6 months!!!

I'm a little late this time since I was at a conference when Ben turned 6 months old on the 23rd. He seems to be doing great. In short, we love his little butt more and more every day :).

Here are his quick stats:

• 20.6+ lbs? He doesn't fit on the doc's scale, so we think that's off. He weighs closer to 22-23 lbs on our home scale.
• 28.25 inches tall
• His weight/height/head size is in the 97th-98th percentile.
• Sleeps from 7 pm to ~5 or 6 am. Sadly he's not sleeping until 7 am anymore.
• Eating sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, bananas, prunes, pumpkin, rice cereal, etc. He likes it all, but is absolute favorite is pumpkin!
• Sitting up on his own for ~3 weeks now!

It's getting a little more difficult to take his picture with a magazine (see pic) since he now wants to "read" it. Speaking of reading, he still loves to hear stories - his favorite books are Little Fish, Little Polar Bear, Happy Hippo Angry Duck, and Dragons Love Tacos. Ben really enjoys his activity center, touching mom & dad's faces, pulling mom's hair and eating everything including his feet. He loves eating from a spoon (see video at bottom) and tries to help by holding the bowl and spoon for himself. He also likes to pull our glasses/mugs to his mouth to practice taking drinks. He enjoys meeting new people and is quick to give a smile - the more attention he gets the happier he is. Ben got to meet our friend Ryan AND got a visit from Nonna this month! He's also great at entertaining himself - he just needs a place to sit and some toys. He's also SUPER entertained by Vincent. This is great for mom's productivity :).

Ben is starting to warm up to his peers at daycare - he likes to give them pats on the shoulder and bear hugs. He now only gets upset when he's hungry or sleepy. His teachers, Miss Teresa and Miss Mia, are working to help him crawl. He can rotate himself a scoot just a bit, but that's about it for now. He got to feel around the inside of a pumpkin as part of his exploration activities at daycare. Gross!

Hmmmmmm... the magazine seems to be getting smaller!

What's over there???

Finally reading The Economist. It's about time. Also, this is a very typical Ben face. LOL.

FaceTime session with mom while she's at a conference. Ben was tired because it was late for him, but he still humored us.

Just chillin' in his crib. He sat like this for a good five minutes.

Playing on the floor. 

All ready to go to the pumpkin patch! Craig calls this "Skele-Ben". Look at that lil' belly!

Chillin' with Ryan.

Chomping on his banana. Notice Vincent in the background waiting patiently for some attention. 

For some reason Ben likes to look at things sideways now. Is he looking for a new perspective on life already?

Ben helps dad work.

We visit the Desert Botanical Gardens about every other weekend. Ben loves to feel the plants.

Ben's first masterpiece (drawn on iPad).

Ben LOVES eating with a spoon. He just loves eating in general.