6 months stats and month of January

I've definitely been neglectful of my blog this last month and don't really have a good excuse! Nothing really exciting has been going on, yet I feel like the last month was very busy. I guess the big deal in January was the addition of a fire pole to the fort outside. Reef's been asking for one for AGES and finally has one. It's not quite finished yet, though, and Reef prays that Daddy will finish fixing it each night! We had amazing weather the day after it was completed, so we got to get some good action shots!

On January 26, Troy and I had our 7th annual Australia Day celebration at the Outback Steakhouse. I can't believe it's been 7 years! We had a great time with close friends from church and some new Aussie friends. Bruce and Sharon stayed with the boys, so we got to really focus on our friends and our food for once.

At the end of January, I had the privilege to go to Northside's annual Ladies' Retreat. Lachlan had the privilege of joining me since he continues to refuse a bottle! Despite a late night and being WAY off schedule, Lachlan was the perfect baby! He never cried and enjoyed visiting with all the different ladies. He is quite the flirt these days! I'm so glad I decided to go. The speaker was amazing and it was good to get some time with friends too.

After Ladies Retreat, we decided to start Lachlan on solids. He didn't love it at first and definitely preferred taking it from Troy at first. He's now had oatmeal, green beans, and carrots. He's really getting the hang of it now! I've tried doing breakfast and dinner feedings but he's really only interested at dinner time.

We had Lachlan's 6 month appointment last Friday. Troy had the day off, so I was lucky enough to go to the appointment without big brothers in tow. Basically Dr. Gulde said he looked like a happy, healthy baby. The big concern from his 4 month appointment was the shape of his head but, after looking at it from all angles this month, it's apparently looking more "normal" now. He weighed in at 18lb 4oz (70th %ile) and was 28.5 inches long (97th %ile!). I can't believe he's so long! If he doesn't slow down soon, we'll be investing in a new car seat at the end of the month.

Things to remember about 6 months...
-You're finally rolling over! For about the last 2 weeks, you've mastered rolling from your tummy to you back. So, tummy time is very short these days. Jonas likes to tell me that you've rolled "upside up"

-You've also started pushing up more with your arms when you are on your tummy.

-Just in the last couple of days, you've started reaching for something on your side. I know rolling onto your tummy should come soon.

-You're still nursing every 3 hours during the day. We did 4 hours yesterday and that was okay, so we should be able to transition soon.

-We continue to struggle with nights...A good night means waking up only twice-once for the paci and once for a feeding. A bad night means waking up every 2 hours! Dr. Gulde said sleep is a learned, developmental process, so we'll just keep working on it.

-Naps are finally pretty consistent! The morning nap is 1-1.5 hours and the afternoon nap start at 1 and is 1.5-2 hours. Some days you'll also take a 15 minute nap before dinner.

-Smiles and giggles have really increased this month. You're also talking a lot more.

-You're sitting up all by yourself! Dr. Gulde was very impressed. You can maintain it for about 30 minutes before you get tired or bored.

And, finally, here's our monthly picture with our blue bear.

And a cute one just because...

I did really bad at blogging and taking pictures this month...Hopefully I'll do better in February!