I know the title says this is the six month progress report, but it’s really more like a seventh month update.  I took Roark to the doctor two weeks ago when he was closer to six months than seven, but I’m just now getting around to writing about it.

It was a pretty uneventful visit.  To no one’s surprise, he has put on even more weight.  He weighed in at 21 lbs. 6 oz. and measured 28 in. long.  In case you are one of my friends who reads this blog and doesn’t have children or your kids are grown and you’ve forgotten what normal is, that means he’s gigantic (as far as babies go).  I have a tendency to lose sight of his enormous size until I take him to the nursery at church.  We had a little baby boom there at the end of the year,  and Roark is among several babies born weeks apart.  Compared to them, it’s undeniable that he is a hoss, but the doctor continues to reassure me that he is healthy.

Over the past two months Roark has had several milestones.  One of those being that he is now sitting up with only the occasional fall backwards.  This was a hard skill for him to learn seeing as how his head is enormous and the slightest shift off balance meant that he was a goner.  He has taken some pretty big spills backwards (mostly with the help of his sister), but nothing some tummy tickles couldn’t cure.

He is so ticklish…feet, neck, belly.  I could spend hours on end just tickling him all over and hearing him giggle.  That has to be one of the best sounds I will ever hear.  It’s like crack to drug addict.  I can’t get enough of it.  Oh and those cheeks!  My lips are just drawn to those two chubs sitting on the side of his face.  I just can’t help but kiss them over and over again until I realize that I am being obsessive and should probably stop before I give him a hickey on his face.  I’m  sure THAT would be great material for his therapist one day.

Roark now spends most of his waking hours seeing what objects he can grab a hold of and bring to his mouth.  It’s like a light bulb went off, and he now gets that those wiggling objects at the end of his hands can bring things to his face.   This discovery has provided him with hours of entertainment.  However, it has resulted in the loss of MANY strands of hair on my part and even some tears from Edie.

About two weeks ago, Roark decided that he was done being rocked to sleep and wants to be placed on his stomach in the crib.  I have to admit, this makes me sad.  I know, I know…Babywise would pat me on the back for a job well done, but I had forgotten how much I love this stage.  The feel of his weight on my chest, motionless and warm, the sound of his rhythmic breathing, the soothing feeling of rocking back and forth– I just wasn’t ready to give that up quite yet.

I guess that’s the problem with parenthood and maybe even part of the beauty of it as well.  Every stage is temporary.  This is great when you’re talking about sleepless nights and potty training, but heartbreaking when it’s the parts I want to hold onto forever.