This will be known as the month your ankles disappeared. Happens to the best of us. If I had to sum you up in two words, it would still be fat and happy. And yes, I still affectionately call you Fatty Fatty. Your cheeks are still glorious, and a big hit wherever we go.
I would guess you weigh 19 lbs now, give or take. You wear 6-9 month clothes, but are rapidly outgrowing this size. Unfortunately, my clothes-sharing plan isn't working out so great. Your big brother stayed in 3-6 months for a while, and you barely spent much time in that range. We have a few warm months left, but you've started to outgrow all of your summer outfits because Charlie's 9-12 month stuff is mostly fall/winter. The other day, I put you in a 12-18 month Thanksgiving shirt - besides the sleeves being too long, it fit perfectly. I don't think you'll be wearing it come turkey day at this rate. I had to get out the box of Charlie's 12-18 month clothes to scavenge for anything we could make work. Oh well, this just means Mama will have to do some shopping. :)
You are desperate to be on the move. You roll both ways easily now, and I rarely find you in the same spot I left you these days. You easily grab toys, and you like to put things in your mouth. You have discovered your toes, and you've managed to overcome your fat rolls to stick them in your mouth too.
Sleep remains a mystery. We had a little stretch where you would roll onto your stomach and get mad because you couldn't roll back. I had to go on more than one rescue mission. Luckily, you finally learned to just roll back or better yet, be ok with sleeping on your stomach. Most of the time now, you do end up asleep on your stomach.
We've somehow managed to land on a schedule without much effort, but it's not exactly the schedule I would have chosen. Your day looks something like this:
8:30-9: Wake up
10:30-12: Nap
2:00-4: Nap
5:30: Nap
9:30/10: Bed
Naps have been great, and I'm thankful for that. You take three naps a day going down every 2 hrs or so. We've even had some success getting you to fall asleep independently in your crib. Sometimes even if I try to nurse you to sleep, you almost demand to just be left alone so you can fall asleep on your own. You sleep 1-2 hours each nap, but usually I have to wake you up after 1.5 hours to preserve your next nap. Whoever said you should never wake a sleeping baby, has obviously never known the joys of a baby on a schedule. Sure, it would be great to let you sleep 2-3 hours in the morning, but then you won't sleep all afternoon. Not worth it!
Nighttime, however, is another story. Partly because you are such a great daytime napper, you've become a bit of a night owl. You basically refuse to go to sleep until 9:30-10 p.m. No matter when I start your bedtime routine, you resist until you get so tired you finally give in. And there is no independent sleep at night - you always insist on nursing to sleep. The good news is that we have had a handful of nights where you've slept an 8+ stretch, and the late bedtime does mean you wake up late in the morning too (or rather I have to wake you up by 9:00 am!). The bad news is that bedtime turns into a marathon nursing session every night. And because you still (STILL) refuse to take a bottle, Mama basically can never, ever leave you. I see what you're doing here....
I'm not totally sure what the answer is, but we probably do have some sleep training in our future. We need to work on moving your schedule up to a more reasonable bedtime, and you need to learn to fall asleep without nursing. Of course, these things are easier said than done, and I'm still not sure how I want to tackle everything...or in what order. And on one hand, I kind of hate to rock the boat and potentially lose our late morning wake-up and it is pretty nice that your afternoon nap coincides with Charlie's nap.
Speaking of tackling things, one reason I have left well enough alone is because Dada has been traveling a lot lately. In fact, he is gone for some part of every single week in both July and August. Every. Single. Week. Mama is just trying to survive so enjoy your late-night partying while you can. It won't last forever, little buddy.
Charlie has taken much more of an interest in your lately. He likes to make you laugh (and he definitely makes you laugh the hardest of any of us). When he succeeds in getting you to chuckle, he always says "Baby silly." He is happy to show you things when prompted - holding out his trucks for you to see or driving his tractor over to you. One day, you were getting fussy at the dinner table, and when I said it was because you needed to eat, Charlie held out his fork for you. The other day he brought me a book while I was holding you and said "Read a book. Baby down." But he was patient to wait until you were done nursing before climbing in my lap.
He's even been receptive to photos lately, happily holding you or laying down next to you when asked. One morning, when you were asleep in the pack n play in our room (after an early morning feeding when I was too lazy to put you back in your crib), Charlie went into your room looking for you, saw the empty crib and exclaimed, "Oh no! Baby Leo!" Apparently he thought Mama done lost the baby. It's so so sweet to see you smile, laugh and interact with your big brother. I think he's really excited for you to continue to grow up so you can be his play buddy.
You've spent a little time in your jumperoo, and you enjoy it for a few minutes before it gets boring. This could be said about all of your toys, playmats, etc. You probably still need a little time to grow into it to truly enjoy the benefits of jumping. You don't seem to have any favorite toys or books yet. You like anything you can easily hold or chew.
You love being naked and bath time never disappoints. Your drool game is strong, and you love chewing on my fingers and your own fingers and/or toes. There are still no teeth or immediate signs of any teeth.
You are quite ticklish. You like when we sing to you. You wiggle all the time. You still smile at anyone who smiles at you or gives you any amount of attention. You're happy whenever you are being held. You've pretty much outgrown your mamaroo and rock n play, but I still stick you in there every once in a while when I need to contain you somewhere.
This month, you went with Mama and Dada to the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game. Back to back nights out late - and perhaps the cause of your recent late bedtime preference. You did great both times. You were a big hit in your baseball gear and headphones. You slept through most of the events in the carrier.
There isn't a whole lot that makes you mad - maybe just being tired, going to bed at night, and anytime you just aren't getting enough attention. I always think this 4-6 month stretch is hard on Mamas and babes. It's not because you are difficult by any means. It's just that time when all babies start to develop ideas about how, when, and where you want to sleep, eat and play, yet aren't quite able to control any of that. You're just over the laying around phase of babyhood. You want to be up and on the move. We are working on sitting up every day because I think you'll be even happier and more content when you can entertain yourself and be a little more part of the action. Right now, you can tripod sit for a minute or so.
We've officially applied for your passport, and you're all cheeks in the photo. We're hoping there are many adventures in the future for you and your cheeks!
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