The Joni Journey: Happy Half-Birthday, Ezzy!

Ezzy at: 1 week; 1 month; 2.5 months; 4 months; 5 months; 6 months

Half a year already! You've been doing a lot of growing this month, both in body and in mind. I've packed away all of your 3-6 month onesies and jammies, along with your newborn socks to add to the collection of clothes that no longer fit you. You've also been busy putting together new pieces about the world around you. You're learning that when the screen door opens in the evening, it means Daddy's home, and you turn around to watch the door expectantly before your face lights up in a huge smile when he walks in. Unless you're in a bashful mood, in which case you'll turn away and act like you're embarrassed until Daddy coaxes a smile out of you. You've also become more attached than ever to Mommy and Daddy. You like to keep your eyes on us at all times and make sure we never stray too far from you. You are officially in the grabby stage of life, and you are extremely interested in whatever Mommy or Daddy has in their hands. Even if you have your own water bottle (yes, you still love those!), you want the one we are drinking from. This makes eating dinner with you on our laps increasingly difficult. Your personality shines through more and more each day, and your daddy and I can't get enough of how silly and giggly you can be. We love to make you smile and your laugh is so infectious we can't help but laugh when we hear it. You celebrated your first Halloween last month, and now that we're in the midst of holiday season, your Daddy and I are so excited to experience the holidays through your eyes and to begin new family traditions with you.

Some 6 month stats: Ezzy weighs exactly 14 lbs, so he's gained 10 ounces since his last doctor's appointment. I'm not sure how long he is, but he suddenly fits in his six month pajamas, so he definitely sprouted in the last few weeks.

Our 6 month daily routine: Ezzy has been waking up about every 2-3 hours at night, and then waking up for good really early - like sometimes before 6 am. If that happens, I'll put him on the couch with Joe and go back to sleep for as long as possible. Once I'm up I feed him and then he'll usually play in his exersaucer while I have some breakfast and coffee. Around 11 am I nurse Ezzy in our bed in hopes that he'll go down for his afternoon nap. On good days, his naps last two hours or more. On bad days I'll attempt to put him down for a nap 3 or 4 times, with him refusing each time. Then when 5 or 6 pm rolls around he's super tired and cranky and Joe and I have to try to keep him awake until at least 8:00 otherwise he'll be up all night. We generally run errands and/or do chores in the afternoons. We also do one or two walks around the neighborhood in the afternoons/evenings. I start dinner around 5 while Ezzy plays in his exersaucer or his swing. Around 6 he's hungry again, and I either nurse him, or feed him some pureed food if I didn't feed him cereal that morning. Joe gets home around 6:30 and we usually eat around 7:00. Around 8 pm it's time for Ezzy's bath, jammies, and story time. Before he'd fall asleep between 9-10 pm. Nowadays I never really know what to expect. Sometimes he'll fall asleep at 9, but then wake up again at 11.

Some notable changes from last month:

Ezzy is still exploring the world of solid foods. So far he's loved everything except avocado. We've tried it twice and it got the same disgusted "what the heck is this?!?" reaction both times.
He's sitting up on his own! He can go from a reclined position to sitting, and when he's lying on his back he'll try (unsuccessfully) to sit up. He's had a few times that he topples over headfirst though, so I have to keep my eye on him.
I've caught him pushing himself up to the crawling position for a split second a few times now. The thought of him crawling around on our floors has me in nesting phase 2.0. Pre-Ezzy I can count the number of times I've ever scrubbed the floors on my hands and knees on zero fingers. But I've actually cleaned all the floors more than once in the past month! (That's a big deal for me.)
He is louder than ever. Instead of babbling, as they say babies do, our baby prefers yelling and shouting like a disgruntled old man. It cracks me up.
Ezzy has learned to wave at people. Or sometimes he waves to nothing in particular. Every now and then he'll accompany his wave with a smile, but more often than not he gets a really serious/spaced out look on his face while he's waving at people. It's kinda creepy and cute at the same time.
He's officially found his feet. It's crazy how babies are flexible enough to gnaw on their own toes. Also, this makes diaper changes a ton of fun now that I have to wrestle his feet out of his mouth long enough to get a new diaper on him.

Ezzy likes (in addition to his 5 month favorites):

Pounding his chest like Tarzan.

Bouncing. That video cracks me up every time I watch it.

Sticking his tongue out (like Miley Cyrus).

Water bottles (he loves them so much, it was worth repeating again this month).

Practicing his beauty pageant wave.

Walking outdoors. Well, technically, being carried around outdoors. If he's in a fussy mood he'll instantly calm down as soon as we walk out the front door.

The rattle app on Joe's phone.

Cars. Not car rides, but he likes to watch cars drive by.

His vibrating teether toy.

Flinging his toys around wildly. Whoever is holding him better take cover!

Raking his nails across everything he can get his hands on. His favorites (in no particular order) are: the couch, the table, our faces.

He still likes diving headfirst into pillows while screaming. Not sure if other babies do this or it's just an Ezzy thing.

Ezzy dislikes:

Sleeping more than two hours at a time at night.
Avocado.
Being startled. He's not a fan of being picked up from behind when he can't see who's holding him.
Scooting backward on his playmat when he's trying to get to a toy in front of him.
Watching Mommy or Daddy leave the room without him.