Well, just when I thought I would get around to blogging more, there was a whole month there where I didn't blog at all. I need to get you up to speed on what our boy has been doing! Before he's 7 months old!
When we last spoke - four months on Nana's quilt.
On December 23rd, Little Man turned 5 months old. During the month between four and five months, he was sick twice - once with a little stomach virus and then right before his five month birthday and all throughout the Christmas holiday with bronchialitis. No fun for mama or baby.
Other more interesting milestones included sitting up more, talking more, moving objects from one hand to the next, and then, right after his 5 month birthday around New Years, "owning" the whole rolling over routine, so that now he does it all the time with ease.
He is still such a happy boy, unless he is feeling bad. He smiles all the time, is very easy going, goes from person to person with no worries, and likes to see new things and study new places. In December, we made a visit to Santa Claus. He didn't really seem to think that was worth getting upset or excited about. Complete ambivalence was shown to the man in the red suit.
Over the holidays, we spent some great time with both sides of the family. It would have been better if the boy wasn't feeling so puny, but these things cannot be helped. We were able to get some photos of some of the Indiana cousins with Little Man in some matching PJs. We had another set of matching pajamas for the Dallas cousins, but we never quite got the photo taken...oh well, there is always next year. When they'll all be mobile. OK, maybe, on second thought, we missed our chance.
Little Man with some of the Indiana cousins.
I will post some more photos from the holidays on another day.
On January 23, 2011, LM turned 6 months old. SIX MONTHS OLD! Half a year since that day I birthed him. How can that be? I am sure very soon, one day I'll be sitting at his high school graduation thinking the same thing...time flies.
Cute matching sweater and hat.
Between five and six months, he has really become stable sitting and playing on his own. He still topples over every once in a while, but does pretty darn good. And, ten days before that special sixth month birthday we started solid foods. He was just hungry and it was time! He was drinking 6-8 oz bottles of breastmilk at school and wanting more only two hours later! So, one night when he was hungry after he was breastfed, I took his little butt into the kitchen, mashed up a banana with a little breastmilk and fed it to him. He took to it like white on rice. Day two I couldn't shovel the food in fast enough. So far, we've eaten squash, sweet potatoes, peas, brown rice cereal, bananas and apples. So far, he likes everything but the apples of all things. I'm going to keep trying on those. I am making some of his food and purchasing some of it. I would love to make all of it, because it is so easy at this point, but I just don't have time to get it all done. Right now I'm teaching my class at SMU, too, so time is very short. But when the class is done, I might try to make more of the food again.
Seriously mom? Another photo?
The closest thing to a smile I received during this particular little photo shoot.
There are some things that make Little Man laugh. He loves the "cowboys" game where you sing the little song and bounce him on your knees. He loves it when you blow on his belly or kiss him on his neck. He laughs out loud if you hold him up against you but pretend to "drop" him - scooting him downward along your body. He likes certain sounds - Daddy can make up quite a few that get at least a smile. If I go "baa baa baa" he smiles every time. He also likes the "raspberries." And, he LOVES to look at himself in the mirror. My little narcissistic baby. And, most endearing, whenever you are away for him for a little bit, when you return to him, he always greets you with a big, big smile. Melt my heart.
"Sleeping in" with Daddy.
Not much seems to startle him - he finds sounds and movement fascinating right now - he is very distractable, which I understand is normal for his age. So, if the dogs bark or I blow my nose or people talk or move or cars drive by or just about anything, he wants to stop and see it. This makes feeding him sometimes an action sport, but it's not too bad.
When he plays, he puts everything in his mouth. This is the way he interacts with his world at this age. Sometimes he will suck on something for a while, but usually, it's in the mouth and then moving it about with both hands. While he is playing, he likes to sit up or lie on his back mostly. He also does play on his stomach, but he so badly wants to crawl and can't quite figure it out, so this leads to frustration sometimes. He is still a snuggler - he gives hugs and "kisses" (full mouth open, suck on your face) and he likes to be close to you. While he mostly prefers to be just laid down to sleep, he will sometimes let me rock him, which I of course love to do. I don't care if I'm spoiling him. I figure one day soon he won't let me do it at all.
Whassup Mama?
Look ma, I can fly! Or swim! Or something...
Close-up of the concentration on the face.
I am just now feeling like I am hitting a "groove" with this new life of mine - work and motherhood - I am not sure how long the groove will last, but it seems a bit easier than it did last fall. So, we'll just keep on keepin' on, loving this boy and enjoying our time together.
Six months on Nana's quilt.
See you soon.
