The adventures of Joshua Alexander Cobb: When half a year seems like half a lifetime

Josh is officially 6 months old today!!! It is hard to believe our little man is already so old and so big! We are very proud of him and the progress he has made over the last 6 months. We are also very thankful to God for being with us and walking our family through such a difficult beginning to an amazing milestone.

Josh will go to the pediatrician on Tuesday for his 6 month check up and shots. We are looking foward to getting an officall reading on is weight, height and head circumference. One thing we know for sure, he has come a long way from his 2lb 2oz beginning. Our home scale today said he weighed in at 14lbs 8oz - it is almost unbelievable!! Josh had been doing really well with his feedings until about three days ago. He started to refuse to eat from his primary bottle. We have been able to use the old bottles from the NICU and he will eat from those. We are a little concerned at this change in his eating habits. He has also become so interested in the world around him that it often takes an hour to get him to eat.

Josh will see the eye doctor on Friday of next week as well. As we said last time, his retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is completely gone. He is still being followed closely to make sure his eyes finish maturing over the next several weeks to months. Once his eyes are mature, he will go back in one year to be sure that he doesn't have any sight deficietes.

Josh continued to amaze us with how well he is doing developmentally. Although is not up to the skill level of a 6 month old baby, we estimate that he is at or around the 4 month level developmentally. It seems like he is learning something new everyday. Just this week he learned to stick his fingers in his mouth (and leave them there), he started grabbing toys with both hands and bringing them to his mouth, and he has started rolling up on his side when he is laying on his back. Mommy and Daddy are savoring each new milestone and hoping he doesn't progress too fast.

Josh is also becoming increasingly social. He loves to participate in conversations and even start some of his own. He always seems to have a ready smile and his laughs are just sweet. A few days ago, Mommy was visiting with an old friend and they were enjoying a good laugh. Josh looked over at them, smiled really big and started to laugh. Everyone looked at him and he stopped then started laughing again. He didn't want to miss out on the fun. Josh now also has a playgroup made up of some babies who were premature and some who were not. We are looking foward to building relationships with these moms and babies over the coming months.

Speaking of being social, Josh decided about a week ago that his social time needed to extend into the night. He woke up every night for about a week at 1:30am, fussying. Mommy would get up to feed him, he would eat, but not be really interested. But once back in bed, he wanted to smile, laugh, talk and play with Mommy. As cute as this was, after a week, Mommy was very tired and in need of several naps! Josh seems to have worked out his night time sleeping schedule. We are continuing to work on his daytime schedule. Mommy has started to be very consistent about naps and Josh seems to be doing much better with naptime.

Prayer Requests:

Josh's eyes would mature quickly and that his eye sight would not be affected by being premature
Josh would continue to do well with his developmental milestones and not have any set backs
Josh would find a bottle that he likes to eat from and would be less distracted while eating
Josh would not get sick
Josh would continue to develop healthy sleep patterns and get the rest he needs
Mommy and Daddy would also get the rest they need

Praises: