I thought I would slip in an update on Hayden before his 6 month entry. So many new things are happening now. He is literally changing day by day.

On the eating front, he has become a pro with the pears, so we have moved on to greens. We tried peas first. If you would have asked Hayden what the worst tasting food in the world was, he would have undoubtedly said peas the first time I fed that green slop to him. But, now, about 5 days in, he seems to enjoy them quite well. He is still getting rice cereal for breakfast and dinner (about a tablespoon total still, maybe slightly more) and then after his dinner cereal he gobbles down some pears (sort of like a little dessert in his mind, but it's real purpose is to keep him "regular"). He is a pretty clean eater. We have started from the get-go teaching him to keep his hands away from his mouth, bib, hair, etc. So, he is very well mannered when it comes to that. He does tend to grunt and groan and arch his back and turn red when he is full. Which is fine, that tells me when to stop. But to help curb his frustration, we have started using sign language already, teaching him to sign "all done" when he is ready to stop eating. Of course he doesn't know what the heck I am saying or doing yet, but for the past two days, when I say "all done" and make the hand motions, he stops grunting and arching to watch me. Then I make the motions with his hands and the meal is over. It is like he is catching on to what that means. When Mom says "all done" that means that she will stop shoveling this stuff into my mouth. It is very interesting.

We are also using other signs such as "up" and "more", and we will slowly add in new ones as they become more appropriate. Words like "thirsty" and "thank you" will come in handy as time moves on.

Hayden is also practicing sitting up now. We use the Boppy pillow as support behind his back. It wraps around by his legs too and he can place his hands on it by his sides for support. He is able to balance for a few seconds. Just long enough for me to snap a few photos. Then he flops over and folds in half, or lunges backwards...both moves are cushioned by the pillow. However, yesterday, he managed to do two face plants before I could grab him (yet another right of initiation to Mean Mommies Anonymous). But, he recovered quite nicely and all was well.

He also is becoming closer and closer to mastering the art of rolling over. Yesterday night he did it three times while Cameron and I watched (he has never done it more than once per day up until that point). Of course we were all excited and as soon as I made a mad dash for the video camera and we set him on his stomach again to perform a fourth time, he decided he was done for the night. Oh well, we will try again today.

He is still sleeping through the night nicely. There have been a glitch or two along the way (after the Lion King night out, he woke up and cried a little for about 3 nights before getting back into his regular swing of things). I am sure there will be these stints along the way as teeth show up or an illness takes over. But, up until now, no teeth, no sickness, no problem.

He keeps us laughing everyday and we are enjoying this time of great strides tremendously and it seems Hayden is too. -- mam