Six Months - Happy Half Birthday!!!

I am a few days behind, but happy half birthday Rhett! Six months old! I can't even believe it! I feel like I say this too often, but time is going by way too fast! That being said, I am thoroughly enjoying the moments now, where Bryan and I can actually play with Rhett and he can respond to us and our actions.

6 months - 15 pounds, 13 ounces

As always, this was a busy month with a lot of milestones. I'm thinking that every month for the first year will be fairly similar. Before we dive into Rhett's six month though, I am going to quickly share some photo evidence of those two little chompers that made their appearance last month. Luckily I have escaped being bitten by those suckers so far. And let me just say, I absolutely love the toothless grin that babies have. But I almost love Rhett's little 2-tooth grin even more. It is just sOoOoOo adorable!!! (I think I am probably a little biased as well).

We also spent a lot of time with family and friends this month, visiting, playing games, doing fun activities and just enjoying each others company. We went swimming at the beginning of February with my mom and my sister and her kids. Mandi sat on the side with little Maea but the rest of us got in and had a blast! Rhett continues to enjoy the pool and Alyssa, Abbott and Aedan had a blast with Grandma Marie and Uncle Bryan. We had so much fun swimming that 2 weeks later, we all went to the skating rink for another fun family activity. Rhett slept in his car seat for most of it but we brought him out and pulled him around with Aedan on the sled for a few minutes at the end. We were also lucky enough to be able to coordinate two games nights with our really close friends. They live out of town so we don't see them as often as we like. We took turns driving to each others house and had supper and games and got to play with the babes before they went to sleep for the night (they have a little girl, Brooklyn, who is just 4 months older than Rhett).

The biggest milestone we reached this month, was starting Rhett on solids. I started him first with just some plain rice cereal. He did quite well from the beginning, keeping most of what I fed him in his mouth rather than pushing it out with his tongue. At first, he wouldn't eat more than one or two spoonfuls. But after a week or so he was eating more and he eventually would open his mouth before I even brought the spoon to his mouth! So once he had accomplished this, I thought it seemed like a good time to start introducing some fruits and vegetables. So I went to the store, bought what I needed (peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash and apple sauce). I spent a couple of hours cooking everything, pureeing it in my food processor and then freezing it in ice cube trays. It really is amazing how quick and easy it is to make homemade baby food. And inexpensive too! Who doesn't like to save money, am I right?!?!? Fast forward to the present. I have given Rhett all of the above foods, plus fresh avocado and banana. The kids doesn't like anything. Except rice cereal. He LOVES rice cereal. Great. Just great. Don't worry, at this point I am just venting, not giving up. I am well aware that it can take a baby trying something at least 5 times, and up to 10 times before knowing if they like it or not. So maybe next month I'll be able to report on some new foods that he actually enjoys eating!

Rhett also celebrated his first Valentine's Day this month. We had a low key day and a nice relaxing evening at home. I made some delicious Cafe Rio sweet pork salad and New York Style Cheesecake for dessert with a raspberry topping (I will share recipes in another post). But, as it was Valentine's Day, I couldn't help but cover Rhett in kisses!

Rhett also had an unfortunate encounter with croup this month. More details on that can be found in my last post. I could writer about it twice, but who would want too! For now, I am going to remain in a state of denial that this will be the one and only time that Rhett will ever get sick because that is not something that I enjoyed seeing him go through and do not look forward to having to do it again.

Getting older means getting stronger too, and Rhett is definitely doing just that! He continues to gain better head control and can sit up longer unsupported before he starts to topple over. And let's be real, the majority of the time that he topples over is because he is trying to get to his feet so he can put them in his mouth! And that is one thing that continues to remain a constant, the kid will put ANYTHING into his mouth!! I am thinking that I am going to have my hands full once he starts moving around...nothing will be safe!!