6 months!

Can't believe our little guy is halfway to ONE! Before we know it, he will be mobile!

The stats:
Weight: 17 lbs, 8.5 oz             (47th %tile)
Length: 27 in                           (66th %tile)
Head circum: 17.25 in             (48th %tile)
The clothing: 6 and 9 month outfits. Size 2 diapers going on 3!

The appetite: 6-8 feedings/day of good ol' milk. We started real food this week and he has done so great! 3 days of rice cereal and 3 days of bananas, sometimes mixed with rice cereal too.  Planning on introducing one fruit or veggie at a time. It's so fun to feed him! He reaches out his arms to grab onto either the spoon or your hand and tries to help you cram it into his mouth. For the first few days, most of the food ended up anywhere other than in his mouth, but the ratio has significantly improved and he's gotten the hang of it...

The schedule: What schedule?! Just place a big "FAIL" sign across our foreheads when it comes to this area of parenting! :) He does wake up consistently between 7 and 8 and that's the only predictable part of the day. You never know if naptimes are going to be 20 minutes or 2 hours. Bedtime has been all over the place. We have just been sort of letting him lead the way with his hunger and tired signs, and while things have been going well overall, we do know that he needs to get on a schedule at this point for his AND our sake! I'm sure that the introduction of solids will facilitate more of a regular sleeping schedule too.

The sleeping: He still gets up twice in the night. Apparently he just wants to squeeze in some extra mommy time.

The talking: goo, ohh, ahh, ya (not like he is really talking, but just go along with me here.)

Developmental milestones and other noteable new things:

-Started "real" food! (Obviously... you have already seen the 100 pics I posted of him eating.)

-Sitting up all by himself for prolonged periods. He's starting to convince us that we don't have to be right there ready to catch him. (And just when we think that, he falls backwards.)

-Uses hands and feet to wiggle a little towards toys.

-Still loves to play with those little feet.
-Learning cause and effect. When in his carseat, he pulls on a musical hanging toy that plays a few different 5 sec tunes each time it's pulled. He always seems to wait until the end of the song to pull it again. He also has begun to imitate basic noises we make, like "ohhhhhh."
-Loves to knock objects off of surfaces infront of him. He sometimes will knock it off and just stare at you with a "aren't you going to pick that up" look.
-First signs of stranger anxiety! When being introduced to new friends and family, he got a worried look and his pouty lip made an appearance until we came over to reassure him. It was so sad but cute.
-Quickly turns his head in response to a sound. It's funny to see his head whip around as the dogs bark or someone speaks from across the room. He's very alert!
-He loves playing in front of a mirror. He seems like he is able to anticipate the mirror game because I'll always start by saying "Wherrrrrrrrre's Nico?" in a happy voice and he will immediately look up in excitement.
-The only typical 6 month milestone that he isn't doing consistently is rolling. He just doesn't seem too motivated to get to things that way yet, but we know he is capable as we have seen him roll each way a few times!

-One of the most exciting things that has happened this month is more daddy time! David is such a great dad. I sure do love my boys...

The new favorite moments:  1) When he wakes in the morning, he gets this extra bright, HUGE smile when he sees us. 2) When he squeals, smiles, and suddenly moves his arms and legs and truly recognizes me. 3) When the only one that can get him to stop crying is his mommy. Sometimes all it takes is David handing him over to me and he is good! I definitely feel my worth as his mother during moments like those. 

What he's like: He has such a cute little personality! He is so happy and social. He smiles and laughs a lot. Usually is cranky for short periods when he really wants something or his teeth hurt. He's very relentless and will keep playing and playing and fight sleep so hard sometimes. You'll even catch him sitting up with his thumb in his mouth falling asleep. You know he's tired if he's rubbing his eyes or if his thumb stays in more than a few minutes. We call him a wiggle worm because he is constantly squirming around. We have to take advantage of times he will let you hold him or cuddle, because they are few and far between. His curiosity has increased so much this past month and he will reach for anything in sight!

The fav toys: He's starting to be picky with the toys he wants to chew on. Loves the baseball rattle and giraffe the most.

 

Thank you, Nico, for continuing to be the best part of my day. I thank God for you every single day. I keep trying to enjoy you as much as I possibly can because I know you aren't always going to be this little. Please don't grow up too fast!

The much anticipated rice cereal day

With Nico's half birthday approaching in a few days, plus the fact that he was showing ALL of the numerous signs on the checklist of "Is your kid ready for food?," today was the big day to introduce him to something other than milk! Nico ate his first real meal which consisted of a tablespoon of rice cereal with 1-2 oz of breast milk. It was very uneventful for David and I as we had the video camera on him hoping for a funny face or at least some sort of reaction, and we got nothing'.

