Half a year

BRYSON IS SIX MONTHS OLD!

Bryson is six months old today.

Wow.

So...what's he up to?

He is eating 3 solid meals a day, usually some rice cereal with a mixture of green beans, sweet potatoes, pears, or carrots. Just like his sisters, he loves the orange stuff the most.

He is pooping more than once a day most days! This is a big improvement after not pooping for 9 days at a time!

In the last month he has camped twice, meaning slept and napped in a tent 4 nights!

His cheeks get really really red when camping, all the cold air, wind, and sun.

It is hard to put sunscreen on his face because he wipes it into his mouth and eyes.

He smiles so much, almost every time you look at him, he will smile back, even when on the verge of tears.

Lily seems to be his favorite person in the world. HE LOVES her! And she loves him right back. She is so helpful with him, and I make sure she knows it. She's very careful and good at distracting him. She can also feed him solids, and gave him a pumped bottle in the car last weekend on the way to the campsite!!!! That meant we didn't have to stop when it was time for him to eat, and it meant that we also didn't have to listen to him scream. What a help. She knew she was important, and that made me so happy. Anytime I ask her to distract him or keep him happy while I run to the bathroom or anything else, she does it joyfully. She just loves that he is hers.

Bryson really loves Addie too, and if he hears her squeaky little voice coming from anywhere in the house, he looks for it. Especially if he in nursing or trying to go to sleep. She loves to give him his "monk-monk" and likes to make sure he has it at all times. She has a "bear-bear" similar to his "monk-monk" and she loves it. So by her constantly offer to get his MM, I know it is an act of love. She is still a little rough with him, and I can't really trust to leave her in the same room with him, but when she does hurt him, she seems genuinely sorry, and she does really like to be around him. She looses interest much faster than Lily.

Bryson is rolling and scooting everywhere, but is not sitting up yet. Today he rolled himself out of his bumbo seat by himself and didn't get hurt. He still likes to reach for things hanging above him, play with the toys in the exersaucer and reach for anything he sees. He is getting good at grabbing on to things and going for things with a purpose. He seems to spend an equal amount of time on his belly and his back, and since it is his primary way of transport he goes back and forth between the two quite easily and quite often. We are baby proofing more every day. Mostly regarding the girls little toys not laying around.

Daddy's shoulder is still hurt and he finally went to the doctor. They gave him two very deep and painful cortizone shots. So far he is still sore from the appt, but they have also scheduled him for 6 physical therapy appts and surgery is not an option at this point. That made us happy. He is going to be a whole new man when he can use two arms again. His hurt shoulder kind of hangs limply by his side. If he anchors the elbow to his hip, he can use his can't marginally. I can't believe all he lifted and loaded while camping. Holding Bryson is difficult for him, because he is so heavy and very wiggly. But he's got a few tricks and helps out with him as best as he can.

Bryson sure does love his dad. He gives so many smiles to him. Daddy still likes saying, "son", and I hear him calling him son more often than not.

Although he is generally as happy as she was, when he is ready to move, Bryson definitely loses his temper faster than Addie did. When he is done, he is done NOW. He also gets really fussy when getting buckled into the highchair. Once he is in and eating he is fine, but getting in there seems to really piss him off, especially if the food isn't ready.

He eats a whole jar of food at a time, something neither girl did. Grandma Carol is really going to love feeding him because he eats so neatly. Our girls both ate so messy and ended up wearing more of the food than they ate. They both ate better once they could put it in their mouths themselves, but B just opens up and lets you spoon it in as fast as you can go. This makes solid food time go quick and fairly easily. But again, when he is done, he is done. There's no utilizing high chair time for you to get stuff done around the kitchen as we were able to do with both girls.

He spits up just a little each time he eats. So yes, that means I've been cleaning up orange spit up off the carpet most days. Our new carpet isn't so new anymore. :) He's also ruined a shirt or two of mine and Sabine's.

He's also still a massive drooler with no teeth yet. He blows bubbles and raspberries nonstop. Man, that kid is a faucet! He goes through 2-3 shirts and 3-4 bibs A DAY!

I'm eating dairy again!!! So far it hasn't bothered him that I can tell. He is still drinking one bottle of formula a day, sometimes a little more in another bottle of half breast milk half formula. Using Soy formula for now.

When I look at him, I just LOVE him, ADORE him, he has been a real gift to our family. While we decided not to decide until he is two, we are both leaning toward keeping our family a Party of Five. This fits. Bryson seems to complete our family perfectly.

Family photos will be coming soon. We are having them taken this weekend. It's hard to believe the pictures in this header are from when he was six days and now he is six months. And while the time hasn't been easy like it was when we added Addie, it hasn't been as difficult as when we added Lily. Life is fuller, busier, and crazier because Bryson is in it. Soon he'll be sitting and crawling, before we'll know it, our baby won't be a baby anymore. For now, I'm going to eat this baby chub every day that I can! :)