Here's an interesting fact about Ro, perhaps his first interesting fact. Ro doesn't have a half-birthday. Six-months from August 30th puts him with an non-existent February 30th half-birthday. Which, as it turns out, makes him quite rare. There are only eight dates (seven, on a leap year) in the calendar year that do not have a corresponding half-birthday. So, we had to pick a day to celebrate his six-months of life. We chose March 1st.
Celebrations were at a minimum. Just the usual monthly photo shoot with Nuper. Though, Ro decided to pull all stops and celebrate in his own little way. Right at his six-month birthday, he conquered the techniques of rolling back-to-front, sitting-up without any support, and (!) growing two teeth (numbers O and P (thanks to his dentist dad for specifying))! That's right, Ro has toofers!
Ro had his six-month appointment. He was a real champ with his shots! He only cried on the second poke in the leg. And even then I think it was more out of surprise then pain since the tears lasted a mere ten-seconds. As it turns out, our growing boy isn't growing so much anymore. He measured in at 19lbs 7oz for weight (77%). 27.5-inches tall (79%). And an 18-inch head (94%). Though, despite his current plateau in growth, he still has quite a bit of chunkiness. I just LOVE his Stay Puft thighs!
I found a Groupon for JC Penney Portrait Studio and decided to follow my friend's lead (of having all her kids' pictures taken at six-months), by getting Roosevelt's picture taken. This boy is one stubborn kid. He refused to smile! There is no doubt he was a bit skeptical of the loud lady taking his picture. (In her defense, she was doing her job - which is to try and get babies to smile in pictures.) I think she was the exact opposite of what Ro is used to - quite and calm parents - that he just stared at her. And he let out a little cry, twice. Poor kid. It wasn't until we stripped him down to his diaper that he allowed the corners of his mouth to turn upward. I was a bit disappointed Ro wasn't willing to share his darling smile with the camera. Though, the pictures are a great snapshot (imagine that!) of his true personality. Wyatt calls these pictures his real estate agent/attorney pictures. Maybe I'll make business cards for him...
With Ro's new skills, he has made collecting him from his crib quite interesting. He loves to move while he sleeps. His favorite position to sleep in is on his side, up against the slats on the front of his crib - gripping them with his little hands. It's funny how he has a preference so soon... Considering for the first six-months of his life he slept on his back, with zero movement.
Speaking of sleep. Ro still doesn't sleep through the night. I thought I'd add this in just to add a little "reality" to this blog. Sometimes I think I portray life as if it's always rosy, pun intended. There have definitely been some hiccups and challenges since Ro was born. Sleeping is one of them. It drives me crazy when people ask me if he's sleeping through the night...because he's not. He is getting there - most certainly he is. He will sleep through the night usually one or two times a week. I'm not sure why he doesn't every night of the week. Maybe it's because I'm a softy? I don't know. I just feel like he is truly hungry sometimes. Mostly because Ro does know how to put himself to sleep. I always lay him in his crib awake. And when he whimpers/whines, I wait a bit to see if he will go back to sleep. I don't know, maybe I'm fooling myself? Regardless, I am tired! I don't think I ever feel rested when I wake in the morning. Which, to be honest, I don't remember the last time I have felt rested in the morning. Including pre-Ro and pre-pregnancy days. So maybe my lack of sleep is my lot in life. Like I said, it seems like Ro is getting there, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was sleeping through the night by next blog post.
Ro sure loves his dad! Sometimes I get a little jealous. Mostly when Ro and Wyatt will be happily playing in his room and then I'll walk in the room and Ro will start to fuss. This doesn't happen every time. Just around feeding time. I've done a good job of conditioning him to associate his room with eating. And there have been a few times where I'll be done feeding Ro before bed and he starts to cry. After trying to console him for a bit, I'll lay him in his crib (to let him cry it out - since I know he always falls asleep). Then Wyatt will waltz into the room to say goodnight to Ro, and swoop him into his arms. And Ro stops crying! ...and happily goes into his crib without a peep once Wyatt lays him down. What a stinker! Truthfully, I'm okay with it. I know Ro loves hanging with me all day long and loves the break to spend time with Wyatt.
And speaking of hanging out with me... Roosevelt really does like pandas. I promise. I thought it'd be fun to channel this picture. One of us had a lot of fun.
Lastly, we took Ro on his first hike. We went to Beacon Rock in Washington. I didn't know what to expect but was truly surprised to find how much Ro LOVED going on a hike. He was sporting this grin all the way to the top! And then it got cold, so he wasn't as thrilled on the return trip down... Thanks to Wyatt's sister Mya for giving us the carrier. I'm not sure we would've thought to purchase one otherwise.
