Shawn's half-birthday!!!

YEAH!!! Shawn has reached his half-year birthday. He is now 6 months old. I can't believe how quickly my little munchkin has grown. The time with him has absolutely flown by. But he gets cuter and more fun by the day. We are truly so BLESSED with our dear sweet son.

Yesterday was Shawn's 6-month appointment. It was a good appointment, but I was a little surprised by some of his measurement results. Apparently I was WAY OFF in my guestimation of his weight at 5 months. I said that he was around 17 pounds at that time and we guessed he was now at least 20 pounds. However, he did not quite measure up to my estimates. Here are his measurements:

Weight: 15 lbs 13.6 oz (21st %)

Height: 26.25 in (45th %)

Head: 16.75 (18th %)

The doctor said that his weight is plateuing a little bit. He said it is common in breast-fed babies as they do not get as much fat as formula-fed babies. Also, at this age babies start to become more active and are thus burning more calories so weight slows slightly. He suggested that we begin feeding Shawn veggies twice a day (we currently just feed him a veggie at lunch and cereal for breakfast and dinner). But overall he said Shawn is doing fabulously and he always loves interacting with him during the appointment. We were given a developmental survey to complete about what Shawn is able to do (ie. rollover both ways, make various sounds, use his hands to pick up objects, etc). He passed this survey with flying colors and the doctor was very impressed at all that he is currently doing. He gave us the go ahead to take Shawn swimming, start feeding him finger foods like biter biscuits (HA! Shelley!), and pin wheels. We gave him the biter biscuits and he LOVED them. We are going to slowly start introducing pureed fruit and other finger foods into his diet in the next few weeks. We have successfully made it through all of the beginner vegetables.

At the 6-month appointment he was given the final dose of vaccinations until his 1st birthday. Everytime we go for shots, I think it will be easier. But again, we found ourselves crying right along side Shawn. It is so hard to sit there and watch someone cause my son pain. But I have to remember that it is in his best interest and that he bounces back from it faster than Bryan and I do! HA! :)

I will try to post pictures from his 6-month photo shoot. In the meantime, here are some pictures we've taken recently.

Shawn getting ready to try his new biter biscuits. This is the BEFORE.

Mid-way through the biter biscuits. AFTER the biter biscuits. He finally gave up on the biscuits and just began licking the sticky goo off of his hands. :)

Here are my favorite from his first taste of GREEN BEANS.

Before we started. He wasn't very excited. I think he would rather have skipped the green beans and just gone straight to his nap!

First bite...not sure what to think. :)

He didn't mind green beans as much as the avacados!

Some of my favorites from Playtime:

Trying to get ahold of Daddy's camera. He always sees Daddy with it so he can't wait to get his hands on it!

Playing in his exersaucer. He loves this thing. He especially loves to eat the frog's legs. I guess he has some southern in him after all! :)

He also likes to chew on just about any part of this thing that he can get in his mouth. In this case it is the flower.

He is also obsessed with my hot pink slippers, which are also my favorite. Maybe I'll have to look into getting him a pair...but not hot pink! :)