Six Months Old

Correction: I apparently misread Lewis' percentiles...a 7 was actually a 9, so he is, in fact, in the 95th percentile for head size, not 75th. My bad.

It feels like we were just at the five month mark! I guess this past month has gone by a bit more quickly, although overall I feel like he is where he is supposed to be. Not too fast, not too slow. We just had a pretty busy month!

Six Months

His stats:

Weight: 19 pounds, 5 ounces or 19.3 pounds (75-90th percentile)

Length: 27.5 inches (75-90th percentile)

Head Size: 18 1/8th inches (95th percentile)

BMI: 17.95

Doctor's appointment went well--though it took forever! I keep forgetting a) to expect to wait a while, no matter how early we get there and b) I need to eat beforehand and c) I need to time it so that he is far away from naptime/feeding time. We got there at 9:15 for a 9:30 appointment. We went back to the room just before 10am, saw the doctor around 10:30am, and were finally leaving just after 10:45am. That's ridiculous. He usually starts his nap around 9:15 or 9:30, so by the time it was time to see the doctor, he was getting pretty fussy, understandably.

He had an oral vaccine and two injections again, like at his 2 and 4 month appointments. The last injection seemed painful, but he fussed for just a few seconds. He's a tough one, that's for sure. We go back in November for his 9-month check-up, and the nurse said he only has to get one injection then.

What he is doing this month:

• Vocalizing (aka screaming/shrieking) - I've caught myself asking him to keep it down a few times and to use his 'inside voice.' He doesn't understand what that means yet, unfortunately. He usually isn't screaming out of anger, but rather joy, so I guess it's just a phase? I've had to take some deep breaths this past week. The boy is loud.
• He has started to roll with a purpose and is becoming quite efficient! He saw some small Rubbermaid-type storage boxes across the room the other day, and the next thing I knew, he had flipped, spun, and flopped his way over to them. (And subsequently put them in his mouth, of course.) He also scootches backwards sometimes and has lifted his butt up in the air just a few times.
• He has ridden in a shopping cart a few times now. Twice with the strap I bought, and once with just the provided buckled strap. He seemed to slide down at first with the buckled strap, but by the end of the spin around Target, he kind of got the hang of it. Kind of. :)
• He is back to sleeping well, for now.
• He is wearing mostly 9 month clothes at the moment.
• He loves to pet Peter! He would also love to pet Hattie, but she runs away. Peter will tolerate it for a little while--eventually he runs away, too (due to too big a handful of hair or Lewis pulling too hard). Lewis just lights up when the dogs come around, though. I love it.
• Speaking of, he can become very distracted these days during nursing time. Dog noises, Kevin noises, sirens, me turning the page of a book/magazine, the overhead light, a ceiling fan, dogs laying on the rug next to us, etc. He becomes fixated and takes a while to refocus.
• He has started to throw his toys. He will get a grip on a toy and jerk from straight arm to bent arm to straight arm and so on. Sometimes he bops himself in the head. Sometimes he lets go.
• Current Tooth Count: 2. I have a feeling that is about to change. He has been awfully fussy the past three days or so and drooling like a maniac and seems to have some sensitivity in his mouth, so I think the next ones are on their way. It has affected him at bedtime the past few nights (a little Orajel, a little extra nursing), but eventually he did go to sleep and stayed asleep. His naps haven't been the best the past few days either. I'm fairly certain it is all due to teething. Or possibly a growth spurt? This too shall pass. :)
• And, finally, we are starting solids! He has made it six months on nothing but breastmilk alone--unbelievable. If my 4-5 day postpartum self could read this now--I was so doubtful back then that I would be able to make it (breastfeeding) to 6 days, let alone 6 months. I'm pretty happy about it--we did it, buddy! We are planning to start out with cereal for a week or so and then start in with his first vegetable. We gave our first taste of rice cereal last night--here are some pictures and a video!

Ready for Rice Cereal!

Or not...

Eh, maybe it's not so bad.

We started with just a teaspoon of cereal mixed with four teaspoons of breastmilk. Even though he made funny faces throughout, he accepted it all. We will just try cereal once a day for a week or so, then think about introducing a vegetable once he seems to get the hang of the whole eating-off-of-a-spoon thing.

:)

Ready to see what new things he will learn and do in the next month!