Oliver: 6 Months
We made it. I have said since day 1 that I was waiting for 6 months. If you think I am horrible for this, whatever. I KNOW those first months are really hard. This time I knew it would make a drastic change by 6 months. I was right. As Oliver is Landon 2.0, independence is the name of the game. Once Landon was big enough to get his own toys, sit up and eat some real food? Game changer. My mom says I was like this too. Frustrated that you can’t make the world work how you want. Trapped in a little body with shit changing all the time. Babies have hard lives. No wonder he can spew fury but I digress.
Here is the goings on in the world of this spunky 6 month old.
Eating
This boy loves food. My original plan was to wait until 6 months to introduce solids but the boy was eager. Before he was 5 months old, he grabbed a pear from my hand and went to town. Thus we have started Infant Dinners. I have yet to find a food he turns away. He only eats 2 meals a day right now because trying to sit him down for breakfast after nursing isn’t in the cards for our morning routine right now. I will figure out at some point. Here is a running list of foods he has tried:
Grain: Brown rice cereal, oatmeal, whole wheat toast
Fruits: Bananas, apples, pears, blueberries, peaches, mangos
Veggies: Peas, green beans, sweet potato, carrots, collards, butternut squash, avocado, green pepper and celery (both to chew on more than anything)
During the last month we have also added a small amount of formula. You can read about that here but we are now only using about 2oz a day and I could probably get by without it. It is nice to have it as a backup. Now I feel better if I am out and can’t pump when he gets a bottle. I am actually writing about this more for LWM this week so stay tuned.
I still nurse him at school 3 times and then before bed. Nights…well….
Sleeping
We are doing better. Much better. A few weeks ago, he started waking up a few hours after going down. Not hungry. Just up. So we picked a night and started crying it out. He went to bed at 7 and then was up at 9:15. Um, no. So he cried hard for maybe 10 minutes. Then would fall asleep for a few and then whine a little. This went on for an hour and he was out. He later woke in the night and I gave him a 3 oz bottle and he slept until wake up. Next night? He slept until around 3 am and ate the bottle and back to sleep. Since then he just eats once. If he wakes up before 1 am, we let him fuss and he usually is asleep within 5-10 minutes. If he wakes after that, he gets the tiny bottle. I don’t think he really needs it but it works. (I am also using this time to pump. I am already up, so I take 10-15 min and pump. It is helping my supply and I am banking milk for the freezer. It feels SO GOOD.) As I am typing this, he has slept through the night (7-7) 3 times. I think he is getting there.
As for theories of how we got here, there is a few. Age. Solids. Rework of bedtime routine (no food right before bed). Getting his rhythm. Whatever it is, it is better for us all. Thanks, Ollie.
Activities
Oliver loves tummy time. He loves to watch himself in the mirror and even recently has started pushing way up then flopping down and kicking his legs. He has the pieces to crawl. It won’t be long. He seems to have no desire to roll to his belly from back. I think he may just not and move to crawling first.
The big one is he is sitting up. Maybe a week before 6 months he could rock a mean tripod and now a week after, he sits up most of time at home. He can still flop over but HOORAY CARPET. He loves that he can bend and grab his toys. He can watch us go around him. He is so happy. With this, we ditched the baby tub and put him in the bumbo in the tub with Landon. The cuteness is so awesome. He would stay in there FOREVER and check foam letters and smile at his brother.
He really loves chewing things. Pacis, Sophie, his socks…you name it. There are no teeth that we see…just a chewer. With that, we have started a sippy cup and he loves chewing on it at dinner.
His favorite thing in the world seems to be his brother. His smile is gigantic when he sees him. I have pictures above his changing table and he just grabs Landon’s and grins uncontrollably. L loves to see him too. In the mornings I can put L into the crib with O and they both light up. L is also helping at night and enjoys giving him his nighttime bottle. He wants him to come in his clubhouses (couch forts) and he tells him about his toys and books. It warms my heart. Note: He still says “Oviler” but mostly just calls him “Ollie Ollie” to copy me saying “Ollie Wallie”
Sickness
Being January, we knew it would happen. Ollie has had 2 ear infections in the past 2 months. Both seem to just be coming after a mild cold that lingers. He has been able to breathe well and generally faired well. Even with the ear infections, he was pretty happy. He never spiked a fever and kept it together pretty well. Landon was similar and both seem to respond to antibiotics super quickly. He received his flu shot at the 6 month appointment because of the outbreak everywhere. That shot left him with a pretty nasty bruise at the site. Poor little dude but it doesn’t’ seem to bother him.
