A whole half year. Praise be that we have all survived keeping TWO spawn alive at the same time for 6 whole months. If there was a theme for this month, it would be fat and fussy. Don't get me wrong, you still smile at anything that comes near you, but you were also a big ball of fuss this month. Your nickname got a little longer as I dubbed you fatty fatty fusspants.
Speaking of nicknames, I overheard Charlie repeat "Fatty Fatty" the other day so I suppose it's time for a new term of endearment. I'd really hate for that to be used out of context. Yikes! You actually have a lot of nicknames. You rarely just get called Leo. It's either Baby Leo, The Baby, Fatty Fatty, Lil' Bubs or really whatever tumbles out of my mouth.
You are wearing mostly 9-12 month clothes. Some 6-9 month things still fit, and we've also pulled out some 12-18 months things that are a tad big, but workable. You are still in size 3 diapers, but Amazon is delivering size 4 diapers this month because I suspect you'll be ready for them as soon as we get through your current box of size 3s.
I'm not sure if it was developmental leaping, sleep training, teething or just general baby angst, but you were certainly more demanding this month. It made for a long month - especially with Dada being gone for most of it. But I do see light at the end of the tunnel. The last few days you've gradually been getting back to being your happy, content self.
The other theme for this month was sleep. It was high time, and I finally just ripped the bandaid off. Nursing to sleep just was not working anymore because you kept demanding more and more comfort nursing. It was going on for 1, 2, or even 3 hours every. single. night. I knew it would be challenging to break that cycle (it has been!), but I also knew it was best for all parties involved. So we set a bedtime, nailed down nap times, created a solid bedtime routine, and then just let you work it out from there. That's a really nice way of saying there were tears...more tears than this mama would have liked.
The first night was definitely the hardest. As soon as you stopped crying and finally went to sleep, mama had a good cry herself. I knew all of your needs were met, and I knew it would only be worse if I tried to go in and comfort you (been there, tried that, you just got more mad unless I gave in and nursed), but even though I knew it was the best decision, it was still rough. Luckily, you improved every day and save a few bumps in the road when we got off schedule (or, you know, the direction of the wind changed), you've done really well.
You now take two solid naps in your crib - about 1-1.5 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. One of the best parts about this schedule is that you and Charlie both nap at the same time in the afternoon, which is so necessary for mama's sanity. You go down for naps no problem and fall asleep on your own without any fussing. You still protest at bedtime, and honestly, I think you're the kind of baby who just needs to blow off steam for 10 minutes or so before falling asleep. I can deal with that. Once asleep, you do great - waking up just once to eat around 4-5am. You sleep 8pm-8am, and it's been life-changing for this mama!
You still have glorious rolls (and those cheeks!!), but I think you're starting to level out on your weight gain. You get so distracted while eating! It feels like I'm always feeding you because you eat all the time but only for 3-5 minutes before you start looking around. We'll find out how much you weigh this Friday when we go in for your 6-month checkup. We've played around with solids a little bit, but haven't started in earnest yet. You grabbed a piece of naan bread out of my hand at dinner a couple of weeks ago and stuffed it into your mouth. And that's how you started solids.
We got the high chair out of the closet, and we do put you in it during dinnertime. It's mostly just to keep you happy and entertained at this point, but also so you can munch on some teething crackers or pieces of bread. I promise we'll graduate from carbs soon - that's just the easiest and least messy option right now before I'm ready to really ramp up with table food.
You started sitting up like a champ just after hitting 5 months. You went from tripod sitting to sitting up unassisted for several minutes in a matter of a few days. You learned so fast! And it certainly has made you happy to be sitting up and reaching for whatever you want. You also use rolling to get where you want to go. You haven't started propping up on your knees yet - thank goodness - but you are starting to push with your arms to scoot backwards. Of course with sitting up comes tumbling down. Although you can sit for a long time, you still haven't quite learned how to dismount so eventually you kind of just topple over. No matter where I put you or how many soft pillows I arrange around you, you always manage to bonk into something. It never fails. Luckily, you're pretty tough and hopefully you'll learn how to catch yourself soon.
The other big development this month was learning how to use a straw! There was no hope for the bottle, but I felt you were finally big enough to try a straw. I ordered a special training cup and within the first try, you were happily sucking milk out of the straw. I mean, who is this baby who HATED the bottle for so many months?! It took a few tries to get the hang of actually sucking AND swallowing the milk, but now you can down 3-4 oz no problem. It's pretty cute to watch you sip through the straw with such delight.
When we were in the throes of sleep training, we realized you did better on the nights where we had practiced with your honey bear (the straw training cup looks exactly like those plastic bears that hold honey) before going down to sleep. So now it's just become part of the routine. I think you must really like being stuffed full of milk before nighttime - hence the reason you were demanding so much nursing before! I pump before I go to bed and then we use that milk the next evening to help top you off before bed. It's a little unconventional, but I'll do whatever it takes to have a baby who will sleep.
Because you can now drink milk from a straw cup AND fall asleep without mama, the real test is coming soon - can mama leave you for more than 2-3 hours??? We need Dada to be home so he can be the guinea pig for that. From there, we'll see if we can graduate to a babysitter. :)
You've been enjoying your jumperoo more each day. Books are also more exciting to you these days. We read Goodnight Moon every night. I love our cuddle time before bed when we read together. You still like music, and it's become part of our routine for me to sing "Jesus Loves Me" to you as I'm putting you down. Bath time still earns 5 stars - you laugh hysterically when we put the bath cup on your head and you watch it tumble off. You love being outside and having lots of things to look at. I'm excited for cooler fall weather when we can be outside for longer stretches of time.
You are quite ticklish and you love playing peekaboo or just watching us make silly faces at you. You welcome all forms of attention. Charlie still entertains you most of all and gets the biggest laughs out of you. You like any toy you can put in your mouth. I swear you are *this* close to getting some teeth, but I've been saying that all month and nothing has popped up yet so who knows?!
You've been happier riding in the car these days, and you're pretty great about sleeping on the go. If we go to the park in the morning, you'll happily snooze in the stroller or carrier. Of course, you are always happy to be held - especially while walking around. You spent a lot of extra time being held during all your fussing this month.
I'd say Charlie has been more interested in you this month. He likes to bring you toys - especially your watermelon teether. He'll also bring your baby gym over to you and turn on the musical star. Before we leave the house, he'll gather a few toys to put in your car seat with you. I think he finds you a little more interesting now that you can sit up and grab toys. On the downside to his renewed interest is that he thinks its funny to push you over. It's not overtly malicious, but he sees you tumble over while sitting all the time, and he apparently thinks it's funny when "baby fall down." It doesn't happen very often, but we've instituted time outs to hopefully help curb that behavior. Again, it's a good thing you're tough. I suspect this won't be the last time you'll have to learn how to hold your own against your big brother.
I'll end with my favorite moment from the month. One evening you were being particularly fussy during dinner. I was trying to clean up the dishes so I turned some baby lullabies on my phone and set it down next to you on the floor in an attempt to keep you happy. Soon enough, you rolled over onto my phone, managed to call the pediatrician's office and left a 30-second voicemail of yourself crying. I went to pick you up and saw what was happening. What are the chances you managed to do that with just one roll?! I can't imagine what they thought the next day when they got that voicemail.
I hear you stirring from your nap so it must be time to wrap this up. We love you! Happy half year!
