Baby Paul: 6 months

Baby Paul turned 6 months over the weekend! The first 6 months simultaneously went slow and fast... I think other parents will understand what I mean when I say that. There's been lots to love about the first 6 months of his life but I think we'll like the next 6 months even better as he's so interactive and just plain fun these days! We love seeing his little personality come through. The 6th month was a tough one as he was sick for so much of the month but even though he was sick he was still a happy, smiley baby most of the time.

He looks like such a little boy in this picture!

Growth:


- We had Paul's 6-month appointment on Friday. He weighs 13 pounds 11 ounces and is 26 inches long. He's hanging on at 1st percentile for weight! I told the doctor how much he eats (32 oz on a "light" day, but as much as 40-42 oz!) and she said he must have a high metabolism. She's totally fine with his weight as he's following his 1st percentile curve.


- His head is up slightly to 99th percentile from 98th percentile. Since he is so small, his head looks especially big but the doctor isn't concerned. He just has a big melon!

Sleep:

- Sleep continues to be a challenge for us. He was sleeping better after we did sleep training in July. He was waking up about 2 times a night. Then he got sick and things kind of regressed. He gets up about 3-4 times a night now, with the first wake up happening before Phil goes to bed (usually). He often drinks a 4-5 oz bottle when he wakes up so he's clearly very hungry. We have a hard time thinking about cutting out those night feeds considering how small he is. Hopefully when he is feeling better we can get back to 1-2 wake-ups/night.

Loves:

- Bottles of breast milk. This kid loves to eat. I don't know where all the milk goes as he eats quite a bit for his age. I guess he has his daddy's super high metabolism. Sometimes we can get him to hold the bottle but usually he wants us to do all the work!

- Watching his sister. Oscar usually keeps her distance but when he was sick last week she stayed close to him.

- Cuddling with mom when he's not feeling well. It's been tough to see him so sick this month but one silver lining is lots of cuddles. When he's feeling well, he's way too busy wiggling and looking around to cuddle with mom so I savored being able to hold him while he napped when he was sick.

- Looking at himself in a mirror or the camera of my phone! It's sure-fire way to get a smile out of him!

- Being read to. His favorite book is "Little Blue Truck." There's a part of the book where Little Blue Truck goes into some mud to help a dump truck that is stuck and Paul gets the biggest smile when I read that page:   "Into the mud, bump bump bump, came the Little Blue Truck to help the dump." His other favorite books are Jungly Tails, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and the Dr. Seuss ABC book.



- Making funny faces! He is such an expressive kid! Wait until you see the 'first food' pics below!

- He seems to love daycare. His teachers say that he is such a happy, sweet baby and that he only cries if he is tired or hungry. He doesn't cry at drop off and he's always happy and smiling when I pick him up which makes it slightly easier to be away from him. He doesn't sleep much at daycare - usually just 2 30-40 minute naps. I don't know how he functions on such little sleep during the day as he naps for 3-5 hours total on the weekend but I guess he is too entertained by watching the other kids to nap.

Dislikes/Challenges:

- Unfortunately we found out he had a double ear infection at his appointment on Friday. The doctor thinks his last one likely never cleared. She prescribed a different antibiotic and we'll go back in 2 weeks to make sure the infection has cleared up. He was pretty much sick for the entire month of August which was hard on all of us. :(

- He hates any sort of medicine - Tylenol, ibuprofen, antibiotics, you name it. Even if it's sweetened or bubblegum flavored, he hates it. It's a 2-person job to give him antibiotics, especially the first one he was on as it was a higher volume dose. Luckily the dose of his new drug is much smaller - on 0.6 mL. We all can't wait for him to be done with antibiotics!

Firsts:

- He went on his first car seat-free stroller ride in mid-August. I think he loved facing forward and not being crammed in his car seat. I can't blame him! The stroller felt soooo light without the car seat. I'm looking forward to lots of stroller walks (and maybe some runs eventually) this fall. I just need my body to cooperate and to stop flaring (I'm fighting another flare, this time in my left foot).

His eyes look so blue in natural light!

- On the day he turned 6 months we put his high chair together and tried to give him some oatmeal mixed with breast milk. As you will see from the pictures below, he was NOT A FAN. I really don't think he is ready for solids as he doesn't show much interest in food, he's not sitting up on his own, and he still has a strong tongue thrust (if you put something in his mouth, he pushes it out with his tongue). But we decided to give it a try to see how he reacted. I think we will hold off on giving him more food until he shows more signs of readiness.

This is fun!

He loved sitting in his high chair. That's about all he loved about the experience, though!

Mom tries feeding him

Dad tries feeding him

All in all, we couldn't ask for a sweeter, happier little guy. Yes we could use more sleep, but we tell ourselves that we'll sleep better again someday!