Matthias John - 6 months

Matthias turned 6 months on September 20th.  He gained another couple of pounds from his last doctor's visit, weighing in at 18 pounds even (almost as much as his cousin Caleb, who turns 1 this month!).  He grew 1 inch, and his pretty, round head is up to the 82nd percentile.

He's starting to get up on his hand and knees, but it usually doesn't last too long before he drops back down to his belly to try and fly.

He's also become quite the expressive little guy.

He does occasionally get upset...

...but that doesn't last too long, either.

You can view his side by side monthly pics here.

Matthias John - 5 Months

Matthias turned 5 months on August 20th.  This kid is all smiles!

He loves to lay on his belly, lift his head and arms, then rotate his hands around in circles.  It looks like he's either sky diving or trying to fly.

The drool is coming on full force, but no signs of a tooth just yet.

Big brother James couldn't resist sitting in on a few pictures.  I love watching these two together.  James says that Matthias is his best friend :)

 

You can see his side by side monthly pics here.

Matthias John - 4 Months

Matthias turned 4 months old on July 20th.

Thias continues to be such a sweet natured boy.  He's very easy going, which is helpful when he has two crazy older brothers!  

He's a big fan of tummy time and putting things in his mouth.

At 4 months, Matthias weighs just over 16 pounds (57th percentile - up 4 pounds from his 2 month checkup!) and is 25.5" tall (also 57th percentile).  He'd be very proportional, if it wasn't for his huge head.  He's in the 72nd percentile there!

Such a sweet boy!

You can see his side by side monthly pictures here.

Matthias John - 3 Months

Look who's 3 months old!  

I may have mentioned this before, but Matthias brings such joy to our hearts.  He is quick to smile, is hardly ever fussy (he's even starting to get over his hatred of riding in the van!), and loves to "talk".  He's moved on from cooing to trying out different grunts, squawks, and zombie-like noises.

He's starting to play a little with toys, and is putting anything he can get a hold of in his mouth.  He's a big fan of his activity mat, and has laid on it playing for up to 45 minutes at a time while his brothers play nearby.  Or sometimes they like to lay down to play with him.

He has great head control and likes to see what's going on around him.

No doctor's appointment this month so I'm not sure how much he weighs, but you can tell by those delicious arm rolls that this boy doesn't miss a meal :)

He's been an awesome sleeper, too; he usually only wakes up once at 3am and goes right back to sleep after eating.

Go here to see all of Matthias's monthly pictures, side by side.

Matthias John - 2 Months

Matthias turned 2 months old on May 20th.

At his 2 month check-up, he gained almost 2 pounds from the month before (12 lbs, 10 oz).  The poor little guy had to get 4 shots. He was pretty cranky for the rest of the day, although I'm not entirely sure if the crankiness was due to the shots or due to being hit in the head by wooden toy train thrown by Charlie that morning.

He's starting to coo and loves to suck on his fist.  He's also staring to become more aware of his surroundings.

The picture below is a little blurry, but I wanted to get a shot of his toes.  He has an incredibly long big toe and a pretty big space between his first and second toe.

Both of his brothers have adapted really well, but James absolutely loves him.  He brings Matthias toys, comforts him when he's fussy, and will randomly say "I love him".  When James talks to him, he'll use a very high pitched voice and say things like "You're the cutest baby in the world.  Yes, you are! No other baby is cute like you are."  It is very sweet to watch the two of them together.

PS - You can see Matthias's monthly pictures here.

6 Month Old Charlie

Well, that was the fastest 6 months of my life!

And this big guy is all smiles.

Smiles & Chub.  That's our Charlie!  

He's as expressive as ever, and still loves to smile, laugh, and make funny noises.

(I know it's actually closer to the 7 month mark than the 6 month, but I actually did take these when he turned 6 months old.  I just haven't had a chance to do any photo editing/blog writing until now.  I would say that I'll try to do better next month, but realistically, that's not going to happen!  You don't mind, do you?)

As I learned while patiently waiting during the two weeks he was "overdue" for Charles Norman to arrive, he likes to do things in his own time (or other words, at the very last minute).  It seems like every month, he waits to hit new milestones until the week of his "monthly birthday."  Right up until the day before he turned 6 months old, Charlie would sit for maybe 5 seconds before toppling over.  But on 10/24/13, he sat for over 2 minutes like it was nothing.  He also starting doing a lot of this:

 I love that sometimes he looks surprised that he's on his hands and knees, and other times he looks proud.

A couple of days before the big 6 month b-day, Charlie cut his first tooth!  It was a little difficult to get a picture of (it doesn't help that his bottom lip is always covered in a thin sheen of drool, making it close to impossible to pull it down with your finger)

But I finally managed when he started to fuss at me for taking too many pictures

And while he still likes to put everything in his mouth,

He was not a fan of his first "solid food": sweet potatoes.

He wasn't big on applesauce, either, but he does like spoons and sucking on actual apples (like his big bro).  Since he gained 3 pounds over the course of 2 months on breast milk, I'm not too worried about his lack of interest in food!

He had another doctor's appointment this month, and everything was great.  In addition to gaining 3 pounds (up to 17lb, 3 oz!), he grew another inch, and he took his shots like a champ.

This guy, who is currently going through (what I sincerely hope is) a phase where he doesn't want to have his picture taken, didn't want to miss out on any attention and wanted to join in on the fun.

I love brother cuddles.

This picture is terribly out of focus, but their facial expressions cracked me up, so I had to include it.

OK, Mama, that's enough!