6 months old

Stanley turned 6 months today on Saint Patrick's day!
For his birthday, Papa Doug showed up and Steve went skiing.

Stanley is so much fun right now--well at least Papa Doug, Steve, and I think so. He spents most of the day happy, smiling, and enjoying exploring new things.

He is quite the mover. He is still not yet crawling, but he is getting close. However, with his strange 'yoga' downward dog type movements, he does a great job at getting anywhere he wants to go. Yes, that includes stuck in the corner, able to bang his head against the glass cabinet in our living room, and yes onto the marble floor. On a better note, he is able to move toward his toys. It is fun to watch him learn this new skill. He easily gets up on his hands and knees, but then what is next is a little different. He starts walking his feet up toward his hands and puts his head on the ground. It makes a little triangle with the ground, but it down work to propel him forward.

Also, Stanley has been trying to pull himself up with the table edge. He hasn't mastered it yet, but sure is getting close.

And, as Papa Doug and Halima have commented, Stanley never stays still. His head is always moving and turning all over the place. He is very inquisitive.

For example, when Papa Doug showed up, Stanley instantly decided to explore his glasses case.

Like everything that Stanley explores, Papa Doug was going to end up with drool in his glasses case and on his pen. 

Thankfully, Stanley can spend quite a bit of time by himself. We have been following with Halima does. She gives him a toy and then leaves him to play with it by himself. He keeps himself very entertained and then when he starts to be done with it, we walk over and play with it a bit longer with him. It helps us to get things done and it also is nice for him to explore thing 'on his own' (in quotes since we are about 10 steps away). 

As for other news about our nanny-share. The two boys love to look at each other. Here is a cute photo of both Peter and Stanley seeing each other with their respective dads. 

The eating has been going so so. We have tried rice cereal and it is about the same as avacado. He gags and then finally when the spoon in clean, he happily sucks on the spoon without anything on it. I'm sure he will start to enjoy food soon. The strange thing is that he loves to taste of lettuce. yes, lettuce. He sucks on it for ages until it disintegrates. Odd to me, but maybe Stanley is just trying to eat his greens. 

As for the sleeping. Hmm, what should I say. Stanley seems rested, but I can't say the same for Steve and me. With Halima here this past week, we have been trying to let Stanley cry it out to get him to sleep. Halima has been doing it for Stanley's nap and it worked well. For the rest of the night, it is a mixed bag. Tuesday he screamed for 15 minutes, Wednesday he talked and went right to sleep, Thursday he screamed for 1+ hours. He still wakes up at 12:30am-1am and wants to eat at 12:30, 2:30 and 5am. Steve usually tries to put him back him his crib, but his dear cuddly  mom would prefer to cuddle with him. We haven't figured out a routine for 2:30-7am. I'm sure it will come with time. 

Stanley loves: 

- Metal spoons

- Anything metal and shinny--like napkin rings

- Moving around

- Downward dog type poses. 

- Exploring everything, particularly the things he knows he shouldn't be touching--remote controls, iPhones, cameras etc. 

- Sitting up in his high-chair

- Going on walks

- Baths

- Watching people

- Birds (prefers watching them over dogs)

- Swinging

- Facing forward while carried (he has found a way to basically make you turn him forward)

Stanley dislikes: 

- The rain cover on his stroller

- Sleeping when he isn't tired

- Eating food

- Being tired

- Pacifiers

Stanley can: 

- move about the room, particularly the mattress in our living room

- hold his bottle to eat a full 5 oz of milk

- easily roll to reach anything--I"m pretty sure it seems to be both directions without any preference for one or the other

- Get up on his hands and knees very quickly

- Find the edge of the mattress very easily

- Make it very difficult to get his diaper changed because he tries to roll off the table, over to his tummy or really any other place he can go.