6 Months Old

Will seems to be changing every day now, and I'm sure the next 6 months will be as action packed as the first 6. I look forward to each day with him, watching him learn and experience new things. The cold weather has kept us inside much of the last few weeks, which has been a great time to play new games and work on some new milestones.

A few highlights from Will's 6th month:

**Will LOVES to eat! He was ready to start solids at about 5 months, but we waited until our return from vacation. Cereal, avocado, pears, and peas were all a hit from the moment the spoon hit his lips. Sweet potatoes and bananas, not so much. But we'll try again on those. He looks so tiny and adorable in his big highchair! I'll post videos soon.**

**I've never seen a baby quite as active at 6 months as Will. He moves all over his crib within moments of being placed inside, when left on his activity mat he rolls across the room in mere seconds, his arms and legs are going, going, going! He was this way as an inside baby, too. **

**Will still loves being read to and I find myself buying new books often just to keep up variety for myself! We easily read 10 books a day, and a new favorite is Chugga Chugga Choo Choo- he's fond of my cool train noises.**

**He's getting so close to crawling! On the carpet he can go backwards, and gets up on all fours to rock back and forth, but he can't quite make himself go forward yet. On the hardwood, the best he can do is a pretty impressive Army crawl.**

**Will loves Peek A Boo these days. I think Grama was the first to get some smiles from his with this game, but it's now a favorite...especially on his changing table.**

**Will is pretty close to sitting on his own. Right now, he'll still topple over if left for more than about a minute, but he's getting stronger. We practice sitting during playtime each day, and he loves to sit with his little laptop in front of him. He is fascinated with so many of his toys now and can play on his own nicely.**

**Bath time is still his favorite time of day and splashes up a storm! We've had to move him from the countertop to the tub to keep the room from getting soaked...so instead, Mom and Dad are getting soaked.**

**Will is finally on a regular nap schedule, with a long nap in the morning and another in the late afternoon. He's in much better spirits when he gets the sleep he needs, and it gives me a chance to clean up, make dinner, and regroup.**

**Have a mentioned that the kid is pretty flexible? And reeeeally into his toes?**

A Few of His Favorite Things

Music remains one of Will's favorite things. He absolutely loves the "band in a box" we gave him for Christmas and bangs on his tambourine and shakes his maracas with great enthusiasm! We still sing to him all the time, and "Old McDonald" is a current hit as he's quite entertained by animal noises. His Wiggleworms Lullaby class is probably the highlight of his week. If I knew how to play a guitar, I think I could keep his attention all day long. Grama came with us to class this week and got to see how much he loves the singing and dancing.

Will also loves to watch sports! We try not to let him watch too much, but since there's almost always a basketball or football game on TV over the weekend, his eyes go right to it. I'm not sure I've seen him stay so completely focused on anything else! He likes to sit on Daddy's lap and watch for a few minutes, but I got this quick shot of him alone.

Happy Half Birthday!

I can't believe that Will is already 6 months old. Where did the time go?! In some ways the last 6 months feel like a blur of nursing, crying, rocking, diaper changing, sleepless nights, and mountains of tiny pieces of laundry in a constant stream in and out of his drawers.

But that's just on the surface.

When I look past it, I see the mornings when he was so tiny that he could sleep on my chest while we watched Daddy get ready for work. His first bath and how much he loved it. The day I noticed that he had a dimple and how I thought one day a girl would fall in love with that sweet little dimple on his handsome face. The first time he smiled. The first time he smiled just for me, on purpose, because I'm his Mommy. Discovering where he's ticklish. Hearing his laughter. The happiness on his face each morning when we greet him in his crib. Watching him develop a friendship with Lucy. Taking him to his first Cubs game.

....and the 6 months feels like forever. I hardly remember what life was like before Will, and I can't wait to see what more life has to hold with him here.

It's amazing that I still get choked up just looking at his sweet face as we sing songs or snuggle. When I watch him play and see how much he's grown, sitting up like a big boy, babbling to himself, chewing on one toy and reaching for another, it stops me dead in my tracks. And I just stare, and I try to take it all in so that I never forget. Sometimes we skip reading books, and instead I tell him the story of how much Mommy and Daddy wanted to have him, how happy we were to find out that our dreams were coming true, and how the day we met him was the best of our lives. It's my favorite story and one that reminds me never to take my little boy for granted and how truly lucky I am to have him in my arms.

Happy Half Birthday, Will. We love you so very much.

Bonjour Sint Maarten!

We spent Jan 2-9 on our first family vacation with the Serafin and Knudson clan in St. Martin, on the French side of the island. While we had some concerns about how Will might do on the flights, adjusting to a new time zone, and being away from home, we ended up being pleasantly surprised by how well he did with everything.

This kid knows how to take a vacation!

After being plucked from his crib at 3am for our 6am flight, Will took the morning in stride, sleeping and nursing for most of the 2 flights there. Nestled in Mommy's lap, he was happy as a clam. We were all excited to meet up with Grammy, Dzia Dzia, Aunt Traci, Uncle Brian, and the cousins.

We arrived in the late afternoon and settled in with a very French late lunch of meats, cheeses, baguette. Mmmm. I have to say, we ate and drank well (perhaps too well) for the entire week!

Most of out time was spent at the gorgeous villa the family rented for the week, with a few trips out for meals, time at the beach, and a boat trip from Phillipsburg (capital of the Dutch side of the island).

Will's first time in a pool!

Day at Baie Rouge with the whole family. Will tested out the sparkling blue waters with both Mommy and Daddy, and once he got past the shock of the temperature (and then the taste of salt water) he was just fine! There was a pretty strong undercurrent, so we didn't keep him in for long, and he chilled out in his carseat with Dzia Dzia and baby June.


We had a lovely dinner at a French restaurant right on the shore in Grand Case, on the French side of the island.





Watching the sun rise over Baie Plum, a quick walk from our villa. This is one of two beaches we visited on the trip,both in Terre Basse.

Will had lots of fun playing with his cousin June, who shared all of her fun toys!

5 months old

"It's time for these pictures AGAIN?!"

December was a flurry of activity as we prepared for Will's first Christmas as well as our first vacation as a family. We had a wonderful first Christmas, and I can't wait to see his face light up next year when he has a sense of what's going on (he was mostly enamoured with shiny paper, bows, and tree lights this year).

A few highlights from Will's 5th month:

** We started sleep training the first week of December, and while it was a rough start, things improved quickly, and Will is getting a lot more sleep. We're still working on stretching out his naps and wakeful periods during the day. **

** Will rolled over from his back to his tummy the same night we started sleep training...and he hasn't stopped rolling since! He no longer sleeps in a swaddle as a result, but looks super cute in his new sleep sacks. **

** We still love going to music class, and Will is easily entertained with the Melissa & Doug Band in a Box we bought for him for Christmas. He occasionally screeches along to his Lullaby CDs in the car and loves when we sing to him...perhaps he's tone deaf?!**

** The boy is on the move! He rolls and scoots all over the place now and is never in the same spot in his crib where we left him; I think we'll have our hands full quite soon. **

** Will is suddenly much more aware of Lucy. He smile when he sees her (and sometimes just at hearing her name), flinches a bit when Lucy kisses his face, and he is learning how to pet her. For now, this is mostly grabbing her fur, or her jowls, but Lucy is so sweet and patient with her tiny best friend. **

** Grama brought over all of Uncle Pat's childhood books, so we've been enjoying some new reads before naptime and bedtime- Stellaluna and A Porcupine named Fluffy seem to be his favorites.**