1/2 Birthday!!

This past Saturday, we celebrated a big milestone in our house...Callen turned 6 months old! Most importantly, we are all still here to tell about it. We have kept Cal alive as well as ourselves while (still) trying to figure it all out!!! I can say that these last 6 months have been the most fun, rewarding, challenging, and happiest 6 months of my life. Callen is such a fun and lovable little guy. His smile and laugh can turn any bad day into a happy joyful day. I love waking up listening to him cooing and laughing, and then being greeted with a huge grin when I walk in his room to get him out of the crib. At the end of the day when he is so tired, he falls asleep in my arms. I then shift him and he ends up hugging my neck (so sweet!). I find myself hugging him back, and just enjoying the moment...before long he is going to be running everywhere and I will have to tackle him to slow down for 5 seconds!

We went to the doctor on Monday for Callen's 6 month check up. His pediatrician thinks he is doing great. He weighs 16lbs 10oz (32%) and measures 27in (66%). His weight has fluctuated a lot since birth (he was once in the 51st percentile and then dropped to 29th percentile), but we didn't realize he had a dairy allergy until age 4 months. He was projectile vomiting about 15-20x/day as well as had blood in his stools before we figured it was dairy. He had always spit up a ton, but the blood was the key to the dairy allergy. So, starting January 1st, I went dairy free. This has made a huge difference...Callen is spitting up MUCH less and I am having to do far less laundry due to decreased clothing, bib, and burp cloth changes. Everyone is much happier!!!

Perfect representation of Cal these days...foot in mouth!

So big

At 6 months, Callen is sitting unsupported for about a minute before toppling over. He is able to reach forward and overhead for objects and come back to sitting without falling. He is rolling both ways now. EVERYTHING (except food) goes into the mouth. We have many board books that are worn away at the corners from Cal gnawing on them. We are still waiting on teeth. I feel they are going to pop through anytime, but there are still no signs of them. Cal isn't making consonant (ba ba, ma ma, etc.) sounds yet, but has started this screaming that is pretty funny! When he is in a really good mood, he can do this for 5 min or so. If you join in with him, he just goes for longer periods of time to compete with you!

As you can see from the above video, we started solid foods this week. We waited to get the OK from the pediatrician since we had so many issues with his skin and spit up from the dairy allergy. I really wanted the doctor to take a look at him and know what he looked like before starting solid foods. As you can see from the tray, solid foods have NOT been a hit in this house. Both Doug and myself thought he was going to go crazy for solids since he is all the time trying to grab our food from us. We started with steamed carrots. He took one bite, and that was it. He was not overly excited about real food! We tried carrots again the next day with no luck. We then gave him bananas last night trying to give him something he might like...NOPE! Shut mouth again. 

1st bite!

And the reaction!

I would rather eat the bowl with the carrots in it than the carrots!

Daddy's attempt to feed Cal carrots

I'm tired of all this. Just leave me alone!

Attempt at bananas...

After trying to eat the bib and removing it

Thanks for the food. I'll just stick to drinking!

Suckers! I get what I want!

Callen is also a daredevil wiggle worm. I should know better by now, but every time I put him in his bouncy seat, he flips himself over onto his stomach and gets stuck in that position. I should buckle him in, but he likes to sit up in the chair and play with his toys until he gets bored. Well, this is what I found the other day when I turned around...

Our little man is growing up so fast. We love him so much and can't imagine him not in our lives. He has brought us so much joy and happiness. I love being a stay at home mom to this little munchkin. Everyday is a new adventure, and I am up for any adventure that comes our way!