Hutch Marshall - 6 months

A whole half a year?! Seriously?!? I already have a hard time remembering what life was like without this sweet little guy. 

I thought Addie was the busiest baby ever. Till I met Hutch. He NEVER stops moving. There personalities are so strangely similar. He loves to talk, all the time, especially at 4 in the morning. I like to say he's defending his dissertation. He flings himself about to be sure he's seeing whatever is going on that might be interesting. On our recent beach vacation, he loved to watch the planes and helicopters fly over the ocean. He also turned toward the construction noises going on in our neighborhood. And four wheelers or tractors on the beach. I guess this stuff is born in baby boys??? 

He loves to laugh. And his belly laugh is amazing. Addie is the one who gets him laughing like no one else. He also loves to smile. And he will smile at anyone. But he is especially crazy about pretty girls. Seriously. I feel like I'm already apologizing for him ... sorry my baby is staring and grinning at you. He thinks you're cute. 

The sleeping is, sometimes, better. We thought the ear tubes would make a huge difference. They did, for his ears, but not so much for his sleep. The reflux has gotten worse and we've recently switched meds, again, and saw a GI at Children's Hospital. We are hopeful that the combo of finally getting over ear infections/off antibiotics, new reflux/colic meds and introducing solid foods is making a difference in the world of sleep. He's also (GASP!!) sleeping on his tummy, which seems to help. A good night is one in which we only have to get up with him a handful of times, plug him with the paci and he goes pretty quickly back to sleep. He's taking 3-4 naps per day, for about 30-45 minutes at a time. Still nursing seven to eight times a day.

Weight:  Somewhere between 17 and 18 pounds
Length: 25.5 inches

New things:

• Sitting up! He definitely has gained his balance. Still falls over occasionally, but is doing great. 
• Sleeping ... wait for it ... in his BED! We're trying to quit the swing, and I think we're getting close. He still sleeps on us some of the time ... well, at some point every day. When we were at the beach we, clearly, did not have a swing. We did, thankfully, have a king bed, so he slept with us some each night and in his bed some each night. Since we've been home, he's stayed in his bed each night. Hooray!
• Eating food! We were really gun shy about this since we had such a difficult time with Addie. We started her at 4 1/2 months in the hopes it would curb her reflux, but it backfired. So, we intentionally waited longer with him and skipped cereal to go straight to veggies. He's had a hard time adjusting - lots of crying. But I think after a few weeks he's finally getting the hang of it. So far, he's had green beans, peas, pears and prunes. Yummo.
• Smiling at pretty girls, as noted above. He LOVES "meeting" people.
• Sometimes resting his sweet little head on my shoulder when he's extra sleepy. My busy guy usually isn't down for cuddles, unless he's asleep.
• A pretty head! I think he's finally getting over his cradle cap as his self-inflicted wounds have been few and far between. 
• Going to the beach. He wasn't particularly impressed. Cried when I put his toes in the water. But he fell asleep nearly every time we sat near the ocean. Sounds quite a lot like his white noise machine.
• Going swimming. He cried the first time I put him in Grammie and Pawpaw's pool. But he really loved the pool at our resort, so maybe he'll like "swimming" soon.

Likes: 

• Mia and Izzy are high on his list. 
• His sister is way up there, too. He loves when she sings to him, makes goofy noises and faces, dances for him ... really, anything she does is amazing to him. He loves to laugh at her. 
• His momma. He's definitely developed a very clear preference for me. And he loves to make it known. Loudly.
• Chewing on his hands. His toes. Our hands. Our faces. 
• Giving "kisses," which is more like licking our faces. Likely in hopes of chewing on us.
• Bath time. 
• Knowing/seeing what's going on around him. All strange and/or loud noises need to be inspected immediately.
• His lovies. And his blankie.
• The library. He has started really paying attention and enjoying the class I take Addie to each week at the library. 
• Other kids and babies. I don't remember Addie being this interested this young, but perhaps because he has her to look at, he's naturally drawn to other children, too. 
• Pretty girls. I don't care whether he grows up to like girls or boys, but as of this moment, he's a ladies man for sure. 
• Being outside. 

Dislikes:

• Bottles are still usually a no-go.
• Being alone. Especially, being without momma. Particularly if he can see me and I'm not holding him.