Aren: 6 months

Our youngest child turned 6 months old yesterday.  I gotta say, we really enjoy having Aren in our family.  The boys just adore him to pieces.  When Alex hears Aren waking from a nap he asks very eagerly if he can go in and visit him.  When Ajay gets home from school he comes up to Aren and starts talking in that high-pitched voice you use to talk to babies.  And Biju and I go all ga-ga over him, too.  I could just stare at him all day, with those dark brown, loving, sweet, innocent eyes.  Biju comes home from work, gets his afternoon tea and sits down for his turn at baby-cuddles and talks to him in Malayalam. 

Have I mentioned how much we love this little guy?

I'm really taking the time to enjoy the baby stage with Aren.  When Ajay was a baby I was so focused on what new developments were happening, what he would do next, and if he was doing them ahead of schedule.  When Alex was a baby he screamed and cried so much and slept so horribly that I wished (and cried) away the first three months.
Aren is a very happy-go-lucky baby.  I'm so glad he wasn't our first child because I would've been misled into thinking that all babies are this easy.   He is, for the most part, a wonderful sleeper.  He is extremely tolerant of the boys.  He takes it all in stride when Alex invades Aren's personal space.  ("Alex, everyone has an imaginary bubble that is their personal space.  You have to respect their space." "Alex, honey, please stop licking the baby."  "Alex, Aren's arms aren't supposed to bend that way.") 

Aren thinks his older brothers are hilarious.  A real riot.  He grins and giggles at them whenever they're around.  And believe me when I tell you the babe has an infectious grin.  It just warms your heart. 

He's been having some weight woes, however.  The little guy truly is a little guy.  He hasn't gained much.  I had him weighed earlier this week and he was only 12 pounds 1 ounce.  But the two lactation consultants I've met with and our pediatrician don't seem worried all that much.  He's meeting all of his developmental milestones (if you lay him on the floor expect him to be in a different position/location when you come back) and, as the pedi says "He doesn't look or act like a sick kid."  Plus there are smaller men in the gene pools on both sides of the family.  (Biju's father is shorter than I am and, if I remember correctly, it took my dad until his early teen years to even reach the 5-foot mark.)  So we're sticking to our regular routine of breastfeeding on demand with the occasional bottle of formula (if my sister babysits him, or if Biju wants to give him a bottle before bed).  He has his 6 mo. appointment at the end of the month so we'll see how he's doing then.  I think we'll try giving him some rice cereal today.  (We tried a month or so ago and he wasn't ready.)
So to round out my baby-brag-post I'll include a few pictures.  Because who wouldn't want to see more of those big brown eyes??

This one is his "official" 6 month photo taken w/ his buddy.  The onesie he is wearing is sized 3 mo.