Jack - 6 months

Stats: Jack is definitely our little buddy! He is 15.5 lbs and 26 inches long (by comparison, Elise was 18 lbs 10 oz and 27.5 inches at this age!). His 6 month appointment is next week, so maybe he'll encounter a major growth spurt this weekend :) We love our happy little man.

Sleeping: Jack is still a really good sleeper. He goes to bed around 7:15 and wakes around 7:15 or 7:30 (take that, daylight savings time!). He takes two 1.5-2 hour naps and one 45-60 minute nap. He goes down very easily unless he is overtired, and then he might fuss or cry for a minute or two before falling asleep. Sometimes he rolls onto his tummy to sleep and other times he sleeps on his side. I try very hard to be home when it is time for him to sleep. If we're running late and he falls asleep in the car then he will transfer to the crib just fine. When I put him in the crib, he immediately puts his thumb in his mouth and rolls on his side.

Eating: We are still nursing well 5 times a day. Jack learned how to drink from a straw cup this month, so bye bye bottles! He is still way more efficient at nursing and won't take a full feeding from anything else, but he definitely does better with a straw than he ever did with a bottle. He gets to practice this skill a few times a week. We started cereal last weekend and he LOVED it the first few days but hasn't been as excited since then. The first night, we actually had to make him a second "bowl" because he was so anxious for more. I would say that he's eating the equivalent of an ounce of milk mixed with 2 tsp of cereal, even though I fix more than that. It is possible that he's eating the solid meal too close to his 5:00 feeding, but since his primary source of nutrition should still be milk, I definitely don't want to try to drop to 4 feedings a day just so that he will eat more solids. That will come in time. I'm pretty sure Elise was just dropping from 5 to 4 around her first birthday.

Schedule (notice a lot of -ishs... this is what happens when you have 2 children!):

7:30ish - wake up, eat

8:30ish - nap

10:30ish - wake up, eat

12:30ish - nap

2:00ish - wake up, eat

4:15ish - nap

5:00ish - wake up, eat

6:15ish - solids

7:00 - eat

7:15 - bed

Playing: He's getting better and better with the tripod sit and thinks it is really funny when he falls over. He is still not rolling across the room, which is totally fine with me. If he pushes with both arms, he can get his whole chest off the ground when he's on his tummy. He is totally content playing on his mat, on a blanket, or in the exersaucer, but he ADORES the jumperoo. He laughs and coos and talks like crazy and he's already working on his vertical. The kid just loves to jump. Maybe he'll be really athletic like his daddy :) Jack also likes to stand holding onto our fingers or the toy box. He even squats down and tries to jump. He also loves his Haba rattles and Sophie the giraffe, but more for shaking than chewing.

Personality: Jack is the sweetest, happiest little boy we've ever seen and he brings our family so much joy. He smiles and laughs all the time (unless of course we're running late for a meal or a nap). Happy 1/2, little buddy!