6 Months

17 lbs 2 oz (75th)
26 1/4 inches (50-75th)
HC = 42 cm (50th)


Dear MJ/Lil Peanut,

Well, it would appear that the last month has disappeared without a whole lot going on. How can that be? You've had little changes here and there, but you've always been such an even keeled baby that you seem to just roll right from one phase to the next with little fuss.

Little changes:

You're eating "solids" once a day. As of this writing, we've tried sweet potato, banana, apple, pear (YUM!), peaches (YUCK!), and mango, with several other goodies waiting in the wings. (I was a Good Mother and bought a bunch of organic produce to make your baby food. Because I'm trying to win an award over here.) You seem to prefer rice cereal to oatmeal. Go figure.

Your movements are much more intentional than they were a month ago. Now when you grasp for something, you're almost always successful. And nine times out of ten it finds it's way to your mouth. Your very favorite thing to suck on is your big toe on your left foot; it's as though you count the seconds until someone will take off your pants and socks so you can get to work on that project. You love any toy with fringe or tags (finally, that Taggie Dog will get some love!), and spend more time examining the tag on your bouncy chair than the actual toys attached to it. Your current favorite use for your mouth is to blow raspberries. Which you do CONSTANTLY. Which is why the front of your shirt is always soaked. (Well, from that and the never ending stream of spit up. Yum.)

You've rolled from back to front exactly twice, and the first time I helped you heft your chunky thigh over. Since Tummy Time is your nemesis, it makes sense that you prefer to be on your back. More than five seconds on your stomach triggers a MAJOR spit up reaction. So gross. Really, though, you now prefer to sit up whenever possible. When you're in the bouncy chair, you try to pull yourself up a bunch. You are getting the hang of the Jumperoo, and bounce unintentionally, but I think you're going to start jumping very soon.

Your favorite comfort object is...well, anyone near you. You love to burrow into shoulders and chests (trying to nurse anything with skin); you love to touch our faces and grab our noses; you love to cuddle with your owl lovey and are often discovered asleep with it draped across your face--don't tell the Parenting Police. We're a heartbeat away from buying you a sleep mask. :) The comfort object we have eliminated is your pacifier. After too many sleepless nights where you lose it and aren't old enough to put it back in your mouth, we decided it would be better for you to learn to soothe yourself in other ways. And you are! Mostly, you stuff your owl-y in your mouth, which is endlessly amusing to me.

And speaking of sleep (boy, it seems like I spend an lot of time talking about sleep), we are currently sleep training. Again. We got a little soft there for a few weeks, so now we're using a modified Ferber method, which means we put you down drowsy but awake, and check on you after five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, but never removing you from the crib. It's working, so far. You sleep completely through the night very sporadically, but I'm not pushing it yet because...you're almost fully weaned. [sob--more on that later] You're napping 2-3 times per day, depending on whether or not we are home in the morning. And bed time is between 6-7pm.

The formula thing (yellow Enfamil, for my records) is going well. You seem to have the same amount of spit up with bottles as you did with breast milk, and we've discontinued your reflux medication. It just didn't seem to make a difference. You take between 24-28 oz of formula per day.

You are still the smiley-est baby I've ever known, and you're not stingy with smiles for strangers, either. It's so fun to watch you grow and learn and observe. The only member of our family that causes you to burst into giggles, without tickling, is your big brother, for whom your little world turns. It's the picture of precious.

Much love,
Mom


[A Note to my Future Self re: weaning--should it ever be relevant again.

Weaning is HARD. It's hard to let go of the intimacy you share with the baby; it's more inconvenient to go make a bottle and wait for it to heat (that's why you still nurse in the middle of the night, when necessary). But the hardest part are the darned wacky hormones that make it feel like there's an elephant of depression sitting on your chest. It's different from the fog that accompanies childbirth because the elation of having a brand new life isn't there anymore. The evenings seem to be harder, so try to get things done during the day so you can give yourself permission to wallow (or hide) in the evening. Go easy on yourself, Self. ]

Photos: http://gallery.me.com/hannahrae#100858




From Mimi