Six Months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am (sort of) coming to peace with how much faster time seems to pass when you have a baby. That said, I must say WOW--they grow up so flippin' fast! It has been half-a-year since Waylon made his debut, and here are the key points: Still no calls to 911 (knock on wood), lots of rolling, some sitting up, and (drumroll.....) 2 teeth!!! Here are some updates:

The Pediatrician Appointment
On August 24, Waylon weighed in at 17 pounds, 4 ounces and is 27 inches. Despite every single person who sees him remarking what a "huge baby" we have, Waylon continues to be in the 50th percentile for weight, but has moved up to the 75th percentile for height. His world famous head is in the 50th percentile (I know, totally unbelievable!). Although they dont measure such things, we are certain that he is in the 99th percentile for cheek size. The doctor was very happy with his progress, and said that all is well. She expects him to be crawling by his next appointment at 9 months.

"Sleep Training"
When you read the articles & books on parenting they make it seem like there are only 2 ways to raise a baby. Either allowing the baby to "run the show" with the parents bowing to the child's every need, or forcing the baby onto a schedule to meet the parents needs. I dont know anyone that follows either of the methods exclusively (despite what the media infers). Aaron and I are no different, and are constantly figuring it out as we go--often vascillating back and forth in our methods.

We used to think it was cruel to allow Waylon to "cry it out" to go to sleep. However, for the past month we've had a harder and harder time getting him to go to sleep, and he was waking up from naps acting like he was still tired. At night Waylon was waking up more and more, and would cry until I would come in and replace the pacifier in his mouth. Thus, after reading several books, and coming up with a plan of attack, we finally started having Waylon "cry it out" until he falls asleep. In order to feel better about this, Aaron calls it sleep training. Its working pretty well, and we've only had a few times that we've felt like monsters. After just a few days, Waylon is sleeping more and seems less tired during the day. Please keep your fingers crossed that he continues to do well.

Video Geeks
The first time we let Waylon cry it out until he fell asleep, Aaron and I were complete basket cases, listening to the monitor wondering if every cry meant that he was in pain. Even worse, when it got quiet we wondered if he was asleep or had hurt himself. After about 20 minues of this agony, Aaron ordered a video monitor from Ebay. It just got here on Friday and as you can imagine our weekend has been spent watching Waylon roll around his crib. We are such dorks that we actually stood outside his door (where the reception is best) for 30 minutes last night just watching him play in his crib until he fell asleep. I know we are overprotective, but its brought me a lot of peace of mind, which I realize is priceless as a parent.

Waylon gets some help from daddy to learn the magic of standing up. (Doesn't Waylon look like Uncle Jesse from the Dukes of Hazard?!)
This is Waylon's newest facial expression. Aaron thinks its Waylon's "will you please get that camera out of my face?" look.
I think it will be quite awhile before Waylon earns a boy scout badge in knot tying. However, if they offer a badge for untying then he is a shoe in! On Friday, August 18, we felt (and saw) Waylon's first tooth--it was the lower left, front tooth. Two days later the second tooth appeared. We were pleasantly surprised that after months of drooling, chewing, and shark attacks from Waylon, the actually cutting of the teeth passed with relative ease. I realize you cant actually see the teeth in this picture, but for now Waylon is pretty shy about showing off his pearly whites.
Waylon and Aaron pose for a "fashion do & dont" picture. Can you guess which is which? Hint: I call Aaron's shorts the Greg Brady's.
If you look closely you'll see that I am holding Waylon extremely tightly, hoping to keep him small forever.