6 months old!

Can you believe that this handsome boy...

(His 6 month photo shoot was a difficult one because he was grumpy and just wanted to rolled over the whole time)

...is half a year old already?

At Jimi's 6 month check up we learned that he is now weighing 17lb 1oz (43.8 percentile) and is measuring 26.5 inches (55.4 percentile). The doctor said that Jimi looked great and was advanced for his age. We've been hearing from many people all along that they thought he would walk early but it was a little scarier hearing it from his doctor. After being a nanny for several families I know what comes with a walking busy baby. However, whether he walks early or late it'll be still exciting.

Jimi is now turning himself in circles while laying on the floor to get at different objects. He has also recently begun backwards crawling. I think it's pretty cute to watch him go backwards, however, you can tell he gets quickly frustrated as the toy he wants gets further and further away. Jimi loves eating! As soon as he sees the container of baby food he gets very excited. He definitely prefers veggies to fruit at this point. He has also figured out what a camera is (or at least that we react to him when he smiles for one) and gets a big gummy grin on whenever he sees one

Jimi's sleep habits have not improved any. Some nights it feels as though he's turned back into a newborn. We have briefly tried one method of getting him to sleep through the night (without letting him just cry it out) and it did not make any improvements. The doctor gave us some suggestions, so hopefully those will work.

We recently returned from a quick trip to Georgia for James' cousin's wedding. Jimi did not do quite as well on the planes rides as he did with our first trip (he got bored a lot easier) but he still did great! In fact on each plane ride there was another screaming child that woke him up. It was great to see family members, we wish our trip could have been longer.

Playing in the suitcases

Jimi's first time in a swimming pool

Four generations of James Orr (clockwise): James W. Orr, James D. Orr, James M. Orr, James T. Orr

Jimi liked watching the other planes out the window

New Cousin

Introducing my newest nephew:

John Richard Barrett

Born on March 9th, 2011

After a long labor, Stephanie (my sister) had to have a c-section. Lucky for her my OB was the doctor on call. We're still debating which of our doctors is better looking.

John is cousin number 8 for Jimi. It's great that he'll have a family member so close in age to grow up with. I'm sure the two of them will be causing trouble together in a year or so.

 Holding John for the first time

James instantly bonded with John by taking a nap with him.

 Cousins- 23 weeks apart

Jimi wanted to touch John 

5 Months!

Jimi is 5 months old!

Well, sort of... there is no February 30th so he's in limbo between 4 and 6 months.



He was more interested in Penny who was standing outside the doorway



Last week we took what was supposed to be a day trip over to Ellensburg so that James could audition for CWU's conducting master's program and to visit friends. As soon as we crossed the Snoqualmie Pass, they closed it due to multiple accidents. Of course, I had only packed supplies for Jimi to last the day so we had to take a quick trip to Fred Meyer for more diapers, formula, and some pj's. Our friends Dan and Zita were nice enough to put us up for the night. We eventually made our way back over the mountains by taking Stevens Pass, which took twice as long but we made it back safely. It was nice to be able to spend a little more time with friends and James got to go listen to CWU's big band the next day while Jimi and I walked around the campus.

A few days after returning from Ellensburg, Jimi developed his first cold. He's still working through it. A 5 month old with a hoarse voice is the most pitiful thing ever. We got a humidifier to put in his "nook" and it seems to be helping so far. Hopefully he feels better soon.

In other Jimi news: He is getting better and better at sitting on his own. He is NOT a fan of carrots. He has decided that he needs to eat every 3 hours during the night again. Instead of working on pulling himself to standing, he thinks the way to go is pushing off the floor while sitting up. This usually just leaves him on his back unless I'm there to assist. He will pick up a toy he's dropped on the floor if you hold him over it. He thinks anything that is in your hands belongs in his mouth. He enjoys being read to but mostly he enjoys eating books. AND... He is the cutest baby ever.

Climbing up his high chair (James dressed him)



Working on some new tunes



New food and New Tricks

At Jimi's 4 month check up his doctor gave us the go ahead to start trying different foods with Jimi. I had already given him rice cereal a few times (which he seemed to like OK), but she told us to steer clear of rice cereal, bananas, and apples since Jimi has some.... lets say digestion issues... So we switched him to baby oatmeal cereal, he seemed to like this a little more. I imagine it has a little more flavor (no I didn't taste it, if it's made for babies, it's probably safe for babies). Since he did not develop any reactions to the new cereal, I decided it was time to give him a veggie. I decided to start with the one that I find the most disgusting, PEAS.



