Happy Half Year, Baby Boy! Truly unbelievable. The last 6 months have absolutely FLOWN by. Maybe it’s the sleep deprivation and the feeling of all days just blurring into one long day? Maybe it’s the constant busyness and ‘on the go’ life that we live? Maybe it’s just that every day is full of so much joy, laughter, fun, and blessings and that it really is true that time flies when you’re having fun? While the seemingly swift speed of the last six months is likely a mixture of the above mentioned ideas, I like to settle on the last one- time flies when you’re having fun! 😀 And we’re having a BLAST!
This past month held many firsts and many activities for Baby J.
-We moved him to his crib in his own room in January. This was hard for me, I had planned on keeping him in our room longer, but we discovered that we were keeping him up at night. I had a cold so between my coughing and *someone else’s* snoring :D, we thought Baby J may do better in his room. Maybe I slept next door in the guest room for a week with the monitor next to my pillow. And maybe we invested in a security system for the house so that we would be alerted if an intruder entered the front of the house. (our room is on the backside of the house). He is now doing quite well in his crib! Last night he only woke up at 3am to eat! (more on this in the doctor appointment recap below)
-We made a trip to Denver to visit his grandparents (Jordan’s parents). Once again, he was a trooper on the flights. He even did fairly well with all the carseat travel (Denver>Colorado Springs>Denver>Estes Park>all around RMNP for days>Denver) He looked precious in his snow suit, but unfortunately, the wind was just too strong most days to get him outside. So, the snow suit wear was limited and the snow shoeing with him the Ergo didn’t happen. Nevertheless, it was a great trip! Lolly & Pa (grandparents) kept him in the cabin one afternoon so that Jordan & I could take a snow-shoe hike together. I loved that! It was a different kind of National Park trip for me since I only was able to get out and hike around one afternoon, but I wouldn’t trade the Little Man for any hike ever!
-Baby J started solid foods! We started with avocado a few weeks before his 6 month birthday. I had high hopes that solids would keep his tummy full and he would sleep through the night. That’s what everyone told me…turns out they lied. 😉 We tried avocado for 4 days. He hated it. So then we tried sweet potatoes. That was a hit! He had sweet potatoes for a week because I did not want to try a new food while we were in Colorado. When we got home we stocked up with more sweet potatoes and added in carrots, peas, and butternut squash. I also bought some rice cereal to mix in with the veggies occasionally. So far, he has taken those pretty well. We will try to butternut squash this week for the first time. I also bought the Mum-Mum banana flavored teething wafer snack thing. He seems to like this, but I am cautious because I don’t want him to choke. At least they dissolve, right? I am sure it is fine and I am overly paranoid 🙂 When I made the avocado a few weeks ago, I used the ice try thing to freeze single servings of the avocado. Baby J really loved the frozen avocado in the mesh fresh food feeder thing. And the last recent addition to list would be the introduction of the sippy cup and water. He isn’t really sure what to think of water. His nose scrunches up when he drinks it, but it is really cute!
His 6 month check up ended up going just fine. He had to get 3 shots, so that was pretty sad, but he took it like a champ (mostly). The nurse always comes in before the Dr. to get his weight, height, and ask a bunch of developmental questions. We know he is growing, so the height and weight part was a breeze. But when the developmental questions started, that was another story! (Spoiler alert- everything is fine and he is doing phenomenal.)
-does he hold his bottle? no, he rarely has a bottle to hold
-does he say Momma or Dada? no, but he babbles
-does he feed himself? with a spoon? Um, he has reached for the spoon, but no..
-Is he crawling or trying to crawl? well, he scoots when he gets mad that he is on his tummy…
My thoughts at this point- 1.) We are failing as parents! 2.) Maybe we should read more books. 3.) I’m going to ask my speech language pathologist SIL how to practice making M and D sounds so he can catch up and learn to say Momma and Dad. 4.) Feed himself?! What? Maybe Baby Led Weaning is the method to use?!
Turns out they ask a bunch of questions even when they don’t expect that the baby has accomplished those milestones yet! Whew! The Dr. later informed us that only 25% of babies say Momma or Dad at 6 months and it is usually girls! Not to worry! After he got his shots when I picked him up off the table and the crying stopped, my heart was warmed and I thought to myself, we’re doing just fine. He knows he is loved! And the doctor also continued to tell us that he is doing amazingly well! He could easily see how happy of a baby he is! So cheerful, smiley, alert, and busy! We are truly blessed! Best part of the appointment: Dr says is is not necessary for him to eat every 3 hours at night! I have always fed him when he wanted to eat (within reason). So, I didn’t want him to be hungry at night. But, we have spent the last 4 nights trying to only feed once a night and either putting him back to sleep by going in his room and sometimes holding him for a few minutes or by letting him try to put himself back to sleep alone. We have seen huge improvement! We put him down around 9-10 while sleepy and he puts himself to sleep. Last night he only woke once to eat! The nights before, he has woken a couple of times and put himself back to sleep. And, we have gone in to comfort him a few times as well. But, we are on a good trend! But now, we will travel tomorrow night and I really hope the mix up in routine doesn’t mess up his sleep schedule too much!
Stats:
-17lb, 6 oz
-26 inches
-50th percentile across the board
-size 3 diapers
-clothing: anywhere from 6 month -12 month (6m, 6-9, 6-12, and a few 12 month)
-sits up when we put him in the position but does not get to the sitting position on his own
-can roll from tummy to back but does not do it often.
-getting close to rolling back to tummy
-prefers sleeping on his side and he will put himself in that position
-nursing every 3-4 hours during the day- working on only 1x during the night
-eating solids 2x a day and trying 1 snack a day
-usually naps around 10, 1, and 4, and sometime in the evening as well
Live Moore Fully 