Dax – at 6 Months.

by Vicki

 

Its hard to believe that my baby boy is already 6 months old. How is it possible that he’s already been in our lives for half of a year? We are so in love with him and (I know this is cliché but) we can’t imagine our lives without him. Here is a small snapshot into our little boy at 6 months.

Growing: The last time he was weighed was at 4 months and he was 15.9lbs. His next appointment is the first week of September and I’m sure he will be closer to 20lbs now! This past month he popped two teeth (well, the second is still working on popping but we can feel that it is there). He was relatively happy during this process and only had one day of prolonged crankiness due to these teeth. He has been drooling like crazy though!

Eating: Up to this point he has been solely breastfed. He is feeding at least 5 times a day and still twice at night (insert a crying emoji here!). On his 6 month birthday we fed him some rice cereal for the first time. He did pretty good! He ate about 7 spoonfuls and (although he moved it around his mouth with his tongue quite a bit) he swallowed most of what he tried!

On the Move: he has been rolling from both his front and back for a couple of months now. He is starting to get up on his knees and hands and rocking – he definitely wants to be on the move. He does use his rolling to get from one place to the other and can turn himself around (360 degrees) if toys are out of reach.

Sitting: we have been practicing sitting and he is able to sit on his own for about 1 minute (but he is totally folded over and it makes me nervous). We are working on it…. He has been using his bumbo lately and loves it. He loves to sit in it while I am cooking or while we are eating supper. He sat in his high chair for the first time yesterday and loved that as well. He is such a social baby that he just loves to be around us so that he can join in on whatever we are doing.

Playtime: he plays for at least 1 hour every day in his playpen on his own. He loves manipulating toys and putting them in his mouth. He loves peek-a-boo, tickles, being sung to, and funny faces. He is always ready to interact with his parents or siblings and finds us all quite funny. He still happily spends time in his swing and bouncy chair. We are hoping to pull out his exersaucer soon – I think he will love it. He has spent a bit of time in his jumper – but I have to be extra cautious as the big kids think it’s a swing to push him in. He laughs when they do this, but I worry! He loves the water and enjoyed splashing at the beach this summer. He also loves to play in the bath and I have a hard time taking him out because of his giggles, splashes, and smiles.

Sleeping: Dax is definitely my worst sleeper. He is not sleeping through the night and is waking to nurse at least two times a night. I am tired. I am hoping that a meal of rice cereal before bed will help him to feel full for longer. Maybe we can do a four or (*gasp*) five hour sleep stretch in the near future (oh, please let it be so!).

Personality: Dax is such a happy baby. He is always ready to give big smiles and belly laughs. He is very social and is always looking to make eye contact with whoever is around – random people in the grocery store, cashiers, people at the park, and his family. He does use his voice to let us know if he needs anything and will “fake” cry (make moaning or whining noises) while looking at me to get my attention. As soon as I look at him he cracks a big smile (as if to say, “Nothing wrong momma! Just want you to pay attention to me!”). Everywhere we go we get comments on his adorable dimples, his big blue eyes, and his cheeky smile.

Miscellaneous: –

1. We started on Dax’s nursery (which you can read about here) this month. We are working on it again a bit today and hope to have it done in September. He is officially sleeping during for most of the night in his room and is no longer co-sleeping with us.
2. Dax went camping for his first (two) times in the past couple of months. He is an excellent camper and didn’t really let the change of location affect him at all. He was still happy, he ate normally, and he slept the same as he did at home.
3. He has attended more sporting events than his older siblings combined and has cheered on both the Blue Jays and the Tiger Cats this summer. He finds these crowds pretty exciting. At the Tiger Cats game this past week he created quite the raucous as fans surrounding our seats couldn’t leave him alone. He was getting high-fived, fist bumped, tickled and complimented on his eyes, smiles, and dimples the entire game.
4. His siblings adore him. They cannot leave him alone. He is constantly being kisses, hugged, tickled, cuddled, and played with. He loves the attention (although one big brother does worry him sometimes as he gets love squished).
5. He was dedicated two months ago and we are thankful that we could present him to the LORD and promise to raise him to know his Saviour. We love our church family and are so thankful that they could make the promise to support us (and him) in this as well.

We love our Dax!

We had a little “Half Birthday Party” for Dax yesterday. Complete with half donuts and a little present. We I love making special occasions out of every event!

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Sooooo, Baby-Led Weaning. Yes? No? Thoughts? Katie did Baby-Led Weaning with both of her kiddos and they are great eaters now! I found it very stressful watching her kids eat and would cringe every time they gagged (which they are supposed to do!). Katie was so calm and easy with them! I am so old-school with my feeding methods: pablum, purees, nursing/bottles, and no chunks until as late as possible! I’d love to know your thoughts and best baby feeding practices!