Spencer - 6 months

Spencer turned 6 months old yesterday! That's half of a year that we have known our little preemie son. He has officially spent half his time in the NICU and half his time at our house. And thankfully the time spent at home will only continue to increase!

We have diligently been working on keeping Spencer protected from germs this winter and so far we have had some luck. It's tough on us not to be out and about with him everywhere, but we know the payoff of keeping him well is so worth it. On Sunday night Carter had his Christmas concert and we all went, including Spencer. First of all, it was so weird to take him out in public. I keep thinking I would see a NICU nurse or doctor that would scold us to get out of there and take him home! Sometimes it's still hard to remember that we are in charge of Spencer, after so many months of having so many people who had a say....

Here was our Christmas concert cutie..

This weekend, Spencer got to go to a NICU reunion at St. Elizabeth's. I underestimated how gratifying it would be to see his primary nurses holding him, faces lighting up as they saw how big he had grown. It was a really special time.

At 6 months, Spencer weighs about 12 pounds. He is still eating around the clock and his eating is holding steady at about 24 oz in a 24 hr period. Developmentally, he acts like a 3 month old. He is such a happy baby! He likes to coo and "talk" and especially likes Carter. I think it is because he is so much more interesting and active than Matt and I. When Carter is around he follows him all over with his eyes and smiles and smiles at him. Recently, Spencer started giggling and for some reason he usually does this while on his changing table.

Spencer is discovering his hands. He grabs them but then doesn't know how to let go of them so they remain clasped together for a period of time. He is starting to wiggle more and the other day we caught him kind of on this side from all his wiggling!

He doesn't particularly like tummy time but does fairly well holding his head up and steady.

Spencer continues to see a phsyical therapist for his torticollis and a speech therapist for his poor suck. We have seen a little progress in both of these areas.

Another accomplishment - Spencer can sit in the Bumbo chair! And surprising, he does fairly well holding himself up! And as you can see, the Bumbo chair is a big hit for Carter too. They have to take turns...

We are so proud of our little man and so thankful to see him growing and developing each day.