Here is a clip of his first taste. Pretty uneventful.

Can't wait to start feeding him some fun foods soon! I'm sure we will have much more interesting videos once he starts the real stuff!

A Big Milestone: Sitting unsupported

I can't help but get so excited and proud of every new little thing that Nico does. He is starting to reach one of the bigger milestones.... he is able to sit up all by himself, even without using his hands! (Ofcourse we still need to be within arm's reach though, because he will suddenly plop over in as little as a few sec!)

Here is the first pic of his new achievement...

Bathtime... Take 2

So the whole idea of me getting in the bathtub was great for a few times, but it just ended up being high maintenance! Plus, it got so slippery that he face planted into the water once and that was enough for me, even though it was only for a second.

There are moments every now and then when a light bulb goes off that David and I MUST be meant to be together, no matter how much we want to punch each other at times. One of those moments happened yesterday. I was running a few quick errands to pick up stuff for a diaper cake I am making (yes, you read that correctly... I am actually attempting to make a diaper cake for a baby shower. Who am I?!), and David also planning on stopping by Walmart to pick up a few groceries for dinner. We both got home and told the other that we bought something for Nico that caught our eye. David especially seemed so proud. And guess what.... we both bought the exact same bathtub for Nico. What are the chances?!

Teething = Fun!

Tooth #2 decided to make an appearance last week, not too long after the first one popped through!

Hyland's Teething Tablets have been working out pretty good so far! I'm not a huge fan of medication so it's nice that they are a natural way to take off the edge. You can tell he's really hurting at times and he seems so desperate to cram anything against his gums. He'll even grab our fingers and try to sneak them in! Poor guy.

5 month update!

Nico has continued to bring such happiness in our lives! We have no recollection of what life was like before him! Here's the 5 month update...

The clothing: 6 mo. outfits... getting into some 9's too! Diapers: 2    
The appetite: Still going strong with just breastmilk. Boring for Nico but an accomplishment I am proud of. He'll eat anywhere in the range of 5-7 oz.. Has 3-4 hr intervals during the day and a little longer than that at night.
The schedule: Consistently wakes up around 8 or 9 for the day, takes only 2-3 naps that aren't as long as they were last month. He seems to spend a large majority of the day awake!
The sleeping: Bedtime around 8-9 more often than not. Luckily, when he does get up throughout the night (which is usually about twice), he eats and falls asleep immediately. I'm definitely lucky there.
Developmental milestones:

His 1st tooth!

Teething, teething, and more teething.

 

Rolling over.



Presses up to lift his chest off ground and wiggles around some when on his tummy.




Chews on his feet.

Sitting up briefly with minimal support! 
Has a forward protective reflex and will sit independently with hands on the ground in front of him, but will easily fall to the side and backwards without support.

Supports legs in standing.


Longer babbling that we pretend are words! He also will smile and laugh whenever we make faces or say something funny.

Improved fine motor skills.
Uses all fingers except thumb to grasp objects and passes objects between hands. He cracks me up when he stares at his hands like this.
 

 

Our Favorite Moments are: I probably will always have the same answer every time... whenever he smiles and laughs! I especially love the shitty grin he gets. David and I constantly are telling eachother "he's just SO cute" (as I'm sure every parent says about their child!)

What he's like:  He's so fun! He's generally a happy guy but has his cranky spells at times from teething. He's good at knowing what he wants and has different cries that aren't too difficult to figure out. He's tickelish and easily smiles and laughs, which is my favorite part about him. He cracks up every time I change his clothes and I can't help but laugh every single time too! He loves to be bounced on your lap and try to stand or sit up all by himself. He is so squirmy now and rarely likes to be held- it's been bittersweet and I already miss the days of just holding him for long periods.  

The fav toys: Anything that goes in his mouth, especially the water-filled toys.

 

David is such a good daddy. (He is actually just being a smartass here since he never will rub MY shoulders!)


 

 

He can't get enough of his thumb- and its always the left one! We chant "Find your thumb" when he's tired and cranky, because he easily passes out once it goes in.



 

 

Everything is going so great for us right now. This past month has been especially exciting for David because of a new change that will be taking place next Friday...... he will partially be a "stay at home dad!" He is done with the office day job and is going to just have his 12U baseball team and do hitting lessons. I'm really excited for him because he wasn't happy where he was at, and coaching baseball is definitely his calling. Now, we will have plenty of time together even during the chaos that summer baseball season brings. Neither of us will even work on Friday's- can't beat that! Don't ask me how each of us has figured out a way to work less at a job we love and still make a good living!