Bruce is 6 months old!

Bruce is 6 months old!

soak it up :)

Bruce continues to be an absolute joy. It's so hard to believe 6 months have already passed. Bruce spent his 6-month birthday in Nebraska, celebrating his mama's 31st birthday :) We had a really nice time, visiting Grandma and Grandpa Heier, lots of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, and spending time with Pop Pop too. Fun photos from the trip still to come.

Bruce had his 6-month pediatrician visit today. The doctor said he's doing great! Here's his stats: Height 25.5 inches (20th percentile); Weight 16 lbs, 14.2 oz (25th percentile); Head circumference 17.5 inches (60th percentile). He received his final immunizations for polio, pneumococcal disease, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, rotavirus, and Hib. They also gave him his flu shot which he has to go back next month for a booster shot. His next visit will be at 9 months.

Bruce is a very happy baby, giggling whenever anyone laughs around him or tickles him. He also likes to play peek-a-boo and gives a funny little giggle if you try to "scare" him by saying "Boo!" (he particularly likes it when his cousin Lena does this).

Bruce's favorite new activity is his jumperoo! Bruce wil jump and jump for an hour or more. One day, he even fell asleep in it. He jumped for a good hour, then laid his head down, fell asleep for about 20 minutes, then before he was even fully awake he started jumping again. We have a hysterical video of it I hope we can eventually upload (our internet connection just won't cooperate with video upload anymore, very frustrating). His jumperoo is also teaching him fun animal and food words, like yellow corn and red tomato.

Bruce sat up by himself for the first time last week! He wobbled a little bit, but got a good sturdy minute or two on his own. He's also rolling around and scooting a lot to get where he wants to go (usually off the mat or blanket he's on or moving toward a toy he wants). He's close to crawling, but I think a month or two out from getting that down just right. Tummy time is no longer torture, in fact, he seems to prefer being on his stomach now for relaxing and sleeping.

Bruce has a new favorite sound: mum mum. He said Mama, you say...well, not quite. EVERYTHING is mum mum, the dog, his toy, his bottle...if he's tired, if he's happy, if he's hungry. Ocassionally he says it to me, and it warms the heart. Will be neat when he finally associates me with the word! We are working on DaDa too :)

Bruce loves, did I say LOVES, his veggies. He eats a full container of carrots, green beans, peas, or squash each day. Still acquiring a taste for fruits, but just this week he has started back on oatmeal mixed with pears and seems to be liking it. He attacks the spoon every time, just can't get it shoveled into his mouth fast enough it seems. So his feeding schedule now is a few tablespoons of oatmeal and 1/2 container of fruit for breakfast and a full container of veggies for dinner along with about 30 ozs of formula spread out about every 4 hours each day (on average).

Bruce continues to be cared for by his loving Nanny, Lorraine. She will stay on with us until the end of September when Bruce will either start group daycare or Daddy daycare as Robb's job (group contract) at Lockheed is coming to an end.

Bruce continues to sleep well through the night, which is oh so nice. He occasionally wakes during the night but has been able to soothe himself back to sleep. His wake up routine is one of my favorites. He has an electronic mobile that starts playing music and puts his mobile friends in motion with the press of a button and Bruce has figured out how to start this on his own. So we'll hear him wake up, usually singing to himself, and occasionally we'll hear the mobile just start playing because he has pushed the button with either his hand, foot, or even his head! Now that's using his head. It's very cute.

That's the news from Falls Church! Hope all is well for Bruce's fans near and far.