Tale of the tape: 6 months

At 9:47 p.m. on Sunday, April 22, I, Elizabeth Catherine Rose, officially turned six months old. And how did I spend that exact moment celebrating? The same way elderly people celebrate midnight on New Year’s Eve – fast asleep in my bed, after a dinner of strained peas and rice cereal. What’d you expect? A party? That’s an hour past my bedtime!

That’s not to say I didn’t have a memorable half-birthday. It was a beautiful day in Seattle, so Mom and Dad took me to the park to hang out with friends Chad and Chau and their kids. And later that evening, we went to the house of some other friends, Kyle and Megan, where Mom and Dad watched “Game of Thrones” while I pulled Mom’s hair and tried to fight off the loving advances of Lillian, Kyle and Megan’s friendly but excitable bulldog puppy.

I also celebrated six months of life by heading to my pediatrician’s office (at the swanky new Polyclinic downtown!) for my six-month checkup yesterday. Dr. Lindsay gave me the once-over, proclaimed me “perfect” once again, and then sent in the nurse to do the dirty work: my latest round of vaccinations. As always, I took ‘em like a champ, and only cried for a few seconds before getting on with my day.

Dr. Lindsay's office had a mirror mounted along the exam bed. Needless to say, I was mesmerized.

Most importantly, my checkup gave me the chance to further track how well I’m growing. So here’s how I stand today, compared to Oct. 22, 2011 (a.k.a., the day after my parents’ last good night of sleep):

Birth weight: 7 pounds, 7.6 ounces.

6-month weight: 17 pounds, 6 ounces.

Birth length: 20.25 inches.

6-month height (they say height now, even though I’m still horizontal): 26.5 inches.

And, in case you were wondering, my head circumference is now a robust 43.5 centimeters.

I’m between the 76^th and 79^th percentile for all three measurements, so I suppose I look about as proportionate as a baby can look. So there’s that.

Also, I had a major accomplishment this week, and I’ll be writing about that first thing next week. What could it be? First word? First tooth? First drum solo? Stay tuned...