He got a hold of the spoon



Jimi loved them! We're supposed to wait 3-5 days after introducing a new food before trying another, so that is all he has tried so far. I think for his next selection he will be sampling squash. I want to try making some of his foods at home.

For the last week or so Jimi has been really interested in James' and my face. I know it is pure coincidence, but about 60% of the time I ask him 'where is mommy's nose?' he grabs it. Although it is the largest thing on my face and the easiest to hang on to, I'm still going to believe that he's starting to associate the word and the object.

He has also started grabbing my hair with definite intent. He can pull pretty hard for such a little person. Not fun.

Yesterday, Jimi was able to sit unsupported for quite a while. He's still a little wobbly (especially when he gets distracted by the dog or a toy he wants to grab) but he's getting the hang of it.



String Bean

Jimi had his four month check up at the Doctor's office today.

This kid is weighing in at 14lb 11oz (43rd percentile)

He is currently 25.2 inches long (60th percentile)



Jimi must already have a great metabolism. He eats 6oz every 2 1/2 to 3 hours (that's a lot). I think we may have to forgo the NFL route and start aiming towards the NBA. The doctor said his growth and development look great and that he is a beautiful baby. I couldn't agree more.

4 Months Old!

This little man is 4 Months Old!

I know I have said it before but it amazing how fast time is flying by. This last month had a lot of changes for Jimi. He started rolling over both ways! He'd been teetering on his side for over a month and we gave up thinking that he'd do it at any moment and stopped getting the camera out each time he did tummy time. Now this little guy is a rolling maniac. There is no shortage of tummy time for him, he almost instantly rolls onto his stomach as soon as he's laid down. He starting to get the idea of crawling. He either has his legs under him or his arms in the right position but never at the same time.

Jimi is currently working on getting his bottom two teeth in. They're visible under his gums and he likes to chop on anything he can get his mouth onto. Baby orajel is AMAZING. It helps him settle down instantly when he's having teething pain. Hopefully they come in soon so he can have some relief.

We started giving Jimi a little bit of rice cereal once a day last week. He seems to really like it and is getting the hang of eating off a spoon. Although, a great deal of it still ends up outside of his mouth.



After his first bite of rice cereal

This last week Jimi has started to settle into a sleep schedule. He falls asleep eating around 10 and stays asleep until anywhere between 3:00 and 5, eats again (never opening his eyes), and sleeps again until about 8:45am. We're hoping he can keep this schedule (I'm knocking on wood right now).



All swaddled up sleeping in his crib

Jimi's 4 mouth check up is on Thursday. I'm excited to learn how much he's grown. He certainly feels a lot heavier.

And just because these two guys are cute:

Sleep

During our trip to Virginia over the holidays, Jimi started sleeping through the night (he had previously been sleeping until about 4am, eating and going back to sleep). It was an amazing two weeks of extra sleep. That all ended when we got back to Washington. Jimi started back on his schedule of waking up at about 4 or 5am and then started adding in waking up at around 1 or 2am as well. I know this is still better than when he was a newborn and he was waking up every two to three hours, but I still miss the full nights of sleep we got for two weeks (conveniently at a time when James didn't have to be up in the morning to work). 

Since his birth Jimi had been sleeping in a moses basket next to our bed, which was very helpful for the frequent nighttime feedings. However, now that he is not getting up as frequently I decided it was time to place him in his crib in his "nook". The "nook" had been set up in a way that wouldn't allow us to use the heater in that area, so James and I got to work as soon as we returned from Virginia and rearranged the area so that Jimi could have heat. After all that we discovered that the heater didn't work. So we decided to keep him in our room until we could get the heat working. However, last night when we went to lay Jimi down in his moses basket (he was already asleep), he woke up screaming. This happened two more times until I finally laid him down in his crib and he went right to sleep. I guess he decided he was ready to sleep away from us. Even though I said I was ready... it turns out I wasn't. I spent the night on the couch so that I could hear him better in case anything happened. Of course everything went fine.

In the last two weeks Jimi has entered the phase of putting everything into his mouth. He's never really seemed all that fascinated with his hands like some babies are, until he discovered that they are fun to chew on, now we can't get them out of his mouth. It is pretty adorable though, especially with his new found squealing laugh.

Eating his stuffed animal



Eating his hands