Six Months

I feel like I just wrote AY's five month post. I was not even sure I was going to write one for this month because not much had changed. But then seemingly over night, two things happened:

1)  He started crawling! AY has been pivoting and rolling over for a while already but then over Shabbos, he actually managed to propel himself forward a bit, using a combination of shimmying his legs and pulling his arms. Over the past three days he has been practicing this skill and it is really amazing to see how fast and far he can get. This of course means he will soon be getting into trouble like his older siblings. And that I have to be more careful with whatever is on the floor, as he is likely to stuff it into his mouth.
Speaking of mouth, we also started him on solids. He has been very interested in food for the past few weeks, and while I was planning on exclusively breastfeeding till six months, I decided to start him a bit earlier. He has been eating a few bites of pureed fruits and vegetables but nothing major. The problem is that he wants to eat everything we are eating, which he is not quite ready for. I have been letting him suck on some bagels and animal crackers but need to be careful not to let him bite off a piece, as he tends to gag on anything that is not smooth. I will also try a mesh feeder so he can feed himself and try out other food items.

2) AY also started having seperation/stranger anxiety. Until now, he has been content to be held by anyone and he used to give my babysitter the biggest smile when she walked in the door. Then on Sunday, when my in-laws came to visit, he did smile at them but did not really want them to hold him. And today, he started crying when the babysitter took him from me. She said he was sad most of the afternoon and was refusing to eat much.
I know this is a normal developmental stage but it definitely increases the mommy guilt to leave the house when your baby is crying and knowing that they actually can miss you now. We do get to spend a lot of time together, though, and I also spent most of the morning wearing him, so we definitely had lots of snuggle timing.

 AY loves kisses. His favorite spot is his neck. When he is in the Ergo, he will sometimes throw back his head so I can kiss his neck. He closes his eyes and has the biggest smile on his face while I "eat" his neck. It is really the cutest thing.
He is also babbling and cooing a lot. No teeth yet although lots of sucking and biting down on things. Any toy automatically goes into his mouth. That is how he explores at this age.
He is rolly-polly and  mostly pleasure to hang out with. We are still working on sleeping better. He seems to really fight sleep sometimes. He also wants to sleep next to me, which is fine some of the time but I would like him to be able to sleep in his crib independently as well. I do not want him to be too dependent on me for falling asleep, if I am ever not home.
Check him out- this is us as the Celebrate Israel Parade on Sunday