Trust: It's a Work in Progress: Milestones: Happy SIX Months Ebenezer!

Half a year ago today we welcomed Ebenezer into the world! He is such a delightful little man and it has been so much fun to watch his personality develop over these months. He is such a ham! He loves people watching and is such a charmer with his ready smile! He is doing better at entertaining himself but he is still happiest when someone is right there with him, either playing with him or packing him around.

The big development this month is Eb becoming mobile! While he doesn't full blown crawl yet he is really close! Rolling over is old hat and he does it all the time to reach that elusive toy or just to get a change of scenery. He started his move to mobility with pushing himself places using his legs, then he added pulling with his arms to accomplish something akin to an army crawl. This army crawl didn't take him linearly, instead he often pulled himself to one side or the other, quickly pivoting in a circle with his hops at the center. Next he started getting on hands and knees (an accomplishment for a big fella like him), getting up was the first chore then he would 'blast off' by launching himself with his legs! He often ended up on his face but it didn't deter him! Now when he gets on hands and knees he 'revs up' by rocking back and forth. He knows he needs to move his hands and knees separately, the coordination just hasn't quite gotten there yet!

Watching him progress through these steps I have been amazed at how quickly he learns. He is making huge leaps and bounds in a matter of weeks!

In addition to getting around more he is also spending a lot more time sitting up right! While he still needs pillows for safety he sits up really well by himself most of the time, he is even getting smoother in the transition from tush to tummy.

He has finally outgrown his bouncer. We decided it needed to be retired after watching him nearly escape after one of his afternoon naps! Scary!

All of these developments have interrupted his sleep some. Most of this month he reverted back to almost newborn sleeping patterns, waking and wanting to nurse every few hours. It is my understanding that this goes hand in hand with all of the growing and learning he has done lately.

Much to the extended family's chagrin, Eb is still exclusively breast feeding. He is old enough, and his tummy is developed enough, to handle baby food, but I'm not quite ready yet. I know it is good for him and me to keep breast feeding up as long as possible, but it has also delayed the return of my fertility thus far and I want to milk that for all it's worth (haha, sorry couldn't resist!). Plus he is doing so well as is I'm hesitant to change anything up. It's harder for the family than for him! They so badly want to give him a treat or a bite of mashed potatoes, especially since he is so interested in food right now, but they are honing their self discipline while they wait for Momma's go ahead.

While I haven't taken him to a checkup since late May, we have checked his weight using bathroom scales - last time we weighed in he was 23.4 pounds! I haven't measured his length in a while, but his size plus bulky diapers necessitates a nine month minimum size on his clothes, many of his outfits are 12 month!

While last month he was already making a lot of sounds, this month he has started using them differently. Before it was like he would pick one sound to use exclusively all day, or even for several days in a row. Now not only does he use all of his sounds throughout the day he will combine several in one "conversation"! One of his new favorites though is 'dadadad'! While he has connected it to Chris just yet Chris still loves it!

I love seeing our little man grow and turn into a unique person! I can't wait to see how he changes in the month to come!