6 months // Everett Orion

Sweet baby man, it's already been 6 months?! What? Where did that time go? It seems so crazy to me that we are already celebrating your half birthday when it feels like just yesterday that you were born -- but in another sense, I can't imagine life without you anymore so it seems like you've always been with us. We love you so much, little chunk! 6 more months and we'll be celebrating one whole year of togetherness. You're the best. The happiest of babies. And you are all ours. We are so lucky.

Length| 28.5 inches (the 97th percentile!). You are SO long.

Weight| 21.5 pounds of pure hunk a chunk (the 95th percentile)! Your head circumference is 18.25 inches which is off the charts, meaning you have a big ol' noggin like your Mama, haha.

Hair| Your hair is growing, finally! I am so happy to see those little peach fuzzies growing longer. They still seem to be wire-y like your Dadda's, which I'm hoping means that they will turn into curls. They also seem to be nice and light! You've started playing with your hair (or at least the little bit that you have) when you're sleepy and/or drinking a baba and it is the sweetest thing EVER. 

Eyes| Still beautiful. Still "basil"-hazel. Still looking like mine ;)

Nicknames| Rhett, Little Man, Stinky Man, Baby Boy, Sweet Boy, Bud, Sassy Man, Handsome

Eats| Always our little piggy. You love to eat; whether it's a baba or spoon-fed baby food or gnawing on an apple slice or (on one very rare and special occasion) a french fry. I think so far you've had peas, turkey dinner (yuck! - but you love it), pears, sweet potatoes and maybe one or two other things I can't think of. I am no longer pumping and you only have about 2 bags of breastmilk left in the freezer. I am scared that I am going to hold onto them forever because I just simply can't believe that season of our time together is over. Even Peyton is sad that you no longer are getting the "boobie juice" because she knows how happy it made me to be able to provide you with that. But, heck yeah to 6 months of pumping and breastmilk! That's twice as long as I made it with Peyton, so it's definitely a good thing.

Sleep| The four month sleep regression is a thing of the past (thank goodness!). Though, you still wake up about once (mayyyybe twice) a night for a few ounces from your baba. You're co-sleeping with us and I truly love it - waking up to your sweet face is just so much fun. Your bassinet is just sitting there, collecting dust so maybe it's about time that we pack that thing up for the time being.

Clothes| I don't know what I'm going to do with you. Your little legs are so chunky that even 12 month pants are even snug! But you are just barely filling out 9 month onesies. We can squeeze you in to some 6 month outfits, but 9 month clothing seems to be more comfortable for you, for sure.

Diapers| Size 4s are still holding strong, thank goodness!

Loves| Being happy. Seriously, you are the happiest baby that I have ever met and we just love every single second with you! // Moving. From the second you wake up, you are on. the. go. // Bath time! You love to kick your little feet-ies around in the water and splash us so that we're just as soaked as you are. // Rory. You've started to notice her more and when you reach for her little paws or try to snuggle up next to her, oh it melts my mama heart. // Your little fox and hedgehog music toy, our comforter, and the fish (same as last month). // You also go bonkers looking at pictures or videos of yourself, your sister, or other babies in general; so precious!

Dislikes| the boogie monster (aka me, when you have a cliffhanger and I just can't bare to let it sit there any longer) // Waiting for food. // Waiting on someone to come pick you up when you've had enough of tummy time/scooting around on the floor. // Waiting until we get home or to our destination if you have simply had enough of being in your car seat. // Basically, you are just like your Mama and wait for nothing.

