Happy half birthday, sweet Aedan Hugh Speights!!

 Aedan, I absolutely cannot believe you are 6 months old already!  I remember like it was yesterday being at the hospital and my dad, your Papa, saying that your presents would be perfectly spaced out because your 6 month birthday would be on Christmas.  And I remember thinking how far away that sounded.  And somehow, here we are.  And the last 6 months have been more wonderful than I could even imagine in the hours after you were born. 

 You're growing, growing, growing still.  At your 6 month check up you had your first little cough, which was pretty much the most pitiful thing I've ever seen, but the doctor said you were perfectly healthy, which we are SO thankful for. You weigh 16 pounds, 9oz (25th percentile) and are 27 1/2 inches long (75th percentile).  You're still wearing some 3-6 months and all of your 6 month clothes.

 

I think we've finally got your allergy stuff figured out.  For the last week or so I finally managed to cut all the dairy and soy out of my diet and everything finally looks normal with you again!  Yay!  Now, we're going to test out a couple of things to make sure you're allergic to what we think you're allergic too.  I'm just so thankful that through all of this you haven't seemed bothered by anything or in pain.

This has been a busy month for us, sweet boy, and you've done a lot, though we did spend a few glorious Saturday mornings lazily hanging out in bed and playing like this. :)

 

Having you in our lives made the holidays so much  more fun and so very special. 

Three days before Christmas we went and saw Santa.  It was kind of a surreal moment seeing my very own baby on Santa's lap.  I think that's something I've subconsciously been looking forward to since I was a kid dreaming about having a baby of my own.  You weren't scared of him, but looked a little confused, like you were thinking "why did my mom and dad sit me down on this strange man's lap and then walk away?".  Sweet boy.

 

This year you also loved seeing all the Christmas trees and looking at all the pretty lights and ornaments.

More than that though, you love the Roomba (though the Roomba still can't compete with Will and Baby!).  If it's in the room with us, you follow it around with your eyes and if it comes near you, you always reach out and touch it.  I thought you might be scared of it, but you're really not scared of too much, though you do get startled by loud noises sometimes, especially if you're tired, and start crying. 

 You were my sweet helper this year as I shopped for Christmas presents and wrapped them.  It was a little harder and a little more stressful shopping with you, but still a sweet memory. 

You also had a little quality time one day with your Mere while I went shopping. 

And, you had some quality time with your GramPam and Pepaw while your daddy and I went to his office Christmas party.  It was the longest we'd left you--right around 3 hours.  You did well, though you didn't really take your bottle so you were really hungry when we got home!

This month you have gotten super steady sitting up.  You still lose your balance and fall over some, but if you're just sitting and playing, you can usually go for a good 5 minutes or so without falling.  It's when you try to turn and look at something or reach for something you get in trouble.

 

You're also finally big enough for your jogging stroller because you can sit up on your own!

The three of us went on a little mile and a half jog to Walgreens one afternoon (oh, how out of shape we are, ha!) and then I took you on a little 2 mile jog and you seemed to love both.  You laid there and chewed on your toys and kicked your little legs and talked to yourself.  Precious.

I may be way more out of shape after pregnancy than before it, but seeing you and hearing your sweet little voice talking away while I run makes it totally worth it.

 Since you can sit up now, you also got to ride in the shopping cart for the first time.

 You were so cute the first time I put you in it--you smiled at me so big.  I have to put a few things in the basket with you to prop you up a little because you still fall to the side some, but you look like such a big boy sitting in there.

And lastly, because you can sit up, you can sit on Daddy's shoulders now!  Too cute.  And you like to hold onto his ears while you're up there, ha. This month you've also started occasionally showing a preference for your daddy and me over other people, which has been cute--it makes me happy that you like us! :)

 
I feel like this month we've been focused a lot on sleep.  Sometimes I don't stress about your sleep and sometimes I feel very stressed about it.  It's weird--and kinda crazy how helpless your little 6 month old self can make me feel when you don't sleep. :)  Regardless though, some of my absolute favorite times are rocking you to sleep and seeing your sweet little sleepy face.

This month we stopped swaddling you.  It was a rough day or so, but I think it was the perfect time.  Your startle reflex is gone and you look so cute all stretched out.  In the beginning you liked to sleep on your stomach, but now you always just turn over and sleep on your side, like your daddy.  And I think you're actually sleeping better now---and definitely taking longer naps--now that you're not swaddled, because you can turn over and go back to sleep when you wake up.  You take all of your naps at home in your crib, with the exception of a very occasional one you take in my arms, and you always start the night off in your crib, with your little night light and sound machine on.j

Your little routine has gotten a little rocked this month, sweet boy.  We've been gone a lot and out a lot and there's just been a lot of abnormal activity this month because of the holidays.  I've been trying to just help you sleep wherever we are and not stress too much.  You seem to be doing pretty well with it--and after the holidays we'll figure things out again.  

