You're also at a very gratifying age where every few minutes, you learn how to manipulate your muscles in a new way... I feel like I am constantly discovering something new you can do.
You can hold your toys, reach out and grab things within your reach, and throw things. You can hold onto your feet and roll about half-way over (you haven't figured out how to move your bottom arm to get the rest of the way.)
You started eating solid foods about two weeks ago. You have had rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, and barley cereal now. Oatmeal is your favorite. And you tried a mixed grain (all three) and really disliked it. At first, I was grinding the whole grains and cooking them over the stove for you. But, I decided that even though it's not fresh, the instant one is a better deal for you -- because it means you get more time to spend with your mama. This means that your poops are more spectacular than ever. Every so often, your diaper explodes so forcefully, that your poop hits you in the face. This has happened often enough that we have a name for it: "chin diapers." But even covered in poop, you are cute as can be. And we enjoy giving you baths, because you sing and kick the water so happily.
We sleep with you in the family bed and you take up half the bed with your arms and legs stretched out as far as humanly possible for such a little baby. Luckily, since mom and dad work opposite shifts, you are never sharing with more than one person at a time. We occasionally let you sleep in your bassinet so you don't develop sleep habits that aren't sustainable (we won't always be able to sleep in bed with you.) But, for now, this is the best situation to support our efforts to breastfeed you as long as possible.... mama doesn't have to wake up as fully this way.
Your core stomach muscles are seriously strong! Yesterday, you went from partially reclined on your back to pulling yourself into an upright seated position before you toppled forward onto your legs. You can also hold your upper body upright so you can look forward and upward when you are laying on your tummy for a really, really long time.We have a Russian friend, Tatyana, who comes by a few afternoons a week to take you for a long walk. You love her because she is very talkative and attentive and fills your day with lots of adventures.
Lastly, you are really packing on the chub. I love it. Your legs and arms look like sausage casings... little rubber band folds creating toe-jam hide-y-holes. And you have no wrist. Just little hands jutting out of the end of a disproportionate forearm (I'm guessing 3:1 size ratio). I intentionally bought you mostly one-piece outfits in this size (6 month) that are short enough to show off your leg creases. A case in point... I threw out my back, had to go have it looked at and have had to work from home so I can lay down and put ice on it. How? You might ask. Lifting that chubby baby, is how.
