Six Months Old

Arnold is 6 months old today (on Groundhog Day). We have a dream baby. Arnold is the sweetest, happiest little thing. He just makes me giggle.

Arnold smiles all the time. From the time he wakes (or we wake him) in the morning, to when he wakes in the middle of the night, he is smilin'. I love his closed mouth grins. If he is unhappy, you can be sure that he needs something, or something is bothering him. Rarely fusses or complains. Just goes along wherever we go and sits in his little carrier, content to be here.

He giggles, especially in reaction to Emma Claire. I have to work to make him laugh, but she just has to be present for him to laugh. Emma Claire is so attentive and helpful with Arnold. She loves him and he is taken with her. When he is in his carrier, she is always leaning over him, right in his face and he loves it (even though, I am sure he is somewhat smothered). Emma Claire calls him "hun". "Hi hun,", "It's OK, hun", "Here ya go, hun". I am not sure where she picked this up, because we never call anyone "hun". She also uses it when she talks to Rudy.

Arnold is, so far, our sleeper. He loves his crib. I can put him down awake and he falls asleep on his own (a skill Emma Claire, to this day, has not developed). He is waking once a night, most nights, but readily falls back to sleep after a snack. (although, he slept thought the past two nights - yay!)

Arnold loves to roll, and roll, and roll lately. He is rolling to reach toys and apparently, he rolled halfway across the room at school one day this week. He really reaches for things and is interested in different textures now. He gives BIG hugs. He is teething and also likes to "teeth" on my chin. I can feel two bottom teeth just barely poking through.

Arnold is a good eater so far. The rice cereal didn't go so well at first, but once he got the hang of it, he took off. He loves his meals now. We have moved from rice cereal to oatmeal now. I think sweet potatoes are in his near future.

Arnold LOVES his feet. He is perfectly content to lay on the floor and play with his feet.

He is beginning to react to emotions. He and Emma Claire take baths together. A couple nights ago, Emma Claire cried (as typical) when I washed her hair. Arnold looked at her, then looked at me. His bottom lip flipped out and he started crying. He gets upset when Emma Claire takes away a toy he is playing with.

Arnold is still on the verge of sitting up independently. He does fairly well, but tends to topple after a few seconds.

He loves the dogs and really reacts to them. They love him, too. When he is on the floor, they can't resist licking him like crazy. He smiles and reaches for them. Even Rudy is patient when Arnold grabs his fur.

I think Arnold is a week or two away from scooting/crawling. He is really getting strong and more mobile with his rolling (or, maybe he will just roll to get where he needs to). I just can't believe how big he is getting. It all happens so quickly.