6 Month Sam

September 9th was Sam's half birthday.....which is very hard to believe.   These six months have gone by so fast, which is definitely not something I would have told you about Zach's first 6 month deployment.  Happiness level definitely makes all the difference when it comes to the passage of time.   :)

Sam has really become such an awesome kid.  I probably say that every month, and I hate to be that obnoxious mom that can't get enough of her own child --- but that is just the way it is right now.  I promise that once he starts in on the classic little boy shenanigans, you'll hear all about it.  But until then.....
Here are some growth updates from his doctor appointment on September 10th.

Length: 27.5 inches (83rd percentile)  REALLY LONG....grew two inches from his 4 month appointment

Weight: 17 lbs. 2.3 ounces (43rd percentile)  Not super heavy.....

Eating:  Had his last bottle of breastmilk this month which made me sad.  For the last part of his 6th month he has been taking an 8 ounce bottle of formula every 4 hours.  He doesn't always finish the 8 ounces because he gets distracted, but it doesn't seem to matter if he gets 26-28 ounces total for a day or 32.  He still acts and sleeps the same.  We are looking forward to starting real food this coming month.

Sleeping:  We usually put him to bed close to 8 PM now and he has been waking up at 6:30ish most mornings.  We can put the pacifier in and he'll sleep until about 8 AM.  He naps around 10:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 5:00 PM......each nap is only about 30-45 minutes long.

Clothing:  He fits in most 6 month clothing......but he looks more comfortable in 9 month onesies, especially with the cloth diapers on.

Milestones and Fun Happenings:

* He keeps rolling from his back to his stomach in his crib at night.  Neither of us have ever seen it, but it happens almost every night now.  We go to his room to put the pacifier in and he is pushing up on his arms and looking up at us.

* His feet finally touch the floor in his jumper, so he is pretty excited about that.   I have a video of it that I can't get on my computer...hope I can figure that out soon!

* He has become very deliberate with his actions.  Anything he can spin (like the little thing on his jumper or his Sassy color wheel) or shake he does very carefully and with a lot of focus.  His favorite is the wind chime on our back porch.

* He likes to put his fist inside his other hand and move his wrists back and forth.

* He found his feet a few months ago but seemed uninterested....but now that he is teething, the big toe works well as a gum soother.

* Very intrigued with faces.  He likes to put his hands all over your cheeks, grab for your nose, take off your classes if you're wearing some, and put his little fingers on your lips.   It is a little reminiscent of this scene from "Hook."

* Traveled to Seattle and Minneapolis.  Between those trips and a few back and forth to Kansas, he has been on 14 planes in his 6 months of life.  Not sure if that is good or bad.

* We have started using cloth diapers.  More on that later......

* He sits up pretty well on his own.  We have to put him in the position and make sure there is padding around in case he topples over, but we're pretty impressed by his ability to just sit and play now.

Cloth diaper butt

* He really, really wants to crawl...but he hasn't combined all of the necessary elements yet.  He can be up on his hands, but has his hips on the ground and his legs bowed out behind him.....he can be up on his knees with his butt in the air but his face is on the floor.  He doesn't like it when I try to put him in the full position, so whatever!  To have a 6 month old on the move can't be good....so if he wants to wait a few more months, that is okay with me!  :)

* Not a milestone in any way, but Sam and I saw the Google Earth Street View car with the camera on top cruising around Minot quite a few different times.....so we may have a few months of internet mapping fame in our future (until Google decides to update it again).  :)

* Still a huge fan of all textures whether it be in a board book, the couch pillows, your coat, the mail, a fake plant....everything must be touched!   And he isn't always grabbing for them,  he just kind of floats his fingers on things to get a feel.

* He still absolutely LOVES being outside.  It will calm down any fit that he has (which puts me in a heap of trouble in the coming months).

* He adores Mia.  I support him under his arms after he wakes up so he can stand in his crib --- he looks down to see if Mia is there and if she is, the laughter and jumping begins.  Mia is so good with him.  He has managed to get a pretty good handful of face and back fur in his hands and she just sits there until he lets go.  She has never nipped, growled, or shown any kind of dislike towards him.  It is pretty amazing.  Even I yelp a little when he grabs my hair.  This kid is strong.

Here are a few more pictures: