (that I have seen) in his crib since then. During his current nap I was watching him on the monitor standing up and then sat himself back down. Eek... not even seven months old! I have a feeling he will be running soon :)

Adelaide and Charlie, June 2011

Eating and Growth

These two seem to go hand in hand, right? I had wanted to delay solid foods with Charlie until 6 months old, but he was very interested in food shortly after he turned 4 months old. I started out with rice cereal and making him purees, but for the past few weeks he has shown a great dislike for all things that come on a spoon! I did a little research on Baby Led Weaning (BLW) as I had heard about it when Adelaide was this age, (she loved purees so I had no need for it,) and soon started giving Charlie whole pieces of food to munch on. He still has a fairly basic menu: banana, baked sweet potato spears, avocado and apple slices and bits of cheese. I try to still give him some cereal in the morning, sometimes with yogurt. He is so messy at each meal! We usually start with no clothes, just a nappy and bib, and end with a bath :) Ben jokes that we could squeeze out his bib and make some guacamole! Charlie often tries to grab at anything we are eating. I have a feeling he will eat us out of house and home as soon as he's allowed. At his 6-month checkup he weighed about 16.5 pounds! Quite a big boy when compared to his big sister, who was only 17lbs at 1 year old, and is only 24lbs now at 2.5. He still does nurse as quickly as he always has, but he enjoys the milk and I enjoy our (quick) nursing sessions!

Charlie's first bites, April 2011

Teeth and Sleep
Yes, the little man who stared teething around 3 months now has his two front bottom teeth. The teething did affect his nighttime sleep some (mostly with early morning wakings) but I am happy to report that he is still a dream sleeper, often taking two naps lasting two hours (or longer), a third catnap, and 12 hours of sleep at night.

Adelaide and Charlie, June 2011

Play
Charlie has always been a very happy baby. He and Adelaide have their own playtime most days and they both just love to interact with each other. I'm truly blessed to have two happy little loves that are already the best of friends :)

Cousins: Adelaide (29 months), Emaline (2 months), Charlie (6 months)

Another six-month update... on the older child :)
It has been six months (almost exactly) since we started toilet training with Adelaide. There were quite a few ups and downs, especially the first 3 months, but Ben and I say quite often how amazed we are of Adelaide. We can't recall the last time she had an accident and we don't really ever have to ask her to go to the bathroom. She goes in on her own, does her business, puts it in the toilet, flushes, and then calls to be wiped :) She still wears a nappy at night but only when we can keep one on her! The past few nights we have checked on her before going to bed and she has absolutely nothing on... Hard not to laugh about it!

First swim at the pool for summer 2011