1/2 birthday - 6 months old

dear miles,
i cannot believe that my sweet little boy is 1/2 year old today. i am excited we have all made it this far. it is amazing how much you have changed in the past 6 months. you have packed on almost 12 pounds and grown 8 inches! at your 6month checkup this past wednesday you weighed 17lbs 7oz and were 27in long with a head circumference of 17.5 inches. your weight is 80th percentile (a far cry from the 3rd percentile you started in!!) and your length and head are 90th percentile...this means you are a big baby! you are also the sweetest baby i have ever known, giving out lots of smiles and rarely crying.

eat
you are still breastfeeding but this month we also started you on some solid foods! we started with rice cereal which you thought was ok, then moved to sweet potatoes which you grew to enjoy, and then bananas which have been your absolute favorite so far. next came green beans which you do not seem to care for just yet. you usually eat around 3am, 6am, and then drink a bottle while i am at work, then eat several times throughout the afternoon/evening. i usually try to give you solid foods around 7pm so we can just drop you right in the bath afterwards.

sleep
you generally go to sleep for the night sometime between 7.30-8.30pm. you are still waking up one or two times at night around midnite and/or 4am, and waking up for the day around 7-8am. i am annoyed by the time change because this used to be 8-9am, which is preferable to 7am! the doctor says you are ok for a couple more weeks but then we will need to start working on getting you to sleep through the night with no snacking. when you are ready to go to sleep we just lay you in your bed, you scrunch up and fall asleep. sometimes you talk to yourself for awhile. we play your noise machine on rainfall and sometimes turn on your boats or seahorse so you can listen to the music as you fall asleep. if you are not wanting to go to sleep just yet, you roll over to your back and giggle. if i roll you back, you just keep flipping over until i give up or you get so tired you decide it will be ok to go to sleep. you still take 1-2 morning naps and 2-3 afternoon naps as well, usually about 1hr each, with an hour play time in between.

9 things about you this month
1. you have started using your hands to grab things. you love to touch faces, especially when daddy has a beard. you also love to hold your toys, but you are so uncoordinated...sometimes you start crying out of frustration
2. you love to suck on your fingers. occasionally your thumb, but usually your middle and ring finger together are your fingers of choice. sometimes all 4 fingers make it in there. if you get upset you will usually soothe yourself by popping those 2 fingers in your mouth and looking around.
3. you looove your jumper. you go crazy jumping around in that thing.
4. you are so intrigued by your puppies and cat...anytime they are in the room walking around, your head swivels around watching them intently wherever they are going.
5. you like for me to read books to you. you enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to my voice. your favorite book right now is called "thats not my puppy" and it's a touch and feel book. whenever i pick it up your hand immediately pop up and your fingers start feeling the hairy dog on the cover. if i set the book down, you will crane your neck down to continue staring at the bright red cover.
6. you are really into squealing or screeching or some terrible noise that you have learned you can make. we are hoping this is a fad that will fade soon. sometimes you make it when you are upset but often you make it just to make it.
7. some of your favorite things are still your faves...the boat mobile and baths topping the list.
8. this month you went to a volleyball game and to gattiland with my team, watched your daddy play tennis, went to a pumpkin patch with your aunties, went hiking at turkey creek, went to college station to see family, dressed up as a ghostie for halloween, got your first cold, found a new doctor, and almost got to see pete sampras play tennis but instead got completely soaked in a rainstorm.
9. you are kind of shy. at home you laugh, giggle, smile, and tell us what is on your mind. but when we are around other people you mostly just stare intently at them with your big blue eyes and poker face.

From sweetberry 1

solid food

miles is not quite 6 months old but he seems to be very hungry, can sit and hold his head up well, and is obsessed with people eating food. seriously, if he's crying i can just start eating something and he will stop and stare. most recently, i was sitting in the recliner with miles, my laptop, and a sandwich. he was just chillaxin with me and all the sudden as i brought the sandwich up towards my mouth, two tiny hands reached up and grabbed the sandwich and tried to bring it towards a tiny mouth!

considering all this plus the rumor that solid food can help babies with reflux to sleep longer periods of time, i was anxious to let miles try out some solid food. on monday oct 26 when ross got home from work we decided to let miles try out some rice cereal. he seemed fairly interested and very willing to open his mouth and swallow. on tuesday he also seemed interested. on wednesday he got a cold and so i held off giving him any. on thursday i gave him room temperature rice cereal and he totally freaked out! he absolutely hated it and would not eat it or even close his mouth. i haven't given him any since because of his cold, i felt like he had enough going on his body that i didn't want him to have to worry about the cereal. now he's starting to feel better though and i have my eye on the sweet potatoes i bought for him! i will be sure to warm them up though.

here is how miles felt for the first bites of rice cereal....



and here is how miles feels about room temperature rice cereal!!