6 month old NB!

While we were all busy celebrating birthdays around here, someone turned six months old! This past month feels like it flew by, but also brought big changes.  This age has always been one of my favorites, and I can't wait to see what it brings for NB.  He is starting to display more of his personality and it is so fun to see parts of that emerge.  While a month ago he was babbling with strings of "dadadada" and the occasional "mamamamama"  he is now trying out new octaves and intensities of sound.  Sometimes it is hard to tell if he is happy or cranky, he is just loud! He is also drooling and gnawing like it's his job.  No signs of teeth yet, but sometimes we wonder.  It's actually a joke for DH and me to say he's teething.  We thought LO was teething for months before he actually was.  We thought surely it explained his crying...not so much. 

NB has seemed like a different baby in the last week than from the start of the month.  Of course DH and I tackled his night wakings and he now has a schedule.  Most days that works pretty well.  Of course his schedule is completely opposite LO's most days such that I often walk from putting LO down for a nap to get NB up from his and then get LO from his and put NB back down.  During the mornings, the boys play briefly together, then LO and I get time together while NB naps for about an hour or two.  In the afternoon, NB and I get about 2 hours together while LO naps or has quiet time. Both boys are going to bed at about the same time which gives DH and me a few hours to decompress together.  

It's ironic to me that DH is often the one to notice new things the boys are doing.  Perhaps I lose those details because the changes are subtle and I'm with them all the time.  DH noticed last week that NB is really examining things now.  He has been entertained by our fingers and my bangs for about a month, but now he is reaching out for things and really checking them out.  The handle he has pulled on the bouncy seat for a couple of months now seems to be the neatest thing ever.  He is also very motivated to get to toys and other household objects.  This is especially true of LO's toys which must look so appealing since he sees LO enjoy them all day every day. If I lay him on the floor he flips to his belly in no time, then spins on his belly to reach whatever strikes his fancy.  In the last few days he has begun to work harder for things beyond his reach.  He stretches, spins, or rocks on his belly to reach them.  He even sometimes gets his knees under himself and pushes off to scoot forward.  He hasn't figured out how to use his arms or elbows yet to help, so we aren't quite to commando crawling yet, but he seems close. 

One of the things he will work for hardest is a ball.  Any ball really, but his favorites are a blue nubby ball hand-me-down from LO and a beach ball.  

Working for the blue ball

A red chin from gnawing on the blue nubbie ball

Working the ball between his knee and hand.

Getting ready to kick the ball

All of the smiles in the white onesie pics this month are in response to me holding the blue ball over my head.  Nope, not smiling at mama, just the blue ball.  He will mouth, hit, or kick about any ball I give him and he doesn't seem to tire of it.  If only it was safe to tie one to his hand, I think it would entertain him forever.  That would be really great since he seems to have developed some separation anxiety in the recent weeks. New octaves to his squeals combined with a desire to keep me by his side has made DH wish for a sound proof man cave when he's working nights and trying to nap during the day. Wish we had one for him!

NB's last big accomplishment in the last week is sitting up.  DH mentioned about eight days ago that NB was sitting up better.  I thought I knew what he meant since I had been letting NB try to sit for a week or so.  Then DH showed me NB sitting for a longer stretch than I had ever seen.  Since then, NB has quickly gotten much stronger.  He will still randomly topple over, but he can now sit for over a minute at a time and even sometimes saves himself if he starts to fall to the side or back. 

I love that your hair coordinates so well with your game day outfit.

Check out that drool!

To celebrate NB's half-birthday, we finally let him have some cereal.  I say finally because he has shown such interest and been ready for it for at least a couple of weeks now.  His first bites were truly a family affair.  DH behind the camera, and LO and I behind the spoon.  He loved it, but I have to say he was equally excited to check out the toy on the high chair.  He is definitely not like his brother when it comes to food.  He enjoys it, but is also just as happy to explore some other new experience. After the first couple of bites, LO asked if he could feed NB.  I was skeptical, but decided to humor him.  It actually helped to get LO involved!  Where NB had been looking at the toy or distracted trying to watch LO, suddenly he was motivated by his brother and LO had all his attention in the right place.  LO seemed to get a kick out of helping too. 

NB is more interested in the toy than the cereal.  He's also distracted by LO.

LO wanted to feed NB, and NB loved it.

As NB develops more of his personality, I am able to start to see more similarities and differences between him and LO.  In the last month I've noticed just a few. I have thought the LO's tendency to hold things even when holding them seemed more of an effort was an early indication of his cautious nature.  NB seems to be doing the same now, but seems less cautious. Just last week he fell asleep in the car while holding rings the were suspended on a toy in front of him.  LO would sleep with his arm in the air to hold onto the car seat canopy.  I've also discovered NB kicking his leg in his crib until he falls asleep.  In fact, last night both boys were doing the same kick at the same time in their respective beds until they settled into sleep.  The last cure similarity is one I've mentioned before.  they both had periods where they'd coo after they sneezed.  NB does this less frequently than LO did, but it is still adorable we think.  I think the area of greatest difference is in their relationship with food.  We all know how serious LO is about his food.  He never would have been distracted by a toy when food was available!  There are plenty of other differences, but that one is most striking to me.  I'm really interested to see if they become more similar as NB gets older.

Mama knows right where you keep your sugar

This month promises to be a fun one and we look forward to learning more about NB!