Height & Weight: Jaxon had his 6 month visit this month so I have real stats! He weighs 15 pounds, 8 ounces and was 25.5 inches long. Still a bitty guy in the 15th percentile.
Routine: We have a routine now!! Jaxon is finally putting himself down for naps at the same time each day, and it's nice to have that predictability now. It makes life much easier. His naps are also longer, ranging from an hour to an hour and a half. He usually takes one at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, and sometimes a super short one again at 5pm before going to bed between 7pm-7:30pm.
Sleeping:
Can I skip this? While his naptime routine is better, his nighttime sleep is awful. It's like we hit the 4 month sleep regression and never recovered. Some nights are good, and other nights are sleepless. Some nights he sleeps for a good length of time, and others he's awake at least every 1-2 hours. No rhyme or reason. No changes to routine. No overstimulation. No new foods. No colds. Good naps. (Some say it could be teething. Who knows but those damn teeth sure get the blame for everything when it comes to babies!) Either way, mama would appreciate her good sleeper back. From birth to 4 months he was an amazing sleeper!!! I'm hoping it's a phase he quickly outgrows.
Jaxon also now sleeps on his belly 90% of the time. It took me a while to be comfortable with it and actually get sleep myself because he he started out smashing his face flat down into the mattress! He no longer does this, thank goodness, so I no longer worry.
He is still loving his Zippy and sleeps in it for every nap and nighttime sleep.
Diet/Eating:
Towards the middle of this past month (so 5.5 months), I began introducing foods. I wanted to skip pureed food and just give him what we were eating, but this child does not get the concept of chewing/gumming his food. He just immediately swallows the food which results in him choking. (Yes I'm giving him itty bitty, tiny pieces of soft and/or cooked foods). I can't handle the choking. It scares me so pureed foods it is.
Everyone warned me that it could take him some time to like real food. That he'd probably spit some out and to just keep trying; that it takes about 10 times of trying the same food before they like it. Not this kid! Every single food that we've given him, he's loved. Not a single thing has he spit out. He's had avocado, green beans, peas, carrots, squash, zucchini, peaches, pears, apples, and bananas. And good heavens can this kid put down some food!! He definitely is a good eater; likes everything and eats a lot! He can't get enough, fast enough. Every time we bring the spoon to his mouth, he grabs our hands and very quickly shoves the spoon in his mouth. It's hilarious (and oh so messy)!
He is still breastfed many times a day. I don't want him to stop anytime soon (my goal is to make it to one year) so I always nurse him before he eats so the food is like a "treat". And of course, we still nurse to sleep at night and when he wakes up from naps. He is still mama's little milk monster and gets incredibly giddy anytime he sees me mess with my shirt or sign "milk" to him.
Health:
Overall, he's a healthy boy!!! His 6 month appointment went very well. She wants us to work on sitting up but said it's not anything to worry about that he's not doing it on his own yet.
At the end of this month, just one day after Nick left for a 6 week workup on the ship, I came down with a severe cold and despite my best efforts, Jaxon got it. He had it much longer than I did, poor guy. We used the NoseFrida a lot (which is a torture device to him), but aside from that, there wasn't much I could do. There was no way to prop his mattress up to help him breathe because the kid rolls all over so he might start out with his head propped up, but within an hour his feet would be propped up. The Rock n Play doesn't work anymore because he just gets angry that he can't roll onto his belly. He tries, and the entire thing shakes so I'm afraid he'll knock it over in the middle of the night so no more Rock n Play for sleep. His cold lasted about 8 days but then we finally kicked it! Thank goodness! I felt so badly for the guy!!
Movement: He is still quite the wiggle worm, and he's also finding ways to get where he wants to go. For instance, I was gone for maybe 1 minute and came back to see he had moved from the middle of his playmat to here. He just scoots his little body all over.
Just like the previous months, his arms and legs never.stop.moving. I seriously am in a world of trouble when he really becomes mobile.
His constant movement and always being a busy body makes it so hard to get these photos!
Mood:
Happy happy happy. This kid is now happy all the time. If he's fussing, it's because he's hungry or tried. He just doesn't really fuss or cry. All you have to do is look at him and smile and you get the biggest smile in return. It makes me melt.
Sizes:
0-3 month and 3 month still, but they're getting a little snug so sometimes he wears 3-6 month shirts.
As for pants, he's definitely still in 0-3 month because of his tiny waist. They're a bit short on him, but if we go up to the 3-6 month pants, they fall off his waist and are too long!
The issue comes with outfits because the 3-6 month shirts will fit him okay but the pants are so long and so baggy on him. Small boy problems haha.
