Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Today Mr Baby turned six months old and weighs in at 19 pounds, 10 ounces. Happy 1/2 Birthday that we celebrate with apple crisp, wild rice, steamed veggies and fresh scallops.

He started with "tastes" of solid food last month and this month I'm going to embark on some more solid meals. We joked last night that he is a natural "drinker" which in this family of alcoholics may not necessarily be a good thing :) but he does seem to understand how to hold his little glass with two hands and bring it up to his mouth to drink. He loves to drink from his glass and actually this was one of the first things that he pulled himself up for-- to reach his beautiful shiny glass on top of his table.

He has been sitting securely all month and just in the last few days has started to pop forward in an effort to reach something just out of his range. He seems to fall forward and catch himself but then can't get back up so he fusses. I'm wondering when he'll be strong enough to pop up on all fours. Strangely he loves to pull up on us and on his bar but he only stands for a minute or two and then crumples. I'm trying not to encourage this behavior because he really should crawl first before pulling up.

He is incredibly reliable with the potty. His signal is to fuss and thrust his bottom up and down (if nursing or being held) or else he has a particular sound/word that he calls out if I'm in another room and can't see his cues. When we are home, it is pretty often that I'll get that signal and then put him on the potty. Within minutes you'll hear something go into his little potty and then he laughs.

When I say that this little fellow is sunny I wish so much it could accompany a little video. He laughs about everything. He laughs when we catch each other's eye across the room. He laughs while feeding. He laughs if someone talks to him sweetly, makes a funny sound or if he sees the cat walk by. He laughs after he uses his potty. He laughs like we are sharing a big funny joke all the time. He laughs so often and so much that he has hiccups almost perpetually. This is the biggest contrast between the two boys by far. Will was very serious and non-expressive as a baby. He really hardly ever fussed, hollared, or laughed about anything. He didn't even cry during vaccinations or when he fell down, etc. Then we have his brother Jasper who is extremely expressive, quite loud, and anything but serious.