Milestones| You have teeth! Just this past week they popped through. First one and then the second soon followed - both your bottom front teeth to be exact. They've made you fuss a little but you're still the happiest baby in the universe, so we'll forgive them. // You're also up on all fours, scooting all over the place! It's amazing how much you're learning and just how fast you're learning it. I am sure that you will be full blown crawling by the time next month rolls around. You are a master at rocking back and forth on your hands and knees, as well as launching yourself in the direction that you want to go. In fact, you can spin around in circles like a top while you lay on your belly. You are our little mover and groover and I love every bit of it. // You are also eating solid (baby) foods like a champ, but we already talked about that. // Your chubby little hands are getting better at grasping things every day and you are getting increasingly better at holding things on your own, like your babas. // You love to babble on and squeal and shriek, especially when you're in your high chair at GiGi & Papa Ron's house - it's so much fun listening to you listen to your voice.

Events|  This past month was pretty much the ending to our long hot summer and with that, Peyton started 1st grade! I can't even believe it. I mean, I can but... wasn't she just starting preschool last week?! Craziness. // You finally had the chance to meet all of your Grammy's sisters. The Great Aunts and Uncle all came to town for their annual pilgrimage to sweet Grammy's home to spend a week together laughing their dear little butts off and playing cards into the wee hours of the night. They, of course, loved every single inch of you! I mean, who doesn't? (Nobody, the answer is nobody.) ;) // I spent one Saturday with Aunt Nenna, GiGi, and Papa Ron helping to move Nen into her new NYC apartment since she started her senior year a few weeks ago. I can't believe that she's a college senior already. People are growing up so darn fast! Don't you rush to grow up, mister. You will be a baby forever, yes? Yes. Moving on... // Luckily, your Dadda seems to be on his way to getting a new job (it's only taken a year and a half of job hunting) and for the time being he has picked up some overtime on the weekends with his current job - which means: I am currently not working at Pier 1 on the weekends and have those 2 days a week to dedicated to time spent with you, your sister, and your Dad. It is SO nice. We had one taste of a cooler fall day and I can not wait to enjoy all things pumpkin and spice with you and your Dada and sister.

xo,

Sara

5 months // Everett Orion

So, this post may be half of a month late... but we've just been so busy that it's been hard to get anything else done! I can't believe how big you are. Your sister and I are constantly saying how we wish you were 1 month old again! It's just ridiculous how fast time is flying. But you are SO much fun and we cherish every single second of watching you grow.

Length| Who knows? But you sure are long! I swear, you're gonna be as tall as your big sister next month. I guess we'll find out an officially official length at your appt on the 5th.

Weight| 20 pounds and change (according to our home scale). I'm thinking that you may be plateauing as far as your chunk goes, which is a good thing because I don't know where else you could put it!

Hair| I still maintain that you are going to have your dadda's curls and your sister's dark blonde hair but we will see what happens!

Eyes| Your sister calls them "basil" eyes (hazel eyes), and we are all obsessed with looking into them. You are the definition of bright eyed and bushy tailed, almost all day, every day. After looking at baby pictures of myself, I really think that you have my eyes (shape and color) which is super exciting.

Nicknames| Rhett, Little Man, Stinky Man, Baby Boy, Little Chunk, Bud, Sassy Man

Eats| You are a little piglet, for sure. We started feeding you some oatmeal cereal (banana and then peach/apple flavor) starting around 18 weeks or so. We quickly progressed to adding some peach baby food, then banana, and then apple. You LOVE it. You would eat a whole bowl if I let you. You aren't too terribly messy with it just yet, but I am sure we'll get there ;) You also enjoy a regular banana smashed up with a fork so it's more of a baby food consistency. So far you tried a taste of a lemon and a pickle and you had NO reaction whatsoever. Your Dad and I just sat there waiting for you to make a silly face, and you just kept gnawing away - We were pretty impressed! You're still taking your beloved 8 ounce bottles, though with eating some solids now, you don't always finish them. Unfortunately, I think the season of breast pumping is coming to a close. There were two days this past week where I hardly was able to pump at all and then I was sick on top of that, and I think that just really killed my supply. I'm lucky to even get one full bottle's worth of breastmilk a day at this point. I am so happy that it has lasted this long, though! You'll have had breastmilk for about twice as long as your sister, which is something for me to be proud of.

