Josiah turned 6 months old a few weeks ago. He is 18 lbs. (75%), and also 75% for height and 90% for head size. You wear size 3 diapers and 9 month clothes. Here are some things I want to remember about this stage.

• I LOVE this age! You are so sweet and cute. You are the perfect size to be held. You can hold yourself up pretty well while I hold you so it’s easy to take you with me places – like to drop off the girls at school.

• You got your first tooth (on the bottom) a little after 6 months, and your 2nd bottom tooth around Christmas time. 
• You wake up around 7:30 in the morning, take a morning nap around 9:30 or 10:00, another nap around 2:00pm (when Lucy and Bridget nap/rest), then sometimes need another short nap around dinner time. Unfortunately, being the youngest brother – your naps often have to get interrupted to go take or pick up siblings from their preschool, or to run errands. I feel bad having to interrupt your naps, and always hope that you will somehow stay asleep as I transition you from the bed to the carseat and vice versa. But you are an EXTREMELY light sleep and wake up VERY easily. So a lot of times, you naps are composed of lots of mini naps. 

• You go to bed around 8:00 or 8:30pm. Most of the time you wake up around 11:00 to eat (which is right before I go to bed), then wake up AGAIN around 4:00am to eat. At this point I’m okay with this because you just wimper a little, I feed you, and you fall right back to sleep. But lately, you have been peeing out of your diaper and into your sleep sack almost every night – so the 4:00 am feeding can also be an ordeal with changing your clothes, your sheets sometimes, etc. 
• You are a really good, happy baby. Sometimes your schedule will get pretty messed up and you amaze me by somehow being in an okay mood. If you get enough sleep and food – you are in a GREAT mood usually. You love to laugh and smile. You also love people and getting attention. 

• In the mornings you really don’t get a whole lot of attention since we are all busy getting ready. I used to feed you first thing, then put you in your little rocking chair seat while I took a shower to give your food a chance to settle (you spit up A LOT!). Then after my shower I’d let you play on a blanket or sit in your chair again while I fed the girls breakfast and got them ready for school. Around 5 months, you looked bored sitting in the chair and I started letting you play in the pack n’ play while I take a shower – then put you in the exerciser/jumperoo while the girls eat. 
• You are starting to really love tummy time and can rotate yourself in a circle. You can also push yourself backwards but don’t do that very much anymore. Since you have been teething you are content on your tummy chewing on toys. 

• You started sitting by yourself around 6 months but still sometimes fall over. If I’m not in the same room as you I put the boppy around you. 
• I have an Ergo and use it ALL the time! You like being able to look around and being close to Mommy. 
• You LOVE to suck on your thumb. I haven’t probably exerted enough energy trying to get you like pacifiers instead. You love to fall asleep on your tummy, head tilted to one side, sucking your thumb. 

• We are so THANKFUL that you haven’t gotten very sick yet. By this age Bridget had already had tubes put in her ears and you haven’t even had an ear infection! This is such a blessing!!!!! You have had a few colds with running noses, and since you like to sleep on your tummy – it is hard for you to breathe when you are congested. We let you sleep in your rock n’ play and that seemed to do the trick. You have outgrown the rock n’ play now though so if a bad cold happens again we will probably have you sleep in your reclined car seat. 

• We tried out baby led weaning when you turned 6 months and you seemed to like it okay. Your first food was avocados. You also tried bananas, sweet potatoes, and diced peaches. It ended up being extremely messy. You ended wearing most of the food. I think you got some in your mouth but I had to bathe you after every meal! So we decided to switch to puffs and baby food until you mastered grabbing small bits of food. So far you are doing awesome with baby food – you love it! Most of the time, you even like the food the first time you try it. You are getting better at grabbing puffs and getting those in your mouth too. 

• Your favorite toy is the signing snail. You love to watch Lucy and Bridget play and put up with them getting into your “personal space” pretty well 
• You do pretty well at church nursery, BSF, and the gym nursery. We have left you with a few babysitters too and you have done well. 🙂 
• You are a pretty good traveler too! We have gone to Atlanta a few times and even drove out to Mississippi this week!