Baby Z's 6 months

my little bubba is 6 months old today!  i can’t believe that he is half of a year old now.  i remember when he was 2 months old or so i could not wait for him to be 6 months because he would be more interactive and fun and a little bit less needy, able to play on his own for a few minutes, and he would likely be more smiley and giggly.  now that we are here, i’m a little sad that he is getting so big so quickly, but am really enjoying this stage nevertheless. nowadays my little guy is so much fun.  he still has a very strong personality, is very aware of what he likes and dislikes and still a little bit grumpy, but he plays and giggles and rolls around and explores whatever is around him.  he blows raspberries and makes other funny farting noises with is mouth, flaps his arms when he is excited, pumps his legs...he is a very wiggly little guy, just like he was when he was in my belly.  we are continuing on the solid foods adventure and have added steamed kale with apple, peas, sweet potato, a little bit of potato, peach, and sometimes a little rice cereal.  i have been giving him little tastes of meat-tasting stuff (like broth) and he really seems to like it.  my goal for the next month is to really start incorporating some more really yummy different types of foods and be more creative with his meals, like adding quinoa, mushrooms, meat, and some different types of veggies.  since i make almost all of his food (i don’t make the prune puree), i use what is in season so we don’t have a huge variety of fruits right now, but maybe i can find some different types of fruit to try besides pear, apple, banana.  maybe frozen blueberry.  we'll see.  let's check out the monthly update:

-growth:  still in 6 month clothes but they are fitting him a little tighter and shorter, he is fitting into some 9 month stuff.  he weighs about 16 lbs or so and is around 29-31 inches tall, unofficially (we haven't been to his 6 month appointment yet), i had to resnap all his cloth diapers to the medium size now. oh and i don't use his baby bath anymore, i just have a little foam bathtime thingy ($7 from target) that he lays on directly in the bath tub and i fill it with enough water to mostly cover him without his head being submerged.  he loves splashing his feet around.
-development:  learning a lot, he is really good with his hands now, is very grabby (he grabs ANYTHING that is near) and pinchy, puts everything in his mouth.  he will take his binkie out of his mouth, look at it, wave it around, chew on the side of it, and then put it back in his mouth, sometimes upside down but mostly right side up.  he rolls over to reach for toys, is able to roll tummy to back and back to tummy really well and with intention.  recently he has been putting his legs under himself while lying down and thrusting his belly up into the air and has realized that he can scoot around if he does that.  it seems that he really prefers mama or baba, but warms up to other people after a few minutes, as long as he is not hungry or super tired.  if he is super tired he doesn't like anything but mama and milk.  his baba makes him laugh and i have really been able to see how much he likes playing with baba since hubby had a little staycation and spent lots of time with baby Z.  usually when hubby gets home from work Z is tired and kind of done for the day and can be pretty cranky, so it was so nice that they got to spend lots of time together during the days.  let's see, he can sit with a little assistance now, and when he is unhappy he bucks himself around like a crazy horse, scooching himself all around the floor or bed or wherever he happens to be.  it makes me chuckle a little bit. oh and he rolls all over when i am changing his diaper now.  

-nourishment: still breastfeesing the same amount, he wants to nurse every hour or two (except during th night), solids as i mentioned above. he loves food. as soon as i strap him into his high hair i can see that his mouth starts watering. it is so funny.  although he is a good eater, he doesn't consider that he has eaten until he nurses and has his fill of mill.  it's almost like the food doesn't even make a dent and he still drinks the same amount of milk as before we started on solid foods.

-sleep: we have been a little more successful with naps recently, he will take an hour or so nap a few times a week, sometimes everyday, but he will only sleep if one of us is holding him, he is in the carrier, or we are out and about and he falls asleep in the car or stroller.  a few weeks ago i started the bedtime process at 7pm rather than 8pm like i had been, on the advice of one of my friends who said that they noticed their baby girl started getting really tired around 7pm so they bumped up her bedtime 2 hours and she started falling asleep much easier at 7, so anyway i paid attention to mr z and noticed he starts to lose it around 7pm as well, so i will give him a bath on his bath days and put him in pj's, lay down and nurse him and miraculously he has been falling asleep consistently between 8-9pm instead of 10-11pm.  woooohoooo!  and it's much easier than it used to be as well.  usually after he gets enough milk he just falls asleep, sometimes i have to rock him a little bit.  but it is much better than before.  then he sleeps until about 7:30-8:30 am.  it's great.  and a really wonderful change for me since i don't have to spend sooooooo long getting him to go to sleep and once he is down i have time to do stuff!  sometimes i hang out with hubby, or work on our bathroom remodel or get something done on my huge to-do list, but it is awesome.  and we did have a little bit of a hiccup with sleep when he was sick recently with his first cold, he woke up about 5 or 6 times a night and would only sleep in our bed, but he's better now and so is his sleep.
-personality: he is very busy and wants to know what's going on around him, still moments of being serious, but like i said above he is much more giggly now.  he is quite the headstrong child and pretty much runs this place.
-likes:  still really likes sophie the giraffe, his cow rattle, woody from toy story and all his other usual toys, but recently i have been putting him in his crib in the nursery to get him used to being in there (second step in the switch to his own room) and he really likes this little teddy bear that he got as a gift (thanks kendells!).  he likes grabbing for stuff, including people's faces, taking walks, baths, "reading" books, chewing on everything, eating (he is a shikamoo for sure, persian way of describing someone who likes to eat), he looooooves playing with baba and smiles so big for him, playing peek a boo, rolling around on the floor, his auntie apryl
-dislikes: being by himself or with strangers, falling asleep, teething, being sick, getting his hair combed, having his face wiped, putting his arms through sleeves
-me: doing really well, especially since i feel like i have reclaimed a little slice of time back for myself since he's been going to sleep at a more reasonable hour and i have the opportunity to do some stuff.  a little anxious at the prospect of starting school again in less than 3 months and having to find childcare and figure all that out, not to mention do some reviewing since i've pretty much forgotten everything that i have learned in the past 2 years.  but it will be nice to get back into school and be around people.  also, i am super excited about this DIY bathroom remodel that me and hubby have taken on, probably oddly excited about it, but so far it's going well and i think it's going to look great afterwards.  yay!  
now, take a look at what this cutie has been up to: