Playing under the Christmas tree

 

Success! The ribbon's mine!

How does this ribbon work?

Hooray! Got the jingle bell off the tree.

There's no stopping me now.

SIX months!

It's hard to believe Isaac is six months old! (And really, since I'm so slow to post, almost 7!) He's so full of life - we are LOVING this age. Lots of smiles & laughs, although he still makes us work pretty hard to get laughs. You can see from these pictures that Isaac's favorite smile is a big, open-mouthed grin.

Isaac's been sitting well since the week before Thanksgiving. He stays pretty content to sit & play with toys, although he definitely prefers when someone is sitting next to him. I'm starting to see him express his opinions more - such as a defiant little cry when he wants to be picked up or wants me to be down on the floor next to him. He's also recently started to get upset when we change his diaper. It's pretty hard to change him when he arches his back! We're praying for wisdom on how to parent him as it looks like we're entering a new stage where we'll be starting to think about training & teaching Isaac, not just caring for his physical needs.

Isaac had his six-month checkup a week ago. His stats: 

Weight - 17 lbs, 13.5 oz (50th percentile)

Length - 28 inches (95th percentile, I think)

Head circumference - 18.5 inches (99.7 percentile - yes, this kid has a huge head)

We decorated our Christmas tree one evening last week & thought Isaac would really get excited about the lights. He thought they were okay, but wasn't as thrilled as we expected. Maybe next year!

I've been thinking Isaac would be crawling by Christmas. Once he started sitting, though, he showed much less interest in moving. However... all that changed about 3 days ago. It seems that things have clicked into place for him and now he can get pretty much wherever he wants to go. No more backward scooting - this little guy sees his target (toy, chair, Gracie's tail...), focuses in, and gets there. It's not too pretty yet - mostly he gets on his hands & knees, rocks back & forth, then lunges forward, but we've seen a few army crawls and also a few times where he actually moves his knees like he's crawling. It's crazy to see how quickly Isaac changes!

More about Isaac at this age... he still loves to go outside & loves watching Gracie. He almost always smiles at the end of prayers when we say "Amen" - maybe because we open our eyes? He loves it when we throw a blanket over his head & say "Where's Isaac?" - he pulls the blanket off his head & gives us a huge grin. He's started reaching up for us when we pick him up. He's sleeping much better - hooray! He has two naps - morning & afternoon which are about an hour & a half on average. He still wakes up at night, but often it's only once. 

 

It's hard to believe we've only known this little guy for just over six months! We love you so much Isaac!