Grayson and his zebra

His poor zebra is shrinking :)

Six Months

Six months old. I can't hardly believe it. Already half way to one! I would be crying if it wasn't so much fun to see him learning new things all of the time.

Milestones and Firsts...

• He takes his bottles at daycare like a champ! Yay! And he isn't picky about which bottle either. He is still exclusively on breast milk - bottles at daycare and breastfed with me. Still going strong and very proud :)
• He sat in a shopping cart for the first time a few weeks ago.

• He also sat in a high chair at a restaurant for the first time a few days ago. He loves it and wants to grab everything off the table.

• And one more first - lots of "firsts" going on right now - first time he slept on his tummy. He must have rolled over in the middle of the night. This is how Nick and I found him in the morning, snoozing away:

• He wants to crawl SO BAD! He gets up onto his knees and has been since just after his 5 month birthday. He can scoot pretty far. In the past few days, he has started getting up onto his arms better. He almost crawled off the exam table at the doctor on Monday - the doctor was surprised. She recommended baby proofing the house right away and lowering his crib. 

Video of his army/scooting crawl:

• He figured out how to jump after a couple times in his jumper and he absolutely loves it! 

Video in his Graco Bumper Jumper:

• He swings his toys around and still loves to grab everything in sight, especially our faces and hair. He also hits the table with his hands. Time to get him a drum set.
• He loves to talk. He is putting together consonants and vowels now. He says "wa, wa", "ba" and "ma." He also squeals and does a grunting sound. He loves to hear himself ;) He is very aware of where sounds are coming from. He turns his head in the correct direction to see what the noise or voice is. He also knows his name. 
• He blows bubbles a lot and drools all day long. He wears bibs still anyways because that pesky spit up is still happening.
• He loves to watch what everyone is doing around him. He is so curious. The other night Nick was eating nuts out of a jar. Grayson would follow his hand into the jar and then up to watch Dad put it in his mouth. He did that over and over and over. He was cracking us up!

• He is laughing more and more. Sometimes just a certain look from me will crack him up. Those are some of my favorite moments, watching him enjoy life so much. He is such a happy baby. A few of our friends who see his pictures on FB and who hang out with us on the weekends swear he never cries. Of course he does, but he has them fooled :)
• He sits up well, but he still needs support. I usually sit him in the Boppy for practice. They do the same at his daycare with a flatter Boppy-like pillow. I also have him practice with no support and help him when he gets wobbly. I think part of the reason he is unstable is that he likes to move so much and would rather hold onto his toys than hold himself up with his hands.

• Solids are going okay. He had rice cereal for several weeks and now he has oatmeal, just once a day. He does great with the oatmeal - he opens his mouth for the spoon and really enjoys it. He has also tried sweet potatoes, apples, peas and bananas but he seems to spit up more when he tried those so I don't continue them. I am not in a big hurry so we are taking our time. I also gave him a big piece of avocado and a piece of zucchini. He wasn't a huge fan of the avocado, but he gnawed on the zucchini for a while. Once his new high chair arrives, I am going to start giving him more table foods.

Other tidbits about being 6 months old...

• He cracks up laughing when Apollo or the kitties are nearby. Apollo is getting more and more friendly with him and wants to lick his hands and face. The kitties will let him pet them, but he tends to grab their fur and pull so we are working on "gentle" already. Now that he is "crawling", he goes straight to Apollo. It melts my heart!

• He is sleeping through the night about 50% of the time. The other nights he wakes up once to eat. And when he is badly congested and coughing from a cold, he is up three times or more at night. He naps two or three times a day. Boy, does he fight those naps!!!
• His hair is still getting thicker and longer.
• His eyes are still a dark blueish/gray with some green toward the center. I am wondering if they will stay this color. The pedi said it's possible and she would call them hazel, like mine, at this point.
• He is wearing mostly 9 month clothes.
• He is wearing size 3 diapers now.
• He weighs 16 lbs 11oz (50th percentile) and is measuring 26 inches long (25th percentile)

I miss you every day at work, baby boy. I wish I could spend every single minute of every single day with you. You are our everything and we love you SO MUCH.

