6 Months

Ryker turned 6-months-old last week! He is in such a fun stage with his personality emerging more and more, learning new skills daily, interacting with us, and giving us glimpses into what he'll be like as a toddler and little boy. As always, it makes me a bit sad that we're already to this point. The newborn and infant stages are gone and I'll never again hold a little 8-pound Ryker. But 6-month-old Ryker is pretty great too.

At six months Ryker weighs 18 pounds 9 oz (75 %ile) and is 27.5 inches long (85 %ile). He is a big boy and already growing out of his 9 month clothes. A bit over a month ago he started to be able to sit for short periods of time, and somewhere in the last few weeks I became comfortable just plopping him down and turning away, knowing that he wasn't going to immediately fall back on his head. So, he is an official sitter!

Ryker wasn't content just sitting for long, so a bit over a week ago he figured out how to get up on all fours. He immediately went from all fours to practicing his yoga moves, including plank and downward dog.

He has the signature crazy-Gilbert-baby-hair. It'll be time for a first haircut soon!

And after a week of trying every which way to get places, Ryker started crawling last night! As proud as I am watching him develop, I am not ready for him to be mobile.

Ryker also started eating recently, and LOVES food! After taking a bite he will almost immediately open his mouth like a little baby bird waiting for the next one. So far he's tried bananas, avocado, peas, carrots, squash, pears, apples, mangoes, and baby oatmeal, and has yet to reject anything. This is such a relief to me being that we had our fair share of eating issues with Myles - I don't think I would have the energy for that again!

About the time he started sitting/rocking/crawling, Ryker started babbling a lot more. In addition to the baby coos we got before, he is now heard saying, "babababa, mamama, dadada."

And although Ryker has made big developmental strides in the past month, my favorite times are when he is tired and cuddly. He doesn't often like to lay his head on my shoulder anymore, or fall asleep on my chest, but the rare times he does are the best. Our sweet littlest baby is growing so fast and I'm afraid to miss any of it amidst the chaos that can be our daily life.

Always sleeping on his tummy, I love it.

We love you Ryke-man, so so much.