Bruin is 6 Months

Our little guy is six months old!

(actually he will be seven months in two weeks but...we'll just pretend I posted this on time:).

 Happy Half Birthday buddy!!

 I was excited for him today but, he evidently wasn't feeling the special-ness (my new word) of the day:).  No smiles for our six month picture sesh. lol.  Surprisingly, he didn't mind the party hat at all.  He just really, really wanted my camera and was pretty much mad at me for not giving it to him, for most of the two minutes that I snapped pictures of him.  He's a feisty little guy I tell yah. 

He rolls from his back to his tummy every chance he gets and then he proceeds to cry almost instantly when he is on his tummy.  He still HATES tummy time unfortunately.  He would probably be crawling already if he tolerated it more.  Instead of propping himself up on his arms he does the super man thing and gets tired instantly.  He shrieks like crazy for me to turn him back over or pick him up.

He is NOISY.  For the first few months he was a pretty quiet and I would even have considered him a somewhat mellow baby.  We wondered if he would ever make noise.  By about four months he was quickly becoming noisier. Now he is just plain loud and a bit wild all day long.  So very boy doncha think:)!

I dont think the early teething has helped us much either! Two teeth and counting at this point!

 (these pics were taken a month or so ago and both teeth have come up a lot more since then). 

I caught him trying to pull himself up and somewhat appeared to be trying to climb out of his infant rocker...might be time to move on from that chair?. eek.  He will also flail backwards in his bumbo and I think he could pop himself out of it if I wasn't watching.  He's strong and determined.

He loves to stick his feet in his mouth when he is laying on his back.  I love that I caught him sticking both feet in his mouth in this shot.  He's got skills. 

He loves bath time and has become a wild splash monkey.

He likes walks around the block in the jogger stroller though I haven't done this with him nearly as much as I did with Daisy.  Not sure why really other than it is now quite hot and I haven't wanted to go out in the heat with him.

He likes short car rides...maybe for about 30 minutes tops or so and usually he will fall asleep at some point for another 30 minutes.  That being said, short outings with Bruin are typically quite pleasant.  Longer outings can be a bit challenging but, I can tell that he prefers getting out and seeing new things to being in the house all day...somewhat the opposite of big sis.

He doesn't like the exersaucer at all...he tolerates it for maybe five minutes...Daisy loved that thing!  She could sit in it for 45 minutes at a time.  He also has never cared for his play mat...another thing that Daisy loved.  Bruin chooses to roll over under it and then cry for me to come and get him...every single time.

He loves when he catches a glimpse of Daddy walking by.  As soon as he sees him his eyes are glued and he loves smiling at him and then turning his head away bashfully and then turning it back and smiling again.  Over and over.  It's darling.  He does really well with Dad and that is awesome because Daisy needed me all the time at this point.

He loves eating and I still nurse him every 3 hours or so.  We have tried feeding him solids a few times over the past two weeks and though he seems to enjoy it overall, he still doesn't know how to swallow and most of it is spit back out.  He also threw up just about everything we fed him shortly after eating each time which gave me the impression that his tummy may not be ready yet either.  I can tell he is very interested in our drinks and our food so we will keep trying but, we are in no hurry and it hasn't been a consistent thing at all.  I gave him rice cereal mixed with squash the first time.  Rice cereal mixed with peas the second time and rice cereal mixed with peaches the third time...or something like that.  I think it was all of one tablespoon of food in total so a very tiny bit.

revising this:  Just gave him rice cereal with peaches two weeks ago (6 months old) and he devoured it all.  He was grunting for the next bite the entire time.  It was so cute.  He didn't spit any out either so his tongue has figured out what to do!  Amazing what a difference a week can make!  He did spit up about 30 minutes later but, I think it's because he was too full.  We shall see.

And now he is eating bananas mixed with rice cereal once a day and he LOVES it!  Still spits up usually because of his reflux but, he wants to eat all food in sight.  He's going  to be a big eater I think:).

