Week 24 and 25

Kellen

You celebrated your first Halloween. Your mom and I dressed you up as little green dragon. Although you didn’t go trick or treating, you did help to give out the candy. You were pretty indifferent to the festivities, so I suppose it was more for your mother and me. We enjoyed being able to share the event with you. Ever since having you, holidays have taken on a renewed meaning. We want you to feel the excitement we felt during these times when we were younger and being able to do that for you brings us joy.

This past weekend we took you over to Lee and Melissa’s house to watch the Gators lose to the Georgia bulldogs by 4 points. It was a shame.

The weekend before that, we took you to the Grand Old Pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins to carve. It was a pretty cool place out in Clanton, Alabama . It had live country music, a petting zoo, multiple bounce houses, lots of food and a tractor hayride out to the pumpkin patch. You seemed to really enjoy being out there and we took some really great pictures!

Developmentally, the dexterity in your hands have increased substantially. You can easily reach for and grab any object that you find interesting. Currently, objects of interest are your toys, mom’s hair, food and my iPad. You love to watch sesame street on YouTube (cookie monster’s C is for cookie and the elmo song) and bang way at the piano on GarageBand.

You have the ability to balance while sitting upright and unsupported for short periods of time and can even stand for minute or two while leaning on an object. Getting to the sitting position and standing positions are still assisted. I would imagine it will take some time before you are strong enough to sit and stand on your own.

Occasionally, you will babble sounds and syllables while playing on your activity mat or with a toy. You like to make little shrieking noises and smile when your happy and short sighs with a pouting face when you don’t like something. This is followed by whimpering and then crying with huge tears if nothing is done about the situation.

We have also noticed that you really favor mommy / have separation anxiety. It’s to the point that if she’s gone for too long, you will cry until you can see or hear her. This is frustrating for both of us because your mom can’t really get a break and I can’t be with you for long before you start crying. I noticed your friend Maddie does it and she’s a year older than you, so I suppose it will be like this for a while.

Next, I’ve noticed that you seem to favor any toy that will fit into your mouth, which I suppose is the norm for now, considering your teething. Your mother just bought you some squeaking blocks and those seem to be the favorite right now. Both to play with and attempt to eat.

Lastly, you’ve been doing a great job with the solid foods. Bananas still seem to be the favorite, but you will pretty much eat anything we give you. You are down to only one bottle of formula a day right before you go to bed for the night. We aren’t sure if you really need it, but you sleep through the night, so we don’t want to risk altering the pattern.

Well…. That’s all for now. 6 months in 3 days! Amazing!

Love you son.