Arthur, Month Six

Happy half-year anniversary, Arthur! You are one amazing baby!

It's hard to believe, but Arthur started crawling at 21 weeks! Unfortunately, he mostly uses this new-found skill to pursue his hobby of chewing on power cords, but we're proud of him all the same.

Here he's getting ready to peruse a copy of Better Homes and Gardens

And he can sit on his own now, too! He's also trying to stand - of course he can't really do it yet, but I respect his ambition.

This month Arthur enjoyed his first Halloween as well as visits from my parents, Aunt Gillian, Sam, Lilli, and Colleen.

He babbles and coos constantly and seems to really be trying to speak. He's very interactive, loves to charm strangers, and pretty much the smiley-est baby I've ever seen.



Unfortunately it was also a difficult month, as Arthur struggled with his first bad cold, then an ear infection, then another cold, plus all the upheaval of learning to crawl and a switch from exclusive nursing to formula. At times the result was extreme fussiness as well as very disrupted sleep, for him and me both. This evening fussiness was starting to creep into more and more of the day until it was more like 1-9pm instead of 4-7pm, but happily things seem to be returning to normal once again. In fact, he's even slept through the night all this past week.


The baby gym continues to be the highlight of his week.


Playing with Amy, Miller, and Ivy

Arthur just came back from his six-month checkup and we found that he is healthy, happy, and - way too small. From tenth percentile at birth his weight has fallen to below first percentile, or about 13 pounds at six months old. It's hard not to worry a bit, but he's clearly thriving in other respects. For the next month we'll be feeding him extra formula, calorie-dense foods like avocados, and yes, even adding olive oil into his baby food, all to see if we can get him out of that sub-zero ranking.

Enjoying the playmat

I suspect one reason he's so skinny is that he never stops moving. He's already wiggled/fallen out of all three of his baby seats/chairs, so I have no idea where to put him. He's even working on climbing out of his cosleeper every day during what is supposed to be nap time.

One of the few things he will sit still for, though, is the mirror baby. He continues to adore both his bath and his pre-bath play time on our bathroom floor, but now he's added the fun of kissing his own reflection in our full-length mirror.

Meanwhile, I am so proud of what a great sister Beatrice is turning out to be. All day long she talks to, with, or about Arthur, and she loves to show off for him and make him laugh. Whenever she does anything cool, like walk on her tiptoes or go high on the swings, she shouts, "Look at me, Arthur!" She sings to him and "reads" to him. She calls him "my baby" and often shouts out of nowhere, "I love my brother!" She warns her preschool friends to be gentle with him (ironically shoving one girl while shouting at her, "Be gentle!")

They love eating dinner together

Their favorite thing to do now is to play duets on the electronic keyboard. "It's duet time!" Beatrice shouts. Unfortunately it's hard to get a good photo of them doing it because neither child will stay still.

The other day - having been told a million times "we always hold hands in the parking lot" - she reached out and grabbed Arthur's hand in his stroller and said, "I'll hold Arthur's hand. Be safe, Arthur!"

Arthur waves to his babysitter Marie from underneath a chair