Gosh, I feel like this is a big milestone month. I cannot wrap my head around the fact that he has been here for half a year already. Time is flying by, you guys. I spent almost an hour the other night watching all of our old videos on our youtube channel and I hardly remember him being that tiny! It's weird because he still seems little to me (he is!) but comparing it to when he was even 3 months old is such a big difference!
The biggest change this past month has been in the food category. We are officially weaned. It took almost a month but overall went very smooth and not at all stressful. I started by decreasing my pumping sessions (Hallelujah!) and eventually went to just nursing morning and night. I'm proud of making it almost the full 6 months, as that was my original main goal. The only bummer of the whole thing is buying freaking formula. Ugh, our bank account is not a fan!
We've also ventured into the path of solids. So far, he's had avocado, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, pears and just a few days ago, prunes. Oh and rice cereal. I've started phasing out some of the rice cereal because he hates it. Frankly, it looks (and probably tastes) like cardboard so why would he want to eat it? I'm keeping it in his diet because it is a good source of iron and now that he has reached 6 months of age (and is no longer getting breast milk), his iron levels will start to decrease. Sweet potatoes and carrots are overwhelming favorites with pears being followed shortly behind. I've been sticking to the "4 day rule" when it comes to introducing solids but since we don't have food allergies, I'm not too worried about it. This weekend, I plan to add in bananas. We've also started working with a sippy cup. He likes to toss it around way more than he uses it for its intended purpose.
Sleep is still going pretty awesome. I mentioned in the last update that Barrett slept from something like 7pm to 6:30am on his 5 month birthday. Well, we had about 10 days in a row of just that. Unfortunately, ear infections decided to put the kabosh on that. This also made bedtime a bit of a challenge due to a very clingy baby. We adjusted a bit and he mostly still puts himself to sleep with little fuss. An absolute gift. Bubs now goes to sleep in between 7 and 7:30pm and wakes between 4 and 5am. Joe is up at 4am so he gives him a bottle and puts him back down until he wakes for the day at 6:30-7:00. So yes, this mama gets 8 straight hours a night!
We have another week before our 6 month check up but I will assume that B is still a bit of a pipsqueak. He was 14 lbs even at our sick visit a month ago which falls in the 10% range. He's consistently been that size though so we're not worried that he's a little bit smaller than average. He's in 6 and even 9 month onsies and 6 month sleepers, although we need to retire most as he is getting too long. Still in Size 2 diapers but should be moving up here shortly. We're moving through his wardrobe at warp speed.
Still no teeth. I expected this to be a long process so I'm not too surprised. If Bubs is anything like his father, he'll get his first tooth at 8 months. Someone told me recently that the later they get teeth, the better they will be. If that's the case, those teeth can take their time! Joe has the most perfect teeth so hopefully he will follow in those footsteps. Other than the drooling and chewing on everything, his temperament doesn't seem to be affected.
I wanted to update a bit on the car ride situation. We seem to have passed the phase of screaming when he rides in the car. YAY! He's actually been really funny this week as he screams but it's like the "lets scream so I can hear my voice, not because I'm mad" scream. Hilarious! He even changes his inflection like he's warming up for voices lessons or something. He has really started to babble when he's back there. If he's not doing that, he's sleeping which he does a few times a week. Mister is still sleeping for the entire ride when we travel to Pontiac and I assume we don't have much longer for that to continue.
Favorites things are...
Playmat: The kiddo has always liked his playmat but for some reason that last few weeks he LOVES his playmat. We didn't use it all that often the prior month but this month, we've used it every day. Either in the mornings while I'm still getting ready for work or at night while we eat dinner, Barrett will be completely enthralled with the birds that hang down. He even coos at them like they are real. I've had more hot meals this month than I remember in the many months before (yes, I totally just jinxed myself).
Jumperoo: I know that he is going to really get into this toy as time goes on but I wanted to mention it because this is the month he started playing with the jumperoo. He will bounce and then take a break to suck on toys, then bounce some more. He's gotten some good air already.
Fingers: I think I've mentioned this previously at some point but Barrett is a finger sucker...his left hand pointer and middle finger to be exact (see picture above). Our saving grace are these two fingers. Unfortunately, I've noticed him relying on them more this week which may be a bit of a challenge in the future. He mostly sucked on them in bed (the main reason why he can put himself to sleep) but this week he does it at various times during the day. The last few meals, I've had to hold his hand so that he won't put his fingers in his mouth in between me feeding him spoonfuls. And as soon as he finishes a bottle, he pops his fingers in. It looks like trouble but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
This is a weird quirk but it's too funny for me not to mention it....Every time Barrett sits in his high chair, he poops. Without.fail.
I think this is common among almost all kids, but little man absolutely adores being outside. We can be doing nothing and he doesn't care. Just being out there, looking around is very fascinating for him.
A milestone from this month was that Barrett was baptized. It was a really unformal, small gathering with our immediate families and one set of Joe's grandparents. Aunt Rachel and Uncle Nate did a good job with their godparent duties. Mister also partook in his first visit to the halfway house for a golf course hot dog, as well as his first golf cart ride!
He has been an absolute joy these last 6 months and I can only imagine how great the next 6 (and more) will be!
First off, I am jealous that he is already weaned. With my sister's wedding preparations looming and the fact that she is just so dang squirmy, I WISH she would just drink the formula. :/ Our pediatrician thinks she will be off the boob before long so we'll see!
ReplyDeleteK is a finger sucker as well- and I guess it's better than the thumb! :)