Littlefields of Dreams: 6 Month Update

Jack's "half" birthday was on the 14th. We have come a long way in the last 6 months. We can't believe how fast he has grown or how much! It's no surprise to any of you that the beginning was stressful and rough...rougher than I ever imagined it could be. But thankfully with a lot of time, trial and error with feeding options, and some other assistance, we've made it and are completely in love with our son.
I admit I'm nearly the opposite of moms who post a newborn picture and the next thing you know, their kid is 5. So there aren't a whole lot of new pictures to share, but a handful are at the end. My videos aren't transferring from my phone so you'll have to do without. Stop crying, it'll be okay....

Some stats: (So...I wrote down percentiles...not actual numbers and threw his charts away...woops! I do know he is roughly 28 inches long and 18.5 pounds!)

He is in the 83rd percentile for height
He is in the 70th percentile for head weight
He has been on solid foods since 4 months and LOVES everything. His favorites by far are oatmeal, apples with oatmeal and cinnamon, and strawberry/apple/banana mix. He is basically a bottomless pit. They tell you to watch for signs of being full when feeding...we NEVER have that problem.
Currently he does a bottle about every 4 hours and a solid at hour 3.
He cut his two bottom middle teeth last week! You wouldn't know it though! He has been teething like a champ! Drooling everywhere and chewing on everything but he isn't really cranky or sick. We had one rough night right before our move but that was it. I had my suspicions we'd teeth early since he started drooling around 3 months. Looks like by Thanksgiving he'll be enjoying some yummy table food with his new choppers!
He is taking slightly better naps now and will take 1-2 90 minute naps each day if the stars are aligned. It's fun when he wakes up rested because he will actually play in his bed and giggle for a few minutes until he gets bored. It's sometimes draining to always come into a crying baby.
We sleep trained him about 3 1/2 weeks ago and it has gone great! I was nervous because he had just barely graduated to his crib, and he is not the kind of baby to be soothed by being driven in the car. (Once he screamed from Provo to Sandy- a 30 minute drive-.) But after realizing that attempting to sleep train was our only way to survive, it ended up being best thing we could have done for ourselves. I have time to do things and Mark and I even get a little bit of time to ourselves in the evening. If we ever have another one that turns out to be like Jack, I would definitely consider sleep training earlier. While sleep training has made him fight being rocked to sleep more, the sanity that it has given us is worth it.
We like tummy time A LOT more, can roll from side to side, back to tummy, and have started to scoot a little with his legs under him.
Loves trees and walks as long as the sun doesn't get in his eyes. (Our new neighborhood is great for this!)
He is really close to being able to sit up by himself. Still a bit wobbly, but we are getting there.
In the last week has started giggle fits, especially when he's overtired or playing with toys. It is adorable! We were at Target pretty close to bedtime and he just started giggling for a good 10 minutes straight. You could hear him 3 isles over!
Last of all, he has started snuggling. When I hold him for our bedtime/nap time routine he will put his arm around me, or sometimes even lay his head on my shoulder.

I've been unemployed for a week and totally loving it. I'm sure my former co-workers would say I'm in the "psuedo" stage of staying at home, but I love that I don't have to go anywhere or do anything. I can just let Jack be Jack and sleep when he needs to. There will be days where that's just not the case, and days where I have cabin fever. But Mark and I have talked a lot and I've got some backup plans, like walking around the mall, visiting GranMary, driving to a sister's house, and lots and lots of walks. We've talked about me volunteering once a week to get me out but until his first birthday, my goal is to just stay home and enjoy this time with Jack. When he's 1, we'll assess how I'm feeling and if I need a day to get out.

Now for some pictures, because let's face it, no one reads the boring stuff! =)

He's a wild sleeper....see picture below.

Uhh...Mom? What are you doing?

He loves to use his feet as much as his hands.

One morning while Mark was gone on his trip, I took Jack into bed with me and we dozed together for an hour. Then he woke up and so we took some fun pictures.

He LOVES being naked. Which is ironic because he hated being naked for the first 2 months of his life. Now you take his clothes off and he giggles. It's scaryingly comical. We may have a future streaker on our hands.