Hank: 6 Months

A lot has changed this past month!  At his six month check-up, Hank weighed in at 18 lbs. 4.6 oz. (62nd percentile) and is 28.5 inches long (100th percentile!).  The doctor says he is one active boy (no kidding!) and seems like he is destined to be athletic when he grows up.  I would say just judging by all the athleticism along both sides of his family, that seems pretty likely to me as well.  No concerns, just a happy and healthy little guy!

Hank has gotten a LOT more mobile, rolling around and scooting on his belly and back to get where he wants to go.  I feel like he's so close to being able to crawl, and I hope that's true!  Hank seems to be getting increasingly frustrated that he can't move as fast as he wants to.  He's not sitting up by himself, so I was a little concerned.  The pediatrician checked him out and noted that he may be able to sit up, but physically pushes against your hand if you try to sit him up most likely because he wants to be on the ground so he can move around.  Sit still kid!  He is doing this odd "baby crunch" where he lifts his head and shoulders off the ground to try to sit up, so I guess that's progress.

Also, this kid does not seem to like sleeping.  While we were in Ohio, he reverted to getting up several times a night, and when you went in to get him, he would just scream for 10 - 20 minutes and thrash around.  Naps weren't really much better.  Occasionally he'd take a good nap, but more often than not he'd take a quick 40 minute nap and start screaming.  I'm thinking with the ability for him to get his pacifier back in his mouth and the fact that he seems so much more comfortable being back in his own crib (he's just getting up once a night now - phew!) that much better sleep will be around the corner.  In fact, on his six month mark, he slept through the night with no 10pm feeding and had two great nights.  Don't tease me kid, I need you to start loving sleep as much as I do!

Hank rode on his first airplane to visit his Grammy, Pa, and Aunt Emma in Ohio.  We took a red-eye, which he did great on (I was so stressed out, though, that I didn't sleep at all!).  He seemed to have almost a whole week where he was not feeling well.  Who knows what it was - teething, ear infection, growth spurt, or just being difficult - but he was a TERROR!  He made it through the relatively short phase and got back to his happy self.  He has been experimenting with his voice, though, and likes to scream rather shrilly just for fun.  Let's hope he learns some other sounds and tones it down a bit this next month!

Hank has really discovered his love of food.  After a semi-rough start with the baby food, he really took off and now he eats a TON.  The only problem is that now Hank doesn't seem nearly as interested in drinking his bottles.  This makes for some wrestling matches during bottle time.  He grunts a lot when he's eating, but he keeps opening his mouth for more, so I guess he's okay!  These days he takes 5 6 oz. bottles, and eats 3 meals a day - 1/4 cup of rice cereal with a jar of baby food for breakfast, a jar of baby food for lunch, and 1/4 cup of oatmeal with a jar of baby food for dinner.

I'm so grateful for my happy, sweet baby boy.  He's grown so much the past six months and I'm so excited for what the second half of his first year will bring!