Six Months

Just the other day Eleanor asked me, “Mom, are babies forever?” and I had to tell her, with much genuine sadness in my voice, “No, babies aren’t forever. They always grow up.” I wish this one didn’t have to, but he's growing up all the same, and is somehow already six months old.

So what is Win like as a six month old? He is very sociable and friendly. He loves making eye contact. Often if he is fussy all anyone has to do is just lock eyes with him for a moment. He is obsessed with faces. All babies are interested in faces of course, but he will stare and stare at faces. When I read to him and Eleanor, he prefers to turn around and watch my face rather than look at the pictures. He loves to touch and grab faces too. When Andrew comes home from work and picks Win up, the first thing he always does is reach out and put little hand on his cheek. He is super smiley. He is always giving these big, gummy smiles, with his head cocked to one side and his tongue at the roof of his mouth. He gets a bit more serious around strangers, he will stare at them critically for a while, but then usually cracks a smile. 

He is a big boy, just every so slightly under 20 lbs, 27.5 inches long, pushing the limits of 9 month sized clothes. I had to squeeze him into these cute overalls (which are 6 month sized) to take these photos. They were the first item of baby boy clothes that I bought after I found out I had a little boy on the way, and I always imagined dressing him up in them for his six month photos. They really don’t fit him anymore, but I had to do it.

He can sit supported by a boppy pillow very well, and can manage the tripod sit for a few moments. He has great hand coordination, and if he gets a hold of a toy, he almost never drops it. He seems to love having things in his hands to play with and chew on, so we have various baby toys scattered all over the house for him. We started Baby Led Weaning in earnest a few days ago. I have no idea how much he is actually swallowing, but he loves the chance to play around with food. Even after just a few days, I can see him learning. At first he would take hold of a piece of food and suck and suck and suck on it, but now he has started mashing it with his gums and managing to break off little bites (that mostly get spit out). 

On Saturday his first little tooth broke through (the bottom right incisor), but it seems to be taking its sweet time pushing up. It’s still just barely there, where I can feel it with my finger but can’t really see it. I’m anxious to see what his smile will look like when it is fully of white baby teeth.

I don’t know what it is, but all of a sudden he seems to look so much more grown up to ne. The way his face has matured in even just the last month is really dramatic. Win has always been a cute baby (in my biased opinion), but lately he has hit this level of cuteness that is just unbearable. I can’t even look at him without saying at loud, “Win! You are just too cute!” Of course it doesn’t hurt that he is almost always smiling at me. But seriously, his cuteness quotient is off the charts, with his perfect little button nose, his giant chubby thighs, his bright blue eyes, and his ridiculously long eyelashes that curl all the way up to his eyebrows. I can’t get enough of him. 

He still loves bath time, being naked, bouncing in his jumperoo, and playing with his big sister more than anything. He is almost always happy (unless he is in the car, which is still a bit of a challenge). His disposition is as sweet as honey. 

22 Weeks

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

25 Weeks

26 Weeks - One Half of a Year

Five Months

My sweet baby boy is 5 months old today, and it’s hitting me hard. Isn’t 6 months supposed to be the big, emotional one? 6 months is half of a year, but there is something that strikes me about 5 months as well. It feels like the transition from little baby to big baby. At 4 months he was still practically a newborn, right? And now, he’s 5 months, which is almost 6 months, and everyone knows that 6 months is almost 12 months, and 12 months is almost 12 years, and basically my point here is that he will be grown up before I know it. But I shouldn’t be getting ahead of myself. For now, he is just 5 months, and that’s still pretty little.

At 5 months old, Win is friendly, social, and smiley. He loves to play with toys, anything soft that he can chew on and smash into his face. And don’t you dare take his toys away, because he will cry so hard and bitterly until he has them back in his little fists. He isn’t sitting up unassisted yet, but he started sitting up the second I strapped him into his bouncy seat, so we had to switch it out for this floor seat that allows him to be upright. He has rolled over once, but isn't doing that consistently yet. He loves bouncing in his jumperoo and his happy in there for long stretches of time (seriously, yesterday he hung out in it with a huge smile on his face for 45 minutes, which is basically forever in baby time). He is very cuddly and hugable and always laughs when you kiss his neck. I’m so glad he is mine.

Tomorrow Win takes his second flight. We'll be in Phoenix for the week. We're looking forward to seeing all of our friends and family!

