Hellobee

Baby Stroller turned six months old a couple weeks ago, but we’ve been so busy in month seven that I’ve hardly had time to write it all down. Six months felt so much more eventful than months four and five; there’s so much to share!

For starters we kicked off the month alone with Mr. S away for a two week long trip, after having only been home for a couple days after his previous trip. There was another trip in the middle of the month, but PawPaw and Mamie came to stay with us for a week, so we weren’t really alone. Baby S and I have solo momma and baby time down and we don’t mind it one bit now. He is SUCH a happy baby!

Sleep
On the very first day of month six, Baby S woke up two times at night and would not go back to sleep without nursing. He hasn’t nursed at night since month one, with maybe a night somewhere in between. I went to bed early the next night in preparation for a new routine, but he slept his normal 12+ hours from ~7pm – 7:30am.

The paci fairy came once a night at least half of the time. She swoops in, sticks a paci in Baby S’s mouth and stumbles back to bed barely waking up in the process. Sometimes the paci fairy doesn’t even remember that she visited when she wakes up in the morning.

Early in the month I tried to put baby Baby S to sleep without his swaddle. He’s been napping without a swaddle for a while so I thought he might be able to handle it at night. I was wrong. After an hour and a half of fussing and crying and no sleeping, I bounded up the stairs hollering, “don’t worry Maddie, mommy’s coming, mommy will fix it!” And swaddled him up nice and tight. (Shhh, don’t tell Mr. S that I call the baby “Maddie” when he’s not home.)

I decided to wait two weeks to try again. I planned to give him two hours to fall asleep before I’d give up and swaddle him and if it didn’t work, I’d just keep trying every two weeks. I don’t know any three year olds who are swaddled, so I figured that eventually he’d be ready and there was no need for me to force it. Two weeks later when Mr. S was away on another trip, on Baby S’s 25 week birthday, I put Baby S down to bed sans swaddle. He grabbed his lovey, rolled to his side and fell asleep. And woke up at 7:30am. On the next night I watched him reach for and find a paci and then stick it in his own mouth. The paci fairy retired. I guess that’s what ready looks like.

During his sixth month, Baby S also quit taking the 20 minute micronaps that he started taking sometime in month three. Back are the days of hour long plus naps. Their length isn’t quite predictable yet, but without fail, he’s down for a nap within two hours of waking in the morning and will take a second sometime in the afternoon. Occasionally he takes another tiny nap when he gets home from daycare and before bath time. He’s also able to put himself to sleep when we put him down in his crib at night.

He loves his food; mmmmmm it’s sooooo good!

Eat
I started to use my frozen milk stash at daycare this month. In doing so Baby S started to get six ounces at his lunchtime instead of five. The first few days he didn’t drink it all, but after a week or so he started to down it all in no time flat.

We also started sending him to daycare with a 2oz snack bottle to have at 4pm just before we pick him up. He’s a much happier baby when we see him at 4:30, and it helps to tide him over if Mr. S gets stuck in traffic on his way home. I thought we might be feeding him too much by increasing his bottle milk because we also give him a top-off bottle before bed, but his weight gain is slowing down so it seems to be ok. My supply seems to be keeping up too even though I don’t pump when he has his snack bottle or his night time top-off. I sill pump in the morning after her nurses and at lunch time.

Midway through the month I sat Baby S in his highchair and gave him a quarter of an apple to gnaw on. He used his bib to hold it up to his mouth and loved it! Right around 26 weeks we started Baby Led Weaning. Baby S tried all sorts of foods including peaches, sweet potatoes, toast, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, melon, and corn on the cob to name just a few. He even shared a little taste of french toast when we went out for brunch on my birthday.

Play
Baby S can twirl around 360 degrees on the floor on both his tummy and back and does his “pony hops” to get around. It’s where he’s on his back and lifts his bum off the floor and slides across the carpet on the back of his head. He’s worn a bald spot from the friction of the carpet!

We started a baby & mommy yoga class this month. Baby S squealed and laughed the entire time and then zonked out as soon as we left. On three separate occasions other moms have said “wow, he’s so active, you must be exhausted keeping up with him!” I kept it our little secret that Baby S plays hard, but sleeps like he’s got a case of narcolepsy too. He’s super active, but it all evens out. He just wants to MOVE, momma, MOVE!

Baby S attended his first birthday party this month for one of his daycare friends who turned three. There were gaggles of kids! Baby S’s head bobbled around watching everyone and everything. He wore his special cupcake bib that I made for him and even tasted a bit of watermelon while everyone else enjoyed cupcakes.

This month we took our first trip to the kiddie pool, it was a huge hit!

That very afternoon we went to Nola & Grandpa’s house on the Bay where they surprised Baby S with a special red tree swing. It was also a hit! How could it not be with that view?!

That evening the Pack n Play was not a hit (worst night since he was first born), and I went and ordered a special extra travel mattress the very next day. The PnP sleep was much better during his next trip. Whew!

We went to the zoo with Mamie and Pawpaw. Baby S found the animals quite interesting and liked being in the pocket sling, kicking his legs around while I walked. He had his lunch by the orangutans under a cover because the zoo was a total zoo and he needed a little privacy as he’s become a very distracted nurser. The next day we went for a long walk at Great Falls for mommy’s birthday and baby S slept in the Ergo on daddy’s chest for nearly the entire hike.

Misc
Mid-way through the month baby S  stopped drooling but didn’t get a tooth. I think he stopped drooling because I made him dozens of drool bibs. Not to worry, they’re great for lifting slippery food into his mouth too.

Baby S had what we thought was his first stomach bug the day after a play date with a bunch of babies his age. There was a whole lot of throwing up, but then after several hours he was fine. Two days later it happened again at daycare, except it was much more violent. We could barely get him into the car seat and his daycare momma had to go to the doctor with us so that he wouldn’t be throwing up in his car seat in the back without someone to make sure he was ok (her husband stayed behind with the napping toddlers). It was very scary – I’m a pretty calm momma and I was nearly in tears because it just wasn’t stopping. His doctor thought it might be a lingering stomach bug, but when it happened a week later, she said it’s probably a wheat or gluten allergy even though he’d eaten toast several times before. She said allergies usually present themselves that way – the baby will be fine the first four or five exposures and then BAM it all goes to you-kn0w-where in a hand basket. He will have bloodwork done in September for a final diagnosis.

Baby S is starting to become cautious of new places and holds on tight when I’m holding him and he’s unsure of his surroundings. He gives strangers big smiles when they say hello to him, but wails if I pass him off to be held. It’s not just strangers though, he’s wailed at his Nola who he sees weekly and his daddy, but only a couple times. The only people he’s loved unconditionally without tears this month are his mommy and his daycare momma.

His BumGenius diapers are still on the smallest rise setting and the velcro touches in the middle. The snaps have one row of snaps open. At night he wears size 2 disposable diapers. He’s wearing a mix of 3 month and 6 month Carter’s onesies and most of his clothes are 3-6 month size.

At his 6month check-up, which was a couple weeks after his 6 month birthday, baby M weighed 15lbs, was 26.5” long and has a big head. He’s in the 18th percentile for weight, 25th for height and 65th for head circumference. He has six-pack abs that Mr. S and I both envy. He does lots of crunches – he must be close to sitting soon!

He’s so active that all of our monthly photos are like out-takes now. And Mr. Elephant’s ribbon is so tasty.

Happy half-birthday, little buddy!