He is not sitting up on his own yet and though he likes to sit up probably more than anything else while being supported, he hasn't seemed to realize that he can start doing it on his own.  Just a matter of time.  At this point he gets stiff and flings himself back.  Silly boy.  On a side note: you may notice a circular hole/dent on the back of Bruin's noggin...well, that is his birth story scar.  I will have to share that with you when/if I ever get around to sharing my birth story.  His first officially battle wound and he wasn't even out of the womb yet.  Tough guy! ;)

He loves to stand up with someone supporting him under his arms.  He bounces up and down a lot.  I know he is eager to get moving but, I am in no hurry. lol

Also, can I just say that I love his fuzzy hair.  I'm surprised at how quickly it has grown back in and it appears that he is going to have brown hair like his Daddy. 

He loves standing and bouncing while someone supports him under his arms.  I LOVE the chunky rolls on his legs and when he stands up, his knees are to die for.  Love me some baby chunk!!

He LOVES being held.  It is his favorite thing of all at this point.  He squirms like crazy though so it isn't always easy to hold him but, he will otherwise stay pretty content as long as we move around a bit with him.  He likes to face out also so we will sometimes stick him in the bjorn carrier but, I think he might be getting to wide and heavy for it! It gets a little tight on his tummy now.  I think I may look into a sling side carrier.

He likes my hair.  He likes to play with it, pull on it and hold it while he nurses.  It makes him laugh when I brush his face with it and he gets excited and tries to grab it when I have it up on top of my head in a bun.  Pretty cute actually.

(this picture below was staged to make it look like we were far more miserable than we actually were...for the record:).  No, I do not enjoy grocery shopping with kids at all but, this particular outing my hubby was with us and we were doing okay.  I thought it would be a fun time to capture a picture of what it is usually like for me as a mom to shop without help:).

He has grown quite fond of his pacifiers.  This is my doing really.  He didn't care for them much but, now he is tolerates them a lot more because, I kept encouraging them day in day out...now he requires them for naps and bed time and this is partially why he wakes up several times a night I'm sure.  Way to go me!

He also loves his soft blankets just like his sister did...also my doing but, I have found that babies like having objects to soothe themselves and I am all for that.  As he gets older he will be able to relax and soothe himself in the car, or in bed etc. with his blankets or pacifier and won't require as much from me.  So, the way I see it is it may be hard the first year when I have to put a pacifier back in his mouth repeatedly but, soon enough he will be able to put it in his own mouth and hopefully...fingers crossed, I will get some sleep.

He is bored of all of his toys...all of them.  He wants new things to play with every day so I usually give him empty water bottles, TV remote, or tupperware bowls or lids...anything that I can think of to keep his interest so I can get a chore done without him screaming at me:). lol

His naps are pretty consistent...short and consistent.  He wants his first nap around 9 and it is usually 30-45 minutes tops...second nap is around 12, then 3 ish and then his last nap is hit or miss but, when it works out he likes another short nap around 4:30 or 5.  Every nap is about 30 minutes but, 45 is a good day.....I look forward to when he narrows it down to two longer naps a day...or perhaps this is wishful thinking.

He loves going to bed for the night by 7.  Daisy was never like that but, Bruin wants to, scratch that, needs to be, put down for bed at 7.  It's pretty nice actually.  I swaddle him in my cheap Wal Mart velcro swaddle and he loves it.  (though he has learned to get both arms out after a couple of hours.  Now, he does this every night so we will be ditching the swaddle all together any day now). I lay a blanket next to his cheek and he literally closes his eyes while I am wrapping him.  He also has his pacifier at this point.  I kiss his cheek and say, "It's night night time buddy.  Mommy loves you."  He rolls his cute little brown eyes back in his head...he loves when I kiss his cheeks and tell him goodnight.  It's probably my favorite part of our day just because he loves it so much.   Unfortunately, we pretty much go down hill from there.  BIG sigh.

Since the day Bruin was born he hasn't been a great sleeper and he has never once been a consistent sleeper.  His absolute best stretch ever in 6 months was 7:30-2 AM and he has only done that a grand total of 3 TIMES.  He is killing me...slowly and painfully.  hehe but, not.

Generally he will go to sleep at 7 or so and then wake up around 9 for a pacifier but, sometimes he will go back to sleep on his own after a few short minutes of fussing...just depends on the night.  The problem is that sometimes he just wants the comfort of nursing so he will scream for 30 minutes every single time regardless of a pacifier being stuck back in his mouth.  I don't nurse him at this time anymore but, he will continue to scream.  He is strong willed and stubborn...and LOUD!  And yes, I love him to pieces and he is lucky that I am such a patient mommy. hahaha.

