Oh my goodness, Austin has been here for half a year already!! It's amazing how fast the time has been flying by! He is currently in the middle of his six month growth spurt, and man, this kid can EAT!! We started him on solid foods a little over two weeks ago and had just been giving him a little bit at a time. Well, this past week his appetite seemed like it was increasing so we started giving him more solids and he just gobbled them up! Austin has always been a great eater, though he kicked off this growth spurt with such a ravenous appetite, it was unbelievable. He nursed for 45 minutes, then ate 1/4 cup of rice cereal, 3 tablespoons of sweet potatoes, and acted like he hadn't eaten ANYTHING, so I nursed him again and he ate for another 40 minutes!! The past few days it feels like most of my day has been spent feeding him. Austin is really loving solid foods and has enjoyed everything he's tried so far, including bananas, avocados, sweet potatoes, carrots, applesauce, and rice cereal. I've also been adding some spices to his foods and so far he has tried cinnamon, nutmeg, basil, and garlic powder. And since he has been doing so well with all of the foods so far, I even decided to try giving him some pureed corned beef and cabbage I made last night for St. Patrick's Day and the little Irish boy LOVED it and was excited to have leftovers again today. I hope his adventurous appetite continues! Austin has also become more communicative about when he's hungry, he has started smacking his lips and saying "mmmm", it's so cute! Speaking of communication, he said his first word this past month... dada! He gets so excited and will repeat dada, dada. He is so proud to say dada and have Byron respond to him; he loves playing with daddy! Austin has also been playing in his jumparoo and has figured out how to make himself jump. His leg muscles are getting stronger and he loves to be propped up to stand, he actually prefers standing to sitting. He is getting close to sitting up unsupported, though he still topples over. Austin has discovered his feet and loves to play with them. He has also found his fingers and stares at his hand as he moves his fingers around. It is so amazing to watch him discover things and be completely fascinated by them. Austin has been enjoying his playgroup and interacting with the other babies, he has even started to reach out to hug them sometimes! We have his six month checkup coming up soon, though his unofficial weigh-in at home is 18.2 pounds. He is already outgrowing his nine month clothing and some of the twelve month stuff barely fits him! This little baby is growing up so fast, I squeeze him every day and tell him that I love how he fits in my arms now because he will never be that small again!
