When we're out and about and someone asks me how old my baby is I've heard myself saying, "Almost six months," but then wonder who I'm talking about because my baby is definitely still three months old. How have we had this baby for six months already?! But then again, what did we even do before we had Dashiell?Life was much less fun, interesting, and full, I know that for certain.

Now more than ever Dashiell is growing and learning so quickly. It's amazing to watch him attempt a new skill and, within a few days, master it. Triumph was finally won over that pesky shoulder and Dash now rolls easily from back to tummy, tummy to back, and back again. The days of leaving him on the bed in the morning while we dart around to get ready are numbered. And he is now sitting. Sitting! He progressed from sitting unassisted for a few seconds at a time to a few minutes just days later and every day he becomes more balanced and needs a steadying hand less often. 

Chris and I look at our sitting baby in amazement; how does he know how to do that?! This opens up a new dimension of independence for him. As my friend said, it's a whole different perspective on the world. Just on Monday, for a few seconds, he got up on his knees and pushed up with his arms at the same time, that's the closest to "pre-crawling" that he's come. It's so exciting to see him learn to coordinate his little body!

He still loves to scratch things. The other day Chris said, "I'll be sad when he doesn't scratch things any more." Oh and Dashiell has two tiny teeth! They are adorable. And sharp as fangs. We think a third is going to poke through on the top soon.

Dash can focus for minutes at a time on an activity and I love to watch him lost in concentration; bringing a toy to his mouth and away, examining, and back to his mouth. His favorite toy right now is a wooden arch from Ikea. He loves to be held standing in front of it and work at bringing the wooden toys up and down, in his mouth, and up and down; bang, bang, bang. Or he loves to lay beaneath it or sit in front of it and grab at the toys and spin the wheels. When he's not working at his arch he looks towards it longingly.

Dashiell laughs a deep "huh huh" laugh, squeals, coos, and outright giggles. The other day I lifted his arm to clean his armpit and he thought it was the most hilarious thing I've ever done. When he gets really excited, like when we pick him up from daycare, happiness overwhelms his little body and he kicks his legs, leans forward, and brings his hand to his wide open mouth as if to say, "I can't believe it!! It's those people that I know!!"

We're getting more and more nights with just one time waking up. Dahsiell goes to bed consistently by 7:30 PM at the latest and on the best nights will sleep until the 2/3 AM hour. He's usually up for the day by 5:30 AM. We had one amazing night where Dashiell officially slept through the night, 7 PM - 4 AM, nursed and slept on until 6:45 AM. So we know he can do it! Sometimes I wish he slept in later but his natural wake up time actually fits our schedule really well. It gives us time for a family run or walk and I love getting to spend time playing with him before we're apart for the day. Sometimes he even has time to take his first nap before he goes to daycare! He will almost always nap for at least 45 minutes and lately has been taking an hour+ nap in the afternoon. It especially makes me happy when he takes good naps at daycare which has been happening regularly. And he's a belly sleeper, just as I suspected. I think being able to roll to his belly is helping his sleep a lot. Bum in air is totally optional.

And Dashiell eats food now! We get a couple of grimaces at each meal time but they're happening less and less and he's never spit any food out. Mostly he seems to be trying to make up for all those months without solid food. He leans forward enthusiastically from his high chair and reaches out to intercept the spoon as we bring it near his mouth. He especially loves to suck on the rim of the little bowl that holds his food. So far he's tried avocado, sweet potato, sweet potato with cinnamon, sweet potato with a dash of curry powder, carrots, peas, and rice cereal. The other day I let him suck on a whole apple that I'd taken a bite out of and he turned into an apple vampire. When I would take it away to reposition it he reached out his arms, opened his mouth wide, and breathed his heavy "haaaa haaaa" breath and then dive at it as I brought the apple back to his mouth.

In the past month Dashiell's curiosity about the world around him has broadened and we can now think about taking him places just for his enjoyment such as a fall pumpkin patch, the park, and the zoo. He's an easy baby to take out and about and I'm looking forward to lots of Team Wharton adventures. This is just the beginning!