Eventually he goes back to sleep and will proceed to wake up somewhere around these times each and every night: 11:30, 2ish (I usually nurse around this wake up),3ish, 4, 5:30 and generally he wants to be up for good every day by 6ish....it's been a LONG six months in regards to sleep...or lack there of.  Just being honest.  And also being honest, judge all you want.  I am probably responsible for some of this I am sure.  He relies on a pacifier to sleep...strike one.  He wasn't swaddled from birth, strike two

(swaddled from 2.5 months on but, it wasn't soon enough!), he has acid reflux, BIG STRIKE 3, and he has been cutting two teeth since birth...strike FOUR...I was already out at three...so yah.  Whatch gonna do.  Some things I may have done wrong but, some issues just seem to be out of my control like the reflux and teeth.  Hoping that as he nears one, that some of these issues will settle down and improve his sleeping habits.  I've also tried CIO a bit...and after hours of listening to him scream I just can't handle it.  Even as tired as I am, I am not ready for it.

I started him on a reflux medication a week or so ago and it hasn't really improved our sleeping (AT ALL) but, it has decreased our projectile spitting up during the day, night, lessened the colic during some random days and I haven't heard him coughing at night since he started the meds.  I hope he is feeling better too!  I'm sure he was pretty miserable up to this point and I just didn't realize what was going on so I am happy that we are now doing something to help him.

I know that his early teething and cutting of his first two teeth has been just as big of a hindrance.  He is MISERABLE a lot of the time.  He rubs his face all day long, drools, cries, bites things etc.  Poor boo boo.

He wears size 9 months and 12 months clothing but, mostly 12 months in everything except shorts and pants.  I think Daisy was wearing strictly 9 months at this age so he is a tad larger.  He wears size 3 diapers.  We haven't worn shoes yet so I couldn't tell you what size his cute little piggies are at this point.  I got him a couple of pairs of baby mocs from an online sale a while ago.  Can't wait for him to wear them this winter:).

He has a check up in a couple of days so I will have to update his weight but, at his reflux appointment a few weeks ago he was 17 pounds 12 ounces.  Healthy, happy baby boy!  At his six month checkup he was 18 pounds 2 ounces!  And that was considered average weight for his age! lol.   He is also very long!  I'm forgetting now what he was but, they were surprised by how long he is.  Maybe he will be my tall kiddo?

He doesn't appear to have separation anxiety yet which has been SO nice!  Daisy had SA from the time she was 3 weeks old...I'm not kidding.  Somehow she just knew who had her and if it wasn't me all she would do is cry.  Bru doesn't seem to care too much though he will look for me if someone else holds him lately.  We will see how things go in this area.

Bruin looks mostly like his Daddy and I think most people would agree but, what I hear all the time is, "he looks JUST LIKE DAISY." Yes, I know.  He is going to have brown eyes as well. So, I guess I've had another kiddo who doesn't really resemble me much at all.  Daisy sort of has my hair and color...maybe.  lol  Evidently Dad has some strong genes because they both look like Daddy:).

Bruin is just so boy.  He throws things, shrieks loudly all the time, gets mad, kicks and swings strong, is determined and so energetic.

What I adore most about Bruin is that I can get him to laugh probably better than anyone...at this point.  We have our special mommy-son bond and I love it.  I know how to get him to calm down, to giggle and to go to sleep.  Those are the priceless joys that I get to enjoy for all of the hours I spend tending to him, walking around the house with him and entertaining him:).  I love making him smile.  I love seeing his eyes turn up in happiness.  I love the way he brushes my face with his chubby hand when I lean my face into his.  I love the way he tugs on my hair (even when it hurts).  I really do love having a son.  It's so different and so awesome to see a sister and a brother interact.  I love having more blue, green, red, grey and orange in the house.  I love the boy toys.  It's fun!

It's SO much messier, more exhausting some days and so much nosier...



But, it's worth it.  It really is.

Happy six months my darling son.  Your mommy is simply smitten with you.  I pray that you continue to grow in strength and full of the love of Christ.  May the Lord guide you and mold your heart all the days of your blessed life.  You are loved.  You are treasured.

xoxo,
Mommy