His half birthday has come and gone! My little nugget is 6 months old. He is growing so fast. I can’t keep up…With the general holiday busyness, my lingering sickness, and big brother’s birthday, we were a little behind on posting these adorable pictures. But here is our guy, in his six-months’-old glory!

He is still happy and joyful, but he also knows what he wants and will get it, one way or another! He has been known to holler when things are not to his liking, and he has only gotten more…ornery. Of course, my standards are high, because he’s such a sweet and happy baby. 🙂 (People who know his temperament are shaking their heads at me right now). I say it only to point out how his personality is emerging. One thing that is sticking with us (and I hope does forever!) is his love for his mama. He does not want to let me out of his sight. He instantly calms in my arms, and no one else will do. When he wants mama, he wants mama. 

Which is perfectly fine with mama. 🙂

I find I am getting stopped often now for people to remark on how beautiful he is. I take it in stride, because I think all babies are beautiful, but it’s nice to note how much joy a baby brings to our hurried world that a perfect stranger would stop and comment. And smile. And coo. It gives me hope!

Jackson is one curious little kitten! He isn’t content just to see everything; now he must touch it and taste it in order to fully understand what it is. He is on the move!

Thus the efforts to incorporate the “6 months old” sign.

And he’s moving all over. Not just rolling and rocking, but army crawling and scooting his way across the room. He does this to explore his surroundings. It’s almost scary how fast he goes when no one is looking! (Moral: always be looking). He kind of scoots like an inch worm and then grabs and examines objects, or puts them in his mouth, or hits them. Explorers have their methods…

Sometimes he will cry out because he’s stuck under the coffee table or cannot fit something into his mouth. He likes to knock things over and see what is inside, so I try to fill boxes with toys for him to do just this. While I’m cooking and he is on the counter in the Bumbo chair (please no letters–I am watching him and I don’t leave) he loves to knock over the utensil container and spill everything out, and then mouth things one at a time. My utensils have never been so clean! [Editor’s note: because I’m washing them, of course.]

As you can see, he now has two teeth! Little pearly wonders.

He is still soft, delicious, snuggly, and smells oh-so-good. I just drink him in every chance I get. His breath smells like angels and his cheeks feel like clouds. 

At his 6-month checkup, Mr. Jackson weighed in at 17 pounds, 12.4 ounces. That puts him in the 50th percentile for weight. He was in the 99th percentile for height! That explains why all of his sleeves and pant legs are too short.

He is still a little cat-napper and fights sleep, and he still sleeps best on me in a carrier, as evidenced by the very loud wedding last weekend of his Godfather, Dillon. He slept on me while I danced on the dance floor!

Oh, what a blessing, what an honor it is to be your mama, my sweet babe! To watch him wake up, scan the room for me, and see his face light up in dimpled joy when he finds me. It is bliss.I can’t believe it’s been half a year. I’m struggling with this idea quite a bit, in fact. It’s going by too fast!! I am in no rush for this sweet potato to grow up. 

We haven’t started solids yet because he isn’t sitting up completely on his own (or even really close to it) and he isn’t super interested in our food, more than the typical curiosity he has for all things. I am thankful to La Leche League for my knowledge of solid food readiness! He will be ready when he is ready, and hopefully mama will be, too. Silky-soft little ball of love, he is.

Oh Jackson Scott, I adore you!