Life As Always: Dear Ryder... Six Months

Dear Ryder,

Just like that, you are six months old. The first half of this first year has absolutely flashed before our eyes, and each day you amaze us more and more. Your little personality is really starting to shine, and each moment with you is more fun than the last.

You have brought so much joy to our lives in such a short time.

You are so much FUN these days! We talk to you, sing to you, read books, play music, tickle and snuggle you, and just have so much fun simply being with you, watching you discover the world.

At your six month checkup you clocked in at 18 pounds, seven ounces (65th percentile) and 26.58 inches (42nd percentile). You are quite the little chunkster these days! The rolls on your arms and legs make us giggle, and we love to tickle your chubby belly, which makes you laugh and laugh. You'll start to thin out once you begin crawling, but for now we are enjoying the fat baby stage.

You are very active with your hands, reaching out to grab anything and everything within your reach. This means that I can no longer wear jewelry of any kind, and if I don't pull my hair back I'm likely to lose clumps of it to your death grip. You babble and squeal constantly, and we're thrilled to hear a lot of "Dadada" and "Mamama" coming out of your mouth (although unfortunately I don't think it's directed at us personally quite yet).

You still are not sleeping through the night, and although I've received nothing but positive feedback about sleep training and "Cry It Out," I've been reluctant to try it so far. I just can't stand the thought of leaving you to cry when I know I can comfort you. Please don't make me regret this choice later on! That being said, you are generally sleeping much better, usually in three or four hour stretches throughout the night. You go to bed around 6:30 and are up for the day any time between 6:00 and 7:00 the next morning. Naps are getting better, too, although you are still only willing to take them in your swing. I have no idea what we're going to do when you outgrow that thing...

You still absolutely love your Jumperoo, and sometimes spend hours in it just bouncing and bouncing. Your feet even touch the ground now; you're getting to be such a big boy!!

This month you have gotten much better at sitting up, and can even stay sitting unassisted for about a minute at a time. But eventually you usually end up reaching for something, which causes you to topple over. This can be dangerous on the wood floors, so we usually only practice sitting up in a room with carpet. We still do a lot of tummy time, and you seem like you want to crawl, but can't quite get the hang of it. Being on your belly often frustrates you because you want to be on the move, but since you can't figure out crawling you typically settle for rolling across the floor as fast as you can. At least until you encounter an obstacle.

This was an especially exciting month, because we started you on solid foods! This meant bringing out the high chair, which you weren't exactly a fan of at first...

After you got used to the high chair, we tried giving you water in a bottle and a sippy cup, but so far you haven't been interested in those at all. You do enjoy chewing on the cups and throwing them on the ground so Mommy and Daddy will retrieve them for you, though.

As for your first "solid" food, we went with rice cereal mixed with breast milk. You tried a few hesitant bites...

Overall, you didn't seem super impressed, and we ended up wasting most of the cereal. We tried again every day for the next few days, but rice cereal certainly doesn't seem to be something you're into. The current recommendation is to wait five days in between introducing each new food, but next time we'll try something you might find a bit more appetizing. You still breast feed on demand 5-8 times per day, but luckily the nighttime feedings are starting to decrease.

We basically have to keep a bib on you all the time, because you still drool constantly, although we have yet to see any teeth come through. You do love all your teething rings though, and we think it won't be much longer before you'll have more than just gums in that sweet little mouth.

This month I decided to cut back my hours at work so we can spend more time together. By leaving at 4:00 every day I am able to spend almost an hour and a half with you every evening before bedtime. I also work from home in the mornings on Friday, which leaves Friday afternoons free for the two of us to spend together. Usually we go grocery shopping for the week, which leaves the weekend free for family time. You're such a big boy now that you even sit up in the shopping cart!

And as usual, we had a busy month full of friends, family and fun.

Cailin came and spent the afternoon with us one day, which you loved.

And we went to my dear friend Lindsee's baby shower -- she will be having TWIN GIRLS this winter!

Of course you had lots of visits with Nana and Papa, and even spent the whole day at their house one weekend with Uncle AJ. They all had a blast playing with you, although poor Roxy the dog was so jealous she couldn't even see straight!

We visited Daddy at the fire station one afternoon.

And you celebrated your first Halloween! As a baby firefighter (of course).

Daddy and I also decided to be brave and take you to your very first NFL football game and tailgate! You were such an angel and we all had such a good time (except for the fact that we lost the game).

The newest member of the Hawkwagon Tailgater Association.

October 12, 2014 — Seattle Seahawks vs. Dallas Cowboys at CenturyLink Field.

You still love walks, and even though the weather is getting colder, we try to get you outside as often as we can.

You are just the happiest, sweetest baby we have ever encountered. You smile and laugh constantly, and rarely fuss or cry (only when you're hungry and tired). Every moment that I'm not with you, I'm thinking about you. You are the most important, amazing thing in my life, and I'm so lucky I get to be your mamma, my sweet baby boy.