The Boy is 6 Months Old

October 26th, Spencer reached the milestone of being 1/2 a year old.

That Wednesday morning we sang Happy Birthday to him. The girls' thought that was the greatest thing ever! Not only do they love the Happy Birthday song, but they love Birthdays... theirs or anyone else’s.

Spencer's Stats at 6 months:
Height: 28 3/4" (off the charts)
Weight: 22lbs 11oz (off the charts)
Head Circumference: 45cm (slowing down to the 90th percentile)

He's a big big boy, proportionately so... looking like an average 12 month old. He's got some nice chubby rolls on his thighs (which are really ticklish) and his feet are really thick... just like Abby's were. But otherwise, he's not rolly poly in the least... at least we don't think :). Though his Ped said nearly the same thing at his well check.

At his 6m well baby check, we got to begin the first of his developmental evaluations. The Peds office has us do this with the girls' as well, and we are excited to begin with Spencer. The tool that is used is the Denver prescreening Developmental questionnaire, and I just happened to find online what appears to be the particular evaluation (for 0-9 month olds) we completed this morning. I don't know how this tool is rated or utilized in the professional realm, but we as parent's enjoy reviewing the questions and results. Our personal primary use for this tool is to tell us if our children are grossly over or under skilled in certain areas.

The questionnaire tells you what skill the question is evaluating... Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Language, Psycho-social and the questions test harder skills as you progress through the questionnaire. It also gives you an idea that 75% or 90% of children a certain age (1st number is months, 2nd number is weeks) are mastering this skill. So far, Spencer is doing great developmentally.

Spencer's personality, interests, and milestones at 6 months:
1) Happiness... forever is this boy smiling or giggling. Everyone comments on his smiles and call him smiley boy.

2) Drooling... again another first impression is the massive drool that constantly hangs from his mouth.

3) Go Go Go... the boy can move about a room like a pro. He sees something he wants, he goes for it. We haven't quite figured out what his mode of transportation is... scooting? We are starting the tag team diapering because he's so wiggly. He is a very wiggly wiggly boy!

4) Jumping... The boy loves to jump. If he's not jumping in his Jumper, he's forever bouncing as you hold him. No small task given his size!

5) Sitting... Spencer can now sit unassisted with ease. Though he's always reaching for something so he's rarely seen in a fully upright position... as evidence by him chasing his pumpkin. He's also working on getting himself to the sitting position.

6) Crawling... moments away from this success, which we've been saying for a few weeks now. Spencer loves to be on his tummy so he can practice these moves. He's got the rocking, lunging forward and face planting down. He also gets on his hands and toes push up style. As soon as he figures out the coordination of his movements, he will be un-stoppable.

7) Giving Kisses... well, he's got a ways to go on perfecting this one. At the moment he loves to palm your checks, open wide, and suck on your chin... don't forget about the massive drooling. I LOVE it though! Nothing better than a big ol' sloppy "kiss" from the boy.

8) Pulling Hair... yes, he's found hair and is successful at holding onto chunks of it. Well, he really loves to grab at anything within reach. The girls' are doing great at understanding that he doesn't mean to hurt them and we need to teach him that it isn't okay to grab hair.

9) Paper... the boy loves any and all paper products. He loves to grab at them, hold them, crinkle them, and then put them in his mouth.

10) Teeth... the boy is the owner of 2 brand new, pearly white and very sharp teeth. They finally just popped through, yeah!

11) Eating... Spencer's realm of eating has recently expanded beyond "special baby milk". We have ventured out into rice cereal, a couple of veggies, and some zwieback toast. He absolutely loves to have control of his food, or at least his own utensils while we are feeding him.

12) Diapers... we are now a one size fits all household. It's nice to only have to buy one size of diapers! The girls' still wear them at night, and night only, so they don't use as many as he does. It's also nice to primarily buy for 1 and not 2 or 3!

13) His love for us and our love for him... Spencer totally knows when we come and go from his sight. The happiness he shows when we come in sight of him is amazing and heart warming. He totally lights up. On the flip side, we are seeing a bit of separation anxiety begin.