John David 6 Months

Last Monday we went to visit John David's new pediatrician in Brussels for the first time for his 6 month well visit.  She was very nice and has a very nice office on the first floor of her residence about a 20 minute tram/metro/walk from our house.  She said that he looked perfect and seemed to be developing great.  She gave him his last shot until he is a year old and he took it like a champ!  Here are his statistics: his weight was 8 kg 15 oz which is roughly 18.57 pounds and his length was 67 centimeters which is roughly 26.38 inches.  That means he is between the 25th and 50th percentiles for height and between the 50th and 75th percentiles for weight for both the US and Belgium babies.  I don't remember the head circumference sorry but I do remember it was between the 25th and 50th percentile.

John continues to be a very happy and health baby.  He is so close to crawling.  He likes to get up on all four and rock back and forth like he is just trying to get up the nerve to let loose.  He is in the process of mastering "scooting" especially backwards and finds himself all over the family room floor often stuck with his legs around the coffee table legs or under a chair.  We continue to enjoy our solids and have moved into 2nd foods.  Our favorites continue to be sweet potatoes, apples, carrots, green beans and bananas and we prefer oatmeal to rice cereal now.  He is really into toys that have lights and music especially his Baby Einstein "piano" which also says the colors and numbers in English, French and Spanish (gotta start early).  We still like to read with Momma and Dad but really just enjoy turning the pages.  Grandma and Grandpa gave him a book about Monkeys where you can push a button and the monkeys hoot and holler and that is an especially big hit.   John loves any and all paper and if he manages to get his hands on it he promptly rips it to pieces.  I have lost a lot of magazines that way.  We are getting better with our naps now that we have been in one place for more than a few days and he is in a proper crib.  At night he still sleeps great but has recently been waking up between 2 and 3 am to "play" and that is getting a little old for Mom and Dad who do not want to "play" at that hour.  I am sure it is still his body adjusting to the time and his little wake-ups are getting shorter and shorter each night.   Oh and our teeth continue to plague us and they are just refusing to break through. The Pediatrician said his gums were swollen so it is only a matter of time but they sure are sore.  We use a lot of Ora-gel and Sophie the giraffe gets a lot of chew time. 

Just Chillin

Hanging out in our new stroller at the train station

Dad and John David enjoying some of Belgium's finest

Reading

Just finished dinner in our new highchair

Beautiful blue eyes

Hard at work with his Piano

Just figured out how to get our own toys out of the toy basket

Eating breakfast with Dad

My two favorite things a torn up magazine and the piano

Hard at work ripping up a magazine