Somebody’s been in this world for half a year! Luke recently turned 6 months old (I’m a little behind on these updates so he’s actually 6.5 months already) and we are loving this stage. Gone is the newborn who was content to sit in his bouncy chair and stare at the teddy bears hanging in front of him. This boy wants to move! He’s turned into a curious baby who wants to see, touch, and taste everything.
Growth/Development
His biggest accomplishment in the last month is learning to sit up independently. He looks like such a big boy sitting up!
He also is ready to crawl. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth, but doesn’t have the movement down yet.
I hope he takes his time learning to crawl; this is one milestone I’m not anxious for him to achieve. We’ve got lots of baby proofing to do around here. Meghan’s got so many toys with small parts and pieces that need to be put up to where curious little hands can’t reach.
Although he isn’t crawling yet, Luke can get around. He does a combination scoot/creep/roll if there is a toy out of reach that he wants. Of course the toys he wants the most are not the baby toys I put in front of him, but instead whatever his sister has. Meghan is patient with him so far, but it should be interesting when he is crawling and can really attempt to take her toys.
At his 6 month check up, which we went to a week early because of our vacation, Luke was 20 pounds, 10 ounces and 30.25 inches long. He moved up from the 85th percentile to the 95th percentile for weight and is off the charts for his height. At less than 6 months, he surpassed where his sister was at one year!
He is outgrowing all of his 12 month clothing–it’s kind of insane! It’s been so hot, though, he’s happy hanging out in his diaper a lot.
He was quickly outgrowing his infant car seat, too, so we switched him to a convertible seat (rear-facing, of course). He was getting too heavy to carry around in the infant seat, anyway.
Feeding
Luke is going strong with breastfeeding. I’m still on my dairy, soy, wheat, and nut-free diet. His pediatrician advised me to start adding back in foods between 8-9 months, so I’m praying when I do he’ll have outgrown his intolerances.
He is now eating solids two times a day right now and it is going well.
Due to his sensitive digestive system and food intolerances, we’re taking it slow. So far he’s tried summer squash (possible fail), carrots (possible fail), pear, and avocado. This week we’ll introduce peaches. I’m making his food for him like I did for Meghan. I prefer to know exactly what is going into his food, plus more nutrients are retained since the manufactured baby food has to be heated at such high temperatures.
We also give him water with his solids to help prevent constipation. He’s doing well with the sippy cup. I haven’t been able to find a non-plastic age-appropriate sippy cup yet, so I had to settle for a BPA-free plastic one. I’ll let you know if I find something that is non-plastic that works.
Sleep
While he is still waking two times during the night, his naps have gotten consistently better. I’m working on coming up with a plan to get him to sleep better at night because he eats better at night than during the day. That’s not good!
After waking for the day at 6 am, he goes down for his first nap at 8am. This nap usually ends between 9:30-10:00. Two hours after waking, he goes down for nap #2, which also lasts between 1 1/2-2 hours. He takes a third catnap of about 45 minutes-1 hour to get him through until bedtime, which is between 6-7 pm.
Mama
As for me, at 6 months postpartum, I am at my pre-pregnancy weight. That’s not to say my body looks exactly the same, but I’m happy to at least be at the weight I was before being pregnant. I still have the little baby pooch, but luckily that can be easily concealed with tops that are loose in the stomach area.
My fitness routine has gotten really inconsistent. I feel like I need something to train for or some sort of program to do to keep me accountable. Unfortunately, when I tried to train for a race it resulted in me being overtired and problems with clogged milk ducts and mastitis. I’m going to be searching for a happy medium so I can exercise regularly without overdoing it. Despite my exercise routine being irregular right now, I do stay active as a mom.
As I was searching for pictures of me to use for this post (I have so few to choose from!), I found this one that I think sums up how I feel these days:
Tired! I’m not complaining. This is the stage of life I’m in and I think being tired comes with the territory. And all the joy that comes with motherhood is totally worth the lack of sleep. Just don’t ask me if I feel that way at 3am.
I can’t believe he is 6 months!! Time flies!! He is so cute, and such beautiful eyes! Keep up the good work! 🙂
Maryea, I hear you on days at the park. I’m dreaming of the days when I can bring a magazine, or even a book and sit on the bench while they play!
Luke is adorable! He reminds me of Drew with his size! Superbaby!
he is such a beautiful baby!
off topic but i re-pinned so many kitchen ideas from your pinterest this morning, you and i have the same taste!
Luke is such a cutie!! By the way, you might want to check this out as an alternative to the plastic sippy: http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Sippy-Straw-Bottle-Blue/dp/B002DND57M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341887345&sr=8-1&keywords=safe+sippy+2
It can be used either like a sippy or with a straw attachment that is included. My son surprised me by preferring the straw over the sippy style. I think I bought it when he was around 8 months old. He would drink from it as a sippy if I tipped it and held it for him but he just wasn’t getting the idea of using it himself. On a whim I put the straw attachment in and he loved it and was using it by himself in no time. He’s almost 17 months now and still using it. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you for the link! That looks like a good one. I have some stainless steel straw sippies for Meghan that I tried with Luke but he wasn’t getting it. But the one you showed me looks like it would work better for this younger age.
Gosh he is so adorable. You are doing a great job. I know it is extra hard with the food issues but you will make it through. Squeeze those cute kids. they grow way too fast!
OMGosh…..could Luke be any more adorable!!! We miss you all…
What a big guy! He is too adorable 😀 I love this phase, where they can sit but not too mobile yet. That changes too fast!
He is so big! I hope he does better when you start reintroducing foods .. for both of your sakes! Good luck with finding your perfect workout routine – I know you will find it!
he is so cute 🙂
and he does look like he is quite tall alright!!
Beautiful big boy you have!
He is so darn cute, love this stage and the way babies are so cute and chunky. I can’t believe it;s been over 6 months since you had him, wow!
I just finished reading up on your 38 weeks post too. I am due on the 19th, 10 more days! I just can’t believe it now that I am close. I went from wanting her out last week, to wanting her to stay in this week. Still some stuff to wrap up!
I can’t imagine how hard your diet has been without dairy, soy and gluten. I hope that when you reintroduce those food items again that he will do MUCH better.
Thanks for the update!
You look great! I’m 32 weeks pregnant right now with my 2nd child, and I’m of course enjoying pregnancy, but looking forward to the day when baby is here and I can start to exercise a little more vigorously than I do when I’m pregnant. I love to feel strong and fit, and right now I just feel pregnant! 🙂
What a cutie!!!
What a cute baby! He looks like such a sweetie. I love the picture of you yawning … keepin’ it real 🙂 You look great though. Love your posts!
I love the tent picture! He does look big, Emily has always been at 75% or better in her growth charts. People are always guessing her to be older, I guess you will be going through the same with Luke.
I have a feeling all of your lives will change when he starts to really crawl- because I bet walking won’t be far behind. What an absolute doll!!! ….Outgrowing 12 month clothes already? Just shows that you never know what to expect as a mama. I’m so glad that he is healthy and happy and that your family is doing so well!
Since you are gluten free right now, have you come up with a good gluten free bread recipe? Your baby is sure adorable!