Wow, in the blink of an eye JJ is almost 7 months old! Seems like yesterday that we were wishing him a happy half Birthday.
His latest trip to the Doctors went well, he was a little hero getting his jabs, only cried very briefly and once again had no adverse reactions to the multitude of immune responses he must have been developing! He also continues to be (almost) off the charts growth wise. Bubba is in the 99th percentile for height, 84th for weight and his head is catching up to the rest him as its gone from ~ 50th to 81st percentile in the last 2 months! Maybe he's getting a big head from all the compliments? His legs have also grown like crazy as he still fits in the same onesies as he did at 3 months but he grew almost 6 cm in 2 months. Bubba seems to be a very fitting nickname for such a sturdy little guy!
JJ's sleep has also improved, we've gone quite some time now with him waking up only once or twice a night (and a few nights of him sleeping through). Oddly, E and I don't feel anymore rested despite less interrupted sleep. I think all 3 of us are getting what we can before Bubba starts teething...
With the last couple of days turning cooler we've got JJ back to long sleeve onesies, pants and even the odd sweater. He looks like such a little boy in cargoes and a hoodie, it makes me so proud of him and I love carrying him around in the front pack wherever we go. Even better, JJ loves being in the front pack, taking everything in, smiling at everyone and generally making random noises. His favourites are trees and brunettes! He is such a little flirt already. He even has a nice raising his eyebrow and little smile move already. At this rate I won't have to teach him anything about being charming!
I noticed something new about myself as a Dad this weekend. Normally I'm not one for dancing or singing in public. The random motions of a former metal-head combined with my awful voice do not make for a nice experience for anyone close enough to witness it (and I am fully aware of how bad it looks/sounds so tend not to give many people the chance to see it - except at our Wedding when E and I were air guitar/drumming for most of the evening).
However, now that JJ is around I find my willingness to move and even sign out loud (rather than just mouthing the words) has increased. I caught myself actually signing Happy Birthday this weekend (I was at a 1st Birthday Party so that wasn't weird) and we're always singing in the car now (usually Old MacDonald, The Wheels on the Bus or the Zac Brown Band). JJ loves dancing with E to Lady Gaga and I found he's quite happy to bop around with me in my limited way when the White Stripes are on the iPod. I can now see that I am starting my journey down the road to becoming "Embarrassing Dad".
By the time he is old enough to actually feel embarrassed I should be well versed in wearing the wrong clothes, singing aloud to songs I don't know the words to (E will tell you I do that already), getting all the characters in the new TV show/movie/book series/video game wrong and saying things that were only cool like 10 or 20 years ago.
Hopefully he won't mind too much and will still let me:
1) play with his sandbox (we got an awesome one courtesy of Grandma that has a big digger arm and stuff, actually I'll have to fight Grandpa for that one),
2) build a wooden train set (I'll make the coolest biggest track layout ever),
3) play catch in the backyard (I'll have to learn to use a glove as us Brits catch a ball like real men, with our bare hands and when it comes to football, E can show him how to throw a nice spiral)
4) and teach him how to hit a golf ball...
You know, all the essentials.