Here are some photos from the last few weeks (his 4 month photos were taken on the same day I usually do his weekly photos, so I counted those as his 17 week photos too):

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks

21 weeks

Four Months

Win turned four months old last week. I'm late with this post because he had a doctors appointment today, and I wanted to add his stats. He weighed in at 17 lbs 11 oz, and measured 26.5 inches long
He is up 3 lbs and 2.5 inches in last two months.This baby is giant! He’s in the 95th percentile for weight, and 90th for length. Everyone jokes that he stores it all in his chunky thighs.

In the last few weeks, Win has mastered the art of grabbing. He is now very interested in toys, and loves to pull whatever he manages to grasp into his mouth. He has started drooling a ton and always has his fingers in his mouth, which makes me think he might get his teeth on the earlier side, like Eleanor did (he first broke through right at 5 months). He has started laughing a lot and loves his sisters antics. She can always crack him up with a silly dance or a tickle.

He is still a pretty happy baby on average. Our only problem area right now is the car. He absolutely hates being in his car seat, and he screams pretty much the entire time. When I put him in it he gives me this pitiful look like, "No Mama, don't do this to me again," and starts crying immediately, then the moment I open the door to unbuckle him he is all smiles. Luckil, we don't have to drive very often--usually just once or twice a week to run errands. I try to keep our car trips to the minimum, and still do as much walking as we can, which we all prefer anyway.

13 weeks

14 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks

Three Months

I had such a hard time narrowing down photos for this month's update! Win is just so sweet and smiley and happy and when I look at him I feel like my heart is going to burst right out of my chest. I take photos of him every Tuesday (I try to keep to a schedule so that I don't forget), and I always end up with dozens that I love. I've been posting them to my Flickr (which has better upload quality than Facebook), so if you're like me and you just can't get enough of this darling boy's face, feel free to take a look. There are several photos of Eleanor and Win together as well. 

In the past month, Win has discovered his hands. I had forgotten how fascinating it can be to sit and watch a baby being a baby. It's amazing to watch him concentrate so intently on his hands, stare at them with complete focus, and bring them slowly to his mouth. He has started to soothe by sucking on his fingers and fist when he is sleepy, which makes me wonder if he will become a thumb sucker. He is working hard on learning to sit. If he is in a reclining position he always works his little abs and pulls himself upright. He can sit up now if he has some assistance from either pillows or my lap.

His personality is very calm and happy. It's easy to get him to smile and he is becoming very sociable. He loves to have one-on-one attention, to be able to lock eyes and babble with someone. He really likes diaper changes because it affords him the chance to have a conversation of “ah-goos” and “hoos.” I wear him in a carrier for a large portion of the day, but he gets into playful moods now where he wants to get out where he can see my face and interact with me. I love to hear his voice and watch his facial expressions. It makes me anxious for the day that he is able to actually talk. That will be so fun. But of course I’m in no rush for him to grow up. 

9 Weeks

10 Weeks

11 Weeks

12 Weeks

Two Months

I'm posting this a week late because I wanted to wait until after his doctors appointment so that I could record his stats. He weighed in at 14 lbs 2.5 oz and measured 24 inches. Big boy!

He is growing out of everything at record speed. He needs 3 month or 3-6 month sized clothes. He no longer fits in the Puj tub (a small baby tub that fits in the sink), the infant insert for the Ergo carrier, or his small size fitted cloth diapers. I'm trying not to feel too heartbroken about it, but it's hard. My baby isn't a newborn anymore.

Win is really strong, and for a few weeks now he has been able to hold his head up for long stretches of time while he looks around. He seems to really enjoy observing his little world. And around 7-8 weeks he finally started to wake up, spending decent chunks of each day awake and alert. He is very cheerful and easygoing. I say that holding him for a few minutes is guaranteed to lower your blood pressure. He just oozes sweetness.

Now that he is more awake, he is becoming very smiley and social. He loves to catch your eye, flash a grin, and coo. He likes to sit and have little conversations, and of course he loves when his big sister pays attention to him.

At two months old, Win's favorite things are kicking his legs in the bath, having his diaper changed (he's always all smiles when I put him on the changing table), taking naps on my chest in one of our various baby carriers, and having naked time. That's such a boy thing isn't it? If he is at all fussy all I have to do is lay him down and take his clothes off, then he is the happiest baby in the world.

5 Weeks

6 Weeks

7 Weeks

8 Weeks