seriously?! six months old??

I really can't believe that it's possible, but yes, Elijah is 6 months old today. I'm just in shock that he's now sitting in his high chair like such a big boy, trying out new foods. And he loves to get on his tummy and swing his arms and legs like crazy. Who knows how soon until he will be crawling around here. What a great 6 months this has been! Every day just gets more and more fun. Here are some things Elijah is into these days...

• He loves his Daddy and is continually saying "dadada" ...and more recently "mamama" so I've been showing him the signs for mom and dad in hopes that he'll pick up on some sign language
• He's been eating rice cereal for 3 weeks now and he just tried some avocado yesterday (see picture below). Poor thing...the avocado was a shock for him, so I think I'll take it easy on him and introduce bananas next.
• We just switched to a four hour feeding schedule, so Elijah is still nursing four times a day.
• He still sleeps through the night - from 8:30 to about 7:00 and takes two 2-hour naps and an hour nap every day.
• He's sitting up really well if he can balance on his arms. He still LOVES to jump, and once you let him start, he doesn't want to stop.
• Elijah is "talking" all the time now and always squeals with delight when I come to get him up from a nap. Priceless!
• He knows who Jazz is and will watch her every move. He will reach out and "pet" her now.
• We sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Litte Star" to put Elijah down for his naps or bedtime. Usually, if anyone else is putting him down, he just starts crying when they sing this song because he knows what comes next! I think I've ruined that song for him.
• I'm not exactly sure what he weighs...we go to the dr. next week, but it looks like he's around 14-15 pounds, based on our scale. He's not a chubby baby, that's for sure.
• We're still using cloth diapers, which I love! Elijah's in 3-6 months clothes.
• He's a great shopper. He just hangs out in the car seat while I push the cart around. This has been a major blessing so far.
• He loves going to church because everyone in the nursery takes such good care of him. On Wednesdays, he's usually the only baby, so he gets to hang out with the older kids.
• I've had him drinking some water out of a cup and he's been checking out the sippy cup, but thinks it's just something to teeth on.
• Everything goes right to his mouth! Elijah's bottom two teeth came in about 3 weeks ago, thankfully without much fuss.
• He loves to hear people talk to him on the phone. His eyes just light up and he starts looking all around (and trying to eat the phone!)
• He likes to sit at the piano and bang the keys while I play...I love it!!
• And...I could go on forever, but you've probably stopped reading by now and are already looking at the pictures!

not so sure about avocado - how did I get so much on his cheek??

Big boy sitting up

Hanging out with mommy

Loving Aunt Jeni's monkey he found

Isn't this what this duck is for??

Hanging out with daddy