We've also kinda changed up your nighttime routine a little because your nap routine has shifted a little with you taking longer naps.  Some days you only take 2 naps, but I think you still really need 3, so we're working on that.  Also, we've discovered that now if you go to sleep a little later, you'll also sleep in a little later, until around 9am or so, instead of always waking up at 730am regardless.  

 

So, we've started giving you a bath in the mornings now (which you love because it gives you more playtime!) and putting you to bed a little later so you can see your daddy more than an hour a day.  So far so good, but we'll see.  Sorry we don't have it all figured out, buddy.  We're working on it. :)

 This month especially we've noticed that, though you suck your hands (you sometimes put your whole hand in your mouth!) and individual fingers, when you flip your hand over and suck on your thumb, it means you're sleepy.  And when you start to bang your head on our shoulder, it also means your sleepy.  And, when you hold our face with your hands and suck our chin, it usually means you're hungry. :)

 You still don't seem to have any teeth breaking through (though you might because it's so hard to see since you cover your gums with your lips or tongue every time I try to look!), but you are still chewing on anything, especially if it's hard and flat, and putting everything in your mouth. 

You've also gotten really interested in your feet this month.  Now, whenever I'm changing your diaper, and at other random times too, you like to stick your toes all in your mouth!

You're using your little ab muscles to try and pull yourself into sitting position--and can sometimes do it if you're already at an incline--but haven't gone from laying to sitting yet. 
You're not crawling yet, but you're trying hard to figure it out.  You get up on your hands and knees some, and your hands and feet more--like you're in plank position! :)  You rock some on your hands and knees and you can lung forward and scoot backward some and move yourself all around in a circle.

So, we've definitely got more movement going on than last month.  And you still roll over easily when you want to, but not usually continuously to where rolling gets you anywhere. 

 We gave you a little milk in a sippy cup once, where you had to chew on it to get anything to come out.  Santa brought you another one in your stocking, so maybe we'll try it again after the holidays.  You seemed to like it! :)

 This month we saw the return of the big bottom lip sticking out.  So pitiful and so cute at the same time.  I think it's because you haven't gotten as much sleep this month as you're used to.  Poor little boo boo. But, you looked really cute in all of your Christmas clothes. :)

 You giggle still but are kinda stingy with your real laughs--though not with your scream laughs.  It just makes it all that much more rewarding and sweet to hear your real little laugh when we do something you think is funny.  And yes, you still think your daddy is the funniest of them all!

You like to be on your tummy more than your back now, but still will lay for a while and play on your back if something is interesting to you. Sometimes I just sit and watch you and am amazed at how you're growing and developing when I see you do something with absolute ease that only months ago was SO hard, like reaching and grabbing your rings.  One of my favorite moments this month happened a few days after Thanksgiving.  I was in the kitchen cleaning and you were playing in your piano activity center and I sat down on the floor to play with you for a minute.  There's a little yellow piece on it that turns that you never play with, so I stick my finger in one of the holes on it and turned it and it changed the music.  As I was turning it, I saw you watching so intently.  Then, when I moved my hand you stuck your little finger in the hole and turned it just like I did.  It was SO exciting to see you watch what I did and learn how to do it--that may have been my most rewarding teaching moment yet. :)

You like your paci, but really only in the car or when you're trying to go to sleep.  Other than that, it's just a toy or something to play with, which I'm really ok with.  I'm hoping that means it won't be traumatic to take away one day.

You still like playing our games with us and make such funny noises when we put our fingers up to your mouth.

We've gotten together a couple of times this month with other parents/babies and you're so cute.  You're not quite able to play with other babies yet, but I still love seeing you with all of your little baby friends playing in the same proximity as one another. :)

And...on December 21st, just 4 days before you turned 6 months old,  you got your first taste of real food!  Big boy!  I was nervous about it,and a little sad because it makes you seem so old and it means things are changing, but it seemed to be a good time and you seemed ready for it.  You however, did not seem to love the actual tasting of the bananas. And you (understandably) seemed very weirded out by the texture of something other than milk in your mouth, and the whole closing the mouth and swallowing it--though you definitely did eat some! Hopefully the next food we taste will be something you like better. :)

And, last but not least, this month we penciled in "Dada" as your first word!  You say it all the time now and it is precious!  You have since then said "Mama" once or twice and like to babble "bababa" and "blah blah blah" a lot too. 

This has been SUCH a fun month, sweet Aedan.  I have been looking forward to Christmas with you since before you were born and it did not disappoint. :)

I love you so much, precious boy.  You make our lives so sweet.  I'm beginning to understand more about our parents and their love and thinking more about God and Jesus and his love, the longer we parent you.  Thank you for changing us and making us grow and making us better.