Six Months Old!

Happy Half-Birthday to my darling boy!

 half way to ONE

OK, now I understand the “I can’t believe it’s been <<fill in the blank amount of time here>> already.” that people say about their babies.  It’s hard to believe that when I wake up tomorrow I’m closer to John’s first birthday than I am to his birthdate.  Craziness.  We’ve had a great month and I feel like we are hitting our grove.  That’s not to say this shit is easy.  No, certainly not.  But the good times outweigh the tough times tenfold lately.

The biggest development of the month is that John is sitting up on his own and LOVES it.  I’ll still put a pillow or the boppy behind him because he’s a little wobbly, but for the most part the boy is upright and having a blast.

This month he got to meet two of his uncles (Jordan and Mike) and three of his cousins (Jocelyn, Brian, and Jake).  Besides my precious four-legged niece Shiva in Chicago, he’s now met the whole family.  Being around our nieces and nephews makes Bud and I very excited to see how close these cousins will hopefully be through their lives.  It’s also kinda terrifying being around 4 kids 4 and under at the same time.  Like whoa. 

Love this one.  

Jocelyn's bluesteel is amazing.

Aubrey is sweet and helpful.

John is just taking it all in.

This month John also had his first trip to the pediatrician besides his regular check-ups.  His big toe on the right foot got infected somehow.  We noticed it last weekend and when it still wasn’t better 5 days later I took him in.  I was afraid I’d be laughed out of there as a crazy first-time parent, but they were pleased I brought him in and prescribed an antibiotic ointment.  His toe is looking much better, thankyouverymuch.

Sleeping:

My perfect little sleeper hit a bit of a speed bump this month when he learned to roll over in his crib.  The poor guy would roll from his back to his stomach and get stuck flat on his face.  And I mean flat on his face...like his nose would be red because it's been smashed into the mattress.  There were a few nights in a row that I would have to go into his room just to flip him over to his back.  I’d literally walk into his room, flip him over, and walk back to my bed.  He’d be asleep again before my covers were on me.  There were two nights when he needed some extra comforting, but thankfully that was only two nights because I’m really not prepared to start nursing through the night again.

After about a week of that nonsense, my little genius figured out to turn his head onto his cheek when laying on his belly and is much more comfortable.  He’s definitely a tummy sleeper now and as long as he isn’t face down I let him do it. 

Eating:

Good!  John remains an excellent nurser.  He usually eats 6-7 times a day for about 1.5 hours total.  It still seems like a lot, but when you have a baby that’ll consistently sleep 11 hours you fill that kid up during the day.   Total nursing count is up to 502 hours, 45 minutes.

We’ve made progress with the bottles too.  He’s just gotta get over it.  Bud and I went to a lovely wedding a couple weeks ago so John was with Bud’s parents for about 6 hours, including his rough time of day – evening.  I left them with two bottles and he ate both of them.  Such a relief.  I have a work-thing on Friday and will be gone for 8 hours so he’ll have another bottle day, like it or not.

Likes and Dislikes:

Sitting up is his favorite thing to do lately.  I’ll put him on the floor surrounded by toys and he’ll happily sit there for a while taking turns shoveling each toy into his mouth.  Uma is not very happy about this development and has to be right next to him at all times.

Chewing and sucking on anything he can get into his mouth.  The boy can’t go 5 minutes without trying to gnaw on you.  If all else fails he’ll suck his fingers, but prefers toys or my fingers when he can get them.

He does not like to be left alone lately.  I used to be able to put him somewhere (in the swing, Rock n Play, etc.) and walk into the kitchen, go to the bathroom, or whatever and he’d be fine, but now it’s as if I just gave him up for adoption.  He’s a bit dramatic.  No idea where he gets that (cough cough, aunt allyson, cough cough).

He likes squirming around in his bed.  I’ll regularly find him flipped onto his stomach and 90 degrees turned from where I left him.

He likes baby tv shows and dvds.  I know, I know….I clearly hate my child because I let him watch tv.  It’s one of those things I swore I wouldn’t do, but I’m a rule breaker, duh.  He doesn’t watch a lot, but if I have a work project that has to get done and need him to be quiet for 24 minutes straight I’ll put on PBS and plop him down.  It won’t kill him.

John's new favorite song: Shake my Sillies.  He wants me to sing it all. the. time.

Size:

We are all very worried.  John has dropped to the 89^th percentile for weight.  Haha.  Yea, he’s still a butterball, meatloaf.  I love it.  At his doctor’s appointment last week he weighed 19 lbs 14 ozs. 

He’s still wearing 6 month outfits, but 9 months are fitting him better.  He’s in size 3 diapers, but I think we are going to have to switch soon.

This one's for you, Grier.

Me:

Doing great.  It’s been a good month.  I’m liking my job although I’m still struggling to find time to do it.  Bud and I have seen a lot of both of our families lately which is always wonderful and I got out to see my friends a bunch.

When John was first born I joking said to a lot of people, “I think I’m going to be a really good mom when John is 6 months old, but this newborn thing is rough.”  Well, I think I was right.  Not to toot my own horn, but I think I’m nailing it these days.  Why can’t babies just be like this from the beginning?

John’s Highlight of the Month:

Meeting his future BFF, Anderson Moyer.

I just noticed that John is holding Anderson's foot, but not looking at him.  

That's creepy.  I'll talk to him about that.

John’s Low-point of the Month:

Pshhhh, this kid can’t complain.  His life is pretty good.  But if I had to pick one, it’d be a MASSIVE breakdown he had on the way home from the beach one evening.  Bud and I met his family at Cabana Club for dinner and stayed a little later than we probably should have.  It was a trifecta – tired, hungry, and nothing to shove into his mouth for comfort.  Bud was alone in the car with him.  Oooph, rough.  Been there.

Favorite picture:

It's hard to get John's eye color on my iPhone, but this picture got pretty close.  There's no editing to this pic.  When he was born, everyone would comment on his amazing black hair, but now I'll get a compliment on his eyes every time we are out.  They really are gorgeous. 

Side note:  I can't decide the proper response when someone compliments John.  I usually just say "Thank you" but it's not a compliment to me so is that weird?  Should I just say "I know, right?"

Example:  

Publix clerk: Oh my, his eyes are beautiful.

Me:  I know.

Others:

Family picture at the beach - John was a bit sleepy so we couldn't get a smile

John's first time in a highchair.

4th of July

Garro men representing the red, white, and blue

These two were breaking in the new livingroom rug.

Doesn't it look like I just interrupted a deep conversation?

7/16/13 John's first time at the YMCA.