6 months Russ

 This little adorable squishy that still falls over and can't sit up--is six months old! I cannot believe it! It has FLOWN by! I mean, when I sit and think about the months of swimming with him in the pool, and school starting, and Sterling's rotations that we have lived through--it's been six months. But now time can stop--because I just want him to stay like this forever!

 He is OH! so happy! He's got a pretty vicious appetite, and he likes to sleep best when I just wrap him up tight and set him down in his crib and walk away (which means 1 o'clock church is his worst day because there is nowhere to just set him and walk away and let him sleep). He does sleep well in the car too, which is a lifesaver for his morning nap and school drop-offs. He gets up around 6am and sleeps again at about 830am. Then wakes up and eats and plays and eats and will take another nap in the afternoon, sometimes two if we are driving around and he doesn't get a long one. He does tummy time like a champ and rolls over from his stomach to his back. But he reminds me of Will--they are so content! He hasn't shown a super huge desire to crawl or move, probably because all three of his siblings are sitting there just handing things right to him!

He's falling sideways in this picture--he's almost sitting up. But I also love this picture because of the elbow dimples and wrist rolls. He is so soft and wonderful!

 He is the smiley-est baby! Almost every lunch time is spent smiling and laughing at baby Russ to get him to smile and laugh back. Will and Molly are good, but Ruth has a special touch and always gets a laugh out of him! 

At his 6 month check-up he weighed in at 16 pounds, which was almost 60% for weight, and then he came in at 96% for height! It was not surprising as I keep saying "He's losing his chub and getting soooo tall!" every single day. And he is! And it is sad, but so fun too.

 He's at that fun age where he can give real hugs and he holds on to my shoulder and the back of my shirt all the time. He also grabs the back of my head and yanks on my short little hairs a lot. He has a grip like STEEL. Everyone comments on his strong grip--and if he catches hold of something, he does not give it up easy! One couple at the post office the other day were especially fascinated at him holding his soother. The one lady went to grab it so it wouldn't fall, but didn't. And then they both marveled how he had one finger hooked through the ring and he held on to it the entire time we were in there, chewing on the sides (I wish he actually took a soother, but he doesn't.).

This is his fake laugh. He does it when the kids are smiling at him and paying all this attention to him and then they look away and stop. He scrunches up his face into this fake laugh to get all the attention turned back to him. It works like a charm, and it is SOOOOO hilarious!

 He's eating ALL the foods now. He's not super picky, but banana anything is a sure win. He eats and eats and eats. Last night he ate  all the bread from Molly's egg in a basket...after eating all his own food. He literally inhales things off the spoon. It's nice to be able to pull out Puffs and things to cheer him up when we are out at a playdate or something. He LOOOOOVES the one sippy cup we have. As a general rule I don't do sippy cups--I just teach them to drink from a cup straight off. And I've been doing that too, and he's done really well, but with three others sometimes it is nice to hand him a sippy and let him explore and play around with it. He thinks it is the bees knees.

Those finger dimples!!

So many, many, many smiles from this boy! I just love them all!

I love this one. You can tell he's full on laughing here.

And stuffing his mouth with anything grabb-able, as per his usual.

I know that was WAAY too many pictures, but he is the best. He is such a happy camper--he only gets up once a night---and he is so soft and perfect and we just LOVE him! He definitely brightens everyone's day, often at dinner time when we do Happy's, someone will say "I am happy that I got to play with Russ today." and it's so true! They still seem as enamored with him as they were when we brought him home from the hospital. And so am I. Thanks, Russell John, for being the best baby!