6 Months

Today has been a busy day! We started the morning with Harper's 6 month check-up with the pediatrician. We were very surprised when his pediatrician came in the room with a big baby bump! She was pregnant the last time we saw her, but she is having twins so once she popped, she popped! She is a very petite woman, and so her 23 weeks with twins was like my 33 weeks with Harper. Back to our little guy: Harper's a healthy, growing boy with lots of smiles and giggles. He now weighs in at 17 lbs. 11 oz. (54%), is 28 inches long (92%), and has a head circumference of 16.8 inches (20%). When you think about it, 11 lbs. and 7.5 inches is a lot of growth for 6 months! Harper wasn't too happy about getting a few shots and took a nap soon after as we ran into Target for some rice cereal, a sippy cup and swim diapers.

After a quick stop at home, we met up with Katie and little Jozef at Lake Calhoun for a walk. We've had such beautiful weather this week, and today was no different. It was a little chilly and breezy, and since I forgot the stroller foot-muff or blanket, Harper tagged along in the Moby and stayed plenty warm. It was great to be outside and have a nice long walk and conversation with our friends.

Harper was pretty sad and needy in the afternoon. I figured it was because of the shots he got earlier, poor guy. We spent much of the afternoon cuddling, rocking, reading books, and eventually napping (a little over 2 hours!). Even though I knew he wasn't feeling the best, I throughly enjoyed cuddling and spending that time with Harper.

The evening brought daddy home, and I made us a salmon dinner. And guess what?! Harper ate dinner too! He's been very interested in food for a couple weeks now so we knew he'd be ready to start solids. I thought he did impressively well (compared to my experience with other babies when I worked in child care). It doesn't seem like it's going to take him long to really get the hang of eating and loving it! Here's a short (well, maybe not so short) video of a clip from his first solid food followed by a short clip after we took Harper swimming for the first time at the YMCA. We signed up for the Y just this past week and have every intention of taking Harper to the pool regularly. He didn't know what to make of the pool at first, but it didn't take long before he was kicking his legs, smiling, and reaching for little rubber duckies the lifeguard threw in for him. We had so much fun!

So yes, a busy day! Tomorrow Harper is officially 6 months old. Wow...a whole half of a year. He's already becoming more of a little boy than a baby and is discovering and developing every day. His recent tricks are eating his toes, rolling across the room (we'd better get on top of child-proofing!...I think I've said this before...), jumping like crazy in his jumperoo, eating off a spoon, splashing in the bathtub, and pinching (ouch!). He's such a happy baby. Josh and I can't get enough of his sweet smiles and cute giggles. We're planning on having some 6 month photos taken soon, so stay tuned!