Six months... and a few days!

My sweet boy celebrated his half birthday on Tuesday.  How in the world is it possible that he is already 6 months old?  Tomorrow marks 6 months since we held him in our arms.  My love for this sweet boy grows more with each passing day- even though I don't know how it's possible to love him more than I do at this moment.  He has made our world complete, and after 13 long years of searching for our missing piece, I can honestly say he was worth every single heart ache.  As we went through each loss, and each adoption possibility, we were told that the baby that was meant to be in our lives would find us.  At the time, those words stung and did little to ease my pain. But now... I get it.  Quinn was meant to be in our family.  We were meant to be the guardians of his little soul.  Is it exactly as I imagined it would be?  Not even close. There are parts that are more challenging that I thought possible, and other parts that are more incredible than I could have ever dreamed.

He's a big guy.  His official stats are 21 lbs, 4 oz and 28 inches long.  He's above the 90th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference.  Pediatrician is thrilled with his progress and we finally saw a little curve in his growth chart rather than the straight 45 degree angle we were seeing before!  He's healthy and strong.  He is just about in constant motion, and has the strongest little legs that are always bouncing.  He can roll all around, and sits up on his own for short periods of time.  He likes to stand up with support and the exercauser and jumper fall victim to his strong legs with constant jumping!

He's eating rice cereal, and decided he preferred the organic brand.  We're starting on other solid foods this week.  He had a little avocado last night and wasn't too sure about the texture, but kept opening his mouth for more.  I've been making some baby food and have a stash in the freezer.  It's a pretty simple process and makes me feel a little like super mom.  I wasn't able to breast feed, and I feel that making his baby food allows me some control.  I know I will need to supplement with pouches, and I am ok with that.   He takes about 6 ounces of formula about every 2.5 - 3 hours during the day.  Hoping that will decrease as he starts eating more solid food.

He sleeps through the night almost every night.  He had a rough patch after his last set of vaccines this week, and also struggled while Chris was out of town a few weeks ago.  We try to get him in bed by 8:30, and most nights it is closer to 8.  He usually wakes up around 4 am, but sometimes we get lucky and he sleeps until closer to 6.  We have to be up and out of the house by 6:30 on days that Chris has morning practice.  We're learning to balance this work parents stuff.  That's another post all together!  We're trying to get on a regular nap schedule, with three naps right now.  We're getting there.  He had been taking all of his daytime naps in his swing, but he's a little too big and mobile to use it much longer.  The transition to naps in the crib has been a little rough, even though he has no issues at night.

We took another trip this month to Minneapolis for a swim meet.  Quinn was a trooper, and managed to have a third tooth appear on the trip.  He now has FOUR teeth- all on the bottom.  The pediatrician thinks there might be two on the top very soon.  I'm afraid to put it in writing- but teething hasn't been too bad for us.  Hoping it stays that way!

We're hoping to finalize Quinn's adoption on the 28th.  There was some confusion on the part of our agency and social worker (go figure) about our fingerprints.  Appears that they expired and had to be redone.  So there was a frantic faxing session and a lovely $140 fee, but hopefully that has all been cleared now. We've been assured by our social worker that the final report is complete and once our fingerprints are back she will send it onto our attorney.  We don't attend for finalization, so it seems a little anti-climactic.  We are considering throwing a small party for our closest friends to celebrate the milestone and thank them all for helping us along the way.  

Excited about the fall and all of the new experiences we'll get to expose Quinn to.  It's also going to be a little intense with Daddy coaching the Girls HS swim team and Mommy finishing grad school.  Trying to remember to cherish each and every moment.  We've been blessed beyond measure.  Thank you to everyone who has cheered us on, and who continues to embrace our little family.

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