Reed is Six Months Old!

How has it already been six months?  There are days when it seems like yesterday that we were headed to the hospital, ready to bring Reed into the world.  Of course, there are also days when it feels like we've always had this third little person in our family.  But Reed is now half a year old and he's so much fun.  Friends have told us that this is a great age, and they're right!  Here are all of the things we want to remember about Reed at six months:

• He's starting to level out a bit, in terms of growth.  At 18 pounds, 12 ounces, and 27 1/2 inches long, he's in the 75th percentile for both height and weight.  
• He's wearing mostly 6-9 and 9-month clothes, with a few 12 month sizes thrown in, particularly in jeans.  We can't squeeze his chubby little thighs into slimmer cut jeans!
• Reed still takes five liquid feedings a day, just breastmilk, with two nursing sessions (one in the morning and one at night) and three 7-oz. bottles at daycare.
• This month we introduced Reed to solid foods!  It's been a bit of a mixed bag.  He liked the rice cereal at first, and loved sweet potatoes and carrots, but hated peas and bananas, and was lukewarm on peaches.
• Of course, he wants whatever Jeff and I have, both food-wise and everything else!  He's constantly reaching for everything - and anything he actually grabs hold of goes in his mouth!
• Reed is still a really good sleeper, and his nighttime sleep patterns haven't changed much.  He goes down for bed around 7 p.m. and sleeps until 6:30.  There's usually one 4 a.m. wake-up for the pacifier, and another one between 5:30 and 6:30, but we don't feel we have much room to complain.  Plus, he's getting closer and closer to being able to find that paci himself during the night.  We can't wait!
• He usually takes 2-3 naps a day, but we think the third nap might peter out soon.  His naps range from 1 1/2 to 2 hours, to 45 minutes.  
• Since he started rolling over last month, Reed nearly always sleeps on his tummy now.  
• Speaking of rolling, he can go both back to tummy AND tummy to back, and can roll in both the the right and left directions.
• He's doing a TON of talking!  Reed has definitely discovered his voice.  There's plenty of squealing and screeching (we try to discourage the screeching), and lots of babbling.  We heard "ba ba ba" for the first time this month, and there's a lot of "la" and "ra" in there too.  We think we heard a "da da" once, but not consistently yet.
• Reed is still a champ at daycare.  His providers, Sayeeda and Miss Indu, love him and are always telling me what a great baby he is.
• His favorite toys at home are his Sophie giraffe, the musical monkey from Great Aunt Karen, his blue musical octopus, and his Exersaucer.  
• Speaking of music, Reed loves it!  He's mesmerized by toys that play music, Daddy's whistling, and his Classical Baby DVDs (not as much for the images as for the sound).
• While he still needs to be watched closely, Reed can now sit on his own!  Most of the time he does the tri-pod sit, but he can sit unassisted as well, for several minutes at at time.  He can't yet get into the position on his own, but he's getting there!
• He still LOVES to stand up and often wants to be pulled to a standing position, as opposed to seated.
• Reed loves Trivasol - the vitamins we give him at bedtime.  He starts grinning the minute he sees the bottle and sucks on the dropper to get all the liquid out.  It's adorable.
• He'll turn to the sound of our voices nearly all the time, and often when we call his name.
• Reed is still a bit solemn with strangers and in new situations.  We think this thoughtfulness and need to take things in before reacting might just be part of his sweet emerging personality.
• My favorite part of this month - Reed now loves giving "kisses"!  He leans in toward us with his mouth open.  Best part of my day!

And here are a few pics of our amazing 6-month old.  Happy half-birthday, Reed!

Such a good sitter!

He loves Daddy's lap

Playtime with Grammy

Nap time with Grammy

Story time!

Tuckered Reed