6 Months!

Ben turned 6 months on the 13th. He is learning something new everyday. My favorite so far is his new babble: "mamamama". Oh, and reaching for me. I love that one too! At his appointment last Thursday Ben surprised the doctor with his strength. When laying on his back Ben can almost do a sit up. He did this several times while the doctor was trying to examine him. Ben also tried grabbing instruments out of the doctor's hand. He made the doctor giggle more than once! Ben weighed in at 17lbs. 10 oz. and measured 27 inches long.

Our little buddy is moving all over the place! His favorite mode of transportation is rolling. It just cracks me up. He gets going pretty fast sometimes. I don't remember Kate rolling as a way to get places. He must take after his Grandpa Maurer. When I was a kid Dad would say "let's roll!". So we would, from one side of the room to the other. Nowadays Kate is the only one he can get to roll with him, but it looks like Ben is practicing up!

Being able to sit up has made life easier. He has started sitting in his highchair while we eat (this makes mealtime much more enjoyable) and in his little seat in the bathtub (which makes the bathroom floor twice as wet from double the splashes). He can almost get himself into a sitting position from laying on the ground. Once he rolls to a toy he wants he'll prop himself up with one elbow and use the free hand to play. He is SO close to a sitting himself back up. It is funny to watch him get all situated to play.

As I expected, the doctor suggested I start feeding Ben cereal regularly. I had been putting it off. I'm not ready for him to grow up yet. I want him to stay my baby and in my mind babies don't eat with a spoon!! But, he needs the iron so the last couple of nights Ben has feasted on rice cereal. He really seems to like it (and hopefully doing it in the evening will help him sleep longer at night...what is with this getting up 2 - 3 times a night still!).

Today I put Ben down for his nap then went downstairs to switch the laundry. When I came back up I couldn't find Kate. After looking around I found her in Ben's crib with him. She said, "Ben was fussing so I read him a book". I love that girl to pieces.