A trend I've noticed in the 3-6 month box: most of the onesies, sleepers, and one-piece rompers fit just right, but the pants are all about 2 inches too long. Does our kid have an exceptionally long torso and short legs? Not that it matters much, it's too hot for pants around here lately.
Since John was a good size newborn, weighing 8 pounds 11 ounces at birth, I think I kind of expected him to be one of those super-chubby little guys, but he really isn't. He weighs about 12 pounds right now, and is up to about 24.5 inches (unofficial home measurements). According to the growth charts that puts him above average in height and below average in weight -- long and lean. :-) Being typical first-time parents this has led us to worry about whether he's growing the way he should (ie whether he's eating enough), even though I think we both know there's nothing to worry about. He's hitting all his developmental milestones right on target.
Downer side-effect to the teething: his bedtime routine isn't good enough to get him to sleep anymore. Before, all we had to do was go through the routine, and then we could lay him down fully awake and he'd get to sleep on his own. But this week he's had to be fully asleep or he'd start crying. Still sleeps at least 8 hours though, so I'll take that. He's also been a little touchier during the day; or at least, a little louder. He seems to have found the volume control on his voice and boy does he scream when he wants to! His teeth haven't broken through yet, but I'm pretty sure I see the bumps. They'll be in soon enough.
His hair is growing. A few nights ago after his bath I realized it is long enough to brush, so we added that to the bath/bedtime routine. He now (sorta) has a handsome side part like his daddy. :-)
It's getting even more fun to play with him now. He'll giggle and talk. Toys are okay as long as he can get them in his mouth (everything that gets to his hands goes directly to the mouth these days), but he's also happy just to touch my face, grab at my cheeks and nose and hair. Yesterday he pulled Joe's glasses off. He also likes to put his feet against our faces (or hands, or legs, or whatever) and push. This evening we spent a long time reclining in the big chair, John lying face-up in my lap with just a diaper on, talking and laughing and playing with his feet while I tickled him. He's started playing a little game while he nurses, where he'll pull off and look up at me and smile, wait for me to smile back, and then go back for more. It totally cracks me up. He is starting to show definite preferences for Mommy and Daddy when we go visiting now, which sorta makes me feel special (although I feel a little bad when he gets upset at Grandma and Grandpa -- but then again, in a few years he'll probably be happier to see them than me, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts!).
He likes to try out different positions: sitting up, standing. We got him a Bumbo Seat so he can sit upright on his own (although he slumps a bit and can't stay in it for long). His old rocker chair doesn't see as much use these days because he can't get the hanging toys (that he used to love to look at and talk to) into his mouth, which frustrates him to no end. He likes to sit on my lap. Yesterday at Cold Stone he was reaching for my ice cream. A lot of times the cat will come over for some lovin' while John is sitting on me, and I'll pet him and take John's hand to pet him too -- hoping the kitty will learn to associate the baby with positive attention, and that the baby will learn to pet the kitty gently. Today for the first time, John reached out when Asher came over. (Of course I know that if he actually gets his hands on the cat he's not going to pet him gently the way I demonstrate; rather he'll get fistfuls of hair and skin in his little death grip, and pull hard. Hence, I'm being very careful about all baby-kitty interactions. Luckily Asher also seems to know well enough to keep a little distance from John's hands. Even so, I thought it was sweet to see him reaching!)
It is amazing how much he is learning and changing, even though maybe he's not growing quite as fast as I expected. But so what? My dad was a 9 pound baby, and he didn't break a hundred pounds until after he got out of high school. Genetics are a funny thing!
There are so many other things that I know I want to talk about, but they'll have to wait for another post, because it's getting late and I don't remember what they were. :-)