1/2 Year old

(8/10/11) Warning: Long Post!
We can't believe our little baby boy is 6 months old!  I remember being 6 months pregnant thinking he would never get here and now Harlan is halfway to being a 1 year old.  In 6 short months Harlan has completely changed our lives, our hearts, and our perspective... all for the better!
In 6 short months Harlan has accomplished so many things for such a little guy.  He has mastered rolling over from front to back and back to front.  In fact, he is not crawling yet, but he can roll across the living room floor to get where he wants to go or to grab his favorite toy.  He is almost sitting, he can sit on his own for about 30 seconds before toppling over, but we're sure it will be any day now.  Harlan started eating solid foods this month, and just like his parents, he LOVES his food.  He has become quite the chunky monkey. He babbles all the time and he and daddy like to get into screaming wars to see who can squeal louder.  We're pretty sure he says "hi" but he says it to everything so it may just be the sound he likes best.  He is still a great sleeper, sleeping an average of 11 hours at night and naps about 3 hours a day (usually broken down to 3 naps/day).  He is not on a rigid daytime schedule (no matter how hard Mommy tries) but he is pretty predictable and a very good baby! I thank God every day!

We started music class a few weeks ago and Harlan has so much fun singing and dancing and socializing with the other babies.  Rather than looking at mommy while we sing, he always wants to look around at the other kids and see what's going on.  He is a very curious baby.  It's even hard to get him to eat sometimes because he would rather know what's going on around him. He is such a social butterfly these days, giving smiles to anyone that wants to ooh and ahh over him. One exception is big bearded men, like Papa Carl, Uncle Billy and Grandpappy Michael (Sorry guys, I know he loves you deep down).  He will watch them from afar but as soon as they get close, Harlan cries out with the look of fear on his face.  I'm really hoping he gets over this pretty quick or I can already imagine what our Santa Clause pictures are going to look like! ;)

Some of Harlan's favorite things are:
* Jumping in his jumperoo
* Peek-a-boo stuffed owl
* Being with his dog, Betsey
* Splashing in the bath and his rubber ducky of course
* The Wheels on the Bus song
* Snuggling with mommy (ok that's mommy's favorite thing,   and I'm trying to soak up every minute of it while I can)
* Roughhousing with Daddy (aka being thrown in the air)
* Blowing raspberries
* Chewing on anything he can get into his mouth
* He has recently lost his interest in the TV, at 3 months we couldn't get his eyes away from it unless we turned it off and now he barely acknowledges it... I guess it was a phase, I hope!

These first six months have been such a blessing.  We can't wait to see what the future has in store!
(Professional 6 months pics coming soon)