Six of One, Half a Dozen Another

This one is hard you guys. There's something about six months that feels more important, even epic. I guess it's the half of a year thing. I had a friend growing up who LOVED her half birthday. I don't really remember thinking of myself as 14 and a half, but gosh, she sure loved April 8. I still think about her every year on her half birthday. Tuesday was Garrison's half birthday and I felt like I could just lay in bed all day long and cry and hold him, except he's 6 months old and he doesn't want to lay in bed all day with his mama, which of course made me want to cry more. But whatever, six months has arrived. Let's face the music.

Nicknames: Bupsie, Goobsie, Little Butt, Bubba, Fussy Butt.

Heyyyyy mom.

Stats: 14 lbs 6 oz and 25 inches long…he basically grew exactly 1 inch and gained 1 pound in a month. I had a momentary panic attack as this growth rate is less than half of what it was a month ago, but I guess this is pretty typical??? Once I actually plotted the numbers on the chart I saw that he's between the 2nd and 5th percentile lines for both height and weight…basically where he was last month too. So while it wasn't a large growth month, he's not falling off the chart. Counting our blessings. He moved into size 2 disposable diapers last weekend and he's still in size 3-6 month clothes.

Eating: I thought I was going to write the exact same dadgum thing as last month and the month before, but I think he's hit a bit a of a growth spurt, or at least he seems a bit hungrier. He's eating 5 oz for most of his bottles. I know, I know...epic news. Up from 4.5 oz. He really keeps me on my toes.

We haven't started solids yet. My plan was to start at six months, but everything I read says that to start solids they really need to be able to sit up. This is super important with baby led weaning which is our goal. He sits TERRIBLY in my lap. He either slouches forward and drops his head, or he digs his heels in until he propels himself into a semi standing position. He does a bit better in the high chair, but sill won't really hold his head up unless something with flashing lights and sounds attracts him. I'm going to talk to the pediatrician about it at his appointment and see if she thinks it's safe to start.

Sleeping: There was a terrible week right after 5 months where I swore I broke him. He started waking up every night at 2 or 3 am, but he wasn't hungry. I was terrified that I had ruined all of the hard work we'd put it in to get him to sleep through the night. And then suddenly, he just stopped waking up again. I have no idea what that was about, but I've come to understand that middle of the night awakenings will probably happen periodically. This doesn't mean that he forgot how to sleep and he'll likely snap back into the groove again soon. Thankfully, he's still a great night time sleeper. He's a TERRIBLE napper. As in, daycare recorded an all new low. He actually had a documented FIVE MINUTE nap. Yeah. Terrible napper. I've recently changed his schedule in an effort to consolidate the naps (from four to three). I'm praying this helps, but ultimately, I can't complain. As long as mama gets to sleep at night, all is right with the world.

Sometimes we cheat and let him sleep on his mama,
just so we can get through one sleep cycle.

Likes: Garrison still loves bath time. He enjoys splashing and he loves when I drip water on him. I've just started letting him play with a few toys in the bath…it's not much different from outside of the bath. All toys go straight to the mouth.

Garrison has a new toy that he LOVES. While it makes me want to bash my head in ("beep, beep…puppy wants to go for a ri-ide." ughhhhh) it's actually proving to be a pretty great toy. It's super engaging and the best part is that he's intrigued enough to hold his stinking head up.

Beep, beep!

Garrison still loves his exersaucer, but I rarely let him get in it. His toes still don't touch on the lowest setting, so we're trying to follow the PT's rules. Every now and then I let him play for 10 minutes though and he LOVES it. 

His favorite spinning toy.

Dislikes: Speaking of PT, I think that would be Garrison's most hated thing at the moment. Or at least he hates being forced to exercise. Bless it. Me too, buddy. We started out seeing a PT and OT for assessments…just to make sure he was staying on track developmentally. As he's a preemie, everyone expects him to be a bit behind, but it's important that he eventually catch up, so these appointments help his pediatrician gauge how he's doing. However, at his three month PT appointment, the physical therapist wanted to see him in a month to reevaluate. Then at his four month appointment she still felt a follow-up appointment was important. Then at his five month, it all hit the fan and she decided he needs weekly appointments. Plus the occupational therapist got pulled into things and we now see her every two weeks. So weekly PT appointments plus OT appointments every other week plus all the exercises that we're supposed to do multiple times a day…it's a lot. I'm trying not to stress. It's hard though. I get precious few minutes with Garrison where we're not supposed to be doing something…eating, changing diapers, napping, bathing, bed time routine. It all eats up the few daytime hours I have with him, so I hate to spend the minutes I do have making him exercise, especially when he's mad and screaming about it. Ultimately, I know it's for the best though, and I'm pretty excited for the prospect that he'll eventually stop being so dang lazy and hold his head up. Mama's got big plans.

So. Much. Tummy. Time.

Looking forward to: You guys, it's almost fall. Around here that means FOOTBALL. Garrison isn't allowed to watch TV, so this should be an interesting football season. I'm pretty pumped to dress him in cute Georgia clothes though. I'm also super excited about picture day at his daycare, the potential to go to a fall festival/corn maze/pumpkin patch because what else do you do in the fall with your little family?!?! Also, halloween!!! Halloween is my least favorite holiday times a million, BUT if I get to dress my baby up in some adorable outfit, I'm allllll over it. And don't even get me started about Christmas. I'm so excited I could die. I've spent the last three nights trying to pick out Garrison's stocking and I'm having major commitment issues, but regardless, I'm picking out a stocking for my SON! It's a giant dream come true, if a silly, simple one. I'm truly living the dream…so much to look forward to!

One decent shot out of 50…
these are getting more and more interesting.

It's both amazing and terrifying that six months have already passed. When I think about the likelihood that the next six months will pass equally as fast I want to cry. And hide under the covers. And quit my job. And freeze time. But I'm trying to trust that it continues to get better and better. We're so, so blessed to have Garrison in our lives. The Lord is redeeming our story one day with this little love at a time. Happy six months, baby boy. Mama loves you!

Be still my heart.