Life as a Fisherman's Mother: 6 Months Gone By

My little man is 6 months old. 6 MONTHS OLD!! I can hardly believe it, time has gone by so fast. Here is my (2 weeks late, again) update on Garrett Dean:

Weight and height: 16 lbs. 5 oz.; 26 in.

Likes: banana baby food, apple juice, Advil (it's pretty sweet, he's not an addict ok?!), playing in his exersaucer that his Abuelito got him and chewing on all of the toys, Tupperware - it's his favorite toy of all time, getting read to, board books. dogs (especially our family dogs, Troy and Champion), baths now that he's out of the basin and playing with bath toys, getting his ears cleaned, getting his hair brushed, "talking" to me - he's a babbling CHAMP, Daddy's tickles, being surprised/slightly scared

Will put up with: diaper changes, going on walks (falls asleep like 2 minutes in), getting undressed

Dislikes: when Mama walks out of the room, getting dressed, being lotioned, hats - especially when they fall over his eyes, beards, when restaurants sing happy birthday to people - it's loud and unexpected and he gets so mad, when you're not paying attention to him

Hates: TEETHING, shots

Personality, temperament, and attachment thus far: easy temperament, secure attachment. He's hit his separation anxiety stage and is getting less and less keen on being passed around to other people. When we're in new social settings, he likes to stay with me and me alone. I also think our 2 week vacation at home may have aggravated this in his development - there were several days where him and I left to see friends or family and were gone all day. Those days took their toll and I think he started to become a little socially reclusive after that. However, now that we've been home and back to our normal schedule, I think he's getting back to his normal social self.

Physical feats: He still has 2 teeth, but he will soon have 2 more on the bottom row. His fine motor skills are developing super well - he can take my stud earrings off in one swift movement. Hooray. He can sit up and balance himself when reaching for toys around him. He can roll freely from his back to his belly, and back again. He tries to roll all over the place and grab things he shouldn't. I guess Mama needs to do some baby proofing!!

Mama's highlights: I loved getting to see our family and Garrett getting to know them better! Seeing how much my parents love him just melts my heart. We also had the privilege of doing Garrett's baby blessing while at home! In the LDS church we don't baptize infants (that comes at age 8) but fathers give their children blessings when they're born. These blessings are essentially well-wishes for their lives and hopes that they'll have good health, maybe serve a mission, succeed in school and later in their own families, etc. Each blessing is individual and special to the child receiving it. Garrett's blessing was special to me not only because he's our first son, but also because this is the first baby blessing my dad has participated in for his own posterity. My dad is a convert to the Church and joined 4 years after his youngest child was born; so he never got the opportunity to bless his children. But having him up there participating in my son's blessing was so special to me, and a day I will certainly never forget.

Here are some pictures from Garrett's 6th month of life - enjoy!