6 months

This past month has been so exciting....last month seemed huge developmentally but it never ceases to amaze me what changes a few weeks can bring.  The beginning of November Colton was just started to sit, take a real interest in familiar toys, and get control of his hands.   Now, he can sit well enough that I can walk away for a few minutes and he'll still be playing with his feet or a toy when I come back.  He is completely aware of his hands now and loves to feel new things, particularly if they make a crackling noise.  Seriously, the kid can destroy a magazine faster than a 6 week old puppy.   He reaches out to touch things and has definitely shown a preference for red shiney christmas ball ornaments over the other colors.  He is now ticklish under his arms and responds with smiles and giggles to peek-a-boo.  Within the past two days he has been able to roll completely from back to belly (he has been getting hung up on one arm for a week or so) and back again.

Getting closer to catching a smile!

We've also been experimenting a little with solids.  Carrots got a big hell no, but green beans were a maybe, I think?  And he seemed to like sweet potatoes.



Thanksgiving and "real" food.

We decided to give Colton his first taste of rice cereal today.  He has been chewing on everything lately and can sit on his own now so it seemed like a good time to try.   It went a lot better than I expected, so it would appear we were right!

5 months

Probably closer to 5 and a half months now...all 3 of us have been sick so blogging has not been near the top of my list lately.  Thankfully we are all recovering, because that was a special kind of hell.  Sleeping with a bad cold is hard enough, but when there are 2 other people who also can't breathe well, no one sleeps at all.  But other than that things are going great.  This month has brought so much development-wise.  

At 5 months, Colton is/was about 15lbs11oz.  He is fully aware of his hands, and though he hasn't started really reaching for things, what he does get his hands on goes right to his mouth.  If he isn't chewing on his hands, he is talking and blowing raspberries.  He can sit unassisted for a short period, and just within the past few days he can get his butt up off the ground while on his tummy.  I think he will probably crawl before he bothers to roll.  He loves playing in his exersaucer and is now big enough to "stand" in it without a box under his feet.   He has started to exhibit some signs of shyness around new people, but he is still super easy going.

I didn't have any of the sticker paper that I'd used for the other months labels on hand, so I printed it on regular paper, which worked for a little while, but....

We came....

We saw...

And we conquered.

Halloween!!

I decided about a month ago that I was going to make Colton's halloween costume and he was going to be a crab.  All in all, it turned out really well and was much cheaper than buying one (plus I couldn't find a cute crab costume anyway).  I found scrap material at the fabric store, cheap craft foam, and used a onesie I'd already bought at a re-sale for $.50.  The tights were the most expensive piece, coming in at $9 (WTF, right?).   I sewed the hat, legs and claws and used velcro and a glue gun to stick everything together.   Getting him to stay still for a picture was an entirely different problem.

I had this grand idea that I'd get to take him all around and show the neighbors how cute he was, but we only made it to a few houses before calling it quits.  Not sure I'll get so elaborate in future years, but it was fun to do this time through.

Pumpkins

We took Colton to his first pumpkin patches this month.  The first one we went to was just to take some photos, which, of course, was easier said than done.  It ended up being right in the middle of nap time, but he did pretty well.

The second place we went to we decided to pick our own.  Sadly, due to the weather this season, it was clear that all the pumpkins had been shipped in from elsewhere and placed in the patch, amid many rotting ones, so we didn't get any cute patch pictures, just a family shot.

Our neighbors joined us on this trip, along with their 4 year old daughter, who was super excited for the corn maze next door.  So all three of us got our first experience in a corn maze.  It was a pretty small maze, but actually took us longer than expected and we all had a good time (well, Colton slept through most of it).

First laugh!

Colton gave me a real laugh tonight during bathtime.  He gave me this huge smile and a little giggle, then another smile and a full out laugh.  It was the best sound in the world.

4 months

 Colton's 4 month check up was yesterday.  So far he has done much better with this round of shots than his 2 month ones.  One hour of being really fussy and refusing to nap yesterday, otherwise he has been his normal happy self.  He is 14lbs 10oz and 24 inches long, putting him above the 75 percentile in weight and dropping him down to the 50 percentile in height, so still looking good!

He is starting to move himself around when on his back, and 3 mornings this week I've found him with his head  up against the side of the crib, so we will be attempting to eliminate the swaddle this week.  He is regularly sleeping from 8pm to around 6am.

There hasn't been a true discovery of the hands yet, at least not to the point where he stares at them for more than a few seconds at a time, but he is getting there.  He'll occasionally reach for a toy, will grasp one if you place it on his chest, and loves to clasp his hands together.  He has also started reaching up to the bottle during feedings and will even hold it on his own with a little positioning help.

It is amazing how much he has grown...it is getting harder to get him to be still long enough to snap a picture.

And when I do get him to look at me, I often get the camera face as soon as the flash starts to go off!