BABYBERRY: Lucas | 6 Months

6 months. Wait, 6 months?! 6 whole months?!! I can't believe it has been that long since I held this sweet baby boy in my arms for the first time. I honestly don't know how that can be possible, but I'm also just trying my best to keep up with this little man... because he's in a hurry! I don't think he even knows where he's in a hurry to go, but he's forging his path with his little rocket pack on, leaving his momma in the dust, and constantly worrying about his safety. You know, the typically boy mom stuff.

Rolling over? ppssssshhhhh. - (he conquered that at 3 months, 7 days)
Crawling? check. (the official crawl date was 4/9/14)
Sitting up? absolutely. (he started pushing himself up to sitting about a week ago...)
Solids? not as great as mom's milk, but it works. (going strong with our hungry guy!)
Teeth--- hurts like the dickens, but nada. nothing yet, thankfully, but I know we are close. I just don't know if I will be able to part with his gummy smile!

I honestly love this stage, but at the same time I have been dreading it. This is the magical age where everything starts falling into place... A large amount of milestones are accomplished, and it all just happens so quickly. It's here and gone before you even realize it. It only happens once in a lifetime, and I am holding on for dear life to each and every gummy smile and baby giggle and sweet, chubby hand reaching out for me.

When it comes to his developmental challenges, Lucas reminds me so much of his daddy. I will watch him as he studies his sister doing a simple task, and then this look of determination crosses his face. I can almost hear him say, "Hey, I can do that too..." --- and then he goes for it. Full-on, as fast as he can, until he breaks his face trying. This must be a boy thing, and something that I'm definitely not used to with his cautious big sister. With Brynn, I always found myself trying to motivate her to try new things, where as Lucas is doing them before I'm even ready for him to try!! He's adopted more of a "try and learn" mentality - as extreme as it may be, where Brynn has always been a "wait until I'm absolutely ready to try, proceed with caution, and abandon any task that cannot be completed with ease" kind of gal. Suffice to say, she gets that little nugget from her momma...

Height & Weight: His last appointment was at 3 months, but we will be going for another well-baby on May 8th to get new stats... and more shots. I will update his stats as soon as I get them. I'm going to guess he's around 20 lbs. We might be pushing into the 80th percentile these days... This boy's legs are like a couple of tree trunks.

Sleep: Always the good sleeper, we put him down around 7:30pm and usually don't hear a peep out of him until 7:30 or 8am. He takes 3 naps a day (usually about 45 mins each), and can hardly wait to get back out to the living area to play with his sister. Usually, he doesn't even have to wait that long before she hears him on the monitor and runs in there to jump in his crib with him, yelling, "I wanna way wif Lukey! I wanna way wif Lukey!" They enjoy a game of peekaboo and some tickling before I make it in there-- both sitting up, reaching out toward each other, with big smiles on their faces. I have to admit that those are some of my favorite moments...

Diet: Nursing like a champ! We've started the 6-month growth spurt, and this last week has been rough with my supply, but I'm hanging in there. I stopped nursing Brynn at 6 months, so I'm determined to forge on to the 1-year mark with this little guy. Not that he would give me much of a choice. He is very pro-nursing ;) We're making our way through solids, and I'm hoping to try some baby-led weaning in the next month. We're not going too crazy yet, just giving him enough to keep him from constantly ravishing Mommy.

Clothes: Mostly 6-9 month stuff, but we are quickly heading into 9-12 month territory. He is built very much like his daddy. Very tall, very strong.

clark kent, anyone? i was dying to find some black-rimmed glasses, but to no avail...

it's a bird... it's a plane... it's super lukey!
L loves to show off his superhero alter-ego with his fabulous Honest diapers...

Lucas' Likes: Crawling. Snuggling. Kisses on his nose while he's falling asleep. Playing with Mommy's hair. Ozzie dog. Everything about his sister (she is the coolest person in the world right now).

Dislikes: Self-soothing-- he's not a fan at all. Car seat (unless he's sick, then it's the only place we can get him to stay asleep). And he has absolutely no patience whatsoever for being hungry... (yet another thing he gets from his daddy ;))

Comparison to Big Sis:

Obviously, Brynn was much smaller than Lucas, and as a result was not as physically developed as he is... However, she made her way through solid purees much more quickly. We are taking it slowly with Lucas, which may or may not be because I want to hold on to the "baby" in him as long as I possibly can! So far, we've done sweet potato, avocado, and banana, as well as oatmeal and rice. It has come to my attention lately that we are far less prepared this time around... And not as enthusiastic to make stock piles of baby food as we were as first-time parents (says the mom who never thought she would be the uber laid back, 2nd-time parent)! However, I am considering giving this baby-led weaning thing a try in the next month, so we will see how that whole process works out.

What we've learned this month: We've learned that it's pretty darn fun to watch the second little one go mobile... He's learned how to crawl to Oz's bed and to Brynn's room this week, so I would imagine that the baby gates will be going up soon. Brynn has learned that she has to keep all of her small toys in her room, and she is my big helper about what is left on the floor for Lucas to find. I often hear her say, "That is too small. I'm gonna frow dat away so dat Lukey doesn't croak on it!" -- no joke, she is dead serious about this big sister gig. She also likes to be the boss, so I think this gives her the perfect platform. And I just love hearing all of the mommy word vomit while I'm busy doing something... "Lucas Wilson! No. No. No! You're not s'posed to do dat, silly man!" or "Lucas Wilson, you know better'n that!"... But my favorites are the Brynn originals like when he is giggling at her and I hear, "Lukey, you are so happy to me... You love me so much." Gah! Instant smile.

What we're enjoying right now: Being able to be more on-the-go with the kids... It was a little complicated in the beginning, and with L's car seat aversion, it wasn't worth it the majority of the time. Now, he is doing much better with traveling in the car. He still gets cranky, but we know his limit, so we can plan a good trip with the whole family. I have butterflies of excitement just thinking about our family beach trips this summer-- the early breakfasts at Peach's in Holmes Beach with some cool morning beach time (before everyone gets there, and before it gets too hot for the babes). Those are our favorite family trips!!

Our biggest struggles: Still working on traveling in the car. Also, working on the issues that teething have brought... Brynn was much better at cutting teeth than Lucas. I remember going through most of hers and thinking, "This isn't so bad..." -- well, that is not the case with our little guy. He is not as tolerant with the discomfort, but we are working through it.

L's most exciting milestones: First plane ride. First trip to Indiana. Crawling. Sitting up on his own. Starting solids. He has started trying to pull-up on the furniture already too... This is definitely going to go quickly.

What we're looking forward to: What aren't we looking forward to at this point? We are excited to start looking at houses in the coming months, and to start swimming and beaching with the kiddos!