Stats
Weight: 16lbs 10oz
Height:25.5 in (shorty)
Head: 17.13 in
Schedules
Weekday:
6:30-7:15 -Wakeup
7:30-7:50 – Drive to work
7:50-8:15 – I nurse him at daycare
9-11 – He usually naps in this time frame. Usually from 1 to 2 hours.
11:15 – I come to nurse
12:00 – Lunch (4oz veggie and 4oz fruit with some cereal if runnier puree)
1:15 – Bottle(5.5oz)
1:30-3/3:30 – Nap. Time varies.
4 – I come to pickup and nurse before the ride home.
5-6 – Play with the family. Swing, floor play, Ergo, etc.
6 – Nurse and dinner (2-4 oz of fruits and veggies each, maybe frozen fruit to chew on)
6-6:45 – Eat/Play
6:45-7:15 – Bottle, Bath, Jammies, Bed (switched this up to help with night time wakings)
1-4 – May wake for 1 feeding or not. Still work in progress
Weekend/Holiday:
6:45-7:45 -Wakeup. It varies. Sometimes he will sleep in pretty well.
8 – Nurse
9-11 – Nap. This may be on the go while we are out.
11 – Nurse
12 – Lunch (2-4 oz of fruits and veggies each, maybe frozen fruit to chew on)
1 – Nurse
1:30-3:30 – Nap. Usually 1.5 hours
4 – Nurse
4:30-6 – Play
6 – Nurse and dinner (2-4 oz of fruits and veggies each, maybe frozen fruit to chew on)
6-6:45 – Eat/Play
6:45-7:15 – Bottle, Bath, Jammies, Bed (switched this up to help with night time wakings)
1-4 – May wake for 1 feeding or not. Still work in progress
It looks like we jam him full of food at lunch and dinner but the kid wants it. He doesn’t turn away. I first thought this would make him sleep bad because of tummy ache but doesn’t seem to. Boy likes his groceries.
State of the Mommy
I am doing fantastic. I have found a rhythm. I am getting some sleep. My night pumps are giving me confidence in the milk department. I am on some great projects at work. The 6 month haze is over and I feel like myself again.
I met with my trainer at the gym last week and now have a circuit routine to last me around 20-30 minutes so I can feed Ollie and still get in a quick workout. I will do that twice a week and then use Fridays for a run or class. I am so happy to work somewhere to help me accomplish my goals. Work and personal!
With all this said, life with 2 is a lot. I feel like I get very few free minutes. I am constantly looking for ways to multitask. You should have seen the excitement when the wifi showed up at daycare the other day! I blog on the ride to work. I work on one project while in a meeting for another (thanks, new fancy MacBook Pro). When we get home, it is a 2 hour all-0ut sprint. Getting them to bed around the same time has been a big step. They can keep each other entertained and we can swap kids if needed. Next week Kevin will be doing bedtime solo so I can attend the women’s symposium at NCSU…I know he will rock it. Teamwork!
So happy that you have gotten in a groove! So, I want to know about the circuit training… I workout 4-5 times a week and I would just like to tone up more and feel like it is not happening. Are you doing super sets or different routines each day?
Right now it is just a simple routine of just free weights and my body weight. I am planning to do it twice a week. It works all muscle groups. Then run or some cardio on FRidays
I love that last picture of you two! So glad you have a routine that seems to work for your family and also for you to still hit the gym and get some sleep. I’m hoping we can get into a schedule that works for us soon because momma is tired. My kids are night and day in the sleep department. E was already going to bed by 7 pm – if not sooner – at this point and only waking once a night. Oh well. At least he wakes with a smile.
I thought I was a multi-tasker before, but I’m trying really hard to get better at it. I just wrote a post on how there is just not enough time in the day to check things off the to-do list.
It is really insane the amount of shit i can get done in a day.
oh my goodness that first picture of his little open mouthed grin is just adorable. And that last picture of the two of you? He looks just like you! So cute.
This is seriously giving me hope. Baby Girl is about 5.5 months and OMG the last couple weeks have been hairy ones. I kept telling myself “6 months, 6 months, 6 months”. We stopped using the swing for naps and she has stopped taking long naps. Ouch. I remember hitting a road block like that when we went into her 3rd month. Transitioning into the next “trimester” so to speak seems to always give us a speed bump.
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