Henry–6 months!

Henry:

• is still exclusively breastfed. Not a drop of formula so far and has never had a bottle either which is always my hope for my babies. I am pleased that we have made it this far.
• nurses about every 2-3 hours but gives me a couple longer stretches for naps and nighttime.
• has not exactly gotten easier with age unlike others of our kiddos. I love him so much, but he’s not exactly an easy baby. He was much easier as a younger baby! We. Are. really tired. But Tired has become the new normal so it’s hardly noticeable anymore. In the grand scheme this is such a brief season of life. And I love this season, so why wish it away or wish it different? But I will say that God made babies very cute for good reason. It’s a GOOD thing he is so cute! And I really can’t complain. I have known many a mom who had it way worse. Compared to many, Henry is still a breezy baby…. just not compared with MY other babies.
• has never yet (not even once!) worn a disposable diaper. This just dawned on me the other day that he’s never been in a disposable and I thought that was kinda cool. (Not that I planned it, it just happened that way.) So he’s been 100% in cloth diapers since day one. I love his little cloth diapers and his little cloth-covered bum is just the cutest! This is the easiest stage for cloth diapering (exclusively breastfed makes it just as easy as disposables anyway) so I am glad to be taking full advantage of it.
• is developmentally ahead of the curve and is miles ahead of where his brothers were at this age. It is weird to have a baby boy who is doing stuff at this age! It’s fun, but weird. He is basically the polar opposite of how his brothers were!
• he rolled over within a few weeks of being born and has been unstoppable ever since. From the very first time he rolled he was instantly an expert and could roll over no matter the terrain or whether he was swaddled or not.
• he started getting up on  hands and knees and hands/feet (picture the yoga pose “downward dog”) at about 4 months. Now he is crawling. (It’s a slow crawl, but very deliberate. And cute. But that’s a given!)
• he’s an athlete. Constantly. Moving. He does push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, planks, pilates, yoga… you name it. He does it. Apparently just for fun. The rest of his family is way lazier and we get tired just watching him.
• Along with being an athlete, he is very strong. No baby fat whatsoever. The boy has abs and “guns” and isn’t afraid to use them.
• he’s a bean pole and no matter how much he nurses (which is plenty, I assure you), he does not gain weight. He gets longer and learns new tricks. He is so skinny. We are starting to be scared about how much it might cost to feed the boy when he is older… Amazing metabolism.
• has been trying to pull up with great success. He is this close to mastering it. Did I mention he’s 6 months old!?
• is possibly the most physically strong and strong-willed of our kids so far. This is a scary combination! He fights sleep and is extremely good at fighting sleep. He is amazingly stubborn about it. And my goodness can he arch his back. Wow!
• he prefers his mommy and his daddy. Which is fine since we rarely try to leave him with anyone else anyway. I have one time attempted to let him stay in the nursery at our church. That lasted all of 5 minutes. He had to stay in another church nursery once while Steven and I played violin and he screamed the entire time and the nursery workers were Not Happy with us. We won’t be doing that again for a LONG time! He has never stayed with a sitter and accompanies us on all dates and outings. Sometimes it gets frustrating, but for us this is just life with a baby and in the end we wouldn’t trade it for anything!
• still loves to be carried around in a baby carrier. A sling, a wrap, moby, mei tai... Front carry, back carry, facing in, facing out. You name it, he likes it.
• he’s extremely expressive and has the sweetest smile you can imagine. We love him to pieces and have so much fun taking care of him. His brothers and sisters absolutely adore him and do a great job helping with him. (I do not think I would survive without their help, actually!)
• he’s growing up way too quickly. I miss my newborn, but he’s so fun. We’re always watching for what he’s going to do next!