"Before you were born I carried you under my heart.  From the moment you arrived in this world until the moment I leave it, I will always carry you in my heart." Mandy Harrison

xoxo,
Megan

This is why I am happy that I blog...

I love to look back and reminisce. It's one of my favorite things to do.

One year ago today, I graduated from the RE. I remember that day so well. I called my Mom after the appointment to tell her every little detail about the ultrasound and how baby didn't fit on the screen any longer. I remember buying those first pair of maternity pants. I remember all of the very specific things I was in the mood to eat. I remember the anticipation of feeling the baby move for the first time. I love going back to old blog posts and reading them.

I can't believe that a year later, I have a 5 1/2 month old baby boy. Life is crazy.

Breastfeeding Update

I am half way through month five of breastfeeding. I look back and wonder how I made it through that first month. It was so damn hard for me in the beginning. The engorgement. Grayson losing weight. The burning pain. Learning to use my pump. I was so ready to give up, but Nick and my Mom wouldn't let me. They kept pushing me and I'm so grateful they did. Because now I cannot imagine anything else. The bond I have with Grayson is amazing and it feels so rewarding to be growing my son.

After his morning nursing session, he rolls onto his back after he is done and gives me a giant smile. I imagine he is saying "thanks for breakfast, Mom!"

Every night before bed, I nurse Grayson to sleep in our glider. It's peaceful and quiet, and just him and me. He takes his little hand and strokes my arm while he nurses. I wish moments like that would never end.

He gives my life a whole new meaning. I feel complete.


xoxo,
Megan

Working Mom

 First time in a shopping cart!

I made it through the first week of work. Thankfully, it was only three days last week. On the first day, I cried as soon as I pulled up to his daycare and then I cried again when I handed him to the teacher. And a little bit at work too. I really wanted to drive back home and snuggle with my baby boy, but I knew I couldn't do that. I am working so we can move into a big house in a fantastic neighborhood with great schools. I am working so we can give Grayson a great life. I am working so we can take him to see the world. Daycare is good for him too. He is socializing with other babies, learning to be independent and he really loves his daycare. It would be different if he was crying and upset, but he's not. He happily goes to any of his teachers, plays with all the toys and takes his bottles like a champ. He makes his Momma proud :) Plus I go visit around lunch time and breast feed him.

What I do hate is pumping. Oh my gosh, do I hate pumping. Breastfeeding is wonderful and I love it so much. Pumping is completely different. It gives me anxiety because I feel like I am not getting enough milk for him. They tell me that sometimes 5 ounces doesn't seem like enough for one feeding, that he fusses when he finishes. And he is eating every two hours! I keep pumping, even on the weekend, and continue feeding him on demand when he is with me. I'm trying to keep my supply plentiful so I stop stressing about it. I also hope that the solid foods will help keep him full. He has had several weeks of rice cereal and this week he is starting on apples. I am determined to give him breast milk until he is a year old because I know how wonderful it is for him. But this pumping is going to be the death of me. Anything for you, Grayson!

On a better note, our house is SOLD!!! All contingencies have been removed and our buyer is scheduled to close on January 16th, although their bank may push that date back a bit because of the holidays last month. We'll see. Either way, we have 3 days after the close of escrow to move out. We started packing and got a storage unit already, and started moving stuff this past weekend. We are SO excited to get out of there. We are looking at houses all the time and have a backup offer on one we really, really love. Problem is someone else really, really loved it too and we missed it by an hour. An hour! We are the first back up, but we aren't holding our breath. The perfect house is out there. In the meantime, we will be living with my parents and saving more money.

One thing I try to always remember amidst the chaos: family comes first and cleaning comes last :)

xoxo,
Megan