Super Thursday

So only 2 days after his 6 month checkup, we had a few breakthroughs. On Thursday, Zack  developed a new laugh, and starting babbling incessantly, and really slept through the night (12 hours) for the first time.

We introduced toys into the bath for the first time on Thursday. Since he has out grown his old sink-mountable tub, we've had to move to a larger tub that fits in the real tub. But this leaves plenty of room for splashing and playing. Jen bought four squirt toys and the first time she squirted him in the chest with one, he looked surprised, looked at us for a reaction, and then broke into a solid giggle and chortle. We kept squirting him and he kept giving that new hearty laugh as if someone told him a funny joke and he couldn't stop laughing. We couldn't stop either. Also, the look on his face when he splashed the water hard enough that he got his own face wet was priceless.

Zack is now moving away from his grunts and coos, and is now babbling and trying to articulate so much more with his mouth. We already have "da-da" sounds and other sounds that can't be typed so easily. His vocal range has also expanded and you can watch his toungue hard at work trying all sorts of positions as he babbles.

It must be the solid food introduction, because only a few days after he started with it, on Thursday he slept through the night, and I mean really slept through the night, from 7pm to 7am. We thought that 6 hours was the best we were going to get for sleep duration, but I guess that change in food caused him not to need to get up for that midnight feeding anymore. We are now at 4 nights in a row for 12 hours. It's all a tradeoff though, solid foods mean more sleep but more stinky diapers...

6 Month Checkup

Well we just got back from the doctor and Zack's 6 month check-up. This time he didn't need to be carted in a baby carrier, he walked into the office by himself. Well, maybe not so much walking by himself as he was carried by his dad, but the point is that there was no baby carrier! After charming the receptionist and the nurse, Zack weighed in at a whopping 20 pounds, and 28 inches, which puts him at the 90% percentile all around for weight, height, and noggin size. He a big baby, but at least he's proportional! Zack is now 2/3 of Tina's weight. Note to family: Zack is now wearing 9-12 month old sizes.

Zack recently returned from a family reunion in South Bend, Indiana where he amazed the adults by rolling over from stomach to back for the first time. Once he figured that out, he's been off to the log rolling races ever since.  He cannot crawl yet, but he's figured out that if he wants to move somewhere, it is best done by rolling sideways.

His first experience at a baseball game was a little shocking at first. We sat down to watch the first inning,  and all the yelling from the fans behind us was a little overwhelming for Zack and he started crying and wouldn't stop. We had to get up and leave the stands in the middle of the inning (which is a bit rude as we should wait for an inning break), however since the Giants were getting pounded for 6 runs in the first inning by the Rockies, we told those around us that Zack was really upset with the pitching and that we needed to take a time out. The Giants fans understood, echoed Zack's concerns, and I think I saw tears from some other fans too. We enjoyed the rest of the game walking around inside the stadium and watching from quieter locations.

Oh, and I almost forgot, Zack is now eating solid foods, which is a bit of a misnomer since rice cereal looks anything but solid to me. Not much interesting food stories yet, I'll keep evenyone informed when he moves on to bacon...

The latest month 5 pics and videos are at www.gracks.com