And Here We Are!

William is 6 months old. Crazy huh. I remember when he was less than two weeks old, and he was crying and crying and crying. He was writhing in pain in my arms and I felt so helpless and desperate. He was throwing everything up, he smelled like acid, he hadn't pooped in almost 4 days, and we had tried numerous formulas. We had already been to the doctor four times. He had been crying for hours, with no end in sight. Ben and I were averaging 3-4 hours of sleep every night. (This was before we knew of his protein breakdown issue, his severe acid reflux, and before we received the "golden formula") I was pacing the floor back and forth, bouncing, swaddling, rocking, etc. I had been crying right along with Will. I was dreaming of the day that William would be 6 months old (six months has always been my favorite age for my babies), sleeping through the night, sitting up, and most importantly, not crying all the time. It seem like an eternity away.

Well, here we are, and how fast it came!

We just got back from William's well baby appointment, so I have the stats.

He is 20.3 pounds of luscious, white, sweet, soft, chunky, baby fat! We love every single roll on this boy.

He is 26.27 inches long, or short, depending on how you look at it.

He is OFF of the "golden formula!!!"

He is being weaned off the reflux meds, and is completely off one of them!

The doctor says he is doing great and that no permanent damage has occurred due to his protein intolerance. Sometimes it can really mess up the stomach of a baby if it isn't caught in time. We can even feed him baby food now!

I introduced him to baby food a few weeks ago and he absolutely went nuts.

If I didn't get the spoon back to his mouth fast enough, he would start waving his arms as fast as he could and begin crying. He tries to hold the spoon in his mouth, so I won't pull it away. (as seen in picture below) He absolutely loves eating! It is great. His favorite is the same as the other two. Sweet Potatoes. yummy.

He is sitting up all by himself now, and he can play with toys and reach without falling over.

This has been a VERY good thing for my back. Most babies that weigh as much as he does are crawling and almost walking, so the amount of time in mommy's arms isn't quite as much. For me, carrying him around all day, and at times, carrying him in the car seat, has really hurt my back. He is incredibly heavy. He has a great time sitting up and playing. It has been awesome.

He is in the phase of "mommy can't leave me." If I leave the room, it is over. He just starts sobbing in the most broken hearted way he can muster. I can't leave his sight at all, but I usually don't anyway. Luckily, if Ben is here, I can leave him with Ben and all is well.

He has a laugh that comes straight from the gut. It is the most adorable thing to hear. His whole body shakes. He thinks Mary and Sam are absolutely hilarious. When they make him laugh, it makes them laugh. It is very cute to see all three kids laughing.

William is the ultimate grabber. He reaches for and grabs EVERYTHING! If he is sitting in the bumbo, he will arch back as far as he can, with arm outstretched and fingers moving, to try to touch something. When I hold him, he is constantly leaning forward, back or sideways with arms flailing, to grab anything that we are walking past. He always has a handful of my hair when I hold him, or an earring. We call him Mr. Grabby. If he can't reach something, he will just stare at it and twitch his fingers. It is so funny.

We sure do love our big, chunky, happy, sweet eyed, drooling, food eating, sitting up, bundle of baby. Happy 6 months William!