Likes:
He loves reading, sitting in his Bumbo, eating everything he can get his hands on, being in his Little Einstein's exersaucer to jump and play with all the toys.
He also loves being naked, food, and still loves his feet.
He now loves tummy time and is always on his belly!
Dislikes:
Putting himself back to sleep at night. Or down for nighttime sleep. For naps, I lay him in his bed and he goes to sleep on his own. Try that at night? No way! Not having it. He screams. And if he wakes up, he REFUSES to put himself back to sleep.
He still hates getting his clothes changed. I wish I could explain to him that if he would stop fighting it, it would go much faster.
Milestones:
Jaxon can roll both ways, but it appears 80% of the time he forgets how to roll from his belly to his back. That was the first way he learned to roll, but now that he's always rolling on his belly, it's as if he forgot he can roll to his back. After a while of doing tummy time, he gets frustrated because he wants to be on his belly. Dude, you used to know how to do this!!! But rolling from back to belly he now has mastered. And as you can see below, he tries to roll and climb right out of the Rock n Play, even when strapped in. So that shop has closed. Folded up and packed away. Gone are the days of his beloved Rock n Play.
He is also grabbing larger toys with two hands. We bought a set up blocks and various sized balls to work on this and after just one day, he was grabbing things with both hands.
He also took his first big boy ride in the stroller! He did great and loved letting his little feet kick the car seat adapter.
We are also working on trying to sit up because he lasts about 2 seconds before toppling over. The doctor gave me some tips to help him so hopefully by next months update he'll have that mastered.
Things That I Don't Want to Forget:
Naps on me. They don't happen often at all anymore. He prefers to nap in his bed so when it does happen, I soak up every single second. I think it happened twice this month.
While Jaxon is nursing, I will rest the hand opposite the side he's nursing on on his butt/hip/side. After a few minutes, he will reach his little hand backwards, grab my hand, pull it forward and just hold it. And then I'm a puddle on the floor. All the heart eyed emojis.
He is a mama's boy. And I'm loving it!!! We will be sitting on the floor (Jaxon propped up with pillows), Jaxon playing with toys, then he'll look up, see me, get this HUGE smile that causes his entire face to scrunch up, and he falls into me, super giddy, nuzzling me, then goes back to playing. It's as if he's overcome with so much emotion and love that he can't contain it. I know that feeling. I do it to him all the time. Except for me, I scoop him up in a giant hug and I nuzzle into his little neck. This is my absolute favorite thing he does. I know it won't last forever, but I wish I could put this moment in a little snow globe to pick up and watch whenever I need a pick me up.
Mama Update:
He smiles so big every time he sees me. When he gets hurt, he looks to me. I just smile and he instantly quits fussing and goes back to playing. We have so much fun together. Although, there are times he's just not having photos with mama. It seems if anyone else takes the photo, he doesn't want anything to do with it. But selfies with mama? He's all about them!
Daddy Update:
Nick left at the very end of this month. It was so hard to watch him say goodbye to Jaxon. He's going to be gone about 6 weeks and Jaxon will surely be a different baby when he returns.
But before he left, he made sure to get in some last minute story times and of course, rough housing with daddy.
Doggie Update:
Vino is finally, slowly coming around to him. We have no doubts that very soon she's just going to love him!
Yadi is still always by him, always cleaning him.
Jaxon also got to show off his puppies at the vet. His first of many visits with these two because it somehow always happen that their 6 month comprehensive exams occur when Nick is gone.
Jaxon LOVES these dogs! He is always reaching out for them when they get close and just want to nibble on their ears. And they love him. Wherever Jaxon is, the dogs are right by him (with Vino just a little further than Yadi haha)
What we did this month:
We went on walks with friends, we went to the zoo and feed the giraffes.
Because Nick's squadron will be on the ship for Thanksgiving, we had a Friendsgiving with some of the families from his squadron.
Jaxon had his first trip to Orlando (we had to go there so I could do my Global Entry interview so I can be TSA Pre-check every flight). Jaxon and I had our first trip to IKEA, we hit up the outlets, and had dinner in Downtown Disney before heading back to Jacksonville.
Jaxon also celebrated his first Halloween. Well, he dressed up in costume so I could take pictures but we didn't actually celebrate because we both had that really nasty cold so we didn't want to infect anyone else or be out in the weather with it. So we sat at home and read Halloween books, just the two of us. Party animals I tell ya!
I know Christmas isn't about gifts, but I can tell you that this little perfectly adorable guy here is the greatest gift I could have ever received this year. He fills our lives with more love and laugher than we ever thought possible.
