Six months old + baptized

Rowan is just about six months now and he is a little bruiser.  He is basically off the charts for weight, nearly 21 pounds now, and he is pretty tall at 27 1/2 inches.  He wears 12-18 month size clothing.  He is a beast.

A beast? Moi??

We are very fortunate that overall Rowan is a healthy little boy.  He does sneeze a lot - I wonder if he has allergies like me.  We're also managing his baby eczema - a common winter ailment with infants.  We are constantly slathering his forehead with Aquafor and unfortunately he tends to attack his head with his little baby nails when he is agitated.  And we are going to an eye doctor next week - his eyes still tend to cross (as evident in the photo above.)  They don't cross all the time and his vision and hand-eye coordination seem great, so we're hoping it will be an easy fix.  But there may be some baby eye patch photos in the future ...

We call these his "nose ring" toys ...

Rowan continues to find solace in his bedroom.  He still loves to stretch and play on his changing table.  He can put his feet in his mouth and frequently does.  I'm glad we've made his room such a positive place for him - we're currently transitioning to the crib and it has been difficult, but at least he enjoys being in his room and is used to it.

Rowan and his out-of-control eyelashes

Rowan has also become quite the flirt.  He is still quite serious a lot of the time, but we get a lot more grins, giggles, and coy little glances now.  He has a somewhat new move where puts his chin down then turns his head to the side while giving an innocent, wide-eyed stare.  It kills us every time.

Thoughtful Rowan

Rowan is continuing to try different foods.   He has moved on from rice cereal to multigrain and usually loves it.  He has also tried purees of prune, apple, banana, and carrots.  So far apple and banana are his favorites.  He mastered eating with a spoon pretty quickly, but sometimes he makes a mess anyway, especially when he's losing interest.  And sometimes he makes a mess because he's showing us a new trick:

 We had Rowan baptized on January 21 at St. Joseph's, my home parish in Fredonia.  I was nervous about how he would handle the ceremony since he gets bored easily and isn't always a fan about changing clothes.  To our happy surprise, Rowan was a total champ - he didn't have a single meltdown and he did extremely well during the actual ceremony.  Most of Ben's family made the trip to Fredonia and we had a great time packing into my parent's house afterward for dinner.  It was a lot of fun to have an event that got everyone together.

Rowan's Likes: Cereal (usually), peek-a-boo, playing with his feet, being held/walking around, "bicycling" his legs, bath time, bananas, apples
Rowan's Dislikes: Riding in the car (still, but getting a little better), being bored, waiting