Six Big Months

James is officially six months old!  This is a milestone for several reasons, we have discovered.

First, a lot of his toys are labeled "6m+".  He has been playing with them for a couple of months now, but today he can officially play with them without Daddy getting in trouble from DFACS.  So you know what that means: time to buy him some 12m+ toys.  

Second, a lot of baby health problems are less likely after the six-month mark.  SIDS is rare after this age, and his immune system has developed enough to fight off infections more efficiently now.  Respiratory infections and things like that are less life-threatening, too.  We still worry about him, but it's good to know that he's not completely helpless against sickness now.  

      Third, he has started eating actual foods.  Well, not actual foods like pot roast or tacos, but non-milk foods.  We have been giving him a little bit of baby cereal for a couple of weeks now, but it's mostly milk with a little bit of rice powder in it.  Now we get to try fruits and vegetables (in mush form).  Here we see the first experience with green beans: 

He was a bit confused at first, but he seemed to like it after a few tries.  He actually ate most of what was in the bowl (everything that he didn't end up wearing).  We have a couple more days with the green beans (we're supposed to stick with one food for a few days to see if he has an allergic reaction to it), then we can try other fun things like carrots, bananas, and applesauce.

A couple of weeks ago, we got a big bucket of baby clothes from a yard sale.  We're still working our way through the bucket, but it was worth the price for this one outfit alone:

It is an authentic Def Leppard onesie!  Who knew such things existed?  James can't wait to see what other treasures await him in the mystery yard sale bucket.  We're hoping the previous owners were Bon Jovi fans too. 

Auntie Kristin does not get a spring break, but she is taking a day off work to spend a long weekend here in Georgia with James (and the rest of us).  Auntie Erin was here last weekend, so James has had lots of attention lately.  Kristin is currently painting a window decoration for James's room, keeping with the jungle motif that mommy started.  Kristin also brought him a toy from her recent trip to Belgium, a little doggie that is now named Wags.

Apparently Wags is quite tasty:

We go to the doctor for the 6-month checkup and immunizations on Tuesday.  He's probably not going to like that.  Hopefully it won't be too bad, though.  Mommy is on spring break, so she can go with us.  Everything is a little easier when Mommy is there.

James is still not exactly crawling, but he is rolling around like crazy.  He can get into the crawling position pretty well, but he just pushes himself backwards.  He sits up completely on his own now, and he stands up on his own with a little help balancing.  One of Mommy's friends came to visit last week, and she brought her one-year-old daughter.  Seeing her run around everywhere was a good indicator (and warning) of what we can expect with James in the next few months.  I think I should start baby-proofing the house now; hopefully it will be safe by the time he can scamper freely.