Sleep| You most definitely had yourself a little four-month-sleep-regression! Oy vey was that ever frustrating. In fact, you still fight sleep on the regular, it's just not quite as bad as it was there for a little while. I think you just like to see what all is going on and you don't want to miss a beat! You are still sleeping in your bassinet in our room and are in our bed by the time the sun comes back up. You absolutely love to lay on top of the comforter on our bed and some nights it is hard to even transfer you from there to your bassinet without you waking up in protest. You are also the master of the cat nap. Whenever you fall asleep for a nap you can seem totally zonked out... and then 5 minutes later you're up and ready to rock and roll for another 2 hours.

Clothes| You are a chunk. Seriously, you can fit into NINE month onesies! What? Yes, I said nine month onesies. You can squeeze into some 3-6 month outfits, you are just barely snug in 6 month ones, and you are nice and roomy inside the 9 month ones - but they still fit! It's just crazy. I don't even know if the things that we bought you for the fall are going to go on over your big head and your chunky thighs, because most of that stuff is 6-9 months and at the rate you're growing, you'll be in like 3Ts by then. :P

Diapers| We graduated to the 3s and hopefully you won't be outgrowing those anytime soon! + we're still loving the Pampers Swaddlers. (Update: you've either outgrown the 3s or the box we got at the store the other day was just a bad batch. Either way, we've purchased size 4s and you seem to be doing much better with those! ie: no leakage accidents so far!)

Loves| You still absolutely love to move! If you were capable, I am 100% certain that you would be up and running around, chasing your sister already. You kick your little legs and roll all over the place. // Laughing/smiling/being the happiest little baby on the planet. // Watching videos of yourself, your sister, and other babies. // When I say "toes!" - Especially when I pretend to munch on yours or pretend to have you munch on them. // Eating, as always. // Being held while standing in front of the air conditioner units that we have in the windows. // Staring at the clown fish in the salt water tank that we have. // Our comforter! // Your little fox and hedgehog music toy.

Dislikes| Seriously, if anyone wants to get on your bad side, all they have to do is try to pick one of your boogies. // Waiting around for food, especially now that you're eating more than just a bottle. // All of this heat! Darn Pennsylvania summers being so hot & humid. // Gas, still, because who likes being gassy? Not you, that's for sure.

Milestones| You're a rollin' fool. There's no stopping you where that is concerned. You've even started attempting to push yourself up into a crawling position with your arms and your legs, though it's normally not both sets of extremities at the same time. It'll either be your just your arms, or just your legs. One day you'll put it together and then the crawling will happen so after, I'm sure. // Sitting up with help and holding your head up with less wobbling-action. You don't even fit in your bumbo seat anymore! Your poor little leggies are too chunky to fit. // You are definitely doing some more exploring lately. Your little hands reach for everything and your dexterity continues to improve. There were a few times where you could kind of hold up your bottle and, depending on the size or weight, you can sometimes hold a toy long enough to play with it. You've even pressed some buttons on toys all by yourself!

Events| You had your first trip to Hersheypark! It was packed full of people, but we all had a great time regardless. I can't wait to see you riding the rides for the first time as a little "Hershey's Miniature". Actually, I lied, I can wait for it but I am looking forward to it happening one day. (#staylittle) Your sister got a haircut!! She is rocking the shoulder length hair now and it looks so cute. She also started first grade (as of yesterday!) and it is so crazy to think that we'll blink and that it will be you headed off to school. Nenna and Papa Ron went on an amazing diving vacation to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman and they showed us some of the incredible pictures that they took with their new underwater camera system - so neat! I can't believe that summertime is practically over and that the fall months will be coming up. I'm so excited to see you in all of your cute fall clothes - that will hopefully fit once this heat wave dissipates!

We love you, sweet man. Happy almost half a year!

xo,

Sara