This month passed by in a blur of sickness, doctor’s visits and more doctor’s visits…and here I was thinking that things would slow down after the holidays! Who was I kidding? Myself, apparently. Since I’m already late enough, let’s get right to it!
Stats – Weight/Height, etc: I blame the lateness on this post on my inability to remember the official stats from the doctor’s office…but really, that’s not a good excuse. And now, don't you know, I can't find the blasted sheet! I know that his weight was 17 lbs. 2 oz., but couldn't even guess on the height and head measurements. Rats! But I do know that although our actual stats changed, our overall percentages did not change – we’re still middle of the road, right where we need to be until you get to our honkin’ huge head! (Yep, still at 95th percentile on that one!) People keep assuring me that his head isn’t that big. I keep telling people that they need to learn to lie better. If you’re not a good liar (like me) then you just shouldn’t attempt to do it (also like me…most of the time!).
Bedtime: 7:30-8:00…yes, I’m trying to push it back a little bit earlier. But to be honest (see above about my bad lying skills) we start our bedtime routine at this time, not actually put him down for the night. Our bedtime routine includes bath time, getting dressed in our jammies (with lots of tickles and laughs from mom and dad), bedtime bottle and then his breathing treatment (for now). All of that starts sometime between 7:30 and 8:00 and takes about 30-45 minutes. This is starting to take longer as Jax becomes more and more enamored with the bath time part of the routine…which is why it got moved up a bit on the schedule.
“Wake Up!” time: Jax still wakes up around 6:30am on most days. On weekends, I have discovered that if I immediately give him a small bottle (4 oz) then I can get another hour to hour and a half of sleep out of him…that’s if he doesn’t poop right away upon awakening. If that happens, all bets are off! He’s still his happiest right after waking up in the morning…all grins and giggles for this guy!
Naps: We’re down to three naps a day…which can last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, or longer if I’m really, really, super-duper lucky. Usually two of the naps are on the shorter side, and then one of them will be longer. I like having the longer nap in the evenings during the week, since that’s when I’m trying to get dinner ready or eat my own dinner…but Jax doesn’t always cooperate with me. One time this month, during the height of his sickness, he slept for almost two hours in his crib…I checked on him repeatedly that second hour…just to make sure he was still breathing. Two hour naps are definitely NOT the norm around here!
Bottles: We can’t seem to move up from 6 ounce bottles, so we’re staying right there for now since giving him more in a bottle is just a waste of money as he won't drink it. Every once in a while, he is dropping one of the day time bottles, but it’s so sporadic that I don’t count it yet. Right now our schedule is something close to 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm and 2-3am. Yes, we’re hanging onto that last nighttime feeding with all that we’ve got!
Meals/Solids: Jax started taking some solid foods at day care this month…I just marked fruits and veggies for them to try only, no pasta or breads. I figured that since I knew that he would take those foods in baby food form, I was safe letting them try to give it to him in small, mashed up bites. So far, he’s not that interested in doing anything with it other than playing with it and making a mess…but the day care wanted to try it and I was willing to let them. I mean, it’s not me cleaning that mess up, right?
At home, he’s still just taking baby food and formula, but I’m going to transition him to Stage 2 foods as soon as we finish the Stage 1 foods that are on our pantry shelf…I’m pretty sure that he’s ready for a little thicker food. He’s gotten the hang of eating in the high chair and readily opens his mouth (like a little birdie) to be fed. He still takes 2 Tbsp of cereal mixed with fruit and juice in the mornings…and we introduced puffs and yogurt melt-aways as snacks this past month.
New Foods: Oops! Jumped the gun, didn’t I? Oh well…I already said that he’s starting to take some truly solid foods. And Brent gave him his first French fry the other night “just to see”…once again, he played with it more than anything. He might have gotten a little piece of it in his mouth, but I seriously doubt it.
Developmental Milestones and “Firsts”: Jax can completely sit on his own now! This is the biggest change for us, and opens up a whole new door on toys and such.
He can easily sit for 10-15 minutes at a time entertaining himself with toys within his reach…allowing us time to do important things like: use the bathroom, sweep the floor, run the vacuum, fold some laundry or play a hand of solitaire on our phones... you know, important stuff! After about 10 minutes, he prefers to have someone sitting close by…and this is where the older kids come in handy! Jax is still totally enamored with big brother and sister…they’re his favorite "toy!"
Even though he can sit on his own now, he will still topple over if he gets too excited about something. Like when he does his “arm dancing” thing…or if he decides that he would like to try to eat his foot while sitting. Luckily, we’ve learned the hard way to leave a blanket behind him “just in case” and the bumps from falling over are a bit easier to handle and soothe!
Since he’s sitting so well, we’re starting to spend more time with him in the bath tub out of his infant sling…actually sitting in the tub (with our hands always close by) and he’s learning how to splash the water. He doesn’t do it on his own yet, but he will start splashing once you show him it's done. Think arm dancing in the tub…which is why it’s important for a hand to always be close by. It’s also a good idea to lower the water level just a bit once he comes out of the sling…just useful tips that we’ve discovered the hard way!
Jax’s babbling continues on…and on and on. He can out-babble any baby - I’ll put him up to the challenge any day of the week. And if he thinks that he might lose? He’ll just up the volume a little bit, if you don’t mind. Heck, he’ll do it even if you mind. Like when he’s telling you something really important to him and you talk over his babble, effectively ignoring the baby speak…watch out, cover your ears, it’s gonna get loud! I told Brent not to complain about this new trick, as it was likely Brent who taught him to do that. He denied it, but only until I reminded him of how he handles Jax's crying in the car...yep, you guessed it, he turns the radio up. I suppose Jax thinks that if it works to make him be quiet, maybe turning up his own babble volume will work to quiet us down? LOL!
Brent swears that he’s saying “Mama” these days, but I don’t count it yet. He only says it when he cries and it’s just a repeated sound…NOT the real thing.
Favorite Toys: Jax’s favorite toy right now is his Exer-saucer. Our favorite toy is also the Exer-saucer.
When he’s not sitting, he makes little effort towards crawling – he just wants to stand. And once he stands, he wants to bounce. Which gets tiring after a while, but might be the only form of exercise that I get on some days! Enter the bouncing Exer-saucer. Can I just say "Life Saver" and leave it at that?
He also enjoys anything that he can knock over…the stacking rings, stackable blocks, or anything that Mommy is trying to work on.
His second favorite toy? Anything that he can chew on. This list should include: toys, clothes, hands, other people’s fingers, Mom and Dad’s shirts, and if they would just stretch a little bit more...his own feet. He puts everything into his mouth and drools through about 2-3 bibs/outfits per day. Teeth have to be coming soon…or else we might drown!
Like I said earlier, this month was more challenging than some due to the pesky, never-ending ear infections that we were plagued with. And I use the word “we” most appropriately – maybe Brent and I didn’t have the actual ear ache that Jax had to deal with, but dealing with a baby with an ear ache? Yeah, we all suffered. Every single one of us!
Even dealing with all of that, there were still high points during the month…good times to cherish and remember forever as this stationary stage passes so quickly. Jax is getting such a little personality, and it’s starting to show in little bits and pieces…in the words of Jenna: “It’s cool now because he does more than just eat, sleep, cry and poop.”
Here’s to a healthier seventh month in our future…
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