6 months

Ben is 6 months old!!! Half a year!!!

Height: 26.5"

Weight: 17lbs 1.5oz

Ben is now eating solid food. We started him on oatmeal cereal and he absolutely LOVES it. He is such a good eater. He gets it all in his mouth and swallows it down without making too much of a mess. As soon as he sees me scoop some more oatmeal in the spoon, he opens his mouth in preparation. It is adorable! And once the food is gone he screams at the top of his lungs. I just can't get over how smoothly the feedings have gone. I'm glad that we waited until he was 6 months old. (The doctor told me we could feed him sooner, but I figured, "why rush?" so we waited.)

Here's a video of Ben's very first time eating oatmeal (warning: it's unnecessarily long!!):

He has become much more precise with his arm movements. He can now grab what he wants on the first try. 

He smiles at everything. He loves when we clap or snap or wiggle our fingers. He loves when Dad blows raspberries on his belly, but not mom because she just doesn't do it right. He still loves taking baths and we love bathing him, because he smells soooo good afterwards. 

He cannot get enough of Owen, our dog. He loves petting him and grabbing his fur. The other day Ben grabbed a hold of Owen's face - he had his fingers in Owen's eyes - and was just squeezing his face over and over again. Owen was so good about it - he just stood there and let Ben maul him. 

Ben's favorite room in the entire house is the bathroom. He thinks the shower curtain is hilarious and he loves whacking it. I let him hang out in there when I take a shower or when I am getting ready. It's nice that he's so easily entertained. :) 

 Here's a picture of Ben watching Baby Einstein on my cell phone while I'm making dinner. It's so mesmerizing to him.

Ben fell asleep in his bouncer/exersaucer thing. About 20 minutes later, he woke up and started playing with his toys again, like nothing had happened! Gosh I love this boy! 

5 months

So, I totally failed at getting pictures of Ben at 5 months! But what kind of mother would I be if I just gave up!? So, here's a filler picture for you - and I will try to do better with the following months. :) 

At 5 months old, Ben is sitting up with support. He still likes to slouch over if you turn your back, but for the most part he sits pretty well in his bumbo or on your lap. 

He got his first cold this month. Poor boy - he was coughing and congested and couldn't breathe. We kept him medicated with some Tylenol and had a humidifier in his room. We also got plenty of use our of his bulb syringe. He is feeling much better! 

On top of being sick - he started teething (for real) about 2 days after he got sick, so on top of not being able to breathe - he was additionally fussy because he had TWO teeth coming in at the same time!! 

At 5 1/2 months we started sleep training him. I've been using a mix of the Ferber Method/Full extinction method. We got him out of his swaddle, but he is still sleeping with a pacifier. He sleeps sooooo much better now. Not totally perfect, but a couple days ago he slept 10 straight hours!! (No getting up to put in his pacifier!) It was awesome. So we're definitely making huge strides. 

He absolutely LOVES watching any sort of screen. He loves staring at my phone when I'm sending someone a text message, he loves watching his dad play xbox, and he has recently been introduced to Baby Einstein and oh my gosh- HE LOVES IT. I swear, that show is like crack for babies. He is glued to it when I turn it on. He loves those puppets! haha. Don't worry, I don't turn it on that often - it's just when we need some down time. The one episode I totally love it "Lullaby Time" - it works like charm calming him down and getting him into that sweet sleepy mode. 

He has started using his legs more. He loves bending down and pulling on his socks. He's now at the age where I will pick him up and his socks will be no where to be found! He kicks them off in his sleep, they get pulled off when he's lying on the floor, they come off when he's in his bouncer, etc. I just cannot keep socks on those wiggly little feet! :) I think I need to pull out the duct tape! 

Alright - so I didn't get any official 5 month pictures of Ben and I am not sure which pictures I took are of him at what age - but here are some cell phone pictures of my little sugar booger for you!