Six Months!

WHAT?  It seems this cannot be true, but Waylon turned six months old on February 7th. And now the fun begins!  Not that newborns aren't sweet in their own way, but I find it astounding how much babies change in the second half of their first year of life.  (At least my babies, I guess I should qualify, but I think this is pretty universal.)  Because if you are my baby, then on your six month birthday you are still just a peeing and pooping machine lying on your back all day, trying to communicate by blowing bubbles out of your mouth, and you haven't even eaten any solid food, but by your first birthday you will very likely be sitting, crawling, pulling up to standing, communicating via sign language and possibly (maybe?) a few spoken words, and of course consuming cake by the fistful.

More about Waylon's first six months when I get a chance, but until then, here's the first installment of a photo series we've been working on.  In case you can't tell, it's a play on those shots you sometimes see of a father cradling his newborn baby in an extended arm, with the man often times inexplicably shirtless.  I've seen tasteful versions of this, but more often than not they are so over the top cheesy that I can't help but chuckle.  It probably works best with a small infant or even a preemie in the palm of one's hand, not a nearly nine pounder like Waylon was!  At six months old he's no longer so chunky (25th-50th percentile), but at 28 1/4 inches, he's over the 95th percentile for length.

(All credit for the original concept goes to the owner of the Flickr set from whom I borrowed the idea.)


NEWBORN:



ONE MONTH OLD:



TWO MONTHS OLD:



THREE MONTHS OLD:



FOUR MONTHS OLD:



FIVE MONTHS OLD:



SIX MONTHS OLD:



CAUTION:  Do not try this at home.  May lead to bickering, arm strain, or fingers uncomfortably lodged around baby's neck.  Balancing a baby in one arm is apparently more difficult than it looks, no matter how many times the photographer pleads, "Higher!  No, farther out!  Wait, move your hand! No, not like that!"