Speaking of blessings, on John Parker's 6 month birthday, he was gifted with a brand new baby cousin, Gage Chandler Shehan. My sister had a beautiful pregnancy and at 39 weeks, she delivered Gage by scheduled CSection (which has been MUCH better than the emergency one she had the first time around). I know that John Parker and Gage will be best buddies and it's so cool that they will be so close in age throughout life - hitting all the major milestones virtually together :) I can't wait to see them grow as cousins and friends! Gage weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce (almost 1/2 pound bigger than John Parker's birthweight) but he seems SOOOOO small. You truly forget how small newborn babies are, and as "petite" as John Parker is, he seems like a monster compared to his little baby counterpart! It's amazing to think that in a few years, it will be hard to tell who is older!
We went to the pediatrician for John Parker's well check and shots on Thursday, and he did remarkably well! Right after his shots, he was crying, yet simultaneously smiling at the nurse through those big crocodile tears. It was precious how quickly he forgave her! Since we have still been having sleep issues (night waking at least 3-4 times a night most nights for about a month) we brought it up again, wondering if his regular doctor had any suggestions. She was satisfied that we are doing all we can do for the reflux and teething issues and told us we might want to try a little sleep training due to the fact that he never seems in pain when he wakes. All we have to do is put the pacifier back in and he goes right back to sleep, so there is no reason to think he's suffering.
Last night was the first night we committed to the method she suggested - every time he cried out, we waited 5 minutes before we went in his room and put his paci in. He woke up 3 times, at 130am, 430am, and 530am. Twice he fussed the whole 5 minutes and immediately went back to sleep when John put his paci in, but at 430 he put himself back to sleep in 4 minutes. We will try 7 minutes tonight and see how it goes. It was SOOO hard to lay there and hear him whimper for 5 minutes. It seemed like a lifetime! Hopefully this will help him get better rest, and trust me, it won't hurt my feelings to get a little more sleep either!
Some 6 Month Updates:
Weight - 15 pounds 14 ounces (20th percentile)
Length - 26 inches (25th percentile)
Head - 17 inches (58th percentile)
Eating - stage 2 fruit + 3 tbsp oatmeal at 1130; stage 2 veggie + 2-3 tbsp rice at 630; milk at 8am (nurses), 11am (4oz of breastmilk), 3pm (7oz of breastmilk), 6pm (nurses), 845pm (7oz of breastmilk)
*On days I'm off work he nurses at all feedings except bedtime.
Sleeping - 9pm - 730 or 8am (has been night waking since beach vacation at 5 months old - usually 3-4 times a night and goes back to sleep with pacifier)
Napping - 1 hour in morning (10-11am) 1-2 hours in afternoon (1-
2 or 3pm) and 45 minutes-1 hour in evening (4-5pm) with a catnap occasionally in evening around 630 or 7pm.
Milestones - Blowing raspberries, rolling over both ways to get to objects of interest (semi-mobile), sitting alone, getting into "crawling" position and trying to propel forward, scooting a few inches on belly, saying "da-da" (even when I beg him to say "ma-ma" :), moving objects from one hand to another, taking out pacifier and putting it back in (or finding it and putting it in), riding in cart with cart cover and sitting in high chairs at restaurants
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| Sitting Alone |
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| Riding in the cart at Target - trying to play with his feet :) |
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| Attempting to be mobile! |
He's had a great month and is very happy during the day. Our vacation a month ago really got him off his night sleep schedule (even though we TRIED so hard to keep him on his home schedule), and with the worsening reflux and the possible teething, he hasn't slept well all month, and I think he has now gotten in a bad habit of waking up during the night for "comfort". Hopefully, now that we know his reflux is under control, we can help him learn to "self-soothe" when he wakes at night and go back to sleep without our help. It's been difficult to accept the sleep issues because he had been sleeping so well (10-11 hours straight) prior to our family vacation, and I just kept thinking it was going to resolve on its own. We are still hoping to get that back!
He is bundle of smiles and laughs and I LOVE being around him. I can't wait to see him when I'm working and I look forward to my days off every week. My only hope is that time will SLOOOWWW down a bit - but I don't think that will happen - so in the meantime, I'm trying to